Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Emerging drugs for chronic kidney disease

Introduction: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a worldwide health problem. Despite remarkable headway in slowing the progression of kidney diseases, the incidence of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is increasing in all countries with a severe impact on patients and society. The high incidence of diabetes and hypertension, along with the aging population, may partially explain this growth. Currently, the mainstay of pharmacological treatment for CKD, aiming to slow progression to ESRD are ACE inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers for their hemodynamic/antihypertensive and anti-inflammatory/antifibrotic action. However, novel drugs would be highly desirable to effectively slow the progressive renal function loss. Areas covered: Through the search engines, PubMed and ClinicalTrial.gov, the scientific literature was reviewed in search of emerging drugs in Phase II or III trials, which appear to be the most promising for CKD treatment. Expert opinion: The great expectations for new drugs for the management of CKD over the last decade have unfortunately not been met. Encouraging results from preliminary studies with specific agents need to be tempered with caution, given the absence of consistent and adequate data. To date, several agents that showed great promise in animal studies have been less effective in humans.
Comorbid obsessive-compulsive symptoms in schizophrenia: contributions of pharmacological and genetic factors

A large subgroup of around 25% of schizophrenia patients suffers from obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) and about 12% fulfill the diagnostic criteria of an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The additional occurrence of OCS is associated with high subjective burden of disease, additional neurocognitive impairment, poorer social and vocational functioning, greater service utilization and high levels of anxiety and depression. Comorbid patients can be assigned to heterogeneous subgroups. One hypothesis assumes that second generation antipsychotics (SGAs), most importantly clozapine, might aggravate or even induce second-onset OCS. Several arguments support this assumption, most importantly the observed chronological order of first psychotic manifestation, start of treatment with clozapine and onset of OCS. In addition, correlations between OCS-severity and dose and serum levels and duration of clozapine treatment hint toward a dose-dependent side effect. It has been hypothesized that genetic risk-factors dispose patients with schizophrenia to develop OCS. One study in a South Korean sample reported associations with polymorphisms in the gene SLC1A1 (solute carrier family 1A1) and SGA-induced OCS. However, this finding could not be replicated in European patients. Preliminary results also suggest an involvement of polymorphisms in the BDNF gene (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) and an interaction between markers of SLC1A1 and the gene DLGAP3 (disc large associated protein 3) as well as GRIN2B (N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor subunit 2B). Further research of well-defined samples, in particular studies investigating possible interactions of genetic risk-constellations and pharmacodynamic properties, are needed to clarify the assumed development of SGA-induced OCS. Results might improve pathogenic concepts and facilitate the definition of at risk populations, early detection and monitoring of OCS as well as multimodal therapeutic interventions.
Elaboration and characterization of alumina - fluorapatite composites

Alumina and fluorapatite powder were mixed in a wet medium in order to elaborate biphasic ceramics composites. The effect of fluorapatite addition (26.5 wt%) in the densification and the mechanical properties of the alumina matrix were measured. The phase developments have been systematically analysed by scanning electronic microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Infrared spectroscopy and 31P and 27Al magic angle scanning nuclear magnetic resonance. The Brazilian test was used to measure the mechanical resistance of alumina - 26.5 wt% fluorapatite composites. The densification and strength rupture of composites increase versus sintering temperature and holding time. At 1600°C, the composites densities reached 85% and the rupture strength was about 22 MPa. Also, the composites sintering at 1500°C for 5 hours provides samples with similar density and having higher mechanical resistance, above 26 MPa. For longer holding times, the mechanical properties were hindered by the exaggerated grain growth and the formation of intragranular porosity. From 1400°C, the characterization of the alumina - 26.5 wt% fluorapatite composites indicates the formation of calcium aluminates.
Molecular Basis of Fructose Utilization by the Wine Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae: a Mutated HXT3 Allele Enhances Fructose Fermentation

ABSTRACT Fructose utilization by wine yeasts is critically important for the maintenance of a high fermentation rate at the end of alcoholic fermentation. A Saccharomyces cerevisiae wine yeast able to ferment grape must sugars to dryness was found to have a high fructose utilization capacity. We investigated the molecular basis of this enhanced fructose utilization capacity by studying the properties of several hexose transporter (HXT) genes. We found that this wine yeast harbored a mutated HXT3 allele. A functional analysis of this mutated allele was performed by examining expression in an hxt1-7Δ strain. Expression of the mutated allele alone was found to be sufficient for producing an increase in fructose utilization during fermentation similar to that observed in the commercial wine yeast. This work provides the first demonstration that the pattern of fructose utilization during wine fermentation can be altered by expression of a mutated hexose transporter in a wine yeast. We also found that the glycolytic flux could be increased by overexpression of the mutant transporter gene, with no effect on fructose utilization. Our data demonstrate that the Hxt3 hexose transporter plays a key role in determining the glucose/fructose utilization ratio during fermentation.
An experimental study on four models of customer churn prediction

Decision tree, neural network and logistic regression were applied frequently as models of customer churn prediction, but the application of them has been mature and they are difficult to be improved. In this paper, Bayesian Networks, Support Vector Machines, Rough Sets and Survival Analysis were selected for experimental comparison study. An integrated contrast among the four models from the applicability of model in theory and experimental comparison has been processed. Overall, of the four models the Bayesian network model performed best while the Survival analysis did worst.
New Method of Strengthening Reinforced Concrete Square Columns by Circularizing and Wrapping with Fiber-Reinforced Polymer or Steel Straps

AbstractThis study investigates three methods of strengthening existing reinforced square concrete columns under different loading conditions. Four groups of sixteen reinforced concrete square columns were made from normal-strength concrete. Reinforcement was kept at minimum ratio, simulating columns that need retrofitting. Columns of the first group were reference columns (Group N), while the corners of the second group columns (Group RF) were rounded and wrapped with three layers of carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRPs). The sides of the columns of the third group (Group CF) were bonded with four pieces of concrete with a segmental circular shape, thus changing the cross section of the column from a square to a circle before each column was wrapped with three layers of CFRP. The columns of the last group (fourth) were modified as the third group to result in a circular cross section, but were confined with steel straps. Results from the study showed that all confinement methods increased the capacity.
Net2Vec: Quantifying and Explaining How Concepts are Encoded by Filters in Deep Neural Networks

In an effort to understand the meaning of the intermediate representations captured by deep networks, recent papers have tried to associate specific semantic concepts to individual neural network filter responses, where interesting correlations are often found, largely by focusing on extremal filter responses. In this paper, we show that this approach can favor easy-to-interpret cases that are not necessarily representative of the average behavior of a representation. A more realistic but harder-to-study hypothesis is that semantic representations are distributed, and thus filters must be studied in conjunction. In order to investigate this idea while enabling systematic visualization and quantification of multiple filter responses, we introduce the Net2Vec framework, in which semantic concepts are mapped to vectorial embeddings based on corresponding filter responses. By studying such embeddings, we are able to show that 1. , in most cases, multiple filters are required to code for a concept, that 2. , often filters are not concept specific and help encode multiple concepts, and that 3. , compared to single filter activations, filter embeddings are able to better characterize the meaning of a representation and its relationship to other concepts.
The Probability Heuristics Model of Syllogistic Reasoning

A probability heuristic model (PHM) for syllogistic reasoning is proposed. An informational ordering over quantified statements suggests simple probability based heuristics for syllogistic reasoning. The most important is the "min-heuristic": choose the type of the least informative premise as the type of the conclusion. The rationality of this heuristic is confirmed by an analysis of the probabilistic validity of syllogistic reasoning which treats logical inference as a limiting case of probabilistic inference. A meta-analysis of past experiments reveals close fits with PHM. PHM also compares favorably with alternative accounts, including mental logics, mental models, and deduction as verbal reasoning. Crucially, PHM extends naturally to generalized quantifiers, such as Most and Few, which have not been characterized logically and are, consequently, beyond the scope of current mental logic and mental model theories. Two experiments confirm the novel predictions of PHM when generalized quantifiers are used in syllogistic arguments. PHM suggests that syllogistic reasoning performance may be determined by simple but rational informational strategies justified by probability theory rather than by logic.
A post GWAS association study of SNPs associated with cleft lip with or without cleft palate in submucous cleft palate

A Post GWAS Association Study of SNPs Associated With Cleft Lip With or Without Cleft Palate in Submucous Cleft Palate Rudolf Reiter, Sibylle Brosch, Ingrid Goebel, Kerstin U. Ludwig, Anja Pickhard, Josef Högel, Guido Schlömer, Elisabeth Mangold, Christian Kubisch, and Guntram Borck* Section of Phoniatrics and Pedaudiology, Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany Institute of Human Genetics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany Institute of Human Genetics, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany Institute of Human Genetics, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany Department of Genomics, Life and Brain Center, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Technical University Munich, Munich, Germany Department of Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
Health, Nutrition and Academic Achievement: New Evidence from India

Using new and unique panel data, we investigate the role of long-term health and childhood malnutrition in schooling outcomes for children in rural India, many of whom lack basic numeracy and literacy skills. Using data on students’ performance on mathematics and Hindi tests, we examine the role of the endogeneity of health caused by omitted variables bias and measurement error and correct for these problems using a household fixed effects estimator on a sub-sample of siblings observed in the data. We also present several extensions and robustness checks using instrumental variables and alternative estimators. We find evidence of a positive causal effect of long-term health measured as height-for-age z-score (HAZ) on test scores, and the results are consistent across several different specifications. The results imply that improving childhood nutrition will have benefits that extend beyond health into education.
Does Smoking Reduction in Midlife Reduce Mortality Risk? Results of 2 Long-Term Prospective Cohort Studies of Men and Women in Scotland

A long-term cohort study of working men in Israel found that smokers who reduced their cigarette consumption had lower subsequent mortality rates than those who did not. We conducted comparable analyses in 2 populations of smokers in Scotland. The Collaborative Study included 1,524 men and women aged 40–65 years in a working population who were screened twice, in 1970–1973 and 1977. The Renfrew/Paisley Study included 3,730 men and women aged 45–64 years in a general population who were screened twice, in 1972–1976 and 1977–1979. Both groups were followed up through 2010. Subjects were categorized by smoking intensity at each screening as smoking 0, 1–10, 11–20, or ≥21 cigarettes per day. At the second screening, subjects were categorized as having increased, maintained, or reduced their smoking intensity or as having quit smoking between the first and second screenings. There was no evidence of lower mortality in all reducers compared with maintainers. Multivariate adjusted hazard ratios of mortality were 0.91 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.75, 1.10) in the Collaborative Study and 1.08 (95% CI: 0.97, 1.20) in the Renfrew/Paisley Study. There was clear evidence of lower mortality among quitters in both the Collaborative Study (hazard ratio = 0.66, 95% CI: 0.56, 0.78) and the Renfrew/Paisley Study (hazard ratio = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.67, 0.84). In the Collaborative Study only, we observed lower mortality similar to that of quitters among heavy smokers (≥21 cigarettes/day) who reduced their smoking intensity. These inconclusive results support the view that reducing cigarette consumption should not be promoted as a means of reducing mortality, although it may have a valuable role as a step toward smoking cessation.
Studies on Trade-off Between Throughput and Reliability in Wireless Systems

In the first part of the thesis, we study the trade-off between the transmission reliability and data rate in high signal-to-noise ratio regime in ad-hoc wireless networks. Bandwidth allocation plays a significant role in this trade-off, since dividing bandwidth reduces the number of users on each band and consequently decreases the interference level, however it also decreases the data rate. Noting that the interference power is substantially influenced by the network density, this trade-off introduces a measure for appropriate bandwidth allocation among users considering the network density. The diversity-multiplexing trade-off is derived for a one-dimensional regular ad-hoc network. In the second part of the thesis, we study the performance of point-to-point and broadcast systems with partial channel state information at the transmitter in a time-varying environment. First, the capacity of time-varying channels with periodic feedback at the transmitter is evaluated. It is assumed that the channel state information is perfectly known at the receiver and is fed back to the transmitter at the regular time-intervals. The system capacity is investigated in two cases: i) finite state Markov channel, and ii) additive white Gaussian noise channel with time-correlated fading. In a multiuser scenario, we consider a downlink system in which a single-antenna base station communicates with single antenna users, over a time-correlated fading channel. It is assumed that channel state information is perfectly known at each receiver, while the rate of channel variations and the fading gain at the beginning of each frame are known to the transmitter. The asymptotic throughput of the scheduling that transmits to the user with the maximum signal to noise ratio is examined applying variable code rate and/or variable codeword length signaling. It is shown that by selecting a fixed codeword length for all users, the order of the maximum possible throughput (corresponding to quasi-static fading) is achieved.
Assortative epibiosis of leatherback, olive ridley and green sea turtles in the Eastern Tropical Pacific

Sea turtles host a diverse array of epibionts, yet it is not well understood what factors influence epibiont community composition. To test whether epibiont communities of sea turtles are influenced by the hosts’ nesting or foraging habitats, we characterized the epibiota of leatherback, olive ridley and green turtles nesting at a single location on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. We also compared the epibiota of these turtles to conspecific populations nesting elsewhere in the East Pacific. If epibiont communities are influenced by nesting habitats, we predicted that sympatrically nesting turtles would have comparable epibiont taxa. Alternatively, if epibiont communities are influenced by foraging habitats, we predicted the diversity of epibiont taxa should reflect the type and diversity of the hosts’ foraging habitats. We identified 18 epibiont taxa from 18 leatherback, 19 olive ridley and six green turtles. Epibiont diversity was low on leatherbacks (four taxa), but higher for olive ridley and green turtles (12 and nine epibiont taxa respectively). The epibiont communities of olive ridley and green turtles were not statistically different, but both were different from leatherbacks. In addition, conspecific sea turtles from other nesting locations hosted more similar epibiont communities than sympatrically nesting, non-conspecifics. We conclude that epibiont diversity of nesting sea turtles is partially linked to the diversity of their foraging habitats. We also conclude that the surface properties of the skin and carapace of these turtles may contribute to the uniqueness of leatherback turtle epibiont communities and the similarities between olive ridley and green turtle epibiont communities.
Escherichia coli SspA is a transcription activator for bacteriophage P1 late genes

The stringent starvation protein A (SspA), an Escherichia coli RNA polymerase (RNAP)‐associated protein, has been reported to be essential for lytic growth of bacteriophage P1. Unlike P1 early promoters, P1 late promoters are not recognized by RNAP alone. A phage‐encoded early protein, Lpa (late promoter activator protein, formerly called gp10), has been shown to be required for P1 late transcription in vivo. Here, we demonstrate that SspA is a transcription activator for P1 late genes. Our results indicated that Lpa is not limiting in an sspA mutant. However, the transcription of P1 late genes was deficient in an sspA mutant in vivo. We demonstrated that SspA/Lpa are required for transcription activation of the P1 late promoter Ps in vitro. In addition, SspA and Lpa were shown to facilitate the binding of RNAP to Ps late promoter DNA. Activation of late transcription by SspA/Lpa was dependent on holoenzyme containing σ70 but not σS, indicating that the two activators discriminate between the two forms of the holoenzyme. Furthermore, P1 early gene expression was downregulated in the wild‐type background, whereas it persisted in the sspA mutant background, indicating that SspA/Lpa mediate the transcriptional switch from the early to the late genes during P1 lytic growth. Thus, this work provides the first evidence for a function of the E. coli RNAP‐associated protein SspA.
GAGA factor binding to DNA via a single trinucleotide sequence element.

GAGA transcription factor (GAF) is an essential protein in Drosophila , important for the transcriptional regulation of numerous genes. GAF binds to GA repeats in the promoters of these genes via a DNA-binding domain containing a single zinc finger. While GAF binding sites are typically composed of 3.5 GA repeats, the Drosophila hsp70 gene contains much smaller elements, some of which are as little as three bases (GAG) in length. Interestingly, the binding of GAF to more distant trinucleotide elements is relatively strong and not appreciably affected by the removal of larger GA arrays in the promoter. Moreover, a simple synthetic GAG sequence is sufficient to bind GAF in vitro . Here we directly compare the affinity of GAF for different sequence elements by immunoprecipitation and gel mobility shift analysis. Furthermore, our measures of the concentration of GAF in vivo indicate that it is a highly abundant nuclear protein, prevalent enough to occupy a sizable fraction of correspondingly abundant trinucleotide sites.
Increasing trends in pre-transport stroke deaths--United States, 1990-1998.

OBJECTIVE We examined national trends in places where stroke deaths occurred. METHODS National vital statistics data (1990-1998) for stroke death (ICD-9 codes 430-438) were analyzed for place of death by selected socio-demographic characteristics and stroke subtype. RESULTS Half of all stroke deaths in 1998 occurred in-hospital, 46.1% occurred pre-transport, 0.6% were dead on arrival, and 3.3% occurred in the emergency department. Pre-transport deaths accounted for 55.0% of ischemic strokes, 12.8% of intracerebral strokes, and 12.9% of subarachnoid hemorrhagic strokes. The proportions of stroke deaths occurring pre-transport increased from 1990 through 1998 by 22.9% for all strokes, by 25.3% for ischemic, and by 24.3% for hemorrhagic stroke deaths. CONCLUSIONS Almost half of stroke deaths occur prior to hospital admission. Research must identify factors that promote more timely access to effective medical care. Further efforts are needed to increase public awareness about stroke symptoms in order to reduce both delays in seeking treatment, and untimely deaths from stroke.
Appraisal of the Deqi Concept among Contemporary Chinese Acupuncturists

Deqi, an important component of the traditional theory of acupuncture and moxibustion, is the key factor in determining clinical therapeutic effect of acupuncture. In this paper, based on the digging up, arrangement, and in-depth analysis of the famous contemporary Chinese acupuncturists' perspectives of deqi, the authors summarize the concept and manifestation, as well as the properties of deqi, and correlativity of deqi with acupuncture manipulation through reviewing modern clinical research. Proposals for more scientific and standardized acupuncture research are introduced to reexamine and restore the implication of deqi in combination with the clinical practice.