Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nerve Growth Factor Neutralization Promotes Oligodendrogenesis by Increasing miR-219a-5p Levels

In the brain, the neurotrophin Nerve growth factor (NGF) regulates not only neuronal survival and differentiation, but also glial and microglial functions and neuroinflammation. NGF is known to regulate oligodendrogenesis, reducing myelination in the central nervous system (CNS). In this study, we found that NGF controls oligodendrogenesis by modulating the levels of miR-219a-5p, a well-known positive regulator of oligodendrocyte differentiation. We exploited an NGF-deprivation mouse model, the AD11 mice, in which the postnatal expression of an anti-NGF antibody leads to NGF neutralization and progressive neurodegeneration. Notably, we found that these mice also display increased myelination. A microRNA profiling of AD11 brain samples and qRT-PCR analyses revealed that NGF deprivation leads to an increase of miR-219a-5p levels in hippocampus and cortex and a corresponding down-regulation of its predicted targets. Neurospheres isolated from the hippocampus of AD11 mice give rise to more oligodendrocytes and this process is dependent on miR-219a-5p, as shown by decoy-mediated inhibition of this microRNA. Moreover, treatment of AD11 neurospheres with NGF inhibits miR-219a-5p up-regulation and, consequently, oligodendrocyte differentiation, while anti-NGF treatment of wild type (WT) oligodendrocyte progenitors increases miR-219a-5p expression and the number of mature cells. Overall, this study indicates that NGF inhibits oligodendrogenesis and myelination by down-regulating miR-219a-5p levels, suggesting a novel molecular circuitry that can be exploited for the discovery of new effectors for remyelination in human demyelinating diseases, such as Multiple Sclerosis.
Physicochemical Properties of Biobutanol as an Advanced Biofuel

Biobutanol is a renewable, less polluting, and potentially viable alternative fuel to conventional gasoline. Biobutanol can be produced from same sources as bioethanol, and it has many advantages over the widespread bioethanol. This paper systematically analyzes biobutanol fuel as an alternative to bioethanol in alcohol–gasoline mixtures and the physicochemical properties. Based on the conducted analyses, it was found that biobutanol mixtures have a more suitable behavior of vapor pressure without the occurrence of azeotrope, do not form a separate phase in lower temperature, it has higher energy density, but slightly reduce the octane number and a have higher viscosity. However, in general, biobutanol has many advantageous properties that could allow its use in gasoline engines instead of the commonly used bioethanol.
Digitally Controlled Oscillator with High Timing Resolution and Low Complexity for Clock Generation †

This paper presents a digitally controlled oscillator (DCO) with a low-complexity circuit structure that combines multiple delay circuits to achieve a high timing resolution and wide output frequency range simultaneously while also significantly reducing the overall power consumption. A 0.18 µm complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor standard process was used for the design, and measurements showed that the chip had a minimum controllable timing resolution of 4.81 ps and power consumption of 142 µW with an output signal of 364 MHz. When compared with other designs using advanced processes, the proposed DCO demonstrated the best power-to-frequency ratio. Therefore, it can output a signal at the required frequency more efficiently in terms of power consumption. Additionally, because the proposed DCO uses digital logic gates only, a cell-based design flow can be implemented. Hence, the proposed DCO is not only easy to implement in different processes but also easy to integrate with other digital circuits.
Protein Lipoxidation: Basic Concepts and Emerging Roles

Protein lipoxidation is a non-enzymatic post-translational modification that consists of the covalent addition of reactive lipid species to proteins. This occurs under basal conditions but increases in situations associated with oxidative stress. Protein targets for lipoxidation include metabolic and signalling enzymes, cytoskeletal proteins, and transcription factors, among others. There is strong evidence for the involvement of protein lipoxidation in disease, including atherosclerosis, neurodegeneration, and cancer. Nevertheless, the involvement of lipoxidation in cellular regulatory mechanisms is less understood. Here we review basic aspects of protein lipoxidation and discuss several features that could support its role in cell signalling, including its selectivity, reversibility, and possibilities for regulation at the levels of the generation and/or detoxification of reactive lipids. Moreover, given the great structural variety of electrophilic lipid species, protein lipoxidation can contribute to the generation of multiple structurally and functionally diverse protein species. Finally, the nature of the lipoxidised proteins and residues provides a frameshift for a complex interplay with other post-translational modifications, including redox and redox-regulated modifications, such as oxidative modifications and phosphorylation, thus strengthening the importance of detailed knowledge of this process.
Whole Genome Sequencing Applied to Pathogen Source Tracking in Food Industry: Key Considerations for Robust Bioinformatics Data Analysis and Reliable Results Interpretation

Whole genome sequencing (WGS) has arisen as a powerful tool to perform pathogen source tracking in the food industry thanks to several developments in recent years. However, the cost associated to this technology and the degree of expertise required to accurately process and understand the data has limited its adoption at a wider scale. Additionally, the time needed to obtain actionable information is often seen as an impairment for the application and use of the information generated via WGS. Ongoing work towards standardization of wet lab including sequencing protocols, following guidelines from the regulatory authorities and international standardization efforts make the technology more and more accessible. However, data analysis and results interpretation guidelines are still subject to initiatives coming from distinct groups and institutions. There are multiple bioinformatics software and pipelines developed to handle such information. Nevertheless, little consensus exists on a standard way to process the data and interpret the results. Here, we want to present the constraints we face in an industrial setting and the steps we consider necessary to obtain high quality data, reproducible results and a robust interpretation of the obtained information. All of this, in a time frame allowing for data-driven actions supporting factories and their needs.
A Systems Biology Approach to Identify Essential Epigenetic Regulators for Specific Biological Processes in Plants

Upon sensing developmental or environmental cues, epigenetic regulators transform the chromatin landscape of a network of genes to modulate their expression and dictate adequate cellular and organismal responses. Knowledge of the specific biological processes and genomic loci controlled by each epigenetic regulator will greatly advance our understanding of epigenetic regulation in plants. To facilitate hypothesis generation and testing in this domain, we present EpiNet, an extensive gene regulatory network (GRN) featuring epigenetic regulators. EpiNet was enabled by (i) curated knowledge of epigenetic regulators involved in DNA methylation, histone modification, chromatin remodeling, and siRNA pathways; and (ii) a machine-learning network inference approach powered by a wealth of public transcriptome datasets. We applied GENIE3, a machine-learning network inference approach, to mine public Arabidopsis transcriptomes and construct tissue-specific GRNs with both epigenetic regulators and transcription factors as predictors. The resultant GRNs, named EpiNet, can now be intersected with individual transcriptomic studies on biological processes of interest to identify the most influential epigenetic regulators, as well as predicted gene targets of the epigenetic regulators. We demonstrate the validity of this approach using case studies of shoot and root apical meristem development.
Predictors of Sports Gambling among College Students: The Role of the Theory of Planned Behavior and Problem Gambling Severity

The current study investigated what influences college students’ behavioral intention and behavior towards sports gambling using the theory of planned behavior (TPB) as a theoretical framework. The study also explored the moderation effect of problem gambling severity in the relationships between TPB determinants, behavioral intention, and sports gambling behavior. Data were collected from 334 college students from four different universities in the U.S. and analyzed through partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and multi-group analysis. The results indicated that attitude was the most critical determinant of college students’ sports gambling intentions, followed by the subjective norms, while both behavioral intention and perceived behavioral control were significant predictors of sports gambling behavior. The study also found some meaningful moderation effects of problem gambling severity. Subjective norms were influential on college students with greater problem gambling severity, while attitude was the strongest predictor of recreational sports gamblers. Suggestions on prevention and treatment programs regarding sports gambling and problem gambling are discussed.
A Long-Term Stable Sensor Based on Fe@PCN-224 for Rapid and Quantitative Detection of H2O2 in Fishery Products

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) has been reported to be used for the illegal treatment of fishery products in order to obtain “fake” freshness. Residues of H2O2 in food may be of toxicology concern. In this study, a nonenzymatic sensor was developed based on Fe@PCN-224 metal–organic frameworks wrapped by Nafion to detect H2O2 concentration. The hybrid structure of Fe@PCN-224 was fabricated by incorporated free FeIII ions into the center of PCN-224, which was ultra-stable due to the strong interactions between Zr6 and the carboxyl group. Scanning electron spectroscopy images exhibited that Nafion sheets crossed together on the surface of Fe@PCN-224 nanoparticles to form a hierarchical and coherent structure for efficient electron transfer. Electrochemical investigations showed that the Fe@PCN-224/Nafion/GCE possessed good linearity from 2 to 13,000 μM (including four orders of magnitude), low detection limits (0.7 μM), high stability in continuous monitoring (current remained nearly stable over 2300 s) and in long-term measurement (current decreased 3.4% for 30 days). The prepared nanohybrid modified electrode was effectively applied to H2O2 detection in three different fishery products. The results were comparable to those measured using photometrical methods. The developed electrochemical method has a great potential in detecting the illegal management of fishery products with H2O2.
Extraction and Characterization of Potential Biodegradable Materials Based on Dioscorea hispida Tubers

This study was driven by the stringent environmental legislation concerning the consumption and utilization of eco-friendly materials. Within this context, this paper aimed to examine the characteristics of starch and fibres from the Dioscorea hispida tuber plant to explore their potential as renewable materials. The extraction of the Dioscorea hispida starch and Dioscorea hispida fibres was carried out and the chemical composition, physical, thermal, morphological properties, and crystallinity were studied. The chemical composition investigations revealed that the Dioscorea hispida starch (DHS) has a low moisture t (9.45%) and starch content (37.62%) compared to cassava, corn, sugar palm, and arrowroot starches. Meanwhile, the Dioscorea hispida fibres (DHF) are significantly low in hemicellulose (4.36%), cellulose (5.63%), and lignin (2.79%) compared to cassava, corn hull and sugar palm. In this investigation the chemical, physical, morphological and thermal properties of the Dioscorea hispida fibre and Dioscorea hispida starch were examined by chemical composition investigation, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), particle size distribution, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), respectively. It was found that Dioscorea hispida waste is promising alternative biomass and sustainable material with excellent potential as a renewable filler material for food packaging applications.
Current State of “Omics” Biomarkers in Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most fatal malignancies and the seventh leading cause of cancer-related deaths related to late diagnosis, poor survival rates, and high incidence of metastasis. Unfortunately, pancreatic cancer is predicted to become the third leading cause of cancer deaths in the future. Therefore, diagnosis at the early stages of pancreatic cancer for initial diagnosis or postoperative recurrence is a great challenge, as well as predicting prognosis precisely in the context of biomarker discovery. From the personalized medicine perspective, the lack of molecular biomarkers for patient selection confines tailored therapy options, including selecting drugs and their doses or even diet. Currently, there is no standardized pancreatic cancer screening strategy using molecular biomarkers, but CA19-9 is the most well known marker for the detection of pancreatic cancer. In contrast, recent innovations in high-throughput techniques have enabled the discovery of specific biomarkers of cancers using genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, glycomics, and metagenomics. Panels combining CA19-9 with other novel biomarkers from different “omics” levels might represent an ideal strategy for the early detection of pancreatic cancer. The systems biology approach may shed a light on biomarker identification of pancreatic cancer by integrating multi-omics approaches. In this review, we provide background information on the current state of pancreatic cancer biomarkers from multi-omics stages. Furthermore, we conclude this review on how multi-omics data may reveal new biomarkers to be used for personalized medicine in the future.
IoT Registration and Authentication in Smart City Applications with Blockchain

The advent of 5G will bring a massive adoption of IoT devices across our society. IoT Applications (IoT Apps) will be the primary data collection base. This scenario leads to unprecedented scalability and security challenges, with one of the first areas for these applications being Smart Cities (SC). IoT devices in new network paradigms, such as Edge Computing and Fog Computing, will collect data from urban environments, providing real-time management information. One of these challenges is ensuring that the data sent from Edge Computing are reliable. Blockchain has been a technology that has gained the spotlight in recent years, due to its robust security in fintech and cryptocurrencies. Its strong encryption and distributed and decentralized network make it potential for this challenge. Using Blockchain with IoT makes it possible for SC applications to have security information distributed, which makes it possible to shield against Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS). IoT devices in an SC can have a long life, which increases the chance of having security holes caused by outdated firmware. Adding a layer of identification and verification of attributes and signature of messages coming from IoT devices by Smart Contracts can bring confidence in the content. SC Apps that extract data from legacy and outdated appliances, installed in inaccessible, unknown, and often untrusted urban environments can benefit from this work. Our work’s main contribution is the development of API Gateways to be used in IoT devices and network gateway to sign, identify, and authorize messages. For this, keys and essential characteristics of the devices previously registered in Blockchain are used. We will discuss the importance of this implementation while considering the SC and present a testbed that is composed of Blockchain Ethereum and real IoT devices. We analyze the transfer time, memory, and CPU impacts during the sending and processing of these messages. The messages are signed, identified, and validated by our API Gateways and only then collected for an IoT data management application.
Droplet Digital PCR Improves IG-/TR-based MRD Risk Definition in Childhood B-cell Precursor Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Minimal residual disease (MRD) is the most powerful prognostic factor in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RQ-PCR) represents the gold standard for molecular MRD assessment and risk-based stratification of front-line treatment. In the protocols of the Italian Association of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology (AIEOP) and the Berlin-Frankfurth-Munschen (BFM) group AIEOP-BFM ALL2009 and ALL2017, B-lineage ALL patients with high RQ-PCR-MRD at day+33 and positive at day+78 are defined slow early responders (SERs). Based on results of the AIEOP-BFM ALL2000 study, these patients are treated as high-risk also when positive MRD signal at day +78 is below the lower limit of quantification of RQ-PCR (“positive not-quantifiable,” POS-NQ). To assess whether droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) could improve patients’ risk definition, we analyzed MRD in 209 pediatric B-lineage ALL cases classified by RQ-PCR as POS-NQ and/or negative (NEG) at days +33 and/or +78 in the AIEOP-BFM ALL2000 trial. ddPCR MRD analysis was performed on 45 samples collected at day +78 from SER patients, who had RQ-PCR MRD ≥ 5.0 × 10–4 at day+33 and POS-NQ at day+78 and were treated as medium risk (MR). The analysis identified 13 of 45 positive quantifiable cases. Most relapses occurred in this patients’ subgroup, while ddPCR NEG or ddPCR-POS-NQ patients had a significantly better outcome (P < 0.001). Overall, in 112 MR cases and 52 standard-risk patients, MRD negativity and POS-NQ were confirmed by the ddPCR analysis except for a minority of cases, for whom no differences in outcome were registered. These data indicate that ddPCR is more accurate than RQ-PCR in the measurement of MRD, particularly in late follow-up time points, and may thus allow improving patients’ stratification in ALL protocols.
An Optimal Nucleic Acid Testing Strategy for COVID-19 during the Spring Festival Travel Rush in Mainland China: A Modelling Study

Western countries are experiencing surges in COVID-19 cases and deaths due to increasing public transportation during holiday seasons. This study aimed to explore whether mainland China will face an epidemic rebound during the Spring Festival holiday, when millions of Chinese people travel across the country, and investigate which nucleic acid testing (NAT) strategy is optimal to contain the epidemic. A microsimulation model was used to simulate SARS-CoV-2 transmission among railway travelers and evaluated the effects of various NAT strategies. An extended susceptible-exposed-infectious-recovered (SEIR) model was built to forecast local transmission during the Spring Festival period under different scenarios of testing strategies. The total number of infections, testing burden, and medical expenditure were calculated to devise an optimal strategy during the Spring Festival travel rush. Assuming the daily incidence of 20 per 10 million persons, our model simulated that there would be 97 active infections on the day of travel among 10 million railway passengers without NAT and symptom screening. Pre-travel testing could reduce the number of active infections. Compared with no NAT, testing passengers from risk tier 2–4 regions 3 days before travelling could significantly reduce the risk of transmission, and it is more economical and efficient than testing for all passengers.
Plant Nitric Oxide Signaling under Drought Stress

Water deficit caused by drought is a significant threat to crop growth and production. Nitric oxide (NO), a water- and lipid-soluble free radical, plays an important role in cytoprotection. Apart from a few studies supporting the role of NO in drought responses, little is known about this pivotal molecular amendment in the regulation of abiotic stress signaling. In this review, we highlight the knowledge gaps in NO roles under drought stress and the technical challenges underlying NO detection and measurements, and we provide recommendations regarding potential avenues for future investigation. The modulation of NO production to alleviate abiotic stress disturbances in higher plants highlights the potential of genetic manipulation to influence NO metabolism as a tool with which plant fitness can be improved under adverse growth conditions.
Effect of Different Cross-Fostering Strategies on Growth Performance, Stress Status and Immunoglobulin of Piglets

Simple Summary Piglet survival in large litters can be increased if surplus piglets are cross-fostered to smaller litters, exploiting surplus teats in these sows. We aimed (1) to investigate the effect of cross-fostering piglets of different birth weights into new litters on the growth performance of piglets; (2) to determine the effect of cross-fostering piglets of different ages on the growth performance, stress and immunity of these piglets. Cross-fostering on day 2 after birth reduced average daily gain (ADG) in high birth weight (HBW) piglets. Late cross-fostering on day 7 after birth decreased ADG, affected the teat order and increased the cortisol level of piglets. Therefore, these results provide suitable cross-fostering strategies for improving cross-fostering piglets’ welfare. Abstract The effect of different cross-fostering strategies on the growth performance, stress and immunity of piglets was investigated in this study. In the first experiment, a total of 20 litters (i.e., 20 sows) and 120 piglets were classified into one of six treatments in a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement. The treatments consisted of piglets without or with cross-fostering and different birth weights (low birth weight, LBW; intermediate birth weight, IBW; high birth weight, HBW). The weaning weight (WW) and average daily gain (ADG) of LBW piglets and IBW piglets were not significantly different between the not cross-fostered (NC-F) group and the cross-fostered (C-F) group. There was a higher (p < 0.05) ADG in the control piglets compared with the cross-fostered piglets. This effect on ADG was only seen in the HBW piglets. In the second experiment, six sows with a similar body condition and farrowed on the same day were selected. Three female piglets with a birth weight of 0.6–0.85 kg were selected from each litter as experimental piglets. Eighteen piglets were grouped into three treatments: (1) not cross-fostered (NC-F1), (2) cross-fostered at 36–48 h after birth (C-F1), (3) cross-fostered at day 7 after birth (C-F2). The growth performance of NC-F1 and C-F1 piglets was higher than C-F2 piglets (p < 0.05), and the suckling positions of NC-F1 and C-F1 piglets on days 8, 12, 16 and 20 were more forward than the C-F2 piglets (p < 0.05). Plasma cortisol (COR) concentrations of NC-F1 and C-F1 piglets were lower than C-F2 piglets (p < 0.05). A significant negative correlation was observed between BW at day 21 and plasma COR concentration. In conclusion, cross-fostering within 24 h of birth has adverse influences on the ADG of HBW piglets, while it has no negative effect on the ADG of LBW and IBW piglets. Moreover, for IBW piglets, late cross-fostering (i.e., on day 7 after farrowing) has negative impacts on the growth performance and teat order of piglets, and it increases the cortisol level of piglets.