Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genetic and Molecular Analysis of Root Hair Development in Arabis alpina

Root hair formation in Arabidopsis thaliana is a well-established model system for epidermal patterning and morphogenesis in plants. Over the last decades, many underlying regulatory genes and well-established networks have been identified by thorough genetic and molecular analysis. In this study, we used a forward genetic approach to identify genes involved in root hair development in Arabis alpina, a related crucifer species that diverged from A. thaliana approximately 26–40 million years ago. We found all root hair mutant classes known in A. thaliana and identified orthologous regulatory genes by whole-genome or candidate gene sequencing. Our findings indicate that the gene-phenotype relationships regulating root hair development are largely conserved between A. thaliana and A. alpina. Concordantly, a detailed analysis of one mutant with multiple hairs originating from one cell suggested that a mutation in the SUPERCENTIPEDE1 (SCN1) gene is causal for the phenotype and that AaSCN1 is fully functional in A. thaliana. Interestingly, we also found differences in the regulation of root hair differentiation and morphogenesis between the species, and a subset of root hair mutants could not be explained by mutations in orthologs of known genes from A. thaliana. This analysis provides insight into the conservation and divergence of root hair regulation in the Brassicaceae.
Ionic liquid-based extraction and separation trends of bioactive compounds from plant biomass

ABSTRACT Ionic liquids have been projected as the best solvent for extraction and separation of bioactive compounds from various origins. This review offers a collection of the published results, using ionic liquids for the extraction and purification of biomolecules. Ionic liquids have been studied as solvents, co-solvents and supported materials for separation of bioactive compounds. The ionic liquids-based extraction procedures were previously reported, such as ionic liquids-based solid-liquid extraction, liquid-liquid extraction and ionic liquids-modified materials are reviewed and compared to their performance. In this review, the main activities and future challenges are discussed, with major gaps identified using ionic liquids in extraction procedures and by advancing few steps to overcome these drawbacks. Abbreviation: [(HSO3)C4MIM]+: 1-(4-sulfonylbutyl)-3-methylimidazolium; [(C6H3OCH2)2im]+: 1,3-dihexyloxymethylimidazolium; [CnC1MIM]+: 1-alkyl-2,3-dimethylimidazolium; [CnMIM]+; [Cn, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12]: 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium; [CnC1pyr]+: 1-alkyl-3-methylpyridinium; [Cnim]+: 1-alkylimidazolium; [Cnpyr]+: 1-alkylpyridinium; [aCnim]+: 1-allyl-3-alkylimidazolium; [C7H7MIM]+: 1-benzyl-3-methylimidazolium; [C4(C1C1C1Si)im]+: 1-butyl-3-trimethylsilylimidazolium; [(HOOC)C2MIM]+: 1-carboxyethyl-3-methylimidazolium; [(OH)CnMIM]+: 1-hydroxyalkyl-3-methylimidazolium; [(C2H5O)3SiC3MIM]+: 1-methyl-3-(triethoxy)silypropyl imidazolium; [(NH2)C3MIM]+: 1-propylamine-3-methylimidazolium; [CwHxNyOz]+: Chirally functionalized methylimidazolium; [P10(3OH)(3OH)(3OH)]+: Decyltris(3-hydrox- ypropyl) phosphonium; [N111(2OH)]+: N,N,N-trimethyl-N-(2-hydroxyethyl) ammonium (cholinium); [N00nn]+: N,N-dialkylammonium; [N0nn(2OH)]+: N,N-dialkyl-N-(2-hydroxyethyl) ammonium; [C10C10C1gluc]+: N,N-didecyl-N-methyl-d-glucaminium; [N11(2(O)1)0]+: N,N-dimethyl(2-methoxyethyl) ammonium; [N11(2OH)(C7H7)]+: N-benzyl-N,N-dimethyl-N-(2-hydroxyethyl) ammonium; [P66614]+: Trihexyltetradecylph- osphonium; [Pi(444)1]+: Triisobutyl (methyl) phosphonium; P.minus: Polygonum minus; NPs: Nanoparticle; ZnO : Zinc oxide nanoparticles ; Ni NPs: Nickel nanoparticles; MO: Methyl orange; UAE: Ultrasonic-assisted extraction; LLE: Liquid-liquid extraction; ABS: Aqueous biphasic system ; [Ace]−: Acesulfamate; [Ala]−: alalinate; [TMPP]−: bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl)phosphinate; : ; [NTf2]−: bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide; [[Br]–]: [Br]omide; [Calc]: calkanoate; [Cl]–: chloride; [Bz]−: benzoate; [PF6]−: hexafluorophosphate; [HSO4]−: hydrogenosulfate; [OH]−: hydroxide; I–: iodide; [Lac]−: lactate; [NO3]−: nitrate; [[Cl]O4]−: perchlorate; [Phe]−: phenilalaninate; [BF4]−: tetrafluoroborate; [SCN]−: thiocyanate; [C(CN)3]−: tricyanomethanide; [CF3CO2]−: trifluoroacetate; [CF3SO3]−: trifluoromethanesulfonate; [FAP]−: tris(pentafluoroethyl)trifluorophosphate; ILs: Ionic liquids; Ag NPs: Silver nanoparticle; Cu NPs: Copper nanoparticle; MB: Methylene blue; MR: Methyl red ; MAE: Microwave-assisted extraction; SLE: solid-liquid extraction.
Gene Therapy in Inherited Retinal Diseases: An Update on Current State of the Art

Background: Gene therapy cannot be yet considered a far perspective, but a tangible therapeutic option in the field of retinal diseases. Although still confined in experimental settings, the preliminary results are promising and provide an overall scenario suggesting that we are not so far from the application of gene therapy in clinical settings. The main aim of this review is to provide a complete and updated overview of the current state of the art and of the future perspectives of gene therapy applied on retinal diseases. Methods: We carefully revised the entire literature to report all the relevant findings related to the experimental procedures and the future scenarios of gene therapy applied in retinal diseases. A clinical background and a detailed description of the genetic features of each retinal disease included are also reported. Results: The current literature strongly support the hope of gene therapy options developed for retinal diseases. Although being considered in advanced stages of investigation for some retinal diseases, such as choroideremia (CHM), retinitis pigmentosa (RP), and Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA), gene therapy is still quite far from a tangible application in clinical practice for other retinal diseases. Conclusions: Gene therapy is an extremely promising therapeutic tool for retinal diseases. The experimental data reported in this review offer a strong hope that gene therapy will be effectively available in clinical practice in the next years.
The APC/CFZY–1/Cdc20 Complex Coordinates With OMA-1 to Regulate the Oocyte-to-Embryo Transition in Caenorhabditis elegans

During oocyte maturation and the oocyte-to-embryo transition, key developmental regulators such as RNA-binding proteins coordinate translation of particular messenger RNA (mRNAs) and related developmental processes by binding to their cognate maternal mRNAs. In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, these processes are regulated by a set of CCCH zinc finger proteins. Oocyte maturation defective-1 (OMA-1) and OMA-2 are two functionally redundant CCCH zinc finger proteins that turnover rapidly during the first embryonic cell division. These turnovers are required for proper transition from oogenesis to embryogenesis. A gain-of-function mutant of OMA-1, oma-1(zu405), stabilizes and delays degradation of OMA-1, resulting in delayed turnover and mis-segregation of other cell fate determinants, which eventually causes embryonic lethality. We performed a large-scale forward genetic screen to identify suppressors of the oma-1(zu405) mutant. We show here that multiple alleles affecting functions of various anaphase promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C) subunits, including MAT-1, MAT-2, MAT-3, EMB-30, and FZY-1, suppress the gain-of-function mutant of OMA-1. Transcriptome analysis suggested that overall transcription in early embryos occurred after introducing mutations in APC/C genes into the oma-1(zu405) mutant. Mutations in APC/C genes prevent OMA-1 enrichment in P granules and correct delayed degradation of downstream cell fate determinants including pharynx and intestine in excess-1 (PIE-1), posterior segregation-1 (POS-1), muscle excess-3 (MEX-3), and maternal effect germ-cell defective-1 (MEG-1). We demonstrated that only the activator FZY-1, but not FZR-1, is incorporated in the APC/C complex to regulate the oocyte-to-embryo transition. Our findings suggested a genetic relationship linking the APC/C complex and OMA-1, and support a model in which the APC/C complex promotes P granule accumulation and modifies RNA binding of OMA-1 to regulate the oocyte-to-embryo transition process.
The Relationship Between Compulsive Buying and Hoarding in China: A Multicenter Study

There is no previous research that has explored the correlation between compulsive buying and hoarding in the Chinese population. This study aims to determine the relationship between compulsive buying and hoarding in a sample of the Chinese population comprising participants from mainland China (emerging economy) and Hong Kong (developed economy). Self-reported measures consisting of demographic questions, the Chinese version of the Hoarding Rating Scale (CHRS), and Richmond Compulsive Buying Scale-Traditional Chinese (RCBS-TC) were administered to participants. After data collection, common method biases were precluded. The RCBS-TC and CHRS were validated by confirmatory factor analysis and found correlated by Pearson correlation coefficient. The RCBS-TC and CHRS demonstrated satisfactory levels of internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.872 and 0.828, respectively). A three-factor model, including hoarding, obsessive-compulsive, and impulse control disorders, was obtained through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) with the satisfactory fit for the total sample from Hong Kong and mainland China. A significant correlation was found between RCBS-TC and CHRS (r = 0.473). Findings also showed that 14% of the participants exhibited compulsive buying behavior. This study provides sufficient proof of the reliability and validity of RCBS-TC and CHRS. Their relationship was explored based on two sets of samples from different regions in Asia, which contributes more applicability in a cross-cultural context.
“It Is Utterly Out of My Expectation”-A Case Inquiry of Teacher Identity of an EFL Teacher in a Chinese Shadow School Setting

Though teacher identity is currently receiving an increasing amount of attention in the literature on teacher education and teacher development, little information is available about the richness, fluidity and individuality of EFL teacher identities in various L2 settings. This preliminary case inquiry has echoed that comment by exploring qualitatively how language teacher identity features in the participant's categorization of herself as a professional during her school-to-work transition at a shadow school in hinterland China. Drawing on semi-structured interviews and reflection essays, the triangulated data were analyzed with thematic analysis in order to find categories of enacted identities and key factors that impacted Jane's teacher identity formation. The results indicate four identities existed: an attendant, a firefighter, a coolie and a tramp. The fundamental predicaments hovering over the green employer encompass an array of contextual factors, including (1) overwhelming anxieties for potential early student leavers; (2) overhuge workload and fluid working schedule; (3) endless non-teaching related commitments; (4) lack of career prospect and development ladder. The results of the study contribute to the understanding of the complex and dynamic nature of teacher identity influenced by sociocultural landscapes where language teachers are situated. The research suggests implications for teacher educators and stakeholders on how to transform a novice to a qualified EFL teacher within the ideology and discouraging discourse of a burgeoning privately-owned training market, and on how to mediate green teachers' agency and autonomy against the bottlenecks of their initial years of teaching.
The Influence of Analysis Mode Selection on Prediction Accuracy of Corneal Astigmatism Using Pentacam

Purpose: To evaluate the influence of analysis mode selection on prediction accuracy of corneal astigmatism using Pentacam. Methods: Fifty-nine eyes of 59 patients implanted with toric intraocular lenses (IOLs) were included in the retrospective study. Preoperative corneal astigmatism (total refractive power) measured with Pentacam was analyzed based on 2-, 3-, 4-, or 5-mm ring or zone mode either centered on corneal apex or pupil center. Actual corneal astigmatism was calculated based on residual astigmatism on the corneal plane, surgical-induced astigmatism, and effective toric power on the corneal plane. Prediction error, the difference between actual corneal astigmatism and measured astigmatism, was compared among different analysis modes. Influences of local topography on prediction error were also evaluated. Results: Based on the zone mode, prediction error was lower when centered on corneal apex than on pupil center at different diameters, whereas based on the ring mode, this difference was only seen at 2-mm cornea (all P < 0.05). When centered on the corneal apex, the zone mode showed lower prediction error than the ring mode at 4- and 5-mm corneas (both P < 0.001), regardless of asymmetric or symmetric astigmatism. In symmetric bowtie, the zone mode showed lower prediction error than the ring mode at 2-mm cornea of the small bowtie, and 4- and 5-mm corneas of the large bowtie (all P < 0.05). Conclusions: For toric IOL planning, the corneal apex may be a better reference center. At a cornea diameter ≥4 mm, the zone mode is more accurate than the ring mode. Local topography affects prediction accuracy in the symmetric bowtie.
The Genetic Etiology Diagnosis of Fetal Growth Restriction Using Single-Nucleotide Polymorphism-Based Chromosomal Microarray Analysis

Background: An increase in pathogenic copy number variants (pCNVs) has been recognized to associate with fetal growth restriction (FGR). Here, we aim to explore the application value of chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) in prenatal diagnosis of FGR. Methods: Prenatal ultrasound was applied to identify FGR. A total of 149 pregnant women with FGR were enrolled in our study. All subjects underwent karyotype analysis and CMA to reveal the chromosomal abnormalities. Results: In this study, all subjects were successfully detected by karyotype and CMA analyses. Of these subjects, the chromosomal abnormalities detection rate was 5.37% (8/149) for karyotyping and 13.42% (20/149) for CMA, respectively. Among them, an 8.05% (12/149) incremental yield of CMA over karyotype analysis was observed (p = 0.004). In addition, a significant difference of pCNV detection rate was observed between the groups with different high-risk factors (p = 0.005). The FGR with structural anomalies group showed the highest pCNV detection rate (33.33%), followed by the FGR with non-structural anomalies group (8.77%) and the isolated FGR group (8.06%). Conclusion: In conclusion, CMA technology showed an effective application value in etiology diagnosis of FGR. We believe that CMA should be recommended as first-line detection technology for prenatal diagnosis in FGR.
Mathematics preparation for undergraduate degrees in computer science

Throughout the history of computer science education there has been debate on what should be the appropriate mathematics background for computer science majors. The first computer science instructors were mathematicians and the first curriculums were just modifications of mathematics curriculums. However, as the discipline has grown and matured there has developed several areas of computer science where traditional undergraduate mathematics is not used and traditional mathematics preparation may not be appropriate. Although logic and problem solving skills are valued by the Computer Science community, exactly how many hours of mathematics and what areas of mathematics should be required, needs to be addressed. This panel was convened to discuss this issue from a variety of viewpoints. We hope that discussion will give the listeners new ideas on just what should be the appropriate courses and topics for their institution and program. The panel was chosen to present a wide range of view representing a variety of schools (large and small, public and private, traditional and non-traditional, preparation for the workplace or for disciplines (E-commerce, distributed computing, artificial intelligence, software engineering and graphics) viewpoints (both young and old, industrial and academic).
Game Design as an Autonomous Research Subject

This paper examines the methods and systems of game design from the standpoint of existing method proposals failing to establish a common basis for systematizing design knowledge, which this paper aims to help resolve. Game design has often been subsumed by game development and associated disciplines, and game design methodology has often been subsumed by game analysis. This paper reviews related work in defining game design as an autonomous research subject and then divides the methods and systems of game design into complementary methods and core methods, with only the latter, consisting chiefly of design patterns, attempting to systematize how game design knowledge is generated. Seminal game patterns have been descriptive rather than -prescriptive and so have failed to find the requisite practitioner adoption to fulfill their role as a living method. One recent pattern approach has sought to resolve this issue by promoting pattern usage generally over the adoption of a particular language. This paper outlines an alternate and possibly complementary approach of a novel, practical basis for game design literacy for helping core methods work as a basis for systematizing game design knowledge. The proposed basis sacrifices descriptiveness to prescriptiveness to shape methods in that direction.
CANet: A Combined Attention Network for Remote Sensing Image Change Detection

Change detection (CD) is one of the essential tasks in remote sensing image processing and analysis. Remote sensing CD is a process of determining and evaluating changes in various surface objects over time. The impressive achievements of deep learning in image processing and computer vision provide an innovative concept for the task of CD. However, existing methods based on deep learning still have problems detecting small changed regions correctly and distinguishing the boundaries of the changed regions. To solve the above shortcomings and improve the efficiency of CD networks, inspired by the fact that an attention mechanism can refine features effectively, we propose an attention-based network for remote sensing CD, which has two important components: an asymmetric convolution block (ACB) and a combined attention mechanism. First, the proposed method extracts the features of bi-temporal images, which contain two parallel encoders with shared weights and structures. Then, the feature maps are fed into the combined attention module to reconstruct the change maps and obtain refined feature maps. The proposed CANet is evaluated on the two publicly available datasets for challenging remote sensing image CD. Extensive empirical results with four popular metrics show that the designed framework yields a robust CD detector with good generalization performance. In the CDD and LEVIR-CD datasets, the F1 values of the CANet are 3.3% and 1.3% higher than those of advanced CD methods, respectively. A quantitative analysis and qualitative comparison indicate that our method outperforms competitive baselines in terms of both effectiveness and robustness.
Adsorption of the nitrosamine and thionitrosamine molecules as carcinogen compounds on the BN and B3Al N nanotubes: A DFT study

Abstract DFT calculations were performed to investigation of the influence of doping three atoms of aluminum on the electronic properties of the (4,0) zigzag boron nitride nanotube (BNNT). Also, adsorption properties of nitrosamine (NA) and thionitrosamine (TNA) molecules as carcinogen agents onto BN and BAl3N nanotubes were studied. The results show that the B3AlN nanotube is the most energetically favorable candidates for adsorption of these molecules. Also, B(B3Al)NNT/TNA complexes are more stable than B(B3Al)NNT/NA complexes. The HOMO–LUMO gap, electronic chemical potential (μ), hardness (ƞ), softness (S), the maximum amount of electronic charge (ΔNmax) and electrophilicity index (ω) for monomers and complexes in the gas and polar solvent phases were calculated. The results show that the conductivity and reactivity of BNNT increase by doping Al atoms instead of B atoms. Also, the interaction of NA and TNA molecules with BN and BAl3N nanotubes results in significant changes in the electronic properties of nanotubes. Based on the natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis, in all complexes charge transfer occurs from NA and TNA molecules to nanotubes. Theory of atoms in molecules (AIM) was applied to characterize the nature of interactions in nanotubes. It is predicted that, BN and B3AlN nanotubes can be used to as sensor for detection of NA and TNA molecules.
What is beneath Singapore’s integration to the global HE system?

Singapore’s Higher Education and Research (HER) have faced major transformations including becoming an education and knowledge hub in Asia (Sidhu et al., 2014). In order to explain those transformations in education, some authors have focused on the government’s education policy, in particular the Global Schoolhouse initiative, launched in 2002 in order to position Singapore as an education regional hub. That policy aimed to turn Higher Education into a business, and to lift the education sector’s contribution to GDP from 1.9% to 5% by 2015 (Gopinathan and Lee, 2011; Mok, 2011; Ng, 2013; Olds, 2007; Sidhu et al., 2011; Tan, 2017, 2016; Waring, 2014).
A compact 1×3 two-mode selective silicon photonic router/switch using two tunable phase shifters

In this work, we propose a design in the proof-of-concept of a 1×3 two-mode selective silicon-photonics router/switch. The proposed device composes of a Y-junction coupler, two multimode interference (MMI) couplers, and two phase-shifters on the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) rib waveguides. The input modes of TE0 and TE1 can be arbitrarily and simultaneously routed to the yearning output ports by setting appropriate values (ON/OFF) for two tunable phase shifters (PSs). The structural optimization and efficient characterization processes are carried out by numerical simulation via three-dimensional beam propagation method. The proposed device exhibits the operation ability over the C-band with good optical performances in terms of insertion loss smaller than 1 dB, crosstalk under -19 dB, and relatively large geometry tolerances. Moreover, the proposed device can integrate into a footprint as compact as 5 μm × 475 μm. Such significant advantages are beneficial and promising potentials for very large-scale photonic integrated circuits, high-speed optical interconnects, and short-haul few-mode fiber communication systems. Received on 30 July 2021; accepted on 13 September 2021; published on 17 September 2021