Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Oxytocin and arginine vasopressin systems in the domestication process

Abstract Domestication is of unquestionable importance to the technological revolution that has given rise to modern human societies. In this study, we analyzed the DNA and protein sequences of six genes of the oxytocin and arginine vasopressin systems (OXT-OXTR; AVP-AVPR1a, AVPR1b and AVPR2) in 40 placental mammals. These systems play an important role in the control of physiology and behavior. According to our analyses, neutrality does not explain the pattern of molecular evolution found in some of these genes. We observed specific sites under positive selection in AVPR1b (ω = 1.429, p = 0.001) and AVPR2 (ω= 1.49, p = 0.001), suggesting that they could be involved in behavior and physiological changes, including those related to the domestication process. Furthermore, AVPR1a, which plays a role in social behavior, is under relaxed selective constraint in domesticated species. These results provide new insights into the nature of the domestication process and its impact on the OXT-AVP system.
How do Negation and Modality Impact on Opinions?

In this paper, we propose to study the effects of negation and modality on opinion expressions. Based on linguistic experiments informed by native speakers, we distill these effects according to the type of modality and negation. We show that each type has a specific effect on the opinion expression in its scope: both on the polarity and the strength for negation, and on the strength and/or the degree of certainty for modality. The empirical results reported in this paper provide a basis for future opinion analysis systems that have to compute the sentiment orientation at the sentence or at the clause level. The methodology we used for deriving this basis was applied for French but it can be easily instantiated for other languages like English.
A perspective on disgust.

We approach disgust as a food-related emotion and define it as revulsion at the prospect of oral incorporation of offensive objects. These objects have contamination properties; if they even briefly contact an otherwise acceptable food, they tend to render it inedible. Drawing on sources from many cultures, we explore the implications of this perspective on disgust. Some of the issues we consider are the nature of the objects of disgust and why they are virtually all of animal origin, the meaning of oral incorporation, the "belief" that people take on the properties of the foods they eat. and the nature of the contamination response and its relation to the laws of sympathetic magic (similarity and contagion). We consider the ontogeny of disgust, which we believe develops during the first 8 years of life. We explore the idea that feces, the universal disgust object, is also the first, and we examine the mechanisms for the acquisition of disgust. We recommend disgust as an easily studiable emotion, a model for cognitive-affective linkages, and a model for the acquisition of values and culture.
Effect of the lack of primary stability in the survival of dental implants

Background The survival of dental implants has been linked to primary stability. The aim of this study is to analyse the factors that influence the survival of dental implants placed without primary stability. Material and Methods A cohort study of implants placed without primary stability was carried out between September 2011 and July 2016. All cases with registered information on the patient and surgical intervention were used. Cases that did not have a 12-month follow-up after implant placement were excluded. Results Out of 2,400 analysed implants, 92 were placed without primary stability. The absence of primary stability was classified as B in 49 cases, C in 38 cases and D in 5 cases. No statistically significant influence of the patient’s age, primary stability, brand, or implant size in terms of implant survival was established. A tendency towards greater early implant loss was observed in implants whose absence of primary stability was classified as C. Conclusions Poor primary stability is not statistically significant in the loss of dental implants of the characteristics studied. Any of the factors studied are related with early implant loss as a main factor. Key words:Primary stability, survival, dental implants.
Lipopolysaccharide Exposure Induces Maternal Hypozincemia, and Prenatal Zinc Treatment Prevents Autistic-Like Behaviors and Disturbances in the Striatal Dopaminergic and mTOR Systems of Offspring

Autism is characterized by social deficits, repetitive behaviors, and cognitive inflexibility. The risk factors appear to include genetic and environmental conditions, such as prenatal infections and maternal dietary factors. Previous investigations by our group have demonstrated that prenatal exposure to lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which mimics infection by gram-negative bacteria, induces autistic-like behaviors. To understand the causes of autistic-like behaviors, we evaluated maternal serum metal concentrations, which are involved in intrauterine development and infection/inflammation. We identified reduced maternal levels of zinc, magnesium, selenium and manganese after LPS exposure. Because LPS induced maternal hypozincemia, we treated dams with zinc in an attempt to prevent or ease the impairments in the offspring. We evaluated the social and cognitive autistic-like behaviors and brain tissues of the offspring to identify the central mechanism that triggers the development of autism. Prenatal LPS exposure impaired play behaviors and T-maze spontaneous alternations, i.e., it induced autistic-like behaviors. Prenatal LPS also decreased tyrosine hydroxylase levels and increased the levels of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) in the striatum. Thus, striatal dopaminergic impairments may be related to autism. Moreover, excessive signaling through the mTOR pathway has been considered a biomarker of autism, corroborating our rat model of autism. Prenatal zinc treatment prevented these autistic-like behaviors and striatal dopaminergic and mTOR disturbances in the offspring induced by LPS exposure. The present findings revealed a possible relation between maternal hypozincemia during gestation and the onset of autism. Furthermore, prenatal zinc administration appears to have a beneficial effect on the prevention of autism.
Pattern-based calculi with finitary matching

Finitary matching problems are those that have ﬁnitely many solutions. Pattern calculi generalize the lambda-calculus, replacing the abstraction over variables by an abstraction over terms that are called patterns. Consequently, reduction requires solving a pattern matching problem. The framework described in this paper considers the case when such problems are ﬁnitary. It is parametrized by the solving function, which is responsible for computing solutions to the matching problems. A concrete instance of the function gives a concrete version of the pattern calculus. We impose conditions on the solving function, obtaining a generic conﬂuence proof for a class of pattern calculi with ﬁnitary matching. Instances of the solving function are presented.
What Can We Learn from Four Years of Data Center Hardware Failures?

Hardware failures have a big impact on the dependability of large-scale data centers. We present studies on over 290,000 hardware failure reports collected over the past four years from dozens of data centers with hundreds of thousands of servers. We examine the dataset statistically to discover failure characteristics along the temporal, spatial, product line and component dimensions. We specifically focus on the correlations among different failures, including batch and repeating failures, as well as the human operators' response to the failures. We reconfirm or extend findings from previous studies. We also find many new failure and recovery patterns that are the undesirable by-product of the state-of-the-art data center hardware and software design.
T Cell-Independent Gamma Interferon and B Cells Cooperate To Prevent Mortality Associated with Disseminated Chlamydia muridarum Genital Tract Infection

ABSTRACT CD4 T cells and antibody are required for optimal acquired immunity to Chlamydia muridarum genital tract infection, and T cell-mediated gamma interferon (IFN-γ) production is necessary to clear infection in the absence of humoral immunity. However, the role of T cell-independent immune responses during primary infection remains unclear. We investigated this question by inoculating wild-type and immune-deficient mice with C. muridarum CM001, a clonal isolate capable of enhanced extragenital replication. Genital inoculation of wild-type mice resulted in transient dissemination to the lungs and spleen that then was rapidly cleared from these organs. However, CM001 genital infection proved lethal for STAT1−/− and IFNG−/− mice, in which IFN-γ signaling was absent, and for Rag1−/− mice, which lacked T and B cells and in which innate IFN-γ signaling was retained. In contrast, B cell-deficient muMT mice, which can generate a Th1 response, and T cell-deficient mice with intact B cell and innate IFN-γ signaling survived. These data collectively indicate that IFN-γ prevents lethal CM001 dissemination in the absence of T cells and suggests a B cell corequirement. Adoptive transfer of convalescent-phase immune serum but not naive IgM to Rag1−/− mice infected with CM001 significantly increased the survival time, while transfer of naive B cells completely rescued Rag1−/− mice from CM001 lethality. Protection was associated with a significant reduction in the lung chlamydial burden of genitally infected mice. These data reveal an important cooperation between T cell-independent B cell responses and innate IFN-γ in chlamydial host defense and suggest that interactions between T cell-independent antibody and IFN-γ are essential for limiting extragenital dissemination.
VEGF-C promotes the development of lymphatics in bone and bone loss

Patients with Gorham-Stout disease (GSD) have lymphatic vessels in their bones and their bones gradually disappear. Here, we report that mice that overexpress VEGF-C in bone exhibit a phenotype that resembles GSD. To drive VEGF-C expression in bone, we generated Osx-tTA;TetO-Vegfc double-transgenic mice. In contrast to Osx-tTA mice, Osx-tTA;TetO-Vegfc mice developed lymphatics in their bones. We found that inhibition of VEGFR3, but not VEGFR2, prevented the formation of bone lymphatics in Osx-tTA;TetO-Vegfc mice. Radiological and histological analysis revealed that bones from Osx-tTA;TetO-Vegfc mice were more porous and had more osteoclasts than bones from Osx-tTA mice. Importantly, we found that bone loss in Osx-tTA;TetO-Vegfc mice could be attenuated by an osteoclast inhibitor. We also discovered that the mutant phenotype of Osx-tTA;TetO-Vegfc mice could be reversed by inhibiting the expression of VEGF-C. Taken together, our results indicate that expression of VEGF-C in bone is sufficient to induce the pathologic hallmarks of GSD in mice.
Diversity and Genome Analysis of Australian and Global Oilseed Brassica napus L. Germplasm Using Transcriptomics and Whole Genome Re-sequencing

Intensive breeding of Brassica napus has resulted in relatively low diversity, such that B. napus would benefit from germplasm improvement schemes that sustain diversity. As such, samples representative of global germplasm pools need to be assessed for existing population structure, diversity and linkage disequilibrium (LD). Complexity reduction genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) methods, including GBS-transcriptomics (GBS-t), enable cost-effective screening of a large number of samples, while whole genome re-sequencing (WGR) delivers the ability to generate large numbers of unbiased genomic single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and identify structural variants (SVs). Furthermore, the development of genomic tools based on whole genomes representative of global oilseed diversity and orientated by the reference genome has substantial industry relevance and will be highly beneficial for canola breeding. As recent studies have focused on European and Chinese varieties, a global diversity panel as well as a substantial number of Australian spring types were included in this study. Focusing on industry relevance, 633 varieties were initially genotyped using GBS-t to examine population structure using 61,037 SNPs. Subsequently, 149 samples representative of global diversity were selected for WGR and both data sets used for a side-by-side evaluation of diversity and LD. The WGR data was further used to develop genomic resources consisting of a list of 4,029,750 high-confidence SNPs annotated using SnpEff, and SVs in the form of 10,976 deletions and 2,556 insertions. These resources form the basis of a reliable and repeatable system allowing greater integration between canola genomics studies, with a strong focus on breeding germplasm and industry applicability.
An investigation of factors affecting the performance of wheelchair transfers

Abstract Purpose: Being able to transfer in and out of their wheelchair is an important task for wheelchair users that can be affected by a variety of different factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the interplay between personal characteristics, wheelchair users’ transferring technique and the other factors that can affect the performance of wheelchair transfers. Method: A cross-sectional survey study was designed to recruit wheelchair users, aged 18 or older, performing sitting-pivot or standing-pivot wheelchair transfers, independently or with assistance. Results: Forty-two usable surveys were returned. Transferring technique is usually determined by the individual’s impairment. In turn, transferring technique will greatly affect the perceived difficulty of different types of wheelchair transfers and, the number of transfers that people will perform in a day. The presence of upper limb pain increased the difficulty reported for certain types of transfers while the use of assistive technologies appears to be only partially successful in facilitating the performance of wheelchair transfers. Conclusion: This study highlights the complexity of the factors included in the performance of wheelchair transfers. Findings from this survey can be utilized to broaden the boundaries of future research. Implications for rehabilitation Transferring technique is usually determined by the individual? s impairment. In turn, transferring technique will greatly affect the perceived difficulty of different types of wheelchair transfers and, the number of transfers that people will perform in a day. The performance of wheelchair transfers exacerbate the painful symptomatology of the person, regardless of their medical condition or transferring technique. The presence of pain increases the reported difficulty of wheelchair trasnfers. Use of assistive technologies during transfers is linked to the increased body weight of the person, while the choice of the type of assistive technology seems to be dependent of the transferring technique used by the person. Overall, available ATs are only moderately effective in enabling people to perform wheelchair transfer and they can be cause of frustration for the users due to their high cost and limited functionality.
Frozen dispersions of nanomaterials are a useful operational procedure in nanotoxicology

Abstract The variability observed in nanoparticle (NP) dispersions can affect the reliability of the results obtained in short-term tests, and mainly in long-term experiments. In addition, obtaining a good dispersion is time-consuming and acts as a bottleneck in the development of high-throughput screening methodologies. The freezing of different aliquots from a stock dispersion would overcome such limitations, but no studies have explored the impact of freezing thawing the samples on the physico-chemical and biological properties of the nanomaterial (NM). This work aims to compare fresh-prepared and frozen MWCNT, ZnO-, Ag-, TiO2- and CeO2-NP dispersions, used as models. NP characterization (size and morphology by TEM), hydrodynamic size and zeta potential were performed. Viability comparisons were determined in BEAS-2B cells. Cellular NP uptake and induced ROS production was assessed by TEM and flow cytometry, respectively. The obtained results show no important differences between frozen and fresh NP in their physico-chemical characteristics or their biological effects. This study is the first to demonstrate that there is no scientific evidence to dismiss the use of frozen NP, opening the door to the development of short- and long-term experiments with higher consistency, accuracy and reproducibility in a much shorter time and using a simplified procedure.
Amino acid kinetics and the response to nutrition in patients with cancer

Abstract Purpose: Amino acids are involved in many physiological processes in the body and serve as building blocks of proteins which are the main component of muscle mass. Often patients with cancer experience muscle wasting, which is associated with poor outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to discuss amino acid kinetics in cancer, review the evidence on the response to nutrition in patients with cancer, and to give recommendations on the appropriate level of amino acid or protein intake in cancer. Current evidence shows that amino acid kinetics in patients with cancer are disturbed, as reflected by increased and decreased levels of plasma amino acids, an increased whole body turnover of protein and muscle protein breakdown. A few studies show beneficial effects of acute and short-term supplementation of high protein meals or essential amino acid mixtures on muscle protein synthesis. Conclusions: Cancer is associated with disturbances in amino acid kinetics. A high protein intake or supplementation of amino acids may improve muscle protein synthesis. Future research needs to identify the optimal level and amino acid mixtures for patients with cancer, in particular for those who are malnourished.
Sensing odour sources in indoor environments without a constant airflow by a mobile robot

This paper describes the assembly of a mobile odour sensing system and investigates its practical operation in an indoor environment without a constant airflow. Lacking a constant airflow leads to a problem which cannot be neglected in real world applications. The response of the metal oxide gas sensors used is dominated by air turbulence rather than concentration differences. We show that this problem can be overcome by driving the robot with a constant speed, thus adding an extra constant airflow relative to the gas sensors location. If the robot's speed is not too low the system described proved to be well suited to detect even weak odour sources. Since driving with constant speed is an indispensable condition to perform the basic tasks of a mobile odour sensing system, a new localization strategy is proposed, which takes this into account.
High glucose‐induced excessive reactive oxygen species promote apoptosis through mitochondrial damage in rat cartilage endplate cells

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is an important factor in intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD). Apoptosis of cartilage endplate (CEP) cells is one of the initiators of IDD. However, the effects of high glucose on CEP cells are still unknown. Therefore, we conducted the present study to evaluate the effects of high glucose on CEP cells and to identify the mechanisms of those effects. Rat CEP cells were isolated and cultured in 10% foetal bovine serum (FBS, normal control) or high‐glucose medium (10% FBS + 0.1 M glucose or 10% FBS + 0.2 M glucose, experimental conditions) for 1 or 3 days. In addition, CEP cells were treated with 0.2 M glucose for 3 days in the presence or absence of alpha‐lipoic acid (ALA, 0.15 M). Flow cytometry was performed to identify and quantify the degree of apoptosis. The expression of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was assessed by flow cytometry, and mitochondrial damage (mitochondrial membrane potential) was assessed by fluorescence microscopy. Furthermore, the expression levels of cleaved caspase‐3, cleaved caspase‐9, Bcl‐2, Bax, and cytochrome c were evaluated by Western blotting. High glucose significantly increased apoptosis and ROS accumulation in CEP cells in a dose‐ and time‐dependent manner. Meanwhile, a disrupted mitochondrial membrane potential was detected in rat CEP cells cultured in the two high glucose concentrations. Incubating in high glucose enhanced the expression levels of cleaved caspase‐3, cleaved caspase‐9, Bax, and cytochrome c but decreased the level of the anti‐apoptotic protein Bcl‐2. ALA inhibited the expression of cleaved caspase‐3, cleaved caspase‐9, Bax, and cytochrome c but enhanced the expression of Bcl‐2. ALA also prevented disruption of the mitochondrial membrane potential in CEP cells. This study demonstrates that high glucose‐induced excessive reactive oxygen species promote mitochondrial damage, thus causing apoptosis in rat CEP cells in a dose‐ and time‐dependent manner. ALA could prevent mitochondrial damage and apoptosis caused by high glucose in CEP cells. The results suggest that appropriate blood glucose control may be the key to preventing IDD in diabetic patients. © 2018 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 36:2476–2483, 2018.
Fake Co-visitation Injection Attacks to Recommender Systems

Recommender systems have become an essential component in a wide range of web services. It is believed that recommender systems recommend a user items (e.g., videos on YouTube, products on Amazon) that match the user’s preference. In this work, we propose new attacks to recommender systems. Our attacks exploit fundamental vulnerabilities of recommender systems and can spoof a recommender system to make recommendations as an attacker desires. Our key idea is to inject fake co-visitations to the system. Given a bounded number of fake co-visitations that an attacker can inject, two key challenges are 1) which items the attacker should inject fake co-visitations to, and 2) how many fake co-visitations an attacker should inject to each item. We address these challenges via modelling our attacks as constrained linear optimization problems, by solving which the attacker can perform attacks with maximal threats. We demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of our attacks via evaluations on both synthetic data and real-world recommender systems on several popular web services including YouTube, eBay, Amazon, Yelp, and LinkedIn. We also discuss strategies to mitigate our attacks.