Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dietary modulation of the gut microbiota – a randomised controlled trial in obese postmenopausal women

The gut microbiota has been implicated in obesity and its progression towards metabolic disease. Dietary interventions that target the gut microbiota have been suggested to improve metabolic health. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of interventions with Lactobacillus paracasei F19 or flaxseed mucilage on the gut microbiota and metabolic risk markers in obesity. A total of fifty-eight obese postmenopausal women were randomised to a single-blinded, parallel-group intervention of 6-week duration, with a daily intake of either L. paracasei F19 (9·4 × 1010 colony-forming units), flaxseed mucilage (10 g) or placebo. Quantitative metagenomic analysis of faecal DNA was performed to identify the changes in the gut microbiota. Diet-induced changes in metabolic markers were explored using adjusted linear regression models. The intake of flaxseed mucilage over 6 weeks led to a reduction in serum C-peptide and insulin release during an oral glucose tolerance test (P< 0·05) and improved insulin sensitivity measured by Matsuda index (P< 0·05). Comparison of gut microbiota composition at baseline and after 6 weeks of intervention with flaxseed mucilage showed alterations in abundance of thirty-three metagenomic species (P< 0·01), including decreased relative abundance of eight Faecalibacterium species. These changes in the microbiota could not explain the effect of flaxseed mucilage on insulin sensitivity. The intake of L. paracasei F19 did not modulate metabolic markers compared with placebo. In conclusion, flaxseed mucilage improves insulin sensitivity and alters the gut microbiota; however, the improvement in insulin sensitivity was not mediated by the observed changes in relative abundance of bacterial species.
Awareness of Hypertension, Risk Factors and Complications among Attendants of a Primary Health Care Center In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Background:Hypertension is one of the most common communicable chronic diseases affecting people worldwide. Hypertension is also a major risk factor for cardiac diseases specially coronary and ischemic heart diseases as well as hemorrhagic stroke. the prevalence of hypertension in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is about 26.1 %. Aim and objectives: Estimate the prevalence of hypertension and to determine the level of awareness with regards to risk factors, presenting features and complications of hypertension among a sample from Jeddah population, Saudi Arabia. Methods: An observationaldescriptive cross sectional study conducted in a Primary Health Care Center located in Jeddah city using a pretested self-administered questionnaire. Results: Among the 200 participants prevalence of 26% and 12 % were recorded for diabetes mellitus and hypertension, respectively %. Seventy percent of our study participants are having family members complaining from diabetes and hypertension. Although self evaluation regarding knowledge of hypertension was low, it was found that the percent of correct answers received was satisfactory. Conclusion: we can conclude that diabetes and hypertension are considered a burden among the Saudi Community. Health education program are satisfactory, recommendation for more in-depth studies for assessing the strategies and was of delivery may be recommended.
FROM DISPATCHING TO SCHEDULING : CHALLENGES IN INTEGRATING A GENERIC OPTIMIZATION PLATFORM INTO SEMICONDUCTOR SHOP FLOOR EXECUTION

This paper shows how automatic optimization of scheduling problems has been integrated within the automation framework of a semiconductor factory. Special attention is paid to the requirements arising from such an application in real world production in terms of constraints and objectives as well as from a factory integration perspective such as autonomous operation, high availability and efficient maintenance. Subsequently, possible solutions on how such requirements can be addressed will be discussed. Thereby, the advantage of using Constraint Programming solvers is highlighted. Knowledge that was gained during the implementation is presented for selected cases followed by the benefits that were achieved.
Effect of Fat Source on Growth Performance and Carcass Characteristics of Growing Lambs

Seventy two Polypay crossbred lambs (BW 34.3 ± 0.75 kg) were used in a complete randomized design to determine the effect of supplemental fat source on growth performance and carcass characteristics over a 70-d feeding period. Lambs were stratified by weight and sex and assigned to 12 pens (3 wethers and 3 ewes per pen). Pens were assigned randomly to one of three dietary treatments consisting of 40 percent corn stover, 4 percent soy hulls, 2.4 percent supplement and one of the following treatment combinations: 1) 34 percent low-fat dried distillers grains (CON), 2) 34 percent conventional dried distillers grains plus solubles (DIST), 3) 34.6 percent low-fat dried distillers grains plus 1.85 percent raw corn oil (OIL). DIST and OIL diets were formulated to be iso-lipid. Lambs were allowed ad libitum access to feed and water. On d 21, d 42, and d 63 feeders were emptied and residual feed was weighed, recorded, and sampled. Initial and final BW were determined as the average of weights on d -1 and d 0 (initiation of feeding) and d 69 and d 70, respectively. Three intermediate weights were recorded on d 21, d 43, and d 63 to monitor growth performance. At the conclusion of the feeding period, four lambs were harvested from each pen and carcass data were collected. Cumulative DMI, ADG, G:F, and final BW were similar (P > 0.24) for lambs fed the fatsupplemented diets and the CON diet, however, lambs fed the DIST diet had greater (P < 0.01) cumulative DMI, ADG, G:F, and final BW compared to the OIL diet. Supplementation with corn oil tended (P = 0.06) to decrease HCW compared to supplementation with DDGS, but there were no differences between the CON diet and fatsupplemented diets (P = 0.44). Dressing percentage; backfat thickness; LM area; body wall thickness; USDA-yield grade, and boneless, closely trimmed retail cuts were not affected by fat supplementation or source of fat (P > 0.20). However, lambs were fed a higher energy diet for the last two weeks of the trial to meet target finished-weight goals.
Do Equity Analysts Help Diffuse Geographic Information ? *

We examine whether analysts help disseminate geographic-specific information via information sharing with officemates who cover firms located an area (i.e., local peers). We find that analysts are more likely to cover firms in areas where they have more local peers. This coverage effect is stronger when social interactions with officemates are more likely and when officemates have more valuable local knowledge. Analysts with more local peers produce more accurate earnings forecasts and generate stronger stock market responses. Geographic stock price momentum effects are attenuated (exacerbated) in the relative presence (absence) of local peers, consistent with local peers sharing geographic information. ________________________ *We appreciate and benefit from comments by Brian Ossenbeck and workshop participants at Duke University, Penn State University, University of Michigan, Washington University at St. Louis, and the Emory University GRACE conference. The authors acknowledge the financial support from Duke University. Conflict-of-interest Statement: Qi Chen has nothing to disclose. William J. Mayew has nothing to disclose. Huihao Yan has nothing to disclose.
Do Older Adults and Those Recovered from Low Back Injury Share Common Muscle Activation Adaptations?

ABSTRACT Theoretical models suggest trunk muscle activation compensates for spinal systems impairments. The purpose of this study was to determine if two populations (older adults and those recovered from a lower back injury (rLBI)) with spinal system impairments have similar muscle activation patterns to each other, but differ from controls. Trunk electromyograms collected from 12 older adults, 16 rLBI, and 19 controls during two dynamic tasks showed that older adults and rLBI had higher activation amplitudes, sustained temporal and more synergistic activation relative to controls. However, differences found between older adults and rLBI suggest that spinal system impairments differed between groups or that recent pain (rLBI) uniquely influenced muscle activation. This sheds light on our understanding of the relationship between spinal system impairments and muscle activation.
Adopting evidence-based practice in clinical decision making: nurses' perceptions, knowledge, and barriers.

OBJECTIVE Evidence-based practice (EBP) provides nurses with a method to use critically appraised and scientifically proven evidence for delivering quality health care to a specific population. The objective of this study was to explore nurses' awareness of, knowledge of, and attitude toward EBP and factors likely to encourage or create barriers to adoption. In addition, information sources used by nurses and their literature searching skills were also investigated. METHOD A total of 2,100 copies of the questionnaire were distributed to registered nurses in 2 public hospitals in Singapore, and 1,486 completed forms were returned, resulting in a response rate of 70.8%. RESULTS More than 64% of the nurses expressed a positive attitude toward EBP. However, they pointed out that due to heavy workload, they cannot keep up to date with new evidence. Regarding self-efficacy of EBP-related abilities, the nurses perceived themselves to possess moderate levels of skills. The nurses also felt that EBP training, time availability, and mentoring by nurses with EBP experience would encourage them to implement EBP. The top three barriers to adopting EBP were lack of time, inability to understand statistical terms, and inadequate understanding of the jargon used in research articles. For literature searching, nurses were using basic search features and less than one-quarter of them were familiar with Boolean and proximity operators. CONCLUSION Although nurses showed a positive attitude toward EBP, certain barriers were hindering their smooth adoption. It is, therefore, desirable that hospital management in Southeast Asia, particularly in Singapore, develop a comprehensive strategy for building EBP competencies through proper training. Moreover, hospital libraries should also play an active role in developing adequate information literacy skills among the nurses.
Imaging mycobacterial growth and division with a fluorogenic probe

Significance Mycobacteria, including the notorious pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis, possess a mycolic acid membrane that is a barrier to antibiotics. Although key enzymes that generate this structure are known, a full understanding of cell envelope assembly is lacking. We synthesized a fluorogenic analog of trehalose monomycolate, the building block used by mycolyltransferase enzymes to construct the mycolic acid membrane. When this analog, termed QTF, is processed in cells by mycolyltransferases, fluorescence is generated. Thus, mycolic acid membrane biosynthesis can be monitored in real time over several generations. Although mycolyltransferases are the most abundantly secreted proteins, we found that mycolyltransferase activity is localized. Finally, we show QTF has diagnostic features in that its processing by mycolyltransferases allows it to selectively detect mycobacteria. Control and manipulation of bacterial populations requires an understanding of the factors that govern growth, division, and antibiotic action. Fluorescent and chemically reactive small molecule probes of cell envelope components can visualize these processes and advance our knowledge of cell envelope biosynthesis (e.g., peptidoglycan production). Still, fundamental gaps remain in our understanding of the spatial and temporal dynamics of cell envelope assembly. Previously described reporters require steps that limit their use to static imaging. Probes that can be used for real-time imaging would advance our understanding of cell envelope construction. To this end, we synthesized a fluorogenic probe that enables continuous live cell imaging in mycobacteria and related genera. This probe reports on the mycolyltransferases that assemble the mycolic acid membrane. This peptidoglycan-anchored bilayer-like assembly functions to protect these cells from antibiotics and host defenses. Our probe, quencher-trehalose-fluorophore (QTF), is an analog of the natural mycolyltransferase substrate. Mycolyltransferases process QTF by diverting their normal transesterification activity to hydrolysis, a process that unleashes fluorescence. QTF enables high contrast continuous imaging and the visualization of mycolyltransferase activity in cells. QTF revealed that mycolyltransferase activity is augmented before cell division and localized to the septa and cell poles, especially at the old pole. This observed localization suggests that mycolyltransferases are components of extracellular cell envelope assemblies, in analogy to the intracellular divisomes and polar elongation complexes. We anticipate QTF can be exploited to detect and monitor mycobacteria in physiologically relevant environments.
Combination Testing Using a Single MSH5 Variant alongside HLA Haplotypes Improves the Sensitivity of Predicting Coeliac Disease Risk in the Polish Population

Assessment of non-HLA variants alongside standard HLA testing was previously shown to improve the identification of potential coeliac disease (CD) patients. We intended to identify new genetic variants associated with CD in the Polish population that would improve CD risk prediction when used alongside HLA haplotype analysis. DNA samples of 336 CD and 264 unrelated healthy controls were used to create DNA pools for a genome wide association study (GWAS). GWAS findings were validated with individual HLA tag single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) typing of 473 patients and 714 healthy controls. Association analysis using four HLA-tagging SNPs showed that, as was found in other populations, positive predicting genotypes (HLA-DQ2.5/DQ2.5, HLA-DQ2.5/DQ2.2, and HLA-DQ2.5/DQ8) were found at higher frequencies in CD patients than in healthy control individuals in the Polish population. Both CD-associated SNPs discovered by GWAS were found in the CD susceptibility region, confirming the previously-determined association of the major histocompatibility (MHC) region with CD pathogenesis. The two most significant SNPs from the GWAS were rs9272346 (HLA-dependent; localized within 1 Kb of DQA1) and rs3130484 (HLA-independent; mapped to MSH5). Specificity of CD prediction using the four HLA-tagging SNPs achieved 92.9%, but sensitivity was only 45.5%. However, when a testing combination of the HLA-tagging SNPs and the MSH5 SNP was used, specificity decreased to 80%, and sensitivity increased to 74%. This study confirmed that improvement of CD risk prediction sensitivity could be achieved by including non-HLA SNPs alongside HLA SNPs in genetic testing.
MCU Interacts with Miro1 to Modulate Mitochondrial Functions in Neurons

Mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake is gated by the mitochondrial calcium uniplex, which is comprised of mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU), the Ca2+ pore-forming subunit of the complex, and its regulators. Ca2+ influx through MCU affects both mitochondrial function and movement in neurons, but its direct role in mitochondrial movement has not been explored. In this report, we show a link between MCU and Miro1, a membrane protein known to regulate mitochondrial movement. We find that MCU interacts with Miro1 through MCU's N-terminal domain, previously thought to be the mitochondrial targeting sequence. Our results show that the N-terminus of MCU has a transmembrane domain that traverses the outer mitochondrial membrane, which is dispensable for MCU localization into mitochondria. However, this domain is required for Miro1 interaction and is critical for Miro1 directed movement. Together, our findings reveal Miro1 as a new component of the MCU complex, and that MCU is an important regulator of mitochondrial transport. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Mitochondrial calcium level is critical for mitochondrial metabolic activity and mitochondrial transport in neurons. While it has been established that calcium influx into mitochondria is modulated by mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU) complex, how MCU regulates mitochondrial movement still remains unclear. Here, we discover that the N-terminus of MCU plays a different role than previously thought; it is not required for mitochondrial targeting but is essential for interaction with Miro1, an outer mitochondrial membrane protein important for mitochondrial movement. Furthermore, we show that MCU–Miro1 interaction is required to maintain mitochondrial transport. Our data identify that Miro1 is a novel component of the mitochondrial calcium uniplex and demonstrate that coupling between MCU and Miro1 as a novel mechanism modulating both mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake and mitochondrial transport.
Cutting Edge Cutting Edge : Alum Adjuvant Stimulates Inflammatory Dendritic Cells through Activation of the NALP 3 Inflammasome

Adjuvants are vaccine additives that stimulate the immune system without having any specific antigenic effect of itself. In this study we show that alum adjuvant induces the release of IL-1 from macrophages and dendritic cells and that this is abrogated in cells lacking various NALP3 inflammasome components. The NALP3 inflammasome is also required in vivo for the innate immune response to OVA in alum. The early production of IL-1 and the influx of inflammatory cells into the peritoneal cavity is strongly reduced in NALP3-deficient mice. The activation of adaptive cellular immunity to OVA-alum is initiated by monocytic dendritic cell precursors that induce the expansion of Ag-specific T cells in a NALP3-dependent way. We propose that, in addition to TLR stimulators, agonists of the NALP3 inflammasome should also be considered as vaccine adjuvants. The Journal of Immunology, 2008, 181: 3755–3759.
Feature selection for efficient gender classification

The study presents an efficient gender classification technique. The gender of a facial image is the most prominent feature, and improvement in the existing gender classification methods will result in the high performance of the face retrieval and classification methods for large repositories. In this paper a new efficient gender classification method is proposed. First, the face part of the image is segmented using Viola and Jones face detection technique which excludes unwanted area from the image, so reducing image size. Histogram equalization is performed to normalize the illumination effect. Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) is employed for feature extraction and sorting the features with high variance. K-nearest neighbor classifier (KNN) is used for classification. The face images used in this study were obtained from the Stanford university medical student (SUMS) frontal facial images database. The experimental results on the SUMS face database indicate that the proposed approach achieves as high as 99.3% gender classification accuracy.
Antidepressant-Like Effects of GM1 Ganglioside Involving the BDNF Signaling Cascade in Mice

Background: Depression is a serious psychiatric disorder that easily causes physical impairments and a high suicide rate. Monosialotetrahexosylganglioside is a crucial ganglioside for the central nervous system and has been reported to affect the function of the brain derived neurotrophic factor system. This study is aimed to evaluate whether monosialotetrahexosylganglioside has antidepressant-like effects. Methods: Antidepressant-like effects of monosialotetrahexosylganglioside were assessed in the chronic social defeat stress model of depression, and various behavioral tests were performed. Changes in the brain derived neurotrophic factor signaling pathway after chronic social defeat stress and monosialotetrahexosylganglioside treatment were also investigated. A tryptophan hydroxylase inhibitor and brain derived neurotrophic factor signaling inhibitors were used to determine the antidepressant mechanisms of monosialotetrahexosylganglioside. Results: Monosialotetrahexosylganglioside administration significantly reversed the chronic social defeat stress-induced reduction of sucrose preference and social interaction in mice and also prevented the increased immobility time in the forced swim test and tail suspension test. In addition, monosialotetrahexosylganglioside completely ameliorated the stress-induced dysfunction of brain derived neurotrophic factor signaling cascade in the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex, 2 regions closely involved in the pathophysiology of depression. Furthermore, the usage of brain derived neurotrophic factor signaling cascade inhibitors, K252a and anti-brain derived neurotrophic factor antibody, each abolished the antidepressant-like effects of monosialotetrahexosylganglioside, while the usage of a serotonin system inhibitor did not. Conclusions: Taken together, our findings suggest that monosialotetrahexosylganglioside indeed has antidepressant-like effects, and these effects were mediated through the activation of brain derived neurotrophic factor signaling cascade.
A fascinating multitasking Cu-MOF/rGO hybrid for high performance supercapacitors and highly sensitive and selective electrochemical nitrite sensors

Herein, we report a multitasking Cu-MOF/rGO hybrid, fabricated by simple ultra-sonication of slow diffusion driven Cu-MOF crystals with chemically synthesized reduced graphene oxide (rGO). The molecular structure of the Cu-MOF was authenticated by single crystal X-ray studies. The prepared materials have been probed by various physicochemical characterization techniques. Due to the positive synergistic effects between Cu-MOF crystals and rGO nanosheets, the newly synthesized Cu-MOF/rGO hybrid delivers high charge storage efficiency (685.33 F g−1 at 1.6 A g−1), high energy (137.066 W h kg−1) and power density (4800.04 W kg−1) and excellent rate ability (retains 71.01% of its initial capacitance at 8 A g−1). Furthermore, the long cycle life (91.91% after 1000 cycles) of this hybrid indicates its high stability on the electrode surface. Additionally, the electrode modified with the Cu-MOF/rGO hybrid performs exceptionally towards the electrochemical detection of nitrite in a wide dynamic linear range of 3–40 000 μM (R2 = 0.99911), with a notable detection limit of 33 nm and a high sensitivity of 43.736 μA μM−1 cm−2. The versatility of the Cu-MOF/rGO modified electrode can be observed by distinguished selectivity in the presence of some common interfering species and also ability to detect nitrite in real samples.