Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fluorine-carbon and fluoride-carbon materials : chemistry, physics, and applications

Synthesis, structures, and physicochemical properties of fluorine-graphite intercalation compounds synthesis and structures of main group fluoride-and transition metal fluoride-graphite intercalation compounds some thermodynamic aspects of the intercalation of graphite by fluoroanions physical properties of fluorine and fluoride graphite intercalation compounds synthesis, structures, and intercalation chemistry of B/C/N materials based on the graphite network fluorinated fullerenes electrochemical properties of graphite fluorides and metal fluorides and oxide fluorides GICs carbon anode reaction in fluorine production metal fluoride-impregnated new carbon anode for fluorine production tribology of graphite fluorides new composition with superhydrophobicity.
Role of Sonic hedgehog signaling pathway in spinal cord in neuropathic pain in rats

Objective To evaluate the role of Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling pathway in the spinal cord in neuropathic pain (NP) in the rats. Methods Seventy-two male Sprague-Dawley rats, aged 8 weeks, weighing 250-300 g, were randomly divided into 2 groups (n=36 each) using a random number table: sham operation group (S group) and NP group.Spared nerve injury was produced by exposing the sciatic nerve and its branches and ligation and transection of tibial nerve and common fibular nerve in anesthetized rats.The mechanical paw withdrawal threshold (MWT) was measured before operation and at 1, 4, 7, 14 and 21 days after operation.After measurement of the pain threshold at 1, 4, 7, 14 and 21 days after operation, the animals were then sacrificed, and the lumbar segment (L4-6) of the spinal cord was obtained for determination of Shh, Patched(Ptch), Gli1 and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression (by Western blot), Shh, Ptch and Gli1 mRNA expression (by fluorescent quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction), and Shh and GFAP expression (by immunohistochemistry). Results Compared with group S, the MWT was significantly decreased, and the expression of Shh, Ptch and Gli1 protein and mRNA and GFAP in spinal cord tissues was up-regulated in group NP (P<0.05). Shh was mainly expressed in the cytoplasm of spinal dorsal horn neurons and in the gap around glial cells. Conclusion Shh signaling pathway in spinal cord is involved in the development and maintenance of NP in the rats. Key words: Hedgehog proteins; Signal transduction; Neuralgia; Spinal cord
Expression and subcellular localisation of poly(A)-binding proteins

i Declaration.iii Acknowledgements.iv Abbreviations.v Table of contents.x List of Figures.xiii List of Tables.xv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION . 1 1.1 Eukaryotic gene expression and regulation . 2 1.1.1 Transcription . 3 1.1.2 Splicing . 3 1.1.3 3’ end processing. 4 1.1.4 mRNA export . 5 1.1.5 mRNA stability . 7 1.1. 6 mRNA localisation . 11 1.2 Eukaryotic translation . 12 1.2.1 Initiation . 12 1.2.2 Initiation factor isoforms . 18 1.2.3 Elongation . 19 1.2.4 Termination and ribosome recycling . 20 1.3 Eukaryotic translational regulation . 21 1.3. 1 Importance of regulated translation . 21 1.3. 2 Global control of translation . 22 1.3. 3 Specific control of translation . 25 1.3. 4 Translational dysregulation and disease. 33 1.4 Poly(A)-binding proteins . 34 1.4. 1 Nuclear poly(A)-binding proteins . 34 1.4. 2 The cytoplasmic poly(A)-binding protein family . 36 1.4. 3 PABP1 Functions . 38 1.4. 4 PABP1 sub-cellular localisation . 46 1.4. 5 Regulation of PABP1 . 48 1.4. 6 Other members of the mammalian PABP family . 53 1.4. 7 Why express multiple PABPs? 58 1.5 Thesis outline . 59 CHAPTER 2: MATERIALS AND METHODS . 60 2.1 General Buffers and solutions . 61 2.2 Plasmids . 62 2.3 Antibodies . 63 2.4 Mouse tissues . 63 2.5 General Molecular Biology Methods . 65 2.6 Bacterial techniques . 68
EFFECT OF GINGER DIETARY SUPPLEMENTATION ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE, IMMUNE RESPONSE AND VACCINE EFFICACY IN Oreochromis niloticus CHALLENGED WITH Aeromonas hydrophila

Ginger powder was used in the current study for the improvement of the growth performance and the efficacy of Aeromonas hydrophila ( A. hydrophila ) vaccination in Oreochromis niloticus . A total of 120 apparently healthy fish were classified into 2 equal groups. The control fish received a basal diet and ginger group received a basal diet enriched with 1% ginger powder. The feeding period lasted for 2 months and the growth performance indicators were measured. Next, each group was allocated into 2 equal groups to be 4 groups. G1: received basal diet, G2: received basal diet then vaccinated with A. hydrophila vaccine, G3: received ginger supplemented diet, and G4: received ginger supplemented diet then vaccinated with A. hydrophila vaccine. One-week post vaccination, fish were challenged with A. hydrophila bacteria. Fish fed 1% ginger supplemented diet had a marked increase in growth performance parameters and utilized their feed more efficiently than those received the basal diet. Nitric oxide, IgM and lysozyme activity were significantly differed among fish groups in order of G4 >G2 > G3 > G1. Ginger and/or A. hydrophila vaccine reduced the clinical signs, mortality rate as well as the elevation of alanine aminotransferase and creatinine which induced by A. hydrophila infection. It could be inferred that ginger has been suggested as growth promoter and immune-stimulant in O. niloticus and increase efficacy of A. hydrophila vaccine, which increase protection against A. hydrophila infection. Key words: ginger; O. niloticus ; growth performance; immunity; vaccine
Interplay of BDNF and GDNF in the Mature Spinal Somatosensory System and Its Potential Therapeutic Relevance

The growth factors BDNF and GDNF are gaining more and more attention as modulators of synaptic transmission in the mature central nervous system (CNS). The two molecules undergo a regulated secretion in neurons and may be anterogradely transported to terminals where they can positively or negatively modulate fast synaptic transmission. There is today a wide consensus on the role of BDNF as a pro-nociceptive modulator, as the neurotrophin has an important part in the initiation and maintenance of inflammatory, chronic, and/or neuropathic pain at the peripheral and central level. At the spinal level, BDNF intervenes in the regulation of chloride equilibrium potential, decreases the excitatory synaptic drive to inhibitory neurons, with complex changes in GABAergic/glycinergic synaptic transmission, and increases excitatory transmission in the superficial dorsal horn. Differently from BDNF, the role of GDNF still remains to be unraveled in full. This review resumes the current literature on the interplay between BDNF and GDNF in the regulation of nociceptive neurotransmission in the superficial dorsal horn of the spinal cord. We will first discuss the circuitries involved in such a regulation, as well as the reciprocal interactions between the two factors in nociceptive pathways. The development of small molecules specifically targeting BDNF, GDNF and/or downstream effectors is opening new perspectives for investigating these neurotrophic factors as modulators of nociceptive transmission and chronic pain. Therefore, we will finally consider the molecules of (potential) pharmacological relevance for tackling normal and pathological pain.
Safety risks among frail older people living at home in the Netherlands – A cross‐sectional study in a routine primary care sample

Abstract Frail older people face a range of problems and risks that could undermine their ability to live safely at home. A comprehensive overview of these risks, from a multidimensional perspective, is currently lacking. This study aims to examine the prevalence of risks in multiple domains of life among frail older people living at home. We used cross‐sectional data from 824 people aged 65 years and older, who received a comprehensive geriatric assessment (the interRAI Home Care [interRAI‐HC]) between 2014 and 2018, as part of routine care from 25 general practices in the region of West‐Friesland, the Netherlands. The interRAI‐HC identifies amenable risks related to people's clinical conditions, functioning, lifestyle and behaviour, and social and physical environment. Descriptive statistics were used to examine population characteristics (age, gender, marital status, living arrangements and presence of chronic conditions) and prevalence of risks. Most common risks were related to people's clinical conditions (i.e cardio‐respiratory health, urinary incontinence, pain), functioning (i.e. limitations in instrumental activities of daily living and mood) and social environment (i.e. limitations in informal care and social functioning). More than 80% of frail older people faced multiple risks, and often on multiple domains of life simultaneously. People experiencing multiple risks per person, and on multiple domains simultaneously, were more often widowed and living alone. The multidimensional character of risks among frail older people living at home implies that an integrated approach to care, comprising both health and social care, is necessary. Insight in the prevalence of these risks can give direction to care allocation decisions.
Basic color categories in Mandarin Chinese revealed by cluster analysis

Previous claims of the number of color categories and corresponding basic color terms in modern Mandarin Chinese remain irreconcilable, mainly due to the shortage in objectively evaluating the basicness of color terms with statistical significance. Therefore the present study applied k-means cluster analysis to investigate native Mandarin Chinese speakers’ color naming data of 330 color chips similar to those used in World Color Survey. Results confirmed that there are 11 basic color categories among modern Mandarin speakers in Taiwan, one corresponding to each basic color term. Results also showed that observers overwhelmingly agreed in their use of Mandarin color terms, including those that had yielded ambiguous results in previous studies (gray, brown, pink, and orange). There is significant cross-language similarity when comparing the distribution of color categories in the World Color Survey chart with American English and Japanese data. The motif analysis and group mutual information analysis suggest that Mandarin color terms used in Taiwan describe very similar categories and are, hence, similarly precise in communicating color information as those in Japanese and American English. These results show that three languages of fundamentally different cultures and histories have very similar basic color terms.
Open Targets Platform: supporting systematic drug–target identification and prioritisation

Abstract The Open Targets Platform (https://www.targetvalidation.org/) provides users with a queryable knowledgebase and user interface to aid systematic target identification and prioritisation for drug discovery based upon underlying evidence. It is publicly available and the underlying code is open source. Since our last update two years ago, we have had 10 releases to maintain and continuously improve evidence for target–disease relationships from 20 different data sources. In addition, we have integrated new evidence from key datasets, including prioritised targets identified from genome-wide CRISPR knockout screens in 300 cancer models (Project Score), and GWAS/UK BioBank statistical genetic analysis evidence from the Open Targets Genetics Portal. We have evolved our evidence scoring framework to improve target identification. To aid the prioritisation of targets and inform on the potential impact of modulating a given target, we have added evaluation of post-marketing adverse drug reactions and new curated information on target tractability and safety. We have also developed the user interface and backend technologies to improve performance and usability. In this article, we describe the latest enhancements to the Platform, to address the fundamental challenge that developing effective and safe drugs is difficult and expensive.
Exploring Simplified Methods for Insect Chitin Extraction and Application as a Potential Alternative Bioethanol Resource

Simple Summary The studies on chitin utilization as a source for bioethanol production are still very few. The present study explores some simple methods for insect chitin extraction and application in bioethanol production. Using insect chitin in bioethanol production, may help decreasing the dependence on energy crops as a carbon source for bioethanol. Fungal strains of Mucor circinelloides were reported previously to bio-convert chitin directly to ethanol in submerged fermentation systems. In our study, we explored the bioconversion of insect chitin to bioethanol using two different strains of Mucor circinelloides in submerged fermentation systems. An insect-isolated M. circinelloides strain was found to bio-convert the extracted chitin directly to ethanol in submerged fermentation system. The source of strain isolation and the pH of the production medium were showed to influence the chitin bioconversion directly to bioethanol. All fermentation processes can be conducted easily, using the whole growing microorganism instead of using purified enzymes. These results highlight the insect biomass as a potential new, cheap and renewable source for bioethanol production simply, using a potent insect-isolated M. circinelloides strain. Abstract Chitin, the second most plentiful biopolymer in nature, is a major component of insect cuticle. In searching for alternative resources for fossil fuels, some fungal strains of Mucor circinelloides from an insect-source were found to produce bioethanol directly using insect chitin as a substrate. Herein, simplified methods for insect chitin extraction and application as a substrate in submerged fermentation for bioethanol production were explored. Chitin of the American cockroach (Periplaneta americana (L.)) was isolated by refluxing the cockroaches dried exoskeletons with 4% NaOH. The purity of the extracted chitin was assessed to be high when the physicochemical properties of the extracted chitin matched these of commercially available crab and shrimp samples. The extracted chitin was employed as a substrate in submerged fermentation using two strains of M. circinelloides. One of these, strains M. circinelloides 6017 showed immense potential for bioethanol production directly. It could to bio-transform 15 g/L of colloidal chitin directly to 11.22 ± 0.312 g/L of bioethanol (74% of the initial chitin mass) after 6 days of incubation. These results confirm the possibility of using insect biomass as a potential alternative resource for bioethanol production in a simple manner thus contributing to the creation of an alternate energy source.
C-terminus of Hsp70 Interacting Protein (CHIP) and Neurodegeneration: Lessons from the Bench and Bedside

Neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by the increasing dysfunction and death of neurons, resulting in progressive impairment of a person’s mobility and/or cognition. Protein misfolding and aggregation are commonly hypothesized to cause neurotoxicity and, eventually, neuronal degeneration that are associated with these diseases. Emerging experimental evidence, as well as recent findings from human studies, reveal that the C-terminus of Hsp70 Interacting Protein (CHIP), or STIP1 Homology and U-box containing Protein 1 (STUB1), is a quality control protein involved in neurodegeneration. Here, we review evidence that CHIP interacts with and plays a role in regulating proteins implicated in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and polyglutamine diseases, including Huntington’s disease and spinocerebellar ataxias. We also review clinical findings identifying mutations in STUB1 as a cause of both autosomal recessive and autosomal dominant forms of cerebellar ataxia. We propose that CHIP modulation may have therapeutic potential for the treatment of multiple neurodegenerative diseases.
Risk of dietary and breastmilk exposure to mycotoxins among lactating women and infants 2–4 months in northern India

Abstract Mycotoxins are carcinogenic secondary metabolites of fungi that have been linked to infant growth faltering. In this study, we quantified co‐occurring mycotoxins in breast milk and food samples from Haryana, India, and characterized determinants of exposure. Deterministic risk assessment was conducted for mothers and infants. We examined levels of eight mycotoxins (Aflatoxin B1, B2, G1, G2, M1, M2; Ochratoxin A, B) in 100 breast milk samples (infants 2–4 months) using ultra‐high‐performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), fumonisin B1 (FB1) and deoxynivalenol (DON) were detected in several food items (n = 298) using enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assays. We report novel data on the presence of mycotoxins in breast milk samples from India. Whereas breast milk concentrations (AFM1 median: 13.7; range: 3.9–1200 ng/L) remain low, AFM1 was detected above regulatory limits in 27% of animal milk samples. Additionally, 41% of infants were above provisional maximum tolerable daily intake (PMTDI) limits for AFM1 due to consumption of breast milk (mean: 3.04, range: 0.26–80.7 ng kg−1 bw day−1). Maternal consumption of breads (p < 0.05) was associated with breast milk AFM1 exposure. AFB1 (μg/kg) was detected in dried red chilies (15.7; 0–302.3), flour (3.13; 0–214.9), groundnuts (0; 0–249.1), maize (56.0; 0–836.7), pearl millet (1.85; 0–160.2), rice (0; 0–195.6), wheat (1.9; 0–196.0) and sorghum (0; 0–63.5). FB1 (mg/kg) was detected in maize (0; 0–61.4), pearl millet (0; 0–35.4) and sorghum (0.95; 0–33.2). DON was not detected in food samples. Mothers in our study exceeded PMTDI recommendations for AFB1 due to consumption of rice and flour (mean: 75.81; range: 35.2–318.2 ng kg−1 bw day−1). Our findings show the presence of Aflatoxin B1 and M1 at various levels of the food chain and in breast milk, with estimated intakes exceeding PMTDI recommendations. Aflatoxins are known carcinogens and have also been linked to stunting in children. Their presence across the food system and in breast milk is concerning, thus warranting further research to replicate and expand on our findings and to understand implications for maternal and child health.
Non-Destructive Estimation of Total Chlorophyll Content of Apple Fruit Based on Color Feature, Spectral Data and the Most Effective Wavelengths Using Hybrid Artificial Neural Network—Imperialist Competitive Algorithm

Non-destructive assessment of the physicochemical properties of food products, especially fruits, makes it possible to examine the internal quality without any damage. This is applicable at different stages of fruit growth, harvesting stage, and storage as well as at the market stage. In this regard, the present study aimed to estimate the total chlorophyll content using three types of data: color data, spectral data, and spectral data related to the most effective wavelengths. The most important steps of the proposed algorithms include extracting spectral and color data from each sample of Fuji cultivar apple, selecting the most effective wavelengths at the range of 660–720 nm using hybrid artificial neural network–particle swarm optimization (ANN-PSO), non-destructive assessment of the chemical property of total chlorophyll content based on color data, and spectral data using hybrid artificial neural network-Imperialist competitive algorithm (ANN-ICA). In order to assess the reliability of the hybrid ANN-ICA, 1000 iterations were performed after selecting the optimal structure of the artificial neural network. According to the results, in the best training mode and using spectral data and the most effective wavelength, total chlorophyll content was predicted with the R2 and RMSE of 0.991 and 0.0035, 0.997 and 0.001, 0.997 and 0.0006, respectively.
Time-Domain Mapping with Convolution Networks for End-to-End Monaural Speech Separation

Speech separation is the core problem of audio signal processing and key pre-processing step for automatic speech recognition. Magnitude spectrogram is reported as the standard time-and-frequency cross-domain representation for speech signals. Approaches such as time-frequency (T-F) mask and mapping estimation have been proposed to estimate clean speech on magnitude spectrogram. Recently, this sequential task has made great progress in behalf of time-domain mask estimation and dilated temporal convolutional networks (TCN) as used in Conv-TasNet. In this work, we propose a framework properly integrating directions above, which result in a new monaural speech separation framework. We explore time-domain mapping-based algorithm which directly estimate clean speech features in end-to-end system. We also make use of an optimal scale-invariant signal to distortion ratio (OSI-SDR) loss function. We evaluate this framework on a newly released noisy speech separation dataset (WHAM) and obtain encouraging results in preliminary experiments. Finally, we show that 1-dim learned convolution encoder works well while extracting features as a encoder compared with others.
Research progress on absent in melanoma 2 in defending pathogenic microorganism invasion

Innate immunity is on the frontline of fight against pathogenic microorganism invasion. As a DNA sensor, absent in melanoma 2 (AIM2) is an important member of innate immune system. It can recognize dsDNA of pathogenic microbes to form AIM2 inflammasomes, which facilitates defending and clearing the invasion of pathogens by activating caspase-1 dependent pyroptosis and the mature of IL-18 and IL-1β. AIM2 inflammasomes play an important part in responding to Listeria monocytogenes, Francisella tularensis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Aspergillus fumigatus, vaccinia virus, murine cytomegalovirus, and hepatitis B virus infections. This paper introduces the components of AIM2 inflammasomes and summarizes its function in defending the invasion of pathogenic microorganisms. Key words: Absent in melanoma 2; Cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase-1; Apoptosis-associated speck-like protein; Interleukin-18; Interleukin -1β; Pathogenic microorganism
Variational Mode Decomposition Based Mental Task Classification from Electroencephalogram

Selective feature extraction from single-channel electroencephalogram signal provides appropriate classification of mental tasks, which is crucial for designing mobile brain-computer interface and neuro-bio-feedback systems. However, existing features deteriorate in the presence of artifacts. Therefore, we propose a mental task classification method using variational mode decomposition (VMD)-based novel feature extraction from single-channel EEG, with three stages: Signal decomposition using VMD; computation of proposed variational mode energy ratio; classification using adaptive boosting algorithm. The proposed method is evaluated using artifact-free and contaminated EEG signals from EEG during mental arithmetic task (EEGMAT) database and self-acquired (SA) database recorded using single-channel device. Average subject-specific accuracies of 93% and 96% for classification of baseline and serial-subtraction task have been achieved in EEGMAT and SA databases respectively. Extensive comparative analysis exhibits the superiority of proposed feature as compared to existing features in terms of accurate classification of baseline-mental task, and robustness under artifactual EEG signals.