Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influence of microwave heating time on the structure and properties of chitosan films

The aim of this study was to investigate chitosan film behavior during microwave heating for 10 different heating times from 0 to 40 min. Chitosan films were produced by casting. Their structure and properties were investigated with several techniques, including Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry, but also by the measurement of the film color and the mechanical properties or by the study of the rheological properties of the rehydrated films. An original technique of gas chromatography (electronic nose) was used to analyze the film odor and highlight the presence of volatile compounds related to the Maillard reaction occurring during film heating. The results show that structural modifications occurred in two steps; this affected the polymer structure, such as the crystallization and chain scission. The appearance of the neoformed compounds was also observed and must be controlled to guarantee the safety of this food-contact packaging material. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 40779.
Cezanne is a critical regulator of pathological arterial remodelling by targeting β-catenin signalling

Abstract Aims Pathological arterial remodelling including neointimal hyperplasia and atherosclerosis is the main underlying cause for occluding arterial diseases. Cezanne is a novel deubiquitinating enzyme, functioning as a NF-кB negative regulator, and plays a key role in renal inflammatory response and kidney injury induced by ischaemia. Here we attempted to examine its pathological role in vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) pathology and arterial remodelling. Methods and results Cezanne expression levels were consistently induced by various atherogenic stimuli in VSMCs, and in remodelled arteries upon injury. Functionally, VSMCs over-expressing wild-type Cezanne, but not the mutated catalytically-inactive Cezanne (C209S), had an increased proliferative ability and mobility, while the opposite was observed in VSMCs with Cezanne knockdown. Surprisingly, we observed no significant effects of Cezanne on VSMC apoptosis, NF-κB signalling, or inflammation. RNA-sequencing and biochemical studies showed that Cezanne drives VSMC proliferation by regulating CCN family member 1 (CCN1) by targeting β-catenin for deubiquitination. Importantly, local correction of Cezanne expression in the injured arteries greatly decreased VSMC proliferation, and prevented arterial inward remodelling. Interestingly, global Cezanne gene deletion in mice led to smaller atherosclerotic plaques, but with a lower level of plaque stability. Translating, we observed a similar role for Cezanne in human VSMCs, and higher expression levels of Cezanne in human atherosclerotic lesions. Conclusion Cezanne is a key regulator of VSMC proliferation and migration in pathological arterial remodelling. Our findings have important implications for therapeutic targeting Cezanne signalling and VSMC pathology in vascular diseases.
The Response of Smokers to Health Warnings on Packs in the United Kingdom and Norway Following the Introduction of Standardized Packaging

Abstract Introduction Standardized packaging was phased in between May 2016 and May 2017 in the United Kingdom and July 2017 and July 2018 in Norway. In both countries, the health warnings on packs prior to standardized packaging being implemented were from the former Tobacco Products Directive library of warnings (text warnings covering 43% of the pack front and pictorial warnings covering 53% of the pack reverse). The warnings on packs, postimplementation, were from the current Tobacco Products Directive library of warnings (novel pictorial warnings covering 65% of the pack front and reverse) for the United Kingdom but unchanged in Norway. Aims and Methods Longitudinal online surveys were conducted prior to standardized packaging (United Kingdom: April–May 2016; Norway: May–June 2017) and postimplementation (United Kingdom: September–November 2017 and May–July 2019; Norway: August–September 2018). We explored smokers’ response to the on-pack warnings (salience, cognitive reactions, and behavioral reactions). Results In the United Kingdom, noticing warnings on packs, reading or looking closely at them, thinking about them, thinking about the health risks, avoidant behaviors, forgoing cigarettes, and being more likely to quit due to the warnings significantly increased from waves 1 to 2, and then decreased from waves 2 to 3, but remained higher than at wave 1. In Norway, noticing warnings, reading or looking closely at them, thinking about them, thinking about the health risks, and being more likely to quit due to the warnings significantly decreased from waves 1 to 2; avoidant behaviors and forgoing cigarettes remained unchanged. Conclusions The inclusion of large novel pictorial warnings on standardized packs increases warning salience and effectiveness. Implications Two longitudinal online surveys in the United Kingdom and Norway explored the impact of standardized packaging on warning salience and effectiveness. That warning salience and effectiveness only increased in the UK postimplementation, where standardized packaging was implemented alongside new larger pictorial warnings on the pack front and reverse, and not in Norway, where standardized packaging was introduced but older smaller text warnings (pack front) and pictorial warnings (pack reverse) were retained, highlights the importance of removing full branding and introducing stronger warnings simultaneously.
Subtype-GAN: a deep learning approach for integrative cancer subtyping of multi-omics data

MOTIVATION The discovery of cancer subtyping can help explore cancer pathogenesis, determine clinical actionability in treatment, and improve patients' survival rates. However, due to the diversity and complexity of multi-omics data, it is still challenging to develop integrated clustering algorithms for tumor molecular subtyping. RESULTS We propose Subtype-GAN, a deep adversarial learning approach based on the multiple-input multiple-output neural network to model the complex omics data accurately. With the latent variables extracted from the neural network, Subtype-GAN uses consensus clustering and the Gaussian Mixture model to identify tumor samples' molecular subtypes. Compared with other state-of-the-art subtyping approaches, Subtype-GAN achieved outstanding performance on the benchmark data sets consisting of ∼4,000 TCGA tumors from 10 types of cancer. We found that on the comparison data set, the clustering scheme of Subtype-GAN is not always similar to that of the deep learning method AE but is identical to that of NEMO, MCCA, VAE, and other excellent approaches. Finally, we applied Subtype-GAN to the BRCA data set and automatically obtained the number of subtypes and the subtype labels of 1031 BRCA tumors. Through the detailed analysis, we found that the identified subtypes are clinically meaningful and show distinct patterns in the feature space, demonstrating the practicality of Subtype-GAN. AVAILABILITY The source codes, the clustering results of Subtype-GAN across the benchmark data sets are available at https://github.com/haiyang1986/Subtype-GAN. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Compound Heterozygous Frameshift Mutations in MESD Cause a Lethal Syndrome Suggestive of Osteogenesis Imperfecta Type XX

Multiple genes are known to be associated with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a phenotypically and genetically heterogenous bone disorder, marked predominantly by low bone mineral density and increased risk of fractures. Recently, mutations affecting MESD, which encodes for a chaperone required for trafficking of the low‐density lipoprotein receptors LRP5 and LRP6 in the endoplasmic reticulum, were described to cause autosomal‐recessive OI XX in homozygous children. In the present study, whole‐exome sequencing of three stillbirths in one family was performed to evaluate the presence of a hereditary disorder. To further characterize the skeletal phenotype, fetal autopsy, bone histology, and quantitative backscattered electron imaging (qBEI) were performed, and the results were compared with those from an age‐matched control with regular skeletal phenotype. In each of the affected individuals, compound heterozygous mutations in MESD exon 2 and exon 3 were detected. Based on the skeletal phenotype, which was characterized by multiple intrauterine fractures and severe skeletal deformity, OI XX was diagnosed in these individuals. Histological evaluation of MESD specimens revealed an impaired osseous development with an altered osteocyte morphology and reduced canalicular connectivity. Moreover, analysis of bone mineral density distribution by qBEI indicated an impaired and more heterogeneous matrix mineralization in individuals with MESD mutations than in controls. In contrast to the previously reported phenotypes of individuals with OI XX, the more severe phenotype in the present study is likely explained by a mutation in exon 2, located within the chaperone domain of MESD, that leads to a complete loss of function, which indicates the relevance of MESD in early skeletal development. © 2021 The Authors. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR).
MicroRNAs in the interaction between host–bacterial pathogens: A new perspective

Gene expression regulation plays a critical role in host–pathogen interactions, and RNAs function is essential in this process. miRNAs are small noncoding, endogenous RNA fragments that affect stability and/or translation of mRNAs, act as major posttranscriptional regulators of gene expression. miRNA is involved in regulating many biological or pathological processes through targeting specific mRNAs, including development, differentiation, apoptosis, cell cycle, cytoskeleton organization, and autophagy. Deregulated microRNA expression is associated with many types of diseases, including cancers, immune disturbances, and infection. miRNAs are a vital section of the host immune response to bacterial‐made infection. Bacterial pathogens suppress host miRNA expression for their benefit, promoting survival, replication, and persistence. The role played through miRNAs in interaction with host–bacterial pathogen has been extensively studied in the past 10 years, and knowledge about these staggering molecules' function can clarify the complicated and ambiguous interactions of the host–bacterial pathogen. Here, we review how pathogens prevent the host miRNA expression. We briefly discuss emerging themes in this field, including their role as biomarkers in identifying bacterial infections, as part of the gut microbiota, on host miRNA expression.
Contribution of foods prepared away from home to intakes of energy and nutrients of public health concern in adults: a systematic review

Abstract A 2011 review associated eating out with increased energy intake. Popular outlets, nutrient composition, and menus may have changed since 2011. This study aimed to investigate relative contributions of foods prepared outside of home to total energy, total and saturated fat, sugars, and sodium intakes. Studies were included if they were observational cohort or cross-sectional, investigated the contributions that foods prepared out of home made to energy, nutrient intakes and/or nutrient densities of adults aged 18–64 years, published between 2009 and 2019. Socio-demographic differences were explored. Data were extracted guided by the STROBE Statement for cohort and cross-sectional studies. A descriptive, qualitative synthesis was conducted. Study quality was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklists for Analytical Cross-sectional and Cohort Studies. Evidence strength was assessed using GRADE. Twenty-six studies were included. Higher consumption of foods purchased outside home increased intakes of energy and nutrients of public health concern, particularly in males and younger adults. Heterogeneity of definitions of foods prepared outside of home made comparison difficult. Studies frequently used self-reported consumption data, prone to misreporting. Foods prepared outside of home are associated with poorer diets. Policy and practice initiatives are required to address this.
Enabling forward uncertainty quantification and sensitivity analysis in cardiac electrophysiology by reduced order modeling and machine learning

We present a new, computationally efficient framework to perform forward uncertainty quantification (UQ) in cardiac electrophysiology. We consider the monodomain model to describe the electrical activity in the cardiac tissue, coupled with the Aliev‐Panfilov model to characterize the ionic activity through the cell membrane. We address a complete forward UQ pipeline, including both: (i) a variance‐based global sensitivity analysis for the selection of the most relevant input parameters, and (ii) a way to perform uncertainty propagation to investigate the impact of intra‐subject variability on outputs of interest depending on the cardiac potential. Both tasks exploit stochastic sampling techniques, thus implying overwhelming computational costs because of the huge amount of queries to the high‐fidelity, full‐order computational model obtained by approximating the coupled monodomain/Aliev‐Panfilov system through the finite element method. To mitigate this computational burden, we replace the full‐order model with computationally inexpensive projection‐based reduced‐order models (ROMs) aimed at reducing the state‐space dimensionality. Resulting approximation errors on the outputs of interest are finally taken into account through artificial neural network (ANN)‐based models, enhancing the accuracy of the whole UQ pipeline. Numerical results show that the proposed physics‐based ROMs outperform regression‐based emulators relying on ANNs built with the same amount of training data, in terms of both numerical accuracy and overall computational efficiency.
Fe b 20 21 A strengthening of the spectral color critical edge theorem : books and theta graphs *

The Color Critical Edge Theorem of Simonovits states that for a given color critical graph H with chromatic number χ(H) = k + 1, there exists an n0(H) such that the Turán graph Tn,k is the only extremal graph with respect to ex(n,H) provided n ≥ n0(H). Nikiforov’s pioneer work on spectral graph theory implies that the color critical edge theorem also holds if ex(n,H) is replaced by the maximum spectral radius and n0(H) is an exponential function on |H|. We conjecture that n0(H) is a linear function of |H|. Previous evidences include complete graphs and odd cycles. In this paper, we confirm two new classes of graphs: books and theta graphs. Namely, we prove that every graph on n vertices and ρ(G) > ρ(Tn,2) contains a book of size greater than n 6.5 . This can be seen as a spectral version of a 1962 conjecture by Erdős, which states that every graph on n vertices and e(G) > e(Tn,2) contains a book of size greater than n 6 . In addition, our result on theta graphs implies that if G is a graph of order n and ρ(G) > ρ(Tn,2), then G contains a cycle of length t for every t ≤ n 7 . This is related to an open question by Nikiforov which asks to determine the maximum c such that if G is a graph of order n and ρ(G) > ρ(Tn,2), then G contains a cycle of length t for every t ≤ cn.
Party System Renewal or Business as Usual? Continuity and Change in Post-Bailout Portugal

ABSTRACT The recent economic crisis has created momentum for party system change in most European democracies. While Portugal has shown more predictable patterns of interparty competition, since the 2015 elections it has experienced incremental changes in the electoral, parliamentary and governing arenas. This study explores several dimensions of the Portuguese party system (including volatility, alternation in government and innovation) from a longitudinal perspective, and provides new explanations for its development. Focusing on the post-bailout period, it argues that abstention and party strategy go a long way to explaining the patterns of continuity and (marginal) change in the Portuguese party system.
On Representation Learning for Road Networks

Informative representation of road networks is essential to a wide variety of applications on intelligent transportation systems. In this article, we design a new learning framework, called Representation Learning for Road Networks (RLRN), which explores various intrinsic properties of road networks to learn embeddings of intersections and road segments in road networks. To implement the RLRN framework, we propose a new neural network model, namely Road Network to Vector (RN2Vec), to learn embeddings of intersections and road segments jointly by exploring geo-locality and homogeneity of them, topological structure of the road networks, and moving behaviors of road users. In addition to model design, issues involving data preparation for model training are examined. We evaluate the learned embeddings via extensive experiments on several real-world datasets using different downstream test cases, including node/edge classification and travel time estimation. Experimental results show that the proposed RN2Vec robustly outperforms existing methods, including (i) Feature-based methods: raw features and principal components analysis (PCA); (ii) Network embedding methods: DeepWalk, LINE, and Node2vec; and (iii) Features + Network structure-based methods: network embeddings and PCA, graph convolutional networks, and graph attention networks. RN2Vec significantly outperforms all of them in terms of F1-score in classifying traffic signals (11.96% to 16.86%) and crossings (11.36% to 16.67%) on intersections and in classifying avenue (10.56% to 15.43%) and street (11.54% to 16.07%) on road segments, as well as in terms of Mean Absolute Error in travel time estimation (17.01% to 23.58%).
A global environmental crisis 42,000 years ago

Reversing the field Do terrestrial geomagnetic field reversals have an effect on Earth's climate? Cooper et al. created a precisely dated radiocarbon record around the time of the Laschamps geomagnetic reversal about 41,000 years ago from the rings of New Zealand swamp kauri trees. This record reveals a substantial increase in the carbon-14 content of the atmosphere culminating during the period of weakening magnetic field strength preceding the polarity switch. The authors modeled the consequences of this event and concluded that the geomagnetic field minimum caused substantial changes in atmospheric ozone concentration that drove synchronous global climate and environmental shifts. Science, this issue p. 811 The Laschamps magnetic field event caused significant global environmental change 42,000 years ago. Geological archives record multiple reversals of Earth’s magnetic poles, but the global impacts of these events, if any, remain unclear. Uncertain radiocarbon calibration has limited investigation of the potential effects of the last major magnetic inversion, known as the Laschamps Excursion [41 to 42 thousand years ago (ka)]. We use ancient New Zealand kauri trees (Agathis australis) to develop a detailed record of atmospheric radiocarbon levels across the Laschamps Excursion. We precisely characterize the geomagnetic reversal and perform global chemistry-climate modeling and detailed radiocarbon dating of paleoenvironmental records to investigate impacts. We find that geomagnetic field minima ~42 ka, in combination with Grand Solar Minima, caused substantial changes in atmospheric ozone concentration and circulation, driving synchronous global climate shifts that caused major environmental changes, extinction events, and transformations in the archaeological record.
Tissue regeneration: Reserve or reverse?

Stem cells recover from injury by tissue dedifferentiation, not from dedicated reserves Tissues with high intrinsic turnover, such as the skin and intestinal lining, rely on resident stem cells, which generate all native cell types. Intestinal stem cells (ISCs) are highly sensitive to damage, although they recover quickly. It is unclear whether this recovery (i.e., regeneration) occurs from less sensitive pools of “reserve” stem cells (1) or whether ISC progeny undergo “reverse” differentiation into stem cells (2). Recent studies in diverse organs highlight that dedifferentiation of specified cell types is a pervasive and dominant means for tissue regeneration. The findings have broad implications because all tissues experience some cell attrition over a lifetime, and knowing how tissues replenish those losses may help in preventing or treating organ failure. Moreover, it remains unclear whether incomplete differentiation, a common feature of cancer, reflects normal tissue plasticity, and it is unclear whether stem cells that arise by dedifferentiation may spawn cancers.
Aerodynamic response of a bristled wing in gusty flow

Abstract Some microscopic flying insects have evolved bristled wings. In the low-Reynolds-number regime they reside in, these porous wings perform like membranous wings because the virtual fluid barriers formed by strong viscous diffusion effectively block the gaps between bristles. In this study, the unsteady aerodynamic responses of a two-dimensional bristled wing to a single intermittent head-on gust are investigated numerically for a wide range of the Reynolds number, gust profile and gap width between the bristles. A comparison of a bristled wing with a corresponding flat wing shows that the gap flow alleviates the undesired aerodynamic loading induced by gusts. The Womersley number, which represents the ratio of the gap width to the length scale of unsteady viscous diffusion, is introduced to better characterize the unsteady drag and lift acting on the bristled wing. Under various model conditions, unsteady drag asymptotically converges beyond a specific value of the Womersley number, and unsteady lift exhibits peak values in a limited range of the Womersley number. Because of the linear property of the low-Reynolds-number flow, the unsteady force induced by the intermittent gusty flow is independent of the steady force produced by the basic steady and uniform free stream. For a large Womersley number, the aerodynamic interaction between the bristles is weak under a gusty flow, and thus the unsteady drag and lift forces can be analytically predicted, using the linear superposition approach of the velocity vector perturbed by a single isolated bristle.
Iso‐octane as fatty food simulant: Possibilities and limitations

A study was carried out to establish the possibilities and limitations of the application of iso‐octane as a fatty food simulant in testing commercially used food packaging materials. The overall migration from a total of 130 commercial samples, including homogeneous plastic films, laminates, polyethylene‐coated board samples and food utensils, into iso‐octane during 2 days at 20°C and into olive oil during 10 days at 40 C was determined, and the results obtained were compared with the overall migration limit. For 95% of the samples the values obtained in the iso‐octane and the olive oil tests were consistent, and led to the same conclusion concerning compliance with the overall migration limit. Comparative migration tests with six commercial food packaging materials using olive oil, HB 307, sunflower oil and iso‐octane, showed that overall migration levels vary according to the fat simulant used. In general, the deviation in migration behaviour between iso‐octane and the other fatty food simulants is of .