Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adults Are Not Big Children: What Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings Tell Us About Differences in Pediatric and Adult Cerebral Malaria.

Historically, research studies of infections in children have lagged behind those in adults. There are many reasons for this, including the smaller population of children, resulting in smaller numbers for research studies; a reluctance to subject children to the procedures required and the potential harms from new interventions; and a lack of financial incentive with the smaller market for drugs for pediatric conditions. However, the lack of pediatric data has led to suboptimal understanding and treatment of some infectious diseases that are seen less often in children than adults. The phrase “children are not little adults” has been a mantra for pediatricians who advocate for the need for research studies in children, because the pathogenesis and course of a specific disease in children is often very different from that seen in adults. The converse is also true, although less remarked on: adults are not big children (well, most are not). For diseases that occur more often in children, such as cerebral malaria (CM), an understanding of differences in pathogenesis and complications in adults versus children is critical to designing the best interventions for each population
DNA/protein interaction, cytotoxic activity and magnetic properties of amino-alcohol Schiff base derived Cu(II)/Ni(II) metal complexes: influence of the nuclearity and metal ions

Four coordination complexes based on two amino-alcohol derived Schiff base ligands, namely, [Cu(H2L1)(Cl)]·CH3OH (1), [Cu4(HL2)2(H2L2)2(H2O)(C2H5OH)]·2(ClO4)·2(C2H5OH) (2), [Ni2(H2L1)2(OAc)2(C2H5OH)2]2 (3) and [Ni4(HL2)3(μ3-O)(H2O)3]·9H2O (4) (H3L1 = {2-ethyl-2-((2-hydroxybenzylideneamino)propane-1,3-diol), and H3L2 = 2-ethyl-2-((2-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzylideneamino)propane-1,3-diol)}), were synthesized and characterized. Alkoxo and phenoxo groups of the Schiff base ligands bridge the metal atoms in diverse modes, leading to interesting mononuclear (1), dinuclear (3), and tetranuclear (2 and 4) complexes, respectively. The in vitro cytotoxic effect of these complexes on cancerous cell lines, including the human lung carcinoma cell line (A549), human colon carcinoma cell lines (HCT-116), human promyelocytic leukemia cells (HL-60) and the chronic myelogenous leukemia cell line (K-562) showed that all these complexes exhibited substantial cytotoxic activity. Their interactions with calf thymus DNA (CT-DNA) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) were also investigated using UV-visible, fluorescence and synchronous fluorescence spectroscopic methods. All complexes could quench the intrinsic fluorescence of BSA in a static quenching process. Variable temperature magnetic properties of these complexes were investigated in details. The nuclearity and metal centers play an important role in the properties of the complexes.
A 2020 view of tension-based cortical morphogenesis

Significance Brain structures change shape dramatically during development. Elucidating the mechanisms of morphogenesis provides insights relevant to understanding brain function in health and disease. The tension-based morphogenesis (TBM) hypothesis posits that mechanical tension along axons, dendrites, and glial processes contributes to many aspects of central nervous system morphogenesis. Since TBM was proposed in 1997, extensive evidence supports a role for tension in diverse cellular phenomena, but tension’s role in cortical folding has been controversial. An extensively revised version of the TBM model for cerebral cortex addresses limitations of the original model, incorporates new features, and can be tested by many experimental approaches. For cerebellar cortex, a revised model accounts for many aspects of its development and adult architecture. Mechanical tension along the length of axons, dendrites, and glial processes has been proposed as a major contributor to morphogenesis throughout the nervous system [D. C. Van Essen, Nature 385, 313–318 (1997)]. Tension-based morphogenesis (TBM) is a conceptually simple and general hypothesis based on physical forces that help shape all living things. Moreover, if each axon and dendrite strive to shorten while preserving connectivity, aggregate wiring length would remain low. TBM can explain key aspects of how the cerebral and cerebellar cortices remain thin, expand in surface area, and acquire their distinctive folds. This article reviews progress since 1997 relevant to TBM and other candidate morphogenetic mechanisms. At a cellular level, studies of diverse cell types in vitro and in vivo demonstrate that tension plays a major role in many developmental events. At a tissue level, I propose a differential expansion sandwich plus (DES+) revision to the original TBM model for cerebral cortical expansion and folding. It invokes tangential tension and “sulcal zipping” forces along the outer cortical margin as well as tension in the white matter core, together competing against radially biased tension in the cortical gray matter. Evidence for and against the DES+ model is discussed, and experiments are proposed to address key tenets of the DES+ model. For cerebellar cortex, a cerebellar multilayer sandwich (CMS) model is proposed that can account for many distinctive features, including its unique, accordion-like folding in the adult, and experiments are proposed to address its specific tenets.
Uronic acid metabolic process–related gene expression–based signature predicts overall survival of glioma

Abstract Glioma is the most common and malignant cancer of the central nervous system, and the prognosis is poor. Metabolic reprogramming is a common phenomenon that plays an important role in tumor progression including gliomas. Searching the representative process among numerous metabolic processes to evaluate the prognosis aside from the glycolytic pathway may be of great significance. A novel prediction signature was constructed in the present study based on gene expression. A total of 1027 glioma samples with clinical and RNA-seq data were used in the present study. Lasso-Cox, gene set variation analysis, Kaplan–Meier survival curve analysis, Cox regression, receiver operating characteristic curve, and elastic net were performed for constructing and verifying predictive models. The R programming language was used as the main tool for statistical analysis and graphical work. This signature was found to be stable in prognostic prediction in the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas Network and the Cancer Genome Atlas databases. The possible mechanism was also explored, revealing that the aforementioned signature was closely related to DNA replication and ATP binding. In summary, a prognosis prediction signature for patients with glioma based on five genes was constructed and showed great potential for clinical application.
During COVID-19, which is more effective in work accident prevention behavior of healthcare professionals: Safety awareness or fatalism perception?

BACKGROUND As the pandemic process, COVID-19 has a serious occupational safety risk for healthcare professionals. Therefore, determining their health and safety perceptions and attitudes in the pandemic process is very important. This study aims to determine which is more effective in work accident prevention behavior: safety awareness and competencies of healthcare professionals or perception of fatalism. METHOD For this purpose, a questionnaire was applied to 326 healthcare professionals. The questionnaire consists of four parts: (1) demographic information of the employees, (2) scale of preventing occupational accidents, (3) fatalism perception scale in occupational health and safety, and (4) security awareness and competency scale. Descriptive statistical methods, multiple regression and correlation analysis were used in the analysis of the data. RESULTS It was determined that the participants' safety awareness and competencies were at the high level and their fatalism perceptions were at the low level. The average of the responses given by the participants to the scale of preventing work accidents was above the middle level. According to the study, the safety awareness and competencies of health workers were found to be about three times more effective on the behavior of preventing work accidents than the perception of fatalism. CONCLUSION In conclusion, it is important to recommend managers to take the step to increase the safety awareness and competencies of those working in their institutions.
Blockage of Squamous Cancer Cell Collective Invasion by FAK Inhibition Is Released by CAFs and MMP-2

Simple Summary Cancers include a diverse collection of cells harboring distinct molecular signatures with different levels of pro-metastatic activities. This intratumoral heterogeneity and phenotypic plasticity are major causes of targeted therapeutic failure and it should be considered when developing prognostic tests. Through the analysis of the Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK) protein and the matrix metalloprotease MMP-2, both implicated in multiple steps of the metastatic spectrum, in complex multicellular tumor spheroids we show that cancer cell populations over-expressing MMP-2 or cancer-associated fibroblasts can release FAK-deficient cancer cells from their constrained metastatic fitness. Consistently, MMP-2, not FAK, serves as an independent prognostic factor in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. Measurement of intratumor heterogeneity facilitate the development of more efficient biomarkers to predict the risk of metastasis and of more-effective personalized cancer therapies. Abstract Metastasis remains a clinically unsolved issue in cancer that is initiated by the acquisition of collective migratory properties of cancer cells. Phenotypic and functional heterogeneity that arise among cancer cells within the same tumor increase cellular plasticity and promote metastasis, however, their impact on collective cell migration is incompletely understood. Here, we show that in vitro collective cancer cell migration depends on FAK and MMP-2 and on the presence of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). The absence of functional FAK rendered cancer cells incapable of invading the surrounding stroma. However, CAFs and cancer cells over-expressing MMP-2 released FAK-deficient cells from this constraint by taking the leader positions in the invasive tracks, pushing FAK-deficient squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) cells towards the stroma and leading to the transformation of non-invasive cells into invasive cells. Our cell-based studies and the RNAseq data from the TCGA cohort of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinomas reveal that, although both FAK and MMP-2 over-expression are associated with epithelial–mesenchymal transition, it is only MMP-2, not FAK, that functions as an independent prognostic factor. Given the significant role of MMP-2 in cancer dissemination, targeting of this molecule, better than FAK, presents a more promising opportunity to block metastasis.
Functional Determinants of Cell Cycle Plasticity and Sensitivity to CDK4/6 Inhibition

This work provides a mechanistic insight toward understanding the functional roles of multiple cell cycle regulators that drive plasticity and sensitivity to CDK4/6 inhibition. Intrinsic or acquired resistance to clinically approved CDK4/6 inhibitors has emerged as a major obstacle that hinders their utility beyond ER+ breast cancer. In this study, CDK4/6-dependent and -resistant models were employed to identify functional determinants of response to pharmacologic CDK4/6 inhibitors. In all models tested, the activation of RB and inhibition of CDK2 activity emerged as determinants of sensitivity. While depleting CDK4 and 6 was sufficient to limit proliferation in specific resistance settings, RB loss rendered cells completely independent of these kinases. The main downstream target in this context was the activation status of CDK2, which was suppressed with CDK4/6 inhibition in an RB-dependent fashion. Protein levels of p27 were associated with plasticity/rigidity of the cell cycle and correlated with sensitivity to CDK4/6 inhibition. Exogenous overexpression and pharmacologic induction of p27 via inhibition of SKP2 and targeting the MEK/ERK pathway enhanced the cytostatic effect of CDK4/6 inhibitors. Mice bearing ER+ xenografts displayed a durable antitumor response to palbociclib; however, over the course of treatment, few cells retained RB phosphorylation, which was associated with limited p27 protein levels as determined by multispectral imaging. Similarly, combination treatment of palbociclib with a MEK inhibitor in pancreatic cancer PDX models upregulated p27 and further enhanced the in vivo tumor response to palbociclib. Collectively, these results suggest that the cell cycle plasticity, which enables tumor models to evade palbociclib-mediated activation of RB, could be targeted using a clinically applicable CDK2 inhibitor. Significance: This work provides a mechanistic insight toward understanding the functional roles of multiple cell cycle regulators that drive plasticity and sensitivity to CDK4/6 inhibition.
Assessing the Performance of RGB-D Sensors for 3D Fruit Crop Canopy Characterization under Different Operating and Lighting Conditions

The use of 3D sensors combined with appropriate data processing and analysis has provided tools to optimise agricultural management through the application of precision agriculture. The recent development of low-cost RGB-Depth cameras has presented an opportunity to introduce 3D sensors into the agricultural community. However, due to the sensitivity of these sensors to highly illuminated environments, it is necessary to know under which conditions RGB-D sensors are capable of operating. This work presents a methodology to evaluate the performance of RGB-D sensors under different lighting and distance conditions, considering both geometrical and spectral (colour and NIR) features. The methodology was applied to evaluate the performance of the Microsoft Kinect v2 sensor in an apple orchard. The results show that sensor resolution and precision decreased significantly under middle to high ambient illuminance (>2000 lx). However, this effect was minimised when measurements were conducted closer to the target. In contrast, illuminance levels below 50 lx affected the quality of colour data and may require the use of artificial lighting. The methodology was useful for characterizing sensor performance throughout the full range of ambient conditions in commercial orchards. Although Kinect v2 was originally developed for indoor conditions, it performed well under a range of outdoor conditions.
Dual Effect of Nanomaterials on Germination and Seedling Growth: Stimulation vs. Phytotoxicity

Due to recent active research, a large amount of data has been accumulated regarding the effects of different nanomaterials (mainly metal oxide nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, chitosan nanoparticles) on different plant species. Most studies have focused on seed germination and early seedling development, presumably due to the simplicity of these experimental systems. Depending mostly on size and concentration, nanomaterials can exert both positive and negative effects on germination and seedling development during normal and stress conditions, thus some research has evaluated the phytotoxic effects of nanomaterials and the physiological and molecular processes behind them, while other works have highlighted the favorable seed priming effects. This review aims to systematize and discuss research data regarding the effect of nanomaterials on germination and seedling growth in order to provide state-of-the-art knowledge about this fast developing research area.
A checklist of spiders in tea plantations of China

Abstract Background Spiders are the most dominant predatory natural enemies of insect pests in the tea plantation ecosystem. There has been a large amount of literature published about the investigation of spider species in Chinese tea plantations from 1982 to 2020. Here, the spider species in Chinese tea plantations has been summarised and the dominant spider species in each regional tea plantation recorded. To date, there were 535 spider species from 40 families reported in Chinese tea plantations. New information There are 245 spider species from 13 families now being added to the checklist. A total of 89 spider species from 19 families were the dominant species, amongst them, Agelena labyrinthica, Allagelena difficilis, Neoscona theisi, Clubiona deletrix, Clubiona japonicola, Hylyphantes graminicola, Pardosa laura, Oxyopes sertatus, Evarcha albaria, Plexippus paykulli, Coleosoma octomaculatum, Ebrechtella tricuspidata and Xysticus ephippiatus were recorded in many tea plantations. The checklist will provide important data for the biodiversity and distribution of spiders in tea plantations of China.
Activation of the miR-371/372/373 miRNA Cluster Enhances Oncogenicity and Drug Resistance in Oral Carcinoma Cells

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is among the leading causes of cancer-associated deaths worldwide. Family members in miR-371/372/373 miRNA cluster, which is localized at human chromosome 19q13.4, are co-expressed in both human stem cells and malignancies. The individual miRNA in this cluster are also involved in modulating the pathogenesis of malignancies as either oncogenes or suppressors. The 19q13 region is frequently gained in head and neck cancers. High expression of miR-372 and miR-373 are survival predictors for OSCC. However, the role of the miR-371/372/373 cluster in oral carcinogenesis remains to be fully investigated. We use the clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-Cas9 system to establish OSCC cell subclones that had the miR-371/372/373 cluster deleted. In addition, further subclones were established that had the promoter of this cluster deleted. Concordant silencing in SAS cells of miR-371/372/373 decreased oncogenic potential, increased cisplatin sensitivity, activated p53, and upregulated the expression of Bad and DKK1. We also employed the CRISPR/dCas9 synergistic activation mediator system, which allowed robust transcriptional activation of the whole miR-371/372/373 cistron. Upregulation of endogenous miR-371/372/372 expression increased both oncogenicity and drug resistance. These were accompanied by a slight activation of AKT, β-catenin, and Src. This study identifies the oncogenic role of the miR-371/372/373 cluster in OSCC. Using CRISPR based strategy can be a powerful paradigm that will provide mechanistic insights into miRNA cluster functionality, which will also likely help the development of targeting options for malignancies.
Line Drawings from 3D Models: A Tutorial

Drawing is the starting point for many kinds of tasks, for everyone from children making pictures to professional architects sketching ideas. Drawing seems to be fundamentally connected to how we represent the world visually. Most computer graphics focuses on realistic visual simulation, but over the past few decades, line drawing algorithms have matured, providing the ability to automatically create reasonable line drawings from 3D geometry. This tutorial provides a detailed guide to the mathematical theory and computer algorithms for line drawing of 3D objects. It focuses on the curves known as contours as they are the most important curves for line drawing of 3D surfaces. The authors describe the different algorithms required to compute and render these curves, before going on to explain boundary curves and surface-surface intersection curves. The tutorial concludes with other topics in 3D non-photorealistic rendering including: other types of curves, stroke rendering, and non-photorealistic shading. Line Drawings from 3D Models: A Tutorial is a concise, yet comprehensive, introduction to an increasingly important topic in computer graphics. The extensive bibliography is invaluable for readers wishing to further their own research in the area.
Leveraging 3D Model Systems to Understand Viral Interactions with the Respiratory Mucosa

Respiratory viruses remain a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in the human population, underscoring the importance of ongoing basic research into virus–host interactions. However, many critical aspects of infection are difficult, if not impossible, to probe using standard cell lines, 2D culture formats, or even animal models. In vitro systems such as airway epithelial cultures at air–liquid interface, organoids, or ‘on-chip’ technologies allow interrogation in human cells and recapitulate emergent properties of the airway epithelium—the primary target for respiratory virus infection. While some of these models have been used for over thirty years, ongoing advancements in both culture techniques and analytical tools continue to provide new opportunities to investigate airway epithelial biology and viral infection phenotypes in both normal and diseased host backgrounds. Here we review these models and their application to studying respiratory viruses. Furthermore, given the ability of these systems to recapitulate the extracellular microenvironment, we evaluate their potential to serve as a platform for studies specifically addressing viral interactions at the mucosal surface and detail techniques that can be employed to expand our understanding.
Radioprotective effect of melatonin against radiotherapy-induced cerebral cortex and cerebellum damage in rat

Abstract Purpose The present study aims to investigate the radioprotective effect of melatonin (MEL) against early period brain damage caused by different dose rate beams in the experimental rat model. Materials and methods Forty-eight Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into six groups; the control, only melatonin, low dose rate-radiotherapy (LDR-RT), high dose rate-radiotherapy (HDR-RT) groups and (LDR-RT) + MEL and (HDR-RT) + MEL radiotherapy plus melatonin groups. Each rat administered melatonin was given a dose of 10 mg/kg through intraperitoneal injection, 15 minutes before radiation exposure. The head and neck region of each rat in only radiotherapy and radiotherapy plus melatonin groups was irradiated with a single dose of 16 Gy in LDR-RT and HDR-RT beams. Rats in all groups were examined for histopathology and biochemistry analysis 10 days after radiotherapy. Results Comparing the findings for LDR-RT and HDR-RT only radiotherapy groups and the control group, there was a statistically significant difference in histopathological and biochemical parameters, however, melatonin administered in radiotherapy plus melatonin groups contributed improving these parameters (p < .05). There was no statistically significant difference between LDR-RT and HDR-RT beams (p > .05). Conclusions It was concluded that melatonin applied before LDR-RT and HDR-RT radiotherapy protected early period radiotherapy-induced brain damage. The effects of clinically low and high dose beams on the cerebral cortex and cerebellum were investigated histopathologically for the first time. HDR beams can be safely applied in brain radiotherapy. However, more experimental rat and clinical studies are needed to explain the radiobiological uncertainties about the clinic dose rate on different cancerous and healthy tissues.