Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Central autonomic innervation of the kidney. What can we learn from a transneuronal tracing study in an animal model?

PURPOSE Renal sympathetic innervation is involved in the maintenance of fluid homeostasis, modulation of renal secretion from juxtaglomerular cells, sodium resorption from renal tubular cells and renal hemodynamics. The understanding of central innervation and neuronal connections is important for studying the consequences of renal disease and surgical interventions compromising renal nerves. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 38 individual adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were used for retrograde transneuronal mapping of the spinal cord and brain stem after pseudorabies virus (PRV) injection into the left kidney in 30 and control experiments in 8. After a survival time of 72, 96 or 120 hours the animals were sacrificed. Exploration of the abdominal and pelvic visceral organs was done, and the brain and spinal cord were harvested via dorsal laminectomy. After cutting on a freezing microtome the tissue was immunostained for PRV. RESULTS After kidney injection inspection of the abdominal and pelvic cavity revealed an enlarged bladder with hemic urine. The urine was sterile and the bladder wall showed signs of neurogenic inflammation. Other organs were not affected. PRV positive cells were primarily found within the ipsilateral nucleus intermediolateralis of thoracic spinal cord segments T6 to T13. At the supraspinal level PRV positive cells were found within certain regions, namely the nuclei raphes, rostral ventromedial and ventrolateral medulla, A5 noradrenergic cell region, locus coeruleus and nucleus paraventricularis of the hypothalamus. CONCLUSIONS This investigation demonstrates the anatomical basis for broad central sympathetic innervation of the kidney. The neurogenic inflammation within the spinal cord inherent to the PRV tracing method causes an inflammatory reaction within the bladder. This can be due to increased sympathetic nerve activity, followed by peripheral, neurogenically mediated inflammation.
CONSUMER–RESOURCE INTERACTIONS AND THE EVOLUTION OF MIGRATION

Theoretical studies have demonstrated that selection will favor increased migration when fitnesses vary both temporally and spatially, but it is far from clear how pervasive those theoretical conditions are in nature. Although consumer–resource interactions are omnipresent in nature and can generate spatial and temporal variation, it is unknown even in theory whether these dynamics favor the evolution of migration. We develop a mathematical model to address whether and how migration evolves when variability in fitness is determined at least in part by consumer–resource coevolutionary interactions. Our analyses show that such interactions can drive the evolution of migration in the resource, consumer, or both species and thus supplies a general explanation for the pervasiveness of migration. Over short time scales, we show the direction of change in migration rate is determined primarily by the state of local adaptation of the species involved: rates increase when a species is locally maladapted and decrease when locally adapted. Our results reveal that long‐term evolutionary trends in migration rates can differ dramatically depending on the strength or weakness of interspecific interactions and suggest an explanation for the evolutionary divergence of migration rates among interacting species.
Persistent Activity in Neural Networks with Dynamic Synapses

Persistent activity states (attractors), observed in several neocortical areas after the removal of a sensory stimulus, are believed to be the neuronal basis of working memory. One of the possible mechanisms that can underlie persistent activity is recurrent excitation mediated by intracortical synaptic connections. A recent experimental study revealed that connections between pyramidal cells in prefrontal cortex exhibit various degrees of synaptic depression and facilitation. Here we analyze the effect of synaptic dynamics on the emergence and persistence of attractor states in interconnected neural networks. We show that different combinations of synaptic depression and facilitation result in qualitatively different network dynamics with respect to the emergence of the attractor states. This analysis raises the possibility that the framework of attractor neural networks can be extended to represent time-dependent stimuli.
Epiphytes in Honduras: a geographical analysis of the vascularepiphyte flora and its floristic affinities to other Central American countries

In this paper, we compared epiphyte inventories from Honduras to recent published floristic inventories from other Central American countries including Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua and Belize. Previous estimates of vascular epiphytes have revealed that approximately 9 % of all global plants are epiphytes and that in some countries they contribute approximately one quarter of the total plant diversity. Early estimates of vascular epiphytes from the neotropics have mostly overestimated the total number of epiphytes at a given locality, due to systematic misconceptions and or the use of different life-form classification systems. Moreover, some Central American countries such as Honduras have so far been neglected in any epiphyte surveys. Our database for Central America included a total of 2752 floweringplant epiphytes. We reported a total of 882 vascular epiphytes (Angiosperms and Pteridophytes) from 245 genera and 29 families from Honduras, representing 11.1 % of the country’s total vascular flora. Orchidaceae had the highest contribution to the epiphyte flora (54.9 %), followed by Polypodiaceae (18.9 %), and Bromeliaceae (11.3 %). Two distinctive floristic clusters were detected separating South-Central and North-Central countries. Honduras had the most floristic affinity to Nicaragua and Belize. In addition, a detailed floristic survey of Cusuco National Park, Honduras, a montane forest region, revealed that epiphytes in Honduras may contribute over 20 % of the total vascular flora in a particular area. The results of this study highlight the importance of epiphytes in Honduras relative to other Central American countries.
AdaBoost for Text Detection in Natural Scene

Detecting text regions in natural scenes is an important part of computer vision. We propose a novel text detection algorithm that extracts six different classes features of text, and uses Modest AdaBoost with multi-scale sequential search. Experiments show that our algorithm can detect text regions with a f= 0.70, from the ICDAR 2003 datasets which include images with text of various fonts, sizes, colors, alphabets and scripts.
Lightweight Mobile Core Networks for Machine Type Communications

Machine type communications (MTCs) enable the communications of machines (devices) to machines over mobile networks. Besides simplifying our daily lives, the MTC business represents a promising market for mobile operators to increase their revenues. However, before a complete deployment of MTC over mobile networks, there is need to update the specifications of mobile networks in order to cope with the expected high number (massive deployment) of MTC devices. Indeed, large scale deployment of MTC devices represents an important challenge as a high number of MTC devices, simultaneously connecting to the mobile network, may cause congestion and system overload, which can degrade the network performance and even result in network node failures. Several activities have been led by 3GPP to alleviate system overload introduced by MTC. Most of the devised approaches represent only incremental solutions. Unlike these solutions, we devise a complete new architectural vision to support MTC in mobile networks. This vision relies on the marriage of mobile networks and cloud computing, specifically exploiting recent advances in network function virtualization (NFV). The aim of the proposed vision, namely LightEPC, is: 1) to orchestrate the on-demand creation of cloud-based lightweight mobile core networks dedicated for MTC and 2) to simplify the network attach procedure for MTC devices by creating only one NFV MTC function that groups all the usual procedures. By doing so, LightEPC is able to create and scale instances of NFV MTC functions on demand and in an elastic manner to cope with any sudden increase in traffic generated by MTC devices. To evaluate LightEPC, some preliminary analysis were conducted and the obtained analytical results indicate the ability of LightEPC in alleviating congestion and scaling up fast with massive numbers of MTC devices in mobile networks. Finally, a real-life implementation of LightEPC on top of cloud platform is discussed.
The Generalized Triangle Inequalities in Symmetric Spaces and Buildings with Applications to Algebra

In this paper we apply our results on the geometry of polygons in infinitesimal symmetric spaces, symmetric spaces and buildings, [KLM1, KLM2], to four problems in algebraic group theory. Two of these problems are generalizations of the problems of finding the constraints on the eigenvalues (resp. singular values) of a sum (resp. product) when the eigenvalues (singular values) of each summand (factor) are fixed. The other two problems are related to the nonvanishing of the structure constants of the (spherical) Hecke and representation rings associated with a split reductive algebraic group over Q and its complex Langlands’ dual. We give a new proof of the “Saturation Conjecture” for GL(l) as a consequence of our solution of the corresponding “saturation problem” for the Hecke structure constants for all split reductive algebraic groups over Q.
Assessment of College Students' Knowledge and Attitudes toward Solid Waste Management in North Central Zone of Nigeria.

This study focused on assessment of colleges of education studentsâ€™ knowledge and attitudes towards solid waste management in the North-Central zone of Nigeria. The cross-sectional survey design was adopted. A Studentsâ€™ Knowledge and Attitudes towards Solid Waste Management Questionnaire was used to collect data from 1,800 students. The findings indicated that the students had a low knowledge level of solid waste management but their attitudes towards it were positive. A significant relationship was found between studentsâ€™ knowledge and their attitudes towards solid waste management. Furthermore, gender was shown not to have any significant influence on knowledge and attitudes of students towards solid waste management. It was concluded that although students had low knowledge of solid waste management, their attitudes towards it were positive. It was recommended that environmental education issues, especially, solid waste management should be incorporated into colleges of education curricula and properly taught for in-depth knowledge acquisition.
Capacity analysis of wireless ad hoc networks with improved channel reservation

In ad hoc networks, interference is an important factor limiting the network capacity. Imposing a reservation zone around each receiver has been widely considered to mitigate the interference. A larger reservation zone can decrease the interference, but it also lowers the spatial reuse for reduced simultaneous transmissions. Therefore, there exists an optimal reservation zone to maximize the network capacity. In this paper, rate adaptation is brought to improve the channel reservation scheme, and network capacity achieved by jointly optimizing the data rate and reservation zone is investigated for spread-spectrum (SS) ad hoc networks. Compared to the transmission capacity with fixed data rate assumption, analytical and numerical results show that network capacity can be significantly improved, and the capacity gain remains constant in the order of 300% for direct sequence (DS) SS networks and increases with the growing spreading factors in the range of 300-800% for frequency hopping (FH) SS networks.
Why Press Backspace? Understanding User Input Behaviors in Chinese Pinyin Input Method

Chinese Pinyin input method is very important for Chinese language information processing. Users may make errors when they are typing in Chinese words. In this paper, we are concerned with the reasons that cause the errors. Inspired by the observation that pressing backspace is one of the most common user behaviors to modify the errors, we collect 54, 309, 334 error-correction pairs from a real-world data set that contains 2, 277, 786 users via backspace operations. In addition, we present a comparative analysis of the data to achieve a better understanding of users' input behaviors. Comparisons with English typos suggest that some language-specific properties result in a part of Chinese input errors.
N-(Ferrocenylmethyl)dodecan-1-amine

The title compound, [Fe(C5H5)(C18H32N)], was synthesized by the amination of ferrocenecarbaldehyde. In the complex, the two cyclopentadienyl (Cp) rings are almost parallel with a dihedral angle of 1.36 (8)°, and are separated by a centroid–centroid distance of 3.299 (2) Å. In the crystal, adjacent molecules are linked into a one-dimensional supramolecular structure via weak C—H⋯π interactions between the Cp ring H atom and the Cp ring.
Time-Optimal Nearest-Neighbor Computations on Enhanced Meshes

A simple polygon P is said to be unimodal if for every vertex of P, the Euclidian distance function to the other vertices of P is unimodal. The study of unimodal polygons has emerged as a fruitful area of computational and discrete geometry. Is the well-known that nearest and furthest neighbor computations are a recurring theme in pattern recognition, VLSI design, computer graphics, and image processing, among others. Our contribution is to propose time-optimal algorithms for constructing the Euclidian Minimum Spanning Tree, the Relative Neighborhood Graph, as well as the Symmetric Further Neighbor Graph of an n-vertex unimodal polygon on meshes with multiple broadcasting. We begin by establishing a Ω(log n) time lower bound for solving arbitrary instances of size n of these problems. This lower bound holds for both the CREW-PRAM and for the mesh with multiple broadcasting. We obtain our time lower bound results for the CREW-PRAM by using a novel technique involving geometric constructions. These constructions allow us to reduce the well-known OR problem to each of the geometric problems of interest. We then port these time lower bounds to the mesh with multiple broadcasting using simulation results.
Atlas of Genetics and Cytogenetics in Oncology and Haematology

The etiology of PNSTs is usually unknown. However, several hereditary disorders are known to predispose to benign and malignant PNSTs, notably neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) and neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2), both of which are inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion. NF1 (also known as von Recklinghausen disease) is caused by mutations in the NF1 gene on chromosome 17 and is characterized by several phenotypic features including multiple neurofibromas and MPNSTs. The incidence of MPNST is in general rare, but half of all cases arise in NF1 patients. NF2, caused by mutations in the NF2 gene on chromosome 22, predisposes to schwannomas, predominantly affecting the spine and the intracranial nerves.
Learning disjunctive concepts with distributed genetic algorithms

Inducing concept descriptions from examples is a machine learning task that can be formulated as a search problem. Recently, genetic algorithms proved to be an appealing alternative for searching concept description spaces, because of their great exploration power and their suitability to exploit massive parallelism. In order to exploit genetic algorithms for searching the space of formulas /spl phi/ (the elements of the population), we must reformulate the set covering problem by suitably defining the representation scheme for the formulas, the genetic operators and the fitness function. The system described in this paper, REGAL (Giordana and Saitta, 1993), encodes first order logic (FOL) formulas /spl phi/ into bit strings of fixed length. In order to make this possible, REGAL's representation language, L, has been constrained to be finite, by defining a language template, /spl Lambda/, which represents the maximally complex formula in L. The resulting language contains FOL formulas built up with conjunction, disjunction, negation, internal disjunction and existential and universal quantification. <<ETX>>
Small Cell Carcinoma of the Urinary Bladder: KIT and PDGFRA Gene Mutations

Primary small cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder is very rare. A 72-year-old was admitted to our hospital because of hematuria and dysuria. Cystoscopy revealed a bladder full of multiple, solid and papillary tumors. Biopsies from the deep and papillary tumors were taken. Histologically, tumor was pure small cell carcinoma. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells were positive for cytokeratin, chromo-granin, synaptophysin, neuron-specific enolase, CD56, CD117 and Ki67 (labeling 70%). The tumor cells were negative for CK7, CK20, CD3, CD20, LCA, CDX2, uroplakin, thyroid transcription factor 1, PSA and p63. Metastatic workup was performed an no primary or metastatic lung lesions were noted. Due to the clinical, radiologic and immunohistochemical findings, the patient was diagnosed as primary small cell carcinoma of bladder. A molecular genetic analysis for KIT (exons 9, 11, 13 and 17) and PDGFRA (exons 12 and 18) genes was performed, in paraffin micro dissection specimens, by the PCR-direct sequencing method. According to the sequencing analyses, two mutations were found at positions 558 (p.K558N) and 562 (p.E562D) in KIT gene exon 11 in our case. The another hand the same case presented two mutations in PDGFRA gene exon 14 at position 631 (p.P631A) and 638 (p.638Q_639AinsC). The disease process was fulminant and the patient was lost due to several complications prior to any chemotherapy.
Effects of Temperature on the Susceptibility of Largemouth Bass to Largemouth Bass Virus

Abstract Temperature is an environmental variable thought to influence the susceptibility of fish to infectious diseases. This study demonstrated that juvenile largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides that were experimentally infected with largemouth bass virus (LMBV; family Iridoviridae) experienced greater mortality at 30°C than at 25°C. Juvenile largemouth bass were exposed to equal doses of LMBV and held at three temperatures: 25, 30, and 35°C. Fish held at 30°C suffered mortality at a higher rate than fish held at 25°C and had higher viral loads (viral genomes per gram of tissue) at the time of death. The LMBV-injected fish held at 35°C suffered mortality at rates equal to those of sham-injected controls, suggesting that stressful manipulation at temperatures approaching the upper lethal limit can induce mortality in fish independently of viral infection. These results suggest that temperature is an important determinant of host survival and viral replication in the LMBV system.
A novel association between residual renal function and left ventricular hypertrophy in peritoneal dialysis patients.

BACKGROUND Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and dialysis adequacy are both important predictors for mortality in dialysis patients. This study evaluated the association between residual renal function (RRF) and the severity of LVH in endstage renal failure (ESRF) patients undergoing long-term continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). METHODS A cross-section study was performed with left ventricular mass index (LVMi), determined in 158 non-diabetic CAPD patients using echocardiography and its relationship with residual glomerular filtration rate (GFR), peritoneal dialysis (PD) and total weekly urea clearance (Kt/V) and other known risk factors for LVH was evaluated. RESULTS Twelve patients had no LVH (group I). The remaining 146 patients were stratified [group II (lowest), III and IV (highest)] according to the LVMi (median 207 g/m2; range 103 to 512 g/m2). Across the four groups of patients with increasing LVMi, there was significant decline in GFR (2.27 +/- 1.98 vs. 1.49 +/- 1.58 vs. 1.61 +/- 1.91 vs. 0.80 +/- 1.42 mL/min/1.73 m2; P = 0.011) and total weekly Kt/V (1.98 +/- 0.44 vs. 1.96 +/- 0.38 vs. 1.92 +/- 0.42 vs. 1.71 +/- 0.42; P = 0.037); however, PD Kt/V was similar for all four groups. Patients with better-preserved residual GFR not only had significantly higher total Kt/V, but were less anemic and hypoalbuminemic and had a trend toward lower systolic blood pressure and arterial pulse pressure. Multiple regression analysis showed that other than age, gender, body weight, arterial pulse pressure, hemoglobin and serum albumin, known factors for LVH, residual GFR (estimated mean -7.94; 95% confidence interval -15.13 to -0.74; P = 0.031) was also independently associated with LVMi. CONCLUSIONS Other than anemia, hypoalbuminemia and arterial pulse pressure, this study demonstrates an important, novel association between the degree of RRF and severity of LVH in ESRF patients undergoing long-term CAPD. Prospective studies are needed to define if indeed there is a cause-effect relationship between this association, to evaluate if a decline in residual GFR is independently associated with an increase in LVMi, and to determine whether treatment directed at preserving RRF will reduce the severity of LVH, improve cardiac performance and hence survival of these patients.
Evidence for Sympathetic Origins of Hypertension in Juvenile Offspring of Obese Rats

Maternal obesity in rodents is associated with increased adiposity, impaired glucose tolerance, and hypertension in adult offspring. In this study we investigated the influence of maternal obesity in the rat on blood pressure and blood pressure regulatory pathways in juvenile and adult offspring. Obesity was induced before pregnancy in female Sprague-Dawley rats by feeding a highly palatable energy-dense diet. In juvenile animals (30 days of age), before the onset of obesity and hyperleptinemia, basal nighttime mean arterial pressure was significantly raised in the offspring of obese dams (OffOb) relative to offspring of controls (OffCon; mean arterial pressure, males: OffOb, 121.8±0.6 mm Hg versus OffCon, 115.0±0.5 mm Hg, n=6, P<0.01; females: OffOb, 125.4±0.4 mm Hg versus OffCon, 114.4±0.5 mm Hg, n=6, P<0.001), as was the mean arterial pressure response to restraint stress (P<0.01). The pressor response to a leptin challenge was enhanced in OffOb rats (&Dgr;mean arterial pressure: OffOb, 9.7±0.8 mm Hg versus OffCon, 5.3±1.3 mm Hg; n=8; P<0.05). Renal tissue norepinephrine content (P<0.001) and renin expression (P<0.05) were markedly raised. Analysis of heart rate variability revealed an increased low:high frequency ratio in OffOb versus OffCon rats (P<0.05). At 90 days, hypertension in OffOb rats persisted and was abolished by &agr;1- and &bgr;-adrenergic blockade, and cardiovascular responses to phenylephrine or sodium nitroprusside indicated altered baroreceptor function. The exaggerated pressor response to leptin in OffOb rats was maintained. Hypertension in the offspring of obese rats may arise from persistent sympathoexcitatory hyperresponsiveness acquired in early stages of development.