Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inflammatory bowel disease and immunonutrition: novel therapeutic approaches through modulation of diet and the gut microbiome

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract, thought to at least in part reflect an aberrant immune response to gut bacteria. IBD is increasing in incidence, particularly in populations that have recently immigrated to western countries. This suggests that environmental factors are involved in its pathogenesis. We hypothesize that the increase in IBD rates might reflect the consumption of an unhealthy Western diet, containing excess calories and lacking in key nutritional factors, such as fibre and vitamin D. Several recent studies have determined that dietary factors can dramatically influence the activation of immune cells and the mediators they release through a process called immunonutrition. Moreover, dietary changes can profoundly affect the balance of beneficial versus pathogenic bacteria in the gut. This microbial imbalance can alter levels of microbiota‐derived metabolites that in turn can influence innate and adaptive intestinal immune responses. If the diet–gut microbiome disease axis does indeed underpin much of the ‘western’ influence on the onset and progression of IBD, then tremendous opportunity exists for therapeutic changes in lifestyle, to modulate the gut microbiome and to correct immune imbalances in individuals with IBD. This review highlights four such therapeutic strategies – probiotics, prebiotics, vitamin D and caloric restriction – that have the potential to improve and add to current IBD treatment regimens.
Modafinil modulates anterior cingulate function in chronic schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND Schizophrenia is associated with widespread cognitive deficits that have an impact on social function. Modafinil promotes wakefulness and is reported to enhance cognition. AIMS To study the acute effects of modafinil administration upon brain activity and cognitive performance in people with chronic schizophrenia. METHOD In a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled crossover design, 19 patients received either modafinil (100 mg) or placebo prior to undertaking a working memory task with functional magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS Seventeen patients completed the study and another underwent acute relapse 4 days post-drug. Modafinil administration was associated with significantly greater activation in the anterior cingulate cortex during the working memory task. The anterior cingulate cortex signal correlated with cognitive performance, although only a subset of patients exhibited 'enhancement'. CONCLUSIONS Modafinil modulates anterior cingulate cortex function in chronic schizophrenia but its beneficial cognitive effects may be restricted to a subset of patients requiring further characterisation.
Pharmacological and immunocytochemical characterization of metabotropic glutamate receptors in cultured Purkinje cells

Metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) is highly expressed in cerebellar Purkinje cells. The purpose of this study was pharmacological and immunocytochemical characterization of the mGluR in single cerebellar neurons, especially Purkinje cells. Ca2+ imaging with fura-2 in cultured cerebellar neurons, identified immunocytochemically, was used to record the direct effects of drugs in stable conditions. In addition, the expression of mGluR was examined, and expression of the intracellular receptor for inositol trisphosphate (IP3) produced by mGluR activation was studied immunocytochemically with specific antibodies. Purkinje neurons and some other neurons showed Ca(2+)- mobilizing responses to mGluR agonists. These responses were mediated by mGluR because they were not blocked by ionotropic GluR antagonists, were independent of the caffeine-sensitive Ca2+ pool, and were blocked by inhibitors of IP3-induced Ca2+ release. This is the first pharmacological characterization of mGluR at single Purkinje cells. The results differed as follows from those in earlier studies in which phosphoinositide turnover of the entire population of cerebellar cells was monitored: (1) the mGluR responses were not blocked by pertussis toxin or D,L-2-amino-3-phosphonopropionic acid; (2) glutamate was a potent agonist, whereas L-aspartate was ineffective; and (3) the dose- response relationship showed an all-or-none tendency. The metaboltropic response of Purkinje cells changed markedly during development, with a sharp peak after day 4 of culture, whereas mGluR and IP3 receptor proteins increased steadily during maturation. This apparent desensitization of mGluR was not blocked by inhibitors of protein kinase C (PKC) or ADP-ribosyltransferase. The metabotropic responses were mainly localized to the center of the somata of Purkinje cells even on day 4, whereas both receptor proteins were expressed throughout the cell. These results suggest that the function of mGluR is spatially and developmentally controlled by a posttranslational mechanism involving a mechanism other than phosphorylation by PKC or ADP- ribosylation.
Deficient neural activity subserving decision‐making during reward waiting time in intertemporal choice in adult attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder

Impulsivity, which significantly affects social adaptation, is an important target behavioral characteristic in interventions for attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Typically, people are willing to wait longer to acquire greater rewards. Impulsivity in ADHD may be associated with brain dysfunction in decision‐making involving waiting behavior under such situations. We tested the hypothesis that brain circuitry during a period of waiting (i.e., prior to the acquisition of reward) is altered in adults with ADHD.
GST ( GSTM 1 , GSTT 1 , and GSTP 1 ) polymorphisms in the genetic susceptibility of Turkish patients to cervical cancer

Objective: This work investigates the role of glutathione S-transferase M1 (GSTM1), glutathione S-transferase T1 (GSTT1), and glutathione S-transferase P1 (GSTP1) enzymes and polymorphisms, which are found in phase II detoxification reactions in the development of cervical cancer. Methods: This study was conducted with 46 patients diagnosed with cervical cancer and 52 people with no cancer history. Multiplex PCR methods were used to evaluate the GSTM1 and GSTT1 gene polymorphism. However, the GSTP1 (Ile105Val) gene polymorphism was studied using a PCR-RFLP method. The patient and control groups were compared using a chi-square test with p<0.05. Results: In the patient group, statistical significance was determined for gravidity (p=0.03), parity (p=0.01), and the number of living children (p=0.01) compared to the control group. The gene frequency of GSTM1, GSTT1, and GSTP1 polymorphisms was evaluated. We observed that GSTM1 and GSTT1 null genotype frequencies were 54.3% and 32.6% respectively, while GSTP1 (Ile/Val), (Ile/Ile), (Val/Val) genotype frequencies were 52%, 44%, and 4%, respectively, in the cervical cancer patients. No statistical variation was determined between the control and patient groups in terms of GSTM1, GSTT1, and GSTP1 polymorphisms (p>0.05). Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that GSTT1, GSTM1, and GSTP1 polymorphisms are not associated with cervical cancer in Turkish patients.
Flame-capturing Technique. I. Adaptation to Gas Expansion

Various flame-tracking techniques are used in hydrodynamic simulations. Their use is indispensable when resolving the actual scale of the flame is impossible. We show that parameters defining "artificial flame" propagation found from model systems in use may yield flame velocities several times those required, due to matter expansion being ignored in the models. The integral effect of material expansion due to burning is incorporated into flame-capturing technique. Several models with simple burning rates are studied with gas expansion included. Plausible performance of the technique in simulations is discussed. Its modification, ensuring finite flame width is found. Specific realizations are proposed that feature flame structure insensitive to the expansion parameter; these ensure consistent scheme performance at different stages of burning. An interpolation formula is proposed for the parameters governing flame propagation yielding 0.2% accurate speed and width for any expansion (and at least 0.01% accurate for expansions typical in Type Ia supernova explosions.) Implementation suggestions are summarized. Proposed realizations are tested with the ALLA hydrodynamic code used for supernovae simulations.
The MIF -173G/C gene polymorphism increase gastrointestinal cancer and hematological malignancy risk: evidence from a meta-analysis and FPRP test.

UNLABELLED The macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) -173G/C gene polymorphism has been implicated in the susceptibility to cancer, but the results are not conclusive. So the aim of study to investigate the association between MIF -173G/C gene polymorphism and cancer risk by a comprehensive meta-analysis. We searched the PubMed, Embase, Wanfang and China National Knowledge Internet (CNKI) databases, with the last updated search being performed on May 24, 2015. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were used to assess the association. Statistical analysis was performed by STATA 11.0 software. Finally, 7,253 participants from 15 studies were included in the meta-analysis. The results of meta-analysis indicated the significant association between MIF -173G/C gene polymorphism and cancer susceptibility, especially in Asians (C vs. G, OR 1.22, 95% CI=1.00-1.50). In addition, the significant relationship between MIF -173G/C gene polymorphism and gastrointestinal tumors (CC+CG vs. GG, OR 1.25, 95% CI=1.05-1.50), hematological malignancy (CC+CG vs. GG, OR 1.27, 95% CI=1.03-1.56), gynecolgical tumors (CC vs. CG+ GG, OR 1.51, 95% CI=1.04-2.19) risk was found. However, to avoid the "false positive report", we investigated the significant associations observed in the present meta-analysis by the false positive report probabilities (FPRPs) test. Interestingly, the results of FPRP test indicated the MIF -173G/C gene polymorphism only associated with gastrointestinal cancer and hematological malignancy risk (FPRP=0.132, 0.067 respectively) at the level of a prior probability is 0.1. Therefore, the meta-analysis suggested MIF -173G/C gene polymorphism would be a risk factor for the gastrointestinal cancer and hematological malignancy.
Determinants of social and institutional beliefs about internet acceptance within developing country’s context: A structural evaluation of higher education systems in Pakistan

This study aims to extend a model of technology acceptance to suit in developing country’s context. The model attempts to identify relationship between social and institutional factors over behavioural intention and usage. Recently, ‘acceptance and adoption of information technology (IT) in multicultural setting’ is becoming topic of interest for IS researchers. In this line, numerous theories and models are proposed to contribute in examining factors of IT acceptance and reluctance. It is argued that the models in published literature are found culturally biased, which successfully present results in only American and European context, however, their validity became questionable when they were tested in south Asian countries context. Additionally, lack of research is observed to predict individual’s cognitive behaviour of acceptance, which are influenced by social factors (i.e. peer influence and superior influence, voluntariness, experience) and institutional factors (i.e. local institutional management influence and top-level governmental policies influence). This study used Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) based on Partial Least Square (PLS) method to analyse the data. The results reveal that the proposed conceptual model achieves acceptable fit and the hypothesised paths are valid.
The texture classification using the fusion of decisions from different texture classifiers

The improved of texture classification accuracy by using the probability weighted combination method of three texture features extraction consist of thE0020 Gray-Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM), Semivariogram Function and Gaussian Markov Random Fields (GMRFs). Five different textures images are used in the experiment. The classifier that use for classify the extracted features in this research is Support Vector Machines (SVMs). The experimental result shows that the average accuracy of the combination method with probability weight up to 95.71%, which is better than the simple combination method about 2%
Energy Efficiency in the Mobile Ad Hoc Networking Approach to Monitoring Farm Animals

Using Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs) for monitoring bovine animals potentially offers high increase in the profitability of cattle production. In this paper we propose a formal model for the cattle monitoring system. Then we formulate the requirements for the MANET routing protocol for such systems. We identify a suitable MANET routing protocol that satisfies these requirements and adapt it to our scenario. We propose optimizations to this protocol that utilize heterogeneity of the power constrains of the wireless nodes. More precisely we make a trade-off between the power utilized by animal mounted devices and fixed sinks where they upload the collected and processed data. We also save energy on flooding based route discovery for the cost of graceful degradation of data delivery time by utilizing passive detection of temporary availability of sink routes. Finally we show in the simulation that the proposed approach is feasible and the proposed optimizations considerably decrease the energy consumption and increase scalability in terms of density and number of wireless nodes. This is important considering size and range of stocking densities of modern farming enterprises. Keywords-animal monitoring; MANET; routing protocol; energy efficiency; WSN
Electroencephalographic, Heart Rate, and Galvanic Skin Response Assessment for an Advertising Perception Study: Application to Antismoking Public Service Announcements

The evaluation of advertising, products, and packaging is traditionally performed through methods based on self-reports and focus groups, but these approaches often appear poorly accurate in scientific terms. Neuroscience is increasingly applied to the investigation of the neurophysiological bases of the perception of and reaction to commercial stimuli to support traditional marketing methods. In this context, a particular sector or marketing is represented by public service announcements (PSAs). The objective of this protocol is to apply electroencephalography (EEG) and autonomic signal analysis to study responses to selected antismoking PSAs. Two EEG indices were employed: the frontal alpha band EEG asymmetry (the Approach Withdrawal (AW) index) and the frontal theta (effort index). Furthermore, the autonomic Emotional Index (EI) was calculated, as derived from the Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) and Heart Rate (HR) signals. The present protocol describes a series of operational and computational steps required to properly estimate, through the aforementioned indices, the emotional and cerebral reaction of a group of subjects towards a selected number of antismoking PSAs. In particular, a campaign characterized by a symbolic communication style (classified as "awarded" on the basis of the prizes received by specialized committees) obtained the highest approach values, as estimated by the AW index. A spot and an image belonging to the same PSA campaign based on the "fear arousing appeal" and with a narrative/experiential communication style (classified as "effective" on the basis of the economical/health-related improvements promoted) reported the lowest and highest effort values, respectively. This is probably due to the complexity of the storytelling (spot) and to the immediateness of the image (a lady who underwent a tracheotomy). Finally, the same "effective" campaign showed the highest EI values, possibly because of the empathy induced by the testimonial and the explicitness of the message.
A Probabilistic Forest-to-String Model for Language Generation from Typed Lambda Calculus Expressions

This paper describes a novel probabilistic approach for generating natural language sentences from their underlying semantics in the form of typed lambda calculus. The approach is built on top of a novel reduction-based weighted synchronous context free grammar formalism, which facilitates the transformation process from typed lambda calculus into natural language sentences. Sentences can then be generated based on such grammar rules with a log-linear model. To acquire such grammar rules automatically in an unsupervised manner, we also propose a novel approach with a generative model, which maps from sub-expressions of logical forms to word sequences in natural language sentences. Experiments on benchmark datasets for both English and Chinese generation tasks yield significant improvements over results obtained by two state-of-the-art machine translation models, in terms of both automatic metrics and human evaluation.
Predictors of Rapid Cognitive Decline in Patients with Mild-to-Moderate Alzheimer Disease: A Prospective Cohort Study with 12-Month Follow-Up Performed in Memory Clinics

Background/Aims: Alzheimer disease (AD) is particularly devastating, with no cure, no means of prevention, and no proven way to slow progression. AD is associated with the worsening of cognitive function attributable to a variety of factors of which little is known. Our main objective was to determine factors associated with rapid cognitive decline (RCD) in older AD patients. Methods: We conducted a 12-month, prospective, multi-centre cohort study. Community-living individuals aged ≥65 years with mild-to-moderate AD were included. RCD was defined as the loss of ≥3 points/year in the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score. Potential individual-level predictors were collected at baseline. Results: A total of 521 individuals were included. The mean age was 80.8 ± 9.0 years and 66.0% were females. The average baseline MMSE score was 20.5 ± 4.5. The incidence of RCD was 40.9% (95% confidence interval [CI], 36.7–45.1). RCD was more common in patients with moderate (53.5%) than mild (22.3%) AD. The factors associated with RCD were: a parental history of dementia (odds ratio [OR], 2.32 [95% CI, 1.24–4.21], p = 0.011), psychotic symptoms (OR, 2.06 [95% CI, 1.22–3.48], p = 0.007), malnutrition (OR, 1.61 [95% CI, 1.06–2.63], p = 0.028), and the female gender (OR, 1.48 [95% CI, 1.03–2.15], p = 0.036). An MMSE score < 20 at treatment onset was also associated with RCD (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The factors associated with RCD were an MMSE score < 20 at treatment onset, female gender, psychotic symptoms, malnutrition, and a family history of dementia. These results may be directly relevant to patients, their families, and their physicians, enabling early anticipation of difficult clinical trajectories and poor functional outcomes.
Neurochemical changes in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex associated with electroacupuncture for learning and memory impairment

Electroacupuncture (EA) has been widely used to treat cognitive impairment following cerebral ischemia. However, the functional mechanisms of EA have not been fully elucidated. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether EA at the GV 20 and DU 24 acupoints can improve the learning and memory ability via alteration of the neurochemical metabolism in the hippocampus (HPC) and prefrontal cortex (PFC) of rats with ischemia and reperfusion (I/R) injury. Sprague-Dawley male rats were randomly divided into three groups, namely the sham group (n=12), the middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) group (n=12) and the EA treatment (MCAO + EA) group (n=12). MCAO was performed to establish the left focal cerebral I/R injury model, and the GV 20 and DU 24 acupoints were then stimulated with EA for 30 min per time, once daily, for 7 consecutive days. The Morris water maze (MWM) test was used to assess learning and memory ability. T2-weighted imaging was used to assess the cerebral infarct volume. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to assess neurochemical metabolism of HPC and PFC. The neurological scores of the MCAO + EA group were significantly reduced compared with those of the MCAO group 7 days after EA treatment (P<0.01). The escape latency of the MWM test in the MCAO + EA group was found to be shorter compared with that in the MCAO group (P<0.01). The number of rats crossing through the platform area was significantly higher in the MCAO + EA group compared with that in the MCAO group (P<0.01). The cerebral infarct volume was also decreased in the MCAO + EA group compared with the MCAO group (P<0.05). The ratios of N-acetylaspartate (NAA)/creatine (Cr) and choline (Cho)/Cr of left-to-right HPC were increased in the MCAO + EA group compared with the MCAO group; however, the ratio of glutamate (Glu)/Cr did not change significantly (P>0.05). The ratios of NAA/Cr, Cho/Cr and Glu/Cr of left-to-right PFC were elevated (P<0.05). In conclusion, EA at the GV 20 and DU 24 acupoints may ameliorate learning and memory ability, possibly through increasing the levels of NAA and Cho in the HPC and PFC of rats with I/R injury.
Some illustrations of information geometry in biology and physics

Many real processes have stochastic features which seem to be representable in some intuitive sense as ‘close to Poisson’, ‘nearly random’, ‘nearly uniform’ or with binary variables ‘nearly independent’. Each of those particular reference states, dened by an equation, is unstable in the formal sense, but it is passed through or hovered about by the observed process. Information geometry gives precise meaning for nearness and neighbourhood in a state space of processes, naturally quantifying proximity of a process to a particular state via an information theoretic metric structure on smoothly parametrized families of probability density functions. We illustrate some aspects of the methodology through case studies: inhomogeneous statistical evolutionary rate processes for epidemics, amino acid spacings along protein chains, constrained disordering of crystals, distinguishing nearby signal distributions and testing pseudorandom number generators.