Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The culture of social comparison

Significance Humans have the unique ability to coordinate behavior, economic exchange, political action, and social relationships across immense distances and times. To keep this level of coordination running smoothly, we often look to others as comparison standards for how to behave, think, and feel. A detailed understanding of the relation between social comparison and broad patterns of social life is lacking, however. The current research is a step in this direction—we show that social comparison is linked to cultural practices that promote strong norms and punishment for deviance (tightness) and those that promote relational self-construal (collectivism). These findings advance our understanding of the origins of social comparison and highlight the essential role of comparison for the development of social life. Social comparison is one of the most ubiquitous features of human social life. This fundamental human tendency to look to others for information about how to think, feel, and behave has provided us with the ability to thrive in a highly complex and interconnected modern social world. Despite its prominent role, however, a detailed understanding of the cultural foundations of social comparison is lacking. The current research aims to fill this gap by showing that two prominent cultural dimensions, tightness–looseness and individualism–collectivism, uniquely explain variation in social-comparison proclivity across individuals, situations, and cultures. We first demonstrate the yet-undocumented link between cultural tightness and comparison proclivity across individuals, and further show that perceptions of ambient tightness and interdependence are uniquely associated with stronger social-comparison tendencies. Next, we show that these associations arise across social settings and can be attributed to properties of the settings themselves, not solely to individual differences. Finally, we show that both tight and collectivistic US states show a propensity to engage in Google searches related to specific social-comparison emotions, but that the tightness–comparison link arises from a unique psychological mechanism. Altogether, these findings show that social comparison—a fundamental aspect of human cognition—is linked to cultural practices based both in prevalence and strength of social norms as well as the tendency to construe the self in relation to others.
The impact of different sources of heterogeneity on loss of accuracy from genomic prediction models

Cross-study validation (CSV) of prediction models is an alternative to traditional cross-validation (CV) in domains where multiple comparable datasets are available. Although many studies have noted potential sources of heterogeneity in genomic studies, to our knowledge none have system atically investigated their intertwined impacts on prediction accuracy across studies. We employ a hybrid parametric/non-parametric bootstrap method to realistically simulate publicly available compendia of microarray, RNA-seq, and whole metagenome shotgun (WMS) microbiome studies of health outcomes. Three types of heterogeneity between studies are manipulated and studied: imbalances in the prevalence of clinical and pathological covariates, 2) differences in gene covariance that could be caused by batch, platform, or tumor purity effects, and 3) differences in the “true” model that associates gene expression and clinical factors to outcome. We assess model accuracy while altering these factors. Lower accuracy is seen in CSV than in CV. Surprisingly, heterogeneity in known clinical covariates and differences in gene covariance structure have very limited contributions in the loss of accuracy when validating in new studies. However, forcing identical generative models greatly reduces the within/across study difference. These results, observed consistently for multiple disease outcomes and omics platforms, suggest that the most easily identifiable sources of study heterogeneity are not necessarily the primary ones that undermine the ability to accurately replicate the accuracy of omics prediction models in new studies. Unidentified heterogeneity, such as could arise from unmeasured confounding, may be more important.
Pharmacy Medication Synchronization Service Works to Improve Medication Adherence

Medication adherence plays an important role in the effective management of chronic conditions, yet nonadherence related to therapeutic complexity and numerous visits to the pharmacy is well documented in the literature. Medication Synchronization (Med Sync) programs work to overcome this barrier by standardizing medication refills for a less frequent, generally once monthly pickup. Features of Med Sync programs as well the impact on adherence will be discussed.
Genotyping-by-Sequencing Enhances Genetic Diversity Analysis of Crested Wheatgrass [Agropyron cristatum (L.) Gaertn.]

Molecular characterization of unsequenced plant species with complex genomes is now possible by genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) using recent next generation sequencing technologies. This study represents the first use of GBS application to sample genome-wide variants of crested wheatgrass [Agropyron cristatum (L.) Gaertn. ] and assess the genetic diversity present in 192 genotypes from 12 tetraploid lines. Bioinformatic analysis identified 45,507 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers in this outcrossing grass species. The model-based Bayesian analysis revealed four major clusters of the samples assayed. The diversity analysis revealed 15.8% of SNP variation residing among the 12 lines, and 12.1% SNP variation present among four genetic clusters identified by the Bayesian analysis. The principal coordinates analysis and dendrogram were able to distinguish four lines of Asian origin from Canadian cultivars and breeding lines. These results serve as a valuable resource for understanding genetic variability, and will aid in the genetic improvement of this outcrossing polyploid grass species for forage production. These findings illustrate the potential of GBS application in the characterization of non-model polyploid plants with complex genomes.
Direct Asymmetric Reductive Amination for the Synthesis of (S)-Rivastigmine

In this article we demonstrate how asymmetric total synthesis of (S)-rivastigmine has been achieved using direct asymmetric reductive amination as the key transformation in four steps. The route started with readily available and cheap m-hydroxyacetophenone, through esterification, asymmetric reductive amination, N-diphenylmethyl deprotection and reductive amination, to provide the final (S)-rivastigmine in 82% overall yield and 96% enantioselectivity. In the asymmetric reductive amination, catalysed by the iridium–phosphoramidite ligand complex and helped by some additives, the readily prepared 3-acetylphenyl ethyl(methyl)carbamate directly reductively coupled with diphenylmethanamine to yield the chiral amine product in 96% ee and 93% yield.
Guiding the Creation of Deep Learning-based Object Detectors

Object detection is a computer vision field that has applications in several contexts ranging from biomedicine and agriculture to security. In the last years, several deep learning techniques have greatly improved object detection models. Among those techniques, we can highlight the YOLO approach, that allows the construction of accurate models that can be employed in real-time applications. However, as most deep learning techniques, YOLO has a steep learning curve and creating models using this approach might be challenging for non-expert users. In this work, we tackle this problem by constructing a suite of Jupyter notebooks that democratizes the construction of object detection models using YOLO. The suitability of our approach has been proven with a dataset of stomata images where we have achieved a mAP of 90.91%.
Correlation of Immune Cells and Cytokines in the Tumor Microenvironment with Elevated Neutrophil-To-Lymphocyte Ratio in Blood: An Analysis of Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer

Abstract We investigated the relationship between Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the quantities of neutrophil elastase, CD3, Foxp3, and CD204 in tumor-infiltrating cells and circulating cytokines (IL-2, -6, -8, 17a, and TGF-β) in muscle-invasive bladder cancer. IL-6 and IL-8 levels showed a significant correlation with NLR in blood and Foxp3+ cells around the tumor. After co-culture of peripheral blood cells with bladder cancer cell lines, the induction of regulatory T cell (Treg) was higher in T24 whose IL-6 and IL-8 levels were higher. High NLR correlates with increased IL-6 and IL-8 and Treg expression.
Role of Vitamin A in the Immune System

Vitamin A (VitA) is a micronutrient that is crucial for maintaining vision, promoting growth and development, and protecting epithelium and mucus integrity in the body. VitA is known as an anti-inflammation vitamin because of its critical role in enhancing immune function. VitA is involved in the development of the immune system and plays regulatory roles in cellular immune responses and humoral immune processes. VitA has demonstrated a therapeutic effect in the treatment of various infectious diseases. To better understand the relationship between nutrition and the immune system, the authors review recent literature about VitA in immunity research and briefly introduce the clinical application of VitA in the treatment of several infectious diseases.
Hypothalamic DNA methylation in rats with dihydrotestosterone‐induced polycystic ovary syndrome: effects of low‐frequency electro‐acupuncture

What is the central question of this study? What is the role of hypothalamic DNA methylation in the development of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and the response to electro‐acupuncture treatment. What is the main finding and its importance? Global DNA methylation and expression of DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) were increased in PCOS‐like rats, and electro‐acupuncture (EA) decreased global DNA methylation and DNMT3b expression. Pyrosequencing showed that the DNA methylation of some PCOS candidate genes was changed in the PCOS and PCOS+EA groups, suggesting that hypothalamic DNA methylation plays an important role in the development of PCOS and in mediating the effects of electro‐acupuncture treatment.
Establishment of a high‐sensitivity reporter system in mammalian cells for detecting juvenoids using juvenile hormone receptors of Daphnia pulex

Environmental waters are polluted by various chemicals originating from human activities. Recently, the environmental risk of juvenile hormones (JHs) to aquatic microcrustaceans has been recognized by risk assessors and researchers. JH is a major arthropod hormone that regulates molting and reproduction and has analogs that have been used as insect growth regulators. JHs are known to disturb the sex determination system of Daphnia, which is a keystone animal in limnetic ecosystems and is not the target of extermination. To assess the risk of contaminant chemicals and to protect biodiversity, reliable methods for detecting such chemicals are essential. In this study, we attempted to establish a practical in vitro reporter assay system for detecting chemicals with JH activity. Using a newly constructed reporter vector (modified from the JH response element of Tribolium castaneum Krüppel homolog 1, which is a major JH responsive gene in insects), strong JH‐dependent transcriptional activity (>40‐fold activation) was found in Chinese hamster ovary cells that express JH receptors of Daphnia pulex. Dose‐response analysis conducted on several JH and non‐JH chemicals revealed that the established reporter assay system has strict specificity to JH chemicals, and the half maximum effective concentration (EC50) was between 10−7 and 10−9 m. These results suggest that the new system is a rapid and economical method for assessing the environmental risk of JH‐active chemicals.
Graphene Oxide-Silver Nanoparticles in Molecularly-Imprinted Hybrid Films Enabling SERS Selective Sensing

A highly sensitive and selective Raman sensor has been developed by combining molecularly imprinted cavities, silver nanoparticles, and graphene oxide into a hybrid organic-inorganic film. The molecular imprinted nanocomposite material is an advanced platform that exhibits Graphene-mediated Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering. The sensing layers have been prepared via sol-gel process and imprinted with rhodamine 6G to obtain selective dye recognition. Graphene oxide sheets decorated with silver nanoparticles have been incorporated into the matrix to enhance the Raman scattering signal. The template molecule can be easily removed from the films by ultrasonication in ethanol. A 712-fold Raman enhancement has been observed, which corresponds to a 2.15 × 1013 count·μmol−1 signal enhancement per molecular cavity. Besides Raman enhancement, the sensing platform has shown an excellent selectivity toward the test molecule with respect to similar dyes. In addition, the material can be reused at least 10 times without any loss of performance.
Mycolicibacterium smegmatis, Basonym Mycobacterium smegmatis, Expresses Morphological Phenotypes Much More Similar to Escherichia coli Than Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Quantitative Structome Analysis and CryoTEM Examination

A series of structome analyses, that is, quantitative and three-dimensional structural analysis of a whole cell at the electron microscopic level, have already been achieved individually in Exophiala dermatitidis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Myojin spiral bacteria, and Escherichia coli. In these analyses, sample cells were processed through cryo-fixation and rapid freeze-substitution, resulting in the exquisite preservation of ultrastructures on the serial ultrathin sections examined by transmission electron microscopy. In this paper, structome analysis of non pathogenic Mycolicibacterium smegmatis, basonym Mycobacterium smegmatis, was performed. As M. smegmatis has often been used in molecular biological experiments and experimental tuberculosis as a substitute of highly pathogenic M. tuberculosis, it has been a task to compare two species in the same genus, Mycobacterium, by structome analysis. Seven M. smegmatis cells cut into serial ultrathin sections, and, totally, 220 serial ultrathin sections were examined by transmission electron microscopy. Cell profiles were measured, including cell length, diameter of cell and cytoplasm, surface area of outer membrane and plasma membrane, volume of whole cell, periplasm, and cytoplasm, and total ribosome number and density per 0.1 fl cytoplasm. These data are based on direct measurement and enumeration of exquisitely preserved single cell structures in the transmission electron microscopy images, and are not based on the calculation or assumptions from biochemical or molecular biological indirect data. All measurements in M. smegmatis, except cell length, are significantly higher than those of M. tuberculosis. In addition, these data may explain the more rapid growth of M. smegmatis than M. tuberculosis and contribute to the understanding of their structural properties, which are substantially different from M. tuberculosis, relating to the expression of antigenicity, acid-fastness, and the mechanism of drug resistance in relation to the ratio of the targets to the corresponding drugs. In addition, data obtained from cryo-transmission electron microscopy examination were used to support the validity of structome analysis. Finally, our data strongly support the most recent establishment of the novel genus Mycolicibacterium, into which basonym Mycobacterium smegmatis has been classified.
Evaluating strategies for forward snowballing application to support secondary studies updates: emergent results

Context: Secondary studies should be updated from time to time to include new evidence to preserve their value. It is recognized that one search technique to update secondary studies is forward snowballing and that the number of studies identified is dependent on the electronic databases selected. However, there is no consensus on what electronic database is most appropriate for applying forward snowballing. Objective: The main goal of this study is to evaluate the use of different electronic databases for applying forward snowballing to update secondary studies. Method: Six updates were performed using forward snowballing with support from two electronic databases, one specific (IEEE Xplore) and the other generic (Google Scholar) and three combinations were evaluated to obtain new evidence during secondary studies updating: (1) searching using Google Scholar as electronic database; (2) searching using IEEE Xplore as electronic database; and (3) searching using both, IEEE Xplore and Google Scholar as complementary electronic databases. Results: The use of a specific electronic database is not indicated for forward snowballing application to update SLRs, since many relevant studies may not be identified. However, the use of a generic database is sufficient to discover the majority of the studies. Conclusions: The emergent contribution of our work to the body of knowledge in the SLR field is to add empirical evidence regarding the use of different electronic databases to support forward snowballing application during secondary studies updates. These results should help reviewers when they decide to find evidences to update their SLRs.
Multi-view Models for Political Ideology Detection of News Articles

A news article’s title, content and link structure often reveal its political ideology. However, most existing works on automatic political ideology detection only leverage textual cues. Drawing inspiration from recent advances in neural inference, we propose a novel attention based multi-view model to leverage cues from all of the above views to identify the ideology evinced by a news article. Our model draws on advances in representation learning in natural language processing and network science to capture cues from both textual content and the network structure of news articles. We empirically evaluate our model against a battery of baselines and show that our model outperforms state of the art by 10 percentage points F1 score.
Biophysical properties of single rotavirus particles account for the functions of protein shells in a multilayered virus

The functions performed by the concentric shells of multilayered dsRNA viruses require specific protein interactions that can be directly explored through their mechanical properties. We studied the stiffness, breaking force, critical strain and mechanical fatigue of individual Triple, Double and Single layered rotavirus (RV) particles. Our results, in combination with Finite Element simulations, demonstrate that the mechanics of the external layer provides the resistance needed to counteract the stringent conditions of extracellular media. Our experiments, in combination with electrostatic analyses, reveal a strong interaction between the two outer layers and how it is suppressed by the removal of calcium ions, a key step for transcription initiation. The intermediate layer presents weak hydrophobic interactions with the inner layer that allow the assembly and favor the conformational dynamics needed for transcription. Our work shows how the biophysical properties of the three shells are finely tuned to produce an infective RV virion.
Lamins organize the global three-dimensional genome from the nuclear periphery

Lamins are structural components of the nuclear lamina (NL) that regulate genome organization and gene expression, but the mechanism remains unclear. Using Hi-C, we show that lamins maintain proper interactions among the topologically associated chromatin domains (TADs) but not their overall architecture. Combining Hi-C with fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and analyses of lamina-associated domains (LADs), we reveal that lamin loss causes expansion or detachment of specific LADs in mouse ES cells. The detached LADs disrupt 3D interactions of both LADs and interior chromatin. 4C and epigenome analyses further demonstrate that lamins maintain the active and repressive chromatin domains among different TADs. By combining these studies with transcriptome analyses, we found a significant correlation between transcription changes and the changes of active and inactive chromatin domain interactions. These findings provide a foundation to further study how the nuclear periphery impacts genome organization and transcription in development and NL-associated diseases. Highlights Lamin loss does not affect the overall TAD structure but alters TAD-TAD interactions Lamin null ES cells exhibit decondensation or detachment of specific LAD regions Expansion and detachment of LADs can alter genome-wide 3D chromatin interactions Altered chromatin domain interactions are correlated with altered transcription
CACTAS - Collaborative Audio Categorization and Transcription for ASR Systems

We present a web based tool that allows collaborative analysis and/or transcription of audios with respect to Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) systems. The tool presents a webpage consisting of audios and their corresponding references and hypotheses obtained ofﬂine. Several other information and features are provided that allow the audios to be categorized and references to be corrected efﬁciently in a collaborative way almost 10 times faster, without the need for prior knowledge on speech or ASR systems. The analysis can later be summarized and acted upon to improve or triage the ASR system.
Intelligent flat-and-textureless object manipulation in Service Robots

This work introduces our approach to the flat and textureless object grasping problem. In particular, we address the tableware and cutlery manipulation problem where a service robot has to clean up a table. Our solution integrates colour and 2D and 3D geometry information to describe objects, and this information is given to the robot action planner to find the best grasping trajectory depending on the object class. Furthermore, we use visual feedback as a verification step to determine if the grasping process has successfully occurred. We evaluate our approach in both an open and a standard service robot platform following the RoboCup@Home international tournament regulations.