Logic Characterization of Invisibly Structured Languages: The Case of Floyd Languages

Operator precedence grammars define a classical Boolean and deterministic context-free language family (called Floyd languages or FLs). FLs have been shown to strictly include the well-known Visibly Pushdown Languages, and enjoy the same nice closure properties. In this paper we provide a complete characterization of FLs in terms of a suitable Monadic Second-Order Logic. Traditional approaches to logic characterization of formal languages refer explicitly to the structures over which they are interpreted - e.g, trees or graphs - or to strings that are isomorphic to the structure, as in parenthesis languages. In the case of FLs, instead, the syntactic structure of input strings is “invisible” and must be reconstructed through parsing. This requires that logic formulae encode some typical context-free parsing actions, such as shift-reduce ones

Isolation of Leptospira sp. from an equine abortion

The differences observed between females and males were statistically significant (p 1⁄4 0, 001). It was detected a virus infection of equine Viral Arteritis in 53% of the samples obtained in feral donkeys, which could indicate some degree of viral circulation in these animal populations. It suggests later studies that they allow to characterize these viruses of donkeys, to see his phylogeny. Chile is free of EVA in horses, the disease has not been detected in domestic horses and it is of compulsory notification. The detection of antibodies anti-vEVA inwild species was communicated to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE)

Analysis of the machinery and intermediates of the 5hmC-mediated DNA demethylation pathway in aging on samples from the MARKAGE Study

Gradual changes in the DNA methylation landscape occur throughout aging virtually in all human tissues. A widespread reduction of 5-methylcytosine (5mC), associated with highly reproducible site-specific hypermethylation, characterizes the genome in aging. Therefore, an equilibrium seems to exist between general and directional deregulating events concerning DNA methylation controllers, which may underpin the age-related epigenetic changes. In this context, 5mC-hydroxylases (TET enzymes) are new potential players. In fact, TETs catalyze the stepwise oxidation of 5mC to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), 5-formylcytosine (5fC) and 5-carboxylcytosine (5caC), driving the DNA demethylation process based on thymine DNA glycosylase (TDG)-mediated DNA repair pathway. The present paper reports the expression of DNA hydroxymethylation components, the levels of 5hmC and of its derivatives in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of age-stratified donors recruited in several European countries in the context of the EU Project ‘MARK-AGE’. The results provide evidence for an age-related decline of TET1, TET3 and TDG gene expression along with a decrease of 5hmC and an accumulation of 5caC. These associations were independent of confounding variables, including recruitment center, gender and leukocyte composition. The observed impairment of 5hmC-mediated DNA demethylation pathway in blood cells may lead to aberrant transcriptional programs in the elderly

Effects of diets high in animal or plant protein on oxidative stress in individuals with type 2 diabetes: a randomized clinical trial

High-protein diet is a promising strategy for diabetes treatment supporting body weight control, improving glycaemic status, cardiovascular risk factors and reducing liver fat. Here, we investigated effects of diets high in animal (AP) or plant (PP) protein on oxidative stress and antioxidant status in individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). 37 obese individuals (age 64.3 ± 1.0 years) with T2DM were randomized to an isocaloric diet (30 energy(E)% protein, 30E% fat and 40E% carbohydrates) rich in AP or PP for 6 weeks. Markers of oxidative and nitrosative stress and antioxidant status in plasma and nitrate/nitrite levels in urine were assessed. Gene expression in subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) was analyzed by RNA-Seq and real-time PCR.Both AP and PP diets similarly reduced plasma levels of malondialdehyde (P(AP) = 0.003, P(PP) = 1.6x10(-4)) and protein carbonyls (P(AP) = 1.2x10(-4), P(PP) = 3.0x10(-5)) over 6 weeks. Nitrotyrosine (NT) increased upon both AP and PP diets (PAP = 0.005,PPP = 0.004). SAT expression of genes involved in nitric oxide (NO) and oxidative stress metabolism and urine NO metabolite (nitrate/nitrite) levels were not changed upon both diets. Plasma levels of carotenoids increased upon PP diet, whereas retinol, alpha- and gamma-tocopherol slightly decreased upon both diets. AP and PP diets similarly improve oxidative stress but increase nitrosative stress markers in individuals with T2DM. Mechanisms of the NT regulation upon high-protein diets need further investigation

Spontaneous Degenerative Aortic Valve Disease in New Zealand Obese Mice

Background: Degenerative aortic valve (AoV) disease and resulting aortic stenosis are major clinical health problems. Murine models of valve disease are rare, resulting in a translational knowledge gap on underlying mechanisms, functional consequences, and potential therapies. Naive New Zealand obese (NZO) mice were recently found to have a dramatic decline of left ventricular (LV) function at early age. Therefore, we aimed to identify the underlying cause of reduced LV function in NZO mice. Methods and Results: Cardiac function and pulmonary hemodynamics of NZO and age-matched C57BL/6J mice were monitored by serial echocardiographic examinations. AoVs in NZO mice demonstrated extensive thickening, asymmetric aortic leaflet formation, and cartilaginous transformation of the valvular stroma. Doppler echocardiography of the aorta revealed increased peak velocity profiles, holodiastolic flow reversal, and dilatation of the ascending aorta, consistent with aortic stenosis and regurgitation. Compensated LV hypertrophy deteriorated to decompensated LV failure and remodeling, as indicated by increased LV mass, interstitial fibrosis, and inflammatory cell infiltration. Elevated LV pressures in NZO mice were associated with lung congestion and cor pulmonale, evident as right ventricular dilatation, decreased right ventricular function, and increased mean right ventricular systolic pressure, indicative for the development of pulmonary hypertension and ultimately right ventricular failure. Conclusions: NZO mice demonstrate as a novel murine model to spontaneously develop degenerative AoV disease, aortic stenosis, and the associated end organ damages of both ventricles and the lung. Closely mimicking the clinical scenario of degenerative AoV disease, the model may facilitate a better mechanistic understanding and testing of novel treatment strategies in degenerative AoV disease

The PAPAGENO Parallel-Parser Generator

The increasing use of multicore processors has deeply transformed computing paradigms and applications. The wide availability of multicore systems had an impact also in the field of compiler technology, although the research on deterministic parsing did not prove to be effective in exploiting the architectural advantages, the main impediment being the inherent sequential nature of traditional LL and LR algorithms. We present PAPAGENO, an automated parser generator relying on operator precedence grammars. We complemented the PAPAGENO-generated parallel parsers with parallel lexing techniques, obtaining near-linear speedups on multicore machines, and the same speed as Bison parsers on sequential execution

High-fat, sucrose and salt-rich diet during rat spermatogenesis lead to the development of chronic kidney disease in the female offspring of the F2 generation

Effects of feeding male rats during spermatogenesis a high-fat, high-sucrose and high-salt diet (HFSSD) over two generations (F0 and F1) on renal outcomes are unknown. Male F0 and F1 rats were fed either control diet (F0CD+F1CD) or HFSSD (F0HD+F1HD). The outcomes were glomerular filtration rate and urinary albumin excretion in F1 and F2 offspring. If both outcomes were altered a morphological and molecular assessment was done. F2 offspring of both sexes had a decreased GFR. However, increased urinary albumin excretion was only observed in female F2 F0HD+F1HD offspring compared with controls. F0HD+F1HD female F2 offspring developed glomerulosclerosis (+31%; p < .01) and increased renal interstitial fibrosis (+52%; p < .05). RNA sequencing followed by qRT-PCR validation showed that four genes (Enpp6, Tmem144, Cd300lf, and Actr3b) were differentially regulated in the kidneys of female F2 offspring. lncRNA XR-146683.1 expression decreased in female F0HD+F1HD F2 offspring and its expression was (r = 0.44, p = .027) correlated with the expression of Tmem144. Methylation of CpG islands in the promoter region of the Cd300lf gene was increased (p = .001) in female F2 F0HD+F1HD offspring compared to controls. Promoter CpG island methylation rate of Cd300lf was inversely correlated with Cd300lf mRNA expression in F2 female offspring (r = −0.483, p = .012). Cd300lf mRNA expression was inversely correlated with the urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio in female F2 offspring (r = −0.588, p = .005). Paternal pre-conceptional unhealthy diet given for two generations predispose female F2 offspring to chronic kidney disease due to epigenetic alterations of renal gene expression. Particularly, Cd300lf gene promotor methylation was inversely associated with Cd300lf mRNA expression and Cd300lf mRNA expression itself was inversely associated with urinary albumin excretion in F2 female offspring whose fathers and grandfathers got a pre-conceptional unhealthy diet

Blood circulating miR-28-5p and let-7d-5p associate with premature ageing in Down syndrome

Persons with Down syndrome (DS) undergo a premature ageing with early onset of age-related diseases. The main endpoint of this study was the identification of blood circulating microRNAs (c-miRs) signatures characterizing DS ageing process. A discovery phase based on array was performed in plasma samples obtained from 3 young (31&nbsp;±&nbsp;2 years-old) and 3 elderly DS persons (66&nbsp;±&nbsp;2 years-old). Then, a validation phase was carried out for relevant miRs by RT-qPCR in an enlarged cohort of 43 DS individuals (from 19 up to 68 years-old). A group of 30 non-trisomic subjects, as representative of physiological ageing, was compared. In particular miR-628-5p, miR-152-3p, miR-28-5p, and let-7d-5p showed a lower level in younger DS persons (age ≤ 50 years) respect to the age-matched controls. Among those, miR-28-5p and let-7d-5p were found significantly decreased in physiological ageing ( oldest group ), thus they emerged as possible biomarkers of premature ageing in DS. Moreover, measuring blood levels of beta amyloid peptides, Aβ-42 was assessed at the lowest levels in physiological ageing and correlated with miR-28-5p and let-7d-5p in DS, while Aβ-40 correlated with miR-628-5p in the same cohort. New perspectives in terms of biomarkers are discussed

Age-dependent expression of DNMT1 and DNMT3B in PBMCs from a large European population enrolled in the MARK-AGE study

Aging is associated with alterations in the content and patterns of DNA methylation virtually throughout the entire human lifespan. Reasons for these variations are not well understood. However, several lines of evidence suggest that the epigenetic instability in aging may be traced back to the alteration of the expression of DNA methyltransferases. Here, the association of the expression of DNA methyltransferases DNMT1 and DNMT3B with age has been analysed in the context of the MARK-AGE study, a large-scale cross-sectional study of the European general population. Using peripheral blood mononuclear cells, we assessed the variation of DNMT1 and DNMT3B gene expression in more than two thousand age-stratified women and men (35-75 years) recruited across eight European countries. Significant age-related changes were detected for both transcripts. The level of DNMT1 gradually dropped with aging but this was only observed up to the age of 64 years. By contrast, the expression of DNMT3B decreased linearly with increasing age and this association was particularly evident in females. We next attempted to trace the age-related changes of both transcripts to the influence of different variables that have an impact on changes of their expression in the population, including demographics, dietary and health habits, and clinical parameters. Our results indicate that age affects the expression of DNMT1 and DNMT3B as an almost independent variable in respect of all other variables evaluated

Robot life: simulation and participation in the study of evolution and social behavior.

This paper explores the case of using robots to simulate evolution, in particular the case of Hamilton's Law. The uses of robots raises several questions that this paper seeks to address. The first concerns the role of the robots in biological research: do they simulate something (life, evolution, sociality) or do they participate in something? The second question concerns the physicality of the robots: what difference does embodiment make to the role of the robot in these experiments. Thirdly, how do life, embodiment and social behavior relate in contemporary biology and why is it possible for robots to illuminate this relation? These questions are provoked by a strange similarity that has not been noted before: between the problem of simulation in philosophy of science, and Deleuze's reading of Plato on the relationship of ideas, copies and simulacra