Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Therapeutic Potential of Butyrate for Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes

Metagenomics studies have shown that type 2 diabetes (T2D) is associated with an altered gut microbiota. Whereas different microbiota patterns have been observed in independent human cohorts, reduction of butyrate-producing bacteria has consistently been found in individuals with T2D, as well as in those with prediabetes. Butyrate is produced in the large intestine by microbial fermentations, particularly of dietary fiber, and serves as primary fuel for colonocytes. It also acts as histone deacetylase inhibitor and ligand to G-protein coupled receptors, affecting cellular signaling in target cells, such as enteroendocrine cells. Therefore, butyrate has become an attractive drug target for T2D, and treatment strategies have been devised to increase its intestinal levels, for example by supplementation of butyrate-producing bacteria and dietary fiber, or through fecal microbiota transplant (FMT). In this review, we provide an overview of current literature indicating that these strategies have yielded encouraging results and short-term benefits in humans, but long-term improvements of glycemic control have not been reported so far. Further studies are required to find effective approaches to restore butyrate-producing bacteria and butyrate levels in the human gut, and to investigate their impact on glucose regulation in T2D.
Microbiota Signals Suppress B Lymphopoiesis With Aging in Mice

Aging is associated with significant changes in hematopoiesis that include a shift from lymphopoiesis to myelopoiesis and an expansion of phenotypic hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) with impaired self-renewal capacity and myeloid-skewed lineage differentiation. Signals from commensal flora support basal myelopoiesis in young mice; however, their contribution to hematopoietic aging is largely unknown. Here, we characterize hematopoiesis in young and middle-aged mice housed under specific pathogen free (SPF) and germ-free (GF) conditions. The marked shift from lymphopoiesis to myelopoiesis that develops during aging of SPF mice is mostly abrogated in GF mice. Compared with aged SPF mice, there is a marked expansion of B lymphopoiesis in aged GF mice, which is evident at the earliest stages of B cell development. The expansion of phenotypic and functional HSCs that occurs with aging is similar in SPF and GF mice. However, HSCs from young GF mice have increased lymphoid lineage output, and the aging-associated expansion of myeloid-biased HSCs is significantly attenuated in GF mice. Consistent with these data, RNA expression profiling of phenotypic HSCs from aged GF mice show enrichment for non-myeloid biased HSCs. Surprisingly, the RNA expression profiling data also suggest that inflammatory signaling is increased in aged GF HSCs compared with aged SPF HSCs. Collectively, these data suggest that microbiota-related signals suppress B lymphopoiesis at multiple stages of development and contribute to the expansion of myeloid-biased HSCs that occurs with aging.
TPD52L2 Is a Prognostic Biomarker and Correlated With Immune Infiltration in Lung Adenocarcinoma

Tumor protein D52-like 2 (TPD52L2) belongs to the members of the TPD52 family. TPD52L2 was reported to regulate proliferation and apoptosis in cancer cells. However, its role in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) was uncertain. We evaluated the expression, methylation, copy number alteration, and prognostic significance of TPD52L2 using RNA-seq data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Enrichment analysis of TPD52L2 was conducted using the R package “clusterProfiler. ” We further assessed the association between TPD52L2 and immune cell infiltration level, immunosuppressive genes, and tumor mutational burden (TMB). The difference of gene mutant frequency in high- and low-TPD52L2 groups was also analyzed. The results showed that TPD52L2 was over-expressed and predicted worse survival status in LUAD. We also found that TPD52L2 expression was positively associated with the infiltration levels of immunosuppressive cells, such as regulatory T cells (Tregs) and tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), and negatively correlated with immune killer cells, such as CD8+ T and NK cells in pan-cancer, including LUAD. In addition, TPD52L2 expression was associated with immunosuppressive genes and TMB. High expression of TPD52L2 was with more mutant frequency of TP53. In summary, our results show that TPD52L2 is an oncogene and a potential prognostic biomarker in LUAD. High TPD52L2 expression is a possible indicator of immune infiltration and associated with tumor immunosuppressive status in LUAD.
Therapeutic Potential of SphK1 Inhibitors Based on Abnormal Expression of SphK1 in Inflammatory Immune Related-Diseases

Sphingosine kinase 1(SphK1) a key enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of sphingosine (Sph) to sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P), so as to maintain the dynamic balance of sphingolipid-rheostat in cells and participate in cell growth and death, proliferation and migration, vasoconstriction and remodeling, inflammation and metabolism. The normal expression of SphK1 maintains the balance of physiological and pathological states, which is reflected in the regulation of inflammatory factor secretion, immune response in traditional immune cells and non-traditional immune cells, and complex signal transduction. However, abnormal SphK1 expression and activity are found in various inflammatory and immune related-diseases, such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, inflammatory bowel disease and rheumatoid arthritis. In view of the therapeutic potential of regulating SphK1 and its signal, the current research is aimed at SphK1 inhibitors, such as SphK1 selective inhibitors and dual SphK1/2 inhibitor, and other compounds with inhibitory potency. This review explores the regulatory role of over-expressed SphK1 in inflammatory and immune related-diseases, and investigate the latest progress of SphK1 inhibitors and the improvement of disease or pathological state.
On the Tractability of Explaining Decisions of Classifiers

Explaining decisions is at the heart of explainable AI. We investigate the computational complexity of providing a formally-correct and minimal explanation of a decision taken by a classifier. In the case of threshold (i.e. score-based) classifiers, we show that a complexity dichotomy follows from the complexity dichotomy for languages of cost functions. In particular, submodular classifiers allow tractable explanation of positive decisions, but not negative decisions (assuming P ̸ =NP). This is an example of the possible asymmetry between the complexity of explaining positive and negative decisions of a particular classifier. Nevertheless, there are large families of classifiers for which explaining both positive and negative decisions is tractable, such as monotone or linear classifiers. We extend tractable cases to constrained classifiers (when there are constraints on the possible input vectors) and to the search for contrastive rather than abductive explanations. Indeed, we show that tractable classes coincide for abductive and contrastive explanations in the constrained or unconstrained settings.
A Novel Ultra-Compact FPGA PUF: The DD-PUF

In this paper, we present a novel ultra-compact Physical Unclonable Function (PUF) architecture and its FPGA implementation. The proposed Delay Difference PUF (DD-PUF) is the most dense FPGA-compatible PUF ever reported in the literature, allowing the implementation of two PUF bits in a single slice and provides very good values for all the most important figures of merit. The architecture of the proposed PUF exploits the delay difference between two nominally identical signal paths and the metastability features of D-Latches with an asynchronous reset input. The DD-PUF has been implemented on both Xilinx Spartan-6 and Artix-7 devices and the resulting design flows which allow to accurately balance the nominal delay of the different signal paths is outlined. The circuits have been extensively tested under temperature and supply voltage variations and the results of our evaluations on both FPGA families have shown that the proposed architecture and implementation are able to fit in just 32 Configurable Logic Blocks (CLBs) without sacrificing steadiness, uniqueness and uniformity, thus outperforming most of the previously published FPGAcompatible PUFs.
Sensitivity of brain MRI and neurological examination for detection of upper motor neurone degeneration in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Objectives To investigate sensitivity of brain MRI and neurological examination for detection of upper motor neuron (UMN) degeneration in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Methods We studied 192 patients with ALS and 314 controls longitudinally. All patients visited our centre twice and underwent full neurological examination and brain MRI. At each visit, we assessed UMN degeneration by measuring motor cortex thickness (CT) and pyramidal tract fibre density (FD) corresponding to five body regions (bulbar region and limbs). For each body region, we measured degree of clinical UMN and lower motor neuron (LMN) symptom burden using a validated scoring system. Results We found deterioration over time of CT of motor regions (p≤0.0081) and progression of UMN signs of bulbar region and left arm (p≤0.04). FD was discriminative between controls and patients with moderate/severe UMN signs (all regions, p≤0.034), but did not change longitudinally. Higher clinical UMN burden correlated with reduced CT, but not lower FD, for the bulbar region (p=2.2×10−10) and legs (p≤0.025). In the arms, we found that severe LMN signs may reduce the detectability of UMN signs (p≤0.043). With MRI, UMN degeneration was detectable before UMN signs became clinically evident (CT: p=1.1×10−10, FD: p=6.3×10−4). Motor CT, but not FD, deteriorated more than UMN signs during the study period. Conclusions Motor CT is a more sensitive measure of UMN degeneration than UMN signs. Motor CT and pyramidal tract FD are discriminative between patients and controls. Brain MRI can monitor UMN degeneration before signs become clinically evident. These findings promote MRI as a potential biomarker for UMN progression in clinical trials in ALS.
S0025315421000576jra 685..697

Haliactis arctica is a poorly known species of sea anemone of the family Halcampactinidae known only from the Arctic. So far, there have been no reports of it after the original description, based on a few specimens from Greenland, Spitsbergen, the Barents Sea, Novaya Zemlya and the Chukchi Sea. The rich collection of the Zoological Institute RAS, which includes more than 100 specimens, has allowed a detailed morpho-anatomical study of this sea anemone. Examination of the external and internal morphology of H. arctica indicates a noticeable variability of structural features, especially the retractor muscles, parietal muscles and acontia. Comparison of characters between H. arctica with the other representatives of Halcampactinidae shows significant differences in the organization of these anemones. Their morphological differences and also significant geographic remoteness suggest that they should be attributed to different families, however, at present it is impossible to conduct thoroughmolecular genetic studies that can confirm or refute this assumption.
An observational study of synchronous/metachronous tumours in microsatellite unstable/mismatch repair deficient endometrial carcinomas

Objective: Microsatellite instability (MSI) is one of the genetic abnormalities underlying endometrial carcinoma, especially endometrioid endometrial carcinoma (EEC). Microsatellite unstable endometrial carcinomas may be associated with multiple primary malignancies. We aimed to document the incidence and type of associated tumours in MSI/mismatch repair deficient (MMR-d) endometrial carcinomas at a single institution in South Africa. Methods: The study assessed EECs for the period 2009–2015 at a Johannesburg hospital and followed on previous research undertaken in our department in which 66/145 MSI/MMR-d EECs were identified using immunohistochemistry and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). After ethical clearance was granted, using the microsatellite unstable/MMR-d endometrial carcinoma case-specific laboratory reference numbers, a retrospective search and cross-reference for associated histologically proven tumours, was performed. Results: Three patients (4.5%) out of 66 confirmed MSI/MMR-d endometrial carcinoma cases had associated tumours, including an invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix and mucinous breast carcinoma. One patient had two tumours, namely uterine leiomyosarcoma and rectal adenocarcinoma. The incidence of EEC patients with an associated tumour is significantly lower (p = 0.0045) than that documented in the United States of America (USA). Conclusion: Our study's incidence of associated tumours in MSI/MMR-d endometrial carcinoma patients was significantly lower than studies from the USA. The associated tumours in our study included traditional Lynch syndrome tumours such as colonic adenocarcinoma and demonstrated less commonly associated tumours, namely cervical carcinoma and uterine leiomyosarcoma. These findings highlight the need for further research in our population to assess risk factors and the true incidence of Lynch syndrome-associated tumours.
Molecular Simulation of CO2/CH4 Competitive Adsorption on Shale Kerogen for CO2 Sequestration and Enhanced Gas Recovery

The adsorption behavior and underlying mechanism of CO2 and CH4 binary mixture in shale kerogen significantly affect the CO2 sequestration with enhanced gas recovery project (CS-EGR). In this study, we investigated the competitive adsorption behaviors of CO2 and CH4 in shale kerogen nanopores using grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) method. Kerogen model takes into effect of matrix and slit nanopores and moisture content based on Ungerer’s molecular model and scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis, and is successfully validated against experimental data. The effects of temperature, CO2 and CH4 distribution, moisture content, adsorption selectivity, and optimal formation for injection were discussed. The results show that adsorption amount of CH4 on the kerogen increases with increasing pressure and decreases with increasing temperature. The adsorption selectivity of CO2 over CH4 is 2.53–7.25, which indicates that CO2 is preferentially adsorbed over CH4 under different temperatures. H2O prefers to ads.
Implementation of Tite Liner technique for maintenance and rehabilitation of a Colombian oil pipeline

One of the greatest challenges for petrochemical industry is corrosion prevention, mitigation and control, a phenomenon that generates a high negative impact due to materials degradation and that in recent years has increased as a result of multiphase fluids processing. Thus, there are different mechanisms of damage by internal corrosion that are generated during transport of multiphase fluids with high content of corrosive agents such as carbon dioxide, solid particles and sediments increased because of transport conditions. The technique Tite Liner was used for maintenance and repair of a Colombian oil pipeline with severe integrity problems. Equally, design and tuning of physical and chemical properties of the coating material was carried out, since they remained unchanged during thermofusion welding process, the initial compression for insertion in the system, the subsequent expansion to fit the pipeline internal dimensions and the system start up at high pressure. The experimental analysis displayed an improvement in the operational conditions of the line. This led to a decrease in the operating expenses of the pipeline, directing those assets in the physical recovery of other industrial equipment inherent to the hydrocarbon transportation process.
Temperature estimation using Boltzmann plot method of titanium emission lines produced on electric arc discharge

Temperature is an important characteristic in electric arc discharge processes for physical vapor deposition treatments. In this work, a titanium cathode was used and, by identifying the spectral emission lines in the range 300 nm −550 nm, it was possible to determine by means of the Boltzmann graphical method the temperature of the plasma generated in specific areas of the cathode surface during the discharge process of Arc. As a result, the estimated temperature has close values for the different emission lines (T i +, T i ++, and T i +++) with uncertainties lower than 10%.
Biodegradable dissolved organic carbon and its optical characteristics within the boggy catchment in the southern taiga of Western Siberia

In this study, we have provided new and important findings with regards to the spatial distribution of DOM concentration, bioavailability, and optical properties during early summer hydrologic conditions within the Bakcharsky bog complex in the southern taiga subzone of Western Siberia. Data on biodegradable fractions of DOM in surface and soil waters were obtained on the basis of laboratory experiments and analytical work. Surface and soil waters have landscape differences in their chemical composition. The lowest values of pH, DOC, degree of humification, Ca, Mg, Na, P, and Fe are characteristic of the open sedge-sphagnum fen. There is a different intensity of DOC degradation, depending on the microlandscape. The process of OM biodegradation occurs most significantly on the 7-14th day of the experiment. The maximum microbial decay of DOC, reaching in some cases ≥ 20%, is observed in river waters, and bog waters of the open sedge-sphagnum fen. UV-visible measurements showed that the SUVA254, E2:E3, E4:E6 ratios change during the incubation, while E2:E4 remain fairly constant over time.
Artificial intelligence theory: a bibliometric analysis

This article analyzes the evolution of artificial intelligence research from the bibliometric perspective. Bibliometrics, as one sub-field of scientometric, is defined as the use of statistical methods for analyzing publication data. A total of 8334 papers were identified divided into two periods, 2010-2014 and 2015-2019. To recognize the trends of artificial intelligence research, bibliometric analysis and social network analysis are combined to judge the current situation and development trends. The results revealed the keywords with the highest occurrence and those with the strongest linkage strength from cluster analysis. Moreover, the study of artificial intelligence was found to be an active field of growth, and the words that control the knowledge area were identified. The results of this study will facilitate the understanding of the progress and trends in artificial intelligence for researchers interested in understanding its evolution.
Commuting, Children and the Gender Wage Gap

It has been documented that the gender pay gap strongly increases after the birth of the first child. We focus on Denmark and show that gender differences regarding commuting play an important role in explaining this. We offer 3 pieces of evidence. First, the gender pay and commuting gaps come into existence at the same moment: when the first child is born. Second, wage compensation for commuting is lower for women after the birth compared to men: about 3-4 percentage points of the overall gender pay gap is due to gender differences related to compensation for commuting when having children. Third, women who get a child are much more likely to leave their job when they have a long commute, which is not true for men. Using information on job moving through the lens of a dynamic search model, these results imply that the marginal cost of commuting increases substantially for women with a child. For female workers with a child, a one standard deviation increase in commuting distance induces costs equivalent to about 10% of their wage, whereas for all other workers these costs are equivalent to only 3-4% of their wages.
Disclosure Deregulation of Quarterly Reporting

In this article, we investigate the deregulation efforts resulting from the 2015 transposition of the EU’s Transparency Directive into German law and analyze whether a reduction in the minimum content requirements for quarterly reporting increases information asymmetries and decreases firm value. Using a novel dataset of firms that are listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, our results reveal that over the period from 2012 to 2019, lower quarterly reporting levels on average have increased information asymmetry and reduced firm value. We find that this effect is stronger for second-tier stocks and firms with low media coverage. Our results are robust to potential selection effects regarding firms’ choice of quarterly reporting content levels.
Do Firms Redact Information from Material Contracts to Conceal Bad News?

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) allows firms to redact information from material contracts by submitting confidential treatment requests, if redacted information is not material and would cause competitive harm upon public disclosure. This study examines whether managers use confidential treatment requests to conceal bad news. We show that confidential treatment requests are positively associated with residual short interest, a proxy for managers’ private negative information. This positive association is more pronounced for firms with lower litigation risk, higher executive equity incentives, and lower external monitoring. Confidential treatment requests filed by firms with higher residual short interests are associated with higher stock price crash risk and poorer future performance. Collectively, our results suggest that managers redact information from material contracts to conceal bad news.
Stochastic Adaptive Learning With Committed Players in Games With Strict Nash Equilibria

In this paper, we investigate the condition under which players of an adaptive learning model, including the one of stochastic fictitious play learning, learn to follow a logit quantal response equilibrium corresponding to a strict Nash equilibrium, the one which approaches the Nash equilibrium as the noise term approaches zero. In particular, we consider the situation in which adaptive players face a fixed normal form game repeatedly and may interact with committed players, who do not revise their behaviour and follow a specific strategy in each period. When committed players follow a logit quantal response equilibrium corresponding to a strict Nash equilibrium and the probability of each adaptive player interacting with committed players is large enough, we show that adaptive players learn to follow the equilibrium that committed players follow almost surely; we also show that any strict Nash equilibrium can be logit quantal response equilibrium approachable so that we can pick any strict Nash equilibrium for committed players to follow. Also, we show that when the probability of interacting with committed players is small, players of a more general adaptive learning model, including the ones of stochastic fictitious play learning, payoff assessment learning and delta learning may learn to follow an equilibrium different from the one committed players follow with positive probability. Lastly, we also consider the case in which there do not exist committed players and show that when players of the general adaptive learning model have enough experience and their behaviour is close enough to a logit quantal response equilibrium corresponding to a strict Nash equilibrium, then their behaviour converges to the equilibrium with probability close to one.