Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modeling Attention and Memory for Auditory Selection in a Cocktail Party Environment

Developing a computational auditory model to solve the cocktail party problem has long bedeviled scientists, especially for a single microphone recording. Although recent deep learning based frameworks have made significant progress in multi-talker mixed speech separation, most existing deep learning based methods, focusing on separating all the speech channels rather than selectively attending the target speech and ignoring other sounds, may fail to offer a satisfactory solution in a complex auditory scene where the number of input sounds is usually uncertain and even dynamic. In this work, we employ ideas from auditory selective attention of behavioral and cognitive neurosciences and from recent advances of memory-augmented neural networks. Specifically, a unified Auditory Selection framework with Attention and Memory (dubbed ASAM) is proposed. Our ASAM first accumulates the prior knowledge (that is the acoustic feature to one specific speaker) into a life-long memory during the training phase, meanwhile a speech perceptor is trained to extract the temporal acoustic feature and update the memory online when a salient speech is given. Then, the learned memory is utilized to interact with the mixture input to attend and filter the target frequency out from the mixture stream. Finally, the network is trained to minimize the reconstruction error of the attended speech. We evaluate the proposed approach on WSJ0 and THCHS-30 datasets and the experimental results demonstrate that our approach successfully conducts two auditory selection tasks: the top-down task-specific attention (e.g. to follow a conversation with friend) and the bottom-up stimulus-driven attention (e.g. be attracted by a salient speech). Compared with deep clustering based methods, our method conducts competitive advantages especially in a real noise environment (e.g. street junction). Our code is available at https://github.com/jacoxu/ASAM.
DroidVecDeep: Android Malware Detection Based on Word2Vec and Deep Belief Network

With the proliferation of the Android malicious applications, malware becomes more capable of hiding or confusing its malicious intent through the use of code obfuscation, which has signiﬁcantly weaken the effectivenes s of the conventional defense mechanisms. Therefore, in order to effectively detect unknown malicious applications on the Android platform, we propose DroidVecDeep , an Android malware detection method using deep learning technique. First, we extract various features and rank them using Mean Decrease Impurity. Second, we transform the features into compact vectors based on word2vec. Finally, we train the classifier based on deep learning model. A comprehensive experimental study on a real sample collection was performed to compare various malware detection approaches. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms other Android malware detection techniques.
Third nerve palsy following carotid artery dissection and posterior cerebral artery thrombectomy: Case report and review of the literature

Background: Common causes of oculomotor nerve palsy are diabetes, aneurysmal compression, and uncal herniation. A lesser-known cause of third nerve dysfunction is ischemia, often due to carotid artery dissection. Case Description: An 80-year-old man presented with an acute ischemic stroke with a National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score of >20 from a high cervical internal carotid artery (ICA) dissection and a tandem ICA terminus embolic occlusion with extension of clot into the adjacent fetal posterior cerebral artery (PCA). We used a stentriever to perform selective PCA thrombectomy, with immediate postthrombectomy development of ipsilateral anisocoria. The anisocoria progressed into complete oculomotor nerve palsy over 8 h after the procedure. Conclusions: The clinical course described in this case is consistent with injury to the third nerve due to mechanical injury or occlusion of perforator supply to the nerve during thrombectomy. Oculomotor nerve palsy is a rare but known complication after ischemia; however, to our knowledge, this is the first case after thrombectomy for a PCA embolus.
Preventive effects of L-glutamine on gestational fructose-induced cardiac hypertrophy: Involvement of pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase-4.

Gestational fructose exposure (GFE) has detrimental health consequences on both the maternal and fetus or offspring in the early or later life, contributing to epidemic rise in cardiometabolic syndrome including cardiac events. L-glutamine has been shown to mitigate cardiac metabolic stress. However, the effect of L-glutamine (GLN) on cardiac hypertrophy induced by gestational fructose exposure is not known. We therefore hypothesized that L-glutamine would prevent gestational fructose-induced cardiac hypertrophy, possibly by suppression of pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase-4 (PDK-4). Pregnant Wistar rats were allotted into the Control, GLN, GFE and GFE plus GLN groups (6rats in each group). The groups received distilled water (vehicle, p.o), 1g/kg body weight L-glutamine (p.o), 10% Fructose (w/v) and 10% Fructose (w/v) plus 1g/kg L-glutamine (p.o) respectively, daily for 19 days. Data from this study showed that gestational fructose-enriched drink caused cardiac hypertrophy with correspondent body weight gain, glucose dysregulation, increased cardiac PDK-4, triglyceride, glycogen, lactate and uric acid production. On the other hand, defective glutathione-dependent antioxidant barrier was also observed in pregnant rats taking fructose-enriched drink. However, the GFE-induced cardiac hypertrophy and its correlates were attenuated by L-glutamine. The present results demonstrate that gestational fructose-enriched drink induces cardiac hypertrophy that is accompanied by increased PDK-4. The findings also suggest that the inhibitory effect of L-glutamine on PDK-4 prevents the development of cardiac hypertrophy, thereby implying that PDK-4 may be a potential novel therapeutic intervention for cardiac hypertrophy particularly in pregnancy.
Music therapy can lower the heart rates of severely sick children

Paediatric recipients of haematopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCT) are at increased risk of developing post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and there is a need to identify interventions that can alleviate stress in this group. The aim of this study was to examine the previously unexplored effect of music therapy on children undergoing HSCT, by analysing physiological parameters and comparing them with a control group.
Nogo-B Receptor Directs Mitochondria-Associated Membranes to Regulate Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Proliferation

Mitochondria-associated membranes (MAM) are a well-recognized contact link between the mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum that affects mitochondrial biology and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) proliferation via the regulation of mitochondrial Ca2+(Ca2+m) influx. Nogo-B receptor (NgBR) plays a vital role in proliferation, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and chemoresistance of some tumors. Recent studies have revealed that downregulation of NgBR, which stimulates the proliferation of VSMCs, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Here, we investigated the role of NgBR in MAM and VSMC proliferation. We analyzed the expression of NgBR in pulmonary arteries using a rat model of hypoxic pulmonary hypertension (HPH), in which rats were subjected to normoxic recovery after hypoxia. VSMCs exposed to hypoxia and renormoxia were used to assess the alterations in NgBR expression in vitro. The effect of NgBR downregulation and overexpression on VSMC proliferation was explored. The results revealed that NgBR expression was negatively related with VSMCs proliferation. Then, MAM formation and the phosphorylation of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor type 3 (IP3R3) was detected. We found that knockdown of NgBR resulted in MAM disruption and augmented the phosphorylation of IP3R3 through pAkt, accompanied by mitochondrial dysfunction including decreased Ca2+m, respiration and mitochondrial superoxide, increased mitochondrial membrane potential and HIF-1α nuclear localization, which were determined by confocal microscopy and Seahorse XF-96 analyzer. By contrast, NgBR overexpression attenuated IP3R3 phosphorylation and HIF-1α nuclear localization under hypoxia. These results reveal that dysregulation of NgBR promotes VSMC proliferation via MAM disruption and increased IP3R3 phosphorylation, which contribute to the decrease of Ca2+m and mitochondrial impairment.
Diagnostic efficacy of smear plus liquid-based cytology for EUS-FNA of solid pancreatic lesions

Abstract Liquid-based cytology (LBC) is a thin-layer slide preparation procedure that was developed to overcome the cell crowding and contamination associated with smear cytology (SC). The present study compared diagnostic efficacy between SC alone and SC combined with LBC (SLBC) using endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) samples of pancreatic lesions. We retrospectively analyzed data derived from 311 consecutive patients. Specimens obtained via EUS-FNA from 179 patients between December 2011 and May 2016 were analyzed by SC, and those obtained from 132 patients between June 2016 and October 2017 were analyzed by SLBC. The 2 groups were compared in terms of adequate sample rate, diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity using propensity score matching. SC and SLBC were compared using propensity score-matching in 204 patients (n = 102 per group). The adequate sample rate did not differ significantly between SLBC (100%) and SC (99.0%, P = 1). Diagnostic sensitivity, negative predictive value and accuracy were better for SLBC than for SC in terms of cytological (93.2% vs 67.4%, 68.4% vs 23.1%, and 94.1% vs 69.6%, P < .01 each, respectively) and cytohistological (95.5% vs 81.5%, 76.5% vs 34.6%, and 96.1% vs 82.4%, P < .01, P = .02, and P < .01, respectively) analyses. SLBC improves the diagnostic efficacy of EUS-FNA for pancreatic lesions compared to LBC.
Compare the efficacy of acupuncture with drugs in the treatment of Bell's palsy

Background: Bell's palsy or idiopathic facial paralysis is an acute facial paralysis caused by the inflammation of facial nerve. Several previous studies showed that acupuncture was beneficial in the treatment of facial paralysis. However, its effectiveness is still controversial compared with drug therapy. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to assess the efficacy of acupuncture for Bell's palsy. Methods: This is a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical studies among patients with Bell's palsy. We did a systematic literature search in PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials to identify studies comparing the efficacy of acupuncture and drug treatment in treating facial paralysis. The search was last updated on July 2018. Results: The study included 11 randomized controlled trials with an overall sample of 1258 individuals. Acupuncture treatment was associated with an increased cure rate [relative risk (RR) = 1.77, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.41–2.21], with significant heterogeneity in the pooled results (I2 = 67%, P = .0008). There was a significant difference in total effective rate in acupuncture and drug treatment for Bell's palsy (RR = 1.18,95% CI: 1.07–1.31), with substantial heterogeneity (I2 = 90%, P < .00001). Conclusion: Although there was not enough evidence to prove its safety, acupuncture seems to be an effective therapy for Bell's palsy. Results of the present meta-analysis showed that acupuncture was associated with increased cure rate and total effective rate of the treatment of Bell's palsy in comparison with drugs. However, the results should be interpreted cautiously, because of the poor quality and heterogeneity of the included studies. In the future, more and more high quality randomized controlled trials (RCT) are needed to prove the safety and effectiveness of acupuncture.
Predicting seizures in pregnant women with epilepsy: Development and external validation of a prognostic model

Background Seizures are the main cause of maternal death in women with epilepsy, but there are no tools for predicting seizures in pregnancy. We set out to develop and validate a prognostic model, using information collected during the antenatal booking visit, to predict seizure risk at any time in pregnancy and until 6 weeks postpartum in women with epilepsy on antiepileptic drugs. Methods and findings We used datasets of a prospective cohort study (EMPiRE) of 527 pregnant women with epilepsy on medication recruited from 50 hospitals in the UK (4 November 2011–17 August 2014). The model development cohort comprised 399 women whose antiepileptic drug doses were adjusted based on clinical features only; the validation cohort comprised 128 women whose drug dose adjustments were informed by serum drug levels. The outcome was epileptic (non-eclamptic) seizure captured using diary records. We fitted the model using LASSO (least absolute shrinkage and selection operator) regression, and reported the performance using C-statistic (scale 0–1, values > 0.5 show discrimination) and calibration slope (scale 0–1, values near 1 show accuracy) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). We determined the net benefit (a weighted sum of true positive and false positive classifications) of using the model, with various probability thresholds, to aid clinicians in making individualised decisions regarding, for example, referral to tertiary care, frequency and intensity of monitoring, and changes in antiepileptic medication. Seizures occurred in 183 women (46%, 183/399) in the model development cohort and in 57 women (45%, 57/128) in the validation cohort. The model included age at first seizure, baseline seizure classification, history of mental health disorder or learning difficulty, occurrence of tonic-clonic and non-tonic-clonic seizures in the 3 months before pregnancy, previous admission to hospital for seizures during pregnancy, and baseline dose of lamotrigine and levetiracetam. The C-statistic was 0.79 (95% CI 0.75, 0.84). On external validation, the model showed good performance (C-statistic 0.76, 95% CI 0.66, 0.85; calibration slope 0.93, 95% CI 0.44, 1.41) but with imprecise estimates. The EMPiRE model showed the highest net proportional benefit for predicted probability thresholds between 12% and 99%. Limitations of this study include the varied gestational ages of women at recruitment, retrospective patient recall of seizure history, potential variations in seizure classification, the small number of events in the validation cohort, and the clinical utility restricted to decision-making thresholds above 12%. The model findings may not be generalisable to low- and middle-income countries, or when information on all predictors is not available. Conclusions The EMPiRE model showed good performance in predicting the risk of seizures in pregnant women with epilepsy who are prescribed antiepileptic drugs. Integration of the tool within the antenatal booking visit, deployed as a simple nomogram, can help to optimise care in women with epilepsy.
Interleukin-17F Has Anti-Tumor Effects in Oral Tongue Cancer

We recently showed that extracellular interleukin-17F (IL-17F) correlates with better disease-specific survival in oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC) patients. However, the underlying mechanisms of such effect remain obscure. Here, we used qRT-PCR to assess the expression of IL-17F and its receptors (IL-17RA and IL-17RC) in two OTSCC cell lines (HSC-3 and SCC-25) and in normal human oral keratinocytes (HOKs). IL-17F effects on cancer cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were studied using a live-imaging IncuCyte system, and a Caspase-3/7 reagent was used for testing apoptosis. 3D tumor spheroids were utilized to assess the impact of IL-17F on invasion with or without cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). Tube-formation assays were used to examine the effects of IL-17F on angiogenesis using human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). OTSCC cells express low levels of IL-17F, IL-17RA, and IL-17RC mRNA compared with HOKs. IL-17F inhibited cell proliferation and random migration of highly invasive HSC-3 cells. CAFs promoted OTSCC invasion in tumor spheroids, whereas IL-17F eliminated such effect. IL-17F suppressed HUVEC tube formation in a dose-dependent manner. Collectively, we suggest that IL-17F counteracts the pro-tumorigenic activity in OTSCC. Due to its downregulation in tumor cells and inhibitory activity in in vitro cancer models, targeting IL-17F or its regulatory pathways could lead to promising immunotherapeutic strategies against OTSCC.
Differences in Hyperactivity and Inattention between Adolescents Participating and Non-Participating in A National Polish After-School Athletics Program

Among the hyperactivity and inattention components, being predictors of the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) phenotype, there are restlessness, fidgeting, distractibility, lack of reflectiveness and lack of attention components. So far, it was observed that they may be associated with an excessive body mass in children. The aim of the study was to analyze differences of the hyperactivity and inattention between adolescents participating and non-participating in a national Polish after-school athletics program (12–13 years) in a case-control sample. The #goathletics study was conducted among a group of 1014 adolescents—507 representatives for the nationwide physical activity program “Athletics for All” and 507 pair-matched non-participating ones. Assessment of the hyperactivity and inattention was based on a Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire—Hyperactivity-Inattention subscale (SDQ-HI). It was observed, that in spite of the fact, that the general frequency of hyperactivity and inattention did not differ between groups, the frequency of specific components differed. Especially in the case of girls, for adolescents participating in a national Polish after-school athletics program, the positive attention component was more often observed (39.7%) than for adolescents non-participating (30.0%). It may be concluded, that hyperactivity and inattention components may be less common in the case of active adolescents, than in the case of others.
Litomosoides sp. (Filarioidea: Onchocercidae) Infection in Frugivorous Bats (Artibeus spp.): Pathological Features, Molecular Evidence, and Prevalence

Bats can host pathogenic organisms such as viruses and fungi, but little is known about the pathogenicity of their parasites. Hemoparasites are frequently recorded in Neotropical bats, particularly Litomosoides (Filarioidea: Onchocercidae), but their pathogenic effect on bats is scarcely known. In this work, Litomosoides microfilariae were identified in four (8%) out of 51 sampled frugivorous bats belonging to three different species: Artibeus aztecus, Artibeus jamaicensis, and Artibeus lituratus, which are located in Yautepec, Morelos, Mexico. Two infected animals showed weakness, tachypnoea, and ecchymosis on their wings. In these animals, histopathology revealed microfilariae in the blood vessels of the lung, liver, and spleen. Both animals presented exudative pneumonia with congestion and concomitant edema, in addition to moderate arterial hypertrophy. Parasitemia was quantified in blood samples of the infected animals (>3000 parasites/mL). Phylogenetic analysis placed the obtained sequence inside the Litomosoides genus, reaching over 98% identity to the related species. Due to the relevance of bats in ecosystems, any new record of their parasite repertoire offers noteworthy insights into our understanding of the ecology and impact of new parasite species in bats.
Dementia care in low and middle-income countries.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Recent reports from low and middle-income countries (LMICs) on the care of person with dementia (PWD). RECENT FINDINGS Detection of PWDs in the community in LMICs is still problematic because of inappropriate screening questionnaires. Early diagnosis of dementia is also handicapped by lack of awareness, knowledge and stigma. The family is the main caregiver in LMICs and there is a paucity of community dementia services. SUMMARY In LMICs, the burden of care of PWDs rests on the family and there is an urgent need to improve and expand community services. The digital media could be a platform for e-learning and assessment of cognitive impairment. Innovative ideas to link specialist care with primary care doctors and nongovernmental organisations will be beneficial.
Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Stress Responses in Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients display widespread mitochondrial defects. Brain hypometabolism occurs alongside mitochondrial defects, and correlates well with cognitive decline. Numerous theories attempt to explain AD mitochondrial dysfunction. Groups propose AD mitochondrial defects stem from: (1) mitochondrial-nuclear DNA interactions/variations; (2) amyloid and neurofibrillary tangle interactions with mitochondria, and (3) mitochondrial quality control defects and oxidative damage. Cells respond to mitochondrial dysfunction through numerous retrograde responses including the Integrated Stress Response (ISR) involving eukaryotic initiation factor 2α (eIF2α), activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4) and C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP). AD brains activate the ISR and we hypothesize mitochondrial defects may contribute to ISR activation. Here we review current recognized contributions of the mitochondria to AD, with an emphasis on their potential contribution to brain stress responses.
Divergent Approaches to Virulence in C. albicans and C. glabrata: Two Sides of the Same Coin

Candida albicans and Candida glabrata are the two most prevalent etiologic agents of candidiasis worldwide. Although both are recognized as pathogenic, their choice of virulence traits is highly divergent. Indeed, it appears that these different approaches to fungal virulence may be equally successful in causing human candidiasis. In this review, the virulence mechanisms employed by C. albicans and C. glabrata are analyzed, with emphasis on the differences between the two systems. Pathogenesis features considered in this paper include dimorphic growth, secreted enzymes and signaling molecules, and stress resistance mechanisms. The consequences of these traits in tissue invasion, biofilm formation, immune system evasion, and macrophage escape, in a species dependent manner, are discussed. This review highlights the observation that C. albicans and C. glabrata follow different paths leading to a similar outcome. It also highlights the lack of knowledge on some of the specific mechanisms underlying C. glabrata pathogenesis, which deserve future scrutiny.