Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fungal assisted bio‐treatment of environmental pollutants with comprehensive emphasis on noxious heavy metals: Recent updates

In the present time of speedy developments and industrialization, heavy metals are being uncovered in aquatic environment and soil via refining, electroplating, processing, mining, metallurgical activities, dyeing and other several metallic and metal based industrial and synthetic activities. Heavy metals like lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), Zinc (Zn), Cobalt (Co), Iron (Fe), and many other are considered as seriously noxious and toxic for the aquatic environment, human, and other aquatic lives and have damaging influences. Such heavy metals, which are very tough to be degraded, can be managed by reducing their potential through various processes like removal, precipitation, oxidation–reduction, bio‐sorption, recovery, bioaccumulation, bio‐mineralization etc. Microbes are known as talented bio‐agents for the heavy metals detoxification process and fungi are one of the cherished bio‐sources that show noteworthy aptitude of heavy metal sorption and metal tolerance. Thus, the main objective of the authors was to come with a comprehensive review having methodological insights on the novel and recent results in the field of mycoremediation of heavy metals. This review significantly assesses the potential talent of fungi in heavy metal detoxification and thus, in environmental restoration. Many reported works, methodologies and mechanistic sights have been evaluated to explore the fungal‐assisted heavy metal remediation. Herein, a compact and effectual discussion on the recent mycoremediation studies of organic pollutants like dyes, petroleum, pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, and pharmaceutical wastes have also been presented.
Proper Nouns in Translation: Should They Be Translated?

The translation of proper nouns is not as easy as that of other parts of speech as this is more challenging for certain reasons. The present article presents a descriptive study of proper nouns in translation, scrutinizing the challenges and exploring the solutions. Building on some scholars’ approach and suggestions from other researchers, the article clarifies the nature and problems of proper nouns in translation; it seeks to answer three questions: 1) Should proper nouns be translated? 2) What are the problems on the way of translation of the proper nouns? 3) How can the translator overcome such problems? Moreover, strategies applied by the researchers to make their translation easier are also discussed. It follows that translating proper nouns is not simple and there is little flexibility about translating proper nouns.
Strategy to Develop a Common Simulation Training Program: Illustration with Anesthesia and Intensive Care Residency in France

Abstract Phenomenon: The urgency of having fair and trustworthy competency-based assessment in medical training is growing. Simulation is increasingly recognized as a potent method for building and assessing applied competencies. The growing use of simulation and its application in summative assessment calls for comprehensive and rigorously designed programs. Defining the current baseline of what is available and feasible is a crucial first step. This paper uses anesthesia and intensive care (AIC) in France as a case study in how to document this baseline. Approach: An IRB-approved, online anonymous closed survey was submitted to AIC residency program directors and AIC simulation program directors in France from January to February 2021. The researcher-developed survey consisted of 65 questions across five sections: centers' characteristics, curricular characteristics, courses' characteristics, instructors' characteristics, and simulation perceptions and perspectives. Findings: The participation rate was 31/31 (100%) with 29 centers affiliated with a university hospital. All centers had AIC simulation activities. Resident training was structured in 94% of centers. Simulation uses were training (100%), research and development (61%), procedural or organizational testing (42%), and summative assessment (13%). Interprofessional full-scale simulation training existed in 90% of centers. Procedural training on simulators prior to clinical patients' care was performed “always” in 16%, “most often” in 45%, “sometimes” in 29% and “rarely” or “not” in 10% of centers. Simulated patients were used in 61% of centers. Main themes were identified for procedural skills, full-scale and simulated patient simulation training. Simulation activity was perceived as increasing in 68% of centers. Centers expressed a desire to participate in developing and using a national common AIC simulation program. Insights: Based on our findings in AIC, we demonstrated a baseline description of nationwide simulation activities. We now have a clearer perspective on a decentralized approach in which individual institutions or regional consortia conduct simulation for a discipline in a relatively homogeneous way, suggesting the feasibility for national guidelines. This approach provides useful clues for AIC and other disciplines to develop a comprehensive and meaningful program matching existing expectations and closing the identified gaps.
The puzzle of ideography

Abstract An ideography is a general-purpose code made of pictures that do not encode language, which can be used autonomously – not just as a mnemonic prop – to encode information on a broad range of topics. Why are viable ideographies so hard to find? I contend that self-sufficient graphic codes need to be narrowly specialized. Writing systems are only an apparent exception: At their core, they are notations of a spoken language. Even if they also encode nonlinguistic information, they are useless to someone who lacks linguistic competence in the encoded language or a related one. The versatility of writing is thus vicarious: Writing borrows it from spoken language. Why is it so difficult to build a fully generalist graphic code? The most widespread answer points to a learnability problem. We possess specialized cognitive resources for learning spoken language, but lack them for graphic codes. I argue in favor of a different account: What is difficult about graphic codes is not so much learning or teaching them as getting every user to learn and teach the same code. This standardization problem does not affect spoken or signed languages as much. Those are based on cheap and transient signals, allowing for easy online repairing of miscommunication, and require face-to-face interactions where the advantages of common ground are maximized. Graphic codes lack these advantages, which makes them smaller in size and more specialized.
Electron effective mass and mobility limits in degenerate perovskite stannateBaSnO3

The high room temperature mobility and the electron effective mass in BaSnO$_3$ are investigated in depth by evaluation of the free carrier absorption observed in infrared spectra for epitaxial films with free electron concentrations from $8.3 \times 10^{18}$ to $7.3 \times 10^{20}$~cm$^{-3}$. Both the optical band gap widening by conduction band filling and the carrier scattering mechanisms in the low and high doping regimes are consistently described employing parameters solely based on the intrinsic physical properties of BaSnO$_3$. The results explain the current mobility limits in epitaxial films and demonstrate the potential of BaSnO$_3$ to outperform established wide band gap semiconductors also in the moderate doping regime.
All-optical multiwavelength switching for hybrid WDM/TDM demultiplexing and signal processing

Summary form only given. Hybrid approaches to optical communications and signal processing systems have previously been proposed that exploit the parallelism of wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) and the speed of time division multiplexing (TDM). In this paper, we demonstrate an all-optical switch capable of simultaneously switching multiple wavelength channels with high-speed capability using a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) asymmetrically placed inside a loop mirror.
Platelet function testing using the Multiplate analyzer after administration of aspirin in Aachen minipigs

Knowledge of platelet function in pigs and the effectiveness of antiplatelet therapy is important to ensure proper transferability from animal studies to humans. Our aim was to (1) characterize baseline platelet function of Aachen minipigs using the bedside Multiplate analyzer, (2) compare baseline platelet function with Göttingen minipigs, and (3) characterize platelet inhibition within the first 5 minutes after intravenous administration of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA). We characterized the baseline platelet function and hematological parameters in 9 Aachen minipigs. Historical data of 8 unmedicated Göttingen minipigs were used for comparison of baseline values. Platelet inhibition in Aachen minipigs was tested 1–5 minutes after intravenous administration of 500 mg ASA. Multiplate examinations included the following tests: ASPI test (to assess the effect of ASA), adenosine-diphosphate-test (ADP test) and thrombin receptor activating peptide test (TRAP test). Median values and interquartile range (IQR) of the Multiplate baseline tests in Aachen minipigs were as follows: ASPI: 39 U (IQR = 21–71), ADP: 70 U (IQR = 48–73), and TRAP: 8 U (IQR = 6–9), whereas the values in Göttingen minipigs were as follows: ASPI: 70.5 U (IQR = 60–78), ADP: 51 U (IQR = 45–66), and TRAP: 6.5 U (IQR = 4–8). ASPI values of Göttingen minipigs were significantly higher than those of Aachen minipigs (p = 0.046). Intravenous administration of ASA in Aachen minipigs resulted in significant platelet inhibition after 1 minute, which remained stable over a period of 5 minutes (p≤0.038). Aachen minipigs appeared to have a high variance in arachidonic acid-mediated platelet aggregation. In Aachen minipigs, intravenous ASA administration resulted in immediate platelet inhibition.
Graph-based pan-genome: increased opportunities in plant genomics.

Due to the development of sequencing technology and the great reduction in sequencing costs, the genomes of an increasing number of plant species have been assembled, and the numerous genomes have revealed large amounts of variation. However, a single reference genome does not allow the exploration of species diversity; therefore, the concept of the pan-genome was developed. A pan-genome is a collection of all sequences available for a species, including a large number of consensus sequences, large structural variations (SVs), and small variations, including single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and insertions/deletions (InDels). A simple linear pan-genome does not allow these SVs to be intuitively characterized, so graph-based pan-genomes have been developed. These pan-genomes store sequence and SV information in the form of nodes and paths to store and display species variation information in a more intuitive manner. The key role of graph-based pan-genome is to expand the coordinate system of the linear reference genome to accommodate more regions of genetic diversity. Here, we review the origin and development of graph-based pan-genomes, explore their application in plant research, and further highlight the application of graph-based pan-genomes for future plant breeding.
COVID-19, climate change, and the finite pool of worry in 2019 to 2021 Twitter discussions

Significance According to Weber's psychological theory of the finite pool of worry, people avoid dealing with multiple negative events at the same time. Consistent with this theory, as people worry more about the COVID-19 pandemic, they tend to neglect the problem of climate change. Here, we examine the number and content of climate change discussions on Twitter from 2019 through 2021. We show that as COVID-19 cases and deaths increase, climate change tweets have a less negative sentiment. There is also less content associated with fear and anger, the emotions related to worry and anxiety. These results support the finite pool of worry hypothesis and imply that the pandemic redirects public attention from the important problem of climate change mitigation.
Temporal Representation Learning on Monocular Videos for 3D Human Pose Estimation

In this article we propose an unsupervised feature extraction method to capture temporal information on monocular videos, where we detect and encode subject of interest in each frame and leverage contrastive self-supervised (CSS) learning to extract rich latent vectors. Instead of simply treating the latent features of nearby frames as positive pairs and those of temporally-distant ones as negative pairs as in other CSS approaches, we explicitly disentangle each latent vector into a time-variant component and a time-invariant one. We then show that applying contrastive loss only to the time-variant features and encouraging a gradual transition on them between nearby and away frames while also reconstructing the input, extract rich temporal features, well-suited for human pose estimation. Our approach reduces error by about 50% compared to the standard CSS strategies, outperforms other unsupervised single-view methods and matches the performance of multi-view techniques. When 2D pose is available, our approach can extract even richer latent features and improve the 3D pose estimation accuracy, outperforming other state-of-the-art weakly supervised methods.
Semaglutide for the treatment of overweight and obesity: A review

Obesity is a chronic, relapsing disease associated with multiple complications and a substantial morbidity, mortality and health care burden. Pharmacological treatments for obesity provide a valuable adjunct to lifestyle intervention, which often achieves only limited weight loss that is difficult to maintain. The Semaglutide Treatment Effect in People with obesity (STEP) clinical trial programme is evaluating once‐weekly subcutaneous semaglutide 2.4 mg (a glucagon‐like peptide‐1 analogue) in people with overweight or obesity. Across STEP 1, 3, 4 and 8, semaglutide 2.4 mg was associated with mean weight losses of 14.9%‐17.4% in individuals with overweight or obesity without type 2 diabetes from baseline to week 68; 69%‐79% of participants achieved ≥10% weight loss with semaglutide 2.4 mg (vs. 12%‐27% with placebo) and 51%‐64% achieved ≥15% weight loss (vs. 5%‐13% with placebo). In STEP 5, mean weight loss was −15.2% with semaglutide 2.4 mg versus −2.6% with placebo from baseline to week 104. In STEP 2 (individuals with overweight or obesity, and type 2 diabetes), mean weight loss was −9.6% with semaglutide 2.4 mg versus −3.4% with placebo from baseline to week 68. Improvements in cardiometabolic risk factors, including high blood pressure, atherogenic lipids and benefits on physical function and quality of life were seen with semaglutide 2.4 mg. The safety profile of semaglutide 2.4 mg was consistent across trials, primarily gastrointestinal adverse events. The magnitude of weight loss reported in the STEP trials offers the potential for clinically relevant improvement for individuals with obesity‐related diseases.
Impact of Genetic Variants in the Nicotine Metabolism Pathway on Nicotine Metabolite Levels in Smokers

Abstract Background: Nicotine metabolism is a major factor in nicotine dependence, with approximately 70% to 80% of nicotine metabolized to cotinine in Caucasians. Cotinine formation is catalyzed primarily by CYP2A6, which also converts cotinine to trans-3′-hydroxycotinine (3HC). The goal of the present study was to examine the effects of CYP2A6 deficiency on nicotine metabolism profiles in vivo and the importance of genetic variants in nicotine-metabolizing enzyme genes on urinary nicotine metabolites levels. Methods: Urine samples from 722 smokers who participated in the Singapore Chinese Health Study were analyzed using UPLC-MS/MS to detect nicotine and eight of its urinary metabolites, and a total of 58 variants in 12 genes involved in nicotine metabolism were investigated in 475 of these subjects with informative genotyping data. Results: Urine samples stratified by the ratio of 3HC/cotinine exhibited a 7-fold increase in nicotine-N’-oxide, a 6-fold increase in nicotine-Glucuronide (Gluc), and a 5-fold decrease in 3HC-Gluc when comparing the lower versus upper 3HC/cotinine ventiles. Significant (P < 0.0001) associations were observed between functional metabolizing enzyme genotypes and levels of various urinary nicotine metabolites, including CYP2A6 genotype and levels of nicotine, nicotine-Gluc, nicotine-N’-oxide and 3HC, UGT2B10 genotype and levels of cotinine, nicotine-Gluc and cotinine-Gluc, UGT2B17 genotype and levels of 3HC-Gluc, FMO3 genotype and levels of nicotine-N’-oxide, and CYP2B6 genotype and levels of nicotine-N’-oxide and 4-hydroxy-4-(3-pyridyl)-butanoic acid. Conclusions: These data suggest that several pathways are important in nicotine metabolism. Impact: Genotype differences in several nicotine-metabolizing enzyme pathways may potentially lead to differences in nicotine dependence and smoking behavior and cessation.
POPDC1 scaffolds a complex of adenylyl cyclase 9 and the potassium channel TREK‐1 in heart

The establishment of macromolecular complexes by scaffolding proteins is key to the local production of cAMP by anchored adenylyl cyclase (AC) and the subsequent cAMP signaling necessary for cardiac functions. We identify a novel AC scaffold, the Popeye domain‐containing (POPDC) protein. The POPDC family of proteins is important for cardiac pacemaking and conduction, due in part to their cAMP‐dependent binding and regulation of TREK‐1 potassium channels. We show that TREK‐1 binds the AC9:POPDC1 complex and copurifies in a POPDC1‐dependent manner with AC9 activity in heart. Although the AC9:POPDC1 interaction is cAMP‐independent, TREK‐1 association with AC9 and POPDC1 is reduced upon stimulation of the β‐adrenergic receptor (βAR). AC9 activity is required for βAR reduction of TREK‐1 complex formation with AC9:POPDC1 and in reversing POPDC1 enhancement of TREK‐1 currents. Finally, deletion of the gene‐encoding AC9 (Adcy9) gives rise to bradycardia at rest and stress‐induced heart rate variability, a milder phenotype than the loss of Popdc1 but similar to the loss of Kcnk2 (TREK‐1). Thus, POPDC1 represents a novel adaptor for AC9 interactions with TREK‐1 to regulate heart rate control.
TMEM184B promotes proliferation, migration and invasion, and inhibits apoptosis in hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Several members of the transmembrane protein family are associated with the biological processes of human malignancies; however, the expression pattern and biological function of one family member, TMEM184B, in hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HPSCC) are not fully understood. The expression between HPSCC tumours and adjacent normal tissues was determined by the Immunohistochemistry (IHC). A bioinformatics analysis was performed to verify the expression pattern of TMEM184B in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases. Furthermore, in vitro assays on cell proliferation, invasion, migration and in vivo experiments on tumour growth and apoptosis of TMEM184B in HPSCC were performed. We found that the HPSCC tissues had a significantly higher expression of TMEM184B than the adjacent normal tissues. Bioinformatics analysis confirmed the different expression of TMEM184B expression in HPSCC. Furthermore, in vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated that TMEM184B promotes HPSCC cell growth, cell invasion and migration in FaDu cells, whereas flow cytometry assay showed that TMEM184B inhibited cell apoptosis. Our study revealed for the first time that TMEM184B might serve an oncogenic function in HPSCC and could be a potential diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target for HPSCC.
Level of maternal antibodies against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) nucleoprotein at birth and risk of RSV very severe lower respiratory tract infection

The nucleoprotein (N protein) of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a candidate antigen for new RSV vaccine development. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between maternal antibody titers against the RSV N protein at birth and the newborns' risk of developing very severe lower respiratory tract infection (VS‐LRTI).
Findings From Implementing a Patient Experience Survey in a Quality Measurement System for Substance Abuse Disorder Treatment Facilities in 6 States

Objectives Patient experience surveys (PESs) are an important component of determining the quality of health care. There is an absence of PES data available to people seeking to identify higher quality substance use disorder treatment providers. Our project aimed to correct this by implementing a PES for substance use disorder treatment providers and publicly disseminating PES information. Methods We created a population frame of all addiction providers in 6 states. Providers were asked to disseminate a survey invitation letter directing patients to a survey Web site. No personally identifiable information was exchanged. We developed a 10-question survey, reflecting characteristics National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) have identified as reflecting higher-quality addiction treatment. Results Nineteen percent of facilities participated; among participating facilities, 9627 patients completed the survey. Patient experience varied significantly by facility with the percentage of a facility’s patients who chose the most positive answer varying widely. We calculated that between-facility reliability will meet or exceed 0.80 for facilities with 20 or more responding patients. We searched for but did not find evidence of data falsification. Conclusions This cost-efficient survey protocol is low burden for providers and patients. Results suggest significant differences in quality of care among facilities, and facility-level results are important to provide to consumers when they evaluate the relative patient-reported quality of facilities. The data are not designed to provide population-based statistics. As more facilities and patients per facility participate, public-facing PES data will be increasingly useful to consumers seeking to compare and choose facilities.
Probing the origin of prion protein misfolding via reconstruction of ancestral proteins

Prion diseases are fatal neurodegenerative diseases caused by pathogenic misfolding of the prion protein, PrP. They are transmissible between hosts, and sometimes between different species, as with transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy to humans. Although PrP is found in a wide range of vertebrates, prion diseases are seen only in certain mammals, suggesting that infectious misfolding was a recent evolutionary development. To explore when PrP acquired the ability to misfold infectiously, we reconstructed the sequences of ancestral versions of PrP from the last common primate, primate‐rodent, artiodactyl, placental, bird, and amniote. Recombinant ancestral PrPs were then tested for their ability to form β‐sheet aggregates, either spontaneously or when seeded with infectious prion strains from human, cervid, or rodent species. The ability to aggregate developed after the oldest ancestor (last common amniote), and aggregation capabilities diverged along evolutionary pathways consistent with modern‐day susceptibilities. Ancestral bird PrP could not be seeded with modern‐day prions, just as modern‐day birds are resistant to prion disease. Computational modeling of structures suggested that differences in helix 2 could account for the resistance of ancestral bird PrP to seeding. Interestingly, ancestral primate PrP could be converted by all prion seeds, including both human and cervid prions, raising the possibility that species descended from an ancestral primate have retained the susceptibility to conversion by cervid prions. More generally, the results suggest that susceptibility to prion disease emerged prior to ~100 million years ago, with placental mammals possibly being generally susceptible to disease.