Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Long-term follow-up of convalescent pigs and their offspring after an outbreak of acute African Swine Fever in Vietnam.

African swine fever (ASF), is a contagious hemorrhagic disease in pigs, and has become endemic in several Vietnam province since the first outbreak in 2019. The presence of carriers and the recurrence of disease in the surviving swine herd after an ASF outbreak has not previously been properly evaluated. In this study, pigs naturally infected with an acute form of ASF were allowed to recover from the disease. A serological follow-up was conducted for more than 14 month with 14 convalescent gilts and their offspring. All convalescent animals had long lasting high serum antibody levels without persistent viremia. They also did not excrete virus via nasal discharge post-recovery. These convalescent pigs could partially perform as replacement gilts despite the fact that ASF affected reproductive performance. Here, we confirmed that there were neither the carriers of nor recurrence of disease in the convalescent pigs and their offspring following the outbreak of acute ASF. These findings may facilitate efforts to design a new farming model in ASF endemic provinces in Vietnam where there is a lack of a repopulation strategy due to the limited funding received from the local regulatory authorities. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Sitsen: Passive sitting posture sensing based on wireless devices

Physical health diseases caused by wrong sitting postures are becoming increasingly serious and widespread, especially for sedentary students and workers. Existing video-based approaches and sensor-based approaches can achieve high accuracy, while they have limitations like breaching privacy and relying on specific sensor devices. In this work, we propose Sitsen, a non-contact wireless-based sitting posture recognition system, just using radio frequency signals alone, which neither compromises the privacy nor requires using various specific sensors. We demonstrate that Sitsen can successfully recognize five habitual sitting postures with just one lightweight and low-cost radio frequency identification tag. The intuition is that different postures induce different phase variations. Due to the received phase readings are corrupted by the environmental noise and hardware imperfection, we employ series of signal processing schemes to obtain clean phase readings. Using the sliding window approach to extract effective features of the measured phase sequences and employing an appropriate machine learning algorithm, Sitsen can achieve robust and high performance. Extensive experiments are conducted in an office with 10 volunteers. The result shows that our system can recognize different sitting postures with an average accuracy of 97.02%.
One-Part Geopolymer Synthesis of Greek Fly Ash

With the OPC industry being responsible for the 8% of CO2 global emissions, alternative, eco-friendly building materials, called geopolymers, have been in the center of research interest. Their broader use is limited due to the concentrated alkali solution that is involved in the synthesis process. In this study, a wide range of solid reagents are tested for the development of solid mixtures with suitable alkali and silica content that will substitute the corrosive activation solution. One-part geopolymers were synthesized using Greek fly ash as the aluminosilicate precursor. The produced samples were appropriately characterized by XRD, FTIR and SEM analytical techniques while the mechanical performance was evaluated through uniaxial compressive strength measurements. One-part geopolymers using anhydrous sodium silicates with molar ratios SiO2/Na2O ≤ 2 as solid activators, can successfully substitute the activation solution since they achieve identical mechanical performance to that of the two-part geopolymers (≥ 60 MPa).
Investigations on the Nonlinear Optical Properties of Eu3+: TiO2 Nanoparticles via Z-Scan Technique

Europium doped Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles were prepared by Sol-Gel technique under varying condition to investigate the effects of Eu3 + doping on the optical properties of Titanium dioxide nanoparticles. The transmittance spectrum is clearly visible at wavelengths 394nm and 416nm, and is a result of electronic transitions of energy level of the Eu3 + ions. The obtained composites for different doping concentration were analyzed by using Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS). The linear and nonlinear optical properties of the composite were studied using the Z-scan technique, and there was an increase in the nonlinear refractive index with an increase in the concentration of the Eu+3, where it reached its highest value, which is 3.01×10-10 at doping 2.3 while the linear absorption coefficient was an inverse proportion, where the highest value was at Pure titanium and it is 1.0296951×10-5 (cm/mw).
Synthesis of Environmentally Friendly Silver Nanoparticles

The nanoparticles synthesized by plants and micro-organisms are environmentally safe and do not leave residues or long-term toxic effects in ecosystems or accumulate in the environment and transfer through the food chain. Therefore, the aim of the research is to synthesize silver nanoparticles from the leaves of the oleander plant, where they are environmentally friendly when used for various purposes such as controlling agricultural pests. The results showed that the leaves of this plant have the ability to synthesize silver nanoparticles and this is confirmed by the tests of color change of the plant extract the reaction solution, the color of the solution changed from colorless to pink. Physical diagnostic tests such as absorption using a UV-Visible spectrophotometer at a wavelength of 340 nm, transmission electron microscope (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique have confirmed the formation of AgNPs in the leaves of a plant oleander. Keywords: silver nanoparticles, synthesis, environmentally friendly, physical diagnosis
Synthesis of the COFs: From Design Principle to Synthetic Reactions

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are a new category of materials and developing fast in recent years. COFs present low density, controllable porosity, and high surface area. Based on these merits, COFs have great potential in various applications, such as gas separation and storage, energy storage, catalysis, and many others. In this review, we summarize the synthesis of COFs from the aspects of design principles and synthetic reactions. In particular, we categorize the synthetic reactions of also COFs into six categories and introduce the advantages of each type of reaction. Moreover, we utilize several examples to illustrate how to construct COFs by these synthetic methods. In the end, a future perspective on the development of new synthetic methods for COFs is briefly mentioned.
Electron energization during merging of self-magnetized, high-beta, laser-produced plasmas

Electron energization during merging of magnetized plasmas is studied using the OMEGA and OMEGA EP laser facilities by colliding two plasma plumes, each containing a Biermann-battery self-generated magnetic field. Two neighbouring plasma plumes are produced by intense laser beams, and the anti-parallel Biermann fields merge and reconnect in the process of the plumes’ expansion and collision. To isolate the merging as an acceleration source, the electron energy spectra obtained from two-plume collision shots are compared with the spectra from single-plume shots. Single-plume shots exhibit an energized electron tail with energies up to ${\sim }250\ \textrm {keV}$. The electrons in merging experiments are additionally accelerated by ${\sim }50\text {--}100$ keV compared to single-plume shots.
Evolutionarily conserved regions of THAP9 transposase reveal new motifs for subcellular localization and post-translational modification

THAP9 is a transposable element-derived gene that encodes the THAP9 protein. It is a homolog of Drosophila P-element transposase (DmTNP). hTHAP9 belongs to the THAP (Thanatos-associated protein) protein family in humans, which has twelve proteins (hTHAP0-hTHAP11). Human THAP proteins have a ∼90 amino acid long conserved THAP domain located at the N-terminal end of the protein. The THAP domain is a C2CH type Zinc Finger domain that binds specific DNA sequences and has a conserved secondary structure, namely a characteristic β-α-β fold. THAP family proteins are known to be involved in various human diseases like torsional dystonia, hemophilia, heart diseases, and multiple cancers. Also, the THAP9-AS1 gene, which is the neighboring gene in the 5’ upstream region of THAP9, is overexpressed in pancreatic cancer. But the exact functional role of THAP9 and its association with various diseases remains a significant gap in our understanding. Here, we present the evolutionary analysis and extensive in silico characterization, including predicting domains and putative post-translational modification sites for THAP9 to understand its function better. Our studies identified some previously unreported functional features in the THAP9 protein sequence, including four adjacent motifs following the THAP domain: N-glycosylation site, Protein kinase C (PKC) phosphorylation site, Leucine zipper domain, and Bipartite nuclear localization signal (NLS). These motifs, which are highly conserved in mammals, may play a role in the subcellular localization of THAP9. The study also revealed two N-myristoylation sites within the THAP domain, pointing towards the post-translational modification of THAP9. We also observed that the THAP9 has evolved under a strong pervasive purifying selection, yielding high conservation of THAP9. Furthermore, investigation of THAP9 expression profiles in various cancer and matched normal datasets demonstrated overexpression and underexpression in Testicular cancers and Thymic Epithelial Tumors respectively. These findings make Testicular cancer and Thymic Epithelial Tumor good candidates for further examination on the role of THAP9 in cancer.
Claudin-5 binder enhances focused ultrasound-mediated opening in an in vitro blood-brain barrier model

Rationale The blood-brain barrier (BBB) while functioning as a gatekeeper of the brain, impedes cerebral drug delivery. An emerging technology to overcome this limitation is focused ultrasound (FUS). When FUS interacts with intravenously injected microbubbles (FUS+MB), the BBB opens, transiently allowing the access of therapeutic agents into the brain. However, the ultrasound parameters need to be tightly tuned: when the acoustic pressure is too low there is no opening, and when it is too high, bleeds can occur. We therefore asked whether BBB permeability can be increased by combining FUS+MB with a second modality such that in a clinical setting lower acoustic pressures could be potentially used. Methods Given that FUS achieves BBB opening by the disruption of tight junction (TJ) proteins such as claudin-5 of brain endothelial cells, we generated a stable MDCK II cell line (eGFP-hCldn5-MDCK II) that expresses fluorescently tagged human claudin-5. Two claudin-5 binders, mC5C2 (a peptide) and cCPEm (a truncated form of an enterotoxin), that have been reported previously to weaken the barrier, were synthesized and assessed for their abilities to enhance the permeability of cellular monolayers. We then performed a comparative analysis of single and combination treatments. Results We successfully generated a novel cell line that formed functional monolayers as validated by an increased transendothelial electrical resistance (TEER) reading and a low (< 0.2%) permeability to sodium fluorescein (376 Da). We found that the binders exerted a time- and concentration-dependent effect on BBB opening when incubated over an extended period, whereas FUS+MB caused a rapid barrier opening followed by recovery after 12 hours within the tested pressure range. Importantly, preincubation with cCPEm prior to FUS+MB treatment resulted in greater barrier opening compared to either FUS+MB or cCPEm alone as measured by reduced TEER values and an increased permeability to fluorescently labelled 40 kDa dextran (FD40). Conclusion The data suggest that pre-incubation with clinically suitable binders to TJ proteins may be a general strategy to facilitate safer and more effective ultrasound-mediated BBB opening in cellular and animal systems and potentially also for the treatment of human diseases of the brain.
A Computational Model of the Effect of Short-Term Monocular Deprivation on Binocular Rivalry in the Context of Amblyopia

Treatments for amblyopia focus on vision therapy and patching of one eye. Predicting the success of these methods remains difficult, however. Recent research has used binocular rivalry to monitor visual cortical plasticity during occlusion therapy, leading to a successful prediction of the recovery rate of the amblyopic eye. The underlying mechanisms and their relation to neural homeostatic plasticity are not known. Here we propose a spiking neural network to explain the effect of short-term monocular deprivation on binocular rivalry. The model reproduces perceptual switches as observed experimentally. When one eye is occluded, inhibitory plasticity changes the balance between the eyes and leads to longer dominance periods for the eye that has been deprived. The model suggests that homeostatic inhibitory plasticity is a critical component of the observed effects and might play an important role in the recovery from amblyopia.
Microbial community of recently discovered Auka vent field sheds light on vent biogeography and evolutionary history of thermophily

Hydrothermal vents have been key to our understanding of the limits of life, and the metabolic and phylogenetic diversity of thermophilic organisms. Here we used environmental metagenomics combined with analysis of physico-chemical data and 16S rRNA amplicons to characterize the diversity, temperature optima, and biogeographic distribution of sediment-hosted microorganisms at the recently discovered Auka vents in the Gulf of California, the deepest known hydrothermal vent field in the Pacific Ocean. We recovered 325 metagenome assembled genomes (MAGs) representing 54 phyla, over 1/3 of the currently known phylum diversity, showing the microbial community in Auka hydrothermal sediments is highly diverse. Large scale 16S rRNA amplicon screening of 227 sediment samples across the vent field indicates that the MAGs are largely representative of the microbial community. Metabolic reconstruction of a vent-specific, deeply branching clade within the Desulfobacterota (Tharpobacteria) suggests these organisms metabolize sulfur using novel octaheme cytochrome-c proteins related to hydroxylamine oxidoreductase. Community-wide comparison of the average nucleotide identity of the Auka MAGs with MAGs from the Guaymas Basin vent field, found 400 km to the Northwest, revealed a remarkable 20% species-level overlap between vent sites, suggestive of long-distance species transfer and sediment colonization. An adapted version of a recently developed model for predicting optimal growth temperature to the Auka and Guaymas MAGs indicates several of these uncultured microorganisms could grow at temperatures exceeding the currently known upper limit of life. Extending this analysis to reference data shows that thermophily is a trait that has evolved frequently among Bacteria and Archaea. Combined, our results show that Auka vent field offers new perspectives on our understanding of hydrothermal vent microbiology.
Teaching Gender and Cultural Studies in Australia as Part of Asia: Reflections on Classroom Politics and Pedagogies

ABSTRACT Gender and cultural studies is, at its core, a pedagogical project for social and political change. Students are invited to new ways of thinking and acting in the world, shaped by intellectual traditions evolving from various social movements around race, class and feminism in mostly Western nation-states. Our students’ imaginations are very much captured by these political possibilities, including international students whose reception and interpretation of these knowledges are filtered through different cultural contexts and in different language registers. Teaching gender and cultural studies in Australia with increasing numbers of international students from Asian countries presents a range of practical, intellectual, and ethical questions. How might we translate different intellectual traditions and languages across local and international student groups, in ways that enhance learning for both cohorts? How might we be implicated in the reshaping of international students’ imagination of their own genealogies, and their futurities? What colonising logics might unwittingly be reproduced in our curriculums that are expressly committed to the rhetoric and activism of decolonialism? Through the perspective of two classroom practitioners, this article investigates the challenges and possibilities of teaching Gender and Cultural Studies to local and international students in Australia.
Nitric Oxide Deficiency in Mitochondrial Disorders: The Utility of Arginine and Citrulline

Mitochondrial diseases represent a growing list of clinically heterogeneous disorders that are associated with dysfunctional mitochondria and multisystemic manifestations. In spite of a better understanding of the underlying pathophysiological basis of mitochondrial disorders, treatment options remain limited. Over the past two decades, there is growing evidence that patients with mitochondrial disorders have nitric oxide (NO) deficiency due to the limited availability of NO substrates, arginine and citrulline; decreased activity of nitric oxide synthase (NOS); and NO sequestration. Studies evaluating the use of arginine in patients with mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes (MELAS) presenting with stroke-like episodes showed symptomatic improvement after acute administration as well as a reduction in the frequency and severity of stroke-like episodes following chronic use. Citrulline, another NO precursor, was shown through stable isotope studies to result in a greater increase in NO synthesis. Recent studies showed a positive response of arginine and citrulline in other mitochondrial disorders besides MELAS. Randomized-controlled studies with a larger number of patients are warranted to better understand the role of NO deficiency in mitochondrial disorders and the efficacy of NO precursors as treatment modalities in these disorders.
On the Social-Relational Moral Standing of AI: An Empirical Study Using AI-Generated Art

The moral standing of robots and artificial intelligence (AI) systems has become a widely debated topic by normative research. This discussion, however, has primarily focused on those systems developed for social functions, e.g., social robots. Given the increasing interdependence of society with nonsocial machines, examining how existing normative claims could be extended to specific disrupted sectors, such as the art industry, has become imperative. Inspired by the proposals to ground machines’ moral status on social relations advanced by Gunkel and Coeckelbergh, this research presents online experiments (∑N = 448) that test whether and how interacting with AI-generated art affects the perceived moral standing of its creator, i.e., the AI-generative system. Our results indicate that assessing an AI system’s lack of mind could influence how people subsequently evaluate AI-generated art. We also find that the overvaluation of AI-generated images could negatively affect their creator’s perceived agency. Our experiments, however, did not suggest that interacting with AI-generated art has any significant effect on the perceived moral standing of the machine. These findings reveal that social-relational approaches to AI rights could be intertwined with property-based theses of moral standing. We shed light on how empirical studies can contribute to the AI and robot rights debate by revealing the public perception of this issue.
The Characteristics and Distribution of Nerve Plexuses in the Dartos Fascia From Concealed Penis Children

The purpose of this study is to analyze the nerve plexus distribution in dartos fascia of concealed penis (CP). A total of 28 CP patients met ASA categories I and II were included, with median age of 3.5 years (8 months−5 years). During the surgery, tissue samples of dartos fascia at points 3, 6, 9, and 12 o'clock of the penile shaft were collected. Standard hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining and S-100 immunohistochemical staining were used to analyze the nerve plexus distribution among different positions. The number of nerve plexuses in superficial fascia collected at the 6 o'clock position of the penile shaft was the most abundant among four positions (median 7.25, range 1–24). The abundant nerve plexuses in the dartos fascia of CP patients, especially at the 6 o'clock position, indicate that the surgery on the preputial frenulum should avoid damage to the dartos fascia, as it might be related to maintain the erection and sexual function in adolescence.
Multiplex Genome Editing in Yeast by CRISPR/Cas9 – A Potent and Agile Tool to Reconstruct Complex Metabolic Pathways

Numerous important pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals originate from plant specialized metabolites, most of which are synthesized via complex biosynthetic pathways. The elucidation of these pathways is critical for the applicable uses of these compounds. Although the rapid progress of the omics technology has revolutionized the identification of candidate genes involved in these pathways, the functional characterization of these genes remains a major bottleneck. Baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) has been used as a microbial platform for characterizing newly discovered metabolic genes in plant specialized metabolism. Using yeast for the investigation of numerous plant enzymes is a streamlined process because of yeast’s efficient transformation, limited endogenous specialized metabolism, partially sharing its primary metabolism with plants, and its capability of post-translational modification. Despite these advantages, reconstructing complex plant biosynthetic pathways in yeast can be time intensive. Since its discovery, CRISPR/Cas9 has greatly stimulated metabolic engineering in yeast. Yeast is a popular system for genome editing due to its efficient homology-directed repair mechanism, which allows precise integration of heterologous genes into its genome. One practical use of CRISPR/Cas9 in yeast is multiplex genome editing aimed at reconstructing complex metabolic pathways. This system has the capability of integrating multiple genes of interest in a single transformation, simplifying the reconstruction of complex pathways. As plant specialized metabolites usually have complex multigene biosynthetic pathways, the multiplex CRISPR/Cas9 system in yeast is suited well for functional genomics research in plant specialized metabolism. Here, we review the most advanced methods to achieve efficient multiplex CRISPR/Cas9 editing in yeast. We will also discuss how this powerful tool has been applied to benefit the study of plant specialized metabolism.