Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pulmonary Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Expression and Disaturated Phospholipid Content in a Chicken Model of Hypoxia-Induced Fetal Growth Restriction

Background: Prenatal hypoxia is an important cause of intrauterine growth retardation that affects fetal lung maturation, although previous studies have rendered conflicting results. The fetal chicken model allows the study of the isolated effects of hypoxia during development. Objectives: We hypothesized that prenatal hypoxia would differentially affect surfactant synthesis, depending on timing and duration of hypoxia. Pulmonary vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression was analyzed as a possible link between oxygen sensing and surfactant production. Methods: Fertilized White Leghorn eggs were incubated in normoxia, hyperoxia (60% O2) from day 15 or hypoxia (15% O2) from either day 6 or day 15 of incubation. Whole lung disaturated phospholipids (DSPL) and mRNA expression of VEGF isoforms were quantified at day 16 and 19. Results: Lung DSPL content increased approximately threefold between day 16 and 19 in control animals. Both hypoxia and hyperoxia from day 15 significantly increased DSPL content at day 19 versus control (103 ± 22 and 116 ± 18 vs. 81 ± 15 µg/mg protein, p < 0.01 and p < 0.001, respectively), while long-term hypoxia tended to decrease DSPL content (65 ± 17 µg/mg protein, p = 0.056). No differences in DSPL content were observed at day 16. Short-term hypoxia transiently up-regulated VEGF146 1.5-fold at day 16 (p < 0.05). A similar trend was observed for VEGF122 (p = 0.058) and VEGF190 (p = 0.08), while no differences were present at day 19. Conclusions: Both prenatal hypoxia and hyperoxia induced during critical windows of lung development differentially modulate surfactant synthesis. Our data support the concept that fetal oxygen tension is a key signal in the regulation of the surfactant system.
Nondestructive optical measurement of relative phase between two Bose-Einstein condensates

We study the interaction of light with two Bose condensates as an open quantum system. The two overlapping condensates occupy two different Zeeman sublevels and two driving light beams induce a coherent quantum tunneling between the condensates. We derive the master equation for the system. It is shown that stochastic simulations of the measurements of spontaneously scattered photons establish the relative phase between two Bose condensates, even though the condensates are initially in pure number states. These measurements are non-destructive for the condensates, because only light is scattered, but no atoms are removed from the system. Due to the macroscopic quantum interference the detection rate of photons depends substantially on the relative phase between the condensates. This may provide a way to distinguish, whether the condensates are initially in number states or in coherent states.
Natural Variation of Transcriptional Auxin Response Networks in Arabidopsis thaliana[C][W][OA]

In this study, physiological, comparative transcriptomic, and network analysis approaches identify extensive natural variation of auxin responses among A. thaliana accessions. Expression level variation in auxin signaling genes is hypothesized to contribute to downstream variation in large auxin-regulated gene clusters. Natural variation has been observed for various traits in Arabidopsis thaliana. Here, we investigated natural variation in the context of physiological and transcriptional responses to the phytohormone auxin, a key regulator of plant development. A survey of the general extent of natural variation to auxin stimuli revealed significant physiological variation among 20 genetically diverse natural accessions. Moreover, we observed dramatic variation on the global transcriptome level after induction of auxin responses in seven accessions. Although we detect isolated cases of major-effect polymorphisms, sequencing of signaling genes revealed sequence conservation, making selective pressures that favor functionally different protein variants among accessions unlikely. However, coexpression analyses of a priori defined auxin signaling networks identified variations in the transcriptional equilibrium of signaling components. In agreement with this, cluster analyses of genome-wide expression profiles followed by analyses of a posteriori defined gene networks revealed accession-specific auxin responses. We hypothesize that quantitative distortions in the ratios of interacting signaling components contribute to the detected transcriptional variation, resulting in physiological variation of auxin responses among accessions.
Surfactant-mediated dissolution: contributions of solubility enhancement and relatively low micelle diffusivity.

The objective of this study was to assess the contributions of surfactant-mediated solubility and micellar diffusivity on the ability of surfactant to enhance drug dissolution. The following model was derived to predict the degree to which surfactants enhance griseofulvin dissolution: phi = 1 + (fm/ff). ((D(D-M)2/3)/(DD2/3)) where phi is the degree of surfactant-mediated dissolution enhancement, fm is the fraction of the drug in micelle, and ff is the fraction of free drug, and DD and D(D-M) are the diffusivities of free drug and drug-loaded micelles, respectively. The Wood apparatus was used to measure the dissolution of griseofluvin in the presence of the anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), the cationic surfactant cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB), and the neutral surfactants Tween 80 and Cremophor EL. DD was estimated using the Levich equation. D(D-M) was measured using dynamic light scattering. Griseofulvin solubility was evaluated in SDS, CTAB, Tween 80, and Cremophor EL at the surfactant concentrations used in the dissolution studies. DD was 11.0 x 10(-6) cm2/s. D(D-M) was 1.29 x 10(-6) cm2/s, 0.956 x 10(-6) cm2/s, 0.569 x 10(-6) cm2/s, and 0.404 x 10(-6) cm2/s for griseofulvin-loaded micelles of SDS, CTAB, Tween 80, and Cremophor EL, respectively. At the highest surfactant concentrations studied, griseofulvin solubility increased 107-fold, 31-fold, fourfold, and threefold for SDS, CTAB, Tween 80, and Cremophor EL. Dissolution into SDS and CTAB were markedly enhanced, but only about one-third as much as solubility enhancement. Dissolution enhancement in the presence of SDS and CTAB were in excellent agreement with model predicted values, with prediction error less than 12%. The model predicted dissolution into Tween 80 and Cremophor EL to be minimally enhanced, as was observed, although the model underpredicted dissolution into these two neutral surfactants. The derived model predicted surfactant-mediated dissolution and reflects dissolution enhancement to be promoted by surfactant-enhanced solubility, but limited by the relatively slow diffusion of drug-loaded surfactant micelles.
Risk of Early Death and Recurrent Stroke and Effect of Heparin in 3169 Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke and Atrial Fibrillation in the International Stroke Trial

Background and Purpose— We sought to investigate the apparently high risk of early death after an ischemic stroke among patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), identify the main factors associated with early death, and assess the effect of treatment with different doses of subcutaneous unfractionated heparin (UFH) given within 48 hours. Methods— We studied the occurrence of major clinical events within 14 days among 18 451 patients from the International Stroke Trial, first for all treatment groups combined. Then, among patients with AF, we examined the effects of treatment with subcutaneous UFH started within 48 hours and continued until 14 days after stroke onset. Results— A total of 3169 patients (17%) had AF. Seven hundred eighty-four patients were allocated to UFH 12 500 IU SC BID, 773 to UFH 5000 IU SC BID, and 1612 to no heparin. Within each of these groups, half of the patients were randomly assigned to aspirin 300 mg once daily. Compared with patients without AF, patients with AF were more likely to be female (56% versus 45%), to be old (mean age, 78 versus 71 years), to have an infarct on prerandomization CT (57% versus 47%), and to have impaired consciousness (37% versus 20%). The initial ischemic stroke type was more often a large-artery infarct (36% versus 21%). A lacunar stroke syndrome was less common (13% versus 26%). Death within 14 days was more common in patients with AF (17% versus 8%) and more often attributed to neurological damage from the initial stroke (10% versus 4%). The frequency of recurrent ischemic or undefined stroke was not significantly different (3.9% versus 3.3%). The proportion of AF patients with further events within 14 days allocated to UFH 12 500 IU (n=784), UFH 5000 IU (n=773), and to no-heparin (n=1612) groups were as follows: ischemic stroke, 2.3%, 3.4%, 4.9% (P =0.001); hemorrhagic stroke, 2.8%, 1.3%, 0.4% (P <0.0001); and any stroke or death, 18.8%, 19.4% and 20.7% (P =0.3), respectively. No effect of heparin on the proportion of patients dead or dependent at 6 months was apparent. Conclusions— Acute ischemic stroke patients with AF have a higher risk of early death, which can be explained by older age and larger infarcts but not by a higher risk of early recurrent ischemic stroke, although slightly more patients with AF died from a fatal recurrent stroke of ischemic or unknown type (1.3% versus 0.9%). In patients with AF the absolute risk of early recurrent stroke is low, and there is no net advantage to treatment with heparin. These data do not support the widespread use of intensive heparin regimens in the acute phase of ischemic stroke associated with AF.
Large-scale graph mining using backbone refinement classes

We present a new approach to large-scale graph mining based on so-called backbone refinement classes. The method efficiently mines tree-shaped subgraph descriptors under minimum frequency and significance constraints, using classes of fragments to reduce feature set size and running times. The classes are defined in terms of fragments sharing a common backbone. The method is able to optimize structural inter-feature entropy as opposed to occurrences, which is characteristic for open or closed fragment mining. In the experiments, the proposed method reduces feature set sizes by >90 % and >30 % compared to complete tree mining and open tree mining, respectively. Evaluation using crossvalidation runs shows that their classification accuracy is similar to the complete set of trees but significantly better than that of open trees. Compared to open or closed fragment mining, a large part of the search space can be pruned due to an improved statistical constraint (dynamic upper bound adjustment), which is also confirmed in the experiments in lower running times compared to ordinary (static) upper bound pruning. Further analysis using large-scale datasets yields insight into important properties of the proposed descriptors, such as the dataset coverage and the class size represented by each descriptor. A final cross-validation run confirms that the novel descriptors render large training sets feasible which previously might have been intractable.
Proust revisited: Odours as triggers of aversive memories

According to the Proust phenomenon, olfactory memory triggers are more evocative than other-modality triggers resulting in more emotional and detailed memories. An experimental paradigm was used to investigate this in aversive memories, similar to those experienced by patients with posttraumatic stress disorder. Seventy healthy participants watched an aversive film, while simultaneously being exposed to olfactory, auditory and visual triggers, which were matched on intensity, valence, arousal and salience. During a second session one week later, participants were randomly exposed to one of the three triggers, and asked to think back about the film and to rate the resulting memory. Results revealed that odour-evoked memories of aversive events were more detailed, unpleasant and arousing than memories evoked by auditory, but not visual, triggers.
Changes in macular pigment optical density and serum concentrations of lutein and zeaxanthin in response to weight loss

The objective of the present study was to investigate whether weight loss is associated with changes in serum concentrations of lutein (L) and zeaxanthin (Z), and/or macular pigment optical density (MPOD). We recruited 104 overweight subjects into this randomised controlled weight loss study. For the intervention group (I group), weight was assessed weekly and body composition, including BMI (kg/m2) and body fat (kg and percentage), was assessed at baseline, 6 and 12 months. Weight loss was encouraged using dietary and exercise programmes. MPOD was measured by heterochromatic flicker photometry and serum concentrations of L and Z by HPLC (at baseline, 1, 3, 6 and 12 months). The control (C) group was assessed at baseline and 12 months. Repeated-measures ANOVA (RMA) demonstrated significant weight loss in the I group over the study period (P = 0·000). There was no significant weight change in the C group (P = 0·993). RMA of dietary L and Z, serum L and Z, and MPOD demonstrated no significant time or time × group interaction effect in any of these parameters (P>0·05 for all), with the exception of a significant decrease in the dietary intake of Z seen in both groups, over the study period (P < 0·05). There was a positive and significant relationship between body fat loss (kg) and increase in serum concentrations of L in the I group (r 0·521; P = 0·006). Our finding that a reduction in body composition (e.g. fat mass) is related to increases in serum concentrations of L is consistent with the hypothesis that body fat acts as a reservoir for this carotenoid, and that weight loss can positively influence circulating carotenoid levels.
Optimal Linear Estimation Fusion — Part I : Unified Fusion Rules

This paper deals with data (or information) fusion for the purpose of estimation. Three estimation fusion architectures are considered: centralized, distributed, and hybrid. A unified linear model and a general framework for these three architectures are established. Optimal fusion rules based on the best linear unbiased estimation (BLUE), the weighted least squares (WLS), and their generalized versions are presented for cases with complete, incomplete, or no prior information. These rules are more general and flexible, and have wider applicability than previous results. For example, they are in a unified form that is optimal for all of the three fusion architectures with arbitrary correlation of local estimates or observation errors across sensors or across time. They are also in explicit forms convenient for implementation. The optimal fusion rules presented are not limited to linear data models. Illustrative numerical results are provided to verify the fusion rules and demonstrate how these fusion rules can be used in cases with complete, incomplete, or no prior information.
MicroRNA 400-Guided Cleavage of Pentatricopeptide Repeat Protein mRNAs Renders Arabidopsis thaliana More Susceptible to Pathogenic Bacteria and Fungi

Protein mRNAs Renders Arabidopsis thaliana More Susceptible to Pathogenic Bacteria and Fungi Young Ju Park, Hwa Jung Lee, Kyung Jin Kwak, Kwanuk Lee, Suk Whan Hong and Hunseung Kang* Department of Plant Biotechnology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Chonnam National University, 300 Yongbong-dong, Buk-gu, Gwangju 500-757, Republic of Korea Department of Molecular Biotechnology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Chonnam National University, 300 Yongbong-dong, Buk-gu, Gwangju 500-757, Republic of Korea These authors contributed equally to this work. *Corresponding author: E-mail, hskang@jnu.ac. kr; Fax, +82-62-530-2069. (Received November 3, 2013; Accepted June 30, 2014)
Fracture Toughness of Plain Concrete Made of Crushed Granite Aggregate

An experimental investigation on the fracture toughness of plain concrete using the threepoint bending tests proposed by RILEM was carried out. A series of central-notched concrete beams made of local ingredients and with different concrete strength fcu and aggregate sizes (Dmax = 10 mm and Dmax = 20 mm) were tested. From the experimental results, the fracture parameters, namely the critical stress intensity factor KIC , the critical notch depth ac and the critical energy release rate GIC for the effective crack model and the fracture energy GF and the characteristic length lch for the fictitious model were determined and presented quantitatively. The experimental results indicate that KIC and GF increase as the compressive strength fcu increases for both aggregate sizes; at the same mix proportion and aggregate content, concrete with larger aggregates has a lower compressive strength fcu and elastic modulus E but a higher fracture resistance than that with smaller aggregates. Simple empirical formulae for the determination of fracture parameters were developed, providing a quantitative reference for the identification of the fracture parameters of normal and high-strength concrete with crushed granite aggregates.
Mechanical Properties of Dendritic and Inter-Dendritic Regions in As-Cast Medium-Carbon Steel

During solidification of steel, dendrite nucleation and growth leads to the segregation of alloying elements in the inter-dendritic regions. The dendrite arms are low in carbon while alloying elements segregate to the inter-dendritic regions. During subsequent hot-rolling, this variation in alloying element content leads to the formation of regions of high and low solute content, which in turn, leads to the formation of microstructural banding during heat treatment. In the present study, the respective mechanical properties of these dendritic and inter-dendritic regions were studied in medium carbon steel in order to investigate the rotation of dendrites during hot rolling.
Further validation of booklet category test subscales for learning, set loss, and memory in a mixed clinical sample

ABSTRACT Although it has long been proposed that performance on the Booklet Category Test (BCT) relies on a number of different cognitive abilities, including executive functioning, perceptual reasoning, and memory, only a single total error score is typically derived and interpreted in clinical practice. BCT subscales based on factor analyses of subtest errors or designed specifically to measure specific cognitive domains have been proposed to better assess the multidimensional abilities underlying BCT performance. The aim of this study was to independently replicate and extend previous findings regarding the validity of these subscales. A mixed clinical sample of 137 patients completed the BCT and a number of additional measures used to assess neuropsychological domains of selective attention, various aspects of executive functioning, intellectual functioning, and memory. Correlation and regression analyses were used to explore the convergent and discriminant validity of each subscale. Subscales varied in the number and magnitude of their significant correlations with scores derived from traditional measures. In general, findings supported the convergent validity of BCT category learning, set loss, and memory subscales. However, findings regarding discriminant validity were more variable across subscales. Results provide additional support for the multidimensional nature of the BCT and the validity of derived subscales to measure specific aspects of cognitive functioning beyond what is measured by a total errors score. The recently proposed subscales examined in the current study appear to be worthy of further investigation by clinicians and researchers to determine their clinical utility.
Polynomial solvability of $NP$-complete problems

${ NP}$-complete problem "Hamiltonian cycle"\ for graph $G=(V,E)$ is extended to the "Hamiltonian Complement of the Graph"\ problem of finding the minimal cardinality set $H$ containing additional edges so that graph $G=(V,E\cup H)$ is Hamiltonian. The solving of "Hamiltonian Complement of a Graph"\ problem is reduced to the linear programming problem {\bf P}, which has an optimal integer solution. The optimal integer solution of {\bf P} is found for any its optimal solution by solving the linear assignment problem {\bf L}. The existence of polynomial algorithms for problems {\bf P} and {\bf L} proves the polynomial solvability of ${ NP}$-complete problems.
Lignocellulose Degradation during Solid-State Fermentation: Pleurotus ostreatus versus Phanerochaete chrysosporium

Lignocellulose degradation and activities related to lignin degradation were studied in the solid-state fermentation of cotton stalks by comparing two white rot fungi, Pleurotus ostreatus and Phanerochaete chrysosporium. P. chrysosporium grew vigorously, resulting in rapid, nonselective degradation of 55% of the organic components of the cotton stalks within 15 days. In contrast, P. ostreatus grew more slowly with obvious selectivity for lignin degradation and resulting in the degradation of only 20% of the organic matter after 30 days of incubation. The kinetics of 14C-lignin mineralization exhibited similar differences. In cultures of P. chrysosporium, mineralization ceased after 18 days, resulting in the release of 12% of the total radioactivity as 14CO2. In P. ostreatus, on the other hand, 17% of the total radioactivity was released in a steady rate throughout a period of 60 days of incubation. Laccase activity was only detected in water extracts of the P. ostreatus fermentation. No lignin peroxidase activity was detected in either the water extract or liquid cultures of this fungus. 2-Keto-4-thiomethyl butyric acid cleavage to ethylene correlated to lignin degradation in both fungi. A study of fungal activity under solid-state conditions, in contrast to those done under defined liquid culture, may help to better understand the mechanisms involved in lignocellulose degradation.
New insights from fine‐scale spatial genetic structure analyses in plant populations

Many empirical studies have assessed fine‐scale spatial genetic structure (SGS), i.e. the nonrandom spatial distribution of genotypes, within plant populations using genetic markers and spatial autocorrelation techniques. These studies mostly provided qualitative descriptions of SGS, rendering quantitative comparisons among studies difficult. The theory of isolation by distance can predict the pattern of SGS under limited gene dispersal, suggesting new approaches, based on the relationship between pairwise relatedness coefficients and the spatial distance between individuals, to quantify SGS and infer gene dispersal parameters. Here we review the theory underlying such methods and discuss issues about their application to plant populations, such as the choice of the relatedness statistics, the sampling scheme to adopt, the procedure to test SGS, and the interpretation of spatial autocorrelograms. We propose to quantify SGS by an ‘Sp’ statistic primarily dependent upon the rate of decrease of pairwise kinship coefficients between individuals with the logarithm of the distance in two dimensions. Under certain conditions, this statistic estimates the reciprocal of the neighbourhood size. Reanalysing data from, mostly, published studies, the Sp statistic was assessed for 47 plant species. It was found to be significantly related to the mating system (higher in selfing species) and to the life form (higher in herbs than trees), as well as to the population density (higher under low density). We discuss the necessity for comparing SGS with direct estimates of gene dispersal distances, and show how the approach presented can be extended to assess (i) the level of biparental inbreeding, and (ii) the kurtosis of the gene dispersal distribution.