Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Role of a novel nutraceutical composition for irritable bowel syndrome management: symptoms relief and unexpected triglycerides-lowering effect

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional bowel disorder characterized by abdominal pain or discomfort and an irregular bowel habit. The prevalence is up to 20% in Western adults, which makes IBS the most common diagnosis in gastroenterology. Despite extensive interest and investigation, IBS's precise aetiology and pathophysiology are poorly understood. Current knowledge suggests that an altered gut microbiota, altered motility, visceral hyperalgesia, and dysregulation of the brain-gut axis are central to IBS. This is also significantly related to a higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome and elevated triglycerides among the adult population. This retrospective study examines the effect of a novel nutraceutical compound, Triobiotix, on gastrointestinal symptoms in IBS patients. Effects on lipid profiles have also been recorded. Objectives: The focus of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of Triobiotix, a nutraceutical compound composed of prebiotics and probiotics. Methods:Triobiotix is a nutraceutical consisting of Maltodextrin; mineralized extract of Lithothamnion (Lithothamnion calcareum (Pallas) Areschoug, thallus dry extract); Bioecolians® gluco-oligosaccharides; Ferment mix (corn starch, Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. Lactis BLC1 (DSM 17741), Lactobacillus acidophilus LA3 (DSM 17742), Lactobacillus rhamnosus IMC 501 (DSM 16104), Lactobacillus paracasei Streptococcus 501 IMC102 SP4 (DSM 19385); short-chain fructo-oligosaccharides powder. The database of 40 Italian General Practitioners (GPs) was analyzed. A total of 587 patients with IBS treated with Triobiotix were identified. Among them, 535/587 (91.1%) completed the first (T0) and second (T1) visits and their data were available. The primary endpoint of this analysis was to assess if Triobiotix, at a dosage of 1 sachet per day for 30 days, could reduce abdominal pain and bloating, thus resulting in a lower intensity of the main gastrointestinal symptoms. Secondary endpoints were to evaluate presence of any significant changes in triglycerides blood levels and glycaemia.Results: Treatment with this nutraceutical for one month resulted in a reduction in the frequency and intensity of bloating, abdominal pain, flatulence, and tenesmus. In the 85 patients who reported evacuative urgency, the frequency of the episodes didn’t significantly change while their intensity was statistically reduced. Unexpectedly, triglyceride levels also significantly decreased.Conclusions:Our analysis demonstrates this formulation is effective in the relief of the main symptoms associated with IBS. Moreover, an unexpected effect of this combination of micronutrients on tryglicerides, beyond IBS symptoms, was also found. However, further studies are needed to confirm this evidence and to evaluate the particular compound responsible of this effect.Keywords: Irritable bowel disease; Triglyceridemia; Nutraceuticals
Inversion of Fourier Transforms by Means of Scale-Frequency Series

We report on inversion of the Fourier transform when the frequency variable can be scaled in a variety of different ways that improve the resolution of certain parts of the frequency domain. The corresponding inverse Fourier transform is shown to exist in the form of two dual scale-frequency series. Upon discretization of the continuous scale factor, this Fourier transform series inverse becomes a certain nonharmonic double series, a discretized scale-frequency (DSF) series. The DSF series is also demonstrated, theoretically and practically, to be rate-optimizable with respect to its two free parameters, when it satisfies, as an entropy maximizer, a pertaining recursive nonlinear programming problem incorporating the entropy-based uncertainty principle.
Vitamin D as a Shield against Aging

Aging can be seen as a physiological progression of biomolecular damage and the accumulation of defective cellular components, which trigger and amplify the process, toward whole-body function weakening. Senescence initiates at the cellular level and consists in an inability to maintain homeostasis, characterized by the overexpression/aberrant expression of inflammatory/immune/stress responses. Aging is associated with significant modifications in immune system cells, toward a decline in immunosurveillance, which, in turn, leads to chronic elevation of inflammation/oxidative stress, increasing the risk of (co)morbidities. Albeit aging is a natural and unavoidable process, it can be regulated by some factors, like lifestyle and diet. Nutrition, indeed, tackles the mechanisms underlying molecular/cellular aging. Many micronutrients, i.e., vitamins and elements, can impact cell function. This review focuses on the role exerted by vitamin D in geroprotection, based on its ability to shape cellular/intracellular processes and drive the immune response toward immune protection against infections and age-related diseases. To this aim, the main biomolecular paths underlying immunosenescence and inflammaging are identified as biotargets of vitamin D. Topics such as heart and skeletal muscle cell function/dysfunction, depending on vitamin D status, are addressed, with comments on hypovitaminosis D correction by food and supplementation. Albeit research has progressed, still limitations exist in translating knowledge into clinical practice, making it necessary to focus attention on the role of vitamin D in aging, especially considering the growing number of older individuals.
From Muscle to the Myofascial Unit: Current Evidence and Future Perspectives

The “motor unit” or the “muscle” has long been considered the quantal element in the control of movement. However, in recent years new research has proved the strong interaction between muscle fibers and intramuscular connective tissue, and between muscles and fasciae, suggesting that the muscles can no longer be considered the only elements that organize movement. In addition, innervation and vascularization of muscle is strongly connected with intramuscular connective tissue. This awareness induced Luigi Stecco, in 2002, to create a new term, the “myofascial unit”, to describe the bilateral dependent relationship, both anatomical and functional, that occurs between fascia, muscle and accessory elements. The aim of this narrative review is to understand the scientific support for this new term, and whether it is actually correct to consider the myofascial unit the physiological basic element for peripheral motor control.
An Analysis into Physical and Virtual Power Draw Characteristics of Embedded Wireless Sensor Network Devices under DoS and RPL-Based Attacks

Currently, within the world, cybercrime is becoming increasingly rampant—often targeting civil infrastructure like power stations and other critical systems. A trend that is being noticed with these attacks is their increased use of embedded devices in denial-of-service (DoS) attacks. This creates a substantial risk to systems and infrastructures worldwide. Threats to embedded devices can be significant, and network stability and reliability can suffer, mainly through the risk of battery draining or complete system hang. This paper investigates such consequences through simulations of excessive loads, by staging attacks on embedded devices. Experimentation within Contiki OS focused on loads placed on physical and virtualised wireless sensor network (WSN) embedded devices by launching DoS attacks and by exploiting the Routing Protocol for Low Power and Lossy Networks (RPL). Results from these experiments were based on the metric of power draw, mainly the percentage increase over baseline and the pattern of it. The physical study relied on the output of the inline power analyser and the virtual study relied on the output of a Cooja plugin called PowerTracker. This involved experiments on both physical and virtual devices, and analysis of the power draws characteristics of WSN devices with a focus on embedded Linux platforms and Contiki OS. Experimental results provide evidence that peak power draining occurs with a malicious-node-to-sensor device ratio of 13-to-1. Results show a decline in power usage with a more expansive 16-sensor network after modelling and simulating a growing sensor network within the Cooja simulator.
Development of a Simple and Robust Kinetic Model for the Production of Succinic Acid from Glucose Depending on Different Operating Conditions

Succinic acid (SA) is one of the main identified biomass-derived chemical building blocks. In this work we approach the study of its production by Actinobacillus succinogenes DSM 22257 from glucose, focusing on the development and application of a simple kinetic model capable of representing the evolution of the process over time for a great diversity of process variables key to the production of this platform bio-based chemical: initial biomass concentration, yeast extract concentration, agitation speed, and carbon dioxide flow rate. All these variables were studied experimentally, determining the values of key fermentation parameters: titer (23.8–39.7 g·L−1), yield (0.59–0.72 gSA·gglu−1), productivity (0.48–0.96 gSA·L−1·h−1), and selectivity (0.61–0.69 gSA·gglu−1). Even with this wide diversity of operational conditions, a non-structured and non-segregated kinetic model was suitable for fitting to experimental data with high accuracy, considering the values of the goodness-of-fit statistical parameters. This model is based on the logistic equation for biomass growth and on potential kinetic equations to describe the evolution of SA and the sum of by-products as production events that are not associated with biomass growth. The application of the kinetic model to diverse operational conditions sheds light on their effect on SA production. It seems that nitrogen stress is a good condition for SA titer and selectivity, there is an optimal inoculum mass for this purpose, and hydrodynamic stress starts at 300 r.p.m. in the experimental set-up employed. Due to its practical importance, and to validate the developed kinetic model, a fed-batch fermentation was also carried out, verifying the goodness of the model proposed via the process simulation (stage or cycle 1) and application to further cycles of the fed-batch operation. The results showed that biomass inactivation started at cycle 3 after a grace period in cycle 2.
Predicting Arm Nonuse in Individuals with Good Arm Motor Function after Stroke Rehabilitation: A Machine Learning Study

Many stroke survivors demonstrate arm nonuse despite good arm motor function. This retrospective secondary analysis aims to identify predictors of arm nonusers with good arm motor function after stroke rehabilitation. A total of 78 participants were categorized into 2 groups using the Fugl-Meyer Assessment Upper Extremity Scale (FMA-UE) and the Motor Activity Log Amount of Use (MAL-AOU). Group 1 comprised participants with good motor function (FMA-UE ≥ 31) and low daily upper limb use (MAL-AOU ≤ 2.5), and group 2 comprised all other participants. Feature selection analysis was performed on 20 potential predictors to identify the 5 most important predictors for group membership. Predictive models were built with the five most important predictors using four algorithms. The most important predictors were preintervention scores on the FMA-UE, MAL–Quality of Movement, Wolf Motor Function Test-Quality, MAL-AOU, and Stroke Self-Efficacy Questionnaire. Predictive models classified the participants with accuracies ranging from 0.75 to 0.94 and areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve ranging from 0.77 to 0.97. The result indicates that measures of arm motor function, arm use in activities of daily living, and self-efficacy could predict postintervention arm nonuse despite good arm motor function in stroke. These assessments should be prioritized in the evaluation process to facilitate the design of individualized stroke rehabilitation programs to reduce arm nonuse.
Shear‐Thickening (“Dilatancy”) in Suspensions of Nonaggregating Solid Particles Dispersed in Newtonian Liquids

The literature on this subject stands currently at over 100 articles; this review seeks to present an overall picture of the subject, using the results of these articles. Concentrated suspensions of nonaggregating solid particles, if measured in the appropriate shear rate range, will always show (reversible) shear thickening. The actual nature of the shear thickening will depend on the parameters of the suspended phase: phase volume, particle size (distribution), particle shape, as well as those of the suspending phase (viscosity and the details of the deformation, i.e., shear or extensional flow, steady or transient, time and rate of deformation). The explanations offered for the phenomenon that are supported by independent physical measurements postulate that the increase in viscosity is due to the transition from a two‐dimensional layered arrangement of particles to a random three‐dimensional form. The transition rarely takes more than one decade of shear rate, but it can be over a much shorter range, .
Termination of Periodically Monotonic Affine Loops

—We present a technique for locating inﬁnite paths within a program’s loop blocks, in particular examining loops whose deﬁning variables are updated by transformations of an afﬁne nature. Along with a few auxiliary results, we show that this technique will always locate such paths, if they exist, for update transformations which periodically shift the values of the loop’s variables no nearer to their relevant bounds, which are deﬁned in the loop’s guard condition. All single-variable and cyclic afﬁne loops possess this property. Finally we describe this technique’s implementation, which has been performed with the aid of Java Pathﬁnder, The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) open-source software veriﬁer, and also note how our technique can be adapted to prove that termination holds for afﬁne loops which exhibit periodically decreasing behaviour.
Fuzzy clustering by quadratic regularization

A quadratic regularization method is proposed as a variation of the fuzzy c-means. The standard fuzzy c-means is regarded as a regularization of the crisp k-means, and hence other regularization methods can be studied as fuzzy versions of the crisp c-means. A new algorithm for calculating membership values is derived, whereas calculation of cluster centers is similar to the standard method. The nearest prototype classification functions which has been derived from the standard fuzzy c-means is transformed into the corresponding method within the present method of quadratic regularization. It should be noted that the present method yields piecewise linear classification functions.
Enhanced Antifouling in Flat-Sheet Polyphenylsulfone Membranes Incorporating Graphene Oxide–Tungsten Oxide for Ultrafiltration Applications

In this study tungsten oxide and graphene oxide (GO-WO2.89) were successfully combined using the ultra-sonication method and embedded with polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) to prepare novel low-fouling membranes for ultrafiltration applications. The properties of the modified membranes and performance were investigated using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), contact angle (CA), water permeation flux, and bovine serum albumin (BSA) rejection. It was found that the modified PPSU membrane fabricated from 0.1 wt. % of GO-WO2.89 possessed the best characteristics, with a 40.82° contact angle and 92.94% porosity. The permeation flux of the best membrane was the highest. The pure water permeation flux of the best membrane showcased 636.01 L·m−2·h−1 with 82.86% BSA rejection. Moreover, the membranes (MR-2 and MR-P2) manifested a higher flux recovery ratio (FRR %) of 92.66 and 87.06%, respectively, and were less prone to BSA solution fouling. The antibacterial performance of the GO-WO2.89 composite was very positive with three different concentrations, observed via the bacteria count method. These results significantly overtake those observed by neat PPSU membranes and offer a promising potential of GO-WO2.89 on activity membrane performance.
Determinants of Deteriorated Self-Perceived Health Status among Informal Settlement Dwellers in South Africa

Self-perceived health (SPH) is a widely used measure of health amongst individuals that indicates an individual’s overall subjective perception of their physical or mental health status. As rural to urban migration increases, the health of individuals within informal settlements becomes an increasing concern as these people are at high health and safety risk due to poor housing structures, overcrowding, poor sanitation and lack of services. This paper aimed to explore factors related to deteriorated SPH status among informal settlement dwellers in South Africa. This study used data from the first national representative Informal Settlements Survey in South Africa conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in 2015. Stratified random sampling was applied to select informal settlements and households to participate in the study. Multivariate logistic regression and multinomial logistic regression analyses were performed to assess factors affecting deteriorated SPH among the informal settlement dwellers in South Africa. Informal settlement dwellers aged 30 to 39 years old (OR = 0.332 95%CI [0.131–0.840], p < 0.05), those with ZAR 5501 and more household income per month (OR = 0.365 95%CI [0.144–0.922], p < 0.05) and those who reported using drugs (OR = 0.069 95%CI [0.020–0.240], p < 0.001) were significantly less likely to believe that their SPH status had deteriorated compared to the year preceding the survey than their counterparts. Those who reported always running out of food (OR = 3.120 95%CI [1.258–7.737], p < 0.05) and those who reported having suffered from illness or injury in the past month preceding the survey (OR = 3.645 95%CI [2.147–6.186], p < 0.001) were significantly more likely to believe that their SPH status had deteriorated compared to the year preceding the survey than their counterparts. In addition, those who were employed were significantly (OR = 1.830 95%CI [1.001–3.347], p = 0.05) more likely to believe that their SPH status had deteriorated compared to the year preceding the survey than those who were unemployed with neutral SPH as a base category. Overall, the results from this study point to the importance of age, employment, income, lack of food, drug use and injury or illness as key determinants of SPH amongst informal settlement dwellers in South Africa. Given the rapid increasing number of informal settlements in the country, our findings do have implications for better understanding the drivers of deteriorating health in informal settlements. It is therefore recommended that these key factors be incorporated into future planning and policy development aimed at improving the standard of living and health of these vulnerable residents.
Hybrid Synchronization of Three Identical Coupled Chaotic Systems Using the Direct Design Method

This paper investigates the hybrid synchronization behavior (coexistence of anti-synchronization and complete synchronization) in three coupled chaotic systems with ring connections. We employ the direct design method to design the hybird synchronization controllers, which transform the error system into a nonlinear system with a special antisymmetric structure. A simple stability criterion is then derived for reaching hybrid synchronization. Finally, numerical example is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the theoretical analysis.
Kinetics of a one‐dimensional granular medium in the quasielastic limit

The dynamics of a one‐dimensional granular medium has a finite time singularity if the number of particles in the medium is greater than a certain critical value. The singularity (‘‘inelastic collapse’’) occurs when a group of particles collides infinitely often in a finite time so that the separations and relative velocities vanish. To avoid the finite time singularity, a double limit in which the coefficient of restitution r approaches 1 and the number of particles N becomes large, but is always below the critical number needed to trigger collapse, is considered. Specifically, r→1 with N∼(1−r)−1. This procedure is called the ‘‘quasielastic’’ limit. Using a combination of direct simulation and kinetic theory, it is shown that a bimodal velocity distribution develops from random initial conditions. The bimodal distribution is the basis for a ‘‘two‐stream’’ continuum model in which each stream represents one of the velocity modes. This two‐stream model qualitatively explains some of the unusual phenomena s.
Classification trees with optimal multi-variate splits

Tree classifiers assign an observation to a class through a series of binary questions. This form of classification is very fast and easy to interpret. However, tree classifiers constructed using standard techniques, such as CART (classification and regression trees), have difficulties with multi-modal problems like the parity problem. In particular. CART produces a very inefficient tree for this class of problems, which can occur in a number of important applications. This paper examines the problems with CART and then presents a solution that yields trees that use the optimal multi-variate split at each node. <<ETX>>
Shock Structure in Transonic Compressor Rotors

It is argued from a simple model that the radial disequilibrium produced by the jump conditions across the passage shocks in transonic compressor rotors can lead to a stronger shock near the sonic radius than would be predicted by an axisymmetric theory, and to gradients of shock strength, which in turn produce large radial pressure gradients. These pressure gradients lead to strong radial flows in the boundary layer downstream of the shock termination. Shock behavior consistent with the model has been quantified by gas fluorescence measurements in the M.I. T. blowdown compressor; consistent boundary-layer behavior is also observed. Threedimensional transonic flow computations for the same rotor show radial variations of shock strengths consistent with those from the fluorescent density measurements. It is argued that the described phenomenon can represent an important source of losses. Originating near the transonic radius, the losses appear in the rotor outflow at a larger radius, about midway between the streamtube through the sonic radius and the tip streamtube for the rotor studied. The effect is minimized by designing for a small rate of change of rotor relative Mach number in the radial direction at the sonic radius.
The Dual Roles of Triiodothyronine in Regulating the Morphology of Hair Cells and Supporting Cells during Critical Periods of Mouse Cochlear Development

Clinically, thyroid-related diseases such as endemic iodine deficiency and congenital hypothyroidism are associated with hearing loss, suggesting that thyroid hormones are essential for the development of normal hearing. Triiodothyronine (T3) is the main active form of thyroid hormone and its effect on the remodeling of the organ of Corti remain unclear. This study aims to explore the effect and mechanism of T3 on the remodeling of the organ of Corti and supporting cells development during early development. In this study, mice treated with T3 at postnatal (P) day 0 or P1 showed severe hearing loss with disordered stereocilia of the outer hair cells (OHCs) and impaired function of mechanoelectrical transduction of OHCs. In addition, we found that treatment with T3 at P0 or P1 resulted in the overproduction of Deiter-like cells. Compared with the control group, the transcription levels of Sox2 and notch pathway-related genes in the cochlea of the T3 group were significantly downregulated. Furthermore, Sox2-haploinsufficient mice treated with T3 not only showed excess numbers of Deiter-like cells but also a large number of ectopic outer pillar cells (OPCs). Our study provides new evidence for the dual roles of T3 in regulating both hair cells and supporting cell development, suggesting that it is possible to increase the reserve of supporting cells.