Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dysregulation of DNAM-1-Mediated NK Cell Anti-Cancer Responses in the Tumor Microenvironment

Simple Summary Immune system counteracts tumor growth through a coordinated action of several innate and adaptative cells able to detect and eliminate altered cells. Among immune cells able to kill tumor cells, Natural killer (NK) cells belong to the innate arm of the immune system and distinguish cancerous from healthy cells thank to the expression of a wide array of activating and inhibitory receptors. DNAM-1 is an activating receptor that binds PVR and Nectin2 adhesion molecules frequently overexpressed on the surface of cancerous cells, thus representing a central receptor in tumor recognition. However, PVR and Nectin2 are also recognized by inhibitory receptors that are upregulated in tumor microenvironment and can counteract DNAM-1 activation, leading to NK cells hypo-functionality. This review focuses on the main potential molecular mechanisms responsible for the impairment of DNAM-1 functionality during tumor progression. Moreover, therapeutic approaches able to reverse DNAM-1 dysfunction and NK cell hypo-responsiveness will be also summarized. Abstract NK cells play a pivotal role in anti-cancer immune responses, thanks to the expression of a wide array of inhibitory and activating receptors that regulate their cytotoxicity against transformed cells while preserving healthy cells from lysis. However, NK cells exhibit severe dysfunction in the tumor microenvironment, mainly due to the reduction of activating receptors and the induction or increased expression of inhibitory checkpoint receptors. An activating receptor that plays a central role in tumor recognition is the DNAM-1 receptor. It recognizes PVR and Nectin2 adhesion molecules, which are frequently overexpressed on the surface of cancerous cells. These ligands are also able to trigger inhibitory signals via immune checkpoint receptors that are upregulated in the tumor microenvironment and can counteract DNAM-1 activation. Among them, TIGIT has recently gained significant attention, since its targeting results in improved anti-tumor immune responses. This review aims to summarize how the recognition of PVR and Nectin2 by paired co-stimulatory/inhibitory receptors regulates NK cell-mediated clearance of transformed cells. Therapeutic approaches with the potential to reverse DNAM-1 dysfunction in the tumor microenvironment will be also discussed.
Diagnostic Tools for Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Caused by Leishmania donovani: A Narrative Review

Leishmaniasis, a neglected tropical disease, encompasses a spectrum of clinical conditions and poses a significant risk of infection to over one billion people worldwide. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in the Indian sub-continent (ISC), where the causative parasite is Leishmania donovani, is targeted for elimination by 2025, with some countries already reaching such targets. Other clinical phenotypes due to the same species could act as a reservoir of parasites and thus pose a challenge to successful control and elimination. Sri Lanka has consistently reported cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) due to L. donovani as the primary disease presentation over several decades. Similar findings of atypical phenotypes of L. donovani have also been reported from several other countries/regions in the Old World. In this review, we discuss the applicability of different methods in diagnosing CL due to L. donovani and a comprehensive assessment of diagnostic methods spanning clinical, microscopic, molecular, and immunological approaches. By incorporating evidence from Sri Lanka and other regions on L. donovani-related CL, we thoroughly evaluate the accuracy, feasibility, and relevance of these diagnostic tools. We also discuss the challenges and complexities linked to diagnosing CL and review novel approaches and their applicability for detecting CL.
Serum Phosphorus, Serum Bicarbonate, and Renal Function in Relation to Liver CYP1A2 Activity

The liver plays an important role in normal metabolism and physiological functions such as acid-base balance; however, limited epidemiologic studies have investigated how the liver contributes toward acid-base balance using non-invasive biomarkers. We determined associations between serum biomarkers related to acid-base balance and renal function with liver CYP1A2 activity. We used data from 1381 participants of the 2009–2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) with measurements of serum phosphorus, serum bicarbonate, caffeine intake, caffeine metabolites, and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Liver CYP1A2 activity was estimated using urine caffeine metabolite indices, which were calculated as the ratio of one of the urine caffeine metabolites (i.e., paraxanthine and 1-methyluric acid) to caffeine intake. We analyzed associations in the whole data set and in different strata of hepatic steatosis index (HSI) based on different cut-points. We found that serum bicarbonate was positively associated with CYP1A2 activity in the whole data set when comparing persons with bicarbonate at Q4 to Q1 (β = 0.18, p = 0.10 for paraxanthine; β = 0.20, p = 0.02 for 1-methyluric acid). Furthermore, serum phosphorus was positively associated with CYP1A2 activity only in the stratum of 30 ≤ HSI < 36. Lastly, low eGFR was significantly associated with lower CYP1A2 activity measured with paraxanthine in the whole dataset and in all the strata with HSI < 42; when comparing eGFR < 60 to eGFR > 90, β estimates ranged from −0.41 to −1.38, p-values ranged from 0.0018 to 0.004. We observed an opposite trend in the highest stratum (HSI ≥ 42). Non-invasive measurements of serum bicarbonate, serum phosphorus, and eGFR have dynamic associations with CYP1A2 activity. These associations depend on the extent of liver damage and the caffeine metabolite used to assess CYP1A2 activity.
Effect of a hospital-based maternal counseling guide on exclusive breastfeeding practices in Anambra State, Nigeria: A protocol for a cluster-randomized controlled trial (HOME Trial)

Background: Optimal breastfeeding is so critical that it could save the lives of over 820,000 children under the age of five years each year. For optimal growth, development, and health, the WHO recommends Exclusive Breastfeeding (EBF) in the first six months. To ensure nursing mothers breastfeed their children exclusively, they should also have access to skilled practical help to build mothers’ confidence and prevent or resolve breastfeeding problems. Interventions promoting optimal Infant and Young Child Feeding practices could prevent 19% of under-five deaths, and such intervention could improve nursing mothers’ understanding and practice of EBF. Objective: This trial is designed to formulate a hospital-based counseling guide on EBF, implement it, and determine its effect on improving EBF practice in Anambra State, Nigeria. Methods: The study is a cluster randomized controlled trial conducted in selected hospitals in Anambra State, Nigeria. Based on inclusion criteria, 12 hospitals that offer comprehensive ante-natal and post-natal clinic services and have a higher population of women assessing care in the ante- and post-natal clinics were selected for the study. Six hospitals each were randomized to either the intervention or the control arm. The intervention hospitals received the formulated hospital-based counseling guide and the hospital’s usual care, while the control hospitals received only the hospital’s usual care. Statistical analysis will be conducted using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS version 25). Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize and present demographic and clinical characteristics. Categorical variables will be expressed as frequencies or percentages and quantitative variables as means, standard deviations, median, and interquartile ranges. An intention-to-treat analysis will be conducted.
Material Characterization for 3 D Printing Sensor

3D printing requires constant innovation in materials for wider utilization. Sensor size impacts fabrication in a larger aspect and for printing the sensors effectively. Sensor performance measures include size, resolution, aspect ratio and response time. Speed has a tradeoff for resolution. The use of nano materials to develop electrochemical sensors has attracted growing interest in recent times. Enhanced chemical, physical, mechanical and electrical properties of nano materials coupled with the right technology make the sensing devices more efficient for key applications. The materials for 3D printed nano porous gold electrochemical sensor are analyzed and characterized. The nano porous gold film is fabricated by immersing copper in and chemically reacting with potassium gold cyanide solution at around 70C. The crude resistance value of copper prior to the chemical reaction is 0. 94Ω. The resistance of the nanoporous gold film is 0. 15Ω, 2 minutes after immersion in the potassium gold cyanide solution; the resistance does not change significantly after 6 hours of immersion. The porosity of the nano porous gold film is observed in a microscope to be 0.24% after 2 minutes of immersion. The porosity does not change with time during the process. The characterization of results is provided after experimentation. Key-Words: copper, potassium gold cyanide, resistance measurement, nano porous gold
Dual-Polarized Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface-Assisted Broad Beamforming

A reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) consists of a large number of low-cost elements that can control the propagation environment seen from a transmitter by intelligently applying phase shifts to impinging signals before reflection. This letter studies an RIS-assisted communication system where a transmitter wants to transmit a common signal to many users residing in a wide angular area. To cover this sector uniformly, the RIS needs to radiate a broad beam with a spatially flat array factor, instead of a narrow beam as normally considered. To achieve this, we propose to use a dual-polarized RIS consisting of elements with orthogonal polarizations and show that the RIS can produce a broad beam if the phase shift configuration vectors in the two polarizations form a so-called Golay complementary sequence pair. By utilizing their properties, we also present a method for constructing configuration for large RISs from smaller ones, while preserving the broad radiation pattern of the smaller RIS. The numerical results corroborate the mathematical analyses and highlight the greatly improved coverage properties.
Design of Compact-Size and High-Q Resonator with Composit of Folded Meander-Line and Spiral

In this paper, a new compact and high loaded quality factor (QL) resonator with composite of folded meanderline and spiral structure on low dielectric substrate is designed and simulated. The proposed resonator is connected directly to feeding line in order to get high QL and frequency responses. The resonator is designed to operate at 5.5 GHz and the simulation result shows the QL value of 170. The entire size of resonator is 2.60 x 1.61 mm. Keywords—Compact size;hig loaded quality factor; folded meander-line; spiral; resonator
An apocalypse-free first-order low-rank optimization algorithm

We consider the problem of minimizing a differentiable function with locally Lipschitz continuous gradient on the real determinantal variety, and present a first-order algorithm designed to find stationary points of that problem. This algorithm applies steps of steepest descent with backtracking line search on the variety, as proposed by Schneider and Uschmajew (2015), but by taking the numerical rank into account to perform suitable rank reductions. We prove that this algorithm produces sequences of iterates the accumulation points of which are stationary, and therefore does not follow the so-called apocalypses described by Levin, Kileel, and Boumal (2021).
A characterization of the degree of weak and strong links in doubles sports

Abstract This paper proposes a model that characterizes the degree to which a doubles sport (i.e. two team members) is a weak or a strong link game. The model is applied to the sport of pickleball where interest is focused on the doubles version of the sport. As a byproduct of the analysis, individual player rankings are obtained.
Diseases affecting the coffee crop: Elucidating the life cycle of Rust,Thread Blight and Cercospora Leaf Spot

Coffee (Coffea spp.) is the second most significant commodity worldwide, with C. arabica being its most representative species. The coffee crop is affected by different fungal diseases that reduce the photosynthetically active area of its leaves and the production of grains. In order of agronomic importance, the rust caused by the biotrophic pathogen Hemileia vastatrix is a disease difficult to manage due to its type of reproduction. Another no less important, Thread Blight, caused by the basidiomycetes Ceratobasidium noxium (Syn. Corticium koleroga) and C. chavesanum, affects all aerial tissues of plants. The third disease, Cercospora leaf spot caused by Cercospora coffeicola, affects both leaves and grains, making it difficult to manage. Although there is enough scientific information on Rust, very little is known about the etiology, symptomatology, life cycle, and management of Thread Blight and Cercospora leaf spot. High-resolution photographs and micrographs were used and related with available scientific information. In addition, current scientific information on each disease was compiled, and with that, the life cycles were developed. Likewise, this manuscript describes the management of the three diseases based mainly on the use of genetic, cultural, physical, biological, and chemical measures and their integration as a sustainable alternative in the coffee agroecosystem. Current and future challenges in coffee include the evaluation of cultivars, genetic diversity of Ceratobasidium spp. and C. coffeicola, plant-pathogen interactions, and agroecological management practices.
Reducing Concrete Cure Times for Bridge Substructure Components and Box Culverts

This report investigated pathways to reduce concrete curing time while maintaining mechanical and durability performance. Among several options such as admixtures, supplementary cementitious materials, and low water-to-cement ratio, researchers explored two mix designs in a field demonstration project. For Stage I of the project, a low water-to-cement ratio concrete mixture was used. For Stage II, the use of calcium-silicate-hydrate (C-S-H) based seeds was explored. Concrete laboratory mixtures containing C-S-H seeds X1 and X2 exhibited increased early-age strength and reduced permeability. Based on these findings and the Illinois Department of Transportation acceptance of X2 as a Type S admixture, a field demonstration project was conducted on a box culvert near Armstrong, Illinois. The X2 concrete mix design was compared to a low water-to-cement ratio concrete mix design. Results showed that the X2 mixture with C-S-H seeds consistently demonstrated higher strength than the low water-to-cement concrete mixture, suggesting that seed-based admixtures can provide additional benefits for reducing curing times. The recommended dosage of X2 is 5 fl oz/cwt for optimal performance in reducing cure time.
PtrA regulates prodigiosin synthesis and biological functions in Serratia marcescens FZSF02

Serratia marcescens is a gram-negative bacterium that is able to produce many secondary metabolites, such as the prominent red pigment prodigiosin (PG). In this work, a ptrA-disrupted mutant strain with reduced PG production was selected from Tn5 transposon mutants. RT–qPCR results indicated that ptrA promoted elevated transcription of the pig gene cluster in S. marcescens FZSF02. Furthermore, we found that ptrA also controls several other important biological functions of S. marcescens, including swimming and swarming motilities, biofilm formation, hemolytic activity, and stress tolerance. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that ptrA is a PG synthesis-promoting factor in S. marcescens and provides a brief understanding of the regulatory mechanism of ptrA in S. marcescens cell motility and hemolytic activity.
Exploring the physical properties of quaternary fluoro-elpasolites A2 NaInF6 (A = Cs,Rb)compounds for prospective technological applications

The double perovskite materials possess exceptional traits that make them highly suitable for energy-related applications, owing to their eco-friendliness, efficiency, and lack of toxicity. Using the density functional theory implemented in WIEN2K, we conducted a thorough examination of the electronic, structural, optical, and elastic characteristics of A2NaInF6 (A = Cs, Rb) double perovskite materials. The energy formation and the Birch-Murnaghan equation of state fitting curve guarantee both thermodynamic and structural stability. The optimized lattice parameters obtained from our computations are in agreement with the experimental values for the relevant compounds. For calculating the electronic and optical properties of both materials, the widely used TB-mBJ (Trans Blaha modified Becke–Johnson) approximation is utilized. The replacement of ‘Cs’ with ‘Rb’ results in the tuning of the band gap from 7.70 eV to 5.01 eV. After analyzing the mechanical properties, it is anticipated that both materials exhibit elastic stability, brittleness, and relatively lower hardness. The optical properties are computed, analyzed, and presented across a broad energy range of 0–30 eV of incident photon energy. The absorption coefficient, which is a part of the optical properties, highlights the potential of these materials as fundamental components for optoelectronic devices operating in the extreme ultraviolet (XUV) region. The outcomes of our study could provide valuable insights for the development of high-performance optoelectronic devices.
Arabidopsis TGA256 Transcription Factors Suppress Salicylic-Acid-Induced Sucrose Starvation

Salicylic acid (SA) is produced by plants in response to pathogen infection. SA binds the NONEXPRESSOR OF PATHOGENESIS-RELATED GENES (NPR) family of receptors to regulate both positive (NPR1) and negative (NPR3/4) plant immune responses by interacting with the clade II TGACG (TGA) motif-binding transcription factors (TGA2, TGA5, and TGA6). Here, we report that the principal metabolome-level response to SA treatment in Arabidopsis is a reduction in sucrose and other free sugars. We observed nearly identical effects in the tga256 triple mutant, which lacks all clade II TGA transcription factors. The tga256 mutant presents reduced leaf blade development and elongated hypocotyls, roots, and petioles consistent with sucrose starvation. No changes were detected in auxin levels, and mutant seedling growth could be restored to that of wild-type by sucrose supplementation. Although the retrograde signal 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol-2,4-cyclodiphosphate is known to stimulate SA biosynthesis and defense signaling, we detected no negative feedback by SA on this or any other intermediate of the 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol-4-phosphate pathway. Trehalose, a proxy for the sucrose regulator trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P), was highly reduced in tga256, suggesting that defense-related reductions in sugar availability may be controlled by changes in T6P levels. We conclude that the negative regulatory roles of TGA2/5/6 include maintaining sucrose levels in healthy plants. Disruption of TGA2/5/6-NPR3/4 inhibitory complexes by mutation or SA triggers sucrose reductions in Arabidopsis leaves, consistent with the ‘pathogen starvation’ hypothesis. These findings highlight sucrose availability as a mechanism by which TGA2/5/6 balance defense and development.
The Therapeutic Effect of Catechin on Nephrolithiasis Induced by Co-Exposure to Melamine and Cyanuric Acid in Sprague–Dawley Rats

This study aimed to assess the therapeutic efficacy of catechin against experimentally induced kidney stones resulting from co-exposure to melamine (MEL) and cyanuric acid (CYA) in male Sprague–Dawley rats. To induce nephrolithiasis, a combination of MEL and CYA (1:1 ratio, each at a dose of 31.5 mg/kg bw/day) was administered to the rats for 28 consecutive days. After nephrolithiasis was successfully induced, the rats were randomly divided into two groups: a treatment group and a sham group. The treatment group was given a daily oral dose of 50 mg/kg of catechin for 28 days, while the sham group received no intervention. Urine and blood samples were collected throughout the treatment period, and kidney samples were taken on day 28. Our findings demonstrated that treatment with catechin significantly reduced crystal deposition and pathological damage in the rats from nephrolithiasis. Additionally, renal injury markers were significantly decreased in the treatment group compared to the sham group. These findings suggest that catechin has potential therapeutic benefits in treating nephrolithiasis induced by co-exposure to MEL and CYA.
Isolation, Identification, and Antibacterial Properties of Prodigiosin, a Bioactive Product Produced by a New Serratia marcescens JSSCPM1 Strain: Exploring the Biosynthetic Gene Clusters of Serratia Species for Biological Applications

Prodigiosin pigment has high medicinal value, so exploring this compound is a top priority. This report presents a prodigiosin bioactive compound isolated from Serratia marcescens JSSCPM1, a new strain. The purification process of this compound involves the application of different chromatographic methods, including UV-visible spectroscopy, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC/MS). Subsequent analysis was performed using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to achieve a deeper understanding of the compound’s structure. Finally, through a comprehensive review of the existing literature, the structural composition of the isolated bioactive compound was found to correspond to that of the well-known compound prodigiosin. The isolated prodigiosin compound was screened for antibacterial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The compound inhibited the growth of Gram-negative bacterial strains compared with Gram-positive bacterial strains. It showed a maximum minimum inhibitory concentration against Escherichia coli NCIM 2065 at a 15.9 ± 0.31 μg/mL concentration. The potential binding capabilities between prodigiosin and the OmpF porin proteins (4GCS, 4GCP, and 4GCQ) were determined using in silico studies, which are generally the primary targets of different antibiotics. Comparative molecular docking analysis indicated that prodigiosin exhibits a good binding affinity toward these selected drug targets.