Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development of a Canadian Food Composition Database of Gluten-Free Products

Country-specific food composition data are needed for gluten-free (GF) food products to assess nutritional adequacy and diet quality. This research aimed to develop a comprehensive GF food composition database for key GF foods consumed in Canada. Average nutrient data from 167 products were estimated from Nutrition Fact Panel labels and the commercial ingredient list, using an iterative and systematic approach. The database reports mean values for energy and 29 nutrients per 100 g for 33 GF commercial grain-based foods. Nutrient values were evaluated with Health Canada’s nutrient content claims per standard reference serving. On average, GF products were, at minimum, a source of thiamin (73%), riboflavin (70%), niacin (58%), iron (58%), fibre (55%), magnesium (48%), folate (36%), zinc (19%), and calcium (15%). Most GF products were low in saturated fat (85%) and cholesterol (64%) but only 15% were low in total fat and 6% were free of sugar. Micronutrient enrichment and the use of nutrient-dense whole grain flours, legume flours, oil seed husks, and functional fibre ingredients varied within and between categories and brands but appeared to contribute to nutrient content. This database provides a new tool to enhance GF diet assessment in individuals or populations in Canada.
Effects of Volatile Organic Compounds on Biofilms and Swimming Motility of Agrobacterium tumefaciens

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by bacteria play an important role in the interaction between microorganisms and other organisms. They can inhibit the growth of phytopathogenic microorganisms, modulate plant growth, and serve as infochemicals. Here, we investigated the effects of ketones, alcohols, and terpenes on the colony biofilms of plant pathogenic Agrobacterium tumefaciens strains and swimming motility, which can play an important role in the formation of biofilms. It was shown that 2-octanone had the greatest inhibitory effect on biofilm formation, acting in a small amount (38.7 g/m3). Ketone 2-butanone and unsaturated ketone β-ionone reduced the formation of biofilms at higher doses (145.2–580.6 and 387.1–1548.3 g/m3, respectively, up to 2.5–5 times). Isoamyl alcohol and 2-phenylethanol decreased the formation of biofilms at doses of 88.7 and 122.9 g/m3 by 1.7 and 5 times, respectively, with an increased effect at 177.4 and 245.9 g/m3, respectively. The agrobacteria cells in mature biofilms were more resistant to the action of ketones and alcohols. These VOCs also suppressed the swimming motility of agrobacteria; the radius of swimming zones decreased ~from 2 to 5 times. Terpenes (−)-limonene and (+)-α-pinene had no significant influence on the colony biofilms and swimming motility at the doses used. The results obtained represent new information about the effect of VOCs on biofilms and the motility of bacteria.
Mitigation of Memory Impairment with Fermented Fucoidan and λ-Carrageenan Supplementation through Modulating the Gut Microbiota and Their Metagenome Function in Hippocampal Amyloid-β Infused Rats

Attenuating acetylcholinesterase and insulin/insulin-like growth factor-1 signaling in the hippocampus is associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) development. Fucoidan and carrageenan are brown and red algae, respectively, with potent antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antiviral activities. This study examined how low-molecular-weight (MW) and high-MW fucoidan and λ-carrageenan would improve memory impairment in Alzheimer’s disease-induced rats caused by an infusion of toxic amyloid-β(Aβ). Fucoidan and λ-carrageenan were dissected into low-MW by Luteolibacter algae and Pseudoalteromonas carrageenovora. Rats receiving an Aβ(25–35) infusion in the CA1 region of the hippocampus were fed dextrin (AD-Con), 1% high-MW fucoidan (AD-F-H), 1% low-MW fucoidan (AD-F-L), 1% high-MW λ-carrageenan (AD-C-H), and 1% low-MW λ-carrageenan (AD-C-L) for six weeks. Rats to receive saline infusion (Normal-Con) had an AD-Con diet. The AD-F-L group showed an improved memory function, which manifested as an enhanced Y-maze spontaneous alternation test, water maze, and passive avoidance tests, similar to the Normal-Con group. AD-F-L also potentiated hippocampal insulin signaling and increased the expression of ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the hippocampus. AD-C-L improved the memory function mainly by increasing the BDNF content. AD-F-H and AD-C-H did not improve the memory function. Compared to AD-Con, the ascending order of AD-C-H, AD-F-H, AD-C-L, and AD-F-L increased insulin signaling by enhancing the pSTAT3→pAkt→pGSK-3β pathway. AD-F-L improved glucose tolerance the most. Compared to AD-CON, the AD-F-L treatment increased the serum acetate concentrations and compensated for the defect of cerebral glucose metabolism. AD-Con increased Clostridium, Terrisporobacter and Sporofaciens compared to Normal-Con, and AD-F-L and AD-C-L increased Akkermentia. In conclusion, AD-F-L and AD-C-L alleviated the memory function in the rats with induced AD symptoms by modulating.
DS-Net++: Dynamic Weight Slicing for Efficient Inference in CNNs and Vision Transformers

Dynamic networks have shown their promising capability in reducing theoretical computation complexity by adapting their architectures to the input during inference. However, their practical runtime usually lags behind the theoretical acceleration due to inefficient sparsity. In this paper, we explore a hardware-efficient dynamic inference regime, named dynamic weight slicing, that can generalized well on multiple dimensions in both CNNs and transformers (e.g. kernel size, embedding dimension, number of heads, etc.). Instead of adaptively selecting important weight elements in a sparse way, we pre-define dense weight slices with different importance level by nested residual learning. During inference, weights are progressively sliced beginning with the most important elements to less important ones to achieve different model capacity for inputs with diverse difficulty levels. Based on this conception, we present DS-CNN++ and DS-ViT++, by carefully designing the double headed dynamic gate and the overall network architecture. We further propose dynamic idle slicing to address the drastic reduction of embedding dimension in DS-ViT++. To ensure sub-network generality and routing fairness, we propose a disentangled two-stage optimization scheme. In Stage I, in-place bootstrapping (IB) and multi-view consistency (MvCo) are proposed to stablize and improve the training of DS-CNN++ and DS-ViT++ supernet, respectively. In Stage II, sandwich gate sparsification (SGS) is proposed to assist the gate training. Extensive experiments on 4 datasets and 3 different network architectures demonstrate our methods consistently outperform the state-of-the-art static and dynamic model compression methods by a large margin (up to 6.6%). Typically, we achieves 2-4× computation reduction and up to 61.5% real-world acceleration on MobileNet, ResNet-50 and Vision Transformer, with minimal accuracy drops on ImageNet. Code release: https://github.com/changlin31/DS-Net.
Preventive Effect of Cocoa Flavonoids via Suppression of Oxidative Stress-Induced Apoptosis in Auditory Senescent Cells

Presbycusis or Age-related hearing loss (ARHL) is a sensorineural hearing loss that affects communication, leading to depression and social isolation. Currently, there are no effective treatments against ARHL. It is known that cocoa products have high levels of polyphenol content (mainly flavonoids), that are potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agents with proven benefits for health. The objective is to determine the protective effect of cocoa at the cellular and molecular levels in Presbycusis. For in vitro study, we used House Ear Institute-Organ of Corti 1 (HEI-OC1), stria vascularis (SV-k1), and organ of Corti (OC-k3) cells (derived from the auditory organ of a transgenic mouse). Each cell line was divided into a control group (CTR) and an H2O2 group (induction of senescence by an oxygen radical). Additionally, every group of every cell line was treated with the cocoa polyphenolic extract (CPE), measuring different markers of apoptosis, viability, the activity of antioxidant enzymes, and oxidative/nitrosative stress. The data show an increase of reactive oxidative and nitrogen species (ROS and RNS, respectively) in senescent cells compared to control ones. CPE treatment effectively reduced these high levels and correlated with a significant reduction in apoptosis cells by inhibiting the mitochondrial-apoptotic pathway. Furthermore, in senescence cells, the activity of antioxidant enzymes (Superoxide dismutase, SOD; Catalase, CAT; and Glutathione peroxidase, GPx) was recovered after CPE treatment. Administration of CPE also decreased oxidative DNA damage in the auditory senescent cells. In conclusion, CPE inhibits the activation of senescence-related apoptotic signaling by decreasing oxidative stress in auditory senescent cells.
Crescimento e acúmulo de nutrientes por plantas espontâneas e por leguminosas utilizadas para adubação verde

Spontaneous plant species in agricultural areas have been regarded as weeds, invasive or unwanted plants, when considering the damages that they can bring to cultivated species. However, spontaneous species can bring about the same effects of soil protection and nutrient cycling that cultivated or introduced species used for green manure do. Biomass productivity and nutrient accumulation for the aerial part of spontaneous and leguminous plants used as green fertilizers were measured at the experimental station Embrapa Corn and Sorghum, in Sete Lagoas, Minas Gerais (Brazil). The experiment comprised five leguminous species (Canavalia ensiformes, Canavalia brasiliensis, Mucuna aterrima, dolichos lablab and Cajanus cajan) tested in two growing conditions (with and without weeding), and a control (only spontaneous species). At flowering of the leguminous species, dry matter and nutrient level of the aerial part, for each leguminous and spontaneous species present in the parcels, were obtained. The system which had only spontaneous species produced less biomass and accumulated less nutrient than the systems with leguminous species. Few spontaneous species presented carbon, calcium and nitrogen levels which were close to or larger than the leguminous one. However, the inverse occurred for potassium, magnesium and phosphorus. Most spontaneous species presented potassium and magnesium levels, and several of them, phosphorus levels , larger than the leguminous ones. With regard to levels of phosphorus, potassium and magnesium, the following spontaneous species stood out: Portulaca oleracea, Euphorbia heterophylla, Bidens pilosa, Commelina benghalensis and Melanpodium perfoliatum.
Impact of multimorbidity on long-term outcomes in older adults with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome in the North East of England: a multi-centre cohort study of patients undergoing invasive care

Objectives Older adults have a higher degree of multimorbidity, which may adversely affect longer term outcomes from non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS). We investigated the impact of multimorbidity on cardiovascular outcomes 5 years after invasive management of NSTE-ACS. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Multicentre study conducted in the north of England. Participants 298 patients aged ≥75 years with NSTE-ACS and referred for coronary angiography, with 264 (88.0%) completing 5-year follow-up. Main outcome measures Multimorbidity was evaluated at baseline with the Charlson comorbidity index (CCI). The primary composite outcome was all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction, stroke, urgent repeat revascularisation or significant bleeding. Results Mean age was 80.9 (±6.1) years. The cohort median CCI score was 5 (IQR 4–7). The primary composite outcome occurred in 48.1% at 5 years, at which time 31.0% of the cohort had died. Compared with those with few comorbidities (CCI score 3–5), a higher CCI score (≥6) was positively associated with the primary composite outcome (adjusted HR (aHR) 1.64 (95% CI 1.14 to 2.35), p=0.008 adjusted for age and sex), driven by an increased risk of death (aHR 2.20 (1.38 to 3.49), p=0.001). For each additional CCI comorbidity, on average, there was a 20% increased risk of the primary composite endpoint at 5 years (aHR 1.20 (1.09 to 1.33), p<0.001). Conclusions In older adults with NSTE-ACS referred for coronary angiography, the presence of multimorbidity is associated with an increased risk of long-term adverse cardiovascular events, driven by a higher risk of all-cause mortality. Trial registration number NCT01933581; ClinicalTrials.gov.
Increased Presentation of Diabetic Ketoacidosis and Changes in Age and Month of Type 1 Diabetes at Onset during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Spain

Abstract Objective: To assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures on the presenting characteristics (age at diagnosis, severity, monthly distribution) of newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes in Spanish children. Research Design and Methods: An ambispective observational multicenter study was conducted in nine Spanish tertiary-level hospitals between January 2015 and March 2021. Inclusion criteria: new cases of type 1 diabetes in children (0–14 years) recording age, sex, date of diagnosis, presence of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) at onset, and severity of DKA. Data were compared before and during the pandemic. Results: We registered 1444 new cases of type 1 diabetes in children: 1085 in the pre-pandemic period (2015–2019) and 359 during the pandemic (2020–March 2021). There was a significant increase in the group aged ≤4 years in the pandemic period (chi-squared = 10.986, df 2, p = 0.0041). In 2020–2021, cases of DKA increased significantly by 12% (95% CI: 7.2–20.4%), with a higher percentage of moderate and severe DKA, although this increase was not significant. In 2020, there was a sharp decrease in the number of cases in March, with a progressive increase from May through November, higher than in the same months of the period 2015–2019, highlighting the increase in the number of cases in June, September, and November. The first three months of 2021 showed a different trend to that observed both in the years 2015–2019 and in 2020, with a marked increase in the number of cases. Conclusions: A change in monthly distribution was described, with an increase in DKA at onset of type 1 diabetes. No differences were found in severity, although there were differences in the age distribution, with an increase in the number of cases in children under 4 years of age.
Genetic Diversity in Slender Walking Catfish (Clarias nieuhofii) Populations: Implications for Population Management

Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were applied to assess the genetic diversity and population structure of the slender walking catfish ( Clarias nieuhofii , Clariidae) from 3 wild populations in peat swamp forests in southern Thailand (Surat Thani , Narathiwat, and Phatthalung). The selected 14 RAPD primers produced 105 RAPD bands, ranging from 6 to 11 bands per primer, and ranging in size between 400 and 3,000 bp. The percentage of polymorphic loci, gene diversity and Shannon’s information index values were 75.00 %, 0.2252, and 0.3443 for Surat Thani; 86.59 %, 0.2982, and 0.4441 for Narathiwat, and 96.25 %, 0.3371, and 0.5049 for Phatthalung, respectively. Among the 3 populations, the highest genetic distance (0.2213) was found between the Narathiwat and Surat Thani populations. High genetic differentiation ( G st = 0.2815) was detected in 3 populations with low gene flow ( Nm = 1.2762) among the overall populations. The clustering pattern obtained by the unweighted pair-group (UPGMA) method separated the C. nieuhofii samples into 3 groups, but 2 clusters. The results indicated a high level of genetic variation and genetic differentiation among C. nieuhofii from different populations in southern Thailand. This information would be useful to construct appropriate breeding programs, and could help conserve populations used as potential sources for stock management, restocking programs, and sustainable uses.
Mesenchymal Stem Cell Fates in Murine Acute Liver Injury and Chronic Liver Fibrosis Induced by Carbon Tetrachloride

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) therapy has shown potential benefits in multiple diseases. However, their clinic performance is not as satisfactory as expected. This study aimed to provide an alternative explanation by comparing MSCs’ fates in different liver diseases. The distribution and therapeutic effects of human MSC (hMSCs) were investigated in acute liver injury (ALI) and chronic liver fibrosis (CLF) mice models, respectively. The two models were induced by single or repeated injection of carbon tetrachloride separately. The increase of hMSCs exposure in the liver (AUCliver 0–72 hour) were more significant in ALI than in CLF (177.1% versus 96.2%). In the ALI model, the hMSCs exposures in the lung (AUClung 0–72 hour) increased by nearly 50%, whereas it decreased by 60.7% in CLF. The efficacy satellite study indicated that hMSCs could significantly ameliorate liver injury in ALI, but its effects in CLF were limited. In the ALI, suppressed natural killer (NK) cell activities were observed, while NK cell activities were increased in CLF. The depletion of NK cells could increase hMSCs exposure in mice. For mice MSC (mMSCs), their cell fates in ALI were very similar to hMSCs in ALI: mMSCs' exposure in the liver and lung increased in ALI. In conclusion, our study revealed the distinct cell pharmacokinetic patterns of MSCs in ALI and CLF mice, which might be at least partially attributed to the different NK cell activities in the two liver diseases. This finding provided a novel insight into the varied MSCs' therapeutic efficacy in the clinic. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Currently, there is little knowledge about the PK behavior of cell products like MSCs. This study was the first time investigating the influence of liver diseases on cell fates and efficacies of MSCs and the underneath rationale. The exposure was distinct between two representative liver disease models, which directly linked with the therapeutic performance that MSCs achieved. The difference could be attributed to the NK cells–mediated MSCs clearance.
Prediction of Renal Function in Living Kidney Donors and Recipients of Living Donor Kidneys Using Quantitative Histology

Background. Living kidney donors (LKDs) are at increased risk of chronic kidney disease, whereas transplant recipients experience progressive reduction of graft function. We examined the predictive value of quantitative stereology on renal function in LKDs and recipients of living donor kidneys, based on perioperative biopsies from the donated kidney. Methods. Cortex volume of both donor kidneys was determined by contrast-enhanced computed tomography and single-kidney glomerular filtration rate (GFR) by 51chrome-EDTA clearance together with renography. Glomerular density was used to estimate total glomeruli number in addition to glomerular volume, glomerular sclerosis, kidney fibrosis, and arteriole dimensions. GFR measurements were repeated 1 y after transplantation in both LKDs and recipients. Associations between GFR at follow-up and cortex volume and histomorphometric parameters after adjustment of age, gender, body mass index, smoking status, 24-h blood pressure, and single-kidney GFR were examined. Results. We included 49 LKDs (age, 51 ± 12 y) and 51 recipients (age, 44 ± 13 y). At follow-up, GFR was 71 ± 16 mL/min in LKDs and 61 ± 18 mL/min in recipients with hyperfiltration being more prominent in LKDs (30.4%) as compared to recipients (16.4%; P < 0.05). One-year GFR in donors correlated to cortex volume (P < 0.001) but not to any histological parameters, whereas GFR in recipients correlated to the amount of interstitial fibrosis (P < 0.01) but not to other histological parameters or cortex volume. Conclusions. Kidney cortex volume, but not renal histology parameters, predicts 1-y renal outcome in LKDs. In contrast, the amount of interstitial fibrosis, but not cortex volume, predicts 1-y graft function in recipients.
Plasma-Rich in Growth Factors Ameliorates Detrimental Effects of Cryopreservation on Human Sperm: A Prospective Study

Objectives Sperm cryopreservation results in damage to membrane integrity, sperm viability, sperm motility, and DNA structure. We aimed to evaluate the effect of plasma rich in growth factors (PRGF) on sperm parameters during the freeze-thaw process. Materials and Methods In the first phase of this prospective study, after sperm preparation, 10 normozoospermic specimens were cryopreserved by rapid freezing with different concentrations of PRGF including 0, 1, 5, and 10% to find the optimum dose. Sperm motility and viability were assessed in this phase. In the second phase of the study, based on the results of first phase, 25 normal sperm samples were frozen with 1% PRGF. All sperm parameters including motility, viability, acrosome reaction, and DNA integrity were assessed before freezing and after thawing. Results The rates of progressive and total sperm motility and viability were significantly higher in 1% PRGF compared to control, 5%, and 10% PRGF in the first phase (P<0.05). Supplementation of freezing medium with 1% PRGF could significantly improve all sperm parameters including sperm motility, viability, normal morphology, acrosome integrity, chromatin structure, chromatin integrity, DNA denaturation, and DNA fragmentation in comparison with the control group. Conclusion It appears that the supplementation of freezing medium with 1% PRGF could protect human sperm parameters during cryopreservation.
Action of gibberellic acid (GA3) on dormancy and activity of alpha-amylase in rice seeds

Para avaliar a eficiencia do acido giberelico (GA3) na superacao da dormencia de sementes de arroz, bem como a atividade da enzima a-amilase como indicador do grau dessa dormencia, foram utilizadas sementes da cultivar irrigada Urucuia, que apresentam alta intensidade de dormencia pos-colheita. Para tanto, as sementes foram submetidas a pre-secagem em estufa de circulacao forcada de ar a 40oC por 7 dias e a submersao em 30 ml de solucoes de GA3 nas concentracoes de 0, 10, 30 e 60 mg/litro de H2O, nos tempos de 2, 24 e 36 horas. Apos os tratamentos, foi determinada a atividade da a-amilase atraves da eletroforese em gel de poliacrilamida e da espectrofotometria. Simultaneamente, foi realizado o teste de germinacao. Pelos resultados, observa-se que houve ganho na germinacao e na atividade da a-amilase em maiores concentracoes e tempos de embebicao das sementes em GA3. A embebicao das sementes em 60 mg GA3/litro H2O por 36 horas apresenta-se eficiente como um tratamento rapido na superacao da dormencia de sementes de arroz, sendo equivalente a estufa de circulacao forcada de ar a 40oC por 7 dias. A atividade da enzima a-amilase apresentou-se como um eficiente marcador do grau de dormencia das sementes.
Influenza Viruses Suitable for Studies in Syrian Hamsters

Several small animal models, including mice, Syrian hamsters, guinea pigs, and ferrets are used to study the pathogenicity, transmissibility, and antigenicity of seasonal and pandemic influenza viruses. Moreover, animal models are essential for vaccination and challenge studies to evaluate the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of new vaccines. However, authentic human influenza viruses do not always replicate efficiently in these animal models. Previously, we developed a high-yield A/Puerto Rico/8/34 (PR8-HY) vaccine virus backbone that conferred an increased virus yield to several seasonal influenza vaccines in eukaryotic cells and embryonated chicken eggs. Here, we show that this PR8-HY genetic backbone also increases the replication of several seasonal influenza viruses in Syrian hamsters compared to the authentic viruses. Therefore, the PR8-HY backbone is useful for animal studies to assess the biological properties of influenza viral HA and NA.