Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Connecting caddisworm silk structure and mechanical properties: combined infrared spectroscopy and mechanical analysis

The underwater silk of an aquatic casemaking caddisfly larvae (Hesperophylax occidentalis) is viscoelastic, and displays distinct yield behaviour, large strain cycle hysteresis and near complete recovery of its initial strength and stiffness when unloaded. Yield followed by a stress plateau has been attributed to sequential rupture of serial Ca2+-cross-linked phosphoserine (pS) β-domains. Spontaneous recovery has been attributed to refolding of the Ca2+/pS domains powered by an elastic network. In this study, native Ca2+ ions were exchanged with other metal ions, followed by combined mechanical and FTIR analysis to probe the contribution of pS/metal ion complexes to silk mechanical properties. After exchange of Ca2+ with Na+, the fibres are soft elastomers and the infrared spectra are consistent with Cv3 symmetry of the – groups. Multivalent metal ions decreased the – symmetry and the symmetric stretching modes (vs) split in a manner characteristic of ordered phosphate compounds, such as phosphate minerals and lamellar bilayers of phosphatidic acid lipids. Integrated intensities of the vs bands, indicative of the metal ion's effect on transition dipole moment of the P–O bonds, and thereby the strength of the phosphate metal complex, increased in the order: Na+ < Mg2+ < Sr2+ < Ba2+ < Ca2+ < Eu3+ < La3+ < Zn2+ < Fe2+. With a subset of the metal ion series, the initial stiffness and yield stress of metal ion-exchanged fibres increased in the same order: establishing the link between phosphate transition dipole moments and silk fibre strength.
Cognitive decline before the age of 50 can be detected with sensitive cognitive measures.

BACKGROUND To define the profile of age-related differences in cognition in healthy middle-aged adults in order to identify the most sensitive measures of early cognitive decline. To study whether these differences precede cognitive decline in the elderly. METHOD 141 cognitively normal participants (101 middle-aged adults with age 40-50±2; and 40 elderly individuals with age 65±2) were assessed with a comprehensive neuropsychological protocol covering processing speed, attention, executive functions, verbal and visual episodic memory, procedural memory, visuoconstructive, visuoperceptive and visuospatial functions, and language. RESULTS Age-related differences were detected before the age of 50 in cognitive reaction time, executive control, initial learning in verbal episodic memory, complex visuoconstructive and visuospatial functions, and lexical access. These differences preceded more extensive cognitive decline present at the age of 65. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest subtle executive dysfunction before the age of 50, together with slowing in processing speed later on in the transition to old age. This profile could be explained by changes in the frontal lobe and its connections, starting at middle-age. These findings, together with future research, may be important for the diagnosis, prognosis, and prevention of pathological aging at a very early level.
The anti-inflammatory agent bindarit inhibits neointima formation in both rats and hyperlipidaemic mice

Aims Bindarit is an original compound with peculiar anti-inflammatory activity due to a selective inhibition of a subfamily of inflammatory chemokines, including the monocyte chemotactic proteins MCP-1/CCL2, MCP-3/CCL7, and MCP-2/CCL8. In this study, we investigated the effect of bindarit on neointima formation using two animal models of arterial injury: rat carotid artery balloon angioplasty and wire-induced carotid injury in apolipoprotein E-deficient (apoE−/−) mice. Methods and results Treatment of rats with bindarit (200 mg/kg/day) significantly reduced balloon injury-induced neointima formation by 39% at day 14 without affecting re-endothelialization and reduced the number of medial and neointimal proliferating cells at day 7 by 54 and 30%, respectively. These effects were associated with a significant reduction of MCP-1 levels both in sera and in injured carotid arteries of rats treated with bindarit. In addition, in vitro data showed that bindarit (10–300 µM) reduced rat vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation, migration, and invasion, processes contributing to the injury-induced neointima formation in vivo. Similar results were observed in hypercholesterolaemic apoE−/− mice in which bindarit administration resulted in a 42% reduction of the number of proliferating cells at day 7 after carotid injury and in a 47% inhibition of neointima formation at day 28. Analysis of the cellular composition in neointimal lesions of apoE−/− mice treated with bindarit showed that the relative content of macrophages and the number of VSMCs were reduced by 66 and 30%, respectively, compared with the control group. Conclusion This study demonstrates that bindarit is effective in reducing neointima formation in both non-hyperlipidaemic and hyperlipidaemic animal models of vascular injury by a direct effect on VSMC proliferation and migration and by reducing neointimal macrophage content. All of these data were associated with the inhibition of MCP-1 production.
Midkine, a heparin‐binding growth factor, is expressed in neural precursor cells and promotes their growth

Midkine, a heparin‐binding growth factor, was found to be expressed in neural precursor cells, which consist of neural stem cells and the progenitor cells. When embryonic brain cells were allowed to form neurospheres enriched in neural precursor cells, numbers were significantly smaller from the midkine‐deficient brain than from the wild‐type brain. Dissociated neurosphere cells yielded nestin‐positive neural precursor cells and differentiated neuronal cells upon culture on a substratum. Neural precursor cells from the midkine‐deficient brain spread poorly and grew less effectively on a substratum coated with poly‐l‐lysine than the cells on midkine‐coated substratum. Neural precursor cells from the wild‐type brain spread and grew well on both the substrata. Differentiation to neurons and glia cells was not affected by the absence of midkine. Heparitinase digestion of dissociated neurosphere cells resulted in poor growth of neural precursor cells, while chondroitinase digestion had no effect. These results indicate that midkine is involved in the growth of neural precursor cells and suggest that the interaction with heparan sulfate proteoglycans is important in midkine action to these cells.
Two-Step Joint Attention Network for Visual Question Answering

Visual Question Answering(VQA) system is a task that answers natural language questions automatically according to the content of a reference image. Common method for VQA is to extract image feature and question feature by using deep neural network, and then combine the two features with attention mechanism to predict answer. Most of the attention methods for VQA merely concern about where the local regions of image are relevant to answer and ignore the question words have different weights to answer. Hence, we propose two-step joint attention that use the combining representation of the image feature and question feature to guide visual attention and question attention. Two-step joint attention is able to focus the given image and question from coarse-drained parts to fine-grained parts gradually to predict answer. For purpose of extracting image feature precisely, we also propose a BiSRU and use RNN based on BiSRU to allow the adjacent local region vectors of the image to maintain information each other. We demonstrate and analyze the effectiveness on the VQA dataset, and use visualization to show the results intuitively.
HEED: a hybrid, energy-efficient, distributed clustering approach for ad hoc sensor networks

Topology control in a sensor network balances load on sensor nodes and increases network scalability and lifetime. Clustering sensor nodes is an effective topology control approach. We propose a novel distributed clustering approach for long-lived ad hoc sensor networks. Our proposed approach does not make any assumptions about the presence of infrastructure or about node capabilities, other than the availability of multiple power levels in sensor nodes. We present a protocol, HEED (Hybrid Energy-Efficient Distributed clustering), that periodically selects cluster heads according to a hybrid of the node residual energy and a secondary parameter, such as node proximity to its neighbors or node degree. HEED terminates in O(1) iterations, incurs low message overhead, and achieves fairly uniform cluster head distribution across the network. We prove that, with appropriate bounds on node density and intracluster and intercluster transmission ranges, HEED can asymptotically almost surely guarantee connectivity of clustered networks. Simulation results demonstrate that our proposed approach is effective in prolonging the network lifetime and supporting scalable data aggregation.
Metabolically Healthy Obesity and Risk of Mortality

OBJECTIVE To assess the association of a “metabolically healthy obese” phenotype with mortality using five definitions of metabolic health. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Adults (n = 5,269; 71.7% men) aged 39–62 years in 1991 through 1993 provided data on BMI and metabolic health, defined using data from the Adult Treatment Panel-III (ATP-III); criteria from two studies; and the Matsuda and homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) indices. Cross-classification of BMI categories and metabolic status (healthy/unhealthy) created six groups. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to analyze associations with all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality during a median follow-up of 17.7 years. RESULTS A total of 638 individuals (12.1% of the cohort) were obese, of whom 9–41% were metabolically healthy, depending on the definition. Regardless of the definition, compared with metabolically healthy, normal-weight individuals, both the metabolically healthy obese (hazard ratios [HRs] ranged from 1.81 [95% CI 1.16–2.84] for ATP-III to 2.30 [1.13–4.70] for the Matsuda index) and the metabolically abnormal obese (HRs ranged from 1.57 [1.08–2.28] for the Matsuda index to 2.05 [1.44–2.92] for criteria defined in a separate study) had an increased risk of mortality. The only exception was the lack of excess risk using the HOMA criterion for the metabolically healthy obese (1.08; 0.67–1.74). Among the obese, the risk of mortality did not vary as a function of metabolic health apart from when using the HOMA criterion (1.93; 1.15–3.22). Similar results were obtained for cardiovascular mortality. CONCLUSIONS For most definitions of metabolic health, both metabolically healthy and unhealthy obese patients carry an elevated risk of mortality.
Dynamic User Clustering and Power Allocation for Uplink and Downlink Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) Systems

Non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) has recently been considered as a key enabling technique for 5G cellular systems. In NOMA, by exploiting the channel gain differences, multiple users are multiplexed into transmission power domain and then non-orthogonally scheduled for transmission on the same spectrum resources. Successive interference cancellation (SIC) is then applied at the receivers to decode the message signals. In this paper, first, we briefly describe the differences in the working principles of uplink and downlink NOMA transmissions in a cellular wireless system. Then, for both uplink and downlink NOMAs, we formulate a sum-throughput maximization problem in a cell such that the user clustering (i.e., grouping users into a single cluster or multiple clusters) and power allocations in NOMA clusters can be optimized under transmission power constraints, minimum rate requirements of the users, and SIC constraints. Due to the combinatorial nature of the formulated mixed integer non-linear programming problem, we solve the problem in two steps, i.e., by first grouping users into clusters and then optimizing their respective power allocations. In particular, we propose a low-complexity sub-optimal user grouping scheme. The proposed scheme exploits the channel gain differences among users in an NOMA cluster and groups them into a single cluster or multiple clusters in order to enhance the sum-throughput of the system. For a given set of NOMA clusters, we then derive the optimal power allocation policy that maximizes the sum-throughput per NOMA cluster and in turn maximizes the overall system throughput. Using Karush-Kuhn-Tucker optimality conditions, closed-form solutions for optimal power allocations are derived for any cluster size, considering both uplink and downlink NOMA systems. Numerical results compare the performances of NOMA and OMA and illustrate the significance of NOMA in various network scenarios.
The units of thought

That associative processing provides the vehicle of thought is a long‐standing idea. We describe here observations from cognitive neuroimaging that elucidate the neural processing that mediates this element. This account further allows a more specific ascription of a cognitive function to the brain's “default” activity in mindwandering. We extend this account to argue that one primary outcome of associative processing is the generation of predictions, which approximate the immediately relevant future and thus facilitate perception, action, and the progression of thought. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Systemic Targeted Alpha Radiotherapy for Cancer

Background: The fundamental principles of internal targeted alpha therapy forcancer were established many decades ago.The high linear energy transfer (LET) ofalpha radiation to the targeted cancer cellscauses double strand breaks in DNA. Atthe same time, the short range radiation spares adjacent normal tissues. This targeted approach complements conventional external beam radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Such therapies fail on several fronts, such as lack of control of some primary cancers (e.g. glioblastoma multiforme) and to inhibit the development of lethal metastaticcancer after successful treatment of the primary cancer. Objective: This review charts the developing role of systemic high LET, internalradiation therapy. Method: Targeted alpha therapy is a rapidly advancing experimental therapy thatholds promise to deliver high cytotoxicity to targeted cancer cells. Initially thoughtto be indicated for leukemia and micrometastases, there is now evidence that solidtumors can also be regressed. Results: Alpha therapy may be molecular or physiological in its targeting. Alphaemitting radioisotopes such as Bi-212, Bi-213, At-211 and Ac-225 are used to labelmonoclonal antibodies or proteins that target specific cancer cells. Alternatively, Radium-233 is used for palliative therapy of breast and prostate cancers because of its bone seeking properties. Conclusion: Preclinical studies and clinical trials of alpha therapy are discussedfor leukemia, lymphoma, melanoma, glioblastoma multiforme, bone metastases, ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer and other cancers.
Contractile Adaptations Preserving Cardiac Output Predispose the Hypertrophied Canine Heart to Delayed Afterdepolarization–Dependent Ventricular Arrhythmias

BackgroundIn dogs, chronic complete atrioventricular block (CAVB) results in structural (biventricular hypertrophy) and electrical (delayed repolarization) remodeling, which predisposes the heart to torsade de pointes arrhythmias. We assessed the contractile alterations in the CAVB dog and tested the hypothesis that these adaptations increase delayed afterdepolarization (DAD)–dependent triggered arrhythmias. Methods and ResultsSteady-state and dynamic (fast pacing: 1 to 68 stimuli) left and right ventricular systolic and diastolic parameters were determined by positive and negative inotropic interventions at acute AVB and CAVB. Concomitantly, left and right ventricular endocardial monophasic action potentials were registered. In CAVB, all systolic contractile parameters were markedly increased, resulting in preserved cardiac output. The increase was most pronounced at low heart rates, altering the force-frequency response. At both acute AVB and CAVB, the degree of potentiation of cardiac function with pacing was dependent on the number of stimuli and showed a maximum at 8 to 13 stimuli. With CAVB, this potentiation curve was shifted upward, and it was only then that pacing resulted in DADs (in 8 of 10 dogs) and ectopic beats (EBs, in 6 of 10 dogs). The incidence of EBs in relation to the number of stimuli also had a maximum at 8 to 13 stimuli. Ouabain increased the incidence of DADs and EBs, whereas the negative inotropic interventions prevented them completely. ConclusionsThe alterations responsible for improvement in systolic contractile function in CAVB dogs predispose the hypertrophied heart to DAD-dependent triggered arrhythmias during positive inotropic interventions.
Aspirin Plus Coumarin Versus Aspirin Alone in the Prevention of Reocclusion After Fibrinolysis for Acute Myocardial Infarction: Results of the Antithrombotics in the Prevention of Reocclusion In Coronary Thrombolysis (APRICOT)-2 Trial

Background—Despite the use of aspirin, reocclusion of the infarct-related artery occurs in ≈30% of patients within the first year after successful fibrinolysis, with impaired clinical outcome. This study sought to assess the impact of a prolonged anticoagulation regimen as adjunctive to aspirin in the prevention of reocclusion and recurrent ischemic events after fibrinolysis for ST-elevation myocardial infarction. Methods and Results—At coronary angiography <48 hours after fibrinolytic therapy, 308 patients receiving aspirin and intravenous heparin had a patent infarct-related artery (Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction [TIMI] grade 3 flow). They were randomly assigned to standard heparinization and continuation of aspirin alone or to a 3-month combination of aspirin with moderate-intensity coumarin, including continued heparinization until a target international normalized ratio (INR) of 2.0 to 3.0. Angiographic and clinical follow-up were assessed at 3 months. Median INR was 2.6 (25 to 75th percentiles 2.1 to 3.1). Reocclusion (≤TIMI grade 2 flow) was observed in 15% of patients receiving aspirin and coumarin compared with 28% in those receiving aspirin alone (relative risk [RR], 0.55; 95% CI 0.33 to 0.90;P <0.02). TIMI grade 0 to 1 flow rates were 9% and 20%, respectively (RR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.24 to 0.89;P <0.02). Survival rates free from reinfarction and revascularization were 86% and 66%, respectively (P <0.01). Bleeding (TIMI major and minor) was infrequent: 5% versus 3% (P =NS). Conclusions—As adjunctive to aspirin, a 3-month-regimen of moderate-intensity coumarin, including heparinization until the target INR is reached, markedly reduces reocclusion and recurrent events after successful fibrinolysis. This conceptual study provides a mechanistic rationale to further investigate the role of prolonged anticoagulation after fibrinolytic therapy.
Blockade of 5-HT 1 A Receptors by ( 7 )-Pindolol Potentiates Cortical 5-HT Outflow , but not Antidepressant-Like Activity of Paroxetine : Microdialysis and Behavioral Approaches in 5-HT 1 A Receptor Knockout Mice

Jean-Philippe Guilloux, Denis JP David, Bruno P Guiard, Franck Chenu, Christelle Repérant, Miklos Toth, Michel Bourin and Alain M Gardier* Laboratoire de Neuropharmacologie EA 3544, Faculté de Pharmacie, Université Paris-Sud, Châtenay-Malabry Cedex, France; Laboratoire Neurobiologie de l’anxiété et de la dépression EA3256, Faculté de Médecine, Université de Nantes, Nantes, France; Department of Pharmacology, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY, USA
Multiagent Learning During On-Going Human-Machine Interactions : The Role of Reputation

Multiagent learning is an important tool for long-lasting human-machine systems (HMS). Most multiagent learning algorithms to date have focused on learning a best response to the strategies of other agents in the system. While such an approach is acceptable in some domains, it is not successful in others, such as when humans and machines interact in social dilemma-like situations, such as those arising when human attention is a scarce resource shared by multiple agents. In this paper, we discuss and show (through a user study) how multiagent learning algorithms must be aware of reputational equilibrium in order to establish neglect tolerant interactions.
Longitudinal variations of laryngeal overpressure and voice‐related quality of life in spasmodic dysphonia

Adductor spasmodic dysphonia (AdSD) is a voice disorder characterized by variable symptom severity and voice disability. Those with the disorder experience a wide spectrum of symptom severity over time, resulting in varied degrees of perceived voice disability. This study investigated the longitudinal variability of AdSD, with a focus on auditory–perceptual judgments of a dimension termed laryngeal overpressure (LO) and patient self‐assessments of voice‐related quality of life (V‐RQOL).
Bone loss and fracture after lung transplantation.

BACKGROUND Osteoporosis is very common in patients with end-stage pulmonary disease. However, there are few prospective data on fracture incidence after lung transplantation. METHODS We prospectively evaluated changes in bone mass, fracture incidence, and biochemical indices of bone and mineral metabolism in 30 patients who completed 1 year of observation after lung transplantation. All received calcium, vitamin D, and therapy with one or more agents that inhibit bone resorption, initiated shortly after transplantation. RESULTS Before transplantation, only 20% of the patients had normal lumbar spine (LS) and femoral neck bone mineral density (BMD). After transplantation, 15 patients (50%) sustained significant bone loss at either the LS (-8.6+/-1.0%) or the femoral neck (-11.3+/-2.2%). Eleven (37%) patients (10 women) sustained a total of 54 atraumatic fractures. Pretransplantation LS BMD and T scores were significantly lower in those who sustained fractures (-2.809+/-0.32 versus -1.569+/-0.29; P<0.01). Fracture patients were more likely to have had pretransplantation glucocorticoid therapy (chi-square 5.687; P<0.02). The duration of pretransplantation glucocorticoid therapy was also longer in fracture patients (4.9+/-0.8 versus 1.3+/-0.4 years; P<0.001). Biochemical markers of bone resorption were significantly higher in patients who sustained bone loss and/or fractures. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that fractures are a significant problem in the first year after lung transplantation, even in patients who receive therapy to prevent bone loss. Women with low pretransplantation BMD and a history of pretransplantation glucocorticoid therapy are at greatest risk.
Modeling Online Social Network Use: Incorporating Espoused National Cultural Values into an Extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology

Prior research has developed a numbers of models for examining the acceptance and use of technology. This paper extends the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) beyond the established demographic and contextual variables. Building upon research from social psychology and technology adoption, our proposed model incorporates three constructs into UTAUT: information privacy concerns, hedonic motivation, and relationship expectancy. Motivated by research where individual differences were shown to moderate the relationships of the UTAUT model, this paper investigates the effect of espoused national culture values on social network adoption. Integrating these findings into UTAUT, we formulate a model to examine the individual use of social network sites. The findings from the proposed research are expected to generate both important theoretical and practical implications.