Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Contribution of Oxidative Stress to NF1-Altered Tumors

The neurofibromatosis-1 gene (NF1) was initially characterized because its germline mutation is responsible for an inherited syndromic disease predisposing tumor development, in particular neurofibromas but also various malignancies. Recently, large-scale tumor sequencing efforts have demonstrated NF1 as one of the most frequently mutated genes in human cancer, being mutated in approximately 5–10% of all tumors, especially in malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors and different skin tumors. NF1 acts as a tumor suppressor gene that encodes neurofibromin, a large protein that controls neoplastic transformation through several molecular mechanisms. On the other hand, neurofibromin loss due to NF1 biallelic inactivation induces tumorigenic hyperactivation of Ras and mTOR signaling pathways. Moreover, neurofibromin controls actin cytoskeleton structure and the metaphase–anaphase transition. Consequently, neurofibromin deficiency favors cell mobility and proliferation as well as chromosomal instability and aneuploidy, respectively. Growing evidence supports the role of oxidative stress in NF1-related tumorigenesis. Neurofibromin loss induces oxidative stress both directly and through Ras and mTOR signaling activation. Notably, innovative therapeutic approaches explore drug combinations that further increase reactive oxygen species to boost the oxidative unbalance of NF1-altered cancer cells. In our paper, we review NF1-related tumors and their pathogenesis, highlighting the twofold contribution of oxidative stress, both tumorigenic and therapeutic.
Umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells for regenerative treatment of intervertebral disc degeneration

Intervertebral disc degeneration is thought to be a major contributor to low back pain, the etiology of which is complex and not yet fully understood. To compensate for the lack of drug and surgical treatment, mesenchymal stem cells have been proposed for regenerative treatment of intervertebral discs in recent years, and encouraging results have been achieved in related trials. Mesenchymal stem cells can be derived from different parts of the body, among which mesenchymal stem cells isolated from the fetal umbilical cord have excellent performance in terms of difficulty of acquisition, differentiation potential, immunogenicity and ethical risk. This makes it possible for umbilical cord derived mesenchymal stem cells to replace the most widely used bone marrow-derived and adipose tissue derived mesenchymal stem cells as the first choice for regenerating intervertebral discs. However, the survival of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells within the intervertebral disc is a major factor affecting their regenerative capacity. In recent years biomaterial scaffolds in tissue engineering have aided the survival of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells by mimicking the natural extracellular matrix. This seems to provide a new idea for the application of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells. This article reviews the structure of the intervertebral disc, disc degeneration, and the strengths and weaknesses of common treatment methods. We focus on the cell source, cell characteristics, mechanism of action and related experiments to summarize the umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells and explore the feasibility of tissue engineering technology of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells. Hoping to provide new ideas for the treatment of disc degeneration.
StemRegenin-1 Attenuates Endothelial Progenitor Cell Senescence by Regulating the AhR Pathway-Mediated CYP1A1 and ROS Generation

Endothelial progenitor cell (EPC)-based stem cell therapy is a promising therapeutic strategy for vascular diseases. However, continuous in vitro expansion for clinical studies induces the loss of EPC functionality due to aging. In this study, we investigated the effects of StemRegenin-1 (SR-1), an antagonist of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), on replicative senescence in EPCs. We found that SR-1 maintained the expression of EPC surface markers, including stem cell markers, such as CD34, c-Kit, and CXCR4. Moreover, SR-1 long-term-treated EPCs preserved their characteristics. Subsequently, we demonstrated that SR-1 showed that aging phenotypes were reduced through senescence-associated phenotypes, such as β-galactosidase activity, SMP30, p21, p53, and senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). SR-1 treatment also increased the proliferation, migration, and tube-forming capacity of senescent EPCs. SR-1 inhibited the AhR-mediated cytochrome P450 (CYP)1A1 expression, reactive-oxygen species (ROS) production, and DNA damage under oxidative stress conditions in EPCs. Furthermore, as a result of CYP1A1-induced ROS inhibition, it was found that accumulated intracellular ROS were decreased in senescent EPCs. Finally, an in vivo Matrigel plug assay demonstrated drastically enhanced blood vessel formation via SR-1-treated EPCs. In summary, our results suggest that SR-1 contributes to the protection of EPCs against cellular senescence.
GAN Architecture Leveraging a Retinex Model With Colored Illumination for Low-Light Image Restoration

In this work, we study the restoration of text low-light images with outdoor scenes without ground truth. Until now, approaches in the literature have avoided using the Retinex decomposition model in an unsupervised way or have added constraining priors on the searched components. We propose here to relax the constraint of a grayscale illumination of the Retinex model. Indeed, according to the physics of light, it should include a colored illumination. Resulting from this new decomposition model, we formulate a new deep learning-based architecture inspired by the style transfer methods. Our method enables us to visualize the illumination (i.e. a complex style with the same dimensions as an image) and the reflectance (i.e. the content). It achieves more visually pleasing components compared to the state-of-the-art i.e. without artifact, without noise amplification and without hallucination with a simple restoration for each of the components.
ASSESSMENT OF LAND COVER CHANGE (2001-2021) USING REMOTE SENSING WITHIN AND AROUND MINALUNGAO NATIONAL PARK IN NUEVA ECIJA, PHILIPPINES

This study determines the land cover change within and around Minalungao National Park in Nueva Ecija, Philippines. Landsat images (Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus – ETM+ and Landsat 8) with different time intervals (2001, 2014, 2021) were used in the analysis. The Semi-Automatic Classification Plugin in Quantum Geographic Information System (QGIS) using the minimum distance classification algorithm was employed for the classification. The results establish four classifications of land cover: inland water, closed forest, open forest, and open/barren land. Accuracy assessments and kappa coefficients were accepted considerably. The result presented a dynamic land cover gain and loss related with different community activities. Both positive and negative activities affecting land cover were noted. Positive activities are related to forest restoration, ecotourism programs, and reports of tree-cutting activities. Moreover, negative activities are directly related with tree-cutting and livestock grazing. An alternative state of the protected area is also modelled based on land cover change around the protected area. This can be used to determine the most likely land cover status of Minalungao National Park if not established as a protected area.
Lipidation states orchestrate CLICK-III/CaMKIγ's stepwise association with Golgi and rafts-enriched membranes and specify its functional coupling to STEF-Rac1-dependent neurite extension

CLICK-III/CaMKIγ is a lipid-anchored neuronal isoform of multifunctional Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinases, which mediates BDNF-dependent dendritogenesis in cultured cortical neurons. We found that two distinct lipidation states of CaMKIγ, namely, prenylation and palmitoylation, controlled its association with detergent-resistant microdomains in the dendrites and were essential for its dendritogenic activity. However, the impact of each lipid modification on membrane targeting/trafficking and how it specifies functional coupling leading to polarized changes in neuronal morphology are not clear. Here, we show that prenylation induces membrane anchoring of CaMKIγ, permitting access to the Golgi apparatus, and a subsequent palmitoylation facilitates association with cholesterol-enriched lipid microdomains or lipid rafts, in particular at the Golgi. To specifically test the role of palmitoylated CaMKγ in neurite extension, we identified and took advantage of a cell system, PC12, which, unlike neurons, conveniently lacked CaMKIγ and was deficient in the activity-dependent release of a neuritogenic growth factor while possessing the ability to activate polarized rafts signaling for morphogenesis. This system allowed us to rigorously demonstrate that an activity-dependent, lipid rafts-restricted Rac activation leading to neuritogenesis could be functionally rescued by dually lipidated CaMKIγ expression, revealing that not only prenylation but also palmitoylation is essential for CaMKIγ to activate a compartmentalized STEF-Rac1 pathway. These results shed light on the significance of recruiting prenylated and palmitoylated CaMKIγ into the coalescing signalosomes at lipid rafts together with Rac1 and its specific GEF and STEF and forming a compartmentalized Ca2+ signaling pathway that underlies activity-dependent neuritogenesis and morphogenesis during axodendritic polarization critical for brain development and circuitogenesis.
Single-Line Multi-Channel Flexible Stress Sensor Arrays

Flexible stress sensor arrays, comprising multiple flexible stress sensor units, enable accurate quantification and analysis of spatial stress distribution. Nevertheless, the current implementation of flexible stress sensor arrays faces the challenge of excessive signal wires, resulting in reduced deformability, stability, reliability, and increased costs. The primary obstacle lies in the electric amplitude modulation nature of the sensor unit’s signal (e.g., resistance and capacitance), allowing only one signal per wire. To overcome this challenge, the single-line multi-channel signal (SLMC) measurement has been developed, enabling simultaneous detection of multiple sensor signals through one or two signal wires, which effectively reduces the number of signal wires, thereby enhancing stability, deformability, and reliability. This review offers a general knowledge of SLMC measurement beginning with flexible stress sensors and their piezoresistive, capacitive, piezoelectric, and triboelectric sensing mechanisms. A further discussion is given on different arraying methods and their corresponding advantages and disadvantages. Finally, this review categorizes existing SLMC measurement methods into RLC series resonant sensing, transmission line sensing, ionic conductor sensing, triboelectric sensing, piezoresistive sensing, and distributed fiber optic sensing based on their mechanisms, describes the mechanisms and characteristics of each method and summarizes the research status of SLMC measurement.
High Circular Dichroism in Extrinsic Chiral Metamaterials Based on Sawtooth and Zigzag Arrangements With Experimental Validation

This study analyzes the extrinsic chirality of metamaterials based on printed circuit board (PCB). Inspired by extrinsic planar metamaterials, two novel 3-D chiral metamaterials (CMMs) have been proposed and analyzed. In these structures, called sawtooth and zigzag arrangements, each unit cell and not the entire metamaterial is tilted with respect to the incident field. In both cases, the same single-layer metallic pattern, that is, a split-ring resonator (SRR), was used. In comparison with the traditional planar extrinsic chiral structures, it is shown, by numerical and experimental characterization, that these new types of arrangements exhibit a larger circular dichroism (CD), approximately 0.90, in the $X$ -band, with a significant wideband response. The analysis of the extrinsic chirality shows that it is originated by the dipole moments excited on the unit cells. With circular polarization, the constructive/destructive interference between these dipoles produces CD. However, owing to the broadside coupling between adjacent unit cells, the proposed nonplanar arrangements provide higher CD values than the planar structure.
A taster for time: Monday is sweeter than Friday

Space-time metaphors in English and Chinese connote two metaphorical representations of time in space: the ego-moving representation and the time-moving representation. Extant research thereon has evinced that the choice of either is subject to both spatial and non-spatial factors (e.g., emotion). Conjoining two separate lines of inquiry, one into the relationship between emotion and time and the other into the metaphorical associations between taste and emotion, the current research examined the bidirectional relationship between taste and time. In Study 1, participants tasted sweet-, sour-, bitter-, and spicy-dominated snacks before responding to the temporally ambiguous “Next Wednesday’s meeting” question (Li, 2019) and the results showed that those who tasted sweet snack reported more time-moving perspectives than ego-moving perspectives whereas the opposite tendency was registered in those who tasted the other three snacks. The taste-aroused approach motivation rather than the taste-induced emotion was a reliable predictor of the temporal perspective preference. By priming participants with either the time-moving or the ego-moving frame of reference, Study 2 investigated the reverse influence of temporal perspective on taste preference and the results indicated that compared to the ego-moving prime, the time-moving prime prompted a distinctively stronger liking for the sweet-tasting snack as a result of relatively low happiness and approach motivation. Taken together, the results suggest that how people metaphorically conceptualize time can be modulated by taste, providing corroborative evidence for the embodied cognition that the understanding of abstract concepts are grounded in sensory, motor, and affective experiences.
Association of Sociodemographic Factors with Physical Activity and Sleep Quality in Arab and Non-Arab Individuals of Both Sexes during the COVID-19 Pandemic

We explored the association of sociodemographic and anthropometric factors with self-reported physical activity (PA) and sleep quality in Arab and non-Arab individuals of both sexes during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this cross-sectional study, 638 participants (those recovered from COVID-19 = 149, and non-infected = 489) of both sexes aged 18–55 years were recruited. Their sociodemographic and anthropometric information, PA (self-reported using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short-form [IPAQ-SF)]) and sleep quality (self-reported using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI]) were documented. The association between participants’ characteristics, PA levels, and sleep quality were determined using the chi-squared test. Variables significantly associated with IPAQ and PSQI in bivariate analyses were included in a multivariate binary logistic regression model. Men were more active than women (odds ratio [OR] = 1.66, p = 0.010), and non-Arab participants were more active than Arab ones (OR = 1.49, p = 0.037). Participants ≥40 years, men, non-Arab participants, and those who were working were more likely to have a good sleep quality than those ≤40 years (OR 1.70, p = 0.048), women (OR 1.10, p = 0.725), Arab individuals (OR 1.95, p = 0.002), and unemployed people (OR 2.76, p = 0.007). Male and non-Arab participants seemed to have a better self-reported PA and sleep quality compared to female and Arab participants, during the pandemic.
Machine Learning Alternatives to Response Surface Models

In the Design of Experiments, we seek to relate response variables to explanatory factors. Response Surface methodology (RSM) approximates the relation between output variables and a polynomial transform of the explanatory variables using a linear model. Some researchers have tried to adjust other types of models, mainly nonlinear and nonparametric. We present a large panel of Machine Learning approaches that may be good alternatives to the classical RSM approximation. The state of the art of such approaches is given, including classification and regression trees, ensemble methods, support vector machines, neural networks and also direct multi-output approaches. We survey the subject and illustrate the use of ten such approaches using simulations and a real use case. In our simulations, the underlying model is linear in the explanatory factors for one response and nonlinear for the others. We focus on the advantages and disadvantages of the different approaches and show how their hyperparameters may be tuned. Our simulations show that even when the underlying relation between the response and the explanatory variables is linear, the RSM approach is outperformed by the direct neural network multivariate model, for any sample size (<50) and much more for very small samples (15 or 20). When the underlying relation is nonlinear, the RSM approach is outperformed by most of the machine learning approaches for small samples (n ≤ 30).
Developments in anti-tick vaccines

The tick infestations lead to severe irritation of the animals, discomfort, pyrexia, paralysis, worry, toxicosis, anaemia and transmit the different haemoprotozoan diseases resulting in huge economic losses to the livestock industry worldwide due to their global distribution. Hence, most of the ticks in a dairy cattle or buffaloes and sheep-goat are controlled mainly by the chemotherapeutic agents called acaricides to increase the production and productivity of these animals. Chemical control, albeit predominant, has been hampered by poor utilization of active agents, indiscriminative utilization and sub-therapeutic dosages, thus leading to development of resistance and requiring the use of greater concentrations of active compounds and extra regular application, year by year. Moreover, due to the development of multidrug resistance in ticks in livestock, there is a need for development of the vaccines against the ticks. In the global market, different vaccines against bacteria and viruses are available but vaccines against the ticks are very few. Vaccines may help control ticks by non-chemical ways, thereby, reducing acaricide resistance. The release of commercial recombinant vaccine against the cattle tick Boophilus microplus, plays a significant role as a novel control measure of cattle ticks, due to the feasibility of vaccination. A number of factors create some hindrances to the progress towards usable, commercially available vaccines, thereby, limiting their use. However, Gavac and TickGard are available commercially worldwide. Vaccine candidates which act against tick vectors and pathogens transmitted by ticks, are discussed in the present communication.
Wind mass transfer in S-type symbiotic binaries II. Indication of wind focusing

Context. The wind mass transfer from a giant to its white dwarf companion in symbiotic binaries is not well understood. For example, the efficiency of wind mass transfer of the canonical Bondi-Hoyle accretion mechanism is too low to power the typical luminosities of the accretors. However, recent observations and modelling indicate a considerably more efficient mass transfer in symbiotic binaries. Aims. We determine the velocity profile of the wind from the giant at the near-orbital-plane region of eclipsing S-type symbiotic binaries EG And and SY Mus, and derive the corresponding spherical equivalent of the mass-loss rate. With this approach, we indicate the high mass transfer ratio. Methods. We achieved this aim by modelling the observed column densities taking into account ionization of the wind of the giant, whose velocity profile is derived using the inversion of Abel's integral operator for the hydrogen column density function. Results. Our analysis revealed the spherical equivalent of the mass-loss rate from the giant to be a few times 10^{-6}M_{Sun}/yr, which is a factor of >=10 higher than rates determined by methods that do not depend on the line of sight. This discrepancy rules out the usual assumption that the wind is spherically symmetric. As our values were derived from near-orbital-plane column densities, these values can be a result of focusing the wind from the giant towards the orbital plane. Conclusions. Our findings suggests that the wind from giants in S-type symbiotic stars is not spherically symmetric, since it is enhanced at the orbital plane and, thus, is accreted more effectively onto the hot component.
Microrna-210 interacts with FBXO31 to regulate cancer proliferation cell cycle and migration in human breast cancer

Background: In this study, we investigated the functional correlation between microRNA-210 (miR-210) and gene of F-box protein 31 (FBXO31) in regulating breast cancer. Methods: Dual-luciferase assay and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction were used to investigate the binding of miR-210 with FBXO31 and their expression patterns in breast cancer. miR-210 was inhibited in breast cancer T47D and MCF-7 cells to assess its effect on cancer proliferation, cell cycle progression, and migration. FBXO31 was also downregulated in breast cancer cells to examine its effect on miR-210-mediated breast cancer regulation. The interaction between miR-210 and FBXO31 was further investigated by examining the effect of overexpressing miR-210 on FBXO31-induced suppression of breast cancer proliferation. Results: FBXO31 was the downstream target gene of miR-210 in breast cancer. miR-210 and FBXO31 are inversely expressed in breast cancer cell lines. miR-210 downregulation reduced cancer progression, induced cell cycle arrest, and inhibited cancer migration in T47D and MCF-7 cells. Tumor suppression by miR-210 downregulation was reversed by downregulating FBXO31. In FBXO31-overexpressed breast cancer cells, upregulating miR-210 also reversed the tumor-suppressive effect of FBXO31 on breast cancer proliferation. Conclusion: Our work demonstrated that the expression pattern and tumor regulatory functions of miR-210 and FBXO31 are inversely correlated in breast cancer. and MCF-7 cells were seeded in 96-well plates and a proliferation assay was carried out for five consecutive days. MTT-induced luminescence was measured daily at an absorbance of 490 nm and compared between the cancer cells transfected with c-mirna and the cells transfected with c-mir210-in (* P , 0.05).