Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Thalamic bursting in rats during different awake behavioral states

Thalamic neurons have two firing modes: tonic and bursting. It was originally suggested that bursting occurs only during states such as slow-wave sleep, when little or no information is relayed by the thalamus. However, bursting occurs during wakefulness in the visual and somatosensory thalamus, and could theoretically influence sensory processing. Here we used chronically implanted electrodes to record from the ventroposterior medial thalamic nucleus (VPM) and primary somatosensory cortex (SI) of awake, freely moving rats during different behaviors. These behaviors included quiet immobility, exploratory whisking (large-amplitude whisker movements), and whisker twitching (small-amplitude, 7- to 12-Hz whisker movements). We demonstrated that thalamic bursting appeared during the oscillatory activity occurring before whisker twitching movements, and continued throughout the whisker twitching. Further, thalamic bursting occurred during whisker twitching substantially more often than during the other behaviors, and a neuron was most likely to respond to a stimulus if a burst occurred ≈120 ms before the stimulation. In addition, the amount of cortical area activated was similar to that during whisking. However, when SI was inactivated by muscimol infusion, whisker twitching was never observed. Finally, we used a statistical technique called partial directed coherence to identify the direction of influence of neural activity between VPM and SI, and observed that there was more directional coherence from SI to VPM during whisker twitching than during the other behaviors. Based on these findings, we propose that during whisker twitching, a descending signal from SI triggers thalamic bursting that primes the thalamocortical loop for enhanced signal detection during the whisker twitching behavior.
Arrhythmia Management Devices

383 Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) and cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) have become mainstays of clinical cardiology practice for high-risk patients supported by persuasive clinical trial data. Yet, areas of certainty are offset by considerable uncertainty about the criteria for implantation and for reimbursement. This article reviews selected elements of the clinical trial data and reconciles, when possible, guideline recommendations with the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) national coverage determination (NCD).
Population Pharmacokinetics of Tenofovir in HIV-1–Infected Pediatric Patients

ObjectivesTo evaluate the pharmacokinetics of tenofovir in children and the influence of covariates [body weight (BW), age, cotreatments]. The main goal was then to suggest for the first time the dose of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) to give in children. Design/MethodsTenofovir concentrations were monitored on a routine basis and measured in 93 children aged 5 to 18 years; 283 tenofovir plasma concentrations were used to perform a population pharmacokinetic analysis. ResultsA 2-compartment model adequately described the data. A BW allometric scaling was used; and the typical population estimates (interindividual variability), standardized for 70 kg, for apparent clearance, central and peripheral volume of distribution, intercompartmental clearance, and absorption rate constant, were 59.8 L·h-1 (0.48), 386 L (1.39), 666 L, 92.8 L·h-1 and 0.43 h-1, respectively. TDF clearance increased significantly with BW and decreased with lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) coadministration, thus these factors were used to propose doses for children. Dosing scheme, according BW and LPV/r coadministration were simulated to produce the same 24-hr exposure as adults after 300-mg TDF dose. ConclusionsChildren without LPV/r should receive: 150 mg TDF from 20 to 30 kg, 225 mg TDF from 30 to 40 kg, and the adult dosage of 300 mg TDF over 40 kg. To avoid risk of renal toxicity, TDF dose should be decreased when coadministrated with LPV/r, children should receive 150 mg TDF from 20 to 40 kg, 225 mg TDF from 40 to 55 kg, and the adult dosage of 300 mg TDF over 55 kg.
Altered composition of epidermal lipids correlates with Staphylococcus aureus colonization status in atopic dermatitis

DEAR EDITOR, Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease characterized by disrupted epidermal barrier functions. The stratum corneum (SC) consists of corneocytes and a lipid-rich extracellular matrix, which plays a key role in epidermal permeability barrier functions. Major lipid constituents of the SC are ceramides, free fatty acids (FFAs), cholesterol and triglycerides. Staphylococcus aureus colonization is an important trigger of AD. Comprehensive profiling of SC lipids using S. aureus colonization status, and association between S. aureus colonization and skin lipid composition have never been documented. In our study cohort, 27 patients with AD and 15 healthy individuals with no history of skin disorders (age ≥ 18 years) were enrolled under an institutional review board-approved protocol. All participants with AD had elevated transepidermal water loss (TEWL), thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC)/CCL17, total serum IgE levels and eosinophil counts (clinical markers of AD severity) compared with nonatopic participants before and after adjustment for age and sex (Fig. 1). We extracted SC lipids using a high-yield, one-step, modified Bligh and Dyer method, and all major SC lipids were analysed by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectroscopy. Ceramides are the most abundant lipid class in human SC (50%) and are divided into 12 subclasses. Consequently, the profile of SC lipids was compared between patients with AD with S. aureus colonization (S. aureus+, n = 15), patients with AD without S. aureus colonization (S. aureus , n = 12) and nonatopic participants without S. aureus (n = 15). Certain shortchain ceramides, such as CER[AH]C34 and CER[AP]C34 (both 34 carbons in length), were significantly more abundant in patients with AD than in nonatopic participants, as reported previously. Specific ceramides, belonging to four of the 12 subclasses, differed between patients with AD with and without S. aureus. The levels of CER[AH] (44, 48, 50 and 52 carbons), CER [AP] (40 carbons) and very-long-chain ceramides – including CER[EOH] (66, 68 and 70 carbons) and CER[EOS] (70 carbons) – were significantly lower in S. aureus+ patients with AD than S. aureus patients (Fig. 1). After age and sex adjustment, levels of CER[AH]C38, CER[AH]C48, CER[AP]C40, CER[EOH] C66, CER[EOH]C68 and CER[EOS]C70 were significantly lower in S. aureus+ patients with AD (Table S1; see Supporting Information). Basal TEWL negatively correlated with levels of certain ceramides, including CER[AH]C48, CER[AH]C50, CER [AP]C36, CER[EOH]C66, CER[EOH]C68, CER[EOS]C70, CER
Lipofuscin and autofluorescence metrics in progressive STGD.

PURPOSE To evaluate Stargardt disease (STGD) progression and relative lipofuscin levels via autofluorescence image analysis. METHODS The relationship between focally increased autofluorescence (FIAF), geographic atrophy (GA) and focally decreased autofluorescence (FDAF) was analyzed in serial, registered autofluorescence (AF) scans of 10 patients with STGD (20 eyes, 40 scans; mean follow-up, 2.0 years) using automated techniques. RESULTS GA progressed uniformly in a transition zone with minimal FIAF. Only 4.3% of FIAF progressed to GA or FDAF, despite significant progression of GA (median 30%/year) and FDAF (mean, 29%/year). As a spatial predictor, the mean chance of FIAF for progression to FDAF was 4.3% +/- 4.4%, significantly less than that of random areas (6.7% +/- 4.0%, P = 0.029, Mann-Whitney test). In the seven eyes with GA, the mean chance of FIAF in the transition zone for transition to GA was 12% +/- 8.9%, significantly less than that of random areas (33% +/- 3.6%, P = 0.026, Mann-Whitney test). CONCLUSIONS Autofluorescent flecks and FIAF deposits with AF levels elevated above the initial macular background were less likely in the short term (2 years) to transform to GA and FDAF (AF levels below the final background) than random areas, suggesting additional mechanisms beyond direct lipofuscin toxicity. FIAF/FDAF levels were observed to fluctuate, with focal remodeling of FIAF and FDAF, or rarely, even transition of FDAF to FIAF. FDAF tended to develop, not coincident with, but adjacent to initial FIAF. Because AF identifies these characteristic biological markers so specifically, autofluorescence metrics merit consideration in the study of STGD.
Functional-Coefficient Spatial Durbin Models with Nonparametric Spatial Weights: An Application to Economic Growth

This paper considers a functional-coefficient spatial Durbin model with nonparametric spatial weights. Applying the series approximation method, we estimate the unknown functional coefficients and spatial weighting functions via a nonparametric two-stage least squares (or 2SLS) estimation method. To further improve estimation accuracy, we also construct a second-step estimator of the unknown functional coefficients by a local linear regression approach. Some Monte Carlo simulation results are reported to assess the finite sample performance of our proposed estimators. We then apply the proposed model to re-examine national economic growth by augmenting the conventional Solow economic growth convergence model with unknown spatial interactive structures of the national economy, as well as country-specific Solow parameters, where the spatial weighting functions and Solow parameters are allowed to be a function of geographical distance and the countries’ openness to trade, respectively.
Development of an image/threshold database for designing and testing human vision models

Models that predict human performance on narrow classes of visual stimuli abound in the vision science literature. However, the vision and the applied imaging communities need robust general-purpose, rather than narrow, computational human visual system models to evaluate image fidelity and quality and ultimately improve imaging algorithms. Psychophysical measure of image imaging algorithms. Psychophysical measures of image quality are too costly and time consuming to gather to evaluate the impact each algorithm modification might have on image quality.
Heart transplantation after Fontan: Results from a surgical Fontan cohort

We performed a retrospective review of outcomes after heart transplantation during long‐term follow‐up of a surgical cohort of 1138 Fontan patients who were followed at the Mayo Clinic. Follow‐up information was obtained from medical records and a clinical questionnaire that was mailed to patients not known to be deceased at the initiation of the study. Forty‐four of 1138 Fontan patients with initial or subsequent evaluation at Mayo had cardiac transplantation between 1988 and 2014 (mean age at transplantation was 23.2 ± 12 yr, median was 19.8 yr; mean interval between Fontan and transplantation was 13.0 ± 7.7 yr, median was 13.1 yr). Two patients had combined organ transplantation (one heart–lung, one heart–liver). Twelve of the 44 (27%) patients had PLE prior to transplantation. There was no difference in post‐bypass Fontan pressures or incidence of late reoperations for AVV repair/replacement between transplanted and non‐transplanted patients. There were 16 (36%) deaths in the transplantation cohort; seven occurred within 30 days of transplantation. Overall one, five, 10, and 15 yr post‐transplantation survival was 80%, 72%, 69%, and 55%, respectively. Although this is a challenging group of patients, intermediate‐term results suggest that cardiac transplantation remains a reasonable option for patients with a failed Fontan circulation.
Nanoparticle dynamics in simple fluids

The Stokes-Einstein relation is considered a benchmark in the transport of small particles in fluids, predicting an increase in diffusion with decreasing particle size. However, there is doubt about its validity at the nano-scale where some theoretical studies have predicted deviations from it. Experimental data from single nanoparticle tracking are presented in this thesis, collected using a recently-developed technique based on the optical phenomenon of caustics to detect the particle in a conventional inverted optical microscope. Experiments were performed on gold and polystyrene nanoparticles dispersed in water and glycerol-water mixtures, with viscosities ranging from 0.00008 to 0.15 Pa·s, to investigate the effect of nanoparticle size, density, concentration, and liquid viscosity on diffusion rates at a fixed temperature of 30°C. It is shown that below a critical concentration and critical size of particle diffusion falls orders of magnitude below the Stokes-Einstein prediction and it is better represented by the fractional Stokes-Einstein relation. At these experimental conditions, the diffusion coefficient was found to be constant with particle size and independent of material, but dependent on fluid viscosity. This thesis is aimed at enriching the knowledge on nanoparticle motion in simple fluid. The validity of the Stokes-Einstein diffusion at the nanoscale is addressed by experiments, within the context of simple, isotropic fluids.
Modulatory effects of propolis samples from Latin America (Brazil, Cuba and Mexico) on cytokine production by human monocytes

Propolis has been used in folk medicine in different regions of the world including Latin America. Propolis is a resinous mixture of substances collected by honey bees from several botanical sources, and its composition contains a rich chemical variety, depending on the geographical area and plant sources. Our aim was to compare the modulatory effect of propolis samples from three different countries of Latin America (Brazil, Cuba and Mexico) on pro‐ and anti‐inflammatory cytokine production (tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α and interleukin (IL)‐10, respectively) by human monocytes.
Finitary fairness

Fairness is a mathematical abstraction: in a multiprogramming environment, fairness abstracts the details of admissible ("fair") schedulers; in a distributed environment, fairness abstracts the speeds of independent processors. We argue that the standard definition of fairness often is unnecessarily weak and can be replaced by the stronger, yet still abstract, notion of finitary fairness. While standard weak fairness requires that no enabled transition is postponed forever, finitary weak fairness requires that for every run of a system there is an unknown bound k such that no enabled transition is postponed more than k consecutive times. In general, the finitary restriction fin(F) of any given fairness assumption F is the union of all w-regular safety properties that are contained in F. The adequacy of the proposed abstraction is demonstrated in two ways. Suppose that we prove a program property under the assumption of finitary fairness. In a multiprogramming environment, the program then satisfies the property for all fair finite-state schedulers. In a distributed environment, the program then satisfies the property for all choices of lower and upper bounds on the speeds (or timings) of processors. <<ETX>>
Molecular Identification of Black-Grain Mycetoma Agents

ABSTRACT Black-grain mycetomas are subcutaneous devastating chronic infections due to several dematiaceous fungi. They are diagnosed mostly in tropical countries. Identification of these fungi with standard mycological procedures is difficult because of their poor or delayed sporulation. The aim of this study was thus to assess the accuracy of molecular identification of these fungi. A total of 54 strains, mostly of clinical origin, were used, including 15 Madurella mycetomatis, 6 Madurella grisea, 12 Leptosphaeria senegalensis, 4 Leptosphaeria tompkinsii, 6 Pyrenochaeta spp. , 4 Curvularia lunata, and 7 Exophiala jeanselmei strains. The internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1)-5.8S-ITS2 DNA region was amplified by using universal fungal primers and sequenced. Both intra- and interspecies sequence similarities were assessed. Madurella mycetomatis appeared to be a homogeneous species. More intraspecies variations were found for C. lunata and E. jeanselmei, leading, in some instances, to changes in the initial identification. L. senegalensis and L. tompkinsii showed intraspecies similarities of >99%, but similarity between the two species was <88%. Intergenera and interspecies variations were important, with sequence homologies of <81% between genera. In contrast, Pyrenochaeta romeroi and M. grisea appeared to be heterogeneous, with intraspecies similarities of 40 to 100% and 53 to 100%, respectively, which suggest either erroneous identification or the need for taxonomic revision. Epidemiological and therapeutic studies could benefit from a precise identification of the fungi responsible for black-grain mycetoma based not only on phenotypical characteristics but also on ITS sequencing.
The accuracy of dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), weight, and P2 back fat to predict half-carcass and primal-cut composition in pigs within and across research experiments

A Hologic QDR4500A dual energy X-ray absorptiometer (DXA) was used to measure body composition in 199 half-carcasses ranging from 15 to 48 kg. Half-carcasses were from animals of mixed sex and of either Large White × Landrace or Large White × Landrace × Duroc descent. Half-carcasses were selected from 5 different experiments to evaluate DXA accuracy within and across experiments. Values determined by DXA including total tissue mass, fat tissue mass, lean tissue mass, and bone mineral content, for the half-carcass and the shoulder, loin, belly, and ham primal cuts were evaluated by comparison with manually dissected composition. Relationships between manually dissected values and measurements of weight and backfat at the P2 site were also evaluated. Manually dissected values were strongly related to DXA-derived values, more so than with weight and P2 or a combination of both, particularly in the measurement of fat composition. In contrast to estimates derived from weight and P2, DXA-derived estimates remained accurate even when between-experiment variation was included. However, because DXA estimates were different from manually dissected values, they would need to be adjusted with the use of appropriate regression equations to correct the in-built algorithms. These results demonstrate the efficacy of DXA as a non-destructive method for determining the composition of the half-carcass and primal cuts, and its greater precision than current routinely used methods. Additional keywords: dissection, lean tissue, fat, belly, REML.
Establishment of nematode infection despite increased Th2 responses and immunopathology after selective depletion of Foxp3+ cells

Here, we show that Treg limit intestinal pathology during nematode infection and that they control the onset and magnitude of the anti‐parasitic Th Th2 response. Using mice expressing the diptheria toxin receptor under the control of the foxp3 locus, we removed Foxp3+ Treg during the early phase of infection with Heligmosomoides polygyrus bakeri. Depletion of Treg in infected animals did not affect adult worm burden, but led to increased pathology at the site of infection. Infected, depleted mice displayed higher frequencies of activated CD4+ T cells and increased levels of the Th2 cytokines IL‐4 and IL‐13. The stronger parasite‐specific Th2 response was accompanied by higher levels of IL‐10. Only a moderate change in Th1 (IFN‐γ) reactivity was detected in worm‐infected, Treg‐depleted mice. Furthermore, we detected an accelerated onset of parasite‐specific Th2 and IL‐10 responses in the transient absence of Foxp3+ Treg. However, adult worm burdens were not affected by the increased Th2‐reactivity in Treg‐depleted mice. Hence, our data show that Treg restrict the onset and strength of Th2 responses during intestinal worm infection, while increasing primary Th2 responses does not necessarily lead to killing of larvae or accelerated expulsion of adult worms.
MicroRNA prediction with a novel ranking algorithm based on random walks

MicroRNA (miRNAs) play essential roles in post-transcriptional gene regulation in animals and plants. Several existing computational approaches have been developed to complement experimental methods in discovery of miRNAs that express restrictively in specific environmental conditions or cell types. These computational methods require a sufficient number of characterized miRNAs as training samples, and rely on genome annotation to reduce the number of predicted putative miRNAs. However, most sequenced genomes have not been well annotated and many of them have a very few experimentally characterized miRNAs. As a result, the existing methods are not effective or even feasible for identifying miRNAs in these genomes. Aiming at identifying miRNAs from genomes with a few known miRNA and/or little annotation, we propose and develop a novel miRNA prediction method, miRank, based on our new random walks- based ranking algorithm. We first tested our method on Homo sapiens genome; using a very few known human miRNAs as samples, our method achieved a prediction accuracy greater than 95%. We then applied our method to predict 200 miRNAs in Anopheles gambiae, which is the most important vector of malaria in Africa. Our further study showed that 78 out of the 200 putative miRNA precursors encode mature miRNAs that are conserved in at least one other animal species. These conserved putative miRNAs are good candidates for further experimental study to understand malaria infection. Availability: MiRank is programmed in Matlab on Windows platform. The source code is available upon request. Contact: zhang@cse.wustl. edu
Vascular Health and Risk Management Dovepress Lowering Triglycerides to Modify Cardiovascular Risk: Will Icosapent Deliver?

Despite the clinical benefits of lowering levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, many patients continue to experience cardiovascular events. This residual risk suggests that additional risk factors require aggressive modification to result in more effective prevention of cardiovascular disease. Hypertriglyceridemia has presented a considerable challenge with regard to understanding its role in the promotion of cardiovascular risk. Increasing evidence has established a clear causal role for elevated triglyceride levels in vascular risk. As a result, there is increasing interest in the development of specific therapeutic strategies that directly target hypertriglyceridemia. This has seen a resurgence in the use of omega-3 fatty acids for the therapeutic lowering of triglyceride levels. The role of these agents and other emerging strategies to reduce triglyceride levels in order to decrease vascular risk are reviewed.
Learning to Make Collective Decisions: The Impact of Confidence Escalation

Little is known about how people learn to take into account others’ opinions in joint decisions. To address this question, we combined computational and empirical approaches. Human dyads made individual and joint visual perceptual decision and rated their confidence in those decisions (data previously published). We trained a reinforcement (temporal difference) learning agent to get the participants’ confidence level and learn to arrive at a dyadic decision by finding the policy that either maximized the accuracy of the model decisions or maximally conformed to the empirical dyadic decisions. When confidences were shared visually without verbal interaction, RL agents successfully captured social learning. When participants exchanged confidences visually and interacted verbally, no collective benefit was achieved and the model failed to predict the dyadic behaviour. Behaviourally, dyad members’ confidence increased progressively and verbal interaction accelerated this escalation. The success of the model in drawing collective benefit from dyad members was inversely related to confidence escalation rate. The findings show an automated learning agent can, in principle, combine individual opinions and achieve collective benefit but the same agent cannot discount the escalation suggesting that one cognitive component of collective decision making in human may involve discounting of overconfidence arising from interactions.