Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antioxidant and radical scavenging activities in fruits of 6 sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) cultivars

Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) is a minor fruit crop. The most important breeding activities focused on the production of sea buckthorn fruits as a top-quality food product have been performed in Russia, Germany, and the Czech Republic. Over the past several decades, plant breeders have selected a number of cultivars that show excellent physical and nutritional properties. The aim of this study was to monitor and determine the total contents of phenols and flavonoids as well as antioxidant capacity and scavenging activity of methanolic extracts on reactive oxygen species and lipid peroxidation in some cultivars of sea buckthorn suitable for growing in Central Europe. Altogether, 6 cultivars of this fruit species presented total phenolic contents ranging from 8.62 g of gallic acid kg-1 of fresh mass to 14.17 g of gallic acid kg-1 of fresh mass. There were high correlations between the contents of phenols and flavonoids on the one hand and the antioxidant properties of sea buckthorn berries on the other. This study indicates that for Central European conditions, sea buckthorn is a promising fruit species that can be used for consumption due to its antioxidant properties.
EVALUATION OF THE COMBINED EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE AND SALINITY ON THE FILTRATION, CLEARANCE RATE AND ASSIMILATION EFFICIENCY OF THE MANGROVE OYSTER CRASSOSTREA CORTEZIENSIS (HERTLEIN, 1951)

An experimental trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of the combination of four temperatures (23°, 26°, 29° and 32°C) and four salinities (25, 30, 35 and 40 PSU), on clearance (FR) and filtration (CR) rates, as well as on the assimila- tion efficiency (AE) of the mangrove oyster Crassostrea corteziensis. The interaction temperature-salinity had a significant effect on the feeding physiology of the oyster; optimum results were observed in the combination of 32°C and 35 PSU with a FR of 38.08 L·h -1 ·g -1 , and a CR of 1.61 mg·h -1 ·g -1 . The AE was higher in the combination of 29°C and 35 PSUs with a value of 65.1%. Results suggest that C. corteziensis maintains its feeding physiology in the gradient of temperature and salinity evaluated, which characterizes the bivalve as an eurythermal and euryhaline organism, with a better performance at moderate temperatures (29-32oC) and salinities (~35 PSU).
A Overview on Multicast Routing Protocols for Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks

— A Mobile Ad-hoc Network (MANET) is composed of Mobile Nodes (MNs) without any infrastructure. MNs self-organize to form a network over radio links. In this environment, multicast routing protocols are faced with the challenge of producing multi-hop routing under host mobility and bandwidth constraint. Multicast routing plays a significant role in MANETs. In recent years, various multicast routing protocols with distinguishing feature have been newly proposed. In order to provide a comprehensive understanding of these multicast routing protocols designed for MANETs and pave the way for the further research, a survey of the multicast routing protocols is discussed in detail in this paper. Qualitatively, based on their primary multicast routing selection principle, we show that all these protocols could be placed under one of two broad routing selection categories: multicast routing based on application independence and multicast routing based on application dependence.
Universal inverse design of surfaces with thin nematic elastomer sheets

Significance This work outlines an explicit protocol for preprogramming any desired 3D shape into a 2D liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) sheet. Namely, given an arbitrary 3D design, we show how to produce a flat sheet that can buckle into the desired shape when heated and return to flat when cooled—reversibly. We demonstrate this proof-of-principle of shape morphing in LCE sheets, relying on advances in both numerical and experimental methods presented here. Our protocol is not limited in materials or scale; it can be implemented on any “LCE-like” anisotropic material, thus opening the door for countless technological applications in flexible electronics, metamaterials, aerospace, medical devices, drug delivery, and more. Programmable shape-shifting materials can take different physical forms to achieve multifunctionality in a dynamic and controllable manner. Although morphing a shape from 2D to 3D via programmed inhomogeneous local deformations has been demonstrated in various ways, the inverse problem—finding how to program a sheet in order for it to take an arbitrary desired 3D shape—is much harder yet critical to realize specific functions. Here, we address this inverse problem in thin liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) sheets, where the shape is preprogrammed by precise and local control of the molecular orientation of the liquid crystal monomers. We show how blueprints for arbitrary surface geometries can be generated using approximate numerical methods and how local extrinsic curvatures can be generated to assist in properly converting these geometries into shapes. Backed by faithfully alignable and rapidly lockable LCE chemistry, we precisely embed our designs in LCE sheets using advanced top-down microfabrication techniques. We thus successfully produce flat sheets that, upon thermal activation, take an arbitrary desired shape, such as a face. The general design principles presented here for creating an arbitrary 3D shape will allow for exploration of unmet needs in flexible electronics, metamaterials, aerospace and medical devices, and more.
Comparison of Dilute Acid, Alkali, and Biological Pretreatments for Reducing Sugar Production from Eucalyptus

The effects of chemical pretreatments (dilute H2SO4, dilute NaOH, and NH4OH) and biological pretreatments (Coriolus versicolor and Daedalea quercina) on the enzymatic hydrolysis of Eucalyptus were investigated. The results showed that Eucalyptus obtained from different regions possess similar chemical compositions and that the optimum particle sizes for reducing sugar production were 60- to 80-mesh. Contrary to the negative influences of a dilute H2SO4 pretreatment, an alkali pretreatment showed positive effects on Eucalyptus saccharification. This phenomenon may had been attributed to the efficient removal of lignin and the stronger structural damage during the alkali pretreatment process. In comparison with the chemical pretreatments, a higher reducing sugar yield could be achieved from the biological pretreated Eucalyptus. The highest reducing sugar yield of 97.14 mg/g was obtained from the Guangxi (GX) Eucalyptus that was pretreated with Daedalea quercina.
The association of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and atrial fibrillation: a review

Abstract Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is highly prevalent and causes an enormous burden to human health and health-care systems all over the world. A great proportion of this burden results from increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common chronic heart arrhythmia globally and it increases the risk of embolic stroke and heart failure. Recent studies have explored the association between NAFLD and AF with somewhat conflicting results. However, ultrasound-verified prospective studies concur that NAFLD is associated with the incidence of AF. According to epidemiological evidence, the greater the prevalence of NALFD in a population, the stronger the association with AF incidence and prevalence. Specifically, diabetic individuals with NAFLD are at the greatest risk of AF. Additionally, the risk of AF may concentrate most in individuals with advanced NAFLD, particularly those with liver fibrosis. The possible mechanistic factors between NAFLD and AF, particularly obesity and systemic inflammation, are diverse and form a complex interplaying network. However, further studies are needed to elucidate whether NAFLD has a causative role in the development of AF. The purpose of this article is to review and discuss the epidemiologic evidence and possible mechanistic links between these two conditions. KEY MESSAGES Although epidemiologic studies have provided conflicting results on the association of NAFLD and AF, prospective studies with ultrasound-verified NAFLD concur that NAFLD is associated with about 2-fold greater incidence of AF among general population and about 6-fold greater incidence among subjects with type 2 diabetes. The risk of AF among individuals with NAFLD is increased by other cardiovascular risk factors, especially type 2 diabetes and advanced age. The possible mechanistic links between NALFD and AF are diverse, with obesity and systemic inflammation having a significant role, but further studies are needed until NAFLD can be established as a causal factor in the incidence of AF.
An Extensible Approach for Non-Intrusive Load Disaggregation With Smart Meter Data

Appliance-level load models are expected to be crucial to future smart grid applications. Unlike direct appliance monitoring approaches, it is more flexible and convenient to mine smart meter data to generate load models at device level nonintrusively and generalise to all households with smart meter ownership. This paper proposes a comprehensive and extensible framework to solve the load disaggregation problem for residential households. Our approach examines both the modelling of home appliances as hidden Markov models and the solving of non-intrusive load monitoring based on segmented integer quadratic constraint programming to disaggregate a household power profile into the appliance level. Structure of our approach to be implemented with current smart meter infrastructure is given and simulations are performed based on public datasets. All data are down-sampled to the rate that is consistent with the Australia smart meter infrastructure minimum functionality. The results demonstrate that our approach is able to work with existing smart meters to generate device level load model for other smart grid research and applications.
Extent of adaptation is not limited by unpredictability of the environment in laboratory populations of Escherichia coli

Environmental variability is on the rise in different parts of the earth and the survival of many species depend on how well they cope with these fluctuations. Our current understanding of how organisms adapt to unpredictably fluctuating environments is almost entirely based on studies that investigate fluctuations among different values of a single environmental stressor like temperature or pH. However, in nature multiple stresses often exist simultaneously. How would unpredictability in environmental fluctuations affect adaptation under such a scenario? To answer this question, we subjected laboratory populations of Escherichia coli to selection over ~260 generations. The populations faced predictable and unpredictable environmental fluctuations across qualitatively different selection environments, namely, salt and acidic pH. We show that predictability of environmental fluctuations does not play a role in determining the extent of adaptation. Interestingly, the extent of ancestral adaptation, to the chosen selection environments, is of key importance. Integrating the insights from two previous studies, our results suggest that it is the simultaneous presence of multiple environmental factors that poses a bigger constraint on extent of adaptation, rather than unpredictability of the fluctuations.
Capacity Approaching Coding for Low Noise Interactive Quantum Communication Part I: Large Alphabets

We consider the problem of implementing two-party interactive quantum communication over noisy channels, a necessary endeavor if we wish to fully reap quantum advantages for communication. For an arbitrary protocol with <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$n$ </tex-math></inline-formula> messages, designed for a <italic>noiseless</italic> qudit channel over a <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathrm {poly} { \left ({n }\right) }$ </tex-math></inline-formula> size alphabet, our main result is a simulation method that fails with probability less than <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2^{-\Theta (n\epsilon)}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and uses a qudit channel over the same alphabet <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$n(1 + \Theta (\sqrt {\epsilon } \,))$ </tex-math></inline-formula> times, of which an <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\epsilon $ </tex-math></inline-formula> fraction can be corrupted adversarially. The simulation is thus capacity achieving to leading order, and we conjecture that it is optimal up to a constant factor in the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\sqrt {\epsilon }$ </tex-math></inline-formula> term. Furthermore, the simulation is in a model that does not require pre-shared resources such as randomness or entanglement between the communicating parties. Our work improves over the best previously known quantum result where the overhead is a non-explicit large constant [Brassard <italic>et al.</italic>, SICOMP’19] for low <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\epsilon $ </tex-math></inline-formula>.
Evaluation of the Reconstruction Parameters of Brain Dopamine Transporter SPECT images Obtained by a Fan Beam Collimator: A Comparison with Parallel-hole Collimators

Objective(s): The purpose of this study was to examine the optimal reconstruction parameters for brain dopamine transporter SPECT images obtained with a fan beam collimator and compare the results with those obtained by using parallel-hole collimators. Methods: Data acquisition was performed using two SPECT/CT devices, namely a Symbia T6 and an Infinia Hawkeye 4 (device A and B) equipped with fan-beam (camera A-1 and B-1), low- and medium-energy general-purpose (camera A-2 and B-2), and low-energy high-resolution (camera A-3 and B-3) collimators. The SPECT images were reconstructed using filtered back projection (FBP) with Chang’s attenuation correction. However, the scatter correction was not performed. A pool phantom and a three-dimensional (3D) brain phantom were filled with 123I solution to examine the reconstruction parameters. The optimal attenuation coefficient was based on the visual assessment of the profile curve, coefficient of variation (CV) [%], and summed difference from the reference activity of the pool phantom. The optimal Butterworth filter for the 3D-brain phantom was also determined based on a visual assessment. The anthropomorphic striatal phantom was filled with 123I solution at striatum-to-background radioactivity ratios of 8, 6, 4, and 3. The specific binding ratio (SBR) of the striatum (calculated by the CT method) was used to compare the results with those of the parallel-hole collimators. Results: The optimal attenuation coefficients were 0.09, 0.11, 0.05, 0.05, 0.11, and, 0.10 cm-1 for cameras A-1, A-2, A-3, B-1, B-2, and B-3, respectively. The cutoff frequencies of the Butterworth filter were 0.32, 0.40, and 0.36 cycles/cm for camera A, and 0.46, 0.44, and 0.44 cycles/cm for camera B, respectively. The recovery rates of the SBRmean with camera A were 51.2%, 49.4%, and 45.6%, respectively. The difference was not statistically significant. The recovery rates of the SBR with camera B were 59.2%, 50.7%, and 50.8%, respectively. Camera B-1 showed significantly high SBR values. Conclusion: As the findings indicated, the optimal reconstruction parameters differed according to the devices and collimators. The fan beam collimator was found to provide promising results with each device.
Effect of Green Tea on Hepatic Cells Under the Influence of Inflammatory Conditions: In Vitro Study

The concern about safety of consumption of Green Tea (GT) supplements has become a scope of many studies. We and others have described earlier the effect of the administration of GT and its polyphenols on liver in a mouse model. In this study we aimed to investigate the effect of GT on HepG2 cells. HepG2 cells were treated with different concentrations of GT with and without presensitization with Lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The viability of cells did not change at low and moderate concentrations of GT, while at very high concentration; GT caused the viability of the cells to decrease. A decrease in the viability of presensitized cells was observed after exposure to moderate and high doses of GT. Also, OX.LDL, CXCL16, TNF α, TGF β, RAR and RXR were found to be over-expressed in these cells, while this over-expression was not observed in the cells upon treatment with GT without LPS or upon treatment with LPS alone. These results indicate that GT even at high doses does not cause oxidative stress. However, under inflammatory stress conditions it may cause oxidative stress which in turn may lead to liver toxicity.
A Synergistic Anti-Cancer Effect of Troglitazone and Lovastatin in a Human Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer Cell Line and in a Mouse Xenograft Model

Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is a malignant subtype of thyroid cancers and its mechanism of development remains inconclusive. Importantly, there is no effective strategy for treatment since ATC is not responsive to conventional therapies, including radioactive iodine therapy and thyroid-stimulating hormone suppression. Here, we report that a combinational approach consisting of drugs designed for targeting lipid metabolism, lovastatin (an inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase, HMGCR) and troglitazone (an agonist of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma, PPARγ), exhibits anti-proliferation in cell culture systems and leads to tumor regression in a mouse xenograft model. The composition contains a sub-lethal concentration of both drugs and exhibits low toxicity to certain types of normal cells. Our results support a hypothesis that the inhibitory effect of the combination is partly through a cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase, as evidenced by the induction of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors, p21cip and p27kip, and the reduction of hyperphosphorylated retinoblastoma protein (pp-Rb)-E2F1 signaling. Therefore, targeting two pathways involved in lipid metabolism may provide a new direction for treating ATC.
Golgi localization of oxysterol binding protein-related protein 4L (ORP4L) is regulated by ligand binding

ABSTRACT Oxysterol binding protein (OSBP)-related protein 4L (ORP4L, also known as OSBPL2), a closely related paralogue and interacting partner of OSBP, binds sterols and phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate [PI(4)P] and regulates cell proliferative signalling at the plasma membrane (PM). Here, we report that ORP4L also interacts with the trans-Golgi network (TGN) in an OSBP-, sterol- and PI(4)P-dependent manner. Characterization of ORP4L lipid and VAP binding mutants indicated an indirect mechanism for translocation to ER–Golgi contact sites in response to 25-hydroxycholesterol that was dependent on OSBP and PI(4)P. shRNA silencing revealed that ORP4L was required to maintain the organization and PI(4)P content of the Golgi and TGN. In contrast, the interaction of ORP4L with the PM was not dependent on its sterol, PI(4)P or VAP binding activities. At the PM, ORP4L partially localized with a genetically encoded probe for PI(4)P but not with a probe for phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate. We conclude that ORP4L is differentially localized to the PM and ER–Golgi contacts sites. OSBP-, lipid- and VAP-regulated interactions of ORP4L with ER–Golgi contact sites are involved in the maintenance of Golgi and TGN structure. Summary: ORP4L localization to contact sites between the Golgi and endoplasmic reticulum involves interaction with OSBP and PI(4)P, and is required for organelle structure and PI(4)P content.
Characterization of the limit performance in non-cooperative games with imperfect observation : application to 5G. (Caractérisation des performances limites des jeux non-coopératifs avec observation imparfaite : application à la téléphonie mobile 5G)

A large part of the results reported in this thesis is based on an observation which has never been made for wireless communications and power control in particular: transmit power levels and more generally transmit covariance matrices can be exploited to embed information such as coordination information and available interference-dependent feedback samples can be exploited as a communication channel. First, we show that the famous iterative water-filling algorithm does not exploit the available information sufficiently well in terms of sum-utility. Indeed, we show that global channel state information can be acquired from the sole knowledge of an SINR-type feedback. A natural question then arises. Is it possible to design a distributed power control algorithm which exploits as well as possible the available information? To answer this question, we derive the characterization of the utility region for the considered problem and show how to exploit this characterization not only to measure globally efficiency but also to obtain globally efficient one-shot power control functions. Motivated by the success of our approach for single-band and multi-band interference networks, we asked ourselves whether it could be exploited for MIMO networks. We have identified at least one very relevant scenario. Indeed, we show that opportunistic interference alignment can be implemented by only assuming interference-plus-noise covariance feedback at the secondary transmitter. Then, in the last chapter, we generalize the problem of quantization, the motivation for this being given by some observations made in the previous chapters. First, we assume that the quantizer and de-quantizer are designed to maximize a general utility function instead of the conventional distortion function. Second, we assume that the quantizer and de-quantizer may have different utility functions. This raises non-trivial technical problems, our claim is to make a very first step into solving them.
A Quantitative Proteomics View on the Function of Qfhb1, a Major QTL for Fusarium Head Blight Resistance in Wheat

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a highly detrimental disease of wheat. A quantitative trait locus for FHB resistance, Qfhb1, is the most utilized source of resistance in wheat-breeding programs, but very little is known about its resistance mechanism. In this study, we elucidated a prospective FHB resistance mechanism by investigating the proteomic signatures of Qfhb1 in a pair of contrasting wheat near-isogenic lines (NIL) after 24 h of inoculation of wheat florets by Fusarium graminearum. Statistical comparisons of the abundances of protein spots on the 2D-DIGE gels of contrasting NILs (fhb1+ NIL = Qfhb1 present; fhb1- NIL = Qfhb1 absent) enabled us to select 80 high-ranking differentially accumulated protein (DAP) spots. An additional evaluation confirmed that the DAP spots were specific to the spikelet from fhb1- NIL (50 spots), and fhb1+ NIL (seven spots). The proteomic data also suggest that the absence of Qfhb1 makes the fhb1- NIL vulnerable to Fusarium attack by constitutively impairing several mechanisms including sucrose homeostasis by enhancing starch synthesis from sucrose. In the absence of Qfhb1, Fusarium inoculations severely damaged photosynthetic machinery; altered the metabolism of carbohydrates, nitrogen and phenylpropanoids; disrupted the balance of proton gradients across relevant membranes; disturbed the homeostasis of many important signaling molecules induced the mobility of cellular repair; and reduced translational activities. These changes in the fhb1- NIL led to strong defense responses centered on the hypersensitive response (HSR), resulting in infected cells suicide and the consequent initiation of FHB development. Therefore, the results of this study suggest that Qfhb1 largely functions to either alleviate HSR or to manipulate the host cells to not respond to Fusarium infection.