Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of Chemical Composition of Extractives by Acetone and the Chromatic Aberration of Teak (Tectona Grandis L.F.) from China

In order to clarify the chemical color change of teak (Tectona grandis L.F.), the difference of chemical composition between the heartwood and sapwood of teak was investigated by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) based on the acetone extractive compounds. The results showed that the difference in content of the main components between heartwood and sapwood was not obvious. However, the amount of extractives in heartwood was higher than that in sapwood, especially for phenols, quinones, and ketones. The most obvious different substances in the acetone extractive between heartwood and sapwood were 4-tert-butyl-2-phenyl-phenol,2-methyl-anthraquinone, and 2,3-dimethyl-1,4,4a,9a-tetrahydro-9,10-anthracenedione, which might be the main composition for the chromatic aberration of teak. This paper focuses on a preliminary study and further work such as high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with ultraviolet photometric detector (UV)/mass spectrometry (MS) will be carried out.
Associations between sleep conditions and body composition states: results of the EPISONO study

Evidence suggests anthropometric indicators of obesity are associated with changes in sleep quality and quantity, and the presence of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). Investigations including diverse and objective evaluations of sleep and body composition are scarce. We aimed to evaluate the associations between indicators of sleep impairment and body composition states in a sample from a population‐based study.
Correction of linear system drifts in magnetic particle imaging

Magnetic particle imaging (MPI) is a tracer-based imaging technique that can be used for imaging vessels and organ perfusion with high temporal resolution. Background signals are a major source for image artifacts and in turn restrict the sensitivity of the method in practice. While static background signals can be removed from the measured signal by taking a dedicated background scan and performing subtraction, this simple procedure is not applicable in case of non-stationary background signals that occur in practice due to e.g. temperature drifts in the electromagnetic coils of the MPI scanner. Within this work we will investigate a dynamic background subtraction method that is based on two background measurements taken before and after the object measurement. Using first-order interpolation it is possible to remove linear background changes and in turn significantly suppress artifacts. The method is evaluated using static and dynamic phantom measurements and it is shown that dynamic background subtraction is capable of reducing the artifact level approximately by a factor of four.
SuhB is an integral part of the ribosomal antitermination complex and interacts with NusA

Abstract The synthesis of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) is a tightly regulated central process in all cells. In bacteria efficient expression of all seven rRNA operons relies on the suppression of termination signals (antitermination) and the proper maturation of the synthesized rRNA. These processes depend on N-utilization substance (Nus) factors A, B, E and G, as well as ribosomal protein S4 and inositol monophosphatase SuhB, but their structural basis is only poorly understood. Combining nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and biochemical approaches we show that Escherichia coli SuhB can be integrated into a Nus factor-, and optionally S4-, containing antitermination complex halted at a ribosomal antitermination signal. We further demonstrate that SuhB specifically binds to the acidic repeat 2 (AR2) domain of the multi-domain protein NusA, an interaction that may be involved in antitermination or posttranscriptional processes. Moreover, we show that SuhB interacts with RNA and weakly associates with RNA polymerase (RNAP). We finally present evidence that SuhB, the C-terminal domain of the RNAP α-subunit, and the N-terminal domain of NusG share binding sites on NusA-AR2 and that all three can release autoinhibition of NusA, indicating that NusA-AR2 serves as versatile recruitment platform for various factors in transcription regulation.
Detection of a Novel Phlebovirus (Drin Virus) from Sand Flies in Albania

Phlebotomine sand flies are generalist vectors with significant implications for public health. They are able to transmit phleboviruses that cause sand fly fever, headaches, or meningitis in humans. Albania is a country in Southeast Europe with a typical Mediterranean climate which provides convenient conditions for the presence of sand flies. Hence, the circulation of phleboviruses, such as the Toscana and Balkan viruses, has been recently described in the country. We followed a virus discovery approach on sand fly samples collected in 2015 and 2016 in seven regions of Albania, with the aim to investigate and characterize potentially circulating phleboviruses in phlebotomine sand flies. A presumed novel phlebovirus was detected in a pool consisting of 24 Phlebotomus neglectus males. The virus was provisionally named the Drin virus after a river near the locality of Kukës, where the infected sand flies were trapped. Genetic and phylogenetic analysis revealed that the Drin virus is closely related to the Corfou (CFUV) virus, isolated in the 1980s from Phlebotomus major sand flies on the eponymous island of Greece, and may also be involved in human infections because of its similarity to the sand fly fever Sicilian virus. The latter justifies further studies to specifically address this concern. Together with recent findings, this study confirms that Albania and the Balkan peninsula are hot spots for phleboviruses.
Patterns of Multimorbidity in a Population-Based Cohort of Older People: Sociodemographic, Lifestyle, and Functional Differences.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study is to identify clusters of older persons based on their multimorbidity patterns, and to analyze differences among clusters according to sociodemographic, lifestyle, clinical, and functional characteristics. METHODS We analyzed data from the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen on 2931 participants aged 60+ years who had at least two chronic diseases. Participants were clustered by the fuzzy c-means cluster algorithm. A disease was considered to be associated with a given cluster when the observed/expected ratio was ≥2 or the exclusivity ≥25%. RESULTS Around half of the participants could be classified into five clinically meaningful clusters: respiratory and musculoskeletal diseases (RESP-MSK) 15.7%, eye diseases and cancer (EYE-CANCER) 10.7%, cognitive and sensory impairment (CNS-IMP) 10.6%, heart diseases (HEART) 9.3%, and psychiatric and respiratory diseases (PSY-RESP) 5.4%. Individuals in the CNS-IMP cluster were the oldest, with the worst function and more likely to live in a nursing home; those in the HEART cluster had the highest number of co-occurring diseases and drugs, and they exhibited the highest mean values of serum creatinine and C - reactive protein. The PSY-RESP cluster was associated with higher levels of alcoholism and neuroticism. The other half of the cohort was grouped in an unspecific cluster, which was characterized by the youngest individuals, the lowest number of co-occurring diseases, and the best functional and cognitive status. CONCLUSIONS The identified multimorbidity patterns provide insight for setting targets for secondary and tertiary preventative interventions and for designing care interventions for multimorbid older people.
Protective effects of Hammada scoparia flavonoid-enriched fraction on liver injury induced by warm ischemia/reperfusion

Abstract Context: Hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) is a major cause of liver damage during liver surgery and transplantation. Plants have historically been used in treating liver damage, and Hammada scoparia (Pomel) (Chenopodiaceae) has been reported to possess a broad spectrum of pharmacological and therapeutic activities. Objective: In this study, a flavonoid-enriched fraction was used before the warm ischemia (WI) process as pharmacological preconditioning and in combination with technical postconditioning to evaluate their protective effects. Materials and methods: The rats were divided into five groups: a sham group; a control group (Control-IR) that was submitted to 60 min WI; a Pharmacological Preconditioning group (PreC-IR) that received flavonoid-enriched fraction (200 mg/kg body weight); a Postconditioning group (PostC) and a PreC + PostC group. Results: The use of the flavonoid-enriched fraction was noted to significantly (p < 0.05) reduce liver injury, as evidenced by the decrease in liver transaminase activities (AST and ALT) and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and lipid peroxidation (TBARS), levels as well as the enhancement of antioxidant enzymes (catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx)) responses. The results also indicated that, compared with the separate application of pharmacological preconditioning and postconditioning, the combination of both treatments was more effective in reducing tissue oxidative stress levels through modulating SOD, GSH-PX, and CAT activities. Furthermore, the combined protocol further decreased the liver morphological score compared with solo treatment. Discussion and conclusion: Overall, the results indicate that the H. scoparia flavonoid-enriched fraction could be a promising candidate for future application as a pharmacological preconditioning agent against hepatic IRI.
Air Pollution, Stress, and Allostatic Load: Linking Systemic and Central Nervous System Impacts

Air pollution is a risk factor for cardiovascular and respiratory morbidity and mortality. A growing literature also links exposure to diverse air pollutants (e.g., nanoparticles, particulate matter, ozone, traffic-related air pollution) with brain health, including increased incidence of neurological and psychiatric disorders such as cognitive decline, dementia (including Alzheimer’s disease), anxiety, depression, and suicide. A critical gap in our understanding of adverse impacts of pollutants on the central nervous system (CNS) is the early initiating events triggered by pollutant inhalation that contribute to disease progression. Recent experimental evidence has shown that particulate matter and ozone, two common pollutants with differing characteristics and reactivity, can activate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and release glucocorticoid stress hormones (cortisol in humans, corticosterone in rodents) as part of a neuroendocrine stress response. The brain is highly sensitive to stress: stress hormones affect cognition and mental health, and chronic stress can produce profound biochemical and structural changes in the brain. Chronic activation and/or dysfunction of the HPA axis also increases the burden on physiological stress response systems, conceptualized as allostatic load, and is a common pathway implicated in many diseases. The present paper provides an overview of how systemic stress-dependent biological responses common to particulate matter and ozone may provide insight into early CNS effects of pollutants, including links with oxidative, inflammatory, and metabolic processes. Evidence of pollutant effect modification by non-chemical stressors (e.g., socioeconomic position, psychosocial, noise), age (prenatal to elderly), and sex will also be reviewed in the context of susceptibility across the lifespan.
Prolonged Prepregnant Maternal High-Fat Feeding Reduces Fetal and Neonatal Blood Glucose Concentrations by Enhancing Fetal β-Cell Development in C57BL/6 Mice

The main objective of this study was to investigate the effect of maternal obesity on offspring’s glucose metabolism during the perinatal period. Maternal obesity was established by feeding C57BL/6 mice with a high-fat (HF) diet before or during pregnancy. Our results showed that prolonged prepregnant HF feeding but not HF feeding during pregnancy significantly reduced fetal and neonatal blood glucose concentrations. Remarkably, elevated blood insulin concentrations and increased activation of insulin signaling were observed in fetuses and neonates from prepregnant HF-fed dams. In addition, significantly larger β-cell areas were observed in pancreases of fetuses and neonates from prepregnant HF-fed dams. Although there was no significant change in placental cross-sectional area or GLUT 1 expression, prepregnant HF feeding significantly enhanced the expression of genes that control placental fatty acid supply. Interestingly, reducing fatty acid supply to the placenta and fetus by placental-specific knockout of adipose triglyceride lipase not only reduced fetal β-cell area and blood insulin concentration but also attenuated prepregnant HF feeding–induced reduction in offspring blood glucose concentrations during the perinatal period. Together, these results indicate that placental and fetal fatty acid supply plays an important role in fetal β-cell development, insulin secretion, and glucose metabolism. Prolonged prepregnant maternal HF feeding resembles pregravid maternal obesity in mice, which reduces fetal and neonatal blood glucose concentrations by enhancing fetal β-cell development and insulin secretion.
Targeting the BRAF Signaling Pathway in CD133pos Cancer Stem Cells of Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma

Background: Cancer stem cells (CSCs) with a self-renewal ability in tumor cells population, execute a pivotal function in tumorigenesis, retrogression, and metastasis of malignant cancers such as anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC). Materials and Methods: In this study, we isolated CSCs subpopulation with CD133 surface marker from three ATC cell lines by magnetic cell sorting assay. After confirming the segregation by the flow cytometry method, BRAF and sodium-iodide symporter (NIS) genes were investigated in them before and after incubation with BRAF inhibitor. Also, we evaluated the NIS protein expression and localization. Results: Established upon q-RT PCR data, when compared to human normal thyrocytes, the BRAFV600E gene was over-expressed in CD133pos cells (>1705.99 ± 55.55 fold, Mean ± SEM, n=3, P- value<0.05), whilst the expression of NIS gene was very restricted (< 0.0008 ± 5.43 fold, Mean ± SEM, n=3, P- value<0.05) in them. Also, our results showed that BRAF inhibition affected NIS protein expression and localization. Conclusions: Current study showed that the differentiate genes/proteins expression can be induced in the CSCs via focus on signal transduction pathways and targeting their molecules, that are involved in expression of these genes/proteins. Therefore, attention to targeting CSCs along with routine thyroid cancer therapy, can help to ATC treatment.
TP53 Gene 72 Arg/Pro (rs1042522) Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Contribute to Increase the Risk of B-Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia in the Sudanese Population

Objective:: This study aimed at exploring the association of TP53 72Arg/Pro polymorphism and Risk of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia and to assess the correlation between TP53 72Arg/Pro polymorphism and clinical parameter, hematological profile and some biological prognostic markers among Sudanese patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Methods: A case-control study was conducted in Khartoum state, Sudan, during the period from April 2017 to April 2018, involved 110 B-CLL patients and 80 healthy volunteers as a control group. Physical examination, Complete Blood Count and Immunophenotype were performed in all patients to confirm the diagnosis. Clinical staging such as Rai and Binet were studied. CD38 and ZAP70 were performed by Flow Cytometry. Blood samples were collected from all participants; DNA was extracted by using ANALYTIKJENA Blood DNA Extraction Kit (Germany) and analyzed TP53 codon 72Arg/Pro Polymorphism by using AS-PCR. The statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 23.0 software (Chicago, IL, USA). Results: the Arg/Pro was the most frequent genotype in B-CLL patients(50%), followed by Arg/Arg (25.5%) and Pro/Pro (24.5%), whereas in healthy control group Arg/Pro was the most frequent (47.5%), followed by Arg/Arg (45%) and Pro/Pro (7.5%). Our data indicate a higher frequency of homozygous Pro/Pro in the B-CLL patients as compared to controls with an OR of 4.01 for the Pro/Pro genotype and lower frequency of Arg/Arg genotype in CLL patients as compared to controls with an OR of . 42 for the Arg/Arg genotype. Also, the Pro allele showed higher risk than Arg allele (P value=0.000, OR 2.23, 95% CI=1.45-3.41). No significant association between gender, clinical staging systems (Rai, Binet), biological prognostic markers (CD38 expression or ZAP70 expression), and TP53 codon 72Arg/Pro polymorphisms, except Arg/Arg genotype tended to be associated with younger age (P =0.04). Conclusion: Our data suggested that Pro/Pro genotype contribute to increased susceptibility to B-Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia risk in our population tenfold higher than those had Arg/Arg genotype.
Genomic divergence and adaptive convergence in Drosophila simulans from Evolution Canyon, Israel

Significance Adaptation to temperature and drought stress in Drosophila can be experimentally explored as a proxy model for adaptive trait complexes and genomic responses to climate variation. As a snapshot of synchronized adaptive events in a climate gradient, contemporary convergent evolution empowers the detection and understanding of adaptation from population genomic data and advance climate change assessment and forecasting. However, the effects of climate change on living organisms have been shown primarily on regional and global scales, confounding climate-related and climate-unrelated multivariate factors. This study leverages a unique microclimate contrast, known as Evolution Canyon, and a Drosophila model within it to provide a whole-genome perspective of adaptive evolution, convergence under thermal stress, and incipient speciation. Biodiversity refugia formed by unique features of the Mediterranean arid landscape, such as the dramatic ecological contrast of “Evolution Canyon,” provide a natural laboratory in which local adaptations to divergent microclimate conditions can be investigated. Significant insights have been provided by studies of Drosophila melanogaster diversifying along the thermal gradient in Evolution Canyon, but a comparative framework to survey adaptive convergence across sister species at the site has been lacking. To fill this void, we present an analysis of genomic polymorphism and evolutionary divergence of Drosophila simulans, a close relative of Drosophila melanogaster with which it co-occurs on both slopes of the canyon. Our results show even deeper interslope divergence in D. simulans than in D. melanogaster, with extensive signatures of selective sweeps present in flies from both slopes but enhanced in the population from the hotter and drier south-facing slope. Interslope divergence was enriched for genes related to electrochemical balance and transmembrane transport, likely in response to increased selection for dehydration resistance on the hotter slope. Both species shared genomic regions that underwent major selective sweeps, but the overall level of adaptive convergence was low, demonstrating no shortage of alternative genomic solutions to cope with the challenges of the microclimate contrast. Mobile elements were a major source of genetic polymorphism and divergence, affecting all parts of the genome, including coding sequences of mating behavior-related genes.
The effect of intravenous iron on erythropoiesis in older people with hip fracture.

BACKGROUND anaemia following hip fracture is common and associated with worse outcomes. Intravenous iron is a potential non-transfusion treatment for this anaemia and has been found to reduce transfusion rates in previous observational studies. There is good evidence for its use in elective surgical populations. OBJECTIVE to examine the impact of intravenous iron on erythropoiesis following hip fracture. DESIGN two-centre, assessor-blinded, randomised, controlled trial of patients with primary hip fracture and no contra-indications to intravenous iron. METHOD the intervention group received three doses of 200 mg iron sucrose over 30 min (Venofer, Vifor Pharma, Bagshot Park, UK) on three separate days. Primary outcome was reticulocyte count at day 7 after randomisation. Secondary outcomes included haemoglobin concentration, complications and discharge destination. Eighty participants were randomised. RESULTS there was a statistically significantly greater absolute final reticulocyte count in the iron group (89.4 (78.9-101.3) × 109 cells l-1 (n = 39) vs. the control (72.2 (63.9-86.4)) × 109 cells l-1 (n = 41); P = 0.019; (mean (95% confidence intervals) of log-transformed data). There were no differences in final haemoglobin concentration (99.9 (95.7-104.2) vs. 102.0 (98.7-105.3) P = 0.454) or transfusion requirements in the first week (11 (28%) vs. 12 (29%); P = 0.899). Functional and safety outcomes were not different between the groups. CONCLUSIONS although intravenous iron does stimulate erythropoiesis following hip fracture in older people, the effect is too small and too late to affect transfusion rates. Trial Registry Numbers: ISRCTN:76424792; EuDRACT: 2011-003233-34.
A group II intron-encoded protein interacts with the cellular replicative machinery through the β-sliding clamp

Abstract Group II introns are self-splicing mobile genetic retroelements. The spliced intron RNA and the intron-encoded protein (IEP) form ribonucleoprotein particles (RNPs) that recognize and invade specific DNA target sites. The IEP is a reverse transcriptase/maturase that may bear a C-terminal endonuclease domain enabling the RNP to cleave the target DNA strand to prime reverse transcription. However, some mobile introns, such as RmInt1, lack the En domain but nevertheless retrohome efficiently to transient single-stranded DNA target sites at a DNA replication fork. Their mobility is associated with host DNA replication, and they use the nascent lagging strand as a primer for reverse transcription. We searched for proteins that interact with RmInt1 RNPs and direct these RNPs to the DNA replication fork. Co-immunoprecipitation assays suggested that DnaN (the β-sliding clamp), a component of DNA polymerase III, interacts with the protein component of the RmInt1 RNP. Pulldown assays, far-western blots and biolayer interferometry supported this interaction. Peptide binding assays also identified a putative DnaN-interacting motif in the RmInt1 IEP structurally conserved in group II intron IEPs. Our results suggest that intron RNP interacts with the β-sliding clamp of the DNA replication machinery, favouring reverse splicing into the transient ssDNA at DNA replication forks.
Deep Learning Based Skin Lesion Segmentation and Classification of Melanoma Using Support Vector Machine (SVM)

Objective: The main objective of this study is to improve the classification performance of melanoma using deep learning based automatic skin lesion segmentation. It can be assist medical experts on early diagnosis of melanoma on dermoscopy images. Methods: First A Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) based U-net algorithm is used for segmentation process. Then extract color, texture and shape features from the segmented image using Local Binary Pattern ( LBP), Edge Histogram (EH), Histogram of Oriented Gradients (HOG) and Gabor method. Finally all the features extracted from these methods were fed into the Support Vector Machine (SVM), Random Forest (RF), K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) and Naïve Bayes (NB) classifiers to diagnose the skin image which is either melanoma or benign lesions. Results: Experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed method. The Dice co-efficiency value of 77.5% is achieved for image segmentation and SVM classifier produced 85.19% of accuracy. Conclusion: In deep learning environment, U-Net segmentation algorithm is found to be the best method for segmentation and it helps to improve the classification performance.