Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Glial Sulfatides and Neuronal Complex Gangliosides Are Functionally Interdependent in Maintaining Myelinating Axon Integrity

Sulfatides and gangliosides are raft-associated glycolipids essential for maintaining myelinated nerve integrity. Mice deficient in sulfatide (cerebroside sulfotransferase knock-out, CST−/−) or complex gangliosides (β-1,4-N-acetylegalactosaminyltransferase1 knock-out, GalNAc-T−/−) display prominent disorganization of proteins at the node of Ranvier (NoR) in early life and age-dependent neurodegeneration. Loss of neuronal rather than glial complex gangliosides underpins the GalNAc-T−/− phenotype, as shown by neuron- or glial-specific rescue, whereas sulfatide is principally expressed and functional in glial membranes. The similarities in NoR phenotype of CST−/−, GalNAc-T−/−, and axo–glial protein-deficient mice suggests that these glycolipids stabilize membrane proteins including neurofascin155 (NF155) and myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) at axo–glial junctions. To assess the functional interactions between sulfatide and gangliosides, CST−/− and GalNAc-T−/− genotypes were interbred. CST−/−× GalNAc-T−/− mice develop normally to postnatal day 10 (P10), but all die between P20 and P25, coinciding with peak myelination. Ultrastructural, immunohistological, and biochemical analysis of either sex revealed widespread axonal degeneration and disruption to the axo–glial junction at the NoR. In addition to sulfatide-dependent loss of NF155, CST−/− × GalNAc-T−/− mice exhibited a major reduction in MAG protein levels in CNS myelin compared with WT and single-lipid-deficient mice. The CST−/− × GalNAc-T−/− phenotype was fully restored to that of CST−/− mice by neuron-specific expression of complex gangliosides, but not by their glial-specific expression nor by the global expression of a-series gangliosides. These data indicate that sulfatide and complex b-series gangliosides on the glial and neuronal membranes, respectively, act in concert to promote NF155 and MAG in maintaining the stable axo–glial interactions essential for normal nerve function. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Sulfatides and complex gangliosides are membrane glycolipids with important roles in maintaining nervous system integrity. Node of Ranvier maintenance in particular requires stable compartmentalization of multiple membrane proteins. The axo–glial adhesion molecules neurofascin155 (NF155) and myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) require membrane microdomains containing either sulfatides or complex gangliosides to localize and function effectively. The cooperative roles of these microdomains and associated proteins are unknown. Here, we show vital interdependent roles for sulfatides and complex gangliosides because double (but not single) deficiency causes a rapidly lethal phenotype at an early age. These findings suggest that sulfatides and complex gangliosides on opposing axo–glial membranes are responsible for essential tethering of the axo–glial junction proteins NF155 and MAG, which interact to maintain the nodal complex.
Allurin and egg jelly coat impact on in-vitro fertilization success of endangered Albanian water frog, Pelophylax shqipericus

Abstract Amphibian egg-jelly coat plays an important role in successful fertilization and development. Here, we ask whether proteins like allurin in the jelly coats of frog eggs might influence fertilization rate success. Using in vitro fertilization of Albanian water frog, Pelophylax shqipericus, we found that body cavity eggs or eggs deprived of jelly coat were not fertilized, compromising the success of in vitro fertilization procedure. When de-jellied eggs were inseminated with sperm suspension, the fertilization efficiency is dramatically decreased even inhibited, suggesting that the gel structure is one of the major factors in the achievement of fertilization in the frogs. Fertilization of de-jellied eggs with sperm pre-treated with egg jelly coat, restored the fertilization competency. Such a result suggests that egg jelly coat probably guides the sperm to the egg surface while maintaining the fertilization ability, contributing to a successful in vitro fertilization of Pelophylax shqipericus. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
The RecB helicase-nuclease tether mediates Chi hotspot control of RecBCD enzyme

Abstract In bacteria, repair of DNA double-strand breaks uses a highly conserved helicase–nuclease complex to unwind DNA from a broken end and cut it at specific DNA sequences called Chi. In Escherichia coli the RecBCD enzyme also loads the DNA strand-exchange protein RecA onto the newly formed end, resulting in a recombination hotspot at Chi. Chi hotspots regulate multiple RecBCD activities by altering RecBCD’s conformation, which is proposed to include the swinging of the RecB nuclease domain on the 19-amino-acid tether connecting the helicase and nuclease domains. Here, we altered the tether and tested multiple RecBCD activities, genetically in cells and enzymatically in cell-free extracts. Randomizing the amino-acid sequence or lengthening it had little effect. However, shortening it by as little as two residues or making substitutions of ≥10 proline or ≥9 glycine residues dramatically lowered Chi-dependent activities. These results indicate that proper control of RecBCD by Chi requires that the tether be long enough and appropriately flexible. We discuss a model in which the swing-time of the nuclease domain determines the position of Chi-dependent and Chi-independent cuts and Chi hotspot activity.
A Non-Intrusive Approach for Indoor Occupancy Detection in Smart Environments

Smart Environments try to adapt their conditions focusing on the detection, localisation, and identification of people to improve their comfort. It is common to use different sensors, actuators, and analytic techniques in this kind of environments to process data from the surroundings and actuate accordingly. In this research, a solution to improve the user’s experience in Smart Environments based on information obtained from indoor areas, following a non-intrusive approach, is proposed. We used Machine Learning techniques to determine occupants and estimate the number of persons in a specific indoor space. The solution proposed was tested in a real scenario using a prototype system, integrated by nodes and sensors, specifically designed and developed to gather the environmental data of interest. The results obtained demonstrate that with the developed system it is possible to obtain, process, and store environmental information. Additionally, the analysis performed over the gathered data using Machine Learning and pattern recognition mechanisms shows that it is possible to determine the occupancy of indoor environments.
School performance and educational attainment as early-life predictors of age-related memory decline: Protective influences in later-born cohorts.

Objectives Evidence is accumulating that early-life characteristics and experiences contribute significantly to differences in cognitive aging. This study investigated whether school performance at age 12 predicted late-life level and rate of memory change over 15-25 years, and whether its potential protective influence on memory change was mediated by educational attainment or income. Methods Latent growth curve models were fitted to 15-25 year longitudinal memory data from a population-based sample, stratified on age-cohorts (n=227 born 1909-1935; n=301 born 1938-1954). Results A latent-level school grade variable significantly predicted both memory level and slope in later-born cohorts. Higher grades were associated with higher level and reduced decline, measured between ages 45-70, on average. In the earlier-born cohorts grades predicted memory level, but not slope, measured between ages 66-81 years. Follow-up analyses indicated that the protective influence of higher school grades in later-born cohorts was partially mediated by educational attainment, but independent of income. Discussion The results suggest that higher childhood school performance is protective against age-related cognitive decline in younger or later-born cohorts, for which further education has been more accessible. Education may exert such influence through increased cognitive reserve or more well-informed health- and lifestyle decisions.
Nanomagnetic properties of the meteorite cloudy zone

Significance The cloudy zone is naturally occurring nanocomposite found in Fe–Ni metal-bearing meteorites. It not only is a potent carrier of paleomagnetic information from the early solar system but also shows promise as a sustainable alternative to rare earth-based permanent magnets. Here we explain how the remarkable magnetic properties of the cloudy zone are linked to its 3D chemical, crystallographic, and magnetic architecture, using a state-of-the-art combination of nanometer to subnanometer resolution tomography and micromagnetic simulations. We discover the mechanism by which paleomagnetic information becomes encoded into the cloudy zone and, inspired by our findings, point toward potential pathways to optimize synthetic analogues of the cloudy zone for industrial applications. Meteorites contain a record of their thermal and magnetic history, written in the intergrowths of iron-rich and nickel-rich phases that formed during slow cooling. Of intense interest from a magnetic perspective is the “cloudy zone,” a nanoscale intergrowth containing tetrataenite—a naturally occurring hard ferromagnetic mineral that has potential applications as a sustainable alternative to rare-earth permanent magnets. Here we use a combination of high-resolution electron diffraction, electron tomography, atom probe tomography (APT), and micromagnetic simulations to reveal the 3D architecture of the cloudy zone with subnanometer spatial resolution and model the mechanism of remanence acquisition during slow cooling on the meteorite parent body. Isolated islands of tetrataenite are embedded in a matrix of an ordered superstructure. The islands are arranged in clusters of three crystallographic variants, which control how magnetic information is encoded into the nanostructure. The cloudy zone acquires paleomagnetic remanence via a sequence of magnetic domain state transformations (vortex to two domain to single domain), driven by Fe–Ni ordering at 320 °C. Rather than remanence being recorded at different times at different positions throughout the cloudy zone, each subregion of the cloudy zone records a coherent snapshot of the magnetic field that was present at 320 °C. Only the coarse and intermediate regions of the cloudy zone are found to be suitable for paleomagnetic applications. The fine regions, on the other hand, have properties similar to those of rare-earth permanent magnets, providing potential routes to synthetic tetrataenite-based magnetic materials.
Caffeine in the Diet: Country-Level Consumption and Guidelines

Coffee, tea, caffeinated soda, and energy drinks are important sources of caffeine in the diet but each present with other unique nutritional properties. We review how our increased knowledge and concern with regard to caffeine in the diet and its impact on human health has been translated into food-based dietary guidelines (FBDG). Using the Food and Agriculture Organization list of 90 countries with FBDG as a starting point, we found reference to caffeine or caffeine-containing beverages (CCB) in 81 FBDG and CCB consumption data (volume sales) for 56 of these countries. Tea and soda are the leading CCB sold in African and Asian/Pacific countries while coffee and soda are preferred in Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Key themes observed across FBDG include (i) caffeine-intake upper limits to avoid risks, (ii) CCB as replacements for plain water, (iii) CCB as added-sugar sources, and (iv) health benefits of CCB consumption. In summary, FBDG provide an unfavorable view of CCB by noting their potential adverse/unknown effects on special populations and their high sugar content, as well as their diuretic, psycho-stimulating, and nutrient inhibitory properties. Few FBDG balanced these messages with recent data supporting potential benefits of specific beverage types.
Metabolite normalization with local radiotherapy following breast tumor resection

The aims of this study were to investigate changes in energy balance-associated metabolites associated with radiotherapy in patients with breast cancer, and to relate these changes to the clinical and pathological response-to-treatment. We studied 151 women with breast cancer who received radiotherapy following surgical excision of the tumor. Blood was obtained before and after the irradiation procedure. The control group was composed of 44 healthy women with a similar age distribution to that of the patients. We analyzed the concentrations of metabolites involved in glycolysis, citric acid cycle and amino acid metabolism using targeted quantitative metabolomics. Post-surgery, pre-radiotherapy, patients had major alterations in the serum concentrations of products of glycolysis, citric acid cycle and amino acid metabolism. The strongest alterations were decreases in serine, leucine and isoleucine concentrations. Alterations in metabolite levels were partially, or totally, reversed after irradiation; the concentrations of serine, leucine and isoleucine approached equivalence to those of the control group. Estrogen receptor-positive patients were those with lower concentrations, while triple negative patients had higher concentrations of these amino acids. The normalization of the amino acids serine, leucine and isoleucine concentrations could be clinically relevant because the normalization of these energy-balance metabolites would suggest that residual micro-metastatic disease had been effectively diminished by the radiotherapy, and may be an indicator of its efficacy.
Evidence-based Power Management in Distributed Sensor Networks

A novel evidence-based approach to energy management in distributed sensor networks (DSNs) is presented. Current approaches and algorithms to DSN energy management are “bottom up” in that they do not consider aspects of the domain of application and particular geographic and environmental situational dynamics to manage energy usage as efficiently as possible. Results from an evidential approach to DSN energy management in a forest fire monitoring and management application are presented. A body of mathematics called evidential reasoning is used to represent and integrate information about the situational dynamics and forest fire detection and monitoring application to draw inferences about the state of nodes in a distributed network. An 18% improvement in energy efficiency compared to the LEACH-C algorithm was observed when the state of the forest environment and knowledge about the dynamics of forest fires are considered managing the state and activity of the DSN. Simulation results using NS2 suggest that the useful life of DSNs can be extended significantly if the situational dynamics and aspects of the domain of application are taken into account.
Differences between CME‐driven storms and CIR‐driven storms

Twenty one differences between CME-driven geomagnetic storms and CIR-driven geomagnetic storms are tabulated. (CME-driven includes driving by CME sheaths, by magnetic clouds, and by ejecta; CIR-driven includes driving by the associated recurring high-speed streams.) These differences involve the bow shock, the magnetosheath, the radiation belts, the ring current, the aurora, the Earth's plasma sheet, magnetospheric convection, ULF pulsations, spacecraft charging in the magnetosphere, and the saturation of the polar cap potential. CME-driven storms are brief, have denser plasma sheets, have strong ring currents and Dst, have solar energetic particle events, and can produce great auroras and dangerous geomagnetically induced currents; CIR-driven storms are of longer duration, have hotter plasmas and stronger spacecraft charging, and produce high fluxes of relativistic electrons. Further, the magnetosphere is more likely to be preconditioned with dense plasmas prior to CIR-driven storms than it is prior to CME-driven storms. CME-driven storms pose more of a problem for Earth-based electrical systems; CIR-driven storms pose more of a problem for space-based assets.
Dynamic Crossover in Supercooled Confined Water: Understanding Bulk Properties through Confinement

We present here molecular dynamics simulations of deeply supercooled SPC/E water confined in a cylindrical pore of MCM-41 silica material. By a layer analysis of the tag particle density correlators, we are able to extract the α-relaxation time of the mobile portion of the confined water. This relaxation time is the same as what can be extracted from neutron scattering experiments. From examination of the temperature-dependent behavior of the relaxation time and the dynamic susceptibility, we locate a dynamic crossover at T = (215 ± 5) K and a corresponding peak in the specific heat, in agreement with experimental findings in confined water and simulations of the bulk water. Our study demonstrates that the recent results of the experiments on confined water are extremely relevant for the comprehension of low-temperature bulk properties of water.
Seasonal disturbance to mussel beds: Field test of a mechanistic model predicting wave dislodgment

We report the first field confirmation of a mechanistic model predicting fine‐scale temporal dynamics of wave dislodgment, an important disturbance process structuring many temperate rocky intertidal communities. A biomechanical approach is used to predict the frequency and severity of mussel dislodgment from wave‐swept shores in Rhode Island over a 3‐yr period. Using inputs of wave height and mussel attachment, the model correctly predicts strong dislodgment events during hurricane season (August to October, ~10% monthly loss), a period when large waves coincide with relatively weak mussel attachment. Such a mechanistic approach, incorporating temporal variation in both environmental challenges and physiological tolerances, is necessary to predict patterns of environmental stress; such predictions cannot be made from environmental forecasts alone. In addition to wave dislodgment, we report substantial mussel mortality due to temperature stress (up to 50% monthly loss). These two physical agents, which caused equivalent mussel mortality in our 3‐yr study, are likely to be influenced by future global climate shifts.
INFLUENCE OF COLOSTRUM INTAKE ON ENDOCRINE AND METABOLIC PROFILE OF BOVINE NEONATES - A REVIEW

Bovine colostrum contains various essential nutrients, antibodies, hormones and growth factors that are important for nutrient supply, host defense, growth and general neonatal adaptation. Colostrum contains more protein, immunoglobulins, nonprotein nitrogen, fat, ash, vitamins, and minerals than milk. Because some vitamins do not cross the placental barrier, colostrum is the primary source of these nutrients for the calf after birth. Various metabolic and endocrine traits are influenced by colostrum intake, quality and the duration of colostrum feeding. Many blood constituents rapidly changing in neonate due to colostrum intake, which could be interpreted as abnormal. So extreme caution must be exercised when interpreting typical clinical chemistry components from young calves. This review focuses on the endocrine and metabolic changes in the neonates that influenced by colostrum intake.
Toll-like Receptor 5 Agonist Inhibition of Growth of A 549 Lung Cancer Cells in Vivo in a Myd 88 Dependent Manner

Human innate immune system is the first line of defense against invading organisms. Apart from defending against invading microorganisms, the role of innate immune system in modulating tumorigenesis and tumor growth was recognized as early as in the 1890s (Thomas and Badini, 2011). Under the enlightenment of the report that some cancer patients who developed acute bacterial infection survived longer than those without infection, Dr William Coley began to treat people with sarcomas using the reparations derived from streptococcal cultures (Coley’s toxins) to activate general systemic immunity, which provided complete response rates of approximately 15% in the 1890s (Bickels et al., 2002). The anti-tumor effect of innate immune activation has been continually reported since then (Ostberg et al., 2005; Xie et al., 2007; Tse et al., 2011). Initially, typical innate immune response was regarded as a non-specific defense against foreign invaders. However, the following studies found that innate immune response depended on a variety of transmembrane or secreted pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs) to trigger a defensive response against foreign invaders (Kawai and Akira, 2010). Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are important members of PRRs. They could identify a variety of products characteristically associated with microbial species, such as peptidoglycan, bacterial lipoproteins, bacterial lipopolysaccharide, and bacterial flagellin (Armant and Fenton, 2002). Up to now, 11 members of
A Case Study of User Experience on Hand-Gesture Video Games

As motion capture systems become reliable and affordable, hand gestures can be identified in real-time and used in video games as alternative game controls. However, there is not enough studies about user experience using gesture input modality for games. In this work, we perform a case study of hand-gesture video games. We try to answer the question “Do players have a delightful experience when they interact with the game using hand gestures? ”. We map intuitive hand gestures to commands and use them to control the movement of game characters. We perform a user study based on User Experience Questionnaires (UEQ). In comparing to all interactive products registered in UEQ study database, our gesture control interface scores in the top 1% range showing that gesture based gaming can provide a high level of user satisfaction.
SPECIFIC CONSEQUENCES IN THE DESCRIPTION LOGIC EL LTCS-REPORT 18-11

The notion of a most specific consequence with respect to some terminological box is introduced, conditions for its existence in the description logic EL and its variants are provided, and means for its computation are developed. Algebraic properties of most specific consequences are explored. Furthermore, several applications that make use of this new notion are proposed and, in particular, it is shown how given terminological knowledge can be incorporated in existing approaches for the axiomatization of observations. For instance, a procedure for an incremental learning of concept inclusions from sequences of interpretations is developed.
Comparisons between dynamics of SBSL and an encapsulated bubble in spherical resonator

Single bubble sonoluminescence (SBSL) and ultrasound agent contrast (UAC), each one levitating in a standing wave field (30~70 kHz) inside of a spherical resonator filled with sterile water, are compared in order to understand their radial dynamics. Light scattering technique is employed to measure the radial pulsations of individual/cloud microbubbles. Waves emitted by bubble (shock wave) and the intensity of the acoustic field applied are measured through a needle hydrophone. UAC is highly diluted Polyson® microbubbles. Waveforms are processed by means of Fourier and time-frequency analysis. The experimental data and the main parameters involved (T, , Pa, Re and De) are analyzed as a function of short and long regimen. Linear and nonlinear oscillations were observed and associated with time-frequency spectra. Parametric instabilities are inferred from the light-scattered signal. The resting diameter and temperature are shown as principal parameters in the prediction of microbubble behavior.