Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of wheat bran dietary fiber on structural properties and hydrolysis behavior of gluten after synergistic fermentation of Lactobacillus plantarum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The effect of synergistic fermentation of Lactobacillus plantarum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae on the structural properties and aggregation behavior of gluten containing different wheat bran dietary fiber (WBDF) levels (0, 3, 6, 9, and 12%) was investigated. The results showed that WBDF addition affected the aggregation behavior of gluten at the molecular level, while WBDF significantly induced depolymerization behaviors in large aggregated gluten proteins (Molecular weight > 130 kDa) under reducing conditions (p < 0.05). In terms of secondary structure, WBDF significantly reduced glutamine side chain levels and reduced antiparallel β-sheet structures from 28.57 to 24.53% (p < 0.05). In addition, WBDF thermal properties and its water holding capacity were the main factors causing changes in thermal properties in the overall gluten system. This study provides new data for the improved production of sourdough whole grain and/or high fiber flour products.
Transcriptional programming of immunoregulatory responses in human Langerhans cells

Human epidermal Langerhans cells (LCs) maintain immune homeostasis in the skin. To examine transcriptional programming of human primary LCs during homeostasis, we performed scRNA-seq analysis of LCs before and after migration from the epidermis, coupled with functional assessment of their regulatory T cell priming capabilities. The analysis revealed that steady-state LCs exist in a continuum of maturation states and upregulate antigen presentation genes along with an immunoregulatory module including the genes IDO1, LGALS1, LAMTOR1, IL4I, upon their migration. The migration-induced transition in genomic state is accompanied by the ability of LCs to more efficiently prime regulatory T cell responses in co-culture assays. Computational analyses of the scRNAseq datasets using SCENIC and Partial Information Decomposition in Context identified a set of migration-induced transcription factors including IRF4, KLF6 and RelB as key nodes within a immunoregulatory gene regulatory network. These findings support a model in which efficient priming of immunoregulatory responses by LCs is dependent on coordinated upregulation of a migration-coupled maturation program with a immunoregulation-promoting genomic module.
The composition of the gut microbiota is altered in biliary atresia with cholangitis

Aim To detect the composition of the gut microbiota in biliary atresia after Kasai surgery. Methods Infants within six months after the Kasai operation who were diagnosed by cholangiography at Shanghai Children’s Hospital were enrolled in the study. Fecal samples were collected from diapers, placed into sterile tubes in the inpatient department or outpatient department and frozen at −80°C within half an hour. The gut microbiota was detected by 16S rRNA sequences. Then, the patients that were followed up to one year after the Kasai operation who suffered from cholangitis at least one time were grouped into the BAcho group, and the others were grouped into the BAnoncho group. Results Nine of 18 BA patients were grouped into the BAcho group, and the others were grouped into the BAnoncho group. In the BAcho group, AST, ALT and GGT were significantly increased compared to the BAnoncho group. The number of total OTUs (operational taxonomic units) in feces was more elevated in the BAnoncho group than in the BAcho group. In the BAnoncho group, the Chao index at the OTU level was significantly increased compared to that in the BAcho group (66.37 ± 21.5 vs. 45.64 ± 11.25, p = 0.02 < 0.05). Bifidobacterium was the most abundant genus in the BAnoncho group, accounting for 22.14%, and Klebsiella accounted for 22.74% in the BAcho group. Compared with the BAnoncho group, Bacteroides was significantly decreased in the BAcho group (p = 0.037). Conclusion The composition of the gut microbiota was different between BA with cholangitis and BA without cholangitis.
Effects of sodium humate and probiotics on growth performance enzyme activity and microbial environment of Litopenaeus vannamei in high-density zero‐water exchange systems

The study investigates the outcomes of adding sodium humate and sodium humate with probiotics (Lysinibacillus, Bacillus subtilis) to culture water on the growth performance, enzyme activity, and microbial environment of shrimp. The sodium humate and probiotics concentrations were 3 mg/L and 105 CFU/mL in the culture water. Litopenaeus vannamei (0.31 ± 0.03 g) at a density of 300 shrimps/m3 were cultured in nine buckets for a 43-days culture experiment. The results showed that the survival rate (SR) of L. vannamei in sodium humate group and sodium humate with probiotics group were (88.44%) and (86.07%), with the sodium humate group outcome being significantly better than the control group. The shrimps’ final body weight and specific growth rate (SGR) in the two experimental groups were significantly higher than the control group. The feed conversion rate (FCR) was significantly lower than the control group. The ammonia nitrogen concentration in sodium humate with probiotics group was significantly lower than the control group on the 15th day. The activities of intestinal amylase, lipase, trypsin and hepatopancreas superoxide dismutase (SOD), phenol oxidase (PO), and catalase (CAT) in sodium humate group were significantly higher than the control group. Notably, SOD, PO, and lipase activities in sodium humate with probiotics group were significantly higher than the control group. Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing showed that the Chao and Ace indices of the culture water microflora in experimental groups were higher than the control group, and the sodium humate group was significantly higher than the control group. At the phylum level, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria were the dominant bacterial communities in the intestine and culture water of L. vannamei, Proteobacteria was the most abundant phyla. At the genus level, the relative abundance of Pseudohongiella of water microflora in the control group was significantly lower than the experimental groups. Ruggiella (15.22-19.56%) was the most abundant genera of intestinal microflora. These results infer that the addition of sodium humate enhances the growth performance, digestive enzymes, and some immune enzyme activities, improving the richness of the water microbial community of L. vannamei.
Physical, functional and sensory properties of bitter chocolates with incorporation of high nutritional value flours

Due to the growing demand for healthy food products, the industry is seeking to incorporate inputs with high nutritional potential to traditional products. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of incorporating Lepidium meyenii, Chenopodium pallidicaule, Amaranthus caudatus, Sesamum indicum and Salvia hispanica flours on the physical, chemical, rheological, textural and thermal characteristics, and the degree of sensory acceptance of dark chocolate bars (65% cocoa). To this end, chocolate bars were made with the incorporation of five flours in four doses (1, 2, 3 and 4%), obtaining 20 different formulations compared with a control treatment (without flour addition). It was found that as flour incorporation levels increased, viscosity, antioxidants and particle size of the chocolates increased, but hardness and pH decreased. The addition of the flours also affected the acceptability and microstructure of the chocolate bars. The incorporation of up to 4% of the flours studied improved the degree of acceptance of the chocolates. Consequently, the incorporation of grain flours with high nutritional value can enhance the characteristics of dark chocolates, becoming a technological alternative for the chocolate industry.
Influence of denaturants on amyloid β42 aggregation kinetics

Amyloid formation is linked to devastating neurodegenerative diseases, motivating detailed studies of the mechanisms of amyloid formation. For Aβ, the peptide associated with Alzheimer’s disease, the mechanism and rate of aggregation have been established for a range of variants and conditions in vitro and in bodily fluids. A key outstanding question is how the relative stabilities of monomers, fibrils and intermediates affect each step in the fibril formation process. By monitoring the kinetics of aggregation of Aβ42, in the presence of urea or guanidinium hydrochloride (GuHCl), we here determine the rates of the underlying microscopic steps and establish the importance of changes in relative stability induced by the presence of denaturant for each individual step. Denaturants shift the equilibrium towards the unfolded state of each species. We find that a non-ionic denaturant, urea, reduces the overall aggregation rate, and that the effect on nucleation is stronger than the effect on elongation. Urea reduces the rate of secondary nucleation by decreasing the coverage of fibril surfaces and the rate of nucleus formation. It also reduces the rate of primary nucleation, increasing its reaction order. The ionic denaturant, GuHCl, accelerates the aggregation at low denaturant concentrations and decelerates the aggregation at high denaturant concentrations. Below approximately 0.25 M GuHCl, the screening of repulsive electrostatic interactions between peptides by the charged denaturant dominates, leading to an increased aggregation rate. At higher GuHCl concentrations, the electrostatic repulsion is completely screened, and the denaturing effect dominates. The results illustrate how the differential effects of denaturants on stability of monomer, oligomer and fibril translate to differential effects on microscopic steps, with the rate of nucleation being most strongly reduced.
Characteristics of soil microbiota and organic carbon distribution in jackfruit plantation under different fertilization regimes

Manure amendment to improve soil organic carbon (SOC) content is an important strategy to sustain ecosystem health and crop production. Here, we utilize an 8-year field experiment to evaluate the impacts of organic and chemical fertilizers on SOC and its labile fractions as well as soil microbial and nematode communities in different soil depths of jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.). Three treatments were designed in this study, including control with no amendment (CK), organic manure (OM), and chemical fertilizer (CF). Results showed that OM significantly increased the abundance of total nematodes, bacterivores, bacteria, and fungi as well as the value of nematode channel ratio (NCR) and maturity index (MI), but decreased plant-parasites and Shannon diversity (H′). Soil microbial and nematode communities in three soil depths were significantly altered by fertilizer application. Acidobacteria and Chloroflexi dominated the bacterial communities of OM soil, while Nitrospira was more prevalent in CF treatment. Organic manure application stimulated some functional groups of the bacterial community related to the C cycle and saprotroph-symbiotroph fungi, while some groups related to the nitrogen cycle, pathotroph-saprotroph-symbiotroph and pathotroph-saprotroph fungi were predominated in CF treatment. Furthermore, OM enhanced the soil pH, contents of total soil N, P, K, and SOC components, as well as jackfruit yield. Chemical fertilizers significantly affected available N, P, and K contents. The results of network analyses show that more significant co-occurrence relationships between SOC components and nematode feeding groups were found in CK and CF treatments. In contrast, SOC components were more related to microbial communities than to nematode in OM soils. Partial least-squares-path modeling (PLS-PM) revealed that fertilization had significant effects on jackfruit yield, which was composed of positive direct (73.6%) and indirect effects (fertilization → fungal community → yield). It was found that the long-term manure application strategy improves soil quality by increasing SOM, pH, and nutrient contents, and the increased microbivorous nematodes abundance enhanced the grazing pressure on microorganisms and concurrently promoted microbial-derived SOC turnover.
Protective effect of irisin against Alzheimer’s disease

Despite being one of the greatest global challenges for health and social care in the 21st century, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) lacks specific medicine. Irisin, an exercise-generated muscle factor, emerges as a potential hormone for AD prevention and treatment because of its role in promoting the browning of white adipose tissue, accelerating energy expenditure, regulating energy metabolism, and improving insulin resistance. The study reviews classic hallmarks of AD and irisin’s physiology before discussing the possible mechanism by which irisin protects against AD in terms of its effects related to molecular biology and cellular biology. Results reveal that irisin sharpens learning memory by inducing the production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), lowers the production of inflammatory factors, protects neurology through astrocytes, and ameliorates AD symptoms by improving insulin resistance. The review aims to facilitate future experimental studies and clinical applications of irisin in preventing and treating AD.
Cardiac MRF using rosette trajectories for simultaneous myocardial T1, T2, and proton density fat fraction mapping

The goal of this work is to extend prior work on cardiac MR Fingerprinting (cMRF) using rosette k-space trajectories to enable simultaneous T1, T2, and proton density fat fraction (PDFF) mapping in the heart. A rosette trajectory designed for water-fat separation at 1.5T was used in a 2D ECG-triggered 15-heartbeat cMRF sequence. Water and fat specific T1 and T2 maps were generated from the cMRF data. A PDFF map was also retrieved using Hierarchical IDEAL by segmenting the rosette cMRF data into multiple echoes. The accuracy of rosette cMRF in T1, T2, and PDFF quantification was validated in the ISMRM/NIST phantom and an in-house built fat fraction phantom, respectively. The proposed method was also applied for myocardial tissue mapping of healthy subjects and cardiac patients at 1.5T. T1, T2, and PDFF values measured using rosette cMRF in the ISMRM/NIST phantom and the fat fraction phantom agreed well with the reference values. In 16 healthy subjects, rosette cMRF yielded T1 values which were 80~90 ms higher than spiral cMRF and MOLLI. T2 values obtained using rosette cMRF were ~3 ms higher than spiral cMRF and ~5 ms lower than conventional T2-prep bSSFP method. Rosette cMRF was also able to detect abnormal T1 and T2 values in cardiomyopathy patients and may provide more accurate maps due to effective fat suppression. In conclusion, this study shows that rosette cMRF has the potential for efficient cardiac tissue characterization through simultaneous quantification of myocardial T1, T2, and PDFF.
The complete paternally inherited mitochondrial genomes of three clam species in genus Macridiscus (Bivalvia: Veneridae): A TDRL model of dimer-mitogenome rearrangement of doubly uniparental inheritance

One of the most striking exceptions to strict maternal inheritance of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in the animal kingdom is a system called doubly uniparental inheritance (DUI), which exists in several bivalve species. DUI is characterized by the presence of two distinct sex-associated mitochondrial lineages: one transmitted through eggs (F-type mtDNA) and the other through sperm (M-type mtDNA). Presently, most known species exhibiting DUI belong to the freshwater bivalve order Unionoida. Other groups with species exhibiting DUI include the orders Mytiloida, Veneroida, and Nuculanoida. In Veneroida, the complete M-type mtDNA is available for two species. We report the presence of DUI in three species belonging to genus Macridiscus (Macridiscus melanaegis, Macridiscus multifarious, and Macridiscus semicancellata), in the order Veneroida, further obtaining their complete M-type mitogenomes. The M-type mitogenome sizes for M. melanaegis, M. multifarious, and M. semicancellata were 19,019 bp, 18,694 bp, and 18,726 bp, respectively, and the mean nucleotide difference between M-type and F-type mitogenomes was 21–23%. We compared the M-type and F-type mitogenomes and found that they show roughly the same genome features, except for gene order. In phylogenetic analyses of Veneroida, a “gender-joining” pattern was revealed within Macridiscus, similar to the pattern of “partial” Mytilus complex (except Unionida). This new insight provides novel evidence supporting the theory that Veneroida and Mytiloida have a more similar DUI pattern than Unionida. A large-scale rearrangement between the sex-linked mitogenomes of the three Macridiscus species was reported. From the observed rearrangement patterns, gene rearrangement between the two sex-linked mitogenomes could be explained by the tandem duplication and random loss (TDRL) model of dimer-mitogenome. This is the first report of heterogeneous genomes with two types of large-scale arrangements in the same organism, and may be contribute significantly to the study of mitochondrial recombination mechanisms.
The potential of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists in heart failure

Heart failure (HF) remains one of the cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) associated with a high unmet medical need due to high morbidity and mortality rates and lack of efficacious interventions. HF is closely related to cardiometabolic diseases such as diabetes, obesity and chronic kidney disease, and strategies that address most or all these intertwined conditions are desirable. Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) are approved for type 2 diabetes (T2D), and some are also indicated for reduction of the risk of atherosclerotic CVD in T2D and for weight management. As we summarise in this concise review, preliminary evidence suggests that the cardioprotective benefits of GLP-1 RAs may also extend to HF. The most robust clinical evidence arguably originates from the large cardiovascular outcomes trials (CVOTs) completed for most GLP-1 RAs, of which the latest showed a significant relative risk reduction (RRR) of 39% (HR) with once-weekly efpeglenatide on HF requiring hospitalisation, corroborating a meta-analysis which found a significant RRR across eight GLP-1 RA CVOTs of 11%. Further, although incompletely described, multiple studies are available to provide insights into the mechanistic underpinnings, which appear to be associated mostly with indirect cardioprotective benefits owing to the ability of GLP-1 RAs to address hyperglycaemia, and reduce body weight, and, amongst others, inflammation. In sum, current evidence positions GLP-1 RAs as a potential cardioprotective strategy in HF, with HF with preserved ejection fraction emerging as the clinically most relevant phenotype for the drug class, especially when occurring in people with obesity with and without diabetes.
Etiological and epidemiological characteristics of surgically treated radial nerve lesions: A 20-year single-center experience

Introduction Radial nerve lesions present a clinical entity that may lead to disability, psychological distress, and job loss, and thus requires great attention. Knowledge of the etiology and exact mechanism of the nerve impairment is of great importance for appropriate management of these patients, and there are only a few papers that focused on these features in patients with surgically treated radial nerve lesions. The lack of studies presenting the etiology and injury mechanisms of surgically treated radial nerve lesions may be due to a relatively small number of specialized referral centers, dispersion to low-flow centers, and a greater focus on the surgical treatment outcomes. Aim The aim of this study was to describe the etiological and epidemiological characteristics of patients with surgically treated radial nerve lesions of various origins. Methods This retrospective study evaluated 147 consecutive patients with radial nerve lesion, treated in the department during the last 20 years, from January 1, 2001, until December 31, 2020. Results The majority of patients belonged to the working population, and 70.1% of them were male. Most commonly, the etiology of nerve lesion was trauma (63.3%) or iatrogenic injury (28.6%), while the less common origin was idiopathic (4.1%) or neoplastic (4.1%). The most frequent location of the lesion was in the upper arm, followed by the elbow and forearm. Fracture-related contusion was the most common mechanism (29.9%), followed by postoperative fibrosis (17.7%), lacerations (17.7%), and compression (15.6%). Conclusion Based on the fact that traumatic or iatrogenic injuries constitute the majority of cases, with their relevant mechanisms and upper arm predomination, it is crucial to raise awareness and understanding of the radial nerve injuries among orthopedic surgeons to decrease the numbers of these patients and properly preserve or treat them within the initial surgery.
Association between blood viscosity and early neurological deterioration in lacunar infarction

Background Understanding the factors related to early neurologic deterioration (END) is crucial in the management of patients with lacunar infarction. Blood viscosity is a significant factor for microvascular perfusion. We investigated the association between blood viscosity and occurrence of END in lacunar infarction. Methods We included consecutive patients admitted for lacunar infarction within 72 h from symptoms onset. END was defined as an increase in the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score ≥2 within 24 h of admission. Viscosity was measured within 24 h of hospitalization with a scanning capillary tube viscometer. Viscosity measured at a shear rate of 300 s−1 was defined as systolic blood viscosity (SBV), whereas that measured at a shear rate of 5 s−1 as diastolic blood viscosity (DBV). Results Of the 178 patients included (median age, 65.5; interquartile range [IQR], 56.0, 76.0], END occurred in 33 (18.5%). DBV was significantly higher in patients with END than those without END (13.3 mPa·s [IQR 11.8, 16.0] vs. 12.3 mPa·s [IQR11.0, 13.5]; P = 0.023). In the multivariate analysis, DBV was independently associated with the occurrence of END (odds ratio 1.17; 95% confidence interval 1.01–1.36; P = 0.043). Subgroup analysis showed no heterogeneity in the effect of viscosity on the occurrence of END. Conclusions Blood viscosity at a low shear rate (DBV) was associated with the occurrence of END in patients with lacunar infarction. Blood rheology may be important in pathophysiology of END in patients with lacunar infarction.