A document by Santoshi Pokharel Kunwar. Click on the document to view its contents.

javascript:void(0) Recently, we found that continuous transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) facilitates the encoding and later recollection of emotionally relevant information, as indicated by enhanced late positive potential (LPP), memory performance, and late ERP Old/New effect. Here, we aimed to conceptually replicate and extend these findings by investigating the effects of different time-dependent taVNS stimulation protocols. In Study 1, an identical paradigm to our previous study was employed with interval stimulation (30-sec on/off). Participants viewed unpleasant and neutral scenes on two consecutive days while receiving taVNS or sham stimulation and completed a recognition test one week later. In line with our previous results, unpleasant images encoded under taVNS, compared to sham stimulation, elicited larger LPP amplitudes and Old/New effects. However, no effects of taVNS on memory performance were found, suggesting that interval stimulation may lower the effects of taVNS on memory. In Study 2, we followed up on these findings by synchronizing the stimulation cycle with image presentation to determine the taVNS effects for images encoded during the on and off cycles. We could replicate the enhancing effects of taVNS on brain potentials (LPP and late Old/New effect) and found that taVNS improved recollection-based memory performance for both unpleasant and neutral images, independently of the stimulation cycle. Overall, our results suggest that taVNS increases electrophysiological correlates of emotional encoding and retrieval in a time-independent manner, substantiating the vagus nerve’s role in emotional processing and memory formation and opening new venues for improving mnemonic processes in both clinical and non-clinical populations.

not-yet-known not-yet-known not-yet-known unknown The analysis of environmental DNA (eDNA) has become a non-invasive, cost-efficient and universal biomonitoring tool, widely applied across the globe. Most eDNA research focuses on aquatic organisms in freshwater and marine environments. eDNA shedding rates are key to interpretating eDNA-based results, such as for abundance estimations or detection probabilities. Shedding rates have been estimated for several species and life stages, however virtually all of them are aquatic. As eDNA-based biomonitoring expands to terrestrial systems, waterborne eDNA from freshwater is increasingly used to assess species presence of terrestrial mammals. While interacting with the water, terrestrial mammals deposit their DNA into the water body, with the amount deposited presumably heavily depending on the interaction type. Here we quantify eDNA shedding rates from domestic dogs during various interactions with water bodies, including ”passing by”, ”drinking”, ”crossing through”, ”standing still” and ”defecating.” “Crossing through” and “defecating” had the highest DNA shedding rates (both approx. 4x107 pg/h/ind). Since scat largely remains in the water once deposited, and the active movement of terrestrial mammals through the water is brief, we conclude that defecation is the major source of terrestrial mammal DNA in surface waters where direct defecation into the water is possible. This has important implications for interpretations of eDNA-based data from such water bodies. We also highlight the patchiness of eDNA particle distribution in such systems, which needs to be accounted for when designing eDNA sampling schemes.

not-yet-known not-yet-known not-yet-known unknown This paper investigates the current landscape of option trading platforms for cryptocurrencies, encompassing both centralized and decentralized exchanges. Option contracts in cryptocurrency markets offer functionalities akin to traditional markets, providing investors with tools to mitigate risks, particularly those arising from price volatility, while also allowing them to capitalize on future volatility trends. The paper discusses these applications of option contracts in the context of decentralized finance (DeFi), emphasizing their utility in managing market uncertainties. Despite a recent surge in the trading volume of option contracts on cryptocurrencies, decentralized platforms account for less than 1% of this total volume. Hence, this paper takes a closer look by examining the design choices of these platforms to understand the challenges hindering their growth and adoption. It identifies technical, financial, and adoption-related challenges that decentralized exchanges face and provides commentary on existing platform responses. Subsequently, it introduces a zero-loss liquidity provision strategy on altcoins that utilizes options with automated market makers. These opportunities result in a positive return with no significant risk. It then investigates opportunities in the past using historical on-chain data to emphasize the number of risk-free opportunities that DeFi is missing due to the lack of a functional options exchange on arbitrary ERC20 token pairs on Ethereum. The experiments show 1015 profitable instances in the past three years on 14 token pairs.

As the digital landscape becomes increasingly complex, traditional cybersecurity measures are struggling to keep pace with the growing sophistication of cyber threats. This escalating challenge calls for new, more robust solutions. In this context, Quantum Computing emerges as a powerful tool that can change our approach to network security. Our research addresses this by introducing QuantumNetSec, a novel Intrusion Detection System (IDS) that combines quantum and classical computing techniques. QuantumNetSec employs Quantum Machine Learning (QML) personalized methodologies to analyze network patterns and detect malicious activities. Through detailed experimentation with publicly shared datasets, QuantumNetSec demonstrated superior performance in both binary and multiclass classification tasks. Our findings highlight the significant potential of quantum-enhanced cybersecurity solutions, showcasing QuantumNetSec’s ability to accurately detect a wide range of cyber threats, paving the way for more resilient and effective intrusion detection systems in the age of quantum utility.

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is an escalating public health issue in Nigeria, driven by rapid urbanization, lifestyle changes, and inadequate healthcare infrastructure. The disease affects 5.8% of the adult population, with millions requiring ongoing care. However, significant barriers prevent many from accessing the clinical care they need. These challenges include geographical disparities, with rural areas lacking essential healthcare services, and economic constraints, as many Nigerians cannot afford the high out-of-pocket costs associated with diabetes management. Cultural factors, such as reliance on traditional medicine and low health literacy, further complicate the effective management of T2D. The healthcare system is also hampered by a shortage of trained professionals and inadequate facilities, particularly in rural areas where most of the population resides. This review identifies these critical barriers and offers targeted solutions, including strengthening primary healthcare systems through investment in infrastructure and training, expanding health insurance coverage to reduce the economic burden, and enhancing public health education to improve health literacy and promote early diagnosis. Addressing these multifaceted challenges is crucial for improving access to care, reducing complications, and managing the growing burden of T2D in Nigeria. The findings of this study aim to inform policy and guide future research to develop effective diabetes management strategies in the region.

A document by Ahmad Al-Bitar. Click on the document to view its contents.

Addressing Behavioral and Psychiatric Symptoms in Dystonia: A Case Report of Fahr Disease

Title : Adult-onset Still Disease with Impending Macrophage Activation Syndrome in a 24-year-old female

not-yet-known not-yet-known not-yet-known unknown Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic relapsing inflammatory disease of the intestines characterized by a progressive and unpredictable course, and colorectal cancer (CRC), a malignant tumor of the colon or rectum, is a malignant disease that seriously affects human health. The risk of colitis-associated cancer (CAC) is high in patients with IBD, and CRC is one of the most serious consequences for patients with IBD. Cell death is a fundamental physiological process in all living organisms, and it includes apoptosis, necroptosis, pyroptosis, autophagy, ferroptosis, and cuproptosis. Regulatory cell death (RCD), a form of cell death that can be regulated by a variety of biomolecules, plays an important role in maintaining physiological homeostasis in the body, resistance to pathogen attack, and a range of pathological states, such as inflammation and cancers. There is growing evidence that different types of RCD are involved not only in the pathogenesis of IBD, CRC, and CAC but also in the therapeutic process. The present review will provide ideas for further exploration of RCD affecting IBD, CRC, and CAC by summarizing the possible mechanisms of the involvement of different types of RCD in IBD, CRC, and CAC. Additionally, this article will discuss recent advancements in pharmacotherapy.

Background: Periostin mediates inflammation and fibrosis by regulating ECM adhesion, migration, and differentiation in multiple organ diseases. Studies have shown Periostin mainly located in the dilated mesangium, tubulointerstitial and fibrotic regions of the diabetic nephropathy, which is negatively correlated with renal function. However, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly explored. Methods: The expression of periostin in HK-2 cells was investigated under high glucose and high concentration of TGF-β1. The signaling pathway of periostin involved in epithelial-mesenchymal transdifferentiation of HK-2 cells was also validated. The expression of periostin were investigated by RT-PCR with different concentration of glucose and TGF-β1. Periostin expression in HK-2 cells stimulated by high glucose and high TGF-β1 was detected by western blotting and immunofluorescence. The expression of E-Cad, α-SMA and p38 proteins were also detected. The effects of p38 inhibitors on periostin, E-Cad and α-SMA in high glucose environment were also investigated and verified. Results: High concentration of glucose and TGF-β1 increased the fibrosis of HK-2 cells, prompting high expression of periostin. The combined stimulation of high glucose (22 mmol/L) and high TGF-β1(10 ng/mL) upregulated the expression of periostin obviously, stimulating the expression of α-SMA and p38 while inhibiting the secretion of E-Cad. More importantly, p38 inhibitors reduced the expression of periostin and α-SMA protein while promoted E-Cad protein expression in HK-2 cells under high glucose conditions. Furthermore, p38-MAPK signal pathway was involved in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition of human renal tubules in high glucose environment. Conclusion: Periostin, a downstream factor of TGF-β1, is positively regulated by TGF-β1 under high glucose condition, affecting the epithelial-interstitial differentiation of HK-2 cells via the p38-MAPK signaling pathway. Therefore, periostin may serve as a biomarker of renal fibrosis in diabetic kidney disease.

not-yet-known not-yet-known not-yet-known unknown Mining logic rules from structured knowledge bases is the basis of knowledge engineering. Due to the NP-hardness of the rule mining problem, logic rules cannot be efficiently induced from knowledge bases, especially large-scale ones, and most mining techniques employ algorithmic and architectural optimizations to improve efficiency. Data-oriented optimizations have also been explored to some extent, but the data efficiency is relatively low, and the memory consumption is thus becoming a new challenge for state-of-the-art systems. In this article, we propose a compact and efficient index structure for the maintenance of the intermediate data during top-down rule mining. The index is based on a mapping from constant symbols to integers and the sorting of the mapped integers. We evaluate our method on six datasets which contain up to 160K records and are frequently used as benchmarks in knowledge engineering related tasks. The experimental results show that the proposed technique speeds up the rule mining procedure by 5x on average and reduces memory consumption by up to 70%. The space overhead of the data structure is about twice that of the indexed records, which is more than 80% lower than that of the state-of-the-art technique.

Entomopathogenic fungi can cause infectious diseases within host insect populations, while insects may counteract disease transmission through the strategy of isolating infected individuals. This study develops a system of differential equations to model the temporal dynamics of susceptible and infected individuals, as well as the concentration of fungal spores in the environment, to investigate the complex dynamics of disease transmission. The study focuses on three critical parameters: infection probability, population size, and isolation rate. The results show that infection probability is a key determinant of disease spread; as infection probability increases, the basic reproduction number (R_0) rises, potentially leading to periodic oscillations in disease incidence, highlighting the nonlinear response of disease transmission to changes in virulence. This underscores the importance of managing environmental factors such as temperature and humidity, which influence infection probability, to control disease spread. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that larger populations, due to higher contact frequency, exhibit more pronounced and persistent disease dynamics, suggesting that population density control is an effective strategy for managing disease outbreaks. The study also identifies isolation behavior as crucial for disease control, where moderate increases in isolation rates can lead to complete eradication under certain conditions. The timing of spore production relative to host death is also identified as a key variable affecting the efficacy of isolation. In conclusion, this study elucidates the complex interplay between infection probability, population size, and isolation behavior, providing a theoretical basis for optimizing biological control strategies using entomopathogenic fungi and managing high-density insect populations.

not-yet-known not-yet-known not-yet-known unknown Fatigue characterization of asphalt mixtures is imperative for predicting pavement performance. Since cracking begins in asphalt binders, determining their fatigue properties helps establish cause-and-effect relationships with cracking in mixtures and pavements. This study analyzes the fatigue of 12 Brazilian asphalt binders and mixtures using the Linear Amplitude Sweep (LAS) test for binders and the Direct Tension Cyclic Fatigue test for mixtures. Results were interpreted with Simplified Viscoelastic Continuous Damage theory (S-VECD) and a pavement was simulated using FlexPAVE TM software. Findings indicate that binder type alone does not predict fatigue class through the fatigue factor of binder (FFB), necessitating rheological damage analysis. Most mixtures showed good performance in pavement simulations, with fatigue factor of mixtures (FFM) and fatigue classes not being sufficient for predicting fatigue performance. A linear correlation was found between FFB and FFM but not between FFB and simulated damage (N/Nf), though higher FFB typically result in lower N/Nf.

A document by Robin Waples. Click on the document to view its contents.

Recent advancements in three-dimensional (3D) cell culture technologies, such as cell spheroids, organoids, and 3D bioprinted tissue constructs, have significantly improved the physiological relevance of in vitro models. These models better mimic tissue structure and function, closely emulating in vivo characteristics and enhancing phenotypic analysis, critical for basic research and drug screening in personalized cancer therapy. Despite their potential, current 3D cell culture platforms face technical challenges, which include user unfriendliness in long-term dynamic cell culture, incompatibility with rapid cell encapsulation in biomimetic hydrogels, and low throughput for compound screening. To address these issues, we developed a 144-pillar plate with sidewalls and slits (144PillarPlate) and a complementary 144-perfusion plate with perfusion wells and reservoirs (144PerfusionPlate) for dynamic 3D cell culture and predictive compound screening. To accelerate biomimetic tissue formation, small Hep3B liver tumor spheroids suspended in alginate were printed and encapsulated on the 144PillarPlate rapidly by using microsolenoid valve-driven 3D bioprinting technology. The microarray bioprinting technology enabled precise and rapid loading of small spheroids in alginate on the pillar plate, facilitating reproducible and scalable formation of large tumor spheroids with minimal manual intervention. The bioprinted Hep3B spheroids on the 144PillarPlate were dynamically cultured in the 144PerfusionPlate and tested with anticancer drugs to measure drug effectiveness and determine the concentration required to inhibit 50% of the cell viability (IC 50 value). The perfusion plate enabled the convenient dynamic culture of tumor spheroids and facilitated the dynamic testing of anticancer drugs with increased sensitivity. It is envisioned that the integration of microarray bioprinting of tumor spheroids onto the pillar plate, along with dynamic 3D cell culture in the perfusion plate, could more accurately replicate tumor microenvironments. This advancement has the potential to enhance the predictive drug screening process in personalized cancer therapy significantly.

not-yet-known not-yet-known not-yet-known unknown Background: People with cystic fibrosis (CF) may not expectorate sputum at young ages or while on CFTR modulators. While oropharyngeal swabs are commonly used to test for lower airway pathogens, it is unknown whether Staphylococcus aureus isolated from the oropharynx represents the strain that infects the lungs. Our goal was to determine whether oropharyngeal and sputum isolates of S. aureus are genetically distinct in a cohort of patients with CF. Methods: We obtained historical S. aureus isolates from patients who intermittently expectorated sputum in 2018 and we prospectively cultured S. aureus from oropharyngeal swabs and sputum from subjects with CF between August 2020 - February 2022. We performed short-read whole genome sequencing, determined sequence type, and performed phylogenetic analysis using S. aureus core genome single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). We assigned isolates from a patient to the same strain if they had the same sequence type and differed by ≤ 60 SNPs or the isolates were not disturbed by clade breaker analysis. Results: 36 subjects had S. aureus in ≥1 oropharyngeal swab and ≥1 sputum sample in 2018. In the prospective collection, 31 subjects had synchronous oropharyngeal swab and sputum collections. Although polyclonal infections were detected, sputum and oropharyngeal isolates of S. aureus typically matched the same strain within study subjects, both over the span of 2018 (31/36 patients), and when collected simultaneously from 2020-2022 (29/31 patients). Conclusions: In patients with CF who intermittently produce sputum, oropharyngeal swabs identify S. aureus with genetic and phenotypic similarity to those cultured from sputum.

It remains challenging to understand why natural food webs are remarkably stable despite pronounced variability in environmental factors and population densities. We analysed the dynamics in the structure and stability of the pelagic food web of Lake Constance using seven years of high-frequency observations of biomasses and production, leading to 59 seasonally resolved quantitative food web descriptions. We analysed the dynamics in asymptotic food web stability using maximum loop weight, which revealed mechanisms governing stability. Maximum loop weight showed a recurrent seasonal pattern while indicating consistently high stability despite pronounced dynamics in biomasses and fluxes. This arose from rewiring of the food web structure along seasons, which counteracted destabilization by enhanced productivity. The rewiring originated from energetic constraints within loops and how loops were embedded into food web structure. The stabilizing dynamics originated from the counter-acting effect between high metabolic activity and competitiveness/susceptibility to predation within a diverse grazer community.