Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Practice of Aerobic Sports is Associated with Better Spatial Memory in Adults and Older Men

Background/Study Context: Cognitive abilities experience diverse age-related changes. Memory complaints are common in aging. The practice of sports is known to benefit brain functioning, improving memory among other abilities. Introduction of virtual reality tasks makes it possible to easily assess cognitive functions such as spatial memory, a hippocampus-dependent cognitive ability. Methods: In this study, the authors applied a virtual reality–based task to study spatial reference memory in two groups of men, sportsmen (n = 28) and sedentary (n = 28), across three different age groups: 50–59, 60–69, and 70–77 years. Results: The data showed that sportsmen outperformed sedentary participants. In addition, there was also a significant effect of the factor age. Hence, older men (70–77 years old) displayed a poorer performance in comparison with the other age groups. Conclusions: These results support the beneficial effect of habitual physical activity in spatial memory.
DNA methylation contributes toward silencing of antioncogenic microRNA-203 in human and canine melanoma cells

Melanoma is a poor-prognosis cancer in both humans and dogs. We have elucidated the antitumor mechanisms of antioncogenic microRNA (miR)-203 which is downregulated in human melanoma, as well as in canine melanoma. The aim of this study was to clarify the mechanism of this downregulation. We focused on epigenetic aberration of miR-203 transcription. Treatment with 5-aza-2′-deoxycitidine (5-aza) markedly upregulated the expression level of miR-203 in almost all of the cell lines tested. Furthermore, bisulfite sequencing or methylation-specific PCR showed DNA methylation of CpG islands upstream of the miR-203 coding region (MIR203) in both human and canine melanoma cells, as well as in canine clinical specimens, but not in human normal melanocytes. The results of a luciferase activity assay showed obvious suppression of the transcription of miR-203 by DNA methylation. The use of the luciferase activity assay for CREB1 and an inhibition assay of miR-203 function performed with an miR-203 inhibitor confirmed the contribution of miR-203 upregulation toward the negative regulation of the target gene of miR-203. These results indicate that canine melanoma might be a preclinical model of human melanoma for epigenetic studies. In addition, this study suggests that agents that can demethylate MIR203 could be a common promising therapeutic agent for the treatment of human and canine melanomas.
Face Naming and Retrieval Inhibition in Old and Very Old Age

Background/Study Context: Aging has traditionally been related to impairments in proper name retrieval. This study analyzed the possible role of the Inhibitory Deficit Hypothesis in explaining face naming impairments during aging. The dynamics of inhibition have been thoroughly studied by the retrieval-practice paradigm (Anderson, Bjork, & Bjork, 1994, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 20, 1063–1087) and its aftereffect, the retrieval-induced forgetting effect. Methods: A version of the retrieval-practice paradigm was employed: younger-old (YO; mean age = 66.40, SD = 3.94) and older-old (OO; mean age = 80.94, SD = 4.53) adults were asked to repeatedly name faces of categorically related famous people. Results: Retrieval-induced forgetting for names was observed in the YO group but not in the OO group. Conclusion: These findings indicate that whereas the YO adults had enough resources to inhibit intrusive names, OO adults were not able to suppress competing names, supporting the proposal of the Inhibitory Deficit Hypothesis at older ages.
AuaA, a Membrane‐Bound Farnesyltransferase from Stigmatella aurantiaca, Catalyzes the Prenylation of 2‐Methyl‐4‐hydroxyquinoline in the Biosynthesis of Aurachins

Aurachins are quinoline alkaloids isolated from the myxobacterium Stigmatella aurantiaca. They are substituted with an isoprenoid side chain and act as potent inhibitors in the electron transport chain. A biosynthetic gene cluster that contains at least five genes (auaA–auaE) has been identified for aurachin biosynthesis. In this study, auaA, the gene encoding a putative prenyltransferase of 326 amino acids, was cloned and overexpressed in Escherichia coli. Biochemical investigations showed that AuaA catalyzes the prenylation of 2‐methyl‐4‐hydroxyquinoline in the presence of farnesyl diphosphate (FPP), thereby resulting in the formation of aurachin D. The hydroxyl group at position C4 of the quinoline ring is essential for an acceptance by AuaA; this was concluded by testing 18 quinoline derivatives or analogues with AuaA and FPP. 1H NMR and HR‐EI‐MS analyses of six isolated enzyme products revealed the presence of a farnesyl moiety at position C3 of the quinoline ring. KM values of 43 and 270 μM were determined for FPP and 2‐methyl‐4‐hydroxyquinoline, respectively. Like other known membrane‐bound prenyltransferases, the reaction catalyzed by AuaA is dependent on the presence of metal ions such as Mg2+, Mn2+ and Co2+, although no typical (N/D)DXXD binding motif was found in the sequence.
The Frataxin Homologue Fra Plays a Key Role in Intracellular Iron Channeling in Bacillus subtilis

Frataxin homologues are important iron chaperones in eukarya and prokarya. Using a native proteomics approach we were able to identify the structural frataxin homologue Fra (formerly YdhG) of Bacillus subtilis and to quantify its native iron‐binding stoichiometry. Using recombinant proteins we could show in vitro that Fra is able to transfer iron onto the B. subtilis SUF system for iron–sulfur cluster biosynthesis. In a four‐constituents reconstitution system (including SufU, SufS, Fra and CitB) we observed a Fra‐dependent formation of a [4 Fe–4 S] cluster on SufU that could be efficiently transferred onto the target apo‐aconitase (CitB). A Δfra deletion mutant showed a severe growth phenotype associated with a broadly disturbed iron homeostasis; this indicates that Fra is a central component of intracellular iron channeling in B. subtilis.
Dermatologist contribution to early detection and management of the precancerous lesions (PCL) of the cervix in HIV positive patients: a study in a country with limited resources.

If in industrialized countries, morbidity and mortality is relatively low because of the abundance of medical equipments and the extension of screening, it is not the case in developing countries where poverty and precariousness impede screening [3]. The occurrence of cervical cancer could be regarded as negligence from patients; but also from any health agent as clinical examination of any woman we receive should be completed by the examination of the cervix.
Future developments in cosmetic formulations

In recent years, there have been a great deal of interest in applications of microemulsions, liposomes (vesicles) and multiple emulsions in cosmetic formulations. These systems will provide the cosmetic industry with new types of formulations which are easier to apply, better functional benefit and potentially safer formulations. Microemulsions are thermodynamically stable systems and hence shelf life is no problem. Many cosmetic ingredients can be adequately solubilized in the swollen micelles of the microemulsions. Such solubilized systems may enhance transport and diffusion through various barriers, eg. , the skin, thus enhancing the efficacy of the formulations. However, microemulsions may cause skin irritation by disrupting the liquid crystalline structure of the stratum corneum. This problem may be overcome by formulating microemulsions, which on evaporation produce lamellar liquid crystalline structures. The problem of skin irritation is certainly reduced or eliminated using liposomes or vesicles, which offer an alternative to microemulsions. The principles for formation and stabilization of vesicles are discussed in this paper and research work is needed to produce nanocapsules from liposomes, using polymerizable surfactants. Multiple emulsions of the water/oil/water (w/o/w) or oil/water/oil (o/w/o) types are also valuable systems for formulating cosmetics. In the first place, they offer a means of sustained release of the various ingredients. Secondly, they allow one to separate the various ingredients in the formulation, thus preventing their possible interaction. The basic principles required for preparation of stable multiple emulsions are summarised. Developments of polymeric surfactants led to the formulation of stable multiple emulsions. An example of a recently formulated stable w/o/w multiple emulsion is given in this paper The stability of the system was investigated using optical microscopy. Creaming occurred on storage, particularly at high temperature (40°C) and this was significantly reduced by addition of Kelzan (a polysaccharide with high molecular weight). The final formulation was studied rheological techniques.
Genomic profiling of invasive melanoma cell lines by array comparative genomic hybridization

Malignant melanoma is one of the most aggressive human cancers. Invasion of cells is the first step in metastasis, resulting in cell migration through tissue compartments. We aimed to evaluate genomic alterations specifically associated with the invasive characteristics of melanoma cells. Matrigel invasion assays were used to determine the invasive properties of cell lines that originated from primary melanomas. Array comparative genomic hybridization analyses were carried out to define the chromosome copy number alterations (CNAs). Several recurrent CNAs were identified by array comparative genomic hybridization that affected melanoma-related genes. Invasive primary cell lines showed high frequencies of CNAs, including the loss of 7q and gain of 12q chromosomal regions targeting PTPN12, ADAM22, FZD1, TFPI2, GNG11, COL1A2, SMURF1, VGF, RELN and GLIPR1 genes. Gain of the GDNF (5p13.1), GPAA1, PLEC and SHARPIN (8q24.3) genes was significantly more frequent in invasive cell lines compared with the noninvasive ones. Importantly, copy number gains of these genes were also found in cell lines that originated from metastases, suggesting their role in melanoma metastasis formation. The present study describes genomic differences between invasive and noninvasive melanoma cell lines that may contribute toward the aggressive phenotype of human melanoma cells.
Enhancing the Thermal Robustness of an Enzyme by Directed Evolution: Least Favorable Starting Points and Inferior Mutants Can Map Superior Evolutionary Pathways

In a previous directed evolution study, the B‐FIT approach to increasing the thermal robustness of proteins was introduced and applied to the lipase from Bacillus subtilis. It is based on the general concept of iterative saturation mutagenesis (ISM), according to which sites in an enzyme are subjected to saturation mutagenesis, the best hit of a given library is then used as a template for randomization at other sites, and the process is continued until the desired catalyst improvement has been achieved. The appropriate choice of the ISM sites is crucial; in the B‐FIT method the criterion is residues characterized by highest B factors available from X‐ray crystallography data. In the present study, B‐FIT was employed in order to increase the thermal robustness of the epoxide hydrolase from Aspergillus niger. Several rounds of ISM resulted in the best variant showing a 21 °C increase in the ${T{{\,60\hfill \atop 50\hfill}}}$ value, an 80‐fold improvement in half‐life at 60 °C, and a 44 kcal mol−1 improvement in inactivation energy. Seven other variants were also evolved with moderate yet significant improvements; these were characterized by 10–14 °C increases in ${T{{\,60\hfill \atop 50\hfill}}}$, 20–30‐fold improvement in half‐lives at 60 °C and 15–20 kcal mol−1 elevations in activation energy. Unexpectedly, in the ISM process the best variants were obtained from essentially neutral or even inferior mutant parents, that is, when a given library contains no improved mutants. This constitutes a practical way to escape from what appear to be local minima (“dead ends”) in the fitness landscape—a finding of notable significance in directed evolution.
Model of Combined Prevision: An Application of the Monthly Series of Dengue Notifications in the State of Pernambuco

In this article, a model of combined prevision was developed to explain the behavior of the monthly notification in the State of Pernambuco. In this model the proposal of Bunn (1985) is applied. Two punctual previsions, the best in terms of an efficient measure average quadratic error were combined linearly, to obtain the best previsions by statistical means, analysis of residues, and in the reduction percentage of non applied variance of the combined model in relation to individualized previsions. It is verified, that in all the methodological approaches attributed to the series of interest to the notification previsions decreased drastically when compared with those observed in 1998 years of the generalized epidemic in the region, which, to our surprise, was the year of the greatest water rationing of the last 30 years. As a result, the results of the stable previsions and, in this case, it can exceed its behavior for the stationary process with few oscillations the series tends to a controlled epidemic.
Comparison of Some Parametric and Nonparametric Type One Sample Confidence Intervals for Estimating the Mean of a Positively Skewed Distribution

Several researchers considered various interval estimators for estimating the mean of a skewed distribution. Since they considered in different times and under different simulation conditions, their performance are not comparable as a whole. In this article, an attempt has been made to review some existing estimators and compare them under the same simulation condition. In particular, we consider and compare both classical (Student-t, Land-t, Cheb-t, Johnson-t, Chen-t, Hall-t, median-t, Zhou and Dinh, empirical likelihood, etc.) and nonparametric (bootstrap-t, nonparametric bootstrap, empirical likelihood bootstrap, bias corrected acceleration bootstrap, Hall bootstrap-t, empirical Hall bootstrap, etc.) interval estimators for estimating the mean of a positively skewed distribution. A simulation study has been made to compare the performance of the estimators. Both average widths and coverage probabilities are considered as a criterion of the good estimators. Under the large sample sizes, the performances of the estimators are not different. However, they differ significantly when the sample sizes are small and data are from a highly skewed distribution. Some real-life data have been analyzed to illustrate the findings of the article. Based on the simulation study, some possible good interval estimators have been recommended for the practitioners. This article will provide more choices for the practitioners to use best possible interval estimators among many that have been used by several researchers at different times and situations.
Statistical Effects in the Solar Activity Cycles during AD 1823-1996

General statistical properties of solar activity cycles during the period AD 1823–1996—including the Gnevyshev-Ohl and Waldmeier effects as well as an amplitude-period effect—were analyzed using Wolf number, group sunspot number, and extended total sunspot area series. It was found out that the Gnevyshev-Ohl effect GO2 (the positive correlation between intensity of the even cycles 2𝑁 and intensity of the odd cycles 2𝑁
Insulin resistance in relation to melanoma risk

Obesity, deregulation of adipocytokines, and insulin resistance are interrelated and have been implicated in carcinogenesis. In search of novel risk factors for melanoma, we explored the association of this disease with insulin resistance in a small size, case–control study. Homeostasis Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR), serum leptin, and adiponectin levels were determined in 55 patients with incident melanoma and 165 age-matched and sex-matched controls. Odds ratios were derived after adjusting for skin type, medical history, sociodemographic, lifestyle, and anthropometric parameters. Among the controls, HOMA-IR correlated positively with BMI (r=0.34; P=0.0001), waist-to-hip ratio (r=0.20; P=0.01) and negatively with serum adiponectin (r=−0.21; P=0.006), whereas the correlation with leptin was essentially null (r=0.09; P=0.27). The mean HOMA-IR was approximately 1.5 times higher in cases than in controls (P=0.05). The established positive association of melanoma with skin type was evident in multiple logistic regression models and so was the association with increasing HOMA-IR quintile (odds ratio for the fifth quintile=3.68; 95% confidence intervals 1.15–11.79, P=0.02). The latter persisted after adjustment for anthropometric variables and adiponectin but was attenuated when leptin was introduced in the model. These findings point to insulin resistance as a potentially independent risk factor for melanoma and need to be confirmed by future larger studies, ideally allowing the control of the directionality of the association.
Genetic Dissection of Sesquiterpene Biosynthesis by Fusarium fujikuroi

A treasure trove of terpenes: The products of two fungal sesquiterpene synthases from the rice pathogen Fusarium fujikuroi were identified by gene-knockout experiments, genetic engineering of the fungus for production optimization, isolation of the sesquiterpenes, and structure elucidation by spectroscopic methods.
Divergence Functions of Non negative Matrix Factorization: A Comparison Study

Non negative Matrix Factorization (NMF) has become one of the most popular models in data mining for its good performance in unsupervised learning applications. Recently, a variety of divergence functions have been extensively studied for NMF. But, there is still lack of analysis on the relationships between the divergence functions and the applications. This article tries to give some preliminary results on this interesting problem. Our experiments show that the most familiar two divergence functions—the least squares error and the K-L divergence—are competent for unsupervised learning such as gene expression data clustering and image processing.
Photobleaching Lifetimes of Cyanine Fluorophores Used for Single‐Molecule Förster Resonance Energy Transfer in the Presence of Various Photoprotection Systems

Lengthening smFRET lifetimes: We investigated various photoprotection system combinations to find the combination that optimally extended the photobleach lifetime of a Cy3/Cy5 smFRET pair attached to a DNA hairpin in a single-molecule environment. We found that the glucose/glucose oxygen-scavenging solution in combination with redox-based photostabilization solutions yielded the longest average photobleaching lifetimes.
Identification of Fluorinases from Streptomyces sp MA37, Norcardia brasiliensis, and Actinoplanes sp N902‐109 by Genome Mining

The fluorinase is an enzyme that catalyses the combination of S‐adenosyl‐L‐methionine (SAM) and a fluoride ion to generate 5′‐fluorodeoxy adenosine (FDA) and L‐methionine through a nucleophilic substitution reaction with a fluoride ion as the nucleophile. It is the only native fluorination enzyme that has been characterised. The fluorinase was isolated in 2002 from Streptomyces cattleya, and, to date, this has been the only source of the fluorinase enzyme. Herein, we report three new fluorinase isolates that have been identified by genome mining. The novel fluorinases from Streptomyces sp. MA37, Nocardia brasiliensis, and an Actinoplanes sp. have high homology (80–87 % identity) to the original S. cattleya enzyme. They all possess a characteristic 21‐residue loop. The three newly identified genes were overexpressed in E. coli and shown to be fluorination enzymes. An X‐ray crystallographic study of the Streptomyces sp. MA37 enzyme demonstrated that it is almost identical in structure to the original fluorinase. Culturing of the Streptomyces sp. MA37 strain demonstrated that it not only also elaborates the fluorometabolites, fluoroacetate and 4‐fluorothreonine, similar to S. cattleya, but this strain also produces a range of unidentified fluorometabolites. These are the first new fluorinases to be reported since the first isolate, over a decade ago, and their identification extends the range of fluorination genes available for fluorination biotechnology.
Variable Selection for Naive Bayes Semisupervised Learning

This article deals with a semisupervised learning based on naive Bayes assumption. A univariate Gaussian mixture density is used for continuous input variables whereas a histogram type density is adopted for discrete input variables. The EM algorithm is used for the computation of maximum likelihood estimators of parameters in the model when we fix the number of mixing components for each continuous input variable. We carry out a model selection for choosing a parsimonious model among various fitted models based on an information criterion. A common density method is proposed for the selection of significant input variables. Simulated and real datasets are used to illustrate the performance of the proposed method.
Grouped Variable Selection Using Area under the ROC with Imbalanced Data

Imbalanced data brings biased classification and causes the low accuracy of the classification of the minority class. In this article, we propose a methodology to select grouped variables using the area under the ROC with an adjustable prediction cut point. The proposed method enhance the accuracy of classification for the minority class by maximizing the true positive rate. Simulation results show that the proposed method is appropriate for both the categorical and continuous covariates. An illustrative example of the analysis of the SHS data in TCM is discussed to show the reasonable application of the proposed method.
Significant Enhancement of hPrx1 Chaperone Activity through Lysine Acetylation

The reversible acetylation of proteins plays a key role in regulating biological processes, including chromatin remodeling, progression of the cell cycle, and actin nucleation. Human peroxiredoxin 1(hPrx1), one of the most abundant proteins in the cytoplasm, has been shown to be acetylated in human liver‐carcinoma tissues. However, little is known about what function(s) the acetylation serves for hPrx1. Herein, using the method of genetic code expansion, we incorporated Nε‐acetyllysine (AcK) site‐specifically into hPrx1. Our data showed that acetylation the K27 residue promotes oligomerization of hPrx1 at low concentrations. In addition, K27‐acetylated hPrx1(hPrx1‐AcK27) exhibited greatly enhanced chaperone activity (e.g. protecting the protein malate dehydrogenase (MDH) from thermally induced aggregation and assisting the refolding of denatured citrate synthase (CS)). These findings suggest that the site‐specific acetylation of hPrx1 may change its biological role in response to environmental changes.
Catalysis of an Essential Step in Vitamin B2 Biosynthesis by a Consortium of Broad Spectrum Hydrolases

An enzyme catalysing the essential dephosphorylation of the riboflavin precursor, 5‐amino‐6‐ribitylamino‐2,4(1H,3H)‐pyrimidinedione 5′‐phosphate (6), was purified about 800‐fold from a riboflavin‐producing Bacillus subtilis strain, and was assigned as the translation product of the ycsE gene by mass spectrometry. YcsE is a member of the large haloacid dehalogenase (HAD) superfamily. The recombinant protein was expressed in Escherichia coli. It catalyses the hydrolysis of 6 (vmax, 12 μmol mg−1 min−1; KM, 54 μm) and of FMN (vmax, 25 μmol mg−1 min−1; KM, 135 μm). A ycsE deletion mutant of B. subtilis was not riboflavin dependent. Two additional proteins (YwtE, YitU) that catalyse the hydrolysis of 6 at appreciable rates were identified by screening 13 putative HAD superfamily members from B. subtilis. The evolutionary processes that have resulted in the handling of an essential step in the biosynthesis of an essential cofactor by a consortium of promiscuous enzymes require further analysis.