Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Baicalein improves behavioral dysfunction induced by Alzheimer’s disease in rats

Background Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is considered to be a neurodegenerative disorder that is characterized by increased oxidative stress. Medicinal plants, with their antioxidant properties, have been used to cure several human diseases. The aim of the current study was to explore the protective and therapeutic effect of baicalein on AD-induced rats. Materials and methods Swiss Wistar rats were used in the study. The rats were divided into five groups. Group I: normal control group treated with water; Group II: disease control treated with AlCl3 to induce the mimicking AD for 4 successive weeks (SW); Group III: normal control group treated with baicalein (5 mg/kg) for 2 SW followed by combination of baicalein and AlCl3 for 4 SW; Group IV: normal control group treated with baicalein (10 mg/kg) for 2 SW followed by combination of baicalein and AlCl3 for 4 SW; Group V: normal control group treated with rivastigmine (0.3 mg/kg) for 2 SW followed by combination of rivastigmine and AlCl3 for 4 SW. Moreover, the therapeutic groups are as follows: Group VI: AD disease control treated with AlCl3 for 4 SW and serving as the therapeutic positive group; Group VII: AD disease control + baicalein (5 mg/kg) for 12 SW; Group VIII: AD disease control + baicalein (10 mg/kg) for 12 SW; Group IX: AD disease control + rivastigmine (0.3 mg/kg) for 12 SW. Behavioral test, T-maze, and rotarod test were also performed before and after the treatment. At the end of the experimental study, all the rats were sacrificed and their brains were removed and divided into two portions. The first portion was homogenated for estimating the level of acetylcholinesterase (AchE) and acetylcholine (Ach). Another portion was used for histopathological evaluation. Results The current investigation showed that baicalein significantly reduced the duration of revolving on the rotarod, cage activity, and T-maze activity in a dose-dependent manner compared with the AD control group rats. It also altered the AchE and Ach levels in the brain homogenates. The histopathology study also provides strength to the protective effect of baicalein. Conclusion The current study showed that baicalein significantly (P<0.05) improved the biochemical and histopathological condition of AD in rats.
The Different Immunoregulatory Functions of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Patients with Low-Risk or High-Risk Myelodysplastic Syndromes

Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) are a group of progressive, clonal, neoplastic bone marrow disorders characterized by hematopoietic stem cell dysregulation and abnormalities in the immune system. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) have gained further interests after the demonstration of an immunoregulatory role. Nevertheless, the immunoregulatory function of MDS bone marrow derived MSC (MDS-MSC) remains poorly defined. In addition, it is not clear whether there are differences in the regulatory functions between low-risk and high-risk MDS-MSC. In this study, we obtain and expand MSC from bone marrow of patients with MDS. Our results show that there are significant differences in the immunoregulatory functions between low-risk and high-risk MDS-MSC. Compare to low-risk MDS-MSC, high-risk MDS-MSC is associated with the presence of increased TGF-β1, higher apoptosis, higher immunosuppressive rate and a poor ability of hematopoietic support. In addition, our results find that there are great differences in the CD4+CD25+Foxp3+Tregs inducible rate between high-risk MDS-MSC and low-risk MDS-MSC. Compared to high-risk MDS-MSC, the inducible rate of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+Tregs of low-risk MDS-MSC is lower. At last, we find that MDS-MSC derived TGF-β1 is largely responsible for the increase in CD4+CD25+Foxp3+Tregs based on knockdown studies. These results elucidate the different immunoregulatory role of MSC in low-risk and high-risk MDS, which may be important for understand the pathogenesis of MDS and the development of novel immunomodulatory strategies for the treatment of MDS.
A new sample of large angular size radio galaxies. I. The radio data

We present a new sample of 84 large angular size radio galaxies selected from the NRAO VLA Sky Survey. Radio sources with declination above +60 degrees, total flux density greater than 100 mJy at 1.4 GHz and angular size larger than 4 arcmin have been selected and observed with the VLA at 1.4 and 4.9 GHz. The radio observations attempt to confirm the large angular size sources and to isolate the core emission for optical identification. In this paper, the first of a series of three, we present radio maps of 79 sources from the sample and discuss the effects of the selection criteria in the final sample. 37 radio galaxies belong to the class of giants, of which 22 are reported in this paper for the first time.
The Publication of Interest Rate Projections by the Central Banks of Norway and Sweden

The publication of interest rate projections by central banks, a central bank’s own quantitative estimate of future interest rate decisions, is the newest and most controversial method of increasing transparency. Economists and central bankers disagree over whether or not publishing projections help the central bank manage private sector expectations. This paper examines if publishing interest rate projections by the central banks of Norway and Sweden improves the private sector’s ability to predict future interest rates. I investigate the effect of publishing projections on the root mean square error of money market forward rates and on changes in rates in response to interest rate decisions by the central bank. Using a New Keynesian macroeconomic model, I show that publishing projections should improve predictability if publishing provides the market with a clearer signal of future actions by the central bank. However, the empirical evidence suggests the effect of publishing projections may be negligible because interest rates were already relatively predictable and projections from both central banks have performed poorly during the financial crisis.
Animal Study Registries: Results from a Stakeholder Analysis on Potential Strengths, Weaknesses, Facilitators, and Barriers

Publication bias in animal research, its extent, its predictors, and its potential countermeasures are increasingly discussed. Recent reports and conferences highlight the potential strengths of animal study registries (ASRs) in this regard. Others have warned that prospective registration of animal studies could diminish creativity, add administrative burdens, and complicate intellectual property issues in translational research. A literature review and 21 international key-informant interviews were conducted and thematically analyzed to develop a comprehensive matrix of main- and subcategories for potential ASR-related strengths, weaknesses, facilitators, and barriers (SWFBs). We identified 130 potential SWFBs. All stakeholder groups agreed that ASRs could in various ways improve the quality and refinement of animal studies while allowing their number to be reduced, as well as supporting meta-research on animal studies. However, all stakeholder groups also highlighted the potential for theft of ideas, higher administrative burdens, and reduced creativity and serendipity in animal studies. Much more detailed reasoning was captured in the interviews than is currently found in the literature, providing a comprehensive account of the issues and arguments around ASRs. All stakeholder groups highlighted compelling potential strengths of ASRs. Although substantial weaknesses and implementation barriers were highlighted as well, different governance measures might help to minimize or even eliminate their impact. Such measures might include confidentiality time frames for accessing prospectively registered protocols, harmonized reporting requirements across ASRs, ethics reviews, lab notebooks, and journal submissions. The comprehensive information gathered in this study could help to guide a more evidence-based debate and to design pilot tests for ASRs.
BranchConnect: Image Categorization with Learned Branch Connections

We introduce an architecture for image categorization that enables the end-to-end learning of separate visual features for the different classes to distinguish. The proposed model consists of a deep CNN shaped like a tree. The stem of the tree includes a sequence of convolutional layers common to all classes. The stem then splits into multiple branches implementing parallel feature extractors, which are ultimately connected to the final classification layer via learned gated connections. These learned gates determine for each individual class the subset of features to use. Such a scheme naturally encourages the learning of a heterogeneous set of specialized features through the separate branches and it allows each class to use the subset of features that are optimal for its recognition. We show the generality of our proposed method by reshaping several popular CNNs from the literature into our proposed architecture. Our experiments on the CIFAR100, CIFAR10, ImageNet, and Synth datasets show that in each case our resulting model yields a substantial improvement in accuracy over the original CNN. Our empirical analysis also suggests that our scheme acts as a form of beneficial regularization improving generalization performance.
BIOFUELS AND BROILERS---COMPETITORS OR COOPERATORS ?

The rapid increase in production of ethanol from corn and other grains and biodiesel from various fats and oils has resulted in growing quantities of byproducts from these industries, primarily distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) from the ethanol industry and glycerol from biodiesel production. The use of DDGS in poultry and swine diets is not new, but the supply of product encourages the use of higher percentages than has typically been used in the past. As greater quantities are used in the diet, it becomes increasingly essential that accurate nutrient values be assigned to the product. This review attempts to summarize results from various laboratories to provide a nutrient matrix that can be used to evaluate the potential use of DDGS in poultry feeds. Glycerol from biodiesel production has had limited use in animal feeds but results from recent feeding trials indicate that it can be useful as a pure energy source at levels up to 5% of the diet.
Identifying Conserved and Novel MicroRNAs in Developing Seeds of Brassica napus Using Deep Sequencing

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important post-transcriptional regulators of plant development and seed formation. In Brassica napus, an important edible oil crop, valuable lipids are synthesized and stored in specific seed tissues during embryogenesis. The miRNA transcriptome of B. napus is currently poorly characterized, especially at different seed developmental stages. This work aims to describe the miRNAome of developing seeds of B. napus by identifying plant-conserved and novel miRNAs and comparing miRNA abundance in mature versus developing seeds. Members of 59 miRNA families were detected through a computational analysis of a large number of reads obtained from deep sequencing two small RNA and two RNA-seq libraries of (i) pooled immature developing stages and (ii) mature B. napus seeds. Among these miRNA families, 17 families are currently known to exist in B. napus; additionally 29 families not reported in B. napus but conserved in other plant species were identified by alignment with known plant mature miRNAs. Assembled mRNA-seq contigs allowed for a search of putative new precursors and led to the identification of 13 novel miRNA families. Analysis of miRNA population between libraries reveals that several miRNAs and isomiRNAs have different abundance in developing stages compared to mature seeds. The predicted miRNA target genes encode a broad range of proteins related to seed development and energy storage. This work presents a comparative study of the miRNA transcriptome of mature and developing B. napus seeds and provides a basis for future research on individual miRNAs and their functions in embryogenesis, seed maturation and lipid accumulation in B. napus.
Validation of optical voltage reporting by the genetically encoded voltage indicator VSFP-Butterfly from cortical layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons in mouse brain slices

Understanding how behavior emerges from brain electrical activity is one of the ultimate goals of neuroscience. To achieve this goal we require methods for large‐scale recording of the electrical activity of specific neuronal circuits. A very promising approach is to use optical reporting of membrane voltage transients, particularly if the voltage reporter is genetically targeted to specific neuronal populations. Targeting in this way allows population signals to be recorded and interpreted without blindness to neuronal diversity. Here, we evaluated the voltage‐sensitive fluorescent protein, VSFP Butterfly 2.1, a genetically encoded voltage indicator (GEVI), for monitoring electrical activity of layer 2/3 cortical pyramidal neurons in mouse brain slices. Standard widefield fluorescence and two‐photon imaging revealed robust, high signal‐to‐noise ratio read‐outs of membrane voltage transients that are predominantly synaptic in nature and can be resolved as discrete areas of synaptically connected layer 2/3 neurons. We find that targeted expression of this GEVI in the cortex provides a flexible and promising tool for the analysis of L2/3 cortical network function.
Bisection Based Placement for the X Architecture

Rising interconnect delay and power consumption have motivated the investigation of alternative integrated circuit routing architectures. In particular, the X architecture, which features preferred routing in diagonal directions, has gained a measure of industry support, and has even been validated at 65nm. While there has been extensive study of Manhattan design methods, there are markedly fewer published results for non-Manhattan design. To help fill this gap, we study a patented placement method for the X architecture; to our knowledge, there have been no prior published results for the method. Surprisingly, we find that the patented method in fact performs worse than traditional Manhattan methods - for both Manhattan and X routing metrics. We also present a theoretic formulation which explains why solution quality is degraded. Many groups in industry are evaluating the merits of non-Manhattan routing architectures. By providing concrete experimental results, we hope to improve the accuracy of these evaluations.
Shifts of Effective Connectivity within a Language Network during Rhyming and Spelling

We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine task-specific modulations of effective connectivity within a left-hemisphere language network during spelling and rhyming judgments on visually presented words. We identified sites showing task-specific activations for rhyming in the lateral temporal cortex (LTC) and for spelling in the intraparietal sulcus (IPS). The inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and fusiform gyrus were engaged by both tasks. Dynamic causal modeling showed that each task preferentially strengthened modulatory influences converging on its task-specific site (LTC for rhyming, IPS for spelling). These remarkably selective and symmetrical findings demonstrate that the nature of the behavioral task dynamically shifts the locus of integration (or convergence) to the network component specialized for that task. Furthermore, they suggest that the role of the task-selective areas is to provide a differential synthesis of incoming information rather than providing differential control signals influencing the activity of other network components. Our findings also showed that switching tasks led to changes in the target area influenced by the IFG, suggesting that the IFG may play a pivotal role in setting the cognitive context for each task. We propose that task-dependent shifts in effective connectivity are likely to be mediated through top-down modulations from the IFG to the task-selective regions in a way that differentially enhances their sensitivity to incoming word-form information.
Detecting Horizontally Transferred and Essential Genes Based on Dinucleotide Relative Abundance

Various methods have been developed to detect horizontal gene transfer in bacteria, based on anomalous nucleotide composition, assuming that compositional features undergo amelioration in the host genome. Evolutionary theory predicts the inevitability of false positives when essential sequences are strongly conserved. Foreign genes could become more detectable on the basis of their higher order compositions if such features ameliorate more rapidly and uniformly than lower order features. This possibility is tested by comparing the heterogeneities of bacterial genomes with respect to strand-independent first- and second-order features, (i) G + C content and (ii) dinucleotide relative abundance, in 1 kb segments. Although statistical analysis confirms that (ii) is less inhomogeneous than (i) in all 12 species examined, extreme anomalies with respect to (ii) in the Escherichia coli K12 genome are typically co-located with essential genes.
Is Child Work Necessary?

This article investigates the hypothesis that child labour is compelled by poverty. It shows that a testable implication of this hypothesis is that the wage elasticity of child labour supply is negative. Using a large household survey for rural Pakistan, labour supply models for boys and girls in wage work are estimated. Conditioning on non-labour income and a range of demographic variables, the article finds a negative wage elasticity for boys and an elasticity that is insignificantly different from zero for girls. Thus, while boys appear to work on account of poverty compulsions, the evidence for girls is ambiguous.
Reversal of Chronic Molecular and Cellular Abnormalities Due to Heart Failure by Passive Mechanical Ventricular Containment

Abstract— Passive mechanical containment of failing left ventricle (LV) with the Acorn Cardiac Support Device (CSD) was shown to prevent progressive LV dilation in dogs with heart failure (HF) and increase ejection fraction. To examine possible mechanisms for improved LV function with the CSD, we examined the effect of CSD therapy on the expression of cardiac stretch response proteins, myocyte hypertrophy, sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase activity and uptake, and mRNA gene expression for myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoforms. HF was produced in 12 dogs by intracoronary microembolization. Six dogs were implanted with the CSD and 6 served as concurrent controls. LV tissue from 6 normal dogs was used for comparison. Compared with normal dogs, untreated HF dogs showed reduced cardiomyocyte contraction and relaxation, upregulation of stretch response proteins (p21ras, c-fos, and p38 &agr;/&bgr; mitogen-activated protein kinase), increased myocyte hypertrophy, reduced SERCA2a activity with unchanged affinity for calcium, reduced proportion of mRNA gene expression for &agr;-MHC, and increased proportion of &bgr;-MHC. Therapy with the CSD was associated with improved cardiomyocyte contraction and relaxation, downregulation of stretch response proteins, attenuation of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, increased affinity of the pump for calcium, and restoration of &agr;- and &bgr;-MHC isoforms ratio. The results suggest that preventing LV dilation and stretch with the CSD promotes downregulation of stretch response proteins, attenuates myocyte hypertrophy and improves SR calcium cycling. These data offer possible mechanisms for improvement of LV function after CSD therapy.
Skeletal Manifestations of Scurvy: A Case Report from Dubai

Introduction. Nutritional deficiencies are rarely reported in developed countries. We report a child of Pakistani origin brought up in Dubai who developed skeletal manifestations of scurvy due to peculiar dietary habits. Case Presentation. A 4.5 year old boy presented with pain and swelling of multiple joints for three months and inability to walk for two months. Dietary history was significant for exclusive meat intake for the preceding two years. On examination the child's height and weight were below the 5th percentile for his age. He was pale and tachycardic. There was significant swelling and tenderness over the wrist, knee and ankle joints, along with painful restriction of motion. Basic blood workup was unremarkable except for anemia. However, X-rays showed delayed bone age, severe osteopenia of the long bones, epiphyseal separation, cortical thinning and dense zone of provisional calcification, suggesting a radiological diagnosis of scurvy. The child was started on vitamin C replacement therapy. Over the following two months, the pain and swelling substantially reduced and the child became able to walk. Repeat X-rays showed improvement in the bony abnormalities. Conclusion. Although scurvy is not a very commonly encountered entity in the modern era, inappropriate dietary intake can lead to skeletal abnormalities which may be confused with rickets. A high index of suspicion is thus required for prompt diagnosis of scurvy in patients with bone and joint symptoms.
Fatty Acid Metabolism, Polymorphism and Cognition

abstraCt 1 Multiple lines of evidence suggest that fatty acids (FA) levels play an important role in cognitive function. However, very little is known about the functional genetic pathways involved in the brain. The main goals of this study were to replicate previously reported effects of breast feeding (BF) on IQ by fatty acid desaturase (FADS) genetic variation and to investigate the possible mechanisms on how these variants might moderate this effect, focusing on brain gene expression. We observed a trend in the moderation of BF effects on IQ by FADS2 variation (rs174575) in the same direction as reported previously. In addition, we showed that multiple variants in the FADS gene cluster correlate with FADS brain expression, including rs174575. Our results provide novel clues for the understanding of the genetic mechanisms regulating FA brain expression and improve the current knowledge of the FADS moderation effect on cognitive function. (2012). FADS2 genetic variance in combination with fatty acid intake might alter composition of the fatty acids in brain.
SIoT: Giving a Social Structure to the Internet of Things

The actual development of the Internet of Things (IoT) needs major issues related to things' service discovery and composition to be addressed. This paper proposes a possible approach to solve such issues. We introduce a novel paradigm of "social network of intelligent objects", namely the Social Internet of Things (SIoT), based on the notion of social relationships among objects. Following the definition of a possible social structure among objects, a preliminary architecture for the implementation of SIoT is presented. Through the SIoT paradigm, the capability of humans and devices to discover, select, and use objects with their services in the IoT is augmented. Besides, a level of trustworthiness is enabled to steer the interaction among the billions of objects which will crowd the future IoT.
Rate Optimization for IDMA Systems with Iterative Multi-User Decoding

In this paper, we develop a rate allocation scheme for interleave-division multiple-access (IDMA) systems with iterative decoding. We use a fully-analytical approach to predict the performance of the scheme and propose a modified linear programming method to design the rate profile. Numerical results show that with just repetition coding and rate allocation, the performance of the scheme is only about 5 dB away from the capacity for a wide range of SNR, provided that the number of users is sufficiently large. Compared with power allocation schemes for IDMA, the proposed rate allocation scheme achieves a similar performance at a moderate spectral efficiency and the requirement of sophisticated power amplifiers can be relaxed.