Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Claudin-10a Deficiency Shifts Proximal Tubular Cl- Permeability to Cation Selectivity via Claudin-2 Redistribution

Significance Statement Claudin-10 is a tight junction protein expressed along the nephron. The claudin-10a isoform is a paracellular anion channel; claudin-10b facilitates paracellular Na+ transport in the thick ascending limb. Mutations in the CLDN10 gene that affect either claudin-10b or both isoforms cause HELIX syndrome. This study demonstrates that claudin-10a is essential for paracellular Cl- transport in the proximal tubule. In mice lacking claudin-10a, additional cation-selective claudin-2 incorporates into proximal tubule tight junctions. This turns paracellular anion into cation preference, with renal retention of calcium and magnesium and hypermagnesemia. Loss of anion permeability triggers compensation measures within the proximal tubule and in more distal parts of the nephron. Data from the claudin-10a–deficient mouse suggest mutations affecting both isoforms may result in a more severe electrolyte imbalance in HELIX syndrome. Visual Abstract Background The tight junction proteins claudin-2 and claudin-10a form paracellular cation and anion channels, respectively, and are expressed in the proximal tubule. However, the physiologic role of claudin-10a in the kidney has been unclear. Methods To investigate the physiologic role of claudin-10a, we generated claudin-10a–deficient mice, confirmed successful knockout by Southern blot, Western blot, and immunofluorescence staining, and analyzed urine and serum of knockout and wild-type animals. We also used electrophysiologic studies to investigate the functionality of isolated proximal tubules, and studied compensatory regulation by pharmacologic intervention, RNA sequencing analysis, Western blot, immunofluorescence staining, and respirometry. Results Mice deficient in claudin-10a were fertile and without overt phenotypes. On knockout, claudin-10a was replaced by claudin-2 in all proximal tubule segments. Electrophysiology showed conversion from paracellular anion preference to cation preference and a loss of paracellular Cl- over HCO3- preference. As a result, there was tubular retention of calcium and magnesium, higher urine pH, and mild hypermagnesemia. A comparison with other urine and serum parameters under control conditions and sequential pharmacologic transport inhibition, and unchanged fractional lithium excretion, suggested compensative measures in proximal and distal tubular segments. Changes in proximal tubular oxygen handling and differential expression of genes regulating fatty acid metabolism indicated proximal tubular adaptation. Western blot and immunofluorescence revealed alterations in distal tubular transport. Conclusions Claudin-10a is the major paracellular anion channel in the proximal tubule and its deletion causes calcium and magnesium hyper-reabsorption by claudin-2 redistribution. Transcellular transport in proximal and distal segments and proximal tubular metabolic adaptation compensate for loss of paracellular anion permeability.
Recent advances of natural biopolymeric culture scaffold: synthesis and modification

ABSTRACT Traditionally existing 2D culture scaffold has been inappropriately validated due to the failure in generating the precise therapeutic response. Therefore, this leads to the fabrication of 3D culture scaffold resolving the limitations in the in vivo environment. In recent years, tissue engineering played an important role in the field of bio-medical engineering. Biopolymer material, a novel natural material with excellent properties of nontoxic and biodegradable merits can be served as culture scaffold. This review summarizes the modifications of natural biopolymeric culture scaffold with different crosslinkers and their application. In addition, this review provides the recent progress of natural biopolymeric culture scaffold mainly focusing on their properties, synthesizing and modification and application.
Estimating body fat distribution - a driver of cardiometabolic health - from silhouette images

Background: Inter-individual variation in fat distribution is increasingly recognized as clinically important but is not routinely assessed in clinical practice because quantification requires medical imaging. Objectives: We hypothesized that a deep learning model trained on an individual's body shape outline - or silhouette - would enable accurate estimation of specific fat depots, including visceral (VAT), abdominal subcutaneous (ASAT), and gluteofemoral (GFAT) adipose tissue volumes, and VAT/ASAT ratio. We additionally set out to study whether silhouette-estimated VAT/ASAT ratio may stratify risk of cardiometabolic diseases independent of body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference. Methods: Two-dimensional coronal and sagittal silhouettes were constructed from whole-body magnetic resonance images in 40,032 participants of the UK Biobank and used to train a convolutional neural network to predict VAT, ASAT, and GFAT volumes, and VAT/ASAT ratio. Logistic and Cox regressions were used to determine the independent association of silhouette-predicted VAT/ASAT ratio with type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease. Results: Mean age of the study participants was 65 years and 51% were female. A deep learning model trained on silhouettes enabled accurate estimation of VAT, ASAT, and GFAT volumes (R2: 0.88, 0.93, and 0.93, respectively), outperforming a comparator model combining anthropometric and bioimpedance measures ({Delta}R2 = 0.05-0.13). Next, we studied VAT/ASAT ratio, a nearly BMI- and waist circumference-independent marker of unhealthy fat distribution. While the comparator model poorly predicted VAT/ASAT ratio (R2: 0.17-0.26), a silhouette-based model enabled significant improvement (R2: 0.50-0.55). Silhouette-predicted VAT/ASAT ratio was associated with increased prevalence of type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease. Conclusions: Body silhouette images can estimate important measures of fat distribution, laying the scientific foundation for population-based assessment.
ANALYSING RELEVANT INTERACTIONS BY BRIDGING FACEBOOK AND MOODLE

Social media networks’ popularity has been growing in almost every context of daily human interaction. Particularly concerning the education field, organisations and teachers have been continuously recognizing social media as a rich environment with potential to benefit the teaching-learning process, classroom administration and social interactions. However, social media networks have been used as complementary environments to the mandatory adoption of an institutional LMS, leading to the development of fragmented teaching-learning environments, where mutual interchanges are not consolidated nor allow for an explicit academic legitimacy, computation and management. Also, social media networks’ integration in education has been viewed as an ad-hoc initiative of some educators, who are prone to incorporate web trends in their pedagogic activity, which are evaluated, most of the times, under the lens of recreational initiates. Consequently, there is an urgent need to bridge between the consolidated adoption of LMSs and the integration of social media networks in education, not only in terms of technological infrastructure (interface and usability) but also in terms of production and management of its pedagogical outcomes. With the intent of providing solutions for the above context, in this paper, we discuss the concept of Social Student Relationship Management and present the EduBridge system, its current stage of development and highlight the educational applicability of a thorough set of social network analysis.
Intensification of thermal stratification on dissipative chemically heating fluid with cross-diffusion and magnetic field over a wedge

Abstract This paper aims to examine the heat and mass characteristics for thermally stratified chemically heated, dissipative flow under the cross-diffusion and imposed Lorentz forces. A self-similar model is obtained employing suitable similarity transformations. Then, the RK technique is used for mathematical analysis. The stimulations of pertinent physical quantities in the flow regimes, shear stresses, and the Nusselt number were examined graphically. It is noted that more radiative flow favors the thermal behavior of the fluid and increases in the Prandtl number causes the decrease in thermal characteristics. Moreover, decreases in mass characteristics were examined by the fluctuating chemical reaction and Schmidt parameters. Lastly, key outcomes of the work are pinpointed.
The dgc2 gene encoding di-guanylate cyclase suppresses both motility and biofilm formation in the filamentous cyanobacterium Leptolyngbya boryana

Colony pattern formations of bacteria with motility manifest complicated morphological self-organization phenomena. Leptolyngbya boryana is the filamentous cyanobacterial species, which has been used as a genetic model organism for studying metabolism including photosynthesis and nitrogen-fixation. Although a widely used type strain (wild type) of this species has not been reported to show any motile activity, we isolated a spontaneous mutant strain which shows active motility (gliding activity) to give rise to complicated colony patters, including comet-like wandering clusters and disk-like rotating vortices on solid media. Whole-genome resequencing identified multiple mutations on the genome in the mutant strain. We confirmed that inactivation of a candidate gene, dgc2 (LBDG_02920), in the wild type background was sufficient to give rise to motility and the morphological colony patterns. This gene encodes a protein, containing the GGDEF motif, which is conserved at the catalytic domain of diguanylate cyclase (DGC). Although DGC has been reported to be involved in biofilm formation, the mutant strain lacking dgc2 significantly facilitated biofilm formation, suggesting a role of DGC for suppressing both gliding motility and biofilm formation. Thus, L. boryana provides an excellent genetic model to study dynamic colony pattern formation, and novel insight on a role of c-di-GMP for biofilm formation. Importance Self-propelled bacteria often show complicated collective behaviors, such as the formation of dense moving clusters, which is exemplified by wandering comet-like and rotating disk-like colonies, while molecular details of forming such structures remain limited. We found that a strain deficient in the diguanylate cyclase gene dgc2 in the filamentous cyanobacterium L. boryana induces motility, complex and dynamic colony pattern formation including the comet-like and disk-like clusters. While c-di-GMP has been reported to activate biofilm formation in some bacterial species, disruption of the dgc2 gene unexpectedly enhanced it, providing a novel role for c-di-GMP regulatory system in both colony pattern formation and biofilm formation.
Epigenetic regulation of natural killer cell memory *

Immunological memory is the underlying mechanism by which the immune system remembers previous encounters with pathogens to produce an enhanced secondary response upon re‐encounter. It stands as the hallmark feature of the adaptive immune system and the cornerstone of vaccine development. Classic recall responses are executed by conventional T and B cells, which undergo somatic recombination and modify their receptor repertoire to ensure recognition of a vast number of antigens. However, recent evidence has challenged the dogma that memory responses are restricted to the adaptive immune system, which has prompted a reevaluation of what delineates “immune memory. ” Natural killer (NK) cells of the innate immune system have been at the forefront of these pushed boundaries, and have proved to be more “adaptable” than previously thought. Like T cells, we now appreciate that their “natural” abilities actually require a myriad of signals for optimal responses. In this review, we discuss the many signals required for effector and memory NK cell responses and the epigenetic mechanisms that ultimately endow their enhanced features.
Hydrogen production in the presence of oxygen by Escherichia coli K-12

Escherichia coli is a facultative anaerobe that can grow in a variety of environmental conditions. In the complete absence of O2, E. coli can perform a mixed-acid fermentation that contains within it an elaborate metabolism of formic acid. In this study, we use cavity-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (CERS), FTIR, liquid Raman spectroscopy, isotopic labelling, and molecular genetics to make advances in the understanding of bacterial formate and H2 metabolism. It is shown that, under anaerobic (anoxic) conditions, formic acid is generated endogenously, excreted briefly from the cell, and then taken up again to be disproportionated to H2 and CO2 by formate hydrogenlyase (FHL-1). However, exogenously added D-labelled formate behaves quite differently from the endogenous formate and is taken up immediately, independently, and possibly by a different mechanism, by the cell and converted to H2 and CO2. Our data support an anion-proton symport model for formic acid transport. In addition, when E. coli was grown in a micro-aerobic (micro-oxic) environment it was possible to analyse aspects of formate and O2 respiration occurring alongside anaerobic metabolism. While cells growing under micro-aerobic conditions generated endogenous formic acid, no H2 was produced. However, addition of exogenous formate at the outset of cell growth did induce FHL-1 biosynthesis and resulted in formate-dependent H2 production in the presence of O2.
An analysis of LysM domain function in LytE when fulfilling the D,L-endopeptidase requirement for viability in Bacillus subtilis

The D,L-endopeptidase requirement states that Bacillus subtilis requires either the activity of the LytE or the CwlO enzyme for viability, therefore proving that these two enzymes can complement for each other despite their very different N-terminal domains. Here, we show that another D,L-endopeptidase, LytF, can also fulfill the D,L-endopeptidase requirement for viability, when expressed from the cwlO promoter. Both LytE and LytF contain N-terminally located LysM domains, three and five respectively. However, cells expressing another very similar D,L-endopeptidase CwlS, with four LysM domains were not viable. This led us to investigate whether a LytE protein with any one of its three LysM domains permuted can fulfill the D,L-endopeptidase requirement for viability. We found that the three LysM domains are not functionally equivalent and that the N-terminally located LysM domain plays a greater role for functioning of the LytE enzyme than the subsequent domains. Based on an investigation of orthologous enzymes in 19 B. subtilis species we propose an evolutionary model describing the development of the LytE-, CwlS- and LytF-type D,L-endopeptidases and their LysM domain repeats. In summary, these results show that the LytE enzyme has been optimized to fulfill the D,L-endopeptidase requirement for cell viability of B. subtilis with regard to the number and properties of LysM domains that mediate peptidoglycan-binding.
A Brief Review on the Overview on Immunology of COVID-19: Current State of the Research

After the attack of Influenza(Flu) in1918 which later turned pandemic, the world is again facing a similar situation. Although, the advancement in medical science has made it possible to identify that the novel infectious agent is from the coronaviridae family. Rapid genome sequencing by various groups helped in identifying the structure and function of the virus, its immunogenicity in diverse populations, and potential preventive measures. Coronavirus attacks the respiratory system to be more specific it attacks ACE2 receptors, causing pneumonia and lymphopenia in maximum infected individuals. Viral subunits like spike and nucleocapsid proteins trigger an immune response in the host which eliminate the virus. These viral antigens can be either recognized by the B cells or by MHC complexes to the T-cells, resulting in antibody production, increased in cytokine secretion, and cytolytic activity in the acute phase of infection. Genetic polymorphism in MHC enables it to present some of the T-cell surface very well over the other MHC alleles. The association of MHC alleles and its down regulated expression has been correlated with disease severity against influenza and coronaviruses. Studies have reported that infected individuals can, after recovery, induce strong protective responses by generating a memory T-cell pool against SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. These memory T-cells were not persistent in the long term and, upon reactivation, caused local damage due to cross-reactivity. So far, the reports suggest that SARS-CoV-2, which is highly contagious, shows related symptoms in three different stages and develops an exhaustive T-cell pool at higher loads of viral infection. As there are no specific treatments available for this novel coronavirus, numerous small molecular drugs that are being used for the treatment of diseases like SARS, MERS, HIV, ebola, malaria, and tuberculosis are being given to COVID-19 patients, and clinical trials for many such drugs have already begun. A classical immunotherapy of convalescent plasma transfusion from recovered patients has also been initiated for the neutralization of viremia in terminally ill COVID-19 patients. Due to various limitations of plasma transfusion, researchers are now focusing on developing neutralizing antibodies against virus particles along with immuno-modulation of cytokines like IL-6, Type-I interferons (IFNs), and TNF-α that could help in combating the infection. This review highlights the similarities of the coronaviruses that caused SARS and MERS to the novel SARS-CoV-2 in relation to pathogenicity and immunogenicity and also focuses on various treatment strategies that could be employed for curing COVID-19.
Tuned Liquid Column Damper Inerter (TLCDI) for seismic vibration control of fixed- base and base-isolated structures

In this paper, the use of a novel passive control device defined as Tuned Liquid Column Damper Inerter (TLCDI) is studied to mitigate the seismic response of both fixed-base and base-isolated structures. The TLCDI optimal parameters for pre-design purposes are obtained by means of a statistical linearization technique and an optimization procedure which considers the minimization of the structural displacement variance and a white noise process as base excitation. The performance of a fixed-base and base-isolated TLCDI-controlled structure is examined using a set of 44 real recorded seismic signals as external input. Numerical simulations are carried out and results show that the TLCDIs can be considered as an appealing means to effectively control the response of both fixed-base and base-isolated structures.
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY GENDER and INNOVATION with a focus on energy and agricultural fields

Introduction Under the banner of AfricaLics, this annotated bibliography was prepared with a view to give an insight into the existing literature about gender and innovation, through the lens of work conducted on women/gender and innovation in the fields of energy access and agriculture. It sheds light upon how the different approaches of women/ gender and development have influenced the discussion on women/gender and innovation. Additionally, it explores through a semi-systematic literature review critical review, women and gender in the fields of energy access and agricultural innovation. In so doing, some of the gaps in research and policy programmes on gender and development are identified. The results are presented in the form of an annotated bibliography.
Impacts of sectoral, regional, species, and day- specific emissions on air pollution and public health in Washington, DC

We present a novel source attribution approach that incorporates satellite data into GEOS-Chem adjoint simulations to characterize the species-specific, regional, and sectoral contributions of daily emissions for 3 air pollutants: fine particulate matter (PM2.5), ozone (O3), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). This approach is implemented for Washington, DC, first for 2011, to identify urban pollution sources, and again for 2016, to examine the pollution response to changes in anthropogenic emissions. In 2011, anthropogenic emissions contributed an estimated 263 (uncertainty: 130–444) PM2.5and O3-attributable premature deaths and 1,120 (391–1795) NO2 attributable new pediatric asthma cases in DC. PM2.5 exposure was responsible for 90% of these premature deaths. On-road vehicle emissions contributed 51% of NO2-attributable new asthma cases and 23% of pollution-attributable premature deaths, making it the largest contributing individual sector to DC’s air pollution–related health burden. Regional emissions, originating from Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, were the most responsible for pollution-related health impacts in DC, contributing 57% of premature deaths impacts and 89% of asthma cases. Emissions from distant states contributed 34% more to PM2.5 exposure in the wintertime than in the summertime, occurring in parallel with strong wintertime westerlies and a reduced photochemical sink. Emission reductions between 2011 and 2016 resulted in health benefits of 76 (28–149) fewer pollution-attributable premature deaths and 227 (2–617) fewer NO2-attributable pediatric asthma cases. The largest sectors contributing to decreases in pollutionrelated premature deaths were energy generation units (26%) and on-road vehicles (20%). Decreases in NO2-attributable pediatric asthma cases were mostly due to emission reductions from on-road vehicles (63%). Emission reductions from energy generation units were found to impact PM2.5 more than O3, while on-road vehicle emission reductions impacted O3 proportionally more than PM2.5. This novel method is capable of capturing the sources of urban pollution at fine spatial and temporal scales and is applicable to many urban environments, globally.
Determination of Bioactive Compounds from the Extracts of Acorus Calamus

Acorus calamus is familiar for therapeutic plant in the traditional healthcare system of India as well as other countries. The current study is focused in the progress of the phyto-chemical properties and investigation of the therapeutically active compounds that are exist within the methanolic extracts that are attained from the rhizomes of the plant Acorus calamus linn. The Preliminary phyto-chemical screening of the samples in this study unveiled the existence of Terpenoids, Flavanoids, Tannins, Steroids, Saponins and Phenol-based substances. The Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) is a chromatographic method which is widely utilized in the field of flora-based study. It is a modest, rapid and cost-effective method with the capacity to indicate the constituents present in a crude plant extract. The TLC is widely applicable due to several advantage such as the low cost, quicker analysis, multiple detection capacity and specificized derivation within the similar plate. Amongst the diverse extracts obtained, the methanol extract was utilized for TLC and a novel solvent system was established for the best extraction of the phyto-constituents exist in the extract which was composed of the constituents in the proportion of N-Hexane: Ethyl Acetate: Methanol: Formic acid 3: 4: 3: 0.1 ml for methanol extract. This caused in the documentation of four spots that were present in the Methanol extract. The Rf values of the samples were 0.68, 0.71, 0.79 and 0.81. The research will further deliver information for the precise exploration of the crude floral extract of Acorus calamus linn.