Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Astaxanthin in Exercise Metabolism, Performance and Recovery: A Review

During periods of heavy exercise training and competition, lipid, protein, and nucleic molecules can become damaged due to an overproduction of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) within the exercising organism. As antioxidants can prevent and delay cellular oxidative damage through removing, deactivating, and preventing the formation of RONS, supplementation with exogenous antioxidant compounds has become a commercialized nutritional strategy commonly adopted by recreationally active individuals and athletes. The following review is written as a critical appraisal of the current literature surrounding astaxanthin and its potential application as a dietary supplement in exercising humans. Astaxanthin is a lipid-soluble antioxidant carotenoid available to supplement through the intake of Haematococcus pluvialis-derived antioxidant products. Based upon in vitro and in vivo research conducted in mice exercise models, evidence would suggest that astaxanthin supplementation could potentially improve indices of exercise metabolism, performance, and recovery because of its potent antioxidant capacity. In exercising humans, however, these observations have yet to be consistently realized, with equivocal data reported. Implicated, in part, by the scarcity of well-controlled, scientifically rigorous research, future investigation is necessary to enable a more robust conclusion in regard to the efficacy of astaxanthin supplementation and its potential role in substrate utilization, endurance performance, and acute recovery in exercising humans.
Obesity and psychotic disorders: uncovering common mechanisms through metabolomics

Primary obesity and psychotic disorders are similar with respect to the associated changes in energy balance and co-morbidities, including metabolic syndrome. Such similarities do not necessarily demonstrate causal links, but instead suggest that specific causes of and metabolic disturbances associated with obesity play a pathogenic role in the development of co-morbid disorders, potentially even before obesity develops. Metabolomics – the systematic study of metabolites, which are small molecules generated by the process of metabolism – has been important in elucidating the pathways underlying obesity-associated co-morbidities. This review covers how recent metabolomic studies have advanced biomarker discovery and the elucidation of mechanisms underlying obesity and its co-morbidities, with a specific focus on metabolic syndrome and psychotic disorders. The importance of identifying metabolic markers of disease-associated intermediate phenotypes – traits modulated but not encoded by the DNA sequence – is emphasized. Such markers would be applicable as diagnostic tools in a personalized healthcare setting and might also open up novel therapeutic avenues.
The dual-sparse topic model: mining focused topics and focused terms in short text

Topic modeling has been proved to be an effective method for exploratory text mining. It is a common assumption of most topic models that a document is generated from a mixture of topics. In real-world scenarios, individual documents usually concentrate on several salient topics instead of covering a wide variety of topics. A real topic also adopts a narrow range of terms instead of a wide coverage of the vocabulary. Understanding this sparsity of information is especially important for analyzing user-generated Web content and social media, which are featured as extremely short posts and condensed discussions. In this paper, we propose a dual-sparse topic model that addresses the sparsity in both the topic mixtures and the word usage. By applying a "Spike and Slab" prior to decouple the sparsity and smoothness of the document-topic and topic-word distributions, we allow individual documents to select a few focused topics and a topic to select focused terms, respectively. Experiments on different genres of large corpora demonstrate that the dual-sparse topic model outperforms both classical topic models and existing sparsity-enhanced topic models. This improvement is especially notable on collections of short documents.
Temporally and Genetically Discrete Periods of Wheat Sensitivity to High Temperature

Successive single day transfers of pot-grown wheat to high temperature (35/30°C day/night) replicated controlled environments, from the second node detectable to the milky-ripe growth stages, provides the strongest available evidence that the fertility of wheat can be highly vulnerable to heat stress during two discrete peak periods of susceptibility: early booting [decimal growth stage (GS) 41–45] and early anthesis (GS 61–65). A double Gaussian fitted simultaneously to grain number and weight data from two contrasting elite lines (Renesansa, listed in Serbia, Ppd-D1a, Rht8; Savannah, listed in UK, Ppd-D1b, Rht-D1b) identified peak periods of main stem susceptibility centered on 3 (s.e. = 0.82) and 18 (s.e. = 0.55) days (mean daily temperature = 14.3°C) pre-GS 65 for both cultivars. Severity of effect depended on genotype, growth stage and their interaction: grain set relative to that achieved at 20/15°C dropped below 80% for Savannah at booting and Renesansa at anthesis. Savannah was relatively tolerant to heat stress at anthesis. A further experiment including 62 lines of the mapping, doubled-haploid progeny of Renesansa × Savannah found tolerance at anthesis to be associated with Ppd-D1b, Rht-D1b, and a QTL from Renesansa on chromosome 2A. None of the relevant markers were associated with tolerance during booting. Rht8 was never associated with heat stress tolerance, a lack of effect confirmed in a further experiment where Rht8 was included in a comparison of near isogenic lines in a cv. Paragon background. Some compensatory increases in mean grain weight were observed, but only when stress was applied during booting and only where Ppd-D1a was absent.
Study on Thermal Environment of Traditional Architecture in Tropic Climate

Haikou is located in tropic climates in China. The outdoor environment in summer is too harsh to stay here. However, the traditional architecture, namely arcade, still survives in the severe climate. Its indoor and outdoor parameters of arcade are tested in field to research its thermal environments. The heat stress index is used to study the adaptability mechanism of arcade and local human to hot and humid environment. It proves that the metabolic rate and wind velocity are main and adjustable factors to reduce heat stress in such wretched weather. On the condition of metabolic rate below 60met and wind speed above 0.7m/s, the healthy adult can work normally in the arcade or on the corridor. So the human in tropic area should keep their metabolic rate and period staying out in the summer daytime as less as possible, and the architects should make full use of the local wind speed to organize natural ventilation.
Immunologic and virologic evaluation after influenza vaccination of HIV‐1‐infected patients

Objective: The present study was designed to determine the effect of immune activation, achieved by influenza vaccination, on plasma HIV RNA levels and immunological parameters including CD4 cell levels, antigen‐stimulated T‐cell function and apoptotic death of peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Design and methods: Thirty‐four HIV‐infected individuals and nine uninfected controls were immunized with influenza vaccine and blood was collected at weeks 0, 2, 4 and 16. Plasma was isolated and used for HIV RNA and influenza‐specific antibody quantifications. CD4 cell counts, activation and maturation markers of T‐lymphocyte subsets were determined by flow cytometry. In vitro T‐helper responses, spontaneous‐ and activation‐induced cell death assays were also performed. Results: Influenza‐specific humoral and cellular immune responses correlated with CD4 count. Only in patients with CD4 counts > 300 × 106/l there was a modest increase in T‐cell responses to influenza virus, which was less than control subjects, observed after vaccination. Immunization had no significant effect on CD4 counts or plasma viral levels in the HIV‐positive patients. Baseline apoptosis inversely correlated with CD4 counts and directly correlated with viral load. Activation‐induced apoptosis did not change appreciably after vaccination and spontaneous apoptosis increased only in the < 300 CD4 group. Conclusion: These results indicate that immune stimulation resulting from influenza vaccination did not significantly change the levels of plasma virus, CD4 cell counts, or activation‐induced apoptosis in HIV‐infected individuals, although an increase in the T‐cell response to influenza and spontaneous apoptosis was observed in the > 300 and < 300 CD4 groups, respectively.
A High-Resolution Spectrum of the Highly Magnified Bulge G Dwarf MOA-2006-BLG-099S

We analyze a high-resolution spectrum of a microlensed G dwarf in the Galactic bulge, acquired when the star was magnified by a factor of 110. We measure a spectroscopic temperature, derived from the wings of the Balmer lines, that is consistent with the photometric temperature, derived using the color determined by standard microlensing techniques. We measure [ Fe/H ] = 0.36 ± 0.18, which places this star at the upper end of the bulge giant metallicity distribution. In particular, this star is more metal-rich than any bulge M giant with high-resolution abundances. We find that the abundance ratios of α and iron-peak elements are similar to those of bulge giants with the same metallicity. For the first time, we measure the abundances of K and Zn for a star in the bulge. The [K/Mg] ratio is similar to the value measured in the halo and the disk, suggesting that K production closely tracks α production. The [Cu/Fe] and [Zn/Fe] ratios support the theory that those elements are produced in Type II SNe, rather than Type Ia SNe. We also measured the first C and N abundances in the bulge that have not been affected by first dredge-up. The [C/Fe] and [N/Fe] ratios are close to solar, in agreement with the hypothesis that giants experience only canonical mixing.
West Nile Virus Inhibits the Signal Transduction Pathway of Alpha Interferon

ABSTRACT West Nile virus (WNV) is a human pathogen that can cause neurological disorders, including meningoencephalitis. Experiments with mice and mammalian cell cultures revealed that WNV exhibited resistance to the innate immune program induced by alpha interferon (IFN-α). We have investigated the nature of this inhibition and have found that WNV replication inhibited the activation of many known IFN-inducible genes, because it prevented the phosphorylation and activation of the Janus kinases JAK1 and Tyk2. As a consequence, activation of the transcription factors STAT1 and STAT2 did not occur in WNV-infected cells. Moreover, we demonstrated that the viral nonstructural proteins are responsible for this effect. Thus, our results provided an explanation for the observed resistance of WNV to IFN-α in cells of vertebrate origin.
Transcriptome Analysis of Brassica rapa Near-Isogenic Lines Carrying Clubroot-Resistant and –Susceptible Alleles in Response to Plasmodiophora brassicae during Early Infection

Although Plasmodiophora brassicae is one of the most common pathogens worldwide, the causal agent of clubroot disease in Brassica crops, resistance mechanisms to it are still only poorly understood. To study the early defense response induced by P. brassicae infection, a global transcriptome profiling of the roots of two near-isogenic lines (NILs) of clubroot-resistant (CR BJN3-2) and clubroot-susceptible (BJN3-2) Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa) was performed by RNA-seq. Among the 42,730 unique genes mapped to the reference genome of B. rapa, 1875, and 2103 genes were found to be up- and down-regulated between CR BJN3-2 and BJN3-2, respectively, at 0, 12, 72, and 96 h after inoculation (hai). Functional annotation showed that most of the differently expressed genes are involved in metabolism, transport, signal transduction, and defense. Of the genes assigned to plant-pathogen interactions, 151 showed different expression patterns between two NILs, including genes associated with pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and effectors recognition, calcium ion influx, hormone signaling, pathogenesis-related (PR) genes, transcription factors, and cell wall modification. In particular, the expression level of effector receptors (resistance proteins), PR genes involved in salicylic acid (SA) signaling pathway, were higher in clubroot-resistant NIL, while half of the PAMP receptors were suppressed in CR BJN3-2. This suggests that there was a more robust effector-triggered immunity (ETI) response in CR BJN3-2 and that SA signaling was important to clubroot resistance. The dataset generated by our transcriptome profiling may prove invaluable for further exploration of the different responses to P. brassicae between clubroot-resistant and clubroot-susceptible genotypes, and it will strongly contribute to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of resistance genes of B. rapa against P. brassicae infection.
Solitaire FR thrombectomy system: immediate results in 56 consecutive acute ischemic stroke patients

Background and purpose Prompt recanalization of cerebral arteries in patients diagnosed with acute ischemic stroke is known to be associated with a better clinical outcome. The aim of this study was to present our initial experience regarding the efficacy and safety of the Solitaire FR as a revascularization device. Methods 56 consecutive patients presenting with acute ischemic stroke underwent intra-arterial therapy using the Solitaire FR revascularization device. Immediate angiographic results and early clinical outcomes are presented. Results Solitaire FR was successful in achieving recanalization in 50 out of 56 patients (89%) with a final Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction score ≥2b. Five out of 56 patients had procedure related complications: two asymptomatic subarachnoid hemorrhages, two thromboembolic events and one symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (PH2). Thirty patients (53.5%) demonstrated at discharge a National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale Score of ≤1 or an improvement of at least 10 points from baseline, and 26 patients (46%) had a modified Rankin Score ≤2. Conclusions Solitaire FR is successful in achieving a high rate of arterial recanalization with a low complication rate. The Solitaire FR is a promising thrombectomy tool with a high degree of effectiveness, safety and ease of use.
Landau-Ginzburg description of boundary critical phenomena in two dimensions

The Virasoro minimal models with boundary are described in the Landau-Ginzburg theory by introducing a boundary potential, function of the boundary field value. The ground state field configurations become non-trivial and are found to obey the soliton equations. The conformal invariant boundary conditions are characterized by the reparametrization-invariant data of the boundary potential, that are the number and degeneracies of the stationary points. The boundary renormalization group flows are obtained by varying the boundary potential while keeping the bulk critical: they satisfy new selection rules and correspond to real deformations of the Arnold simple singularities of Ak type. The description of conformal boundary conditions in terms of boundary potential and associated ground state solitons is extended to the N = 2 supersymmetric case, finding agreement with the analysis of A-type boundaries by Hori, Iqbal and Vafa.
Application of hyaluronic acid in the healing of non-experimental open wounds: A pilot study on 12 wounds in 10 client-owned dogs

Aim: Veterinarians have frequently to deal with wounds to the skin, subcutis, and underlying muscle. The aim was to explore the application of hyaluronic acid (HA)-containing dressing on open skin wounds in dogs. The progress of healing was assessed by wound area reduction and two scoring scales applied in human medicine. Materials and Methods: Ten client-owned dogs with 12 cutaneous open wounds healed by the second intention were included. All wounds were treated using available in commerce HA-containing wound dressing from admission to complete re-epithelialization. At every clinical examination, wound area and scale scoring assessments were performed. Results: After debridement, an increased wound size was obtained while an improvement was determined by both grading systems. The median numbers of return to the clinic for bandage change were 5 times. The median time to complete wound healing was 34.5 days. The mean wound area at day 7, 14, 21, and 28 were, respectively, 90.4%, 47.7%, 22.4%, and 14.8% of the original size (for linear measurement) and 95.5%, 54.4%, 23.10%, and 14.8% of the original size (for software measurement). Regarding wound healing assessment tools, the agreement between two operators was considered high for both scales. Conclusions: HA-containing dressing may be a possible wound treatment for cutaneous open wounds in dogs. The assessment of wound quality using scale scoring system could be useful especially in the 1st week and to direct clinical decision-making process.
Are the Products of Statistical Learning Abstract or Stimulus-Specific?

Learners can segment potential lexical units from syllable streams when statistically variable transitional probabilities between adjacent syllables are the only cues to word boundaries. Here we examine the nature of the representations that result from statistical learning by assessing learners’ ability to generalize across acoustically different stimuli. In three experiments, we compare two possibilities: that the products of statistical segmentation processes are abstract and generalizable representations, or, alternatively, that products of statistical learning are stimulus-bound and restricted to perceptually similar instances. In Experiment 1, learners segmented units from statistically predictable streams, and recognized these units when they were acoustically transformed by temporal reversals. In Experiment 2, learners were able to segment units from temporally reversed syllable streams, but were only able to generalize in conditions of mild acoustic transformation. In Experiment 3, learners were able to recognize statistically segmented units after a voice change but were unable to do so when the novel voice was mildly distorted. Together these results suggest that representations that result from statistical learning can be abstracted to some degree, but not in all listening conditions.
Structure of oxyntic cell membranes during conditions of rest and secretion of HCl as revealed by freeze‐fracture

The density and distribution of membrane associated particles of piglet oxyntic cell tubulovesicular and apical surface membranes were investigated during resting (nonsecreting) and secreting conditions. For the resting oxyntic cell, the abundant tubulovesicles showed a highly asymmetrical distribution of particles between fracture faces, with the P face heavily studded by particles and the E face particle deficient. The apical surface, however, had a relatively symmetrical distribution of particles on both membrane fracture faces. In contrast to the resting state, the apical surface of the stimulated oxyntic cell showed a marked asymmetry of membrane particles; the P face had a high density of particles, while there was a scarcity of particles on the E face. The observed changes in apical surface membrane particle distribution support the hypothesis that, following the initiation of acid secretion, the tubulovesicles fuse with and become an integral part of the apical surface. Thus, the apical membrane P face of the stimulated cell is enriched and the E face is diluted by the incorporation of tubulovesicular membranes.
Aircraft Multidisciplinary Design Optimization using Design of Experiments Theory and Response Surface Modeling Methods

a dissertation submitted to the faculty of virginia polytechnic institute and state university in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of doctor of philosophy in Aerospace Engineering Design engineers often employ numerical optimization techniques to assist in the evaluation and comparison of new aircraft configurations. While the use of numerical optimization methods is largely successful, the presence of numerical noise in realistic engineering optimization problems often inhibits the use of many gradient-based optimization techniques. Numerical noise causes inaccurate gradient calculations which in turn slows or prevents convergence during optimization. The problems created by numerical noise are particularly acute in aircraft design applications where a single aerodynamic or structural analysis of a realistic aircraft configuration may require tens of CPU hours on a supercomputer. The computational expense of the analyses coupled with the convergence difficulties created by numerical noise are significant obstacles to performing aircraft multidisciplinary design optimization. To address these issues, a procedure has been developed to create two types of noise-free mathematical models for use in aircraft optimization studies. These two methods use elements of statistical analysis and the overall procedure for using the methods is made computationally affordable by the application of parallel computing techniques. The first modeling method, which has been the primary focus of this work, employs classical statistical techniques in response surface modeling and least squares surface fitting to yield polynomial approximation models. The second method, in which only a preliminary investigation has been performed, uses Bayesian statistics and an ii adaptation of the Kriging process in Geostatistics to create exponential function-based interpolating models. The particular application of this research involves modeling the subsonic and supersonic aerodynamic performance of high-speed civil transport (HSCT) aircraft configurations. The aerodynamic models created using the two methods outlined above are employed in HSCT optimization studies so that the detrimental effects of numerical noise are reduced or eliminated during optimization. Results from sample HSCT optimization studies involving five and ten variables are presented here to demonstrate the utility of the two modeling methods. iii Acknowledgments I was fortunate to have a unique educational experience in that I participated in a research project where a group of graduate students and faculty members met weekly to discuss the progress and difficulties of their respective portions of the project. This environment fostered much interaction both among the students, and between each student and the various faculty members. This experience has done …
A Dynamic Systems Model of Infant Attachment

Attachment, or the emotional tie between an infant and its primary caregiver, has been modeled as a homeostatic process by Bowlby's (Attachment and Loss, 1969; Anxiety and Depression, 1973; Loss: Sadness and Depression, 1980). Evidence from neurophysiology has grounded such mechanism of infant attachment to the dynamic interplay between an opioid-based proximity-seeking mechanism and an NE-based arousal system that are regulated by external stimuli (interaction with primary caregiver and the environment). Here, we model such attachment mechanism and its dynamic regulation by a coupled system of ordinary differential equations. We simulated the characteristic patterns of infant behaviors in the strange situation procedure, a common instrument for assessing the quality of attachment outcomes (¿types¿) for infants at about one year of age. We also manipulated the parameters of our model to account for neurochemical adaptation, and to allow for caregiver style (such as responsiveness and other factors) and temperamental factor (such as reactivity and readiness in self-regulation) to be incorporated into the homeostatic regulation model of attachment dynamics. Principle component analysis revealed the characteristic regions in the parameter space that correspond to secure, anxious, and avoidant attachment typology. Implications from this kind of approach are discussed.