Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does eating less make you live longer and better? An update on calorie restriction

The complexity of aging is hard to be captured. However, apart from its tissue-specific features, a structural and functional progressive decline of the whole organism that leads to death, often preceded by a phase of chronic morbidity, characterizes the common process of aging. Therefore, the research goal of scientists in the field moved from the search for strategies able to extend longevity to those ensuring healthy aging associated with a longer lifespan referred to as “healthspan”. The aging process is plastic and can be tuned by multiple mechanisms including dietary and genetic interventions. To date, the most robust approach, efficient in warding off the cellular markers of aging, is calorie restriction (CR). Here, after a preliminary presentation of the major debate originated by CR, we concisely overviewed the recent results of CR treatment on humans. We also provided an update on the molecular mechanisms involved by CR and the effects on some of the age-associated cellular markers. We finally reviewed a number of tested CR mimetics and concluded with an evaluation of future applications of such dietary approach.
Low value capacitance measurement system for the application of monitoring human body

The core focus of this work is to design and develop a reliable capacitance sensing system for measuring very small capacitive changes at low frequencies. The sensing system is applicable in monitoring and characterizing human body movement. The interface circuit measures very small capacitive variation. Some capacitive values have been fixed and the produced capacitive changes have been measured for validating the possibility to monitor and detect the presence of human bodies. A variation in capacitance causes a variation in the output voltage. Due to the variation of output voltages, the presence or absence of the human body can be detected. Primary simulation results show that the measurement of little capacitance variation using an interface circuit is precise and linear. With the presence of a human body in the area right above the sensor, a capacitance variation as well as output voltage can be observed.
Ascorbic Acid Determination by an Amperometric Ascorbate Oxidase-based Biosensor

The aim of this work is to develop a method for ascorbic acid determination in some fruit juices, by using an ascorbate oxidase-based amperometric enzyme electrode. The enzyme was immobilized on a nylon (Biodyne A) membrane by glutaraldehyde linking. The enzyme-membrane was consecutively attached to the polyethylene membrane of a Clark oxygen electrode, which functioned as transducer. The analytical characteristics of the biosensor (linear range, sensitivity, selectivity, response time, stability) were investigated, as well as the influence of the enzyme loading. The value of the current intensity was monitored, as a function of time, for different ascorbic acid concentrations. The obtained calibration graph was linear within the range 0.10-0.55 mM. The optimum biosensor response was obtained for an ascorbate oxidase amount immobilized on the membrane of 100 U. The values of vitamin C content of the analysed fruit juices ranged between 0.48 and 1.98 mM.
Culture of olfactory ensheathing cells for central nerve repair: the limitations and potential of endoscopic olfactory mucosal biopsy.

BACKGROUND Autotransplantation of olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) into the damaged central nervous system is a potential therapeutic strategy for spinal cord and root cord injuries. One limiting factor has been the poor OEC yields from human mucosal biopsies. Previous studies have only commented on their success in obtaining mucosal specimens containing olfactory mucosa, but have not commented on the yield of OECs from those specimens. OBJECTIVE To describe a reproducible and safe surgical technique for obtaining human olfactory mucosa and identify patient factors that possibly affect the yield of OEC cultures from the human olfactory mucosa. METHODS We obtained mucosal biopsies from 43 consecutive patients by using a novel reproducible surgical technique and our laboratory culture protocol. The Spearman rank correlation coefficient was used to assess the relationship between OECs and fibroblast yield with patient characteristics and specimen factors. RESULTS A greater yield of OECs was obtained from patients of younger age. In addition, patients with worse mucosal disease yielded poorer cell cultures. Greatest yields were found in patients with absence of mucosal disease. Furthermore, a higher yield of OECs was obtained from specimens harvested from the more caudal portions of the superior turbinate, and OEC yield did not correlate with the ventroposterior location of the biopsy. CONCLUSION We have provided evidence that biopsies closer to the cribriform plate can produce larger yields of OECs, and that patient factors like age and mucosal disease adversely affect the culture yield.
Terahertz metamaterials application in sensing bacteria and fungi

We fabricated THz metamaterial sensors for sensitive, on-site detection of microorganisms such as fungi and bacteria. Strong field localization and enhancement in a gap area enables us to detect the microorganisms with high sensitivity, in aqueous and ambient conditions. The resonant frequency shift is investigated as a function of the dielectric constant and shape of the microorganisms. To optimize microbial sensors, the sensitivity has been studied with respect to substrate dielectric constant and geometrical parameters of the gap structures.
Phospholipase C Epsilon (PLCε) Induced TRPC6 Activation: A Common but Redundant Mechanism in Primary Podocytes

In eukaryotic cells, activation of phospholipase C (PLC)‐coupled membrane receptors by hormones leads to an increase in the intracellular Ca2+ concentration [Ca2+]i. Catalytic activity of PLCs results in the hydrolysis of phosphatidylinositol 4,5‐bisphosphate to generate inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate (IP3) and diacylglycerol (DAG) which opens DAG‐sensitive classical transient receptor channels 3, 6, and 7 (TRPC3/6/7), initiating Ca2+ influx from the extracellular space. Patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) express gain‐of‐function mutants of TRPC6, while others carry loss‐of‐function mutants of PLCε, raising the intriguing possibility that both proteins interact and might work in the same signalling pathway. While TRPC6 activation by PLCβ and PLCγ isozymes was extensively studied, the role of PLCε in TRPC6 activation remains elusive. TRPC6 was co‐immunoprecipitated with PLCε in a heterologous overexpression system in HEK293 cells as well as in freshly isolated murine podocytes. Receptor‐operated TRPC6 currents in HEK293 cells expressing TRPC6 were reduced by a specific PLCε siRNA and by a PLCε loss‐of‐function mutant isolated from a patient with FSGS. PLCε‐induced TRPC6 activation was also identified in murine embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) lacking Gαq/11 proteins. Further analysis of the signal transduction pathway revealed a Gα12/13 Rho‐GEF activation which induced Rho‐mediated PLCε stimulation. Therefore, we identified a new pathway for TRPC6 activation by PLCε. PLCε‐/‐ podocytes however, were undistinguishable from WT podocytes in their angiotensin II‐induced formation of actin stress fibers and their GTPγS‐induced TRPC6 activation, pointing to a redundant role of PLCε‐mediated TRPC6 activation at least in podocytes. J. Cell. Physiol. 230: 1389–1399, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company
Analysis and parameters optimization of a contactless IPT system for EV charger

This paper discusses the characteristics of a series-series compensated inductive power transfer system (IPT) with theoretical analysis and experimental results. To maximize system efficiency, two-stage structure, which includes a PFC stage and a resonant DC-DC stage operating in ZVS region, is proposed. One of the major design challenges in implementation of a practical contactless EV charger is the variation of the coupling condition of the loosely coupled transformer. This combined with the battery charger's wide range load variation makes parameters design of the resonant DC-DC stage more complex. To optimize the parameter design for all coupling and load conditions, a parameter sweeping method is proposed. The design procedure searches parameters set to minimize the averaged primary current while keeping the voltage stress across the primary capacitor below the preset limit; both the high coupling and low coupling conditions are considered. To validate the analysis, a 4 kW resonant DC-DC prototype was built and tested. At 4 cm gap distance with 0.526 coupling coefficient, an efficiency of 97% for the DC-DC stage was achieved with output power range from 0.8 kW to 4 kW.
Voltammetric determination of melatonin using a graphene-based sensor in pharmaceutical products

Melatonin can be sensitively detected in pharmaceuticals by cyclic voltammetry and fixed-potential amperometry using a graphene-based sensor. The sensor characterization of cyclic voltammetry constantly provides high values of electrode active area and heterogeneous rate constant. In optimal conditions, the sensor was applied for the determination of melatonin in different pharmaceutical samples. The sensitivity to melatonin was 0.0371 A M−1, and the limit of detection was 0.87×10−6 M. The data obtained by using the graphene-based sensor for the detection of melatonin in pharmaceutical products were in good agreement with the data provided by the producer. Since no interferences from the excipients were found, using a separation technique was not necessary. Additionally, the low price, ease of handling, small amount of sample, short time per analysis, and possibility of automation are the important advantages that recommend this methodology for quality control of pharmaceuticals.
Non-destructive X-ray Diffraction Tomography with Cone-Beam CT Systems

In this paper we describe a novel approach for introducing true material selectivity as a fourth dimension into cone-beam CT (CBCT) imaging by integrating means for energy-dispersive X-ray diffraction (EDXRD) measurements into the system. In order to minimize the acquisition time for the diffraction data, a compressed sensing reconstruction scheme requiring only a dilute set of projections was developed. The ‘basis’ vectors, enabling a sparse representation of the spatial material distribution, are derived from the conventional CT image data set. Thereby a priori information from CBCT is effectively utilized for reduction of measurement time in the diffraction scan. To demonstrate the capability of our method, visualizing the local charge distribution inside a commercially available Li-ion Battery was chosen as an example.
Multiple description coding using transforms and data fusion

A new multiple description coding technique is proposed, in which multiple descriptions are generated using different transforms and a linear fusion is employed to reconstruct the central description. This new method exhibits some of the advantages of multiple description vector quantization while having the complexity of multiple description scalar quantization. When this method is applied to fixed level scalar quantization of a memoryless Gaussian signal, the distortion of the central description is about half the distortion of side descriptions if the side descriptions have been designed to have the least distortion achievable at a fixed rate. When applied to image coding, the new technique yields result, which is better than current state-of-the-art MD image coders in terms of description distortions and complexity of implementation.
Computational Analysis of Two Species C Human Adenoviruses Provides Evidence of a Novel Virus

ABSTRACT Human adenovirus C (HAdV-C) species are a common cause of respiratory infections and can occasionally produce severe clinical manifestations. A deeper understanding of the variation and evolution in species HAdV-C is especially important since these viruses, including HAdV-C6, are used as gene delivery vectors for human gene therapy and in other biotechnological applications. Here, the full-genome analysis of the prototype HAdV-C6 and a recently identified virus provisionally termed HAdV-C57 are reported. Although the genomes of all species HAdV-C members are very similar to each other, the E3 region, hexon and fiber (ten proteins total) present a wide range of identity values at the amino acid level. Studies of these viruses in comparison to the other three HAdV-C prototypes (1, 2, and 5) comprise a comprehensive analysis of the diversity and conservation within HAdV-C species. HAdV-C6 contains a recombination event within the constant region of the hexon gene. HAdV-C57 is a recombinant virus with a fiber gene nearly identical to HAdV-C6 and a unique hexon distinguished by its loop 2 motif.
Sbp1 modulates the translation of Pab1 mRNA in a poly(A)- and RGG-dependent manner

RNA-binding protein Sbp1 facilitates the decapping pathway in mRNA metabolism and inhibits global mRNA translation by an unclear mechanism. Here we report molecular interactions responsible for Sbp1-mediated translation inhibition of mRNA encoding the polyadenosine-binding protein (Pab1), an essential translation factor that stimulates mRNA translation and inhibits mRNA decapping in eukaryotic cells. We demonstrate that the two distal RRMs of Sbp1 bind to the poly(A) sequence in the 5′UTR of the Pab1 mRNA specifically and cooperatively while the central RGG domain of the protein interacts directly with Pab1. Furthermore, methylation of arginines in the RGG domain abolishes the protein–protein interaction and the inhibitory effect of Sbp1 on translation initiation of Pab1 mRNA. Based on these results, the underlying mechanism for Sbp1-specific translational regulation is proposed. The functional differences of Sbp1 and RGG repeats alone on transcript-specific translation were observed, and a comparison of the results suggests the importance of remodeling the 5′UTR by RNA-binding proteins in mRNA translation.
Use of a recombinant retrovirus to study post‐implantation cell lineage in mouse embryos.

We show that a gene introduced into cells of mouse embryos by a retrovirus can serve as a heritable marker for the study of cell lineage in vivo. We constructed a defective recombinant retrovirus in which the Escherichia coli beta‐galactosidase (lacZ) gene is inserted in the genome of a Muloney murine leukemia virus (M‐MuLV). Expression of lacZ was detected with a histochemical stain that can be applied to cultured cells and embryonic tissue. Infection of cultured cells showed that lacZ has no detectable deleterious effects on cell viability or growth, that the enzyme is stably expressed in the progeny of infected cells for many generations in the absence of selective pressure, and that the virus can induce lacZ in a variety of cell types. Following injection of the virus into mid‐gestation mouse embryos, clones of lacZ‐positive cells were detected in skin, skull, meninges, brain, visceral yolk sac, and amnion. We identified the cell types comprising a series of lacZ‐positive clones in the visceral yolk sac and skin to learn the lineage relationships of the labelled cells. In each tissue, we obtained evidence that several cell types have a pluripotential ancestor and that cell fate is progressively restricted as development proceeds.
Well-conditioned adaptive interpolation by a gaussian-modulated pole kernel with applications to vector fitting

In this contribution we discuss the translation-invariant interpolation of frequency domain functions by means of a well-conditioned Gaussian-modulated pole kernel which generates exclusively stable poles. For the implementation we use an adaptive interpolation process which is a variant of a recently introduced adaptive residual subsampling method. It is shown that the interpolation process with the Gaussian-modulated pole kernel also provides an excellent pre-processing interface when used in conjunction with the popular vector fitting algorithm. This results in a composite algorithm, performing the sampling and modelling of the given frequency function in a fully automatic way.
Emotion elicitation analysis in multi-channel EEG signals using multivariate Empirical Mode Decomposition and Discrete Wavelet Transform

In recent years, wavelet-based, Fourier-based and Hilbert-based time-frequency methods attracted attention in emotion state classification studies in human machine interaction. In particular, the Hilbert-based Empirical Mode Decomposition and Wavelet-based Discrete Wavelet Transform have found applications in emotional state analysis. In this study, a model of emotional elicitation is proposed in which the classification is made by using the features of the wavelet coefficients obtained after applying the Discrete Wavelet Transform to IMFs achieved by using Multivariate Empirical Mode Decomposition. Accordingly, EEG data available in the DEAP database were classified as low / high for valence, activation, and dominance dimensions, and 4 different classifiers were used in the classification phase. The best ratios of valence, activation and dominance were obtained ideally 70.1%, 58.8%, 60.3% respectively.
Decreasing tuberculosis case fatality in England and Wales, 1988-2001.

SETTING Despite declining tuberculosis mortality per head of population, there was little change in tuberculosis case fatality in England and Wales from 1974 to 1987. OBJECTIVE To determine the trend in tuberculosis case fatality for England and Wales from 1988 to 2001. DESIGN Annual deaths to notifications ratios (DNRs) for tuberculosis were calculated using published notification and mortality data, and analysed by age group and three disease sites (central nervous system [CNS], respiratory and other). DNRs for seven disease sites (miliary, bone and joint, CNS, respiratory, genitourinary, gastrointestinal and other) were calculated for 1998 and 1999 combined, using additional data from the enhanced tuberculosis surveillance programme. RESULTS DNR for all ages and disease sites combined fell from 9.26% in 1988 to 5.59% in 2001 (r = -0.90; 95%CI -0.97 - -0.70). DNRs for 1998-1999 combined were 41% for miliary disease, 17% for bone and joint disease, 8% for CNS disease, 7% for respiratory disease, 2% for genitourinary and gastrointestinal disease and 0.6% for other disease. CONCLUSIONS Some of the decrease in DNRs may be due to improving notification rates. True declines in overall case fatality reflect increases in the proportion of tuberculosis patients in younger age groups and with low mortality extra-pulmonary disease.
the PoWeR oF identitY to MotiVate Face MeMoRY in BiRaciaL indiVidUaLS

The authors examined whether biracial (Black/White) individuals, who have access to multiple racial identities and experience with both Black and White faces, would be able to adopt the perceptual lens of a contextually salient racial identity. Biracial and monoracial perceivers wrote an essay about a time they connected with their mother's or father's ethnic identity before completing a face recognition task. The authors hypothesized that this essay prime would influence biracial perceivers' racial identification and that their memory for Black, White, and racially ambiguous faces would reflect the motivational relevance of the target face to their salient racial identity. Results indicated that biracial individuals adopted different racial identifications to guide preferential memory relevant to their salient racial identity, exhibiting memory patterns comparable to monoracial individuals' typical own-race bias. These findings suggest that ingroup memory effects depend on integration of bottom-up percep.
Minority Populations and Advance Directives: Insights from a Focus Group Methodology

Numerous studies have shown almost uniformly positive opinions among patients and physicians regarding the concept of advance directives (either a healthcare proxy or living will). Several of these studies have also shown that the actual use of advance directives is significantly lower than this enthusiasm would suggest, but they have not explained the apparent discordance. Nor have researchers explained why members of minority groups are much less likely to complete advance directives than are white patients. In this study, we used a focus group methodology to examine the ways in which diverse populations of patients view the medical, philosophical, and practical issues surrounding advance directives. We were motivated by the significantly lower prevalence of advance directives among African-American and Hispanic patients at one urban teaching hospital (18% for Caucasians, 4% for African-Americans, and 2% for Hispanics). Our premise was that African-American and Hispanic populations, who have had higher rates of morbidity and mortality across numerous disease categories, and historically have had limited access to care and opportunities to discuss health concerns, may be more suspicious about the right of autonomy that an advance directive is designed to ensure.
Use of a Rush pin to repair fractures of the distal femur in cats

Nine fractures of the distal femur in eight cats were repaired by using a 2-4 mm Rush pin as an intramedullary nail, placed between the condyles via a lateral or medial parapatellar approach to the stifle joint. In all cases the fractures were reduced and stabilised accurately with good postoperative results.
Dichlorido(2,9-dimethoxy-1,10-phenanthroline-κ2 N,N′)zinc(II)

In the crystal structure of the title compound, [ZnCl2(C14H12N2O2)], the ZnII center is four-coordinated by two N atoms from one 2,9-dimethoxy-1,10-phenanthroline ligand and two Cl atoms. The coordination geometry is distorted tetrahedral, as the Zn—N bond distances are shorter than the Zn—Cl distances, and the Cl—Zn—N and Cl—Zn—Cl bond angles are much larger than the N—Zn—N angle. For the ligand, the O and C atoms of the methoxy groups are almost in the plane defined by the phenanthroline ring. The two O atoms deviate from the phenanthroline mean plane by 0.076 (2) and 0.084 (2) Å, and the two methyl C atoms deviate from the phenanthroline mean plane by 0.035 (3) and 0.361 (3) Å. There are medium π–π stacking interactions between two parallel phenanthroline rings with a centroid–centroid distance of 3.7860 (2) Å and a dihedral angle between the plane defined by the two parallel phenanthroline rings of 1.13 (5)°.
Deception Detection for the Russian Language: Lexical and Syntactic Parameters

The field of automated deception detection in written texts is methodologically challenging. Different linguistic levels (lexics, syntax and semantics) are basically used for different types of English texts to reveal if they are truthful or deceptive. Such parameters as POS tags and POS tags n-grams, punctuation marks, sentiment polarity of words, psycholinguistic features, fragments of syntaсtic structures are taken into consideration. The importance of different types of parameters was not compared for the Russian language before and should be investigated before moving to complex models and higher levels of linguistic processing. On the example of the Russian Deception Bank Corpus we estimate the impact of three groups of features (POS features including bigrams, sentiment and psycholinguistic features, syntax and readability features) on the successful deception detection and find out that POS features can be used for binary text classification, but the results should be double-checked and, if possible, improved.