Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Theroleofmacrophages intheimmunoadjuvant actionofliposomes: effects ofelimination ofsplenic macrophages on theimmuneresponse against intravenously injected liposome-associated

human serum albumin (HSA)was studied inmiceunder conditions where no responsecouldbedetected against thenon-liposome-associated formoftheantigen. Thepositive responseagainst theantigen, entrapped inand/or exposed on thesurfaces ofliposomes, thusresulted fromtheadjuvant action of theliposomes. Inmiceintravenously injected withdichloromethylene diphosphonate (Cl2MDP) alsoentrapped inliposomes, allredpulpmacrophages, marginal metallophilic macrophages and marginal zonemacrophages haddisappeared fromthespleen 2daysafter administration. Twentytwodaysafter such atreatment redpulpmacrophages andmarginal metallophilic macrophages had reappeared, butmarginal zone macrophages were still absent. Inmiceinjected withliposomeassociated HSA at2daysafter treatment withtheC12MDPliposomes, anti-HSA responseswere severely depressed, butadministration oftheliposome-associated antigen 22daysafter C12MDP liposomes elicited a normal response.Theseresults point toa role ofsplenic macrophages inthe processing ofliposome-associated antigens, butmarginal zonemacrophages, which arelocated close totheopenendsofthewhite pulpcapillaries andthus arethefirst macrophages tomeettheantigens arriving inthemarginal zone arenotrequired.
Correlation between antioxidant and anticancer activity and phenolic profile of new Apulian table grape genotypes (V. Vinifera L.)

Grapes represent a significant source of phenolic compounds known for their health-promoting properties, such as antioxidant capacity on normal cells and prooxidant activity on tumor cells. The genotype highly affects the polyphenolic composition in grapes and, consequently, the nutritional quality of berries. This work aimed to characterize the phenolic composition, the antioxidant, and anticancer activity of grape skin extracts (GSEs) of nine new table grape genotypes selected from a breeding program to obtain new cultivars of seedless table grapes, well adapted to the climatic change and with higher nutraceutical properties. The grape polyphenolic profile was characterized by Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography/Quadrupole-Time of Flight mass spectrometry analysis. GSE antioxidant activity was determined by the ABTS, DPPH, and ORAC assays; GSE cell growth inhibition test was carried out in the Caco2 human cancer cell line. The nine GSEs showed different flavonoid and non-flavonoid profiles, and all possessed antioxidant activity, with the ‘Aika N. ’, ‘Turese N. ’, and ‘Egnatia N. ’ the most active. As anticancer activity against the tested cancer cell line, ‘Daunia N. ’ and ‘Apenestae N. ’ showed the EC50 after 24 h of 35.60 µg/mL and 150.91 µg/mL, respectively. The relationship between polyphenolic profile and the antioxidant and anticancer activity of GSE was also investigated. Interestingly, among the different classes of polyphenolics, flavan-3-ols e proanthocyanidins showed the highest positive correlation with the anticancer activity of extracts. These findings can be helpful for the preparation of new extracts for the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industry and geneticists working in vine breeding programs.
Characteristics of lactic acid bacteria, microbial community and fermentation dynamics of native grass silage prepared in Inner Mongolian Plateau

Introduction To prepare high-quality silage, we studied the chemical composition, silage fermentation, characterization, and identification of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) associated with the silage fermentation of native grass on the Inner Mongolian Plateau. Methods LAB were isolated from fresh native grass and their silage, and silages were prepared using a small-scale fermentation system with 2–3 cm length in plastic bags. Results The dominant species of native grasses used were Stipa baicalensis, Leymus chinensis, Cleistogenes squarrosa, Melissilus ruthenicus and Pulsatilla turczaninovii, which contained 47.83–59.43 % moisture, 55.12–67.74 % neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and 8.72–14.55 crude protein (CP), and these nutrients did not change greatly during ensiling. Good preservation with a relatively low pH (below 4.44) and high (p < 0.05) lactic acid content (>0.58) was obtained after ensiling. Based on the morphological and biochemical characteristics, these isolates were divided into 12 groups (A-L). All isolate strains were gram-positive and catalase-negative bacteria that produce lactic acid from glucose. Group A-K were cocci, while group L was rod-shaped. Group A-E formed D-lactic acid, but group H-K formed L-lactic acid, and other groups formed DL-lactic acid. Group A-E were heterofermentative, and Group F-L were homofermentative types of LAB. According to the 16S rRNA gene sequences analysis, strains were identified as genus Leuconostoc (A, B, and C), Weissellla (D, E), Pediococcus (F, G), Enterococcus (H, I, J and K), and Lactiplantibacillus (L). Enterococcus (E.) faecium (29.17%, percentage of total isolates) and Pediococcus (P.) acidilactici (18.75%) were the most frequently occurring dominant species. Discussion This study suggests that the native grasses contained abundant LAB species, and they can be used as good-quality silages in animal husbandry. In addition, the strains P. acidilactici and E. faecium were the most frequently isolated from native grass silages as dominant species which can be a potentially excellent inoculant for native grass silage.
An acoustic study on character voices of dominators and subordinates: A case study on male characters in Empresses in the Palace

Introduction Voice has been used to project identity in dubbing, in order to auditory portray appropriate role images in TV dramas. This study investigates the character voices of leading male characters in Empresses in the Palace. Methods Different acoustic characteristics of character voices and matching relation between acoustics and role images are explored by comparing F0, CPP, harmonic amplitude differences of speech spectrum. Results The voice quality of characters is related to their relative social status. The subordinates usually adopt a higher pitch or breathy voice, while the dominators use a lower pitch or modal/creaky voice. In addition, CPP, F0, and H1-A3 are the key acoustic indicators to distinguish character voices. Discussion These results reveal the acoustic characteristics of character voices of certain types, as well as provide guidance for dubbing vividly.
Recovery of metagenome-assembled microbial genomes from a full-scale biogas plant of food waste by pacific biosciences high-fidelity sequencing

Background Anaerobic digestion (AD) is important in treating of food waste, and thousands of metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) have been constructed for the microbiome in AD. However, due to the limitations of the short-read sequencing and assembly technologies, most of these MAGs are grouped from hundreds of short contigs by binning algorithms, and the errors are easily introduced. Results In this study, we constructed a total of 60 non-redundant microbial genomes from 64.5 Gb of PacBio high-fidelity (HiFi) long reads, generated from the digestate samples of a full-scale biogas plant fed with food waste. Of the 60 microbial genomes, all genomes have at least one copy of rRNA operons (16S, 23S, and 5S rRNA), 54 have ≥18 types of standard tRNA genes, and 39 are circular complete genomes. In comparison with the published short-read derived MAGs for AD, we found 23 genomes with average nucleotide identity less than 95% to any known MAGs. Besides, our HiFi-derived genomes have much higher average contig N50 size, slightly higher average genome size and lower contamination. GTDB-Tk classification of these genomes revealed two genomes belonging to novel genus and four genomes belonging to novel species, since their 16S rRNA genes have identities lower than 95 and 97% to any known 16S rRNA genes, respectively. Microbial community analysis based on the these assembled genomes reveals the most predominant phylum was Thermotogae (70.5%), followed by Euryarchaeota (6.1%), and Bacteroidetes (4.7%), and the most predominant bacterial and archaeal genera were Defluviitoga (69.1%) and Methanothrix (5.4%), respectively. Analysis of the full-length 16S rRNA genes identified from the HiFi reads gave similar microbial compositions to that derived from the 60 assembled genomes. Conclusion High-fidelity sequencing not only generated microbial genomes with obviously improved quality but also recovered a substantial portion of novel genomes missed in previous short-read based studies, and the novel genomes will deepen our understanding of the microbial composition in AD of food waste.
Small molecules to perform big roles: The search for Parkinson's and Huntington's disease therapeutics

Neurological motor disorders (NMDs) such as Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease are characterized by the accumulation and aggregation of misfolded proteins that trigger cell death of specific neuronal populations in the central nervous system. Differential neuronal loss initiates the impaired motor control and cognitive function in the affected patients. Although major advances have been carried out to understand the molecular basis of these diseases, to date there are no treatments that can prevent, cure, or significantly delay the progression of the disease. In this context, strategies such as gene editing, cellular therapy, among others, have gained attention as they effectively reduce the load of toxic protein aggregates in different models of neurodegeneration. Nevertheless, these strategies are expensive and difficult to deliver into the patients' nervous system. Thus, small molecules and natural products that reduce protein aggregation levels are highly sought after. Numerous drug discovery efforts have analyzed large libraries of synthetic compounds for the treatment of different NMDs, with a few candidates reaching clinical trials. Moreover, the recognition of new druggable targets for NMDs has allowed the discovery of new small molecules that have demonstrated their efficacy in pre-clinical studies. It is also important to recognize the contribution of natural products to the discovery of new candidates that can prevent or cure NMDs. Additionally, the repurposing of drugs for the treatment of NMDs has gained huge attention as they have already been through clinical trials confirming their safety in humans, which can accelerate the development of new treatment. In this review, we will focus on the new advances in the discovery of small molecules for the treatment of Parkinson's and Huntington's disease. We will begin by discussing the available pharmacological treatments to modulate the progression of neurodegeneration and to alleviate the motor symptoms in these diseases. Then, we will analyze those small molecules that have reached or are currently under clinical trials, including natural products and repurposed drugs.
Perfil clínico-epidemiológico das infecções respiratórias agudas causadas por vírus parainfluenza em crianças atendidas em um hospital de referência da cidade de Fortaleza–CE

As infeccoes respiratorias agudas (IRAs) sao um importante problema de saude publica em todo o mundo, e os virus parainfluenza estao entre os seus agentes mais frequentes. Este estudo teve como objetivos: determinar a frequencia de IRAs pelo virus parainfluenza entre criancas atendidas no Hospital Infantil Albert Sabin, hospital pediatrico de referencia da cidade de Fortaleza – CE, de janeiro de 2001 a dezembro de 2006; descrever o padrao de sazonalidade e as caracteristicas clinico-epidemiologicas destas infeccoes; e comparar as caracteristicas clinico-epidemiologicas das infeccoes por parainfluenza com as das IRAs causadas por outros virus. Foram coletados aspirados de nasofaringe de criancas com sintomas de IRAs, e foi utilizada a imunofluorescencia indireta para a deteccao dos virus: parainfluenza humano 1, 2 e 3 (VPIH-1, 2 e 3), virus sincicial respiratorio (VSR), influenza A e B e adenovirus. Nos seis anos de estudo, foram colhidas amostras de 3070 criancas, a maioria delas previamente sadias, com a deteccao de virus respiratorios em 933 (30,39%), e dos virus parainfluenza em 117 casos (3,81% do total). Dentre os casos de parainfluenza, o VPIH-3 foi o tipo mais frequente (83,76% dos casos), com menor deteccao do VPIH-1 (11,96%) e do VPIH-2 (4,27%). A infeccao pelo VPIH-3 apresentou comportamento sazonal, com maior deteccao nos meses de setembro a novembro. Embora o total de casos de IRAs tenha apresentado relacao direta com os indices pluviometricos, o numero de casos de VPIH-3 apresentou relacao inversa com a pluviometria, sendo maior nos meses secos. A maioria dos pacientes positivos para parainfluenza foi atendida na emergencia ou nos ambulatorios. A media de idades das criancas com infeccao pelo VPIH-3 foi de 20 meses, sendo significativamente menor que a das criancas infectadas pelo virus influenza A (34 meses), e maior que a das infectadas pelo VSR (15 meses). Os pacientes positivos para o VPIH-3 apresentaram significativamente menos dispneia, tosse, estertores, tiragem intercostal e alteracoes radiologicas que os positivos para VSR. As infeccoes de vias aereas superiores constituiram a sindrome clinica mais frequente entre os casos de VPIH-3. Os pacientes positivos para VPIH-3 necessitaram menos de terapia com antibioticos, corticoides, oxigenio, nebulizacao e/ou salbutamol que os positivos para VSR. Os resultados demonstraram um comportamento sazonal do VPIH-3, relacionado aos meses secos, o que nao tinha sido relatado previamente no Nordeste brasileiro, alem de apontarem para uma menor gravidade das infeccoes causadas pelo VPIH-3, na comparacao com o VSR, em criancas previamente sadias.
AB0791 Why Do Patients with Axial Spondyloarthritis (AXSPA) Perform Little Aerobic Exercise? A Study of Perceived Barriers and Benefits in 153 Axspa Patients

Background Regular exercise is considered a cornerstone of axSpA treatment, together with medication (1). However, only around half the patients reach the levels of physical activity recommended for health-enhancement and very few regularly perform aerobic exercise (2). Understanding why could help motivate axSpA patients to exercise more. Objectives To explore the benefits and barriers to physical exercise in axSpA patients. Methods A cross-sectional study was performed in two tertiary care hospitals and one office-based practice in France (2). Patients had definite axSpA according to the rheumatologist. Auto-questionnaires evaluating the frequency and type of aerobic exercise, and perceived benefits of and barriers to exercising through the Exercise Benefits/Barriers Score (EBBS) (3), were collected. EBBS comprises 43 items categorised into 5 subscales for benefits (life enhancement, physical performance, psychological outlook, social interaction and preventive health) and 4 subscales for barriers (exercise milieu, time expenditure, physical exertion, family discouragement). Analyses were comparative between men and women. Results In all, 153 patients were analysed: mean age, 45.7±11.1 years, mean disease duration 14.2±9.7 yrs, mean BASDAI (0-100) 36.7±20.7, mean BASFI (0-100) 28.1±25.5, mean BMI 25.2±4.8 kg/m2; 56.2% were men. The main benefits of exercise (for which more than 90% of patients agreed or strongly agreed with the item) were all in the ‘physical performance’ subscale. Highest agreement was found for: improving functioning of cardiovascular system (94.8%), increasing muscle strength (93.5%), level of physical fitness (92.8%), stamina (90.9%), and for women: flexibility (91.0%). The three main barriers were ‘people looking funny in exercise clothes’ (87.6%), ‘too few places to exercise’ (80.4%), and ‘lack of encouragement from family members’ (81.1%). Results were similar for men and women. Conclusions The main barriers to exercising for axSpA patients were ‘exercise milieu’ problems and ‘family discouragement’ while the main perceived benefit was a better physical performance. These findings could be helpful when encouraging physical activity in axSpA patients. References Braun J et al. 2010 update of the ASAS/EULAR recommendations for the management of ankylosing spondylitis. Ann Rheum Dis 2011;70:896–904. Fabre S, et al. Do Patients with Axial Spondyloarthritis (AxSpA) Perform Enough Physical Activity? a Cross-Sectional Study of 207 Patients. Arthritis Rheum 2014, 66(suppl):S1125. Sechrist KR, et al. Development and psychometric evaluation of the exercise benefits/barriers scale, Res Nurs Health 1987;10:357-65. Disclosure of Interest None declared
Efficient feature extraction from highly sparse binary genotype data for cancer prognosis prediction using an auto-encoder

Genomics involving tens of thousands of genes is a complex system determining phenotype. An interesting and vital issue is how to integrate highly sparse genetic genomics data with a mass of minor effects into a prediction model for improving prediction power. We find that the deep learning method can work well to extract features by transforming highly sparse dichotomous data to lower-dimensional continuous data in a non-linear way. This may provide benefits in risk prediction-associated genotype data. We developed a multi-stage strategy to extract information from highly sparse binary genotype data and applied it for cancer prognosis. Specifically, we first reduced the size of binary biomarkers via a univariable regression model to a moderate size. Then, a trainable auto-encoder was used to learn compact features from the reduced data. Next, we performed a LASSO problem process to select the optimal combination of extracted features. Lastly, we applied such feature combination to real cancer prognostic models and evaluated the raw predictive effect of the models. The results indicated that these compressed transformation features could better improve the model’s original predictive performance and might avoid an overfitting problem. This idea may be enlightening for everyone involved in cancer research, risk reduction, treatment, and patient care via integrating genomics data.
Diagnosing lung involvement in inflammatory rheumatic diseases—Where do we currently stand?

Lung involvement is the most common and serious organ manifestation in patients with inflammatory rheumatic disease (IRD). The type of pulmonary involvement can differ, but the most frequent is interstitial lung disease (ILD). The clinical manifestations of IRD-ILD and severity can vary from subclinical abnormality to dyspnea, respiratory failure, and death. Consequently, early detection is of significant importance. Pulmonary function test (PFT) including diffusing capacity of the lungs for carbon monoxide (DLCO), and forced vital capacity (FVC) as well as high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) are the standard tools for screening and monitoring of ILD in IRD-patients. Especially, the diagnostic accuracy of HRCT is considered to be high. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) allow both morphological and functional assessment of the lungs. In addition, biomarkers (e.g., KL-6, CCL2, or MUC5B) are being currently evaluated for the detection and prognostic assessment of ILD. Despite the accuracy of HRCT, invasive diagnostic methods such as bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and lung biopsy are still important in clinical practice. However, their therapeutic and prognostic relevance remains unclear. The aim of this review is to give an overview of the individual methods and to present their respective advantages and disadvantages in detecting and monitoring ILD in IRD-patients in the clinical routine.
Adjustment of self-initiated and organizational expatriates: The moderating role of cross-cultural training

Globalization and the international labor movement made the ability to work anywhere globally. These individuals are usually organizational expatriates (OEs) deployed to overseas assignments by their employers or self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) who choose to relocate and work in a foreign country. Therefore, this study examines and contrasts the variations in cross-cultural adjustment (CCA) between Chinese SIEs and OEs in Pakistan. Furthermore, it aims to understand how cross-cultural training (CCT) influences the adaptation of Chinese SIEs and OEs. Data were obtained from 35 Chinese expatriates with 17 SIEs and 18 OEs employing a qualitative technique and were analyzed via thematic analysis in MAXQDA 20. According to the study, both SIEs and OEs face distinct hurdles to their CCA in Pakistan, including cultural taboos, language obstacles, and work variations. While numerous aspects that will favorably affect their CCA, including the accessibility of necessities, the friendliness of the Pakistani people, and the brethren relations between Pakistan and China, assist them in making a smooth transition to life in Pakistan. Furthermore, the results indicate that the mediating role of pre-departure CCT and the host country mentors’ support and facilitations acquired through online resources contribute to both Chinese SIEs and OEs’ CCA in Pakistan.
Strategies to counteract adverse remodeling of vascular graft: A 3D view of current graft innovations

Vascular grafts are widely used for vascular surgeries, to bypass a diseased artery or function as a vascular access for hemodialysis. Bioengineered or tissue-engineered vascular grafts have long been envisioned to take the place of bioinert synthetic grafts and even vein grafts under certain clinical circumstances. However, host responses to a graft device induce adverse remodeling, to varied degrees depending on the graft property and host’s developmental and health conditions. This in turn leads to invention or failure. Herein, we have mapped out the relationship between the design constraints and outcomes for vascular grafts, by analyzing impairment factors involved in the adverse graft remodeling. Strategies to tackle these impairment factors and counteract adverse healing are then summarized by outlining the research landscape of graft innovations in three dimensions—cell technology, scaffold technology and graft translation. Such a comprehensive view of cell and scaffold technological innovations in the translational context may benefit the future advancements in vascular grafts. From this perspective, we conclude the review with recommendations for future design endeavors.
SARS-CoV-2 infection predicts larger infarct volume in patients with acute ischemic stroke

Background and purpose Acute ischemic stroke (AIS) is a fearful complication of Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19). Aims of this study were to compare clinical/radiological characteristics, endothelial and coagulation dysfunction between acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients with and without COVID-19 and to investigate if and how the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (SP) was implicated in triggering platelet activation. Methods We enrolled AIS patients with COVID-19 within 12 h from onset and compared them with an age- and sex-matched cohort of AIS controls without COVID-19. Neuroimaging studies were performed within 24 h. Blood samples were collected in a subset of 10 patients. Results Of 39 AIS patients, 22 had COVID-19 and 17 did not. Admission levels of Factor VIII and von Willebrand factor antigen were significantly higher in COVID-19 patients and positively correlated with the infarct volume. In multivariate linear regression analyses, COVID-19 was an independent predictor of infarct volume (B 20.318, Beta 0.576, 95%CI 6.077–34.559; p = 0.011). SP was found in serum of 2 of the 10 examined COVID-19 patients. Platelets from healthy donors showed a similar degree of procoagulant activation induced by COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients' sera. The anti-SP and anti-FcγRIIA blocking antibodies had no effect in modulating platelet activity in both groups. Conclusions SARS-CoV-2 infection seems to play a major role in endothelium activation and infarct volume extension during AIS.