Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Deficiency of the Tmem232 Gene Causes Male Infertility with Morphological Abnormalities of the Sperm Flagellum in Mice

The axoneme and accessory structures of flagella are critical for sperm motility and male fertilization. Sperm production needs precise and highly ordered gene expression to initiate and sustain the many cellular processes that result in mature spermatozoa. Here, we identified a testis enriched gene transmembrane protein 232 (Tmem232), which is essential for the structural integrity of the spermatozoa flagella axoneme. Tmem232 knockout mice were generated for in vivo analyses of its functions in spermatogenesis. Phenotypic analysis showed that deletion of Tmem232 in mice causes male-specific infertility. Transmission electron microscopy together with scanning electron microscopy were applied to analyze the spermatozoa flagella and it was observed that the lack of TMEM232 caused failure of the cytoplasm removal and the absence of the 7th outer microtubule doublet with its corresponding outer dense fiber (ODF). Co-IP assays further identified that TMEM232 interacts with ODF family protein ODF1, which is essential to maintain sperm motility. In conclusion, our findings indicate that TMEM232 is a critical protein for male fertility and sperm motility by regulating sperm cytoplasm removal and maintaining axoneme integrity.
The Emerging Roles of the Cephalic Neural Crest in Brain Development and Developmental Encephalopathies

The neural crest, a unique cell population originating from the primitive neural field, has a multi-systemic and structural contribution to vertebrate development. At the cephalic level, the neural crest generates most of the skeletal tissues encasing the developing forebrain and provides the prosencephalon with functional vasculature and meninges. Over the last decade, we have demonstrated that the cephalic neural crest (CNC) exerts an autonomous and prominent control on the development of the forebrain and sense organs. The present paper reviews the primary mechanisms by which CNC can orchestrate vertebrate encephalization. Demonstrating the role of the CNC as an exogenous source of patterning for the forebrain provides a novel conceptual framework with profound implications for understanding neurodevelopment. From a biomedical standpoint, these data suggest that the spectrum of neurocristopathies is broader than expected and that some neurological disorders may stem from CNC dysfunctions.
Endothelial and Hemodynamic Function in a Large Animal Model in Relation to Different Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Cannulation Strategies and Intra-Aortic Balloon Pumping

Background: The use of simultaneous veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) with or without an Intra-Aortic Balloon Pump (IABP) is a widely used tool for mechanical hemodynamic support. Endothelial function, especially in relation to different cannulation techniques, is rarely investigated in the setting of extracorporeal life support (ECLS). In this study, we analyzed endothelial function in relation to hemodynamic and laboratory parameters for central and peripheral ECMO, with or without concomitant IABP support in a large animal model to gain a better understanding of the underlying basic mechanisms. Methods: In this large animal model, healthy female pigs with preserved ejection fraction were divided into the following groups related to cannulation strategy for ECMO and simultaneous IBAP support: control (no ECMO, no IABP), peripheral ECMO (pECMO), central ECMO (cECMO), pECMO and IABP or cECMO and IABP. During the experimental setting, the blood flow in the ascending aorta, left coronary artery and arteria carotis was measured. Afterwards, endothelial function was investigated after harvesting the right coronary artery, arteria carotis and renal artery. In addition, laboratory markers, such as creatine kinase (CK), creatine kinase muscle–brain (CK-MB), troponin, creatinine and endothelin were analyzed. Results: The blood flow in the ascending aorta and the left coronary artery was significantly lower in all discussed experimental settings compared to the control group. Of note, the cECMO cannulation strategy generated favorable hemodynamic circumstances with higher blood flow in the coronary arteries than pECMO regardless of flow circumstances in the ascending aorta. The concomitant usage of IABP did not result in an improvement of the coronary blood flow, but partially showed a negative impact on the endothelial function of coronary arteries in comparison to the control. These findings correlate to higher CK/CK-MB levels in the setting of cECMO + IABP and pECMO + IABP. Conclusions: The usage of mechanical circulatory support with concomitant ECMO and IABP in a large animal model might have an influence on the endothelial function of coronary arteries while not improving the coronary artery perfusion in healthy hearts with preserved ejection.
Protein Quality and Protein Digestibility of Vegetable Creams Reformulated with Microalgae Inclusion

Microalgae are considered a valuable source of proteins that are used to enhance the nutritional value of foods. In this study, a standard vegetable cream recipe was reformulated through the addition of single-cell ingredients from Arthrospira platensis (spirulina), Chlorella vulgaris, Tetraselmis chui, or Nannochloropsis oceanica at two levels of addition (1.5% and 3.0%). The impact of microalgae species and an addition level on the amino acid profile and protein in vitro digestibility of the vegetable creams was investigated. The addition of microalgae to vegetable creams improved the protein content and the amino acid nutritional profile of vegetable creams, whereas no significant differences were observed in protein digestibility, regardless of the species and level of addition, indicating a similar degree of protein digestibility in microalgae species despite differences in their protein content and amino acid profile. This study indicates that the incorporation of microalgae is a feasible strategy to increase the protein content and nutritional quality of foods.
The Ratio of Fibrinogen to Albumin is Related to the Occurrence of Retinopathy in Type 2 Diabetic Patients

Purpose Type 2 diabetic retinopathy is a long-term chronic inflammatory disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between fibrinogen to albumin ratio (FAR) and retinopathy in type 2 diabetic patients. Methods This was a retrospective study that included 500 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and were divided into non-diabetic retinopathy group (NDR, n=297) and diabetic retinopathy group (DR, n=203) according to fundus examination findings, and the DR group was further divided into non-proliferative retinopathy group (NPDR, n=182) and proliferative retinopathy group (PDR, n=21). Baseline data of patients were collected, and the fibrinogen to albumin ratio (FAR) and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) were calculated to analyze the correlation between FAR and NLR and type 2 diabetic retinopathy. Results The FAR and NLR were significantly higher in the DR group compared with the NDR group (both P < 0.001). Spearman correlation analysis showed that FAR was positively correlated with NLR and DR (P < 0.05). As the FAR quartile increased, the prevalence of DR increased (14.8%, 16.7%, 25.1%, and 43.30%, respectively; P < 0.05). Multifactorial logistic regression analysis showed that FAR, diabetic course, systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) were risk factors for the development of DR in patients with T2DM. The area under the ROC curve for FAR to predict DR progression was 0.708, with an optimal critical value of 7.04, and the area under the ROC curve for diabetes duration and SBP to predict DR was 0.705 and 0.588, respectively. Conclusion Our findings show for the first time that FAR is an independent risk factor for assessing DR in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Targeting Adenosine Signalling in Knee Chondropathy: The Combined Action of Polydeoxyribonucleotide and Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields: A Current Concept Review

Chondropathy of the knee is one of the most frequent degenerative cartilage pathologies with advancing age. Scientific research has, in recent years, advanced new therapies that target adenosine A2 receptors, which play a significant role in human health against many disease states by activating different protective effects against cell sufferance and damage. Among these, it has been observed that intra-articular injections of polydeoxyribonucleotides (PDRN) and Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields (PEMF) can stimulate the adenosine signal, with significant regenerative and healing effects. This review aims to depict the role and therapeutic modulation of A2A receptors in knee chondropathy. Sixty articles aimed at providing data for our study were included in this review. The present paper highlights how intra-articular injections of PDRN create beneficial effects by reducing pain and improving functional clinical scores, thanks to their anti-inflammatory action and the important healing and regenerating power of the stimulation of cell growth, production of collagen, and the extracellular matrix. PEMF therapy is a valid option in the conservative treatment of different articular pathologies, including early OA, patellofemoral pain syndrome, spontaneous osteonecrosis of the knee (SONK), and in athletes. PEMF could also be used as a supporting therapy after an arthroscopic knee procedure total knee arthroplasty to reduce the post-operative inflammatory state. The proposal of new therapeutic approaches capable of targeting the adenosine signal, such as the intra-articular injection of PDRN and the use of PEMF, has shown excellent beneficial results compared to conventional treatments. These are presented as an extra weapon in the fight against knee chondropathy.
Dual Deep CNN for Tumor Brain Classification

Brain tumor (BT) is a serious issue and potentially deadly disease that receives much attention. However, early detection and identification of tumor type and location are crucial for effective treatment and saving lives. Manual diagnoses are time-consuming and depend on radiologist experts; the increasing number of new cases of brain tumors makes it difficult to process massive and large amounts of data rapidly, as time is a critical factor in patients’ lives. Hence, artificial intelligence (AI) is vital for understanding disease and its various types. Several studies proposed different techniques for BT detection and classification. These studies are on machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL). The ML-based method requires handcrafted or automatic feature extraction algorithms; however, DL becomes superior in self-learning and robust in classification and recognition tasks. This research focuses on classifying three types of tumors using MRI imaging: meningioma, glioma, and pituitary tumors. The proposed DCTN model depends on dual convolutional neural networks with VGG-16 architecture concatenated with custom CNN (convolutional neural networks) architecture. After conducting approximately 22 experiments with different architectures and models, our model reached 100% accuracy during training and 99% during testing. The proposed methodology obtained the highest possible improvement over existing research studies. The solution provides a revolution for healthcare providers that can be used as a different disease classification in the future and save human lives.
Molecular Pathways for Muscle and Adipose Tissue Are Altered between Beef Steers Classed as Choice or Standard

Simple Summary The eating experience of beef is strongly influenced by the amount of marbling or intramuscular fat. Beef steers are fed to a desired level of fatness in order to maximize the probability of a positive eating experience. This work aims to study the genes expressed in muscle and adipose tissue as beef steers deposit body fat to better understand the regulation of this important process and to more effectively predict positive eating experiences. This research identified genes that are altered as beef animals deposit fat in both the muscle and adipose tissues and the processes that are being altered, including the metabolism of fat and energy. The work also identified genes related to inflammation and injury in the adipose tissue that warrant additional research to further understand their role in beef animals. Abstract Targets for finished livestock are often determined by expected fat, either subcutaneous or intramuscular. These targets are used frequently to improve eating quality. Lower intramuscular fat, lack of product uniformity, and insufficient tenderness can negatively impact beef acceptability. This study aimed to investigate the differences in gene expression that alter metabolism and intercellular signaling in the muscle and adipose tissue in beef carcasses at different fat endpoints. In this study, longissimus thoracis muscle samples and adipose tissue were collected at harvest, and RNA was extracted and then sequenced using RNAseq. Differential expression was determined using edgeR, and p-values were adjusted using the Benjamini–Hochberg method. A corrected p-value of 0.005 and log2 (fold change) of >1 were the threshold to identify differential expression. Comparison between intermuscular and subcutaneous fat showed no differences in the genes activated in the two adipose tissue depots, suggesting that subcutaneous fat was an adequate sample. Carcass data allowed the classification of carcasses by USDA quality grades (marbling targets). In comparing muscle from Standard and Choice carcasses, 15 genes were downregulated, and 20 were upregulated. There were 49 downregulated and 113 upregulated genes comparing adipose tissue from Standard and Choice carcasses. These genes are related to the metabolism of fat and energy. This indicates that muscle transcript expression varies less than adipose. In addition, subcutaneous fat can be used to evaluate transcript changes in fat. However, it is unclear whether these fat tissues can be used as surrogates for marbling.
Prevalence, Antibiotic Resistance and Associated Factors of Neisseria gonorrhoeae Among Patients Attending Non-Profitable Private Clinics in Mekelle, Tigrai, Ethiopia

Background Globally, Neisseria gonorrhoeae is the second most common cause of bacterial sexually transmitted diseases. The prominent predicament of this bacterium is its complications, non-susceptibility for many drugs, and aggravated transmission of other sexually transmitted infections. There is limited information about the prevalence, antibiotic resistance, and risk factors of N. gonorrhoeae in Tigrai, Ethiopia. Therefore, we aimed to determine the prevalence, antibiotic resistance, and risk factors of N. gonorrhoeae among patients attending non-profitable private clinics in Mekelle, Tigrai, Ethiopia. Methods A cross-sectional study among 229 patients was conducted from February to June 2018. The socio-demographic data and associated factors were gathered using structured questionnaire, and swabs were taken from urethra and cervix of males and females, respectively. Specimens were inoculated on standard bacteriological culture media and antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed using Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion technique following the Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences Version 21. The level of significance at p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results The overall prevalence of N. gonorrhoeae was 23 (10.04%). High prevalence rates of N. gonorrhoeae were observed in females, urban residents and married ones. N. gonorrhoeae had shown statistically significant association with HIV positive, previous history of STIs, shisha users, Khat (Catha edulis) users, condom non-users and having more than two sexual partners. All isolates showed resistance to penicillin followed by tetracycline 16 (69.6%) and ciprofloxacin 8 (34.8%). Four isolates (7.4%) exhibited resistance to azithromycin with no resistance to ceftriaxone. Twelve (52.2%) isolates showed multidrug resistance (MDR). Conclusions The prevalence of N. gonorrhoeae and drug resistance, including multidrug resistance, was high in the study. Multiple factors were associated with the acquisition of N. gonorrhoeae. Therefore, behavioral change and communication should be strengthened.
Fibrous Dysplasia of the Jaw: Advances in Imaging and Treatment

A total of 7% of all benign bone lesions are diagnosed as fibrous dysplasia (FD). The symptoms of FD of the jaw range from asymptomatic to dental anomalies, pain and facial asymmetry. Due to its resemblance to other fibro-osseous bone lesions, misdiagnosis often occurs and can lead to inadequate treatment. Particularly in the jaw, this lesion does not become quiescent during puberty, making fundamental knowledge about the diagnosis and treatment of FD crucial. Mutational analysis and nonsurgical approaches offer new diagnostic and therapeutic options. In this review, we examine the advances and the difficulties of the diagnosis and the various treatment modalities of FD of the jaw in order to capture the current scientific knowledge on this bone disease.
The Influence of Aortic Valve Disease on Coronary Hemodynamics: A Computational Model-Based Study

Aortic valve disease (AVD) often coexists with coronary artery disease (CAD), but whether and how the two diseases are correlated remains poorly understood. In this study, a zero–three dimensional (0-3D) multi-scale modeling method was developed to integrate coronary artery hemodynamics, aortic valve dynamics, coronary flow autoregulation mechanism, and systemic hemodynamics into a unique model system, thereby yielding a mathematical tool for quantifying the influences of aortic valve stenosis (AS) and aortic valve regurgitation (AR) on hemodynamics in large coronary arteries. The model was applied to simulate blood flows in six patient-specific left anterior descending coronary arteries (LADs) under various aortic valve conditions (i.e., control (free of AVD), AS, and AR). Obtained results showed that the space-averaged oscillatory shear index (SA-OSI) was significantly higher under the AS condition but lower under the AR condition in comparison with the control condition. Relatively, the overall magnitude of wall shear stress was less affected by AVD. Further data analysis revealed that AS induced the increase in OSI in LADs mainly through its role in augmenting the low-frequency components of coronary flow waveform. These findings imply that AS might increase the risk or progression of CAD by deteriorating the hemodynamic environment in coronary arteries.
Empirical Evidence for the Rescue Effect from a Natural Microcosm

Simple Summary A widely assumed ecological process called the “rescue effect” holds that populations of organisms that receive immigrants from other populations should be less vulnerable to local extinction than populations that do not receive such immigrants. While sensible, the rescue effect has had little strong support from real-world populations because of the difficulty of testing this idea. Using a study system of plant-specialist frogs from the rainforests of Madagascar, this study provides evidence for the rescue effect as well as weaker evidence for a related (but opposite) process referred to as the “abandon-ship effect”. Abstract Ecological theory predicts that populations which receive immigrants are less vulnerable to extinction than those that do not receive immigrants (the “rescue effect”). A parallel but opposite process may also exist, where emigration increases the risk of local extinction (the “abandon-ship effect”). Using a natural microcosm of plant-specialist frogs from Madagascar, empirical evidence for both processes is provided. Populations receiving immigrants were less extinction-prone than those without immigration, and those populations losing individuals through emigration were more extinction-prone than those in which no emigration occurred. The number of immigrants and emigrants was also elevated and depressed (respectively) in patches that did not go extinct. These data provide some of the first definitive empirical evidence for the rescue effect and provide suggestive initial data on the abandon-ship effect. Both of these processes may be important to understanding the dynamics of populations.
School and Bicultural Factors as Mediators between Immigrant Mothers’ Acculturative Stress and Adolescents’ Depression in Korea

In Korea, marriages between Korean men and foreign women have surged since the late 1990s, resulting in public interest in the psychosocial adjustment of their children. This study examined the mediating effects of immigrant mothers’ school involvement, adolescents’ school adjustment, and bicultural acceptance on the relationship between the mothers’ acculturative stress and adolescents’ depression, as well as whether the structural relationships differed by the sex of adolescents. Data were collected from 1238 dyads of first-grade students (605 boys, 633 girls; age = 12.97 ± 0.35 years) in Korean middle schools and their immigrant mothers (age = 43.52 ± 5.13 years) who participated in the Multicultural Adolescents Panel Study. The structural equation modeling analysis revealed that mothers’ acculturative stress was indirectly and positively related to adolescents’ depression through (1) the serial mediations of mothers’ school involvement and adolescents’ school adjustment and (2) the individual mediation of adolescents’ school adjustment. Furthermore, the multigroup analysis indicated that the relationships between adolescents’ school adjustment and depression and between adolescents’ bicultural acceptance and depression significantly differed between male and female adolescents. The study provides directions for schools and communities to increase immigrant mothers’ school involvement and to facilitate their children’s school adjustment and bicultural acceptance.
Clonal Complexes Distribution of Staphylococcus aureus Isolates from Clinical Samples from the Caribbean Islands

The aim of this study was to comprehensively characterise S. aureus from the Caribbean Islands of Trinidad and Tobago, and Jamaica. A total of 101 S. aureus/argenteus isolates were collected in 2020, mainly from patients with skin and soft tissue infections. They were characterised by DNA microarray allowing the detection of ca. 170 target genes and assignment to clonal complexes (CC)s and strains. In addition, the in vitro production of Panton–Valentine leukocidin (PVL) was examined by an experimental lateral flow assay. Two isolates were identified as S. argenteus, CC2596. The remaining S. aureus isolates were assigned to 21 CCs. The PVL rate among methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) isolates was high (38/101), and 37 of the 38 genotypically positive isolates also yielded positive lateral flow results. The isolate that did not produce PVL was genome-sequenced, and it was shown to have a frameshift mutation in agrC. The high rate of PVL genes can be attributed to the presence of a known local CC8–MSSA clone in Trinidad and Tobago (n = 12) and to CC152–MSSA (n = 15). In contrast to earlier surveys, the USA300 clone was not found, although one MSSA isolate carried the ACME element, probably being a mecA-deficient derivative of this strain. Ten isolates, all from Trinidad and Tobago, were identified as MRSA. The pandemic ST239–MRSA–III strain was still common (n = 7), but five isolates showed a composite SCCmec element not observed elsewhere. Three isolates were sequenced. That showed a group of genes (among others, speG, crzC, and ccrA/B-4) to be linked to its SCC element, as previously found in some CC5– and CC8–MRSA, as well as in S. epidermidis. The other three MRSA belonged to CC22, CC72, and CC88, indicating epidemiological connections to Africa and the Middle East.