Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nutrient Composition, Physicobiochemical Analyses, Oxidative Stability and Antinutritional Assessment of Abundant Tropical Seaweeds from the Arabian Sea

Foods enriched with nutritional compounds and biological activities, especially antioxidants, are considered healthier for human and/or animal consumption. Seaweeds are rich sources of biologically active metabolites and are used as functional foods. In this study, proximate compositions, physicobiochemical characteristics and oil oxidative stability were analyzed for 15 abundant tropical seaweeds (four green—Acrosiphonia orientalis, Caulerpa scalpelliformis, Ulva fasciata, Ulva lactuca; six brown—Iyengaria stellata, Lobophora variegate, Padina boergesenii, Sargassum linearifolium, Spatoglossum asperum, Stoechospermum marginatum; and five red—Amphiroa anceps, Grateloupia indica, Halymenia porphyriformis, Scinaia carnosa, Solieria chordalis). All seaweeds were analyzed for the proximate composition, including moisture content, ash content, total sugar content, total proteins, total lipids, crude fiber, carotenoid content, total chlorophyll content, proline, iodine content, nitrogen-free extract, total phenolic content and total flavonoid content. Green seaweeds showed higher nutritional proximate composition, followed by brown and red seaweeds. Among the different seaweeds, Ulva, Caulerpa, Sargassum, Spatoglossum and Amphiroa showed high nutritional proximate composition compared to other seaweeds. High cation scavenging, free radical scavenging and total reducing activities were observed for Acrosiphonia, Caulerpa, Ulva, Sargassum, Spatoglossum and Iyengaria. It was also observed that 15 tropical seaweeds contained negligible amounts of antinutritional compounds, including tannic acid, phytic acid, saponins, alkaloids and terpenoids. Nutritionally, green and brown seaweeds provided higher sources of energy (150–300 calories per 100 g) compared to red seaweeds (80–165 calories per 100 g). Additionally, this study also confirmed that tropical seaweeds improved the oxidative stability of food oils and, therefore, might be recommended as natural antioxidant additives. The overall results confirm that tropical seaweeds are potential sources of nutrition and antioxidants and may be explored as functional food, dietary supplementation or animal feed. Additionally, they may also be explored as food supplements for fortifying food products, as food toppings or for garnishing and seasoning foods. However, a human or animal toxicity analysis is required before any conclusive recommendation for daily food or feed intake can be made.
Improving of 100Cr6 Steel Corrosion and Wear Properties in Simulated Sea Water Environment by Tungsten-Doped DLC Coating

A progressive type of tungsten-doped DLC coating was applied to a quenched and tempered 100Cr6 steel with the aim to improve the wear and corrosion properties in simulated seawater conditions and to compare the performance to conventional DLC coating. Tungsten doping caused a shift of the corrosion potential (Ecorr) to a lower negative value of −172 mV, while the conventional DLC exhibited an Ecorr of −477 mV. In dry conditions, the W-DLC coefficient of friction is slightly higher than that of the conventional DLC (0.187 for the W-DLC vs. 0.137 for the DLC), but in cases of a saltwater environment, this difference becomes almost negligible (0.105 for the W-DLC vs. 0.076 for the DLC). The conventional DLC coating also started to show marks of deterioration when exposed to a combination of wear in a corrosive environment, while the W-DLC layer still maintained its integrity.
Development of Conjugated Kefiran-Chondroitin Sulphate Cryogels with Enhanced Properties for Biomedical Applications

Hydrogels based on natural polysaccharides can have unique properties and be tailored for several applications, which may be mainly limited by the fragile structure and weak mechanical properties of this type of system. We successfully prepared cryogels made of newly synthesized kefiran exopolysaccharide-chondroitin sulfate (CS) conjugate via carbodiimide-mediated coupling to overcome these drawbacks. The freeze-thawing procedure of cryogel preparation followed by lyophilization is a promising route to fabricate polymer-based scaffolds with countless and valuable biomedical applications. The novel graft macromolecular compound (kefiran-CS conjugate) was characterized through 1H-NMR and FTIR spectroscopy—which confirmed the structure of the conjugate, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)—which mirrored good thermal stability (degradation temperature of about 215 °C) and, finally, gel permeation chromatography–size exclusion chromatography (GPC-SEC)—which proved an increased molecular weight due to chemical coupling of kefiran with CS. At the same time, the corresponding cryogels physically crosslinked after the freeze-thawing procedure were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Micro-CT, and dynamic rheology. The results revealed a prevalent contribution of elastic/storage component to the viscoelastic behavior of cryogels in swollen state, a micromorphology with micrometer-sized open pores fully interconnected, and high porosity (ca. 90%) observed for freeze-dried cryogels. Furthermore, the metabolic activity and proliferation of human adipose stem cells (hASCs), when cultured onto the developed kefiran-CS cryogel, was maintained at a satisfactory level over 72 h. Based on the results obtained, it can be inferred that the newly freeze-dried kefiran-CS cryogels possess a host of unique properties that render them highly suitable for use in tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, drug delivery, and other biomedical applications where robust mechanical properties and biocompatibility are crucial.
Molecular Detection of Cyclospora cayetanensis in Two Main Types of Farm Soil Using Real-Time PCR Assays and Method Modification for Commercial Potting Mix

Cyclospora cayetanensis is a foodborne protozoan parasite that causes outbreaks of diarrheal illness (cyclosporiasis) with clear seasonality worldwide. In the environment, C. cayetanensis oocysts are very robust, and contact with contaminated soil may serve as an important vehicle in the transmission of this organism, and it is considered a risk factor for this infection. The present study evaluated a flotation concentration method, previously shown to provide the best detection results when compared with DNA isolation directly from soil samples, in two main types of farm soil, silt loam soil and sandy clay loam, as well as in commercial potting mix samples inoculated with different numbers of C. cayetanensis oocysts. The flotation method was able to detect as few as 10 oocysts in 10 g of either type of farm soil without modifications, but needed an extra wash and samples of reduced size for the processing of the commercial potting mix to be able to detect 20 oocysts/5 g. A recently modified real-time PCR method for the detection of C. cayetanensis based on a mitochondrial gene target was also evaluated using selected samples of each type of soil. This comparative study confirmed that the concentration of oocysts in soil samples by flotation in high-density sucrose solutions is a sensitive method that can detect low numbers of oocysts in different types of soil.
Binding Mechanism of Inhibitors to Heat Shock Protein 90 Investigated by Multiple Independent Molecular Dynamics Simulations and Prediction of Binding Free Energy

The heat shock protein (HSP90) has been an import target of drug design in the treatment of human disease. An exploration of the conformational changes in HSP90 can provide useful information for the development of efficient inhibitors targeting HSP90. In this work, multiple independent all-atom molecular dynamics (AAMD) simulations followed by calculations of the molecular mechanics generalized Born surface area (MM-GBSA) were performed to explore the binding mechanism of three inhibitors (W8Y, W8V, and W8S) to HSP90. The dynamics analyses verified that the presence of inhibitors impacts the structural flexibility, correlated movements, and dynamics behavior of HSP90. The results of the MM-GBSA calculations suggest that the selection of GB models and empirical parameters has important influences on the predicted results and verify that van der Waals interactions are the main forces that determine inhibitor–HSP90 binding. The contributions of separate residues to the inhibitor–HSP90 binding process indicate that hydrogen-bonding interactions (HBIs) and hydrophobic interactions play important roles in HSP90–inhibitor identifications. Moreover, residues L34, N37, D40, A41, D79, I82, G83, M84, F124, and T171 are recognized as hot spots of inhibitor–HSP90 binding and provide significant target sites of for the design of drugs related to HSP90. This study aims to contribute to the development of efficient inhibitors that target HSP90 by providing an energy-based and theoretical foundation.
Gonococcal Genetic Island in the Global Neisseria gonorrhoeae Population: A Model of Genetic Diversity and Association with Resistance to Antimicrobials

The aim of this work was to study the genetic diversity of the gonococcal genetic island (GGI) responsible for the type IV secretion system (T4SS) and the association of a functionally active GGI with antimicrobial resistance. An analysis of the GGI in a sample of 14,763 genomes of N. gonorrhoeae isolates from the Pathogenwatch database collected in 1996–2019 from 68 countries was performed. A model of GGI’s genetic diversity that divides the global gonococcal population into fifty-one GGI clusters and three GGI superclusters based on the allele type of the traG gene and substitutions of the atlA and ych genes for eppA and ych1 has been proposed, reflecting differences among isolates in the T4SS functionality. The NG-MAST and MLST typing schemes (with accuracies of 91% and 83%, respectively) allowed the determination of both the presence of a GGI and the GGI cluster and, correspondingly, the structure of the GGI and the ability to secrete DNA. A statistically significant difference in the proportion of N. gonorrhoeae isolates resistant to ciprofloxacin, cefixime, tetracycline, and penicillin was found when comparing populations with a functional and a non-functional GGI. The presence of a functional GGI did not affect the proportion of azithromycin-resistant isolates.
Investigation of miR-26a-5p and miR-19a-3p expression levels in angiographically confirmed coronary artery disease

Abstract Background MicroRNAs have been found to have an essential role in cardiovascular diseases. In previous experiments, the changed expressions of miR-26a-5p and miR-19a-3p were confirmed in patients with severe coronary atherosclerosis by miRNA microarrays. However, the role of two miRNAs in coronary artery diseases (CAD) still needs to be investigated further. Our current study aimed to analyse two miRNAs in angiographically confirmed CAD and non-CAD with insignificant coronary stenosis. This study aimed to identify the potential diagnostic value of circulating miRNA with CAD. Methods The CAD patients (n = 50) and non-CAD controls (n = 43) were studied. miRNAs (miR-26a-5p and miR-19a-3p) were quantified by TaqMan miRNA assays using real-time PCR. We subsequently assessed the diagnostic value of the miRNAs and correlations of miRNA with clinical parameters. Target prediction tools were utilised to identify miRNA target genes. Results The expression of miR-26a-5p was significantly increased in CAD compared to non-CAD controls (p < 0.05). Tertile groups were formed according to the expression levels of miRNAs, and high expression tertile (T3) was compared with low expression tertile (T1). It was found that CAD presence was more prevalent in T3 of miR-26a-5p, and the frequency of diabetes was higher in T3 of miR-19a-3p. There were significant correlations between miRNAs and diabetes risk factors such as HbA1c, glucose levels, and BMI (p < 0.05). Conclusions Our findings show that miR-26a-5p expression is altered in CAD presence while miR-19a-3p expression is different in diabetes. Both miRNAs are closely related to risk factors of CAD, therefore, could be therapeutic targets for CAD treatment.
Bone health, body composition and physical fitness dose–response effects of 16 weeks of recreational team handball for inactive middle-to-older-aged males – A randomised controlled trial

ABSTRACT In this study we aimed at analysing the effects of different weekly exercise volumes (1, 2 or 3 times 60-min) on bone health, body composition and physical fitness of inactive middle-to-older-aged males, after 16 weeks of recreational team handball (RTH). Fifty-four men (68 ± 4 years, stature 169 ± 6 cm; body mass 78.4 ± 10.7 kg; fat mass 27.1 ± 5.3%; BMI 27.4 ± 2.9 kg/m2; VO2peak 27.3 ± 4.8 mL/min/kg) were randomised into three intervention groups (TH1, n = 13; TH2, n = 15; or TH3, n = 12, performing 1, 2 and 3 weekly 60-min training sessions, respectively), and a control group (CG, n = 14). The training sessions consisted mainly of RTH matches played as small-sided and formal game formats (4v4, 5v5, 6v6 or 7v7) with adapted rules. Matches’ mean and peak heart rate (HR) ranged from 78–80% and 86–89%HRmax, respectively, and distance covered from 4676 to 5202 m. A time x group interaction was observed for procollagen type-1 amino-terminal propeptide (P1NP), osteocalcin (OC), carboxy-terminal type-1 collagen crosslinks (CTX), sclerostin, upper and lower body dynamic strength, right arm fat mass, left and right arm, right leg and android total mass (TM; p ≤ 0.047) with the greatest effects being shown for TH2 and TH3 groups. Post-intervention group differences were observed in CTX, left arm and right leg TM (TH3 > TH1), P1NP (TH2 > CG), OC, right arm TM (TH3 > CG), upper (CG < TH1, TH2 and TH3) and lower body dynamic strength (CG < TH1 and TH3) (p ≤ 0.047). RTH was effective in enhancing bone health, body composition and physical fitness in middle-to-older-aged males, especially for the intervention groups that performed 2–3 weekly training sessions. ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT05295511. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT05295511. Highlights After 16 weeks of recreational team handball small-sided and formal matches, inactive middle-to-older-aged males improved bone health, body composition and physical fitness, by performing 1, 2 or 3 60-min weekly sessions, however, greater improvements were shown in the groups that performed 2 or 3 weekly training sessions. Training intensity was similar across the intervention groups that performed recreational team handball for 1, 2 or 3 60-min weekly sessions, which means that training volume is most likely to be the reason for the different health effects shown. The very high fun levels reported by all intervention groups shows that recreational team handball is a social and fun exercise modality for middle-to-older-aged males, with potential to intrinsically motivate the participants and assure long-term adherence to exercise.
Understanding Statin‐Roxadustat Drug–Drug‐Disease Interaction Using Physiologically‐Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling

A different drug–drug interaction (DDI) scenario may exist in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) compared with healthy volunteers (HVs), depending on the interplay between drug–drug and disease (drug‐drug‐disease interaction (DDDI)). Physiologically‐based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling, in lieu of a clinical trial, is a promising tool for evaluating these complex DDDIs in patients. However, the prediction confidence of PBPK modeling in the severe CKD population is still low when nonrenal pathways are involved. More mechanistic virtual disease population and robust validation cases are needed. To this end, we aimed to: (i) understand the implications of severe CKD on statins (atorvastatin, simvastatin, and rosuvastatin) pharmacokinetics (PK) and DDI; and (ii) predict untested clinical scenarios of statin‐roxadustat DDI risks in patients to guide suitable dose regimens. A novel virtual severe CKD population was developed incorporating the disease effect on both renal and nonrenal pathways. Drug and disease PBPK models underwent a four‐way validation. The verified PBPK models successfully predicted the altered PKs in patients for substrates and inhibitors and recovered the observed statin‐rifampicin DDIs in patients and the statin‐roxadustat DDIs in HVs within 1.25‐ and 2‐fold error. Further sensitivity analysis revealed that the severe CKD effect on statins PK is mainly mediated by hepatic BCRP for rosuvastatin and OATP1B1/3 for atorvastatin. The magnitude of statin‐roxadustat DDI in patients with severe CKD was predicted to be similar to that in HVs. PBPK‐guided suitable dose regimens were identified to minimize the risk of side effects or therapeutic failure of statins when co‐administered with roxadustat.
COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among English-Speaking Pregnant Women Living in Rural Western United States

This mixed-method study investigated vaccine hesitancy among pregnant women living in rural western United States and their response to social media ads promoting COVID-19 vaccine uptake. Thirty pregnant or recently pregnant participants who live in rural zip codes in Washington, Oregon, California, and Idaho were interviewed between November 2022 and March 2023. Interviews were transcribed and coded, while the ad ratings were analyzed using linear mixed models. The study identified five main themes related to vaccine uptake, including perceived risk of COVID, sources of health information, vaccine hesitancy, and relationships with care providers. Participants rated ads most highly that used peer-based messengers and negative outcome-based content. Ads with faith-based and elder messengers were rated significantly lower than peer messengers (p = 0.04 and 0.001, respectively). An activation message was also rated significantly less favorably than negative outcome-based content (p = 0.001). Participants preferred evidence-based information and the ability to conduct their own research on vaccine safety and efficacy rather than being told to get vaccinated. Primary concerns of vaccine-hesitant respondents included the short amount of time the vaccine had been available and perceived lack of research on its safety during pregnancy. Our findings suggests that tailored messaging using peer-based messengers and negative outcome-based content can positively impact vaccine uptake among pregnant women living in rural areas of the Western United States.
Constraining below-threshold radio source counts with machine learning

We propose a machine-learning-based technique to determine the number density of radio sources as a function of their flux density, for use in next-generation radio surveys. The method uses a convolutional neural network trained on simulations of the radio sky to predict the number of sources in several flux bins. To train the network, we adopt a supervised approach wherein we simulate training data stemming from a large domain of possible number count models going down to fluxes a factor of 100 below the threshold for source detection. We test the model reconstruction capabilities as well as benchmark the expected uncertainties in the model predictions, observing good performance for fluxes down to a factor of ten below the threshold. This work demonstrates that the capabilities of simple deep learning models for radio astronomy can be useful tools for future surveys.
Blockchain Nodes are Heterogeneous and Your P2P Overlay Should be Too: PODS

At the core of each blockchain system, parties communicate through a peer-to-peer (P2P) overlay. Unfortunately, recent evidence suggests these P2P overlays represent a significant bottleneck for transaction throughput and scalability. Furthermore, they enable a number of attacks. We argue that these performance and security problems arise because current P2P overlays cannot fully capture the complexity of a blockchain system as they do not offer flexibility to accommodate node heterogeneity. We propose a novel approach to address these issues: P2P Overlay Domains with Sovereignty (PODS), which allows nodes in a single overlay to belong to multiple heterogeneous groups, called domains. Each domain features its own set of protocols, tailored to the characteristics and needs of its nodes. To demonstrate the effectiveness of PODS, we design and implement two novel node discovery protocols: FedKad and SovKad. Using a custom simulator, we show that node discovery using PODS (SovKad) architecture outperforms both single overlay (Kademlia) and multi-overlay (FedKad) architectures in terms of hop count and success rate, though FedKad requires slightly less bandwidth.
SVNR: Spatially-variant Noise Removal with Denoising Diffusion

Denoising diffusion models have recently shown impressive results in generative tasks. By learning powerful priors from huge collections of training images, such models are able to gradually modify complete noise to a clean natural image via a sequence of small denoising steps, seemingly making them well-suited for single image denoising. However, effectively applying denoising diffusion models to removal of realistic noise is more challenging than it may seem, since their formulation is based on additive white Gaussian noise, unlike noise in real-world images. In this work, we present SVNR, a novel formulation of denoising diffusion that assumes a more realistic, spatially-variant noise model. SVNR enables using the noisy input image as the starting point for the denoising diffusion process, in addition to conditioning the process on it. To this end, we adapt the diffusion process to allow each pixel to have its own time embedding, and propose training and inference schemes that support spatially-varying time maps. Our formulation also accounts for the correlation that exists between the condition image and the samples along the modified diffusion process. In our experiments we demonstrate the advantages of our approach over a strong diffusion model baseline, as well as over a state-of-the-art single image denoising method.
The NANOGrav 15 yr Data Set: Observations and Timing of 68 Millisecond Pulsars

We present observations and timing analyses of 68 millisecond pulsars (MSPs) comprising the 15 yr data set of the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav). NANOGrav is a pulsar timing array (PTA) experiment that is sensitive to low-frequency gravitational waves (GWs). This is NANOGrav’s fifth public data release, including both “narrowband” and “wideband” time-of-arrival (TOA) measurements and corresponding pulsar timing models. We have added 21 MSPs and extended our timing baselines by 3 yr, now spanning nearly 16 yr for some of our sources. The data were collected using the Arecibo Observatory, the Green Bank Telescope, and the Very Large Array between frequencies of 327 MHz and 3 GHz, with most sources observed approximately monthly. A number of notable methodological and procedural changes were made compared to our previous data sets. These improve the overall quality of the TOA data set and are part of the transition to new pulsar timing and PTA analysis software packages. For the first time, our data products are accompanied by a full suite of software to reproduce data reduction, analysis, and results. Our timing models include a variety of newly detected astrometric and binary pulsar parameters, including several significant improvements to pulsar mass constraints. We find that the time series of 23 pulsars contain detectable levels of red noise, 10 of which are new measurements. In this data set, we find evidence for a stochastic GW background.