Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Role of the cGAS–STING pathway in cancer development and oncotherapeutic approaches

The cyclic GMP‐AMP synthase (cGAS)–stimulator of interferon genes (STING) pathway mediates anti‐microbial innate immunity by inducing the production of type I interferons (IFNs) and inflammatory cytokines upon recognition of microbial DNA. Recent studies reveal that self‐DNA from tumors and by‐products of genomic instability also activates the cGAS–STING pathway and either promotes or inhibits tumor development. This has led to the development of cancer therapeutics using STING agonists alone and in combination with conventional cancer treatment or immune checkpoint targeting. On the other hand, for cancers lacking the cGAS–STING pathway and thus a regular innate immunity response, oncolytic virus therapy has been shown to have therapeutic potential. We here review and discuss the dichotomous roles of the cGAS–STING pathway in cancer development and therapeutic approaches.
Heart failure in immigrant groups: a cohort study of adults aged 45 years and over in Sweden

Abstract Objective. An increased risk of being diagnosed with coronary heart disease or atrial fibrillation has been shown among different immigrant groups. However, less is known on the risk of being diagnosed with congestive heart failure (CHF). Design. We studied CHF in immigrants including all adults ≥45 years in Sweden (n = 3,274,119) from 1998 to 2012. CHF was defined as at the first event registered in the National Patient Register. Risk of incident CHF in immigrant groups compared to the Swedish-born population was assessed by Cox regression, stratified by sex, adjusting for age, socio-demographic status, and co-morbidities. Results. During a mean follow-up of 14 years in total, a total of 302,340 (9.2%) events of CHF were registered. We found the following: higher incidence in men from Bosnia, Iraq, Lebanon, Russia and Africa; among women from Bosnia, Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey, Central Europe and Finland; lower incidence in men from Iceland, Latin America, Southern Europe, Norway and Western Europe; and among women from Iceland, Southern Europe, Norway, Denmark and Western Europe. Conclusion. It is important to be aware of the increased incidence of CHF in some immigrant groups, especially from countries and areas where the immigrants have been refugees, in order to enable for a timely diagnosis, treatment of and prevention of CHF and its debilitating complications.
Antimicrobial tunicamycin derivatives from the deep sea-derived Streptomyces xinghaiensis SCSIO S15077

Abstract Tunicamycin E (1), featuring a methyl substitution at C-10′, was isolated from marine-derived Streptomyces xinghaiensis SCSIO S15077 originated from the South China Sea sediment together with six known compounds, tunicamycin B (2), tunicamycin X (3), tunicamycin A (4), streptovirudin D2 (5), tunicamycin C (6), and tunicamycin C3 (7). The structure of compound 1 was elucidated by detailed spectroscopic data analyses. All the compounds exhibited strong to moderate antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis BT01 and B. thuringiensis W102 with MIC values ranging from 0.008 to 2 μg/mL. Moreover, compounds 1–7 exhibited moderate antifungal activity against Candida albicans ATCC 96901 and C. albicans CMCC (F) 98001 with MIC values ranging from 2 to 32 μg/mL. This is the first report that tunicamycins exhibit antimicrobial activities against B. thuringiensis, C. albicans CMCC (F) 98001 and a fluconazole resistant strain C. albicans ATCC 96901. Graphical Abstract
Toward Open-Ended Fraternal Transitions in Individuality

The emergence of new replicating entities from the union of simpler entities characterizes some of the most profound events in natural evolutionary history. Such transitions in individuality are essential to the evolution of the most complex forms of life. Thus, understanding these transitions is critical to building artificial systems capable of open-ended evolution. Alas, these transitions are challenging to induce or detect, even with computational organisms. Here, we introduce the DISHTINY (Distributed Hierarchical Transitions in Individuality) platform, which provides simple cell-like organisms with the ability and incentive to unite into new individuals in a manner that can continue to scale to subsequent transitions. The system is designed to encourage these transitions so that they can be studied: Organisms that coordinate spatiotemporally can maximize the rate of resource harvest, which is closely linked to their reproductive ability. We demonstrate the hierarchical emergence of multiple levels of individuality among simple cell-like organisms that evolve parameters for manually designed strategies. During evolution, we observe reproductive division of labor and close cooperation among cells, including resource-sharing, aggregation of resource endowments for propagules, and emergence of an apoptosis response to somatic mutation. Many replicate populations evolved to direct their resources toward low-level groups (behaving like multicellular individuals), and many others evolved to direct their resources toward high-level groups (acting as larger-scale multicellular individuals).
Placental development and its control in cattle

This review aims to provide an overview of the current knowledge regarding the development and function of the bovine placenta, starting with the gross anatomical morphology and histology. In addition, detailed information on trophoblast giant cell formation (TGC) and the complex interplay of the extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, integrins and growth factor systems is given. Drugs and pathological conditions (e.g. cloned placenta, retained placenta) are also reviewed. Knowledge derived from cell culture studies is embedded and set in proportion to the data gained from in vivo experiments. Finally, new discoveries and the major challenges for future work on the bovine placenta close the circle, in order to provide a complete picture of what is known about this fascinating, synepitheliochorial organ.
Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma and BRCA1.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma agonists have been proposed as breast cancer preventives. Individuals who carry a mutated copy of BRCA1, DNA Repair Associated gene are at increased risk for development of breast cancer. Published data in the field suggests there could be interactions between peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma and BRCA1 that could influence the activity of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma agonists for prevention. This review explores these possible interactions between peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma agonists and BRCA1 and discusses feasible experimental directions to provide more definitive information on the potential connections.
Neurocognitive Factors Contributing to Cochlear Implant Candidacy.

HYPOTHESIS Clinical adult cochlear implant (CI) candidacy evaluations rely heavily on measures of sentence recognition under the best-aided listening conditions. The hypothesis tested in this study was that nonauditory measures of neurocognitive processes would contribute to scores on preoperative sentence recognition for CI candidates, above and beyond hearing ability as assessed using pure-tone average (PTA). Support for this hypothesis would suggest that best-aided sentence recognition is not simply a measure of hearing ability; rather, neurocognitive functions contribute to performance and should be considered while counseling patients during CI candidacy evaluation about postoperative rehabilitative and outcome expectations. BACKGROUND Neurocognitive functions, such as working memory capacity, inhibition-concentration, information processing speed, and nonverbal reasoning contribute to aided speech recognition outcomes in adults with hearing loss. This study examined the roles of these neurocognitive factors on preoperative speech recognition performance in adults evaluated for CI candidacy. METHODS Thirty-one postlingually deafened adult CI candidates were enrolled. Participants were assessed using nonauditory measures of working memory capacity, inhibition-concentration, information processing speed, and nonverbal reasoning. Measures of sentence recognition in quiet and in multitalker babble (AzBio sentences) as well as sentences from the City University of New York in quiet were collected under best-aided conditions. RESULTS AzBio sentence recognition scores in babble were predicted significantly by scores of working memory capacity after accounting for PTA. Similarly, the City University of New York sentence recognition scores were predicted significantly by nonverbal reasoning after accounting for PTA. CONCLUSIONS Findings support the idea that clinical measures of sentence recognition may be affected to varying degrees by neurocognitive functions, and these functions should be considered during evaluation for CI candidacy.
An Acetobacterium strain isolated with metallic iron as electron donor enhances iron corrosion by a similar mechanism as Sporomusa sphaeroides

&NA; Sporomusa sphaeroides related strains are to date the only homoacetogens known to increase metallic iron corrosion. The goal of this work was to isolate additional homoacetogenic bacteria capable of using Fe(0) as electron donor and to explore their extracellular electron transfer mechanism. Enrichments were started from anoxic corrosion products and yielded Acetobacterium as main homoacetogenic genus. Isolations were performed with a new procedure using plates with a Fe(0) powder top layer. An Acetobacterium strain, closely related to A. malicum and A. wieringae, was isolated, in addition to a S. sphaeroides strain. The Acetobacterium isolate significantly increased Fe(0) corrosion ((1.44 ± 0.16)‐fold) compared to abiotic controls. The increase of corrosion by type strains ranged from (1.28 ± 0.13)‐fold for A. woodii to (2.03 ± 0.22)‐fold for S. sphaeroides. Hydrogen mediated the electron uptake from Fe(0) by the acetogenic isolates and tested type strains. Exchange of the medium and SEM imaging suggested that cells were attached to Fe(0). The corrosion enhancement mechanism is for all tested strains likely related to free extracellular components catalyzing hydrogen formation on the Fe(0) surface, or to the maintenance of low hydrogen concentrations on the Fe(0) surface by attached cells thereby thermodynamically favoring hydrogen formation. &NA; Graphical Abstract Figure. Sporomusa and Acetobacterium strains isolated with metallic iron as electron donor enhance Fe(0) corrosion
Student’s-t Mixture Regression-Based Robust Soft Sensor Development for Multimode Industrial Processes

Because of multiple manufacturing phases or operating conditions, a great many industrial processes work with multiple modes. In addition, it is inevitable that some measurements of industrial variables obtained through hardware sensors are incorrectly observed, recorded or imported into databases, resulting in the dataset available for statistic analysis being contaminated by outliers. Unfortunately, these outliers are difficult to recognize and remove completely. These process characteristics and dataset imperfections impose challenges on developing high-accuracy soft sensors. To resolve this problem, the Student’s-t mixture regression (SMR) is proposed to develop a robust soft sensor for multimode industrial processes. In the SMR, for each mixing component, the Student’s-t distribution is used instead of the Gaussian distribution to model secondary variables, and the functional relationship between secondary and primary variables is explicitly considered. Based on the model structure of the SMR, a computationally efficient parameter-learning algorithm is also developed for SMR. Results conducted on two cases including a numerical example and a real-life industrial process demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed approach.
Les effets de l'adoption obligatoire des normes IFRS sur la gestion du résultat comptable : : une analyse de 100 entreprises françaises

Cet article examine l’impact de l’adoption obligatoire des normes IFRS a partir de 2005 sur la gestion du resultat comptable, dans le contexte francais. Utilisant un echantillon de 100 entreprises issues du SBF 120, notre objectif consiste a cerner l’evolution du comportement de gestion entre la periode de pre et de post adoption des IFRS. Les resultats empiriques nous revelent que la gestion du resultat telle que mesuree par l’ampleur et le sens des accruals discretionnaires, estimes selon cinq modeles de mesure (de 1991 a 2008), est plus repandue au sein des entreprises francaises apres la transition de 2005.
Development of a multichannel current-EMG system for coherence modulation with visual biofeedback

By means of biofeedback, neuromotor control can be modified. Recent biofeedback experiments have used the power of the electromyogram of one muscle in different frequency bands to control a two-dimensional cursor. However, the human body usually requires coherent activation of multiple muscles to achieve daily life tasks. Additionally, electromyography (EMG) instrumentation has remained the same for decades, and might not be the most suitable to measure coherent activations from pennated muscles according to recent experiments by von Tscharner and colleagues. In this study, we propose the development of a multichannel current-based EMG amplifier to use intermuscular coherence as the control feature of a visual biofeedback system. The system was used in a leg extension protocol to voluntarily increase intermuscular coherence between the vastii muscles. Results from ten subjects show that it is possible to increase intermuscular coherence through visual biofeedback. Such a system can have applications in endurance training and rehabilitation.
Evolutionary responses to conditionality in species interactions across environmental gradients

The outcomes of many species interactions are conditional on the environments in which they occur. A common pattern is that outcomes grade from being more positive under stressful conditions to more antagonistic or neutral under benign conditions. The evolutionary implications of conditionality in interactions have received much less attention than the documentation of conditionality itself, with a few notable exceptions. Here, we predict patterns of adaptation and co-adaptation between partners along abiotic gradients, positing that when interactions become more positive in stressful environments, fitness outcomes for mutations affecting interactions align across partners and selection should favor greater mutualistic adap-tation and co-adaptation between interacting species. As a corollary, in benign environments, if interactions are strongly antagonistic, we predict antagonistic co-adaptation resulting in Red Queen or arms-race dynamics, or reduction of antagonism through character displacement and niche partitioning. We predict no adaptation if interactions are more neutral. We call this the CoCoA hypothesis: (Co)-adaptation and Conditionality across Abiotic gradients. We describe experimental designs and statistical models that allow testing predictions of CoCoA, with a focus on positive interactions. While only one study has included all the elements to test CoCoA, we briefly review the literature and summarize study findings relevant to CoCoA and highlight opportunities to test CoCoA further.
A Comparative Study of the Role of Sex-Specific Condition Dependence in the Evolution of Sexually Dimorphic Traits

Sexual selection can displace traits acting as ornaments or armaments from their viability optimum in one sex, ultimately giving rise to sexual dimorphism. The degree of dimorphism should not only mirror the strength of sexual selection but also the net viability costs of trait maintenance at equilibrium. As the ability of organisms to bear exaggerated traits will depend on their condition, more sexually dimorphic traits should also exhibit greater sex differences in condition dependence. While this has been demonstrated among traits within species, similar patterns are expected across the phylogeny. We investigated this prediction within and across 11 (sub)species of sepsid flies with varying mating systems. When estimating condition dependence for seven sexual and nonsexual traits that vary in their sexual dimorphism, we not only found a positive relationship between the sex difference in allometric slopes (our measure of condition dependence) and relative trait exaggeration within species but also across species for those traits expected to be under sexual selection. Species with more pronounced male aggression further had relatively larger and more condition-dependent male fore- and midlegs. Our comparative study suggests a common genetic/developmental basis of sexual dimorphism and sex-specific plasticity that evolves across the phylogeny—and that the evolution of size consistently alters scaling relationships and thus contributes to the allometric variation of sexual armaments or ornaments in animals.
Old Receptor, New Tricks—The Ever-Expanding Universe of Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Functions. Report from the 4th AHR Meeting, 29–31 August 2018 in Paris, France

In a time where “translational” science has become a mantra in the biomedical field, it is reassuring when years of research into a biological phenomenon suddenly points towards novel prevention or therapeutic approaches to disease, thereby demonstrating once again that basic science and translational science are intimately linked. The studies on the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) discussed here provide a perfect example of how years of basic toxicological research on a molecule, whose normal physiological function remained a mystery for so long, has now yielded a treasure trove of actionable information on the development of targeted therapeutics. Examples are autoimmunity, metabolic imbalance, inflammatory skin and gastro-intestinal diseases, cancer, development and perhaps ageing. Indeed, the AHR field no longer asks, “What does this receptor do in the absence of xenobiotics? ” It now asks, “What doesn’t this receptor do? ”.
The NHGRI-EBI GWAS Catalog of published genome-wide association studies, targeted arrays and summary statistics 2019

The GWAS Catalog delivers a high-quality curated collection of all published genome-wide association studies enabling investigations to identify causal variants, understand disease mechanisms, and establish targets for novel therapies. The scope of the Catalog has also expanded to targeted and exome arrays with 1000 new associations added for these technologies. As of September 2018, the Catalog contains 5687 GWAS comprising 71673 variant-trait associations from 3567 publications. New content includes 284 full P-value summary statistics datasets for genome-wide and new targeted array studies, representing 6 × 109 individual variant-trait statistics. In the last 12 months, the Catalog's user interface was accessed by ∼90000 unique users who viewed >1 million pages. We have improved data access with the release of a new RESTful API to support high-throughput programmatic access, an improved web interface and a new summary statistics database. Summary statistics provision is supported by a new format proposed as a community standard for summary statistics data representation. This format was derived from our experience in standardizing heterogeneous submissions, mapping formats and in harmonizing content. Availability: https://www.ebi. ac.uk/gwas/.
Assessment of Secure OpenID-Based DAAA Protocol for Avoiding Session Hijacking in Web Applications

It is increasingly difficult to manage the user identities (IDs) of rapidly developing and numerous types of online web-based applications in the present era. An innovative ID management system is required for managing the user IDs. The OpenID lightweight protocol is a better solution to manage the user IDs. In an OpenID communication environment, OpenID URL is not secured in a session hijacking situation because in other existing OpenID communication methods such double factor authentication has more chances of valid user session hijacked. The proposed communication protocol secures the OpenID URL with the help of additional innovative parameters such as Special Alphanumeric String (SAS) and Special Security PIN (SSP). The anticipated triple authentication protocol authenticated client unique OpenID URL at OpenID Provider (OP) side once and SAS and SSP field at Relying Party (RP) side. The anticipated protocol provides unique Single-Sign-On (SSO) services to OpenID users. The experimental website is tested by experts of web developers for avoiding session hijacking situation in the presence of hackers. The findings demonstrated that Dense Authentication Authorization and Accounting (DAAA) protocol minimizes the risk of a session hijacking in OpenID communication environment.
Membrane-anchored carbonic anhydrase IV interacts with monocarboxylate transporters via their chaperones CD147 and GP70

Monocarboxylate transporters (MCTs) mediate the proton-coupled exchange of high-energy metabolites, including lactate and pyruvate, between cells and tissues. The transport activity of MCT1, MCT2, and MCT4 can be facilitated by the extracellular carbonic anhydrase IV (CAIV) via a noncatalytic mechanism. Combining physiological measurements in HEK-293 cells and Xenopus oocytes with pulldown experiments, we analyzed the direct interaction between CAIV and the two MCT chaperones basigin (CD147) and embigin (GP70). Our results show that facilitation of MCT transport activity requires direct binding of CAIV to the transporters chaperones. We found that this binding is mediated by the highly conserved His-88 residue in CAIV, which is also the central residue of the enzyme's intramolecular proton shuttle, and a charged amino acid residue in the Ig1 domain of the chaperone. Although the position of the CAIV-binding site in the chaperone was conserved, the amino acid residue itself varied among different species. In human CD147, binding of CAIV was mediated by the negatively charged Glu-73 and in rat CD147 by the positively charged Lys-73. In rat GP70, we identified the positively charged Arg-130 as the binding site. Further analysis of the CAIV-binding site revealed that the His-88 in CAIV can either act as H donor or H acceptor for the hydrogen bond, depending on the charge of the binding residue in the chaperone. Our results suggest that the CAIV-mediated increase in MCT transport activity requires direct binding between CAIV–His-88 and a charged amino acid in the extracellular domain of the transporter's chaperone.
Chemical composition and antioxidant capacity of extracts from the whole berry, pulp and seed of Hippophae¨ rhamnoides ssp. yunnanensis

Abstract In the present study, profiles of fatty acid, sn-2 fatty acid, triglyceride, phytochemical (including tocopherol/tocotrienol, phytosterol, flavonoid, carotenoid and polyphenol) and antioxidant capacity of extracts from the whole berry, pulp and seed of Hippophae¨ rhamnoides ssp. yunnanensis were investigated and compared. The distributions of fatty acid, sn-2 fatty acid and triglyceride that was identified using ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS) showed obvious differences among the different parts of the ssp. yunnanensis. The whole berry and pulp extracts exhibited high flavonoid, carotenoid and polyphenol contents, whereas, the seed portion expressed high tocopherol/tocotrienol and phytosterol concentrations. Results deduced from this study demonstrated that ssp. yunnanensis is a rich source of unsaturated fatty acid and bioactive minor component, which should be further developed and utilized by breeders and planters.