Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Antioxidant Effect of Colombian Berry (Vaccinium meridionale Sw.) Extracts to Prevent Lipid Oxidation during Pork Patties Shelf-Life

A scarce amount of knowledge about the use of Colombian berry (CB) in meat products is available in the literature. This work studies the impact of the addition of CB extracts (CBE) on pork patties at three different concentrations in the range 250–750 mg/kg. CBE were characterized in terms of their polyphenolic profile and antioxidant activity [1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging capacity, half maximal inhibitory antioxidant concentration (IC50), 2,2′-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS), ferric reducing antioxidant power assay (FRAP) and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) tests)]. After pork patties elaboration, instrumental and sensorial colour, as well as lipid oxidation measured as thiobarbituric acid reactive substances assay (TBARS) values, were evaluated for 10 days of refrigerated storage in a modified atmosphere (80% O2–20% CO2). The total anthocyanin composition represented 35% of the polyphenolic substances of the CBE, highlighting high contents in cyanidin derivatives. Additionally, other flavonoids (quercetin and kaempferol compounds) and phenolics acids, substances positively related to antioxidant activity, were identified and quantified. In addition, the incorporation of CBE resulted in improvements in colour and lipid stability of pork patties, especially for the highest concentration used. Our findings demonstrated that CBE could be added to pork patties without impairing their sensorial profile. Overall, our results indicate that the use of CBE as a source of natural antioxidant, natural colourant, or even as a functional ingredient could be promising, but more studies are necessary to confirm it.
Effect of Cu Ion Concentration on Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of Nanotwinned Cu Foils Fabricated by Rotary Electroplating

Rotary electroplating was employed to fabricate high-strength nanotwinned copper (nt-Cu) foils serving as a current collector for high energy-density lithium ion batteries (LIBs). The effect of Cu ion concentration on the microstructural and mechanical properties of the nt-Cu foils was then investigated. Formation of nano-scaled grains was found at the bottom. Its size gradually increases toward the top surface to form a microstructural mixture of gradient nano-scaled and columnar grains in the upper region. Experimental results show that the grains and elongation of the nt-Cu foils increase with increasing concentration of Cu ions. However, a trade-off between tensile strength and elongation is present. The elongation of nt-Cu foils has been enhanced by 22% (from 3.1% to 3.8%) while 8.3% and 3.9% reductions in ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and yield stress (YS) are seen. The current study shows a promising method to tune and optimize the microstructure and mechanical properties of such nt-Cu foils for various applications.
Arousal-Inducing Effect of Garcinia cambogia Peel Extract in Pentobarbital-Induced Sleep Test and Electroencephalographic Analysis

Caffeine, a natural stimulant, is known to be effective for weight loss. On this basis, we screened the arousal-inducing effect of five dietary supplements with a weight loss effect (Garcinia cambogia, Coleus forskohlii, Camellia sinensis L., Irvingia gabonensis, and Malus pumila M.), of which the G. cambogia peel extract (GC) showed a significant arousal-inducing effect in the pentobarbital-induced sleep test in mice. This characteristic of GC was further evaluated by analysis of electroencephalogram and electromyogram in C57L/6N mice, and it was compared to that of the positive control, caffeine. Administration of GC (1500 mg/kg) significantly increased wakefulness and decreased non-rapid eye movement sleep, similar to that of caffeine (25 mg/kg), with GC and caffeine showing a significant increase in wakefulness at 2 and 6 h, respectively. Compared to that of caffeine, the shorter duration of efficacy of GC could be advantageous because of the lower possibility of sleep disturbance. Furthermore, the arousal-inducing effects of GC (1500 mg/kg) and caffeine (25 mg/kg) persisted throughout the chronic (3 weeks) administration study. This study, for the first time, revealed the arousal-inducing effect of GC. Our findings suggest that GC might be a promising natural stimulant with no side effects. In addition, it is preferential to take GC as a dietary supplement for weight loss during the daytime to avoid sleep disturbances owing to its arousal-inducing effect.
Comparative Aspects of Annelid Regeneration: Towards Understanding the Mechanisms of Regeneration

The question of why animals vary in their ability to regenerate remains one of the most intriguing questions in biology. Annelids are a large and diverse phylum, many members of which are capable of extensive regeneration such as regrowth of a complete head or tail and whole-body regeneration, even from few segments. On the other hand, some representatives of both of the two major annelid clades show very limited tissue regeneration and are completely incapable of segmental regeneration. Here we review experimental and descriptive data on annelid regeneration, obtained at different levels of organization, from data on organs and tissues to intracellular and transcriptomic data. Understanding the variety of the cellular and molecular basis of regeneration in annelids can help one to address important questions about the role of stem/dedifferentiated cells and “molecular morphallaxis” in annelid regeneration as well as the evolution of regeneration in general.
Aberrant Plasma Cell Contamination of Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Autografts, Assessed by Next-Generation Flow Cytometry, Is a Negative Predictor for Deep Response Post Autologous Transplantation in Multiple Myeloma; A Prospective Study in 199 Patients

Simple Summary Autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) remains the standard of care for transplant-eligible newly diagnosed Multiple Myeloma (NDMM) patients. However, despite its overall benefit, patients undergo various clinical outcomes post ASCT. Therefore, the identification of biomarkers that could explain, at least partially, this heterogeneity is of utmost clinical significance. The aim of this study was to assess clonal plasma cell contamination of the stem cell grafts of NDMM and evaluate its potency as a predictive/prognostic marker. Our results showed that worse responses to induction therapy correlate with higher levels of graft contamination. Importantly, our data revealed the significantly higher risk of delaying or not achieving complete remission and minimal residual disease (MRD)-negative responses among patients with graft contamination. Graft contamination is emerging as a promising predictive biomarker of clinical relevance that could be used to stratify patients post ASCT. Abstract High-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell support (ASCT) is the standard of care for eligible newly diagnosed Multiple Myeloma (MM) patients. Stem cell graft contamination by aberrant plasma cells (APCs) has been considered a possible predictive marker of subsequent clinical outcome, but the limited reports to date present unclear conclusions. We prospectively estimated the frequency of graft contamination using highly sensitive next-generation flow cytometry and evaluated its clinical impact in 199 myeloma patients who underwent an ASCT. Contamination (con+) was detected in 79/199 patients at a median level 2 × 10−5. Its presence and levels were correlated with response to induction treatment, with 94%, 71% and 43% achieving CR, VGPR and PR, respectively. Importantly, con+ grafts conferred 2-fold and 2.8-fold higher patient-risk of not achieving or delaying reaching CR (4 vs. 11 months) and MRD negativity (5 vs. 18 months) post ASCT, respectively. Our data also provide evidence of a potentially skewed bone marrow (BM) reconstitution due to unpurged grafts, since con+ derived BM had significantly higher prevalence of memory B cells. These data, together with the absence of significant associations with baseline clinical features, highlight graft contamination as a potential biomarker with independent prognostic value for deeper responses, including MRD negativity. Longer follow-up will reveal if this corresponds to PFS or OS advantage.
1,3-Dicaffeoylquinic Acid as an Active Compound of Arctium lappa Root Extract Ameliorates Depressive-Like Behavior by Regulating Hippocampal Nitric Oxide Synthesis in Ovariectomized Mice

Menopause is a risk factor for depression. Although 1,3-dicaffeoylquinic acid (1,3-diCQA), a phenolic compound in Arctium lappa (A. lappa) root, has various health benefits, its effects on menopausal depression remain to be determined. Therefore, this study investigates the antidepressant-like effects of 1,3-diCQA from an A. lappa root extract (AE) and the associated molecular mechanisms. Ovariectomized (OVX) mice were orally administered AE for 20 weeks, following which depression-like behaviors were assessed. Although the mice exhibited depression-like behaviors, AE administration mitigated these symptoms by activating the ERK–CREB–BDNF pathway and increasing nNOS levels in the hippocampus. Similarly, a significant increase in nNOS-derived NO production and activation of the ERK–CREB–BDNF pathway was observed in the primary hippocampal neurons. Although this stimulatory effect of 1,3-diCQA was not significantly affected by treatment with estrogen receptor agonist or antagonist, it was inhibited by 7-NI, an nNOS inhibitor. Moreover, mice treated with 1,3-diCQA exhibited a marked improvement in their forced swimming test and tail suspension test immobility, while pretreatment with 7-NI reversed the antidepressant-like effects of 1,3-diCQA. Our results suggest that 1,3-diCQA regulates nNOS in an estrogen recepters-independent manner to increase NO production in OVX mice.
Olfactory Virtual Reality: A New Frontier in the Treatment and Prevention of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

This perspective piece reviews the clinical condition of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is currently increasing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and recent research illustrating how olfaction is being incorporated into virtual reality (VR) platforms. I then discuss the latest work examining the potential of olfactory virtual reality (OVR) for the treatment of PTSD. From this foundation I suggest novel ways in which OVR may be implemented in PTSD therapy and harnessed for preventing the development of PTSD. Perceptual and chemical features of olfaction that should be considered in OVR applications are also discussed.
A Hybrid Analysis-Based Approach to Android Malware Family Classification

With the popularity of Android, malware detection and family classification have also become a research focus. Many excellent methods have been proposed by previous authors, but static and dynamic analyses inevitably require complex processes. A hybrid analysis method for detecting Android malware and classifying malware families is presented in this paper, and is partially optimized for multiple-feature data. For static analysis, we use permissions and intent as static features and use three feature selection methods to form a subset of three candidate features. Compared with various models, including k-nearest neighbors and random forest, random forest is the best, with a detection rate of 95.04%, while the chi-square test is the best feature selection method. After using feature selection to explore the critical static features contained in this dataset, we analyzed a subset of important features to gain more insight into the malware. In a dynamic analysis based on network traffic, unlike those that focus on a one-way flow of traffic and work on HTTP protocols and transport layer protocols, we focused on sessions and retained protocol layers. The Res7LSTM model is then used to further classify the malicious and partially benign samples detected in the static detection. The experimental results show that our approach can not only work with fewer static features and guarantee sufficient accuracy, but also improve the detection rate of Android malware family classification from 71.48% in previous work to 99% when cutting the traffic in terms of the sessions and protocols of all layers.
Insulin Signal Transduction Perturbations in Insulin Resistance

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a widespread medical condition, characterized by high blood glucose and inadequate insulin action, which leads to insulin resistance. Insulin resistance in insulin-responsive tissues precedes the onset of pancreatic β-cell dysfunction. Multiple molecular and pathophysiological mechanisms are involved in insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is a consequence of a complex combination of metabolic disorders, lipotoxicity, glucotoxicity, and inflammation. There is ample evidence linking different mechanistic approaches as the cause of insulin resistance, but no central mechanism is yet described as an underlying reason behind this condition. This review combines and interlinks the defects in the insulin signal transduction pathway of the insulin resistance state with special emphasis on the AGE-RAGE-NF-κB axis. Here, we describe important factors that play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance to provide directionality for the events. The interplay of inflammation and oxidative stress that leads to β-cell decline through the IAPP-RAGE induced β-cell toxicity is also addressed. Overall, by generating a comprehensive overview of the plethora of mechanisms involved in insulin resistance, we focus on the establishment of unifying mechanisms to provide new insights for the future interventions of type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals and Disorders of Penile Development in Humans

This paper reviews the current knowledge on the environmental effects on penile development in humans. The specific focus is on endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), a heterogeneous group of natural or manmade substances that interfere with endocrine function, and whether they can induce hypospadias and micropenis in male neonates. Epidemiological data and animal observations first raised suspicions about environmental effects, leading to the testis dysgenesis syndrome (TDS) hypothesis. More recent research has provided stronger indications that TDS may indeed be the result of the direct or indirect effects of EDCs. Drawing on epidemiological and toxicological studies, we also report on the effects of maternal diet and substances like pesticides, phthalates, bisphenol A, and polychlorinated biphenyls. Proximity to contamination hazards and occupational exposure are also suspected to contribute to the occurrence of hypospadias and micropenis. Lastly, the cumulative effects of EDCs and the possibility of transgenerational effects, with the penile development of subsequent generations being affected, raise concerns for long-term public health.
In Vivo Models and In Vitro Assays for the Assessment of Pertussis Toxin Activity

One of the main virulence factors produced by Bordetella pertussis is pertussis toxin (PTx) which, in its inactivated form, is the major component of all marketed acellular pertussis vaccines. PTx ADP ribosylates Gαi proteins, thereby affecting the inhibition of adenylate cyclases and resulting in the accumulation of cAMP. Apart from this classical model, PTx also activates some receptors and can affect various ADP ribosylation- and adenylate cyclase-independent signalling pathways. Due to its potent ADP-ribosylation properties, PTx has been used in many research areas. Initially the research primarily focussed on the in vivo effects of the toxin, including histamine sensitization, insulin secretion and leukocytosis. Nowadays, PTx is also used in toxicology research, cell signalling, research involving the blood–brain barrier, and testing of neutralizing antibodies. However, the most important area of use is testing of acellular pertussis vaccines for the presence of residual PTx. In vivo models and in vitro assays for PTx often reflect one of the toxin’s properties or details of its mechanism. Here, the established and novel in vivo and in vitro methods used to evaluate PTx are reviewed, their mechanisms, characteristics and limitations are described, and their application for regulatory and research purposes are considered.
Biometric Identification Systems with Noisy Enrollment for Gaussian Sources and Channels

In the present paper, we investigate the fundamental trade-off of identification, secrecy, storage, and privacy-leakage rates in biometric identification systems for hidden or remote Gaussian sources. We introduce a technique for deriving the capacity region of these rates by converting the system to one where the data flow is in one-way direction. Also, we provide numerical calculations of three different examples for the generated-secret model. The numerical results imply that it seems hard to achieve both high secrecy and small privacy-leakage rates simultaneously. In addition, as special cases, the characterization coincides with several known results in previous studies.
Neurorescue Effects of Frondoside A and Ginsenoside Rg3 in C. elegans Model of Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a currently incurable neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the loss of dopaminergic (DAergic) neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta and α-synuclein aggregation. Accumulated evidence indicates that the saponins, especially from ginseng, have neuroprotective effects against neurodegenerative disorders. Interestingly, saponin can also be found in marine organisms such as the sea cucumber, but little is known about its effect in neurodegenerative disease, including PD. In this study, we investigated the anti-Parkinson effects of frondoside A (FA) from Cucumaria frondosa and ginsenoside Rg3 (Rg3) from Panax notoginseng in C. elegans PD model. Both saponins were tested for toxicity and optimal concentration by food clearance assay and used to treat 6-OHDA-induced BZ555 and transgenic α-synuclein NL5901 strains in C. elegans. Treatment with FA and Rg3 significantly attenuated DAergic neurodegeneration induced by 6-OHDA in BZ555 strain, improved basal slowing rate, and prolonged lifespan in the 6-OHDA-induced wild-type strain with downregulation of the apoptosis mediators, egl-1 and ced-3, and upregulation of sod-3 and cat-2. Interestingly, only FA reduced α-synuclein aggregation, rescued lifespan in NL5901, and upregulated the protein degradation regulators, including ubh-4, hsf-1, hsp-16.1 and hsp-16.2. This study indicates that both FA and Rg3 possess beneficial effects in rescuing DAergic neurodegeneration in the 6-OHDA-induced C. elegans model through suppressing apoptosis mediators and stimulating antioxidant enzymes. In addition, FA could attenuate α-synuclein aggregation through the protein degradation process.
Relationship between Connective Tissue Morphology and Lower-Limb Stiffness in Endurance Runners. A Prospective Study

Background: The lower limb behaves like a spring compressing and decompressing during running, where lower-limb stiffness is one of the most influential factors. This prospective observational study is aimed at examining the relationship between the connective tissue morphology and lower-limb stiffness and investigating whether the barefoot/shod condition influences on such relationship. Methods: 14 male amateur runners (10-km time trial <50′) were included. Data were recorded over one session, where participants ran 2 trials (i.e., barefoot and shod conditions) of 3 minutes at 12 km/h, where running spatiotemporal parameters and vertical (Kvert) and leg stiffness (Kleg) were obtained. Prior to testing trials, thickness and cross-sectional area (CSA) were recorded for Achilles (AT) and patellar tendons (PT) and plantar fascia (PF) with ultrasound. Results: Under barefoot condition, a positive correlation was found between Kleg and AT-thickness and CSA and PF-thickness; and between Kvert and AT-thickness and PF thickness. Under shod condition, a positive correlation was found between Kleg and PT-CSA and PT-thickness, and between Kvert and PT-CSA and PT-thickness. Conclusions: The results reveal a specificity of the relationship between the lower-limb stiffness and the morphology of the connective tissue. Greater tendon shows higher lower-limb stiffness when that tendon is specially demanded by the function.
Identification of Novel lncRNA and Differentially Expressed Genes (DEGs) of Testicular Tissues among Cattle, Yak, and Cattle-Yak Associated with Male Infertility

Simple Summary Cattle-yak is an excellent hybrid of male cattle and female yak, which has many more outstanding production traits, such as better adaptability to high altitudes and better meat quality. However, the male sterility of cattle-yak restricts the utilization of superior heterosis. Few studies have focused on the comprehensive analysis of cattle-yak and its parents, in order to find factors on infertility of the cattle-yak. This study comprehensively analyzed the mRNA and lncRNA expression profiles of testicular tissue samples of cattle, yak, and cattle-yak by RNA-seq technology, and identified some differentially expressed genes that may be related to male sterility of cattle-yak, in order to provide a theoretical basis for solving the problem of breeding work. Abstract Cattle-yak is an excellent hybrid of cattle and yak; they are characterized by better meat quality and stronger adaptability of harsh environments than their parents. However, male sterility of cattle-yak lay restraints on the transmission of heterosis. In this study, next generation sequence technology was performed to profile the testicular tissues transcriptome (lncRNA and mRNA) of cattle, yak, and cattle-yak. We analyzed the features and functions of significant differentially expressed genes among the three breeds. There are 9 DE lncRNAs and 46 DE mRNAs with comparisons of cattle, yak, and cattle-yak. Among them, the upregulated targeting genes, such as IGF1 and VGLL3 of cattle-yak lncRNA, may be related to the derangement of spermatocyte maturation and cell proliferation. Similarly, we found that the LDOC1 gene, which is related to the process of cellular apoptosis, is overexpressed in cattle-yak. GO enrichment analysis demonstrated that the cattle-yak is lacking the regulation of fertilization (GO: 0009566), spermatogenesis process (GO: 0007283), male gamete generation process (GO: 0048232), sexual reproduction (GO: 0019953), and multi-organism reproductive process (GO: 0044703), such processes may play important and positive roles in spermatogenesis and fertilization. Furthermore, the KEGG enrichment analysis showed that the upregulated DEGs of cattle-yak most enriched in Apoptosis (ko04210) and Hippo signaling pathway (ko04390), may lead to excessively dead of cell and inhibit cell growth, resulting in obstruction of meiosis and spermatogenesis processes. This study will enable us to deeper understand the mechanism of male cattle-yak infertility.