Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Intermittent Fasting Attenuates Metabolic-Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis by Enhancing the Hepatic Autophagy–Lysosome Pathway

An intermittent fasting (IF) regimen has been shown to protect against metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). However, the precise mechanism remains unclear. Here, we explored how IF reduced hepatic lipid accumulation, inflammation, and fibrosis in mice with MASH. The mice were fed a high-fat diet (HFD) for 30 weeks and either continued on the HFD or were subjected to IF for the final 22 weeks. IF reduced body weight, insulin resistance, and hepatic lipid accumulation in HFD-fed mice. Lipidome analysis revealed that IF modified HFD-induced hepatic lipid composition. In particular, HFD-induced impaired autophagic flux was reversed by IF. The decreased hepatic lysosome-associated membrane protein 1 level in HFD-fed mice was upregulated in HFD+IF-fed mice. However, increased hepatic lysosomal acid lipase protein levels in HFD-fed mice were reduced by IF. IF attenuated HFD-induced hepatic inflammation and galectin-3-positive Kupffer cells. In addition to the increases in hepatic hydroxyproline and lumican levels, lipocalin-2-mediated signaling was reversed in HFD-fed mice by IF. Taken together, our findings indicate that the enhancement of the autophagy–lysosomal pathway may be a critical mechanism of MASH reduction by IF.
Unraveling the role of VLDL in the relationship between type 2 diabetes and coronary atherosclerosis: a Mendelian randomization analysis

Background The causal link between Type 2 diabetes (T2D) and coronary atherosclerosis has been established through wet lab experiments; however, its analysis with Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) data remains unexplored. This study aims to validate this relationship using Mendelian randomization analysis and explore the potential mediation of VLDL in this mechanism. Methods Employing Mendelian randomization analysis, we investigated the causal connection between T2D and coronary atherosclerosis. We utilized GWAS summary statistics from European ancestry cohorts, comprising 23,363 coronary atherosclerosis patients and 195,429 controls, along with 32,469 T2D patients and 183,185 controls. VLDL levels, linked to SNPs, were considered as a potential mediating causal factor that might contribute to coronary atherosclerosis in the presence of T2D. We employed the inverse variance weighted (IVW), Egger regression (MR-Egger), weighted median, and weighted model methods for causal effect estimation. A leave-one-out sensitivity analysis was conducted to ensure robustness. Results Our Mendelian randomization analysis demonstrated a genetic association between T2D and an increased coronary atherosclerosis risk, with the IVW estimate at 1.13 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.07–1.20]. Additionally, we observed a suggestive causal link between T2D and VLDL levels, as evidenced by the IVW estimate of 1.02 (95% CI: 0.98–1.07). Further supporting lipid involvement in coronary atherosclerosis pathogenesis, the IVW-Egger estimate was 1.30 (95% CI: 1.06–1.58). Conclusion In conclusion, this study highlights the autonomous contributions of T2D and VLDL levels to coronary atherosclerosis development. T2D is linked to a 13.35% elevated risk of coronary atherosclerosis, and within T2D patients, VLDL concentration rises by 2.49%. Notably, each standard deviation increase in VLDL raises the likelihood of heart disease by 29.6%. This underscores the significant role of lipid regulation, particularly VLDL, as a mediating pathway in coronary atherosclerosis progression.
Hydraulic performance of a morphology‐based stream channel design

The inconsistent performance of stream rehabilitation projects has generated debates over the use of morphological templates rather than detailed hydraulic information for channel designs. A rehabilitation project conducted in a reach of Deep Run, Maryland (United States), was monitored in order to assess commonly used approaches to channel design that rely on classification systems to describe the channel form, empirical relations to predict channel dimensions, and a single design discharge to evaluate the hydraulic conditions. Results from field measurements and observations indicated that the morphological conditions created in Deep Run were unstable. The morphology of the constructed channel was altered by storm flows smaller than the designed bank‐full discharge and by floods that extended the flow width to the limits of the created meander belt. Hydraulic conditions associated with stabilization practices, vegetation, and gravel deposits influenced stability and unplanned adjustment patterns during flows contained within the active channel. Stability during flooding was diminished by reductions in floodplain roughness from vegetation removal and a decrease in flow path sinuosity. These findings illustrate the need for enhanced consideration of the relations between channel stability and hydraulic conditions at multiple scales and over a range of flow conditions in stream rehabilitation projects.
RECOMMENDATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 18 June 2009 on the establishment of a European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET)

(1) The development and recognition of citizens′ knowledge, skills and competence are crucial for their personal and professional development and for competitiveness, employment and social cohesion in the Community. In this respect, they should facilitate transnational mobility for workers and learners and contribute towards meeting the requirements of supply and demand in the European labour market. Participation in borderless lifelong learning for all, and transfer, recognition and accumu­ lation of individuals′ learning outcomes achieved in formal, non-formal and informal contexts, should therefore be promoted and improved at the Community level.
The role of MicroRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers in Rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune inflammatory disease. Approximately 1% of the world's population and 0.29% of Egyptians suffer from this disease. It is accompanied by ongoing inflammation and synovium hyperplasia, which, if left untreated, can cause severe joint degeneration and abnormalities. This disease's etiology is still unknown; however, RA development is significantly influenced by several genetic and environmental variables. Even though various treatments are accessible to the clinician, they are prone to failure or limited responses, seldom attain long-term remission, as well as are accompanied by systemic complications. Therefore, recent research on the epigenetics of RA has mainly focused on microRNA (miRNA) dysregulation in the disease, explains various RA pathophysiology features, and reveals new biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of RA. Here, we reviewed the data on the deregulations of miRNA expression in RA that are currently accessible and discussed their potential as diagnostic biomarkers for patients with RA.
Tunable Dual-Frequency Interference Suppression Circuit with GaN MMIC Delay Lines

This paper presents a broadband interference suppression circuit covering the 2-4 GHz octave. The circuit is capable of placing simultaneously two notches within the band with tunable center frequencies. A hybrid four-branch interferometer topology with gain incorporates GaN MMIC loaded tunable transmission-line delays. The circuit reduces the power of interfering signals by at least 10 dB, while amplifying the desired signal by as much as 18 dB. The overall circuit had a NF of 5-8.5dB across the band. This technique lends itself to produce sharp notches without the requirement of high-Q resonators, so implementations on low complexity PCBs is feasible.
Lacticaseibacillus Strains Isolated from Raw Milk: Screening Strategy for Their Qualification as Adjunct Culture in Cheesemaking

The microbial ecology fundamentals of raw milk and long-ripened cheeses consist of a complex interaction between starter lactic acid bacteria (SLAB) and non-starter LAB (NSLAB). Although NSLAB aromatic properties are paramount, other phenotypic traits need to be considered for their use as adjunct cultures, such as the capability to endure technological parameters encountered during cheesemaking. The present study focused on the isolation and characterization of NSLAB from spontaneously fermented raw cow’s milk coming from 20 dairies that produce Grana Padano PDO cheese. From 122 isolates, the screening process selected the 10 most diverse strains belonging to Lacticaseibacillus spp. to be phenotypically characterized. The strains were tested for their growth performance in milk in combination with the application of technological stresses, for their ability to produce volatile compounds after their growth in milk, and for their ability to use different nutrient sources and resist chemicals. The complex characterization qualified the strains 5959_Lbparacasei and 5296_Lbparacasei as the best candidates to be used as adjunct strains in the production of raw milk and long-ripened cheeses, provided that antibiotic resistance is measured before their employment. Other strains with interesting aromatic capabilities but lower heat resistance were 5293_Lbparacasei, 5649_Lbparacasei and 5780_Lbparacasei, which could be candidates as adjunct strains for uncooked cheese production.
Free-Space Material Measurement for a Small Dielectric Plate at W-band

A free-space material measurement for a small dielectric plate using a truncated Gaussian beam whose beam width is smaller than the material under test (MUT) is described. Measurement results of two glass plates of different thicknesses at W-band (75–110 GHz) show its validity and the minimum beam width of the truncated Gaussian beam for the reliable material property measurement of a small planar MUT.
Coastal and submarine karstic discharges in theGökova Bay, SW Turkey

Hydrochemical, stable isotopic (18O and 2H) and thermal infrared data of LANDSAT 5 TM for sea surface temperature anomalies have been used to determine the extent and spatial variation of salinization in coastal and submarine karstic groundwater discharges in the Gökova Bay area, located in the SW Turkey. The bay is an active graben extending in an east–west direction. An artesian aquifer in the eastern tidal plain is the only source of fresh groundwater, whereas Tertiary and Mesozoic carbonates contacting with sea along the northern coastline provide abundant but saline water. Physical properties, major ion chemistry and stable isotope composition indicate a westward increase in the salinity of the karstic springs. The temporal variation of salinity in groundwater is either related to variations in sea level or in seasonal recharge rates, while some springs have time-invariant salinity. Submarine groundwater discharges were determined successfully from satellite images and verified by ground measurements of pH, temperature and electrical conductivity. Some of these discharges are also characterized by the existence of a halocline, as observed during Scuba diving. The westward-increasing salinity appears to be related to decreasing groundwater discharge in this direction.
Background Guide for the Calculation of Land Carbon Stocks in the Biofuels Sustainability Scheme Drawing on the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories

This Guide covers the calculation of carbon-stock changes in soil and aboveand below-ground vegetation due to land use conversion in support of Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources, particularly for assessing carbon-stock changes due to land conversion for biofuel production. The methodology put forward is based on the Tier 1 approach as developed under the IPCC Guidelines 2006. It is based on specifying default values for carbon stocks and using coefficients of divergence from the default values according to land use/cover. The methodological approach of the IPCC was adapted for use with spatial layers instead of data tables. The spatial layers of the factors influencing carbon-stock changes were generated with global coverage and thematically aligned to comply with stipulations made in the Directive. According to the types of land use/cover conversion, a review is made of the methodology of the IPCC (2006). Particular problems regarding peatlands are presented. Drained peatlands cannot be assessed in terms of carbon-stock changes because drainage occurs on the overall peat soil profile (not only on the first 30 cm). This has direct consequences not only on CO 2 emissions but also on CH 4 and N 2 O. Tables of coefficients of conversions are then proposed according to climate zone and continental boundaries for soil carbon-stock changes and for aboveand below-ground carbon stock changes in biomass in a Technical Annex. The mission of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) is to provide customer-driven scientific and technical sup- port for the conception, development, implementation and monitoring of European Union policies. As a service of the European Commission, the JRC functions as a reference centre of science and technology for the Union. Close to the policy-making process, it serves the common interest of the Member States, while being independent of special interests, whether private or national. LB ­N A ­2473­EN ­C
Disaster Risk Evaluation for Urban Areas Under Composite Hazard Factors

This paper describes how to develop a disaster risk index for urban areas considering composite hazard factors. The disaster risk is mainly affected by the condition of ground system (e.g. drainage system, flood prevention facilities, etc.) in urban areas as well as strong wind and heavy rain. Therefore, strong wind, heavy rain, and flood are considered as composite hazard factors and strong wind and flood are estimated using simulation methods. In this paper, the disaster risk indices are calculated for each section of Incheon, Korea and compared with each other. The conceptual framework for the disaster risk index is composed of four main factors: disaster hazard, exposure, vulnerability, and emergency response and recovery capability. Each of these four main factors is disaggregated into more specific sub-factors and then indicators. To represent the relative importance of the indicators to each main factor or indicators are calculated by an objective (Principal Component Analysis, PCA) and a subjective (a Delphi method) method simultaneously. Validation of the disaster risk index developed is checked with actual damage data for past 10 years
Enhancing Privacy-Preserving Personal Identification Through Federated Learning With Multimodal Vital Signs Data

Personal identification (PI) can be verified using multimodal vital sign measurement methodologies in human physiology, such as electrocardiography (ECG) and radar signals. However, these processes are inevitably associated with concerns over privacy during the data collection and analysis stages, as well as discomfort during the physical measurement stages. To mitigate these issues, we explored the utilization of federated learning (FL) and noncontact sensors to ensure privacy protection and alleviate contact-related discomfort, respectively. Our objective was to establish the viability of privacy-secured PI models using FL. Furthermore, we examined the performance of FL-based PI models that incorporate non-contact radar signals, comparing the performance levels of five conventional machine learning (ML) models with those of five FL-based models using ECG and radar signals. Our experimental results indicate that although the ECG-based models exhibited superior overall accuracy, their radar-based counterparts demonstrated only slightly lower accuracy. These results confirm the effectiveness of FL-based PI models when compared with standard ML models. Thus, our study augments the evolution of privacy-guarded PI processes and lays a robust groundwork for future research in this field.
2-Fucosyllactose Metabolism by Bifidobacteria Promotes Lactobacilli Growth in Co-Culture

Breastfeeding is recognized as the gold standard in infant nutrition, not only because of breastmilk’s intrinsic nutritional benefits but also due to the high content of different bioactive components such as 2-fucosyllactose (2′FL) in the mother’s milk. It promotes the growth of its two major consumers, Bifidobacterium longum ssp. infantis and Bifidobacterium bifidum, but the effect on other intestinal microorganisms of infant microbiota remains incompletely understood. pH-uncontrolled fecal cultures from infants donors identified as “fast 2′FL -degrader” microbiota phenotype were used for the isolation of 2′FL-associated microorganisms. The use of specific selective agents allowed the successful isolation of B. bifidum IPLA20048 and of Lactobacillus gasseri IPLA20136. The characterization of 2′FL consumption and its moieties has revealed more pronounced growth, pH drop, and lactic acid production after 2′FL consumption when both microorganisms were grown together. The results point to an association between B. bifidum IPLA20048 and L. gasseri IPLA20136 in which L. gasseri is able to use the galactose from the lactose moiety after the hydrolysis of 2′FL by B. bifidum. The additional screening of two groups of bifidobacteria (n = 38), fast and slow degraders of 2′FL, in co-culture with lactobacilli confirmed a potential cross-feeding mechanism based on degradation products released from bifidobacterial 2′FL break-down. Our work suggests that this phenomenon may be widespread among lactobacilli and bifidobacteria in the infant gut. More investigation is needed to decipher how the ability to degrade 2′FL and other human milk oligosaccharides could influence the microbiota establishment in neonates and the evolution of the microbiota in adult life.
Stokvel saving and banking sector liquidity in South Africa: cointegration and short-run dynamics

Stokvel is a term used in South Africa to denote an informal saving club. A large population of South Africa are members of one stokvel or the other. A large amount of stokvel savings go unaccounted for in the banking sector resulting in distortions in the flow of funds in the banking sector. Thus, the objective of this paper was to establish the presence of a long-run relationship and causality between stokvel savings, money supply, gross domestic product growth rate and banking sector liquidity in South Africa. Applying the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) and Error Correction Model (ECM) techniques on quarterly time series data for the period from 1987Q3 to 2020Q1, the study reveals that in the long run, stokvel savings and money supply were found to have a negative relationship with banking sector liquidity albeit insignificant, however, gross domestic product growth rate exhibited a negative and statistically significant relationship at 1%. The coefficient of the error correction model (ECM(-1)) was, as expected, negative and statistically significant thus providing evidence of a short-run relationship. This study concludes that informal savings must be included in the formal banking services to harness the cash that is held by the informal sector and thus improve banking sector liquidity while minimizing the prevalence of financial disintermediation.
Investigation of the anisotropic mechanical response of layered shales

Layered shales exist widely and are often encountered during shale gas development. However, the mechanical response of layered shales is significantly affected by the existence of beddings, resulting in the obvious anisotropy characteristics regarding deformation, strength and failure mode. To clarify the underlying mechanisms of shale anisotropy that control the safety of engineering projects, the numerical simulation and theoretical analysis were conducted. The results show that with the growth of confining pressure, the compressive resistance of shales gradually increases, the shear fractures govern the instability and the anisotropy index decreases. Furthermore, several strength criteria for layered rock masses were summarized, and the modified Jaeger strength criterion was proposed by introducing the anisotropic parameter Rcθ ${R}_{c\theta }$ . It can effectively reflect the failure modes and strength features of layered shales under triaxial conditions with a higher accuracy. Besides, the variation of cohesion and internal friction angle of layered shale samples was comprehensively analysed under the triaxial conditions. Clearly, as the inclination angle of bedding planes increases, the cohesion of layered shales first decreases, but then increases under triaxial compression, showing the ‘U’‐shaped changing trend. Additionally, the internal friction angle of layered shales gradually increases with the increase in the inclination of bedding planes.
Performance of artificial intelligence using cone-beam computed tomography for segmentation of oral and maxillofacial structures: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background There are different values reported about the performance of artificial intelligence using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) for segmentation of oral and maxillofacial structures. We aimed to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis to provide an overall estimate to resolve the given conflicts. Material and Methods A literature search was conducted in Embase, PubMed, and Scopus through 31 October 2022, to identify studies evaluating artificial intelligence systems using oral and maxillofacial CBCT images for automatic segmentation of anatomical landmarks. The surveys had to report the outcome according to dice coefficient (DICE) or dice similarity coefficient (DSC) index. The estimates were presented as percent and 95% confidence interval (CI). I-squared index was used to assess the heterogeneity between the surveys. Results A total of 24 eligible studies were finally enrolled. The overall pooled DICE/DSC value for artificial intelligence was 0.92 (95% CI: 0.88-0.95; I-squared=93.6%, p<0.001). Tooth and mandible were evaluated more than other anatomical regions (five studies for each one). The lowest and highest DICE/DSC scores for the artificial intelligence related to inferior alveolar nerve (0.55 [95% CI: 0.47-0.63]) and pharyngeal airway and sinonasal cavity (0.98 [95% CI: 0.98-1.00]). Conclusions The findings revealed excellent performance for the artificial intelligence regarding the segmentation task of oral and maxillofacial CBCT images. Key words:Artificial intelligence, cone-beam computed tomography, segmentation performance, dentistry.
AXIM: A Programmable Simulation Environment for FPGA Kernels with AXI Interfaces

In the recent decade, the development of FPGA kernels raises its level of abstraction from RTL to HLS C or OpenCL. And so are the simulation and debugging software suites. However, it makes some existing high-quality RTL simulators incompatible to use. Therefore, we propose AXIM, a programmable simulation environment that integrates existing RTL simulators for FPGA kernels with interfaces at a high-level abstraction via AXI buses. AXIM consists three modules, including AXIM hardware driver, AXIM runtime library, and AXIM debugger. Experimental results show that AXIM runs faster than the one integrated with Xilinx Vitis. Besides, another experiment demonstrates that visualization analysis of DRAM's activities generated by AXIM can help developers optimize the design of kernels. As a side product, we also identify an inconsistent behavior in hardware emulation in Xilinx Vitis 2019.2 about data transfer using AXI interfaces.