Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A longitudinal 1H-NMR metabolomics analysis of urine from newborns with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy undergoing hypothermia therapy. Clinical and medical legal insights

Perinatal asphyxia is an event affecting around four million newborns worldwide. The 0.5 to 2 per 1000 of full term asphyxiated newborns suffer from hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), which is a frequent cause of death or severe disability and, as consequence, the most common birth injury claim for obstetrics, gynaecologists, and paediatricians. Perinatal asphyxia results from a compromised gas exchange that leads to hypoxemia, hypercapnia, and metabolic acidosis. In this work, we applied a metabolomics approach to investigate the metabolic profiles of urine samples collected from full term asphyxiated newborns with HIE undergoing therapeutic hypothermia (TH), with the aim of identifying a pattern of metabolites associated with HIE and to follow their modifications over time. Urine samples were collected from 10 HIE newborns at birth, during hypothermia (48 hours), at the end of the therapeutic treatment (72 hours), at 1 month of life, and compared with a matched control population of 16 healthy full term newborns. The metabolic profiles were investigated by 1H NMR spectroscopy coupled with multivariate statistical methods such as principal component analysis and orthogonal partial least square discriminant analysis. Multivariate analysis indicated significant differences between the urine samples of HIE and healthy newborns at birth. The altered metabolic patterns, mainly originated from the depletion of cellular energy and homeostasis, seem to constitute a characteristic of perinatal asphyxia. The HIE urine metabolome changes over time reflected either the effects of TH and the physiological growth of the newborns. Of interest, the urine metabolic profiles of the HIE non-surviving babies, characterized by the increased excretion of lactate, resulted significantly different from the rest of HIE population.
Online Approximate Optimal Station Keeping of a Marine Craft in the Presence of an Irrotational Current

Online approximation of the optimal station-keeping strategy for a marine craft subject to an irrotational current is considered. An approximate policy that minimizes a user-defined cost function over an infinite time horizon is obtained using an actor-critic-identifier-based adaptive dynamic programming technique. The hydrodynamic drift dynamics are assumed to be unknown; therefore, a concurrent learning-based system identifier is developed to identify the unknown model parameters. The identified model is used to implement an adaptive model-based reinforcement learning technique to estimate the unknown value function. The developed policy guarantees uniformly ultimately bounded convergence of the vehicle to the desired station and uniformly ultimately bounded convergence of the approximated policies to the optimal polices without the requirement of persistence of excitation. The developed strategy is validated using an autonomous underwater vehicle, where the three degrees-of-freedom in the horizontal plane are regulated. The experiments are conducted in a second-magnitude spring located in central Florida.
A two-layered flow induced by peristaltic waves in a catheterized tube

The flow of a two-layered Newtonian fluid induced by peristaltic waves in a catheterized tube has been investigated. The expressions for the flow characteristicsthe flow rate, the pressure drop and the friction forces at the tube and catheter wall are derived. It is found that the pressure drop increases with the flow rate but decreases with the increasing peripheral layer thickness and a linear relationship between pressure and flow exists. The pressure drop increases with the catheter size (radius) and assumes a high asymptotic at the catheter size more that fifty percent of the tube size. The friction forces at the tube and catheter wall posses characteristics similar to that of the pressure drop with respect to any parameter. However, friction force at catheter wall assumes much smaller magnitude than the corresponding value at the tube wall.
Allelic variations and differential expressions detected at quantitative trait loci for salt stress tolerance in wheat.

The increasing salinization of agricultural lands is a threat to global wheat production. Understanding of the mechanistic basis of salt tolerance (ST) is essential for developing breeding and selection strategies that would allow for increased wheat production under saline conditions to meet the increasing global demand. We used a set that consists of 150 internationally derived winter and facultative wheat cultivars genotyped with a 90K SNP chip and phenotyped for ST across three growth stages and for ionic (leaf K+ and Na+ contents) traits to dissect the genetic architecture regulating ST in wheat. Genome-wide association mapping revealed 187 Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNPs) (R2 = 3.00-30.67%), representing 37 quantitative trait loci (QTL), significantly associated with the ST traits. Of these, four QTL on 1BS, 2AL, 2BS and 3AL were associated with ST across the three growth stages and with the ionic traits. Novel QTL were also detected on 1BS and 1DL. Candidate genes linked to these polymorphisms were uncovered, and expression analyses were performed and validated on them under saline and non-saline conditions using transcriptomics and qRT-PCR data. Expressed sequence comparisons in contrasting ST wheat genotypes identified several non-synonymous/missense mutation sites that are contributory to the ST trait variations, indicating the biological relevance of these polymorphisms that can be exploited in breeding for ST in wheat.
Clustering in Multi-Channel Cognitive Radio Ad Hoc and Sensor Networks

CR enables dynamic spectrum access to utilize licensed spectrum when it is idle. CR technology is applied to wireless ad hoc and sensor networks to form CRAHNs and CRSNs, respectively. Clustering is an efficient topology management technique to regulate communication and allocate spectrum resources by CR capabilities of nodes in CRAHNs and CRSNs. In this article, we thoroughly investigate the benefits and functionalities of clustering such as topology, spectrum, and energy management in these networks. We also overview motivations for and challenges of clustering in CRAHNs and CRSNs. Existing clustering schemes are reviewed and compared. We conclude by revealing key considerations and possible solutions for spectrum-aware clustering in multi-channel CRAHNs and CRSNs.
Anti-HIV-1 integrase and anti-allergic activities of Bauhinia strychnifolia

A stem ethanol extract of Bauhinia strychnifolia and its compounds were investigated for their anti-HIV-1 integrase (IN) and anti-allergic activities. From bioassay-guided isolation, five compounds including quercetin (1), 3,5,7,3',5'pentahydroxyflavanonol-3-O--L-rhamnopyranoside (2), 3,5,7-trihydroxychromone-3--L-rhamnopyranoside (3) and a mixture of -sitosterol (4) and stigmasterol (5) were isolated. Of the tested samples, compound 1 (quercetin) showed the highest activity against HIV-1 IN with an IC 50 value of 15.2 µM, followed by 3 (3,5,7-trihydroxychromone-3--Lrhamnopyranoside), 4+5 (mixture of -sitosterol and stigmasterol) and 2 (3,5,7,3',5'-pentahydroxyflavanonol-3-O--Lrhamnopyranoside) with % inhibition of 28.2, 26.2 and 6.7 at 100 µM, respectively. With regard to anti-allergic activity, quercetin (1) possessed the highest anti-allergic activity with an IC 50 of 8.1 µM, followed by 3 (3,5,7-trihydroxychromone-3-L-rhamnopyranoside) and 4+5 (mixture of -sitosterol and stigmasterol) with IC 50 values of 52.1 and 77.5 µM, respectively. Compound 2 (3,5,7,3',5'-pentahydroxyflavanonol-3-O--L-rhamnopyranoside) was inactive. The present study is the first report of chemical constituents and biological activities of Bauhinia strychnifolia.
Hiding in Plain Sight-Could a Common Molecular Mechanism Define Neurodegenerative Diseases ?

Many neurodegenerative pathologies such as Alzheimer’s (AD), Parkinson’s (PD), Huntington’s (HD), Creutzfeldt Jakob diseases (CJD) etc. are characterized by severe changes in synaptic functions and eventual neuronal death in the brain. Besides this pathological commonality, all these diseases possess a biochemical commonality in which the respective proteins aggregate to form amyloids that are known to be responsible for neuronal cell death. Amyloid formation involves the conversion of proteins from their native monomeric states (intrinsically disordered or globular) to well-organized, fibrillar aggregates in a nucleation-dependent manner. Although amyloid-diseases differ in their functional and some pathological aspects, all amyloidogenic proteins, irrespective of their native structure form a cross β-sheet structural core upon aggregation. Interestingly, the unique ability of this conformation to accommodate tightly packed interactions is reflected in its remarkable conservation among all amyloids, despite significant sequence diversity.
Access-to-Egress I: Interactive Effects of Factors That Control the Emergency Evacuation of Naive Passengers Through the Transport Airplane Type-III Overwing Exit

Abstract : Simulated emergency evacuations were conducted from a narrow-body transport airplane simulator through a Type-Ill overwing exit. The independent variables were passageway configuration, hatch disposal location, subject group size, and subject group motivation level. Additional variables of interest included individual subject characteristics, i.e., gender, age, waist size, and height, all of which had been shown in previous studies to significantly affect emergency egress. Participants were restricted to those who had no previous emergency evacuation (research) history. The dependent variables of interest included hatch operation time and the time for individual subjects to egress. Evacuation trials were conducted with 48 groups of either 30, 50, or 70 subjects per group, for a total of 2,544 subject participants. Each subject group completed 4 evacuation trials, totaling 192 evacuations. Results reported for hatch operation time include data from all trials, since each trial had a different, naive hatch operator. The egress time results include data only from each group's first evacuation trial in which every subject was naive. Significant main effects of hatch disposal location on both Exit-Ready-To-Use Time (p<.004) and First-Person- Out Time (p<.008) were revealed, without effects of the other variables. Significant main effects on individual subject egress time were found for waist size (p<.OOOl), gender (p<.OOOl), and age (p<.OOOl). A small, but significant, main effect was also found for passageway configuration (p<.OOl), which was confounded by improper hatch disposal and a between-groups imbalance in individual subject characteristics. This situation produced a significant (4-way) passageway configuration by hatch disposal location by subject group density by subject group motivation level interaction effect (p<.OO8).
Colonic transit time and pressure based on Bernoulli’s principle

Purpose Variations in the caliber of human large intestinal tract causes changes in pressure and the velocity of its contents, depending on flow volume, gravity, and density, which are all variables of Bernoulli’s principle. Therefore, it was hypothesized that constipation and diarrhea can occur due to changes in the colonic transit time (CTT), according to Bernoulli’s principle. In addition, it was hypothesized that high amplitude peristaltic contractions (HAPC), which are considered to be involved in defecation in healthy subjects, occur because of cecum pressure based on Bernoulli’s principle. Methods A virtual healthy model (VHM), a virtual constipation model and a virtual diarrhea model were set up. For each model, the CTT was decided according to the length of each part of the colon, and then calculating the velocity due to the cecum inflow volume. In the VHM, the pressure change was calculated, then its consistency with HAPC was verified. Results The CTT changed according to the difference between the cecum inflow volume and the caliber of the intestinal tract, and was inversely proportional to the cecum inflow volume. Compared with VHM, the CTT was prolonged in the virtual constipation model, and shortened in the virtual diarrhea model. The calculated pressure of the VHM and the gradient of the interlocked graph were similar to that of HAPC. Conclusion The CTT and HAPC can be explained by Bernoulli’s principle, and constipation and diarrhea may be fundamentally influenced by flow dynamics.
Adult Stem Cells in Vascular Remodeling

Understanding the contribution of vascular cells to blood vessel remodeling is critical for the development of new therapeutic approaches to cure cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and regenerate blood vessels. Recent findings suggest that neointimal formation and atherosclerotic lesions involve not only inflammatory cells, endothelial cells, and smooth muscle cells, but also several types of stem cells or progenitors in arterial walls and the circulation. Some of these stem cells also participate in the remodeling of vascular grafts, microvessel regeneration, and formation of fibrotic tissue around biomaterial implants. Here we review the recent findings on how adult stem cells participate in CVD development and regeneration as well as the current state of clinical trials in the field, which may lead to new approaches for cardiovascular therapies and tissue engineering.
Creating Test Score Bands for Assessments Involving Ratings using a Generalizability Theory Approach to Reliability Estimation

Recommended Citation Scherbaum, Charles; Dickson, Marcus; Larson, Elliott; Bellenger, Brian; Yusko, Kenneth; and Goldstein, Harold (2018) "Creating Test Score Bands for Assessments Involving Ratings using a Generalizability Theory Approach to Reliability Estimation," Personnel Assessment and Decisions: Vol. 4 : Iss. 1 , Article 1. DOI: 10.25035/pad.2018. 001 Available at: https://scholarworks.bgsu. edu/pad/vol4/iss1/1
Face Aging Simulation with Deep Convolutional Generative Adversarial Networks

Human face aging process simulated by computer has become a hot research issue of the computer vision field. In this paper we propose an improved face aging model based on Deep Convolutional Generative Adversarial Network (DCGAN). In this model, a given face is first mapped to a personal latent vector and age-conditional vector through two sub-encoders. Inputting these two vectors into generator, and then stable and photo-realistic face images are generated by preserving personalized face features and changing age condition. Perceptual similarity loss replace adversarial loss of Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) as the objective function in this paper. Based on the existing face database, the experiment results demonstrate that face images synthesized by our method enjoys better authenticity and accuracy.
Breathing regulation and blood gas homeostasis after near complete lesions of the retrotrapezoid nucleus in adult rats

The retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN) drives breathing proportionally to brain PCO2 but its role during various states of vigilance needs clarification. Under normoxia, RTN lesions increased the arterial PCO2 set‐point, lowered the PO2 set‐point and reduced alveolar ventilation relative to CO2 production. Tidal volume was reduced and breathing frequency increased to a comparable degree during wake, slow‐wave sleep and REM sleep. RTN lesions did not produce apnoeas or disordered breathing during sleep. RTN lesions in rats virtually eliminated the central respiratory chemoreflex (CRC) while preserving the cardiorespiratory responses to hypoxia; the relationship between CRC and number of surviving RTN Nmb neurons was an inverse exponential. The CRC does not function without the RTN. In the quasi‐complete absence of the RTN and CRC, alveolar ventilation is reduced despite an increased drive to breathe from the carotid bodies.
“Better everyone should know our business than we lose our house”: Costs and benefits of medical crowdfunding for support, privacy, and identity

In the United States, medical crowdfunding is an increasingly common response to overwhelming healthcare costs. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 individuals crowdfunding for health (e.g. cancer, paralysis, brain injury) on behalf of themselves or others, to better understand this new phenomenon as it informs theory on social support, identity, and privacy. First, findings suggest that crowdfunding is often a resource for both instrumental and emotional social support. Second, many crowdfunders weighed the need for support against perceived privacy risks, which is consistent with and extends privacy calculus theory. Finally, highly vulnerable self-disclosures were often reinterpreted to be empowering, which also supports and extends work on identity shift. Using crowdfunding as a context for inquiry, findings point to new theoretical frameworks to describe how users navigate needs for both privacy and support online and the often positive consequences of that negotiation for identity.
Double‐blind, randomized phase 3 trial of low‐dose 13‐cis retinoic acid in the prevention of second primaries in head and neck cancer: Long‐term follow‐up of a trial of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group‐ACRIN Cancer Research Group (C0590)

13‐Cis retinoic acid (13‐CRA) is a synthetic vitamin A derivative. High‐dose 13‐CRA in patients with squamous cell cancers of the head and neck (SCCHNs) reduces the incidence of second primary tumors (SPTs). The authors report long‐term results from a phase 3 randomized trial that compared treatment with low‐dose 13‐CRA versus placebo for patients who had early stage SCCHN, with a focus on the development of SPTs and overall survival (OS).
Effective Conversion of Amide to Carboxylic Acid on Polymers of Intrinsic Microporosity (PIM-1) with Nitrous Acid

Carboxylate-functionalised polymers of intrinsic microporosity (C-PIMs) are highly desirable materials for membrane separation applications. The recently reported method to afford C-PIMs was via an extensive base hydrolysis process requiring 360 h. Herein, a novel and effective method to convert PIM-CONH2 to C-PIM using nitrous acid was studied. The chemical structure of C-PIM was characterised by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, FTIR, elemental analysis, UV-Vis, TGA and TGA-MS. Complete conversion from amide to carboxylic acid groups was confirmed. Decarboxylation of C-PIM was also successfully studied by TGA-MS for the first time, with a loss of m/z 44 amu (CO2) observed at the first degradation stage. TGA also revealed decreased thermal stability of C-PIM relative to PIM-CONH2 under both N2 and air atmosphere. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) analysis showed continuous molecular weight degradation of C-PIM with extended reaction time. Aromatic nitration was also observed as a side reaction in some cases.
Gamma-band synchronization in the neocortex: novel analysis methods and their application to sensory and motivational systems

Vinck et al. develop new statistical techniques for the analysis of electrophysiological brain data, and applied these techniques to the study of brainwaves in sensory and motivational systems. Chapter 2 develops a new measure of phase locking between spike trains and Local Field Potentials (LFP) that is unbiased for firing rate and spike count. Chapter 3 develops a new measure of phase synchronization between EEG/MEG/LFP signals that is robust against the effects of volume conduction, noise and sample size bias. Chapter 4 examines the effect of measurement noise on Granger causality statistics, and finds that statistical control using time series reversal provides a viable solution for the noise problem, as opposed to examination of the slope of the coherency function. Chapter 5 develops a new estimator of the entropy function based on polynomial expansion of the entropy function and Bayesian estimation. Chapters 6-8 apply these techniques to experimental spike and LFP data obtained from the awake rat using multi-areal ensemble recordings. Chapter 6 shows (1) the presence of band-limited gamma-band (30-90 Hz) oscillations in the barrel cortex, (2) cell-type-specific entrainment of cells by this gamma rhythm, and (3) absence of gamma phase-coupling with other structures (visual and perirhinal cortex, hippocampus). Chapter 7 shows learning-dependent gamma oscillations in the orbitofrontal cortex, expressed predominantly by a specific class of cells (‘action-value cells’). Chapter 8, the authors show that neuronal coding of odour-value associations and rhythmic synchronization in OFC is critically dependent on the NMDA receptor.
Plant DNA metabarcoding of lake sediments: How does it represent the contemporary vegetation

Metabarcoding of lake sediments have been shown to reveal current and past biodiversity, but little is known about the degree to which taxa growing in the vegetation are represented in environmental DNA (eDNA) records. We analysed composition of lake and catchment vegetation and vascular plant eDNA at 11 lakes in northern Norway. Out of 489 records of taxa growing within 2 m from the lake shore, 17–49% (mean 31%) of the identifiable taxa recorded were detected with eDNA. Of the 217 eDNA records of 47 plant taxa in the 11 lakes, 73% and 12% matched taxa recorded in vegetation surveys within 2 m and up to about 50 m away from the lakeshore, respectively, whereas 16% were not recorded in the vegetation surveys of the same lake. The latter include taxa likely overlooked in the vegetation surveys or growing outside the survey area. The percentages detected were 61, 47, 25, and 15 for dominant, common, scattered, and rare taxa, respectively. Similar numbers for aquatic plants were 88, 88, 33 and 62%, respectively. Detection rate and taxonomic resolution varied among plant families and functional groups with good detection of e.g. Ericaceae, Roseaceae, deciduous trees, ferns, club mosses and aquatics. The representation of terrestrial taxa in eDNA depends on both their distance from the sampling site and their abundance and is sufficient for recording vegetation types. For aquatic vegetation, eDNA may be comparable with, or even superior to, in-lake vegetation surveys and may therefore be used as an tool for biomonitoring. For reconstruction of terrestrial vegetation, technical improvements and more intensive sampling is needed to detect a higher proportion of rare taxa although DNA of some taxa may never reach the lake sediments due to taphonomical constrains. Nevertheless, eDNA performs similar to conventional methods of pollen and macrofossil analyses and may therefore be an important tool for reconstruction of past vegetation.