Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modulation of sleep-courtship balance by nutritional status in Drosophila

Sleep is essential but incompatible with other behaviors, and thus sleep drive competes with other motivations. We previously showed Drosophila males balance sleep and courtship via octopaminergic neurons that act upstream of courtship-regulating P1 neurons (Machado et al., 2017). Here we show nutrition modulates the sleep-courtship balance and identify sleep-regulatory neurons downstream of P1 neurons. Yeast-deprived males exhibited attenuated female-induced nighttime sleep loss yet normal daytime courtship, which suggests male flies consider nutritional status in deciding whether the potential benefit of pursuing female partners outweighs the cost of losing sleep. Trans-synaptic tracing and calcium imaging identified dopaminergic neurons projecting to the protocerebral bridge (DA-PB) as postsynaptic partners of P1 neurons. Activation of DA-PB neurons led to reduced sleep in normally fed but not yeast-deprived males. Additional PB-projecting neurons regulated male sleep, suggesting several groups of PB-projecting neurons act downstream of P1 neurons to mediate nutritional modulation of the sleep-courtship balance.
Effect of Cell Spreading on Rosette Formation by Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Neural Progenitor Cells

Neural rosettes (NPC rosettes) are radially arranged groups of cells surrounding a central lumen that arise stochastically in monolayer cultures of human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-derived neural progenitor cells (NPC). Since NPC rosette formation is thought to mimic cell behavior in the early neural tube, these rosettes represent important in vitro models for the study of neural tube morphogenesis. However, using current protocols, NPC rosette formation is not synchronized and results are inconsistent among different hPSC lines, hindering quantitative mechanistic analyses and challenging live cell imaging. Here, we report a rapid and robust protocol to induce rosette formation within 6 h after evenly-sized “colonies” of NPC are generated through physical cutting of uniformly polarized NESTIN+/PAX6+/PAX3+/DACH1+ NPC monolayers. These NPC rosettes show apically polarized lumens studded with primary cilia. Using this assay, we demonstrate reduced lumenal size in the absence of PODXL, an important apical determinant recently identified as a candidate gene for juvenile Parkinsonism. Interestingly, time lapse imaging reveals that, in addition to radial organization and apical lumen formation, cells within cut NPC colonies initiate rapid basally-driven spreading. Further, using chemical, genetic and biomechanical tools, we show that NPC rosette morphogenesis requires this basal spreading activity and that spreading is tightly regulated by Rho/ROCK signaling. This robust and quantitative NPC rosette platform provides a sensitive system for the further investigation of cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying NPC rosette morphogenesis.
Bioefficacy of Insecticides Against Peach Leaf Curl Aphid, Brachycaudus Helichrysi (Kaltenbach) in Punjab

The studies on bioefficacy of insecticides conducted at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana from 2006 to 2008 revealed that imidacloprid (0.008%), thiamethoxam (0.006 and 0.008%) and acetamiprid (0.008%) were significantly more effective against nymphs and adults of Brachycaudus helichrysi (Kaltenbach) in all the combinations of treatments (pre-flowering+flowering+pea stage, pre-flowering+pea stage, pre-flowering or pea stage) as no population was recorded 5 days after application compared to untreated control (19.4 aphids/leaf). Dimethoate at all doses (0.048, 0.1 and 0.12%) was less effective and three applications (pre-flowering + flowering + pea stage) of imidacloprid (0.008%), thiamethoxam (0.006 and 0.008%) and acetamiprid (0.008%) had no curling of leaves. As the frequency of application reduced the per cent curled leaves increased and the single application made either at pre-flowering and pea stage had 58.4–74.2% curled leaves compared to untreated control (72.3%). The data on fruit set was quite variable but were significantly more than the untreated control. The trees treated with imidacloprid, acetamiprid and thiamethoxam (each 0.004, 0.006 and 0.008%) were observed to be visited by honey bees either on same day or second day after spray while dimethoate and oxydemeton methyl were found to be highly toxic as the honey bees avoided the trees even on 2nd day after spray.
RIOK2 phosphorylation by RSK promotes synthesis of the human small ribosomal subunit

Ribosome biogenesis lies at the nexus of various signaling pathways coordinating protein synthesis with cell growth and proliferation. This process is regulated by well-described transcriptional mechanisms, but a growing body of evidence indicates that other levels of regulation exist. Here we show that the Ras/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway stimulates post-transcriptional stages of human ribosome synthesis. We identify RIOK2, a pre-40S particle assembly factor, as a new target of the MAPK-activated kinase RSK. RIOK2 phosphorylation by RSK promotes cytoplasmic maturation of late pre-40S particles, which is required for optimal protein synthesis and cell proliferation. RIOK2 phosphorylation facilitates its release from pre-40S particles and its nuclear re-import, prior to completion of small ribosomal subunits. Our results bring a detailed mechanistic link between the Ras/MAPK pathway and the maturation of human pre-40S particles, which open a hitherto poorly explored area of ribosome biogenesis.
Cholinergic Modulation of Glial Function During Aging and Chronic Neuroinflammation

Aging is a complex biological process that increases the risk of age-related cognitive degenerative diseases such as dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Lewy Body Dementia (LBD), and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Even non-pathological aging of the brain can involve chronic oxidative and inflammatory stress, which disrupts the communication and balance between the brain and the immune system. There has been an increasingly strong connection found between chronic neuroinflammation and impaired memory, especially in AD. While microglia and astrocytes, the resident immune cells of the central nervous system (CNS), exerting beneficial effects during the acute inflammatory phase, during chronic neuroinflammation they can become more detrimental. Central cholinergic circuits are involved in maintaining normal cognitive function and regulating signaling within the entire cerebral cortex. While neuronal-glial cholinergic signaling is anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative, central cholinergic neuronal degeneration is implicated in impaired learning, memory sleep regulation, and attention. Although there is evidence of cholinergic involvement in memory, fewer studies have linked the cholinergic anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant pathways to memory processes during development, normal aging, and disease states. This review will summarize the current knowledge of cholinergic effects on microglia and astroglia, and their role in both anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant mechanisms, concerning normal aging and chronic neuroinflammation. We provided details on how stimulation of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine (α7nACh) receptors can be neuroprotective by increasing amyloid-β phagocytosis, decreasing inflammation and reducing oxidative stress by promoting the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) pathways and decreasing the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines. There is also evidence for astroglial α7nACh receptor stimulation mediating anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects by inhibiting the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) pathway and activating the Nrf2 pathway respectively. We conclude that targeting cholinergic glial interactions between neurons and glial cells via α7nACh receptors could regulate neuroinflammation and oxidative stress, relevant to the treatment of several neurodegenerative diseases.
Schengen-pathway controls spatially separated and chemically distinct lignin deposition in the endodermis

Lignin is a complex polymer precisely deposited in the cell wall of specialised plant cells, where it provides essential cellular functions. Plants coordinate timing, location, abundance and composition of lignin deposition in response to endogenous and exogenous cues. In roots, a fine band of lignin, the Casparian strip encircles endodermal cells. This forms an extracellular barrier to solutes and water and plays a critical role in maintaining nutrient homeostasis. A signalling pathway senses the integrity of this diffusion barrier and can induce over-lignification to compensate for barrier defects. Here, we report that activation of this endodermal sensing mechanism triggers a transcriptional reprogramming strongly inducing the phenylpropanoid pathway and immune signaling. This leads to deposition of compensatory lignin that is chemically distinct from Casparian strip lignin. We also report that a complete loss of endodermal lignification drastically impacts mineral nutrients homeostasis and plant growth.
Robust switches in thalamic network activity require a timescale separation between sodium and T-type calcium channel activations

Switches in brain states, synaptic plasticity and neuromodulation are fundamental processes in our brain that take place concomitantly across several spatial and timescales. All these processes target neuron intrinsic properties and connectivity to achieve specific physiological goals, raising the question of how they can operate without interfering with each other. Here, we highlight the central importance of a timescale separation in the activation of sodium and T-type calcium channels to sustain robust switches in brain states in thalamic neurons that are compatible with synaptic plasticity and neuromodulation. We quantify the role of this timescale separation by comparing the robustness of rhythms of six published conductance-based models at the cellular, circuit and network levels. We show that robust rhythm generation requires a T-type calcium channel activation whose kinetics are situated between sodium channel activation and T-type calcium channel inactivation in all models despite their quantitative differences.
RAL GTPases mediate EGFR/MAPK signalling-driven intestinal stem cell proliferation and tumourigenesis upstream of RAS activation

RAS-like (RAL) GTPases function in Wnt signalling-dependent intestinal stem cell proliferation and regeneration. Whether RAL proteins work as canonical RAS effectors in the intestine, and the mechanisms of how they contribute to tumorigenesis remain unclear. Here, we show that RAL GTPases are necessary and sufficient to activate EGFR/MAPK signalling in the intestine. We identify non-canonical roles of RAL GTPases, not as RAS effectors, but rather by acting upstream of RAS activation via induction of EGFR internalization. Knocking down Drosophila RalA from intestinal stem and progenitor cells leads to increased levels of plasma membrane-associated EGFR and decreased MAPK pathway activation. Importantly, in addition to impacting stem cell proliferation and damage-induced intestinal regeneration, this function of RAL GTPases drives EGFR-dependent tumorigenic growth in the intestine and in human mammary epithelium. Altogether, our results reveal previously unrecognised cellular and molecular contexts where RAL GTPases become essential mediators of EGFR-driven tissue homeostasis and malignant growth.
Antimicrobial Action of Pyocyanine, Hemipyocyanine, Pyocyanase, and Tyrothricin

Summary The inhibition of growth of bacteria, yeasts and pathogenic fungi by natural and synthetic pyocyanine, synthetic hemipyocyanine, and natural pyocyanase and tyrothricin has been investigated. Natural and synthetic pyocyanine have equal activities which surpass those of pyocyanase. Tyrothricin is particularly inhibitory for Gram positive bacteria, especially streptococci. The considerable fungistatic potency of tyrothricin and hemipyocyanine suggests that these substances may be of value in the treatment of fungus infections.
Multi-modal imaging of a single postmortem mouse brain over five orders of magnitude of resolution

Mammalian neurons operate at length scales spanning five orders of magnitude; micron-scale-diameter myelinated axons project millimeters across brain regions, ultimately forming nanometer scale synapses on individual post-synaptic neurons. Capturing these anatomical features across that breadth of scale has required imaging samples with multiple independent imaging modalities (e.g. MRI, electron microscopy, etc.). Translating between the different modalities, however, requires imaging the same brain with each. Here, we imaged the same postmortem mouse brain over five orders of spatial resolution using MRI, whole brain micron-scale synchrotron x-ray tomography, and large volume automated serial electron microscopy. Using this pipeline, we can track individual myelinated axons previously relegated to axon bundles in diffusion tensor MRI or arbitrarily trace neurons and their processes brain-wide and identify individual synapses on them. This pipeline provides both an unprecedented look across a single brain’s multi-scaled organization as well as a vehicle for studying the brain’s multi-scale pathologies.
The Function of Astrocyte Mediated Extracellular Vesicles in Central Nervous System Diseases

Astrocyte activation plays an important role during disease-induced inflammatory response in the brain. Exosomes in the brain could be released from bone marrow (BM)-derived stem cells, neuro stem cells (NSC), mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), etc. We summarized that exosomes release and transport signaling to the target cells, and then produce function. Furthermore, we discussed the pathological interactions between astrocytes and other brain cells, which are related to brain diseases such as stroke, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), psychiatric, traumatic brain injury (TBI), etc. We provide up-to-date, comprehensive and valuable information on the involvement of exosomes in brain diseases, which is beneficial for basic researchers and clinical physicians.
Sex-specific maturational trajectory of endocannabinoid plasticity in the rat prefrontal cortex

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) develops until early adulthood in rodents and humans, but how synaptic plasticity evolves throughout postnatal development is not known. Here, we used a cross-sectional approach to establish the postnatal maturational trajectories of intrinsic properties and synaptic plasticity in the PFC of rats of both sexes. We found that while layer 5 PFC pyramidal neurons from rats of both sexes displayed similar current-voltage relationships, rheobases and resting potentials across all age groups, excitability was lower in female adults compared to the other developmental stages. NMDAR-dependent long-term potentiation and mGluR2/3-mediated long-term depression (LTD) were equally expressed at the juvenile, pubescent and adult developmental stages in animals of both sexes. However, the developmental course of endocannabinoid (eCB)-mediated LTD was sexually dimorphic. First, eCB-LTD emerged during the juvenile period in females. However, although CB1Rs were functional in both sexes at all developmental stages, eCB-LTD’s first emerged during pubescence in male. Second, eCB-LTD engaged distinct receptors in males and females depending on their developmental stages. Female rats employ both CB1R and TRPV1R to produce eCB-LTD at the juvenile stage but solely CB1R at pubescence followed by only TRPV1R at adulthood. In contrast, in pubescent and adult males eCB-LTD always and exclusively depended on CB1R. Pharmacological blockade of 2AG’s principal degrading enzyme allowed incompetent male juvenile synapses to express eCB-LTD. The data reveal different maturational trajectories in the PFC of male and female rats and provide new cellular substrates to the sex-specific behavioral and synaptic abnormalities caused by adolescent exposure to cannabinoids.
Structural Segmentation of Alap in Dhrupad Vocal Concerts

Dhrupad vocal concerts exhibit a temporal evolution through a sequence of homogeneous sections marked by shared rhythmic characteristics. In this work, we address the segmentation of a concert audio’s unmetered improvisatory section into musically meaningful segments at the highest time scale. Motivated by the distinct musical properties of the sections and their corresponding acoustic correlates, we compute a number of features for the segment boundary detection task. Both supervised and unsupervised approaches are tested using a dataset of commercial performance recordings that is manually annotated. The dataset is augmented suitably for training and testing of the models to obtain new insights about the relevance of the different rhythmic, melodic and timbral cues in the automatic boundary detection task. We also explore the use of a convolutional neural network trained on mel-scale magnitude spectrograms for the boundary detection task to observe that while the implicit musical cues are largely learned by the network, it is less robust to deviations from training data characteristics. We conclude that it can be rewarding to investigate knowledge driven features on new genres and tasks, both to achieve reasonable performance outcomes given limited datasets and for drawing a deeper understanding of genre characteristics from the acoustical analyses.
Dynamic software updating: a systematic mapping study

Dynamic software updating (DSU) is shifting gears to modify software systems without a halt. Even though extensive research has been conducted on DSU, it is necessary to synthesise and map the results of recent studies on DSU for prospective research highlights. This study aims to highlight the current state-of-the-art, to recognise trends, and to identify existing open issues in DSU. A systematic mapping study (SMS) was conducted with a set of six research questions. A total of 1066 papers published from 2005 to 2019 were recorded. After a filtering process, 112 primary studies were selected and inspected. This study highlights the current state-of-the-art of DSU including approaches, tools, models, and techniques. Also, this study outlines application domains, research type, and contributions type facets in DSU. In addition, this study demonstrates benchmarks, datasets, evaluation metrics, and existing open issues for future research in DSU. The results of this investigation can be used to highlight current state-of-the-art of DSU, to show trends of DSU, and to demonstrate existing open issues in DSU.
Screening and Breeding of Production Strains of Spinosad

Protoplast of Saccharopolyspora spinosa C121 was mutated by UV,then different dosages of plasma radiation and ~(60)Co-#gamma# irradiation were used to treat the high yielding strains respectively.The mutants were screened by strain block-TLC and shaking flask,eventually a mutant strain Co329 was obtained and its production was up to 1260#mu#g/ml,174% higher than that of the original strain C121.
1 2 3 4 Particle export fluxes to the oxygen minimum zone of the 5 Eastern Tropical North Atlantic 6 7 8 9

In the ocean, sinking of particulate organic matter (POM) drives carbon export 28 from the euphotic zone and supplies nutrition to mesopelagic communities, the feeding and 29 degradation activities of which in turn lead to export flux attenuation. Oxygen minimum 30 zones (OMZs) with suboxic water layers (<5 μmol O2 kg -1 ) show a lower carbon flux 31 attenuation compared to well oxygenated waters (>100 μmol O2 kg -1 ), supposedly due to 32 reduced heterotrophic activity. This study focuses on sinking particle fluxes through hypoxic 33 mesopelagic waters (<60% μmol O2 kg -1 ); these represent ~100-times more ocean volume 34 globally compared to suboxic waters, but have less been studied. Particle export fluxes and 35 attenuation coefficients were determined in the Eastern Tropical North Atlantic (ETNA) using 36 two surface tethered drifting sediment trap arrays with 7 trapping depths located between 100 37 and 600 m. Data on particulate matter fluxes were fitted to the normalized power function 38 Fz=F100 (z/100) -b , with F100 being the flux at a depth (z) of 100m and b being the attenuation 39 coefficient. Higher b-values suggest stronger flux attenuation and are influenced by factors 40 such as faster degradation at higher temperatures. In this study, b-values of organic carbon 41 fluxes varied between 0.74 and 0.80 and were in the intermediate range of previous reports, 42 but lower than expected from seawater temperatures within the upper 500m. During this 43 study, highest b-values were determined for fluxes of particulate hydrolysable amino acids 44 (PHAA), followed by particulate organic phosphorus (POP), nitrogen (PN), carbon (POC), 45 chlorophyll a, and transparent exopolymer particles (TEP), pointing to a sequential 46 degradation of organic matter components during sinking. Our study suggests that in addition 47 to oxygen concentration, organic matter composition co-determines transfer efficiency 48 through the mesopelagial. The magnitude of future carbon export fluxes may therefore also 49 depend on how organic matter quality in the surface ocean changes under influence of 50 warming, acidification, and enhanced stratification. 51 52 53 2 Biogeosciences Discuss. , doi:10.5194/bg-2016-508, 2016 Manuscript under review for journal Biogeosciences Published: 28 November 2016 c © Author(s) 2016. CC-BY 3.0 License.
Experimenting with Hotword Detection: The Pao-Pal

DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.24018/ejece.2020. 4.5. 246 Vol 4 | Issue 5 | September 2020 1 Abstract — Hotword detection and voice command are implemented in many of today’s current technological devices. In this paper, the implementations using hotword detection as well as the improvements in hotword technology will be discussed including the Pao-Pal. The Pao-Pal was made using Google’s AIY Voice Kit which contains a Raspberry Pi Zero WH, voice bonnet, and a speaker that allows it to playback pre-recorded voice lines. These components allow the Pao-Pal to act as a switch for a Keurig machine to make coffee when certain phrases are said. To allow the Pao-Pal to always listen for hotwords, it uses a hotword detection engine called Snowboy, which also allows it to playback the pre-recorded voice lines. Snowboy allows users to create and customize their own special hotword. Other projects concerning voice commands will be discussed along with the application of that kind of technology.
The Iteration Domain Reference Governor, a Constraint Management Scheme for Batch Processes

In this work, a novel combination of Reference Governors (RG) and Iterative Learning Control (ILC) to address the issue of simultaneous learning and constraint management in systems that perform a task repeatedly is proposed. The proposed control strategy leverages the measured output from the previous iterations to improve tracking, while guaranteeing constraint satisfaction during the learning process. To achieve this, the plant is modeled by a linear system with uncertainties. An RG solution based on a robust Maximal Admissible Set (MAS) is proposed that endows the ILC algorithm with constraint management capabilities. The proposed method is applied to the Scalar Reference Governor (SRG), the Vector Reference Governor (VRG) and the Command Governor (CG). An update law on the MAS is proposed to further improve performance.