Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Role of LIM Kinases during Development: A Lens to Get a Glimpse of Their Implication in Pathologies

The organization of cell populations within animal tissues is essential for the morphogenesis of organs during development. Cells recognize three-dimensional positions with respect to the whole organism and regulate their cell shape, motility, migration, polarization, growth, differentiation, gene expression and cell death according to extracellular signals. Remodeling of the actin filaments is essential to achieve these cell morphological changes. Cofilin is an important binding protein for these filaments; it increases their elasticity in terms of flexion and torsion and also severs them. The activity of cofilin is spatiotemporally inhibited via phosphorylation by the LIM domain kinases 1 and 2 (LIMK1 and LIMK2). Phylogenetic analysis indicates that the phospho-regulation of cofilin has evolved as a mechanism controlling the reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton during complex multicellular processes, such as those that occur during embryogenesis. In this context, the main objective of this review is to provide an update of the respective role of each of the LIM kinases during embryonic development.
Temporary Trends Concerning the Extent and Efficacy of Atrial Fibrillation Ablation Using Radiofrequency Energy in a Polish Single-Center Experience

Background and Objectives: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common supraventricular arrhythmia. Currently, catheter ablation is a preferred treatment strategy. The main objective of our study was a temporary trends analysis of patients’ data undergoing a single AF ablation procedure using radiofrequency energy (RF). The efficacy of the procedure underwent assessment during a 12-month follow-up. Materials and Methods: We analyzed 585 consecutive patients with symptomatic, recurrent, and drug-refractory AF hospitalized in our department between 2013 and 2018 who underwent RF ablation supported by a 3D electroanatomical system. The baseline characteristics, periprocedural parameters, and efficacy of the procedure at 6-, 9- and 12-month follow-ups were analyzed over the years. Results: The number of patients undergoing ablation increased. Patients with paroxysmal AF predominated (71.5%). However, the number of patients with the persistent type of arrhythmia increased over the years. The percentage of patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) increased to 27.5% in 2018, and patients presented with increasingly larger left atria (LA). In all patients, circumferential pulmonary vein isolation was performed. The percentage of patients who underwent arrhythmogenic substrate modification and cavotricuspid isthmus ablation increased. Over the years, the efficacy of a single procedure at the 12-month follow-up remained without significant differences between the years (72.0%, 69.6%, 75.5%, 74.8%, 71.7%, 71.7%). Conclusions: The rate of patients with CHF and advanced LA disease undergoing more extensive ablation increased over the years. The efficacy of a single procedure remained without significant differences between the years.
Consciously Uncertain: A Bayesian Analysis of Preferences Formation

We investigate experimentally whether players deliberately use irrelevant market cues to shape their evaluations of a traded item. We implement a repeated Vickrey median price selling auction of an unusual bad where players are informed on the market price and on the three lowest or highest asks. We elicited players’ consideration of market signals through a questionnaire at the end of the auction. We find that extreme information has a stronger influence on players’ evaluations than the market price. However, players’ consideration of the market signals explains their behavioral reactivity to the market price but not to the extremes. Hence, players deliberately use an unbiased estimator of the central tendency of the appraisals distribution, while extreme asks’ influence is consistent with a priming effect.
With a little help from my friends: mitochondria maintain redox balance for the endoplasmic reticulum

Maintaining the redox balance of each cell compartment is critical for cellular processes including protein maturation, signaling, and metabolism. The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) redox is paramount for proper folding of proteins in the secretory pathway. antioxidant net-works that buffer oxidative stress are well-studied, far less is about reductive stress, which be equally disrup-tive. In the cellular redox landscape, the mitochondrion central electron transfer consti-tutes of the oxidase mitochondrion dissipate reducing power with to no ATP generation. AOX1a in mitochondria for redox in crosstalk chloroplasts under light and drought stress its functions in non-photosynthetic tissues Plant
Microplastics and Potentially Toxic Elements: Potential Human Exposure Pathways through Agricultural Lands and Policy Based Countermeasures

Microplastics (MPs) have been identified as an emerging soil pollutant and a global environmental concern. Scientists have recently paid attention to the contamination of soil by MPs as their detrimental impacts on soil systems are largely unknown. MPs are considered to be vectors for other soil contaminants, such as potentially toxic elements (PTEs) and organic contaminants. PTEs are persistent contaminants and are often released into soils in large quantities. MPs adsorb PTEs, mainly via electrostatic attraction and surface complexation, and increase their mobility in soils. These complexes can be easily absorbed by plants; hence, the accumulation of PTEs in plants can be enhanced in both microplastic and PTE contaminated soils. Furthermore, there is a high risk of food chains contamination by PTEs due to crops grown in both microplastic and PTE-contaminated soils. Consequently, countermeasures including policy- and governance-based approaches that target circular economy as well as reduce, reuse, recycle (3R) applications are being discussed around the world to minimize the environmental contamination of MPs.
Estimation of Fine-Grained Foot Strike Patterns with Wearable Smartwatch Devices

People who exercise may benefit or be injured depending on their foot striking (FS) style. In this study, we propose an intelligent system that can recognize subtle differences in FS patterns while walking and running using measurements from a wearable smartwatch device. Although such patterns could be directly measured utilizing pressure distribution of feet while striking on the ground, we instead focused on analyzing hand movements by assuming that striking patterns consequently affect temporal movements of the whole body. The advantage of the proposed approach is that FS patterns can be estimated in a portable and less invasive manner. To this end, first, we developed a wearable system for measuring inertial movements of hands and then conducted an experiment where participants were asked to walk and run while wearing a smartwatch. Second, we trained and tested the captured multivariate time series signals in supervised learning settings. The experimental results obtained demonstrated high and robust classification performances (weighted-average F1 score > 90%) when recent deep neural network models, such as 1D-CNN and GRUs, were employed. We conclude this study with a discussion of potential future work and applications that increase benefits while walking and running properly using the proposed approach.
Olive Pomace and Pâté Olive Cake as Suitable Ingredients for Food and Feed

Olive oil extraction generates several by-products that represent an environmental issue, mainly for Mediterranean countries where olive oil is mostly produced. These by-products represent an ecological issue for their phenolic components, such as oleuropein, hydroxytyrosol, and tyrosol. However, olive oil by-products can be treated and properly exploited in different fields for their health-promoting properties, and they represent great potential for the food and beverage, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries. Furthermore, recovery and treatment processes can contribute to efficient waste management, which can enhance the sustainability of the olive oil industry, and in turn, lead to relevant economic benefits. The solid waste, i.e., olive pomace, could be considered to be a suitable matrix or primary resource of molecules with high added value due to their high phenolic content. Olive pomace, at different moisture contents, is the main by-product obtained from two- or three-phase extraction systems. A commonly used centrifugal extraction system, i.e., a multiphase decanter (DMF), does not require the addition of water and can generate a new by-product called pâté or olive pomace cake, consisting of moist pulp that is rich in phenols, in particular, secoiridoids, without any trace of kernel. Although several reviews have been published on olive wastes, only a few reviews have specifically focused on the solid by-products. Therefore, the aim of the present review is to provide a comprehensive overview on the current valorization of the main solid olive oil by-products, in particular, olive pomace or pâté olive cake, highlighting their use in different fields, including human nutrition.
FMSClusterFinder: A new tool for detection and identification of clusters of sequential motifs with varying characteristics inside genomic sequences

This paper describes FMSClusterFinder, a new tool and algorithm for identification and detection of clusters of sequential blocks inside the DNA and RNA subject sequences. Gene expression and genomic groups’ performance is under the control of functional elements cooperating with each other as clusters. The functional motifs or blocks are often comparably short, degenerate and are located within varying distances from each other. Since functional motifs mostly act in relation to each other as clusters, finding such clusters of blocks is an effective approach to identify functional groups and their function and structure, which represents the need for development of new corresponding tools. The presented web application finds clusters of sequential blocks, with even altering sequences and located in varying distances from each other inside the subject sequences, simultaneously. Additionally, the blocks could be searched with user defined constant or varying characteristics such as: a) different levels of similarity, b) varying minimum number of blocks required to build up the query cluster, c) different types of sequence (degenerate or standard) and d) one or multiple alternative sequences for each block. FMSClusterFinder is available freely at http://fmsclusterfinder.fmsbiog. com.
Engraftment and Proliferation of Thermoreversible-Gelation-Polymer-Encapsulated Human Corneal Limbal-Stem-Cells on Ocular Surface of a Cadaver Cornea

Abstract Purpose Corneal limbal stem cell (LSC) transplantation has been reported as a potential approach to treat the damaged corneal epithelium. Scaffolds such as human amniotic membrane (hAM) are commonly employed for the in vitro culture and as a carrier during in vivo transplantation. However, they carry the risk of biological contamination and donor to donor variability. To overcome these disadvantages, we herein report the capabilities of a synthetic thermoreversible gelation polymer (TGP) scaffold to serve as an encapsulation support during LSC transplantation and to enable engraftment for corneal regeneration. Methods Sixteen discarded human corneas were used to isolate the corneal epithelium which was cultured in TGP and hAM. The cell proliferation and characteristics between TGP and hAM culture methods were evaluated by microscopic observation, 3H Thymidine incorporation assay, immunoperoxidase and immunofluorescence staining. Results The 3H Thymidine assay’s results showed that TGP allowed human-donor cornea-derived LSCs to proliferate well in vitro, compared to hAM and the cells encapsulated in TGP and transplanted ex vivo onto a human cadaver donor cornea denuded of its epithelium, migrated on the ocular surface, and proliferated to form a continuous layer in 25 days. Immunoperoxidase and Immunofluorescence staining of TGP-cultured cells were positive for LSC markers (p63, ABCG2, Connexin 43 and Integrin β), proving that the TGP helps to preserve the limbal cells’ stemness. Conclusion TGP is found to be a multipurpose scaffold for (i) in vitro culture, (ii) ex vivo encapsulation, and in vivo transplantation (iii), enabling engraftment of LSCs in this study, with potentials to extend its application in cell-based therapies in several regenerative medicine approaches.
Simulation of surface asperities on a carbon fiber using molecular dynamics and fourier series decomposition to predict interfacial shear strength in polymer matrix composites

ABSTRACT The objective of this paper is to predict the fiber/matrix interfacial debond strength in composites. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images of the surface topography of a de-sized carbon fiber reveal that there are surface asperities present at various length scales ranging from a nanometer to several microns. These asperities are likely caused by shrinkage of the polyacrylonitrile (PAN) precursor during the graphitization process. In order to bridge the length scales, a Fourier series-decomposition covering a range of asperity wavelengths and amplitudes is necessary to effectively capture the roughness of the fiber surface at different length scales. Further, once a surface asperity profile has been resolved into individual subcomponents using Fourier-decomposition, MD simulations can then be employed to obtain the interfacial shear strength of the subcomponent asperity of a given amplitude and wavelength. Finally, by recombining the peak interfacial shear force obtained from each of these subcomponents into the overall shear force for the fiber surface profile, the length-scale-averaged shear strength can be obtained for any given asperity. The objective of this paper is to use this novel approach to determine the interfacial shear strength of de-sized carbon fiber embedded in an epoxy matrix and compare predicted results with experimental data. Graphical Abstract
A Novel Wideband 90° Filtering Phase Shifter Using Broadside-Coupled MSLs

This brief presents a novel wideband 90° phase shifter using broadside-coupled microstrip lines (MSLs). Firstly, compared with its traditional counterpart, the proposed one can significantly increase the coupling degree as inquired in the traditional design so as to realize a much wide operating bandwidth in a simple topology. Secondly, for facilitating the design process, this brief introduces a synthesis method to efficiently design the proposed broadband phase shifter with prescribed parameters. Finally, to verify the proposed design, a prototype of the proposed phase shifter is designed, fabricated, and measured. The measured results show that the wideband phase shifter proposed in this brief can achieve 90°±3°, S11 <−22 dB, and fractional bandwidth (FBW) of 80%.
Diagnosis of Lung Cancer by FTIR Spectroscopy Combined With Raman Spectroscopy Based on Data Fusion and Wavelet Transform

Lung cancer is a fatal tumor threatening human health. It is of great significance to explore a diagnostic method with wide application range, high specificity, and high sensitivity for the detection of lung cancer. In this study, data fusion and wavelet transform were used in combination with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy to study the serum samples of patients with lung cancer and healthy people. The Raman spectra of serum samples can provide more biological information than the FTIR spectra of serum samples. After selecting the optimal wavelet parameters for wavelet threshold denoising (WTD) of spectral data, the partial least squares–discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) model showed 93.41% accuracy, 96.08% specificity, and 90% sensitivity for the fusion data processed by WTD in the prediction set. The results showed that the combination of FTIR spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy based on data fusion and wavelet transform can effectively diagnose patients with lung cancer, and it is expected to be applied to clinical screening and diagnosis in the future.
The voice of distrust? The relationship between political trust, online political participation and voting

ABSTRACT In this article, we examine how political trust is associated with participation in political discussions on social media and voting activity. We explore whether social media can provide platforms for those who are passive in terms of formal political participation. Our data were derived from a representative survey based on a sample collected in 2017 from the Finnish population register (N = 2470). Our key findings were that online and offline participation were highly linked to each other. Those citizens who participated formally by voting were also more likely to participate online. Moreover, we found a moderating effect of political trust on the relationship between online and offline participation. Therefore, we concluded that social media platforms also provide channels for political participation for individuals with low political trust who do not participate formally by voting.
Songbird parents coordinate offspring provisioning at fine spatio‐temporal scales

For parents, rearing offspring together is far from a purely cooperative exercise, as a conflict of interest (‘sexual conflict’) exists over their optimum level of care. Recent theory emphasises that sexual conflict can be evolutionarily resolved, and complete parental cooperation can occur if parents directly respond (‘negotiate’) to each other and coordinate their level of care. Despite numerous experiments show that parents are responsive to each other, we still lack empirical evidence of the behavioural mechanisms by which this negotiation occurs. In this study, we investigated the spatio-temporal coordination of parental provisioning behaviour as a possible mechanism of negotiation over parental care. We deployed an automated radio-tracking technology to track the provisioning activity of wild great tit (Parus major) pairs during chick rearing. Our analyses represent the first detailed spatial and temporal description of foraging coordination in songbird parents in a natural context. We demonstrate that the foraging behaviour of the two parents is highly coordinated in space and time, with parents changing their foraging locations in conjunction with their partners’ movements. Therefore, foraging coordination could be a mechanism by which parents directly monitor and respond to each other’s level of investment.
Chemical profile and antibacterial activity of Mentha viridis L. essential oils and ethanolic extract

Mentha viridis was the model plant for this study to estimate the antibacterial activity and define the essential metabolites' essential chemical compositions. This study was designed to estimate ethanol extract's chemical composition and essential oil isolated from leaves of commercial M. viridis. The essential primary and secondary metabolites were estimated and defined as: total protein (45.29 µg/ml), total alkaloids (0.116 mg/g), total flavonoids (0.9931 mg/g), and total phenolic compounds (0.2326 mg/g). The antibacterial activity of M. viridis ethanol extract was screened against two-gram negative bacterial strains, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli (DH5-α). This work proved that both the ethanol extract and the essential oil extract of M. viridis leave have potent antibacterial activity against tested bacteria. There is a difference in clear zone diameter by comparing the control ethanol treatment to the ethanol extract. The total essential oil obtained by hydro-distillation technique and identified by Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The main compounds of the oil were Cyclohexanone, 5-methyl-2-(1-methylethylidene)- (33.46%), D-Carvone (32.30%), Cyclohexanol, 2-methyl-5-(1-methylethenyl)-, (1.alpha., 2.beta., 5.alpha.) (7.13%), Carveol (5.31%), Dihydrocarvyl acetate (5.30%). All these characterizations enable M. viridis to have antibacterial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticarcinogenic effects. Keywords: Antibacterial activity, essential oils, ethanol extract, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), Mentha Viridis.
The role of learning strategies for performance in mathematics courses for engineers

We analyse the predictive power of learning strategies for engineering students’ performance in mathematics. Learning strategies play an important role in self-regulated learning. Based on a new learning strategy questionnaire that takes into account the specifics of mathematical learning at universities, we investigated what were the strategies that correlate with performance and predict future performance. We present data of a longitudinal study with N = 361 engineering students regressing their performance on students’ use of their learning strategies as well as their prior performance. The results indicate that practicing but not repeating the content and resisting frustration predict students’ performance. We discuss the findings with a specific view on what is tested and why some elaboration strategies might not be rewarded in exams.
Video: Activity Recognition on Mobile Phones { Why do we need it and how can it be done?

The gained context information can be used for various applications. In the video, an example app for the automatic adjustment of the user’s phone proles is presented. Two situations, in which badly set phone proles lead to embarrassing or even dangerous situations are presented. After a presentation of the inner workings of the ActiServ system, the examples are picked up and it is shown how activity recognition could have helped to prevent the unwanted situations.
The Effect of Prosopis farcta and Its Bioactive Luteolin on the Hippocampus of Mice after Induced Ischemia Reperfusion

Background Ischemia plays an important role in increasing damage to the nervous system. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of Prosopis farcta (PFE) and its bioactive luteolin (Lu) and forced swimming exercise on the hippocampus of mice after induced ischemia reperfusion. Methods The bioactive component of PFE (Lu) was identified by HPLC. Fifty-six male mice were divided into different groups. Ischemia was induced by ligation of the common carotid artery. After mice training (swimming exercise, 8 weeks) and consuming PFE and Lu, the mice's memory ability was evaluated in the shuttle box. Histological examination was performed by Nissel staining and immunohistochemistry. Results Results showed that the ischemic mice exercised and treated with PFE and Lu had higher step-through latency (STL) compared with the nonexercised mice, and this was confirmed with time spent in the dark compartment (TDC). The number of dark cells in the ischemic group exercising and receiving PFE and Lu decreased compared to that of the other groups in the hippocampus. DCX protein expression was increased in nonexercised groups compared to that of the exercised groups and those treated with PFE and Lu, while NeuN decreased. Conclusions Forced swimming exercise following ischemia, as well as consumption of PFE and Lu, has reduced cell death and increased neurogenesis in the hippocampus and thus may help improve memory in ischemia.