Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Na+/H+ Exchanger 1, a Potential Therapeutic Drug Target for Cardiac Hypertrophy and Heart Failure

Cardiac hypertrophy is defined as increased heart mass in response to increased hemodynamic requirements. Long-term cardiac hypertrophy, if not counteracted, will ultimately lead to heart failure. The incidence of heart failure is related to myocardial infarction, which could be salvaged by reperfusion and ultimately invites unfavorable myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury. The Na+/H+ exchangers (NHEs) are membrane transporters that exchange one intracellular proton for one extracellular Na+. The first discovered NHE isoform, NHE1, is expressed almost ubiquitously in all tissues, especially in the myocardium. During myocardial ischemia-reperfusion, NHE1 catalyzes increased uptake of intracellular Na+, which in turn leads to Ca2+ overload and subsequently myocardial injury. Numerous preclinical research has shown that NHE1 is involved in cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure, but the exact molecular mechanisms remain elusive. The objective of this review is to demonstrate the potential role of NHE1 in cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure and investigate the underlying mechanisms.
Zebularine, a DNA Methylation Inhibitor, Activates Anthocyanin Accumulation in Grapevine Cells

Through its role in the regulation of gene expression, DNA methylation can participate in the control of specialized metabolite production. We have investigated the link between DNA methylation and anthocyanin accumulation in grapevine using the hypomethylating drug, zebularine and Gamay Teinturier cell suspensions. In this model, zebularine increased anthocyanin accumulation in the light, and induced its production in the dark. To unravel the underlying mechanisms, cell transcriptome, metabolic content, and DNA methylation were analyzed. The up-regulation of stress-related genes, as well as a decrease in cell viability, revealed that zebularine affected cell integrity. Concomitantly, the global DNA methylation level was only slightly decreased in the light and not modified in the dark. However, locus-specific analyses demonstrated a decrease in DNA methylation at a few selected loci, including a CACTA DNA transposon and a small region upstream from the UFGT gene, coding for the UDP glucose:flavonoid-3-O-glucosyltransferase, known to be critical for anthocyanin biosynthesis. Moreover, this decrease was correlated with an increase in UFGT expression and in anthocyanin content. In conclusion, our data suggest that UFGT expression could be regulated through DNA methylation in Gamay Teinturier, although the functional link between changes in DNA methylation and UFGT transcription still needs to be demonstrated.
Bioactivity of Biomass and Crude Exopolysaccharides Obtained by Controlled Submerged Cultivation of Medicinal Mushroom Trametes versicolor

The aim of this study is to characterize the bioactivity of mycelial biomass and crude exopolysaccharides (EPS) produced by Trametes versicolor NBIMCC 8939 and to reveal its nutraceutical potential. The EPS (1.58 g/L) were isolated from a culture broth. The macrofungal biomass was rich in protein, insoluble dietary fibers and glucans. The amino acid composition of the biomass was analyzed and 18 amino acids were detected. Three mycelial biomass extracts were prepared and the highest total polyphenol content (16.11 ± 0.14 mg GAE/g DW) and the total flavonoid content (5.15 ± 0.03 mg QE/g DW) were found in the water extract. The results indicated that the obtained EPS were heteropolysaccharides with glucose as the main building monosaccharide and minor amounts of mannose, xylose, galactose, fucose and glucuronic acid. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) confirmed the complex structure of the crude EPS. Five probiotic lactic acid bacteria strains were used for the determination of the prebiotic effect of the crude EPS. The anti-inflammatory potential was tested in vitro using cell line HT-29. The significant decrease of IL-1 and IL-8 and increase of TGF-beta expression revealed anti-inflammatory potential of the crude exopolysaccharides from T. versicolor.
Meta-Analysis of qPCR for Bovine Respiratory Disease Based on MIQE Guidelines

Qualitative and quantitative PCR-based tests are widely used in both diagnostics and research to assess the prevalence of disease-causing pathogens in veterinary medicine. The efficacy of these tests, usually measured in terms of sensitivity and specificity, is critical in confirming or excluding a clinical diagnosis. We undertook a meta-analysis to assess the inherent value of published PCR diagnostic approaches used to confirm and quantify bacteria and viruses associated with bovine respiratory disease (BRD) in cattle. This review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A thorough search of nine electronic databases (Web of Science, EBSCOhost, Cambridge journals online, ProQuest, PubMed, Sage journals online, ScienceDirect, Wiley online library and MEDLINE) was undertaken to find studies that had reported on the use of PCR and/or qPCR for the detection and/or quantification of BRD associated organisms. All studies meeting the inclusion criteria for reporting quantitative PCR for identification of BRD associated microorganisms were included in the analysis. Studies were then assessed on the applications of the Minimum Information for Publication of Quantitative Real-Time PCR Experiment (MIQE) and PCR primer/probe sequences were extracted and tested for in silico specificity using a high level of stringency. Fourteen full-text articles were included in this study. Of these, 79% of the analysed articles did not report the application of the MIQE guidelines in their study. High stringency in silico testing of 144 previously published PCR primer/probe sequences found many to have questionable specificity. This review identified a high occurrence of primer/probe sequences with a variable in silico specificity such that this may have implications for the accuracy of reporting. Although this analysis was only applied to one specific disease state, identification of animals suspected to be suffering from bovine respiratory disease, there appears to be more broadly a need for veterinary diagnostic studies to adopt international best practice for reporting of quantitative PCR diagnostic data to be both accurate and comparable between studies and methodologies.
Work Activity Pattern and Collaboration Network: New Drivers for Workplace Space Planning and Design

Information about the users’ work activity patterns is essential for office space planning and the design of organizations. However, it is not clear yet what factors can be used for predicting work activities, especially at the group level. In this study, we found that work activity patterns of groups are associated with the workgroup's job function and their location in the organizational collaboration networks. Two hypotheses were tested through a survey conducted on a sample of 188 managers from an Italian utility company. The participants were asked about (1) the percentage of time different groups (based on job function and demographic composition) spent doing individual, collaborative, and mobile work; and (2) how network connectivity affected individual versus group work. The results showed that workgroups with different job functions spent different percentages of time on individual, mobile, and teamwork. Communication network connectivity is not significantly correlated with the amount of time spent on individual work, but statistical evidence confirmed that it plays an essential role for the assessment of the amount of work time spent on teamwork, even more than job functions. By investigating the factors affecting collaborations between groups, we advanced the research on work activity in large companies in order to complement existing studies that mostly addressed work activity patterns at the individual level. How information about collaboration networks can be utilized for space planning and flexible work arrangement policy–making is also discussed, in light of the changes that the COVID–19 pandemic has triggered.
Novel Polyurethane Scaffolds Containing Sucrose Crosslinker for Dental Application

In this paper, the synthesis, characterization, and properties of crosslinked poly(ε-caprolactone)-based polyurethanes as potential tissue replacement materials are reported. The polyurethane prepolymers were prepared from poly(ε-caprolactone)diol (PCD), polyethylene glycol (PEG)/polylactic acid diol (PLAD), and 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI). In these segmented polyurethanes, the role of PEG/PLAD was to tune the hydrophobic/hydrophilic character of the resulting polymer while sucrose served as a crosslinking agent. PLAD was synthesized by the polycondensation reaction of D,L-lactic acid and investigated by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR). The crosslinked polyurethane samples (SUPURs) obtained were characterized by attenuated total reflectance Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (AT-FT-IR), swelling, and mechanical (uniaxial tensile tests) experiments. The thermo and thermomechanical behavior were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamical mechanical analysis (DMA). The viability of dental pulp stem cells was investigated in the case of polyurethanes composed of fully biocompatible elements. In our studies, none of our polymers showed toxicity to stem cells (DPSCs).
Radiomic Cancer Hallmarks to Identify High-Risk Patients in Non-Metastatic Colon Cancer

Simple Summary Colon cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world, and the therapeutic workflow is dependent on the TNM staging system and the presence of clinical risk factors. However, in the case of patients with non-metastatic disease, evaluating the benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy is a clinical challenge. Radiomics could be seen as a non-invasive novel imaging biomarker able to outline tumor phenotype and to predict patient prognosis by analyzing preoperative medical images. Radiomics might provide decisional support for oncologists with the goal to reduce the number of arbitrary decisions in the emerging era of personalized medicine. To date, much evidence highlights the strengths of radiomics in cancer workup, but several aspects limit the use of radiomics methods as routine. Abstract The study was aimed to develop a radiomic model able to identify high-risk colon cancer by analyzing pre-operative CT scans. The study population comprised 148 patients: 108 with non-metastatic colon cancer were retrospectively enrolled from January 2015 to June 2020, and 40 patients were used as the external validation cohort. The population was divided into two groups—High-risk and No-risk—following the presence of at least one high-risk clinical factor. All patients had baseline CT scans, and 3D cancer segmentation was performed on the portal phase by two expert radiologists using open-source software (3DSlicer v4.10.2). Among the 107 radiomic features extracted, stable features were selected to evaluate the inter-class correlation (ICC) (cut-off ICC > 0.8). Stable features were compared between the two groups (T-test or Mann–Whitney), and the significant features were selected for univariate and multivariate logistic regression to build a predictive radiomic model. The radiomic model was then validated with an external cohort. In total, 58/108 were classified as High-risk and 50/108 as No-risk. A total of 35 radiomic features were stable (0.81 ≤ ICC < 0.92). Among these, 28 features were significantly different between the two groups (p < 0.05), and only 9 features were selected to build the radiomic model. The radiomic model yielded an AUC of 0.73 in the internal cohort and 0.75 in the external cohort. In conclusion, the radiomic model could be seen as a performant, non-invasive imaging tool to properly stratify colon cancers with high-risk disease.
Informacja a priori w ocenie jakości modeli TAM na przykładzie platformy Moodle / A priori information in the assessment of TAM quality models on the example of Moodle platform

Streszczenie: Artykuł jest poświęcony roli informacji wnoszonej na podstawie metaanalizy w ocenie dopasowania i trafności predykcyjnej modeli akceptacji technologii (Technology Acceptance Model − TAM). Ten rodzaj modeli jest szczególnie wykorzystywany do analizy postaw i zachowań użytkowników wobec nowych technologii. W ich budowie stosowane są zarówno modele strukturalne ze zmiennymi ukrytymi (SEM), jak również predykcyjne modele ścieżkowe, w których parametry są szacowane na podstawie metody cząstkowych najmniejszych kwadratów (PLS-PM). Celem artykułu jest ocena roli informacji wnoszonej (subiektywnej wiedzy badacza i wyników przeszłych badań) na stabilność oszacowania parametrów modelu akceptacji technologii TAM i na dopasowanie modelu. Wykorzystanie informacji uprzedniej o rozkładach parametrów i wartościach punktowych oszacowań pozwala na poprawne określenie punktów startowych procesu estymacji oraz jest istotnym warunkiem budowy modelu w podejściach bayesowskich. W procesie modelowania zostały porównane modele zbudowane wyłącznie na podstawie danych (bez uwzględnienia informacji uprzedniej) z modelami wykorzystującymi subiektywną wiedzę badacza (estymowanymi w podejściu klasycznym i bayesowskim).
Random phase code for automotive MIMO radars using combined frequency shift keying‐linear FMCW waveform

Automotive radar is a key component for self-driving cars and advanced driver assistant systems. The major requirements of recent automotive radars are high angular resolution and multiple target detection with the constraints of small size, low power, and low cost. With appropriate transmitter spacing, co-located multiple-input–multiple-output (MIMO) radar can emulate larger aperture arrays, producing the required high angular resolution. However, MIMO radar requires waveforms that are orthogonal in frequency, time, or code domain, and orthogonal waveforms developed for pulse radars are unsuitable for automotive frequency modulated continuous waveform (FMCW) radars. This study proposes a code division multiplexing method for automotive MIMO radars by selecting the combined frequency shift key-linear FMCW waveform. The authors show the performance through simulation and discuss constraints. The proposed method is suitable for automotive radars because not only can high angular resolution be achieved by a small number of arrays, but also multiple targets can be detected with the low sampling rate and computational power.
Sustainable and Smart Agriculture: A Holistic Approach

The sustainability of our future depends on how we produce food and the impact it has on our environment. Smart farming is a revolution in food production through which farmers are able to use technology to generate bigger harvest yields from existing resources. In addition, the creation of smarter irrigation systems, optimized soil composition and smart monitoring systems are leading to agriculture that takes place at a smaller footprint with lower environmental impact. Smart farming is a huge challenge as 70% of the world's population will live in cities by 2050 or later, making it increasingly difficult for farmers to source their crops. In recent times, agriculture is integrated with state of the art technology such as Cloud computing, Internet of Things, RFID, WSNs, data mining etc. for yield improvement with climate conscious approach leading to sustainability of the system. This paper discusses the various trends in smart and sustainable agriculture.
PEMILIHAN DAERAH PENERIMA BANTUAN PUSAT PENGENDALIAN OPERASI MENGGUNAKAN ANALYTICAL HIERARCHY PROCESS PADA PUSDATINKOMBEN BNPB

Pusat Pengendalian Operasi Penanggulangan Bencana (Pusdalops PB) adalah sebuah Pusat Pemantauan kondisi alam dan aktivitas terhadap potensi bencana pada daerah-daerah yang memiliki risiko tinggi terhadap bencana alam. Informasi terkait dengan bencana perlu dikumpulkan, diproses, dianalisis dan selanjutnya disusun laporan serta diseminasinya. Informasi kebencanaan di sini tidak hanya menyangkut kejadian bencana, namun juga upaya penanganan yang dilakukan oleh berbagai pihak baik saat prabencana maupun pasca bencana. Permasalahan pada penelitian ini adalah Pemberian Bantuan Pusat Pengendalian Operasi Penanggulangan Bencana (Pusdalops PB) adanya penilaian yang bersifat subyektif oleh tim penilai kelayakan daerah penerima bantuan. Sehingga daerah-daerah yang benar-benar layak mendapatkan bantuan Pusat Pengendalian Operasi Penanggulangan Bencana (Pusdalops PB) menjadi tidak mendapatkan bantuan. Solusi dari permasalahan tersebut adalah dengan menggunakan algoritma Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) yang diaplikasikan kedalam sebuah sistem penunjang keputusan dan uji kelayakan aplikasi menggunakan ISO 9126. Sehingga hasil dari penelitian ini adalah sebuah aplikasi sistem penunjang keputusan yang mampu memberikan keluaran berupa perangkingan kepada daerah-daeran calon penerima bantuan. Hasil dari aplikasi menggunakan 3 buah data daerah penerima bantuan menunjukan nilai tertinggi sebesar 0.535 dan terendah 0.156
Conformational Properties and Putative Bioactive Targets for Novel Thiosemicarbazone Derivatives

The structure assignment and conformational analysis of the thiosemicarbazones, DKI21 and DKI24, were performed through homonuclear and heteronuclear 2D Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy (2D-COSY, 2D-NOESY, 2D-ROESY, 2D-HSQC, and 2D-HMBC) and quantum mechanics (QM) calculations, using Functional Density Theory (DFT). In addition, utilizing a combination of 2D-NOESY and 2D-ROESY spectra an exo structure was established for both of the analogs. This experimental results were confirmed by theoretical mechanistic studies, as the lowest minima conformations derived through DFT calculations were compatible with the spatial correlations observed in the 2D-NOESY and 2D-ROESY spectra. Finally, molecular binding experiments were performed to detect the potential targets for DKI21 and DKI24, derived from SwissAdme. In silico molecular binding experiments showed favorable binding energy values for the most of the enzymes studied. The ADMET calculations, using the preADMET and pKCSm software, showed that the two molecules appear as possible drug leads.
Personalized Medicine Approach in a DCM Patient with LMNA Mutation Reveals Dysregulation of mTOR Signaling

Background: Mutations in the Lamin A/C (LMNA) gene are responsible for about 6% of all familial dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) cases which tend to present at a young age and follow a fulminant course. Methods: We report a 47-year-old DCM patient with severely impaired left ventricular ejection fraction and NYHA functional class IV despite optimal heart failure treatment. Whole-exome sequencing revealed an LMNA E161K missense mutation as the pathogenetic cause for DCM in this patient. We generated a patient-specific LMNA-knock in (LMNA-KI) in vitro model using mES cells. Results: Beta adrenergic stimulation of cardiomyocytes derived from LMNA-KI mES cells resulted in augmented mTOR signaling and increased dysregulation of action potentials, which could be effectively prevented by the mTOR-inhibitor rapamycin. A cardiac biopsy confirmed strong activation of the mTOR-signaling pathway in the patient. An off-label treatment with oral rapamycin was initiated and resulted in an improvement in left ventricular ejection fraction (27.8% to 44.5%), NT-BNP (8120 ng/L to 2210 ng/L) and NYHA functional class. Conclusion: We have successfully generated the first in vitro model to recapitulate a patient-specific LMNA E161K mutation which leads to a severe form of DCM. The model may serve as a template for individualized and specific treatment of heart failure.
Grating-Lobe Suppression for Periodic Leaky-Wave Antennas at the Full Array Level

The scanning range of a periodic leaky-wave antenna (P-LWA) is limited by the appearance of grating lobes, which are brought by the radiation of higher order space harmonics. The proposed method in this letter manipulates the phases of space harmonics and suppresses the grating lobes at the full array level. The P-LWAs operate as subarrays with their perturbations successively shifted along the propagation direction. Feeding the P-LWAs with specific phases, the radiation of the desired space harmonic is retained while radiation of other space harmonics is cancelled out. The proposed method is capable of achieving a large scanning range with a relatively small waveguide index (defined as <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${n}_g = {{{\lambda }_0} \mathord{/ {\vphantom {{{\lambda }_0} {{\lambda }_g}}} } {{\lambda }_g}}$</tex-math></inline-formula>). Specifically, the single-beam full-space scanning can be realized with <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${n}_g$</tex-math></inline-formula> less than 2, which is the lower limit for existing works. Based on the proposed method, A prototype consisting of three subarrays was designed with <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${n}_g \! =\! 1.426. $</tex-math></inline-formula> A main lobe pointing to <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$41.1^\circ $</tex-math></inline-formula> was realized with two grating lobes suppressed by more than 11 dB at <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$ - 6.5^\circ $</tex-math></inline-formula> and<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$ - 61.8^\circ $</tex-math></inline-formula>. The sidelobes brought by the slow-wave radiation were also obviously suppressed. Measured results agree well with the simulation and the theoretical prediction.
Assessment of Challenging Behavior Exhibited by People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: A Systematic Review

The assessment of challenging behavior exhibited by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities is essential for the planning of prevention and intervention programs. This review aimed to identify and analyze the standardized instruments that exclusively focus on the assessment of challenging behavior. We identified and organized 141 articles into four categories: original instrument studies, validation studies, relational studies, and intervention studies. The results identified 24 instruments that generally show high-quality psychometric properties and other utilities beyond the observation of the presence of challenging behavior and diagnostic categorization. Age, level of adaptive behavior, disability, presence of autism spectrum disorder, and medication are some of the variables that were found to be possibly related to the occurrence of challenging behavior. Additionally, the results suggest that interventions focused on supporting positive behavior or providing training on behavior to professionals and caregivers significantly reduced the occurrence of these behaviors. Instruments that help us to understand and measure the challenging behavior exhibited by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are essential for the design of effective evaluation and intervention protocols.
The Si-Photonic Modulator Using Three- Waveguides Coupler Structure

We proposed and demonstrate the Si-modulator using three-waveguides coupler structure for the first time. By using three-waveguide structure can decrease the coupling lengthcontrary to conventional directional coupler structure. For the modulation operation, pn diode is employed to have junction at the only one waveguide. The proposed structure was fabricated using CMOS-compatible process and shows the compact device size about ~500 μm2 which is much smaller than MZI modulator structure. By applying forward bias voltage of 1.2 V, π-phase shift is achieved with Vsw∙L ~ 0.23 V∙mm. Finally, it shows operation speed up to 3 Gbps with extinction ratio of 3 dB which is faster than carrier injection using p-i-n diode. Itcan affordable for the operation speed up to 3 Gbps using carrier injection of pn diode by applying forward bias. We expect that performance of device can be enhanced using more sophisticated fabrication process and can be used as the new structure of Siphotonic modulator.