Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Differential Sialylation of Serpin A1 in the Early Diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease Dementia

The prevalence of Parkinson’s disease (PD) increases with age. Up to 50% of PD show cognitive decline in terms of a mild cognitive impairment already in early stages that predict the development of dementia, which can occur in up to 80% of PD patients over the long term, called Parkinson’s disease dementia (PDD). So far, diagnosis of PD/PDD is made according to clinical and neuropsychological examinations while laboratory data is only used for exclusion of other diseases. The aim of this study was the identification of possible biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of PD, PDD and controls (CON) which predict the development of dementia in PD. For this, a proteomic approach optimized for CSF was performed using 18 clinically well characterized patients in a first step with subsequent validation using 84 patients. Here, we detected differentially sialylated isoforms of Serpin A1 as marker for differentiation of PD versus PDD in CSF. Performing 2D-immunoblots, all PDD patients could be identified correctly (sensitivity 100%). Ten out of 24 PD patients showed Serpin A1 isoforms in a similar pattern like PDD, indicating a specificity of 58% for the test-procedure. In control samples, no additional isoform was detected. On the basis of these results, we conclude that differentially sialylated products of Serpin A1 are an interesting biomarker to indicate the development of a dementia during the course of PD.
A 1μW voice activity detector using analog feature extraction and digital deep neural network

Voice user interfaces (UIs) are highly compelling for wearable and mobile devices. They have the advantage of using compact and ultra-low-power (ULP) input devices (e.g. passive microphones). Together with ULP signal acquisition and processing, voice UIs can give energy-harvesting acoustic sensor nodes and battery-operating devices the sought-after capability of natural interaction with humans. Voice activity detection (VAD), separating speech from background noise, is a key building block in such voice UIs, e.g. it can enable power gating of higher-level speech tasks such as speaker identification and speech recognition [1]. As an always-on block, the power consumption of VAD must be minimized and meanwhile maintain high classification accuracy. Motivated by high power efficiency of analog signal processing, a VAD system using analog feature extraction (AFE) and mixed-signal decision tree (DT) classifier was demonstrated in [2]. While it achieved a record of 6μW, the system requires machine-learning based calibration of the DT thresholds on a chip-to-chip basis due to ill-controlled AFE variation. Moreover, the 7-node DT may deliver inferior classification accuracy especially under low input SNR and difficult noise scenario, compared to more advanced classifiers like deep neural networks (DNNs) [1,3]. Although heavy computational load in conventional floating-point DNNs prevents their adoption in embedded systems, the binarized neural networks (BNNs) with binary weights and activations proposed in [4] may pave the way to ULP implementations. In this paper, we present a 1μW VAD system utilizing AFE and a digital BNN classifier with an event-encoding A/D interface. The whole AFE is 9.4x more power-efficient than the prior art [5] and 7.9x than the state-of-the-art digital filter bank [6], and the BNN consumes only 0. 63μW. To avoid costly chip-wise training, a variation-aware python model of the AFE was created and the generated features were used for offline BNN training. Measurements show 84.4%/85.4% mean speech/non-speech hit rate with 1.88%/4.65% 1-σ standard deviation among 10 dies using the same weights for 10dB SNR speech with restaurant noise.
Clinicopathological categorization of Epstein–Barr virus-positive T/NK-cell lymphoproliferative disease: an analysis of 42 cases with an emphasis on prognostic implications

Abstract Epstein–Barr virus-positive T/NK-cell lymphoproliferative diseases (EBV-T/NK-LPDs) include several overlapping EBV-related conditions with variably aggressive courses. For prognostic categorization, we retrospectively analyzed 42 EBV-T/NK-LPD cases. Male (79% [33/42]), young (≤40 years; 83% [35/42]) patients and T-cell lineage (81% [34/42]; CD8/CD4 = 1.8) were predominant. Clinicopathologically, three systemic and one cutaneous category were developed: hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH; 26% [11/42]), chronic active EBV infection (CAEBV; 31% [13/42]), systemic unclassifiable disease (24% [10/42]), and hydroa vacciniforme/hydroa vacciniforme-like lymphoma (HV/HVL; 19% [8/42]). Prognostically, cutaneous disease (HV/HVL) was better than systemic disease (p = 0.014; median, 285 vs. 10 months). In systemic diseases, HLH was worst (p = 0.002; 3[HLH] vs. 4[unclassifiable] vs. not reached [CAEBV]). Univariate survival analysis (n = 42) revealed cytopenia (≥one lineage; p < 0.001), onset age (>40 years; p = 0.001), T-cell lineage (p = 0.041), hemophagocytic histiocytes (p = 0.031), elevated lactate dehydrogenase (p = 0.020), and liver dysfunction (p = 0.023) predicted shorter survival. In multivariate analysis, T-cell lineage (p = 0.025 [HR =11.3]) and cytopenia (p = 0.028 [HR =5.4]) were independent prognostic factors. Therefore, EBV-T/NK-LPD could be classified into four prognostic categories.
Hospital utilization for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in saskatoon, Canada

Abstract Objective: This retrospective study reviewed hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in Saskatoon, Canada, between 2005 and 2017. The purpose was to understand hospital utilization and admission patterns for patients with ALS in the absence of coordinated multidisciplinary care. Methods: Hospital/ICU admissions were detected at two hospitals in Saskatoon using the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) coding for ALS. Patient demographic data, hospitalization and pre-hospitalization information were recorded, and descriptive statistics were generated. Results: Of the 83 patients identified, 52% were male with a mean age of 66.8 years. Fifty-two percent were undiagnosed prior to hospitalization, with significantly longer ICU stays compared to those diagnosed prior to admission (49.4 ± 46.6 vs. 21.9 ± 32.0 days; p = 0.0003). Eighty-nine percent of all admissions (n = 118) were non-elective. Although respiratory dysfunction was the most common reason for admission (n = 41, 49%), and all ICU admissions were for respiratory dysfunction, only 2% were on non-invasive ventilation prior to ICU admission. All tracheostomies (n =10, 12%) were placed non-electively, and 50% were in previously undiagnosed patients. Thirty-four percent (n = 28) of patients died in hospital in an ICU (n = 8, 29%) and hospital wards (n = 20, 71%). Conclusion: ALS patients in Saskatoon had high non-elective admission rates, with over half undiagnosed prior to hospitalization, and high rates of emergent tracheostomy. This study highlights the need for early diagnosis and coordinated multidisciplinary care for improved outpatient management of ALS to reduce lengthy and complicated hospitalizations.
Control of Cyclin C Levels during Development of Dictyostelium

Background Cdk8 and its partner cyclin C form part of the mediator complex which links the basal transcription machinery to regulatory proteins. The pair are required for correct regulation of a subset of genes and have been implicated in control of development in a number of organisms including the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum. When feeding, Dictyostelium amoebae are unicellular but upon starvation they aggregate to form a multicellular structure which develops into a fruiting body containing spores. Cells in which the gene encoding Cdk8 has been deleted fail to enter aggregates due to a failure of early gene expression. Principal Findings We have monitored the expression levels of cyclin C protein during development and find levels decrease after the multicellular mound is formed. This decrease is triggered by extracellular cAMP that, in turn, is working in part through an increase in intracellular cAMP. The loss of cyclin C is coincident with a reduction in the association of Cdk8 with a high molecular weight complex in the nucleus. Overexpression of cyclin C and Cdk8 lead to an increased rate of early development, consistent with the levels being rate limiting. Conclusions Overall these results show that both cyclin C and Cdk8 are regulated during development in response to extracellular signals and the levels of these proteins are important in controlling the timing of developmental processes. These findings have important implications for the role of these proteins in controlling development, suggesting that they are targets for developmental signals to regulate gene expression.
Geminivirus-Mediated Delivery of Florigen Promotes Determinate Growth in Aerial Organs and Uncouples Flowering from Photoperiod in Cotton

Background Plant architecture and the timing and distribution of reproductive structures are fundamental agronomic traits shaped by patterns of determinate and indeterminate growth. Florigen, encoded by FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) in Arabidopsis and SINGLE FLOWER TRUSS (SFT) in tomato, acts as a general growth hormone, advancing determinate growth. Domestication of upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) converted it from a lanky photoperiodic perennial to a highly inbred, compact day-neutral plant that is managed as an annual row-crop. This dramatic change in plant architecture provides a unique opportunity to analyze the transition from perennial to annual growth. Methodology/Principal Findings To explore these architectural changes, we addressed the role of day-length upon flowering in an ancestral, perennial accession and in a domesticated variety of cotton. Using a disarmed Cotton leaf crumple virus (CLCrV) as a transient expression system, we delivered FT to both cotton accessions. Ectopic expression of FT in ancestral cotton mimicked the effects of day-length, promoting photoperiod-independent flowering, precocious determinate architecture, and lanceolate leaf shape. Domesticated cotton infected with FT demonstrated more synchronized fruiting and enhanced “annualization”. Transient expression of FT also facilitated simple crosses between wild photoperiodic and domesticated day-neutral accessions, effectively demonstrating a mechanism to increase genetic diversity among cultivated lines of cotton. Virus was not detected in the F1 progeny, indicating that crosses made by this approach do not harbor recombinant DNA molecules. Conclusions These findings extend our understanding of FT as a general growth hormone that regulates shoot architecture by advancing organ-specific and age-related determinate growth. Judicious manipulation of FT could benefit cotton architecture to improve crop management.
Bootstrapping variables in algebraic circuits

Significance Zero testing [or polynomial identity testing (PIT)] for circuits is a computational algebra problem with numerous practical applications and a beautiful theory (e.g., primality testing and graph matching are solved using PIT). It strongly relates to showing that there are explicit/natural polynomials that require exponentially large circuits. The latter is also called the algebraic version of the P≠NP question (or VP≠? VNP) and lies in the intersection of mathematics and computing. This work provides a plausible route to it if we can design a polynomial-time computable, but small enough, hitting set for trivariate depth-4 circuits [merely ΣΠΣ∧(3)]. We show that for the blackbox polynomial identity testing (PIT) problem it suffices to study circuits that depend only on the first extremely few variables. One needs only to consider size-s degree-s circuits that depend on the first log○c s variables (where c is a constant and composes a logarithm with itself c times). Thus, the hitting-set generator (hsg) manifests a bootstrapping behavior—a partial hsg against very few variables can be efficiently grown to a complete hsg. A Boolean analog, or a pseudorandom generator property of this type, is unheard of. Our idea is to use the partial hsg and its annihilator polynomial to efficiently bootstrap the hsg exponentially w.r. t. variables. This is repeated c times in an efficient way. Pushing the envelope further we show that (i) a quadratic-time blackbox PIT for 6,913-variate degree-s size-s polynomials will lead to a “near”-complete derandomization of PIT and (ii) a blackbox PIT for n-variate degree-s size-s circuits in snδ time, for δ<1/2, will lead to a near-complete derandomization of PIT (in contrast, sn time is trivial). Our second idea is to study depth-4 circuits that depend on constantly many variables. We show that a polynomial-time computable, O(s1.49)-degree hsg for trivariate depth-4 circuits bootstraps to a quasipolynomial time hsg for general polydegree circuits and implies a lower bound that is a bit stronger than that of Kabanets and Impagliazzo [Kabanets V, Impagliazzo R (2003) Proceedings of the Thirty-Fifth Annual ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing STOC ’03].
Food Preferences of Winter Bird Communities in Different Forest Types

Food availability for forest birds is a function of habitat type, forest management regime, and season. In winter, it is also impacted by variations in the weather. In the current study we assessed the food preferences of wild bird populations in two types of forest (spruce and beech) during the months of November 2010 to April 2011 in the Schwäbische Alb Biodiversity Exploratory, south-western Germany. Our aim was to investigate whether local bird communities preferred fat-rich, carbohydrate-rich or wild fruits and to determine how forest structure, seasonality and local weather conditions affected food preferences. We found higher bird activity in beech forests for the eleven resident species. We observed a clear preference for fat-rich food for all birds in both forest types. Snow cover affected activity at food stations but did not affect food preferences. Periods of extreme low temperatures increased activity.
The antimalarial drug amodiaquine possesses anti‐ZIKA virus activities

Zika virus (ZIKV) outbreak has emerged as a global health threat, particularly in tropical areas, over the past few years. No antiviral therapy or vaccine is available at present. For these reasons, repurposing clinically approved drugs against ZIKV infection may provide rapid and cost‐effective global health benefits. Here, we explored this strategy and screened eight FDA‐approved drugs for antiviral activity against ZIKV using a cell‐based assay. Our results show that the antimalarial drug amodiaquine has anti‐ZIKV activity with EC50 at low micromolar concentrations in cell culture. We further characterized amodiaquine antiviral activity against ZIKV and found that it targets early events of the viral replication cycle. Altogether, our results suggest that amodiaquine may be efficacious for the treatment of ZIKV infection.
TLR2, but Not TLR4, Is Required for Effective Host Defence against Chlamydia Respiratory Tract Infection in Early Life

Chlamydia pneumoniae commonly causes respiratory tract infections in children, and epidemiological investigations strongly link infection to the pathogenesis of asthma. The immune system in early life is immature and may not respond appropriately to pathogens. Toll-like receptor (TLR)2 and 4 are regarded as the primary pattern recognition receptors that sense bacteria, however their contribution to innate and adaptive immunity in early life remains poorly defined. We investigated the role of TLR2 and 4 in the induction of immune responses to Chlamydia muridarum respiratory infection, in neonatal wild-type (Wt) or TLR2-deficient (−/−), 4−/− or 2/4−/− BALB/c mice. Wt mice had moderate disease and infection. TLR2−/− mice had more severe disease and more intense and prolonged infection compared to other groups. TLR4−/− mice were asymptomatic. TLR2/4−/− mice had severe early disease and persistent infection, which resolved thereafter consistent with the absence of symptoms in TLR4−/− mice. Wt mice mounted robust innate and adaptive responses with an influx of natural killer (NK) cells, neutrophils, myeloid (mDCs) and plasmacytoid (pDCs) dendritic cells, and activated CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells into the lungs. Wt mice also had effective production of interferon (IFN)γ in the lymph nodes and lung, and proliferation of lymph node T-cells. TLR2−/− mice had more intense and persistent innate (particularly neutrophil) and adaptive cell responses and IL-17 expression in the lung, however IFNγ responses and T-cell proliferation were reduced. TLR2/4−/− mice had reduced innate and adaptive responses. Most importantly, neutrophil phagocytosis was impaired in the absence of TLR2. Thus, TLR2 expression, particularly on neutrophils, is required for effective control of Chlamydia respiratory infection in early life. Loss of control of infection leads to enhanced but ineffective TLR4-mediated inflammatory responses that prolong disease symptoms. This indicates that TLR2 agonists may be beneficial in the treatment of early life Chlamydia infections and associated diseases.
Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guidelines Medical Therapy For Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension : ACCP

2004;126;35-62 Chest McCrory, Gerald Simonneau and Vallerie V. McLaughlin David B. Badesch, Steve H. Abman, Gregory S. Ahearn, Robyn J. Barst, Douglas C. Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guidelines Medical Therapy For Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: ACCP This information is current as of April 22, 2006 http://www.chestjournal. org/cgi/content/full/126/1_suppl/35S located on the World Wide Web at: The online version of this article, along with updated information and services, is ISSN: 0012-3692. may be reproduced or distributed without the prior written permission of the copyright holder. 3300 Dundee Road, Northbrook IL 60062. All rights reserved. No part of this article or PDF published monthly since 1935. Copyright 2005 by the American College of Chest Physicians, CHEST is the official journal of the American College of Chest Physicians. It has been
Intermittent oral iron supplementation during pregnancy.

RATIONALE It has been suggested that in pregnant women weekly iron supplements are as effective as daily supplements in preventing iron deficiency anaemia (IDA). OBJECTIVE To compare the effectiveness of prophylactic antenatal oral iron supplements given weekly, thrice weekly and daily in preventing IDA in pregnancy. DESIGN A randomised control trial. SETTING University antenatal clinic, (UANC) Galle. SUBJECTS AND METHOD An oral iron supplement containing 100 mg of elemental iron was randomly given weekly (n = 26) thrice weekly (n = 35) and daily (n = 31) to 92 women who were 14 to 24 weeks pregnant. Haemoglobin (Hb), serum ferritin (SF) and haematocrit (Hct) were assessed before and after 12 to 20 weeks of supplementation and a logistic regression analysis carried out. RESULTS The risk of developing anaemia was significantly higher in the weekly (odds ratio 15, 95% CI 1.4-165.6, p < 0.03) and possibly higher in the thrice weekly (odds ratio 3, 95% CI 0.3-30.3, p = 0.3) groups. The risk of developing iron deficiency (SF < 12 micrograms/l) was also significantly higher in the weekly (odds ratio 18, 95% CI 2.8-115.5, p < 0.003) and thrice weekly (odds ratio 10, 95% CI 1.6-64.8, p < 0.02) groups. CONCLUSION Prophylactic oral iron supplements when given intermittently were not effective in preventing iron deficiency anaemia in pregnancy.
Susceptibility of partially desalivated rats to erosive tooth wear by calcium-supplemented beverages.

OBJECTIVES To investigate the susceptibility of partially desalivated rats to erosive tooth wear (ETW); the anti-erosive effect of a calcium-supplemented beverage; and the quantification of ETW by microcomputed tomography (micro-CT). METHODS The study population consisted of thirty-eight rats, divided into partially desalivated (n = 19) and normal salivary flow (n = 19). They were randomly allocated into three subgroups (n = 6-7): A-diet soda, B-diet soda + calcium, C-water (control). Solutions were provided ad libitum for 28 days, and the rats were euthanized afterwards. Each left hemi-mandible was scanned using micro-CT for enamel volume (three molars) calculation. Visual analysis of photographs of the lingual surface of first molars was performed independently by three blinded examiners. Data were statistically analysed (α = .05). RESULTS Micro-CT revealed no significant differences between partially desalivated or normal groups. Rats consuming A had more enamel loss than those consuming B or C, which did not differ from each other. For visual analysis, desalivation did not affect ETW. Rats consuming C showed the lowest ETW, followed by B and then A, for both partially desalivated and normal rats. Spearman correlation between the two ETW quantification methods was -. 65. CONCLUSIONS Partial desalivation did not increase ETW. Ca-containing beverage prevented ETW. Micro-CT quantified ETW, although it was not as sensitive as visual analysis.
Fumonisin and Ochratoxin Production in Industrial Aspergillus niger Strains

Aspergillus niger is perhaps the most important fungus used in biotechnology, and is also one of the most commonly encountered fungi contaminating foods and feedstuffs, and occurring in soil and indoor environments. Many of its industrial applications have been given GRAS status (generally regarded as safe). However, A. niger has the potential to produce two groups of potentially carcinogenic mycotoxins: fumonisins and ochratoxins. In this study all available industrial and many non-industrial strains of A. niger (180 strains) as well as 228 strains from 17 related black Aspergillus species were examined for mycotoxin production. None of the related 17 species of black Aspergilli produced fumonisins. Fumonisins (B2, B4, and B6) were detected in 81% of A. niger, and ochratoxin A in 17%, while 10% of the strains produced both mycotoxins. Among the industrial strains the same ratios were 83%, 33% and 26% respectively. Some of the most frequently used strains in industry NRRL 337, 3112 and 3122 produced both toxins and several strains used for citric acid production were among the best producers of fumonisins in pure agar culture. Most strains used for other biotechnological processes also produced fumonisins. Strains optimized through random mutagenesis usually maintained their mycotoxin production capability. Toxigenic strains were also able to produce the toxins on media suggested for citric acid production with most of the toxins found in the biomass, thereby questioning the use of the remaining biomass as animal feed. In conclusion it is recommended to use strains of A. niger with inactive or inactivated gene clusters for fumonisins and ochratoxins, or to choose isolates for biotechnological uses in related non-toxigenic species such as A. tubingensis, A. brasiliensis, A vadensis or A. acidus, which neither produce fumonisins nor ochratoxins.
Fuzzy logic controller for two wheeled EV3 LEGO robot

The unstable nature of a two-wheeled inverted pendulum system has raised attention many researchers to approach various controllers that can stabilize the system. Most researchers used Arduino and NXT LEGO robot as a platform to analyze the performance of the proposed controller. In this project, fuzzy logic controller is used as a controller to stabilize the two wheeled EV3 LEGO robot through Simulink-Matlab simulation. The dynamic modelling of the system is derived using Euler-Lagrange method. Based on the proposed controller, the analysis of the simulation results show that the system achieves zero degree of tilt angle in less than 2 seconds. Various membership function of Fuzzy Logic control are tested and analyzed. The simulation results indicate that fuzzy logic controller can stabilize the two wheeled EV3 LEGO robot effectively.