Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inhibition of Steptococcus mutans biofilm formation by extracts of Tenacibaculum sp. 20J, a bacterium with wide-spectrum quorum quenching activity

ABSTRACT Background: Previous studies have suggested the quorum sensing signal AI-2 as a potential target to prevent the biofilm formation by Streptococcus mutans, a pathogen involved in tooth decay. Objective: To obtain inhibition of biofilm formation by S. mutans by extracts obtained from the marine bacterium Tenacibaculum sp. 20J interfering with the AI-2 quorum sensing system. Design: The AI-2 inhibitory activity was tested with the biosensors Vibrio harveyi BB170 and JMH597. S. mutans ATCC25175 biofilm formation was monitored using impedance real-time measurements with the xCELLigence system®, confocal laser microscopy, and the crystal violet quantification method. Results: The addition of the cell extract from Tenacibaculum sp. 20J reduced biofilm formation in S. mutans ATCC25175 by 40–50% compared to the control without significantly affecting growth. A decrease of almost 40% was also observed in S. oralis DSM20627 and S. dentisani 7747 biofilms. Conclusions: The ability of Tenacibaculum sp. 20J to interfere with AI-2 and inhibit biofilm formation in S. mutans was demonstrated. The results indicate that the inhibition of quorum sensing processes may constitute a suitable strategy for inhibiting dental plaque formation, although additional experiments using mixed biofilm models would be required.
Potentiation of receptor responses induced by prolonged binding of Gα13 and leukemia‐associated RhoGEF

Diverse cellular functions are controlled by RhoA‐GTPases, which are activated by trimeric G proteins via RhoGEFs, among others. In this study, we focused on the signaling from GPCRs to RhoA via Ga13 and leukemia‐associated RhoGEF (LARG). The activation of Ga13 was elucidated in living cells with high temporal and spatial resolution by means of FRET. The inactivation after agonist withdrawal occurred in the same range (t1/2 = 25.3 6 2.2 s; mean 6 SEM; n = 22) as described for other Ga proteins. The interaction of Ga13 and LARG and the thereby‐induced LARG translocation to the plasma membrane were at least 1 order of magnitude more stable after agonist withdrawal, exceeding Ga13 deactivation in the absence of LARG several fold. Consequently, we observed an almost 100‐fold higher agonist sensitivity of the Ga13 LARG interaction compared to the Ga13 activation in the absence of LARG. —Bodmann, E. ‐L. , Krett, A. ‐L. , Bünemann, M. Potentiation of receptor responses induced by prolonged binding of Ga13 and leukemia‐associated RhoGEF. FASEB J. 31, 3663–3676 (2017). www.fasebj. org
Glutathione Restoration as Indicator for Cellular Metabolism of Astroglial Cells

The restoration of glutathione in astroglia-rich primary cultures derived from the brains of newborn rats was used to indicate metabolic properties of astroglial cells. At a culture age of 14–21 days these cultures contain an average total glutathione content of 32.8 ± 3.2 nmol/mg protein and a cytosolic volume, estimated with the 3-O-methylglucose method, of 4.1 ± 0.1 µl/mg protein. Therefore, cells of astroglial cultures have a cytosolic glutathione concentration of about 8 mM. In order to investigate glutathione synthesis in astroglial cultures the cellular glutathione content was reduced by starvation in a minimal medium lacking glucose and amino acids. Resynthesis of glutathione depended on the presence of glucose and the three constituent amino acids glutamate, cysteine and glycine. Absence of glucose reduced the amount of net glutathione restoration found after 4 h of incubation by about 50%. Of known substrates of astroglial energy metabolism, mannose could fully and fructose, lactate, pyruvate or sorbitol could partially replace glucose during glutathione restoration. In contrast to these compounds, galactose, 5-thioglucose and 2-deoxyglucose failed to substitute for glucose during glutathione restoration. Astroglial cells are able to use as precursors for the three constituent amino acids of glutathione a variety of amino acids and dipeptides. The results presented demonstrate that glutathione restoration can be used as an indicator for amino acid as well as energy metabolism of astroglial cells.
Bempedoic Acid Lowers Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol and Attenuates Atherosclerosis in Low-Density Lipoprotein Receptor–Deficient (LDLR+/− and LDLR−/−) Yucatan Miniature Pigs

Objective— Bempedoic acid (BemA; ETC-1002) is a novel drug that targets hepatic ATP-citrate lyase to reduce cholesterol biosynthesis. In phase 2 studies, BemA lowers elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in hypercholesterolemic patients. In the present study, we tested the ability of BemA to decrease plasma cholesterol and LDL-C and attenuate atherosclerosis in a large animal model of familial hypercholesterolemia. Approach and Results— Gene targeting has been used to generate Yucatan miniature pigs heterozygous (LDLR+/−) or homozygous (LDLR−/−) for LDL receptor deficiency (ExeGen). LDLR+/− and LDLR−/− pigs were fed a high-fat, cholesterol-containing diet (34% kcal fat; 0.2% cholesterol) and orally administered placebo or BemA for 160 days. In LDLR+/− pigs, compared with placebo, BemA decreased plasma cholesterol and LDL-C up to 40% and 61%, respectively. In LDLR−/− pigs, in which plasma cholesterol and LDL-C were 5-fold higher than in LDLR+/− pigs, BemA decreased plasma cholesterol and LDL-C up to 27% and 29%, respectively. Plasma levels of triglycerides and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, fasting glucose and insulin, and liver lipids were unaffected by treatment in either genotype. In the aorta of LDLR+/− pigs, BemA robustly attenuated en face raised lesion area (−58%) and left anterior descending coronary artery cross-sectional lesion area (−40%). In LDLR−/− pigs, in which lesions were substantially more advanced, BemA decreased aortic lesion area (−47%) and left anterior descending coronary artery lesion area (−48%). Conclusions— In a large animal model of LDLR deficiency and atherosclerosis, long-term treatment with BemA reduces LDL-C and attenuates the development of aortic and coronary atherosclerosis in both LDLR+/− and LDLR−/− miniature pigs.
Current-induced instability of domain walls in cylindrical nanowires

We study the current-driven domain wall (DW) motion in cylindrical nanowires using micromagnetic simulations by implementing the Landau–Lifshitz–Gilbert equation with nonlocal spin-transfer torque in a finite difference micromagnetic package. We find that in the presence of DW, Gaussian wave packets (spin waves) will be generated when the charge current is suddenly applied to the system. This effect is excluded when using the local spin-transfer torque. The existence of spin waves emission indicates that transverse domain walls can not move arbitrarily fast in cylindrical nanowires although they are free from the Walker limit. We establish an upper velocity limit for DW motion by analyzing the stability of Gaussian wave packets using the local spin-transfer torque. Micromagnetic simulations show that the stable region obtained by using nonlocal spin-transfer torque is smaller than that by using its local counterpart. This limitation is essential for multiple DWs since the instability of Gaussian wave packets will break the structure of multiple DWs.
Surface roughness of acid-etched and demineralized bovine enamel measured by a laser speckle method.

Bovine enamel was exposed to buffered lactic acid in hydroxyethylcellulose, hydrochloric acid or orthophosphoric acid during different periods. The resulting surface roughness was determined by a laser speckle technique, by a mechanical profilometric instrument, and from SEM stereomicrographs by applying these techniques to the same samples. The methods are compared. The results correspond reasonably well. Exposure of the enamel to hydrochloric acid or orthophosphoric acid gives a large increase of the surface roughness during the first 30 sec; further exposure gives some decrease of the roughness. Exposure to buffered lactic acid for 7 days gives hardly any change in surface roughness.
Building in Historical Areas: Identity Values and Energy Performance of Innovative Massive Stone Envelopes with Reference to Traditional Building Solutions

The intrinsic nature of local rocks shaped the features of built heritage in historical centers. The resulting building culture is part of the cultural heritage itself, and must be considered when building in such areas, while it is essential to solve the issues related to traditional constructions’ weaknesses. Nonetheless, the potentialities of massive stone envelopes, particularly the importance of thermal inertia, have contributed to redefining the language of contemporary architectural culture. Nowadays, although the trend of employing thin stone cladding panels is prevalent, thick stone envelopes are gaining a renewed importance. Previous literature demonstrated that mixed building technologies or massive stone envelopes coupled with load-bearing framed structures are able to meet comfort and safety requirements and to guarantee the integration of new constructions in the consolidated urban landscape, avoiding historicist approaches. This research, through the analysis of case studies, aims to describe innovative building solutions developed by contemporary architectural culture, comparing them with traditional stone masonry walls. Moreover, thermal energy performance of such building solutions is assessed through dynamic yearly simulations. Results show that these solutions are technically and architecturally suitable to build in historical centers, because they can express urban cultural identity and guarantee good energy performance and users’ comfort.
Home birth integration into the health care systems of eleven international jurisdictions

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to develop assessment criteria that could be used to examine the level of integration of home birth within larger health care systems in developed countries across 11 international jurisdictions. METHODS An expert panel developed criteria and a definition to assess home birth integration within health care systems. We selected jurisdictions based on the publications that were eligible for inclusion in our systematic review and meta-analysis on planned place of birth. We sent the authors of the included publications a questionnaire about home birth practitioners and practices in their respective health care system at the time of their studies. We searched published peer-reviewed, non-peer-reviewed, and gray literature, and the websites of professional bodies to document information about home birth integration in each jurisdiction based on our criteria. Where information was lacking, we contacted experts in the field from the relevant jurisdiction. RESULTS Home birth is well integrated into the health care system in British Columbia (Canada), England, Iceland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Ontario (Canada), and Washington State (USA). Home birth is less well integrated into the health care system in Australia, Japan, Norway, and Sweden. CONCLUSIONS This paper is the first to propose criteria for the evaluation of home birth integration within larger maternity care systems. Application of these criteria across 11 international jurisdictions indicates differences in the recognition and training of home birth practitioners, in access to hospital facilities, and in the supplies and equipment available at home births, which give rise to variation in the level of integration across different settings. Standardized criteria for the evaluation of systems integration are essential for interpreting planned home birth outcomes that emerge from contextual differences.
Measurement of the electric resistance of human blood; use in coagulation studies and cell volume determinations.

Abstract A reliable rapid method for the measurement of electric resistance of small amounts of blood or similar material is presented. A pattern of change in the resistance of blood during coagulation is described. These resistance changes make possible the determination of the clotting time with elimination of inconsistencies caused by motion and offer a quantitative means for the study of clot retraction. In view of the fact that no method has been available previously for a comparable quantitative study of clot retraction, electric resistance measurements may serve to detect significant variations of this process in disease beyond our present knowledge. By means of the ratio of blood resistance to plasma resistance, the cell volume fraction of a sample of blood may be calculated. Cell volumes determined by resistance measurements were found to average 7.7 per cent lower than the hematocrit as determined by centrifugation.
Lipidomics study using novel plasmonic nanoshells

Lipidomics is a rapidly expanding “omics” field based on studying the structures, functions and dynamic changes of lipids in cells, tissues or body fluids. Among the currently developed analytical tools, mass spectrometry technique holds special advantage in analysis of lipid. We reported a novel plasmonic nanoshell matrix for efficient detection of lipids. Selection of an ideal matrix with unique structural properties is an important parameter for sensitive performance in laser desorption/ionization technique. Thus, our works addresses some of these challenges providing an approach with enhanced sensitivity, minimal analyte volume, and simple pre-treatment procedures. Furthermore, identification of functional lipids as biomarkers using novel matrices could push clinical research towards advanced disease diagnostics application.
DNA metabarcoding of orchid-derived products reveals widespread illegal orchid trade

In eastern Mediterranean countries orchids continue to be collected from the wild for the production of salep, a beverage made of dried orchid tubers. In this study we used nrITS1 and nrITS2 DNA metabarcoding to identify orchid and other plant species present in 55 commercial salep products purchased in Iran, Turkey, Greece and Germany. Thirty samples yielded a total of 161 plant taxa, and 13 products (43%) contained orchid species and these belonged to 10 terrestrial species with tuberous roots. Another 70% contained the substitute ingredient Cyamopsis tetraganoloba (Guar). DNA metabarcoding using the barcoding markers nrITS1 and nrITS2 shows the potential of these markers and approach for identification of species used in salep products. The analysis of interspecific genetic distances between sequences of these markers for the most common salep orchid genera shows that species level identifications can be made with a high level of confidence. Understanding the species diversity and provenance of salep orchid tubers will enable the chain of commercialization of endangered species to be traced back to the harvesters and their natural habitats, and thus allow for targeted efforts to protect or sustainably use wild populations of these orchids.
Genetic variants in the genes encoding rho GTPases and related regulators predict cutaneous melanoma‐specific survival

Rho GTPases control cell division, motility, adhesion, vesicular trafficking and phagocytosis, which may affect progression and/or prognosis of cancers. Here, we investigated associations between genetic variants of Rho GTPases‐related genes and cutaneous melanoma‐specific survival (CMSS) by re‐analyzing a published melanoma genome‐wide association study (GWAS) and validating the results in another melanoma GWAS. In the single‐locus analysis of 36,018 SNPs in 129 Rho‐related genes, 427 SNPs were significantly associated with CMSS (p < 0.050 and false‐positive report probability <0.2) in the discovery dataset, and five SNPs were replicated in the validation dataset. Among these, four SNPs (i.e., RHOU rs10916352 G > C, ARHGAP22 rs3851552 T > C, ARHGAP44 rs72635537 C > T and ARHGEF10 rs7826362 A > T) were independently predictive of CMSS (a meta‐analysis derived p = 9.04 × 10−4, 9.58 × 10−4, 1.21 × 10−4 and 8.47 × 10−4, respectively). Additionally, patients with an increasing number of unfavorable genotypes (NUGs) of these loci had markedly reduced CMSS in both discovery dataset and validation dataset (ptrend=1.47 × 10−7 and 3.12 × 10−5). The model including the NUGs and clinical variables demonstrated a significant improvement in predicting the five‐year CMSS. Moreover, rs10916352C and rs3851552C alleles were significantly associated with an increased mRNA expression levels of RHOU (p = 1.8 × 10−6) and ARHGAP22 (p = 5.0 × 10−6), respectively. These results may provide promising prognostic biomarkers for CM personalized management and treatment.
DNS Tunneling Detection Method Based on Multilabel Support Vector Machine

DNS tunneling is a method used by malicious users who intend to bypass the firewall to send or receive commands and data. This has a significant impact on revealing or releasing classified information. Several researchers have examined the use of machine learning in terms of detecting DNS tunneling. However, these studies have treated the problem of DNS tunneling as a binary classification where the class label is either legitimate or tunnel. In fact, there are different types of DNS tunneling such as FTP-DNS tunneling, HTTP-DNS tunneling, HTTPS-DNS tunneling, and POP3-DNS tunneling. Therefore, there is a vital demand to not only detect the DNS tunneling but rather classify such tunnel. This study aims to propose a multilabel support vector machine in order to detect and classify the DNS tunneling. The proposed method has been evaluated using a benchmark dataset that contains numerous DNS queries and is compared with a multilabel Bayesian classifier based on the number of corrected classified DNS tunneling instances. Experimental results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed SVM classification method by obtaining an -measure of 0.80.
Comparison of boiling and chlorination on the quality of stored drinking water and childhood diarrhoea in Indonesian households

SUMMARY We compared the impact of a commercial chlorination product (brand name Air RahMat) in stored drinking water to traditional boiling practices in Indonesia. We conducted a baseline survey of all households with children <5 years in four communities, made 11 subsequent weekly home visits to assess acceptability and use of water treatment methods, measured Escherichia coli concentration in stored water, and determined diarrhoea prevalence among children <5 years. Of 281 households surveyed, boiling (83%) and Air RahMat (7%) were the principal water treatment methods. Multivariable log-binomial regression analyses showed lower risk of E. coli in stored water treated with Air RahMat than boiling (risk ratio (RR) 0·75, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0·56–1·00). The risk of diarrhoea in children <5 years was lower among households using Air RahMat (RR 0·43, 95% CI 0·19–0·97) than boiling, and higher in households with E. coli concentrations of 1–1000 MPN/100 ml (RR 1·54, 95% CI 1·04–2·28) or >1000 MPN/100 ml (RR 1·86, 95% CI 1·09–3·19) in stored water than in households without detectable E. coli. Although results suggested that Air RahMat water treatment was associated with lower E. coli contamination and diarrhoeal rates among children <5 years than water treatment by boiling, Air RahMat use remained low.
Imputation of missing value using dynamic Bayesian network for multivariate time series data

Time series and multivariate data are required to accommodate more complex decision making. Data are processed using data mining techniques in order to obtain valuable trends in the data that can be used to support in decision making processes. Unfortunately, we often encounter a lot of problems in preparing the data for data mining process. One of the problem is missing values. Missing values in data may causes inaccurate results of data processing. Imputation are used to handle missing values. In this thesis missing value are handled using Dynamic Bayesian Network (DBN). DBN is a useful technique to maintain the relationships between attributes of data. The results of the prediction are used to fill in the missing values in the data. Support Vector Regression (SVR) algorithm is used for predicting the missing values. It is chosen for its good performance in comparison to other similar algorithms. Validation of the technique is carried out by using Symmetric Mean Absolute Percentage Error (SMAPE). SMAPE used to count an error rate for prediction model. The use of the DBN of feature selection for SVR can't decrease the error rate of the model.
Drowsiness detection system based on eye-closure using a low-cost EMG and ESP8266

Many accidents are caused by drowsy drivers. To prevent such accidents, it is necessary to create a device that can detect early drowsiness on the driver and immediately wake the driver. From the study it is known that a reliable indicator to measure drowsiness is the average duration of eyelid closure. This paper presents a prototype of drowsiness detection on the driver using a low-cost EMG, called Myoware, which can be used to detect the closure of the eyelid without injuring the eyes, by simply attaching it to the skin around the eyelid. To facilitate this attachment, an eyeglass is used. Furthermore, with the addition of ESP8266, it has been possible to create a drowsiness level detector that can be monitored online via the internet.
Distributed transmitter cooperation and signal processing with limited feedback and backhaul. (Transmission coopérative et traitement du signal distribué avec feedback et backhaul limité)

Transmitter cooperation is considered a promising tool for dealing with interference in wireless networks with an aggressive reuse policy of spectral resources. Although transmitter cooperation comes in many flavors, a recurrent assumption behind proposed methods lies in the need for cooperating devices to (i) acquire, share information pertaining to the propagation channel toward the multiple receivers and (ii) perform cooperation based on the disseminated information in the previous step. This holds true for instance for coordinated beamforming methods and, to an even greater extent, for network-MIMO (Joint Processing coordinated multi-point (JP CoMP) in the long term evolution (LTE) terminology). As feedback and exchange of channel state information (CSI) come at a price in terms of signaling overhead, there arise two important questions: (i) What information should be fed back or exchanged such that the CSI acquired at each transmitter is most informative to perform cooperation? (ii) Which techniques can reap the benefits of cooperation while living with an imperfect channel representation that varies from transmitter to transmitter ? In this thesis, we address both aforementioned questions. We consider first each transmitter acquires an initial imperfect CSI based on limited receivers feedback. For the design of efficient cooperation techniques that copes with the imperfect and non-identical CSI configuration at each transmitter, we investigate specifically a regularized zero forcing (RZF) precoder design in large system scenario. Finally, interesting and challenging research directions and open problems are discussed.
Broadband nonvolatile photonic switching based on optical phase change materials: beyond the classical figure-of-merit.

In this Letter, we propose a broadband, nonvolatile on-chip switch design in the telecommunication C-band with record low loss and crosstalk. The unprecedented device performance builds on: 1) a new optical phase change material (O-PCM) Ge2Sb2Se4Te1 (GSST), which exhibits significantly reduced optical attenuation compared to traditional O-PCMs, and 2) a nonperturbative design that enables low-loss device operation beyond the classical figure-of-merit (FOM) limit. We further demonstrate that the 1-by-2 and 2-by-2 switches can serve as basic building blocks to construct nonblocking and nonvolatile on-chip switching fabric supporting arbitrary numbers of input and output ports.