Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Level of feeding and stage of maturity affects diet digestibility and protein and fat deposition in cross-bred lambs

Abstract Metabolizable energy intake is the key determining factor for the expression of an animal’s genetic potential for growth, and current predictive growth models are not capable of accounting for all the nutritional variation that is commonly observed. The current study was designed to investigate energy transactions as lambs grow using CT scanning to assess body compositional changes at two levels of intake and two stages of maturity, and compare results to predictive equations. A pelleted diet was provided to cross-bred lambs (n = 108) at approximately 2.5 and 3.5% of liveweight (LW) in dry matter when the lambs were approximately four (31.8 ± 0.3 kg LW) and eight (40.5 ± 0.3 kg LW) months of age. A digestibility trial was run sequentially using 10 lambs of the same genetic and nutritional history fed at the same feeding levels to determine the digestibility of the diet. In the first feeding period, metabolizable energy intake was 15.3 ± 0.03 and 9.5 ± 0.03 MJ ME/d for high and low feeding levels respectively, resulting in higher rates of empty body gain for high feeding level lambs (197.7 ± 7.8 vs. 72.8 ± 8.2 g/d; P < 0.001). In the second feeding period, metabolizable energy intake was 15.2 ± 0.01 and 12.0 ± 0.01 MJ ME/d for high and low feeding levels respectively, resulting in higher rates of empty body gain for high feeding level lambs (176.3 ± 5.4 vs. 73.9 ± 5.3; P < 0.001). Lambs at later stages of maturity retained proportionately more energy as fat for every unit of retained energy compared to younger lambs (95.4 ± 0.40 vs. 90.0 ± 0.42%; P < 0.001). Lambs fed the lower feeding level in period two also retained proportionately more energy as fat for every unit of retained energy than lambs at the higher feeding level (97.1 ± 0.36 vs. 94.0 ± 0.37%; P < 0.001) which is hypothesized to be because of the rapid response of visceral lean tissue to changes in nutrition. There were no significant interactions between treatments in the first and second feeding periods, indicating an absence of a compensatory gain response to a nutritional restriction in the first feeding period. This experiment highlights the significance of a changing feed supply and the subsequent effects on body composition and the partitioning of energy to lean and fat tissue deposition. For improvements in the accuracy of predictive ruminant growth models it is necessary to gain a greater understanding of the different tissue responses over time to changes in nutrition.
In vitro studies of the renin-angiotensin system in human adipose tissue/adipocytes and possible relationship to SARS-CoV-2: a scoping review

ABSTRACT The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) operates within adipose tissue. Obesity-related changes can affect adipose RAS, predisposing to hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and possibly severe COVID-19. We evaluated the in vitro research on human adipose RAS and identified gaps in the literature. Medline (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), Web of Science, Scopus, and 1findr were searched to identify relevant studies. Fifty primary studies met our inclusion criteria for analysis. Expression of RAS components (n = 14), role in differentiation (n = 14), association with inflammation (n = 15) or blood pressure (n = 7) were investigated. We found (1) obesity-related changes in RAS were frequently studied (30%); (2) an upswing of articles investigating adipose ACE-2 expression since the COVID-19 pandemic; (3) a paucity of papers on AT2R and Ang (1–7)/MasR which counterbalance Ang II/ART1; (4) weight loss lowered adipose ACE-2 mRNA expression; and (5) angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) reduced deleterious effects of angiotensin II. Overall, these studies link Ang II/ATR1 signalling to impaired adipogenesis and a pro-inflammatory dysfunctional adipose tissue, with ATR1 blockade limiting these responses. ACE-2 may mitigate Ang II effects by converting it to Ang(1–7) which binds MasR. More work is needed to understand adipose RAS in various pathologic states such as obesity and COVID-19 infection.T.
Impact of Curcumin Supplementation on Radiation Dermatitis Severity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Background: Radiation dermatitis (RD) is a common side effect of radiotherapy in most breast cancer patients. Curcumin has recently attracted more attention for managing the side effects of breast cancer treatments. This review study aimed to investigate the effect of curcumin on the severity of radiation dermatitis in patients with breast cancer. Methods: All eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were collected by searching PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane, and Web of Science. The effect size was expressed as weighted mean difference (WMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Study heterogeneity was assessed through Q statistics and I-squared. Results: Four RCTs with 882 patients were included in the final analysis. The results of the meta-analysis indicated that curcumin supplementation significantly reduced radiation dermatitis severity (RDS) score in the intervention group compared to the control group (WMD=-0.50; 95% CI -0.72 to -0.27, P <0.001). A significant heterogeneity was observed between the studies (I2 = 95.7%, P < 0.001). Conclusion: Based on the results of the present study, curcumin has significant effects in reducing the severity of radiation dermatitis in breast cancer patients receiving radiotherapy. Further well-designed longitudinal studies are recommended to confirm these results and to discover the underlying mechanisms of the effects of curcumin on the severity of radiation dermatitis in patients with cancer.
Fermented whey modulated AFB1 and OTA-induced hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity in vivo. A relative and absolute quantification about sex differences

Abstract Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and ochratoxin A (OTA) are well-known to promote hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity in vivo, which may be counteracted by natural compounds like fermented whey (FW). Carbamoyl phosphate synthetase 1 (CPS1) and kidney injury molecule 1 (KIM-1) are typical biomarkers used to detect liver and kidney damage, respectively. Thus, RT-qPCR and droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) analysis were performed to assess the potential beneficial effect of FW against AFB1 and OTA hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity in male and female Wistar rats by analyzing the altered gene expression of hepatic CPS1 and renal KIM-1 after 28 days of oral exposure. In male livers, the most damaging treatment was AFB1 by reducing CPS1 expression, which was totally reversed by FW-administration. This bioactive compound also improved gene expression changes induced by OTA and mycotoxins mixture. In female livers, a significant CPS1 overexpression was observed for each exposure performed, in which FW-supplementation reported no remarkable differences compared with mycotoxins exposure. Conversely, in the kidneys of male and female rats, exposure to mycotoxins promoted renal damage by altering KIM-1 gene expression, being OTA-exposure the most harmful condition. In both sexes, ddPCR analysis demonstrated that FW-addition modulated mycotoxins induced KIM-1 gene expression changes, thus reducing kidney damage. In this organ, sex-related responses were not clearly observed. Therefore, these findings confirmed that AFB1 and OTA-promoted hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity in vivo, which could be modulated by dietary FW supplementation.
Stability of DNA and RNA hairpins: a comparative study based on ox-DNA

Advances in single-molecule experiments on macromolecular crowding urgently need an efficient simulation method to resolve their discrepancies quantitatively. Ox-DNA model has been since reworked to treat the thermodynamics and mechanical properties of DNA/RNA hairpin at a stretching force. In hopping experiments, the critical forces of RNA hairpins at different temperatures are greater than those of DNA hairpins, in addition, the Gibbs free energy at a fixed temperature required to convert an RNA hairpin into a single-stranded molecule at zero force is obviously greater than that of DNA hairpin and gradually decreases by increasing the temperature. As far as force-ramping experiments are concerned, the first-rupture forces of RNA/DNA hairpins corresponding to the maximum probability density linearly pertain to the force-loading rate, with those of RNA hairpins being greater. The extended ox-DNA model could potentially identify the interaction between biologically inert polymer and RNA/DNA hairpins in crowded environments.
In vitro hepatic metabolism of the natural product quebecol

Abstract Quebecol (2,3,3-tri-(3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl)-1-propanol) is a polyphenolic compound, which is formed during maple syrup production from Acer spp. Quebecol bears structural similarities to the chemotherapy drug tamoxifen, which has led to synthesis of structural analogues and investigations into their pharmacological properties, however there are no reports on the hepatic metabolism of quebecol. This interest in therapeutic properties spurred us to investigate the in vitro microsomal Phase I and II metabolism of quebecol. We were unable to detect any P450 metabolites for quebecol in either human liver microsomes (HLM) or rat liver microsomes (RLM). In contrast we observed marked formation of three glucuronide metabolites in both RLM and HLM, suggesting that clearance via Phase II pathways is likely to predominate. To further understand the hepatic contribution to first-pass glucuronidation we have validated an HPLC method following FDA and EMA guidelines (selectivity, linearity, accuracy, and precision) to quantify quebecol in microsomes. In vitro enzyme kinetics were performed for quebecol glucuronidation by HLM including 8 concentrations from 5–30 µM. We determined a Michaelis-Menten constant (KM) of 5.1 µM, intrinsic clearance (Clint,u) of 0.038 ± 0.001 mL/min/mg, and maximum velocity (Vmax) of 0.22 ± 0.01 µmol/min/mg.
Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 Supplementation Promotes Brain Maturation in Preterm Pigs

Abstract Very preterm infants show low levels of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), which is associated with postnatal growth restriction and poor neurologic outcomes. It remains unknown whether supplemental IGF-1 may stimulate neurodevelopment in preterm neonates. Using cesarean-delivered preterm pigs as a model of preterm infants, we investigated the effects of supplemental IGF-1 on motor function and on regional and cellular brain development. Pigs were treated with 2.25 mg/kg/d recombinant human IGF-1/IGF binding protein-3 complex from birth until day 5 or 9 before the collection of brain samples for quantitative immunohistochemistry (IHC), RNA sequencing, and quantitative PCR analyses. Brain protein synthesis was measured using in vivo labeling with [2H5] phenylalanine. We showed that the IGF-1 receptor was widely distributed in the brain and largely coexisted with immature neurons. Region-specific quantification of IHC labeling showed that IGF-1 treatment promoted neuronal differentiation, increased subcortical myelination, and attenuated synaptogenesis in a region-dependent and time-dependent manner. The expression levels of genes involved in neuronal and oligodendrocyte maturation, and angiogenic and transport functions were altered, reflecting enhanced brain maturation in response to IGF-1 treatment. Cerebellar protein synthesis was increased by 19% at day 5 and 14% at day 9 after IGF-1 treatment. Treatment had no effect on Iba1+ microglia or regional brain weights and did not affect motor development or the expression of genes related to IGF-1 signaling. In conclusion, the data show that supplemental IGF-1 promotes brain maturation in newborn preterm pigs. The results provide further support for IGF-1 supplementation therapy in the early postnatal period in preterm infants.
Punica granatum Seed Essential Oil Suppressed Methadone-Induced Cell Death by Natural Antioxidant Activity

Objectives: Methadone is an opioid used in treating chronic and acute pains as well as opioid dependence. It induces death in neural cells. This study investigates Punica granatum oil’s effects as a natural antioxidant on methadone-induced cell death. Materials and methods: The cell death index indicating the apoptosis occurrence is calculated using the TUNEL test. Rhodamine123 evaluated mitochondrial membrane permeability. Griess reaction was used to detect nitric oxide production. Furthermore, IL-1β, IL-6, INFγ, and TNFα inflammatory cytokines were measured using the Rat inflammatory cytokine assay kit, Rat Kit V-Plex, and the caspase-3 activity was calculated through the Caspase-3 Colorimetric Assay Kit. Results: Different treatment processes of Punica granatum oil reduced cell cytotoxicity and cell death index and increased viability and proliferation in methadone-treated PC12 cells. NO production decreased in different treatment processes compared to methadone-induced PC12 cells and decreased IL-1β, IL-6, INFγ, and TNFα inflammatory cytokines. In these treatment processes, mitochondrial membrane potential increased, and caspase-3 activity decreased compared to methadone-induced PC12 cells. Conclusion: Punica granatum essential oil declined methadone-induced cell death in PC12 cells in a dose-dependent manner through suppressing NO production, IL-1β, IL-6, INF-γ, and TNF-α inflammatory cytokines production, mitochondrial membrane disruption, and caspase-3 activities.
New sulfa drug derivatives and their zinc(II) complexes: synthesis, spectroscopic properties and in vitro cytotoxic activities

Abstract Synthesis of four sulfa drug derivatives (L1–L4) and Zn(II) complexes derived from sulfonamide group antibiotic substances was carried out using the hydrothermal technique (HT) and their structures of the obtained compounds were explained using elemental analysis (EA), FT-IR and NMR (1H- and 13C-). Cytotoxic activities of four novel sulfa drug based-Schiff base compounds and their Zn(II) complexes were determined by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay using MCF-7 (human breast cancer), Caco-2 (human colorectal adenocarcinoma), A2780 (human ovarian cancer) and LNCaP (human prostate adenocarcinoma) cell lines. LogIC50 values of all obtained compounds were computed with the Graphpad Prism 6 program after 24 h of treatment for MCF-7, Caco-2, A2780 and LNCaP cells. Comet assay experiments were performed using LogIC50 concentrations of all compounds to determine DNA damage. Based on the data obtained, all compounds significantly decreased MCF-7, Caco-2, A2780 and LNCaP cell viability compared to the control groups (p < 0.05). Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma
Identification of m6A-associated LncRNAs as predict factors for the immune infiltration and prognosis of thyroid cancer

Abstract Objective This study aims to evaluate the prognostic value of m6A-associated long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and their interaction with tumour microenvironment in thyroid cancer (THCA). Methods The clinical and gene expression data of tumours from 502 patients with THCA and 58 adjacent normal tissues were retrieved from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)–THCA dataset. The Pearson test was utilized to identify potential m6A-associated lncRNAs (p < 0.001 and Pearson correlation coefficient > 0.4). Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed to verify the expression levels of lncRNAs in tissues. MTT, EdU, colony formation and wound-healing assays were performed to determine the functions of m6A-associated lncRNAs in THCA cell proliferation and metastasis. Results M6A-associated lncRNAs were identified in three cluster groups. A significant survival difference was found among them, with cluster 1 patients showing worse survival. Moreover, lower immune and estimate scores were correlated to poorer prognosis, and CD8+ T cell and memory CD4+ T cell levels were increased in cluster 1. Cluster 2, with better overall survival, had high expression of PD-L1 and CTLA-4. Eleven of the m6A-associated lncRNAs were screened to establish the risk model, including AC007365.1, AC008555.1, AC040160.1, AC064807.1, AC126773.4, AL023583.1, AL512306.2, EIF2AK3-DT, LINC00667, LYPLAL1-DT and MIR181A2HG. Based on the median risk score, THCA patients were stratified into low-risk and high-risk groups. Overall survival analysis showed a dramatic difference between the two groups. qRCR was performed to verify the expression levels of lncRNA (LYPLAL1-DT, EIF2AK3-DT and MIR181A2HG) in THCA and adjacent normal tissues. Furthermore, functional experiments showed that knockdown of MIR181A2HG obviously inhibited the proliferation and migration of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) cells in vitro, whereas LYPLAL1-DT overexpression promoted PTC cell proliferation and migration. Conclusions Eleven of the m6A-associated lncRNAs were identified as a risk model to predict clinical outcomes and provide a novel and efficient immunotherapeutic strategy for THCA patients. Key messages m6A-associated lncRNAs can be used to predict the clinical outcomes of thyroid cancer patients. An m6A-associated lncRNAs risk model, which can accurately evaluate the immune status and risk stratification in individual thyroid cancer patients, was established. Knockdown/overexpression of representative lncRNAs in the risk model significantly affected the proliferation and migration of papillary thyroid cancer cells.
Aneuploidy Is Associated with Azole Resistance in Aspergillus fumigatus

Azole resistance in Aspergillus fumigatus is on the rise. Nontarget-mediated mechanisms are a common cause of azole resistance in chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA). ABSTRACT Azole resistance in Aspergillus fumigatus is on the rise. Nontarget-mediated mechanisms are a common cause of azole resistance in chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA). Here, we investigate resistance mechanisms using whole-genome sequencing. Sixteen azole-resistant A. fumigatus isolates from CPA were sequenced to assess genome rearrangements. Seven out of 16 CPA isolates showed genomic duplications compared to zero out of 18 invasive isolates. Duplication of regions, including cyp51A, increased gene expression. Our results suggest aneuploidy as an azole resistance mechanism in CPA.
Study on a Method for Attitude Measurement Based on Single Camera with Coplanar Feature Points

The relative attitude of object is measured according to the image of four coplanar feature points,and the image is obtained by single camera.Selects IR-LED as the feature points and optimum control of its luminance.The image coordinate of the feature points are determined based on the method of Bilinear interpolation and Gaussian surface fitting.Using the linear idea for solving the P4P question the coordinate of these feature points and attitude of object are getten.At last,some physical and simulation experiments are done,the uncertainty of the method is also analyzed.The result shows that the real-time and the accuracy are higher.
Salmonella Typhimurium uses the Cpx stress response to detect N-chlorotaurine and promote the repair of oxidized proteins

Significance The Cpx-mediated envelope stress response is crucial for envelope maintenance in Gram-negative bacteria. Strikingly, researchers have reported very few natural stresses that induce the Cpx pathway. Here, we report that a potent antimicrobial reactive chlorine species, N-chlorotaurine, activates the Cpx pathway in Salmonella Typhimurium, leading to overproduction of the periplasmic oxidized-protein repair system, among other effects. This work presents direct evidence indicating that bacteria use the envelope stress response to detect specific oxidative stress.
Erratum: ''A convergence study for the Laguerre expansion in the moment equation method for neoclassical transport in general toroidal plasmas''[Phys. Plasmas 17, 082510 (2010)]

equation method for neoclassical transport in general toroidal plasmas” [Phys. Plasmas 17, 082510 (2010)] S. Nishimura, H. Sugama, H. Maaßberg, C. D. Beidler, S. Murakami, Y. Nakamura, and S. Hirooka National Institute for Fusion Science, Toki 509-5292, Japan Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik, EURATOM Association, Teilinstitut Greifswald, Greifswald D-17491, Germany Department of Engineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan Graduate School of Energy Science, Kyoto University, Uji 611-0011, Japan
Block-Based Compressed Sensing for Neutron Radiation Image Using WDFB

An ideal compression method for neutron radiation image should have high compression ratio while keeping more details of the original image. Compressed sensing (CS), which can break through the restrictions of sampling theorem, is likely to offer an efficient compression scheme for the neutron radiation image. Combining wavelet transform with directional filter banks, a novel nonredundant multiscale geometry analysis transform named Wavelet Directional Filter Banks (WDFB) is constructed and applied to represent neutron radiation image sparsely. Then, the block-based CS technique is introduced and a high performance CS scheme for neutron radiation image is proposed. By performing two-step iterative shrinkage algorithm the problem of norm minimization is solved to reconstruct neutron radiation image from random measurements. The experiment results demonstrate that the scheme not only improves the quality of reconstructed image obviously but also retains more details of original image.
Transcription termination complex, Rtt103-Rai1-Rat1, regulates sub-telomeric transcripts in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

ABSTRACT Telomeres are terminal structures that define the ends of linear chromosomes. They harbour specialized ribonucleoprotein complexes which play a major role in genome integrity by preventing unscheduled DNA damage repair events. Genes located adjacent to telomere repeat sequences are repressed by a phenomenon called telomere position effect (TPE) via epigenetic silencing. RNA surveillance pathways post-transcriptionally regulate any leaky transcripts arising from the telomeres. Recently, multiple non-coding RNA species originate from telomere ends, namely, TERRA (telomeric repeat‐containing RNA), ARRET, sub-telomeric XUTs and sub-telomeric CUTs have been identified. In this study, we report a role for the transcription termination complex (Rtt103-Rai1-Rat1) in regulating the abundance of the sub-telomeric transcripts in a transcription-dependent manner. We show that the Rtt103 mutants have elevated levels of TERRA and other sub-telomeric transcripts that are usually silenced. Our study suggests that Rtt103 potentially recruits the exonuclease, Rat1 in a RNA polymerase II dependent manner to degrade these transcripts and regulate their levels in the cell.