Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cell factory engineering: Challenges and opportunities for synthetic biology applications

The production of high‐quality recombinant proteins is critical to maintaining a continuous supply of biopharmaceuticals, such as therapeutic antibodies. Engineering mammalian cell factories presents a number of limitations typically associated with the proteotoxic stress induced upon aberrant accumulation of off‐pathway protein folding intermediates, which eventually culminate in the induction of apoptosis. In this review, we will discuss advances in cell engineering and their applications at different hierarchical levels of control of the expression of recombinant proteins, from transcription and translational to posttranslational modifications and subcellular trafficking. We also highlight challenges and unique opportunities to apply modern synthetic biology tools to the design of programmable cell factories for improved biomanufacturing of therapeutic proteins.
Neurolymphomatosis: involvement of peripheral nervous system revealing hematologic malignancy, a report of nine cases

Neurolymphomatosis is defined as an infiltration of the peripheral nervous system (PNS) by malignant lymphoma cells. It is a rare entity and diagnosis is complicated especially when PNS involvement is the initial and leading symptom. To improve knowledge of the disorder and shorten the time to diagnosis, we report a series of nine patients without a history of hematologic malignancy, who were diagnosed with neurolymphomatosis after evaluation and workup of peripheral neuropathy.
β‐blocked Multistep Methods for Euler‐Lagrange DAEs: Linear Analysis

Many different methods have been suggested for the numerical solution of index 2 and 3 Euler‐Lagrange equations. We focus on 0‐stability of multistep methods (φ, σ) and investigate the relations between some well‐known computational techniques. By various modifications, referred to as β‐blocking of the σ polynomial, some basic shortcomings of multistep methods may be overcome. This approach is related to projection techniques and has a clear and well‐known analogy in control theory. In particular, it is not necessary to use BDF methods for the solution of high index problems; indeed, “nonstiff” methods may be used for part of the system provided that the state‐space form is nonstiff. We illustrate the techniques and demonstrate the results with a simplified multibody model of a truck.
EUS-guided biliary drainage in malignant distal biliary obstruction: An international survey to identify barriers of technology implementation

Background and Objectives: EUS-guided biliary drainage (EUS-BD) is a promising alternative to ERCP in malignant distal biliary obstruction (MDBO). Despite accumulating data, however, its application in clinical practice has been impeded by undefined barriers. This study aims to evaluate the practice of EUS-BD and its barriers. Methods: An online survey was generated using Google Forms. Six gastroenterology/endoscopy associations were contacted between July 2019 and November 2019. Survey questions measured participant characteristics, EUS-BD in different clinical scenarios, and potential barriers. The primary outcome was the uptake of EUS-BD as a first-line modality, without previous ERCP attempts, in patients with MDBO. Results: Overall, 115 respondents completed the survey (2.9% response rate). Respondents were from North America (39.2%), Asia (28.6%), Europe (20%), and other jurisdictions (12.2%). Regarding the uptake of EUS-BD as first-line treatment for MDBO, only 10.5% of respondents would consider EUS-BD as a first-line modality regularly. The main concerns were the lack of high-quality data, fear of adverse events, and limited access to EUS-BD dedicated devices. On multivariable analysis, lack of access to EUS-BD expertise was an independent predictor against the use of EUS-BD, odds ratio 0.16 (95% confidence interval, 0.04–0.65). In salvage situations following failed ERCP, most favored EUS-BD (40.9%) over percutaneous drainage (21.7%) in unresectable cancer. In borderline resectable or locally advanced disease, however, most favored the percutaneous approach due to fear of EUS-BD complicating future surgery. Conclusions: EUS-BD has not reached widespread clinical adoption. Identified barriers include lack of high-quality data, fear of adverse events, and lack of access to EUS-BD dedicated devices. Fear of complicating future surgery was also identified as a barrier in potentially resectable disease.
Secondary Wind Speed Maxima Inside Plant Canopies

Abstract It is noted that wind profiles measured in forest and crop canopies normally contain a secondary maximum or a region of very small shear beneath the level of greatest foliage density. One-dimensional models utilizing a turbulent transport coefficient cannot predict a reversed velocity gradient and, as a result, profile analyses normally imply coefficients that are unrealistic or nonsensical. Examination of the equation for the local rate of change of Reynolds stress u′w′ shows that the velocity gradient can reverse in sign if the divergence of the turbulent transport of stress is of opposite sign and exceeds in magnitude the pressure-velocity gradient correlation. Direct measurements of the turbulent transport of u′w′ in corn (Zea mays L.) indicate that its value is considerably larger than in the air layers above and show that stress is transported downward from the upper parts of the vegetation. A one-dimensional model of canopy flow which solves the equations for momentum, Reynolds stress and .
A SIMPLE ALGORITHM FOR DEDUCTION

Abstract It is shown that a simple deduction engine can be developed for a propositional logic that follows the normal rules of classical logic in symbolic form, but the description of what is known about a proposition uses two numeric state variables that conveniently describe unknown and inconsistent, as well as true and false. Partly true and partly false can be included in deductions. The multi-valued logic is easily understood as the state variables relate directly to true and false. The deduction engine provides a convenient standard method for handling multiple or complicated logical relations. It is particularly convenient when the deduction can start with different propositions being given initial values of true or false. It extends Horn clause based deduction for propositional logic to arbitrary clauses. The logic system used has potential applications in many areas. A comparison with propositional logic makes the paper self-contained.
Modeling of organic thin film transistors: Effect of contact resistances

Field effect transistors require an Ohmic source contact and an Ohmic drain contact for ideal operation. In many real situations, however, and specifically in organic devices, the injection of charge carriers from metals into semiconductors can be an inefficient process that is non-Ohmic. This has an adverse impact on the performance of thin film transistors and makes the analysis of electrical measurements a complex task because contact effects need to be disentangled from transistor properties. This paper deals with the effects of non-Ohmic contacts on the modeling of organic transistors and gives specific rules on how to extract the real transistor parameters (mobility, threshold voltage, and contact resistances) using only electrical measurements. The method consists of a differential analysis of the transfer characteristic curves (current versus gate voltage) and exploits the different functional dependences of current on gate voltage which is induced by the presence of contact resistances. This pape.
Innovative Remote Management Solutions for the Control of Hypertension

We stand at a critical juncture in the delivery of health care for hypertension. Blood pressure control rates have stagnated, and traditional health care is failing. Fortunately, hypertension is exceptionally well-suited to remote management, and innovative digital solutions are proliferating. Early strategies arose with the spread of digital medicine, long before the COVID-19 pandemic forced lasting changes to the way medicine is practiced. Highlighting one contemporary example, this review explores salient features of remote management hypertensive programs, including: an automated algorithm to guide clinical decisions, home (as opposed to office) blood pressure measurements, an interdisciplinary care team, and robust information technology and analytics. Dozens of emerging hypertension management solutions are contributing to a highly fragmented and competitive landscape. Beyond viability, profit and scalability are critical. We explore the challenges impeding large-scale acceptance of these programs and conclude with a hopeful look to the future when remote hypertension care will have dramatic impact on global cardiovascular health.
Screening and characterization of sex-specific sequences through 2b-RAD sequencing in American shad (Alosa sapidissima)

American shad (Alosa sapidissima), introduced from the United States, has become one of the most expensive farmed fish in the aquatic product market of China. The shad reveals significant sexual dimorphism in growth and behaviors. For the study, five male-specific tags were identified in two-generation breeding populations of Alosa sapidissima and were verified by PCR amplification. Averages of 10,245,091 and 8,685,704 raw and enzyme reads were obtained by high-throughput sequencing of the 2b-RAD library, respectively. 301,022 unique tags were obtained from the sequences of twenty samples with sequencing depths of 0 to 500. Finally, 274,324 special tags and 29,327 SNPs were selected with a sequencing depth of 3 to 500. Eleven preliminary screening male-specific tags and three male heterogametic SNP loci were isolated. After verification by PCR amplification, five male-specific sequences of 27 bp located on chromosome 3 were screened out. Chromosome 3 could be assumed to be the sex chromosome of Alosa sapidissima. Sex-specific markers will provide invaluable and systematic animal germplasm resources to allow for the precise identification of neo-males for the all-female breeding of Alosa sapidissima in commercial aquaculture.
An expert overview of pulmonary fibrosis in sarcoidosis

ABSTRACT Introduction Advanced pulmonary sarcoidosis refers to phenotypes of pulmonary sarcoidosis that often lead to significant loss of lung function, respiratory failure, or death. Around 20% of patients with sarcoidosis may progress to this state which is mainly driven by advanced pulmonary fibrosis. Advanced fibrosis often presents with associated complications of sarcoidosis including infections, bronchiectasis, and pulmonary hypertension. Areas covered This article will focus on the pathogenesis, natural history of disease, diagnosis, and potential treatment options of pulmonary fibrosis in sarcoidosis. In the expert opinion section, we will discuss the prognosis and management of patients with significant disease. Expert opinion While some patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis remain stable or improve with anti-inflammatory therapies, others develop pulmonary fibrosis and further complications. Although advanced pulmonary fibrosis is the leading cause of death in sarcoidosis, there are no evidence-based guidelines for the management of fibrotic sarcoidosis. Current recommendations are based on expert consensus and often include multidisciplinary discussions with experts in sarcoidosis, pulmonary hypertension, and lung transplantation to facilitate care for such complex patients. Current works evaluating treatments include the use of antifibrotic therapies for treatment in advanced pulmonary sarcoidosis.
A Bayesian approach to microwave precipitation profile retrieval

Abstract A multichannel passive microwave precipitation retrieval algorithm is developed. Bayes theorem is used to combine statistical information from numerical cloud models with forward radiative transfer modeling. Amultivariate lognormal prior probability distribution contains the covariance information about hydrometeor distributions that resolves the nonuniqueness inherent in the inversion process. Hydrometeor profiles are retrieved by maximizing the posterior probability density for each vector of observations. The hydrometeor profile retrievalmethod is tested with data from the Advanced Microwave Precipitation Radiometer (IO, 19, 37, and 85 GHz) of convection over ocean and land in Florida. The CP-2 multiparameter radar data are used to verify theretrieved profiles. The results show that the method can retrieve approximate hydrometeor profiles, with larger errors over land than water. There is considerably greater accuracy in the retrieval of integrated hydrometeor contents than of profiles. Many o.
The effect of supervision on community health workers’ effectiveness with households in rural South Africa: A cluster randomized controlled trial

Background Community health workers (CHWs) can supplement professional medical providers, especially in rural settings where resources are particularly scarce. Yet, outcomes of studies evaluating CHWs effectiveness have been highly variable and lack impact when scaled nationally. This study examines if child and maternal outcomes are better when existing government CHWs, who are perinatal home visitors, receive ongoing enhanced supervision and monitoring, compared to standard care. Methods and findings A cluster randomized controlled effectiveness trial was conducted comparing outcomes over 2 years when different supervision and support are provided. Primary health clinics were randomized by clinic to receive monitoring and supervision from either (1) existing supervisors (Standard Care (SC); n = 4 clinics, 23 CHWs, 392 mothers); or (2) supervisors from a nongovernmental organization that provided enhanced monitoring and supervision (Accountable Care [AC]; n = 4 clinic areas, 20 CHWs, 423 mothers). Assessments were conducted during pregnancy and at 3, 6, 15, and 24 months post-birth with high retention rates (76% to 86%). The primary outcome was the number of statistically significant intervention effects among 13 outcomes of interest; this approach allowed us to evaluate the intervention holistically while accounting for correlation among the 13 outcomes and considering multiple comparisons. The observed benefits were not statistically significant and did not show the AC’s efficacy over the SC. Only the antiretroviral (ARV) adherence effect met the significance threshold established a priori (SC mean 2.3, AC mean 2.9, p < 0.025; 95% CI = [0.157, 1.576]). However, for 11 of the 13 outcomes, we observed an improvement in the AC compared to the SC. While the observed outcomes were not statistically significant, benefits were observed for 4 outcomes: increasing breastfeeding for 6 months, reducing malnutrition, increasing ARV adherence, and improving developmental milestones. The major study limitation was utilizing existing CHWs and being limited to a sample of 8 clinics. There were no major study-related adverse events. Conclusions Supervision and monitoring were insufficient to improve CHWs’ impact on maternal and child outcomes. Alternative strategies for staff recruitment and narrowing the intervention outcomes to the specific local community problems are needed for consistently high impact. Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT02957799.
Shear shock waves mediate haptic holography via focused ultrasound

Emerging holographic haptic interfaces focus ultrasound in air to enable their users to touch, feel, and manipulate three-dimensional virtual objects. However, current holographic haptic systems furnish tactile sensations that are diffuse and faint, with apparent spatial resolutions that are far coarser than would be theoretically predicted from acoustic focusing. Here, we show how the effective spatial resolution and dynamic range of holographic haptic displays are determined by ultrasound-driven elastic wave transport in soft tissues. Using time-resolved optical imaging and numerical simulations, we show that ultrasound-based holographic displays excite shear shock wave patterns in the skin. The spatial dimensions of these wave patterns can exceed nominal focal dimensions by more than an order of magnitude. Analyses of data from behavioral and vibrometry experiments indicate that shock formation diminishes perceptual acuity. For holographic haptic displays to attain their potential, techniques for circumventing shock wave artifacts, or for exploiting these phenomena, are needed.
Ultrasonic bubbles in microfluidics for red blood cells, bacteria and yeast lysis

A custom microfluidic ultrasound device has been designed and implemented to efficiently create oscillating ultrasonic bubbles. These bubbles interact with the red blood cells, bacteria (Escherichia coli), and yeast (Pichia pastoris). Observations using high speed photography show that the red blood cells were strongly stretched. A numerical model using the Boundary Element Method is used to simulate the oscillating bubble's interaction with a nearby elastic pocket (a red blood cell model). Complex dynamics are discussed. Our ultrasonic microfluidic device is efficient in lysing E. coli and yeast cells for the harvesting of active intracellular content. Complete lysis of E. coli takes only 0.4 seconds while it takes about 1 second for the yeast cell. Temperature rise is minimal. We perform flourescent intensity measurement and qRT-PCR (real-time polymerase chain reaction) to show that the functional integrity of the proteins and DNA is preserved.
ON A SUBFACTOR ANALOGUE OF THE SECOND COHOMOLOGY

The set of equivalence classes of Longo's Q-systems is shown to serve as a right subfactor analogue of the second cohomology. This "cohomology" is computed for several classes of subfactors, which tells us if a subfactor is uniquely determined up to inner conjugacy by the associated canonical endomorphism. As a byproduct of our analysis, two different groups of order 64 are shown to possess the same representation category as an abstract tensor category. Thus, this category has two permutation symmetries with non-isomorphic groups via the Doplicher–Roberts duality.
MiR-124 Reduced Neuroinflammation after Traumatic Brain Injury by Inhibiting TRAF6

Introduction: Neuroinflammation contributes to secondary injury after traumatic brain injury (TBI), which has been mainly mediated by the microglia. MiR-124 was reported to play an important role in the polarization of microglia by targeting TLR4 signaling pathway. However, the role and mechanism of miR-124 in neuroinflammation mediated by microglia after TBI is unclear. To clarify this, we performed this research. Methods: The expression of miR-124 was first measured by RT-PCR in the injured brain at 1/3/7 days post-TBI. Then, miR-124 mimics or inhibitors administration was used to interfere the expression of miR-124 at 24 h post-TBI. Subsequently, the microglia polarization markers were detected by RT-PCR, the expression of inflammatory cytokines was detected by ELISA, the expression of TLR4/MyD88/IRAK1/TRAF6/NF-κB was measured by WB, and the neurological deficit was evaluated by NSS and MWM test. At last, in vitro experiments were performed to explore the exact target molecule of miR-124 on TLR4 signaling pathway. Results: Animal research indicated that the expression of miR-124 was downregulated after TBI. Upregulation of miR-124 promoted the M2 polarization of microglia and inhibited the activity of TLR4 pathway, as well as reduced neuroinflammation and neurological deficit after TBI. In vitro experiments indicated that miR-124 promoted the M2 polarization of microglia and reduced neuroinflammation by inhibiting TRAF6. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that upregulation of miR-124 promoted the M2 polarization of microglia and reduced neuroinflammation after TBI by inhibiting TRAF6.
Systematic literature review and meta-analysis of cardiovascular risk factor management in selected Asian countries

Aims: There is a need to understand the management status of hypertension, dyslipidemia/hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes mellitus in the Asia–Pacific region (APAC). Methods: We conducted a systematic literature review and meta-analysis to summarize the awareness, treatment, and/or control rates of these risk factors in adults across 11 APAC countries/regions. Results: We included 138 studies. Individuals with dyslipidemia had the lowest pooled rates compared with those with other risk factors. Levels of awareness with diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia were comparable. Individuals with hypercholesterolemia had a statistically lower pooled treatment rate but a higher pooled control rate than those with hypertension. Conclusion: The management of hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes mellitus was suboptimal in these 11 countries/regions.
Surface recombination velocity in silicon substrates determined from light beam induced current measurements

We show a simple method to determine the surface recombination velocity of silicon substrates from light beam induced current (LBIC) measurements. With this method we have studied the possible passivation effects due to SiN obtained by PECVD as compared to SiO/sub 2/ thermally grown and a combination of thermal SiO/sub 2/ with PECVD SiN. From LBIC measurements and by fitting the data to a realistic mathematical model we were able to determine both the diffusion length and the surface recombination velocity for silicon substrates covered with different passivating films. In this way we could determine that a combination of thin thermal SiO/sub 2/ with SiN is a better surface passivant than pure SiN films, but is not as good as a thick thermal SiO/sub 2/. However, it is expected that SiN or SiO/sub 2//SiN layers may be optimized in order to have similar passivation as a thick thermal SiO/sub 2/ film on top of silicon. In this case, a simple technique to determine the surface recombination velocity, such as the one presented here, should be very useful.
Proxy gene-by-environment Mendelian randomization study of the association between cigarette smoking during pregnancy and offspring mental health

Abstract Background Smoking prevalence is higher among individuals with schizophrenia or depression, and previous work has suggested this relationship is causal. However, this may be due to dynastic effects, for example reflecting maternal smoking during pregnancy rather than a direct effect of smoking. We used a proxy gene-by-environment Mendelian randomization approach to investigate whether there is a causal effect of maternal heaviness of smoking during pregnancy on offspring mental health. Methods Analyses were performed in the UK Biobank cohort. Individuals with data on smoking status, maternal smoking during pregnancy, a diagnosis of schizophrenia or depression, and genetic data were included. We used participants’ genotype (rs16969968 in the CHRNA5 gene) as a proxy for their mothers’ genotype. Analyses were stratified on participants’ own smoking status in order to estimate the effect of maternal smoking heaviness during pregnancy independently of offspring smoking. Results The effect of maternal smoking on offspring schizophrenia was in opposing directions when stratifying on offspring smoking status. Among offspring of never smokers, each additional risk allele for maternal smoking heaviness appeared to have a protective effect [odds ratio (OR) = 0.77, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.62 to 0.95, P = 0.015], whereas among ever smokers the effect of maternal smoking was in the reverse direction (OR = 1.23, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.45, P = 0.011, Pinteraction <0.001). There was no clear evidence of an association between maternal smoking heaviness and offspring depression. Conclusions These findings do not provide clear evidence of an effect of maternal smoking during pregnancy on offspring schizophrenia or depression, which implies that any causal effect of smoking on schizophrenia or depression is direct.