Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Distribution of injected technetium99m‐labeled mesenchymal stem cells in horses with naturally occurring tendinopathy

This study aimed to investigate immediate cell survival and distribution following different administration routes of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into naturally occurring tendon injuries. Ten million MSCs, labeled with technetium‐99m hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime, were implanted into 13 horses with naturally occurring tendon or ligament injuries intra‐lesionally, intravenously and by regional perfusion, and traced for up to 48 h using planar gamma scintigraphy. Labeling efficiencies varied between 1.8% and 18.5% (mean 9.3%). Cells were retained in the damaged area after intra‐lesional administration but only 24% of cells were still present within the tendon after 24 h. After intravenous injection, cells largely distributed to the lung fields, with no detectable cells in the tendon lesions. Significant labeling of the tendon lesions was observed in 11/12 horses following regional perfusion but at a lower level to intra‐lesional injection. The highest cell numbers were retained after intra‐lesional injection, although with considerable cell loss, while regional perfusion may be a viable alternative for MSC delivery. Cells did not “home” to damaged tendon in large numbers after intravenous administration. Cells were detected in the lungs most frequently after intravascular administration, although with no adverse effects. Low cell retention has important implications for designing effective clinical therapies for human clinical use. © 2013 Orthopaedic Research Society Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 31:1096–1102, 2013
Novel Aspects of Fibrin(ogen) Fragments during Inflammation

Coagulation is fundamental for the confinement of infection and/or the inflammatory response to a limited area. Under pathological inflammatory conditions such as arthritis, multiple sclerosis or sepsis, an uncontrolled activation of the coagulation system contributes to inflammation, microvascular failure and organ dysfunction. Coagulation is initiated by the activation of thrombin, which, in turn, triggers fibrin formation by the release of fibrinopeptides. Fibrin is cleaved by plasmin, resulting in clot lysis and an accompanied generation of fibrin fragments such as D and E fragments. Various coagulation factors, including fibrinogen and/or fibrin (fibrin(ogen)) and also fibrin degradation products, modulate the inflammatory response by affecting leukocyte migration and cytokine production. Fibrin fragments are mostly proinflammatory, however, Bβ15–42 in particular possesses potential antiinflammatory effects. Bβ15–42 inhibits Rho-kinase activation by dissociating Fyn from Rho and, hence prevents stress-induced loss of endothelial barrier function and also leukocyte migration. This article summarizes the state-of-the-art in inflammatory modulation by fibrin(ogen) and fibrin fragments. However, further research is required to gain better understanding of the entire role fibrin fragments play during inflammation and, possibly, disease development.
Comparison Between the Effects of Continuous and Intermittent Aerobic Exercise on Weight Loss and Body Fat Percentage in Overweight and Obese Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Prevalence of obesity and overweightness in different societies is increasing. Role of physical activity in weight loss and also prevention from some chronic diseases has been discussed previously. The objective of this study was to compare the effect of two different aerobic exercises (intermittent and continuous exercises) while prescribed with concurrent calorie-restrict diet on the weight loss and body fat of overweight and obese females. Methods: Fifteen individuals in intermittent group performed 40 min moderate Intensity exercise in 3 bouts per day for 5 days per week; the 15 participants of continuous group exercised a single 40 min bout per day, 5 days per week. Also, 15 participants were included in control group without exercise program. A self-monitoring calorie-restrict diet was recommended to all participants. The body fat percentage, waist circumference, and also skin fold thickness of all participants were assessed at baseline and 12th weeks. Results: The reduction of weight and BMI of participants in intermittent group (-3.33 ± 1.80 and -1.34 ± 0.70, respectively) was significantly more than comparable changes in continuous group (-1.23 ± 1.60 and 0.49 ± 0.65, respectively) (P = 0.048 and 0.041, respectively). After the intervention, there was no significant difference between case and controls in terms of body fat percentage, waist circumference, and sum of skin fold thickness. Conclusions: It seems that moderate intensity intermittent exercise for more than 150 min/ week is more efficient than continuous exercise in weight loss of obese and overweight women.
Comparison of Compressive and Tensile Strengths of Dry-Cast Concrete with Ordinary Portland and Portland Pozzolana Cements

Concrete is the most widely used construction material in the world. Along with the increasing economic needs in the development of construction, precast technology has become a primary solution that leads to the industrialization. The use of precast concrete system offers several advantages, such as rapid erection, higher product quality, lower project cost, better sustainability, and improved occupational health and safety. In general, there are two casting methods used in concrete placement, namely wet- and dry-castings. The dry-cast concrete has also been used for its advantages particularly in precast concrete industries, e.g. its rapid hardening time for fast mold removal (it significantly increases the plant productivity). The use of Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC) as a replacement to Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) has become increasingly popular for the past decade. Hence, its application in dry-cast method needs to be further investigated for its mechanical properties such as its compressive and splitting tensile strengths. An experimental work was carried out to examine the properties of dry-cast concrete using both types of cements (PPC and OPC). The development of its compressive strength was also monitored at 1, 7, 14, 21, 28, and 56 days of age. The splitting test was conducted to describe the tensile strength of dry-cast concrete. The observation of crack and failure behaviour of all concrete specimens were also carried out.
Comparative transcriptomics across 14 Drosophila species reveals signatures of longevity

Lifespan varies dramatically among species, but the biological basis is not well understood. Previous studies in model organisms revealed the importance of nutrient sensing, mTOR, NAD/sirtuins, and insulin/IGF1 signaling in lifespan control. By studying life‐history traits and transcriptomes of 14 Drosophila species differing more than sixfold in lifespan, we explored expression divergence and identified genes and processes that correlate with longevity. These longevity signatures suggested that longer‐lived flies upregulate fatty acid metabolism, downregulate neuronal system development and activin signaling, and alter dynamics of RNA splicing. Interestingly, these gene expression patterns resembled those of flies under dietary restriction and several other lifespan‐extending interventions, although on the individual gene level, there was no significant overlap with genes previously reported to have lifespan‐extension effects. We experimentally tested the lifespan regulation potential of several candidate genes and found no consistent effects, suggesting that individual genes generally do not explain the observed longevity patterns. Instead, it appears that lifespan regulation across species is modulated by complex relationships at the system level represented by global gene expression.
Towards a movement quantification system capable of automatic evaluation of upper limb motor function after neurological injury

The paper proposes an integrated system to automatically assess motor function after neurological injury. A portable motion capture system was developed in order to obtain all the relevant three dimensional kinematics of the upper limb movement. These kinematics were analyzed by means of a decision tree classifier which features where inferred from the Functional Ability Score (FAS) of the Wolf Motor Function Test (WMFT). In addition, the system is able to correctly quantify the performance time of each selected task of the WMFT. In terms of the FAS the system and the clinician show coherent results for 3 out of 5 patients in the first task tested and 4 out of 5 for the second task tested. Regarding performance time, the mean error between the system and the clinician was of 0.216 s for the 25 trials performed (5 patients, 5 tasks each). These results represent an important proof of concept towards a system capable of precisely evaluate upper limb motor function after neurological injury.
Assessing niche differences of sex, armour and asymmetry phenotypes using stable isotope analyses in Haida Gwaii sticklebacks

Identifying phenotype-specific selective landscapes within populations continues to challenge evolutionary biologists in studies of adaptive variation. We explore here the potential application of carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios of tissues as time-integrated proxies of niche space among sex, armour and asymmetry phenotypes within an endemic population of giant threespine stickleback from Haida Gwaii, western Canada. Muscle tissues were extracted from 289 stickleback collected from Drizzle Lake, taken in transects during June 1981, June 1982, September 1982 and June 1983 and isotopic ratios of 15 N/ 14 N ( δ 15 N) and 13 C/ 12 C ( δ 13 C) determined by continuous-flow isotope ratio mass spectrometry. Among all fish, δ 15 N values, which reflect relative trophic level, ranged from 6.5‰ to 10.6‰ while δ 13 C, which reflects reliance on different carbon pathways of primary producers, ranged from −30.5‰ to −27.5‰. The sexes did not differ in δ 15 N but females were significantly enriched in δ 13 C relative to males among all samples. In each transect, lateral plate phenotypes differed in δ 15 N, with higher plate counts generally enriched in 15 N. δ 13 C did not vary among plate pheno-types. Approximately 50% of the adult population exhibit lateral plate asymmetries usually with one plate different between sides. Sticklebacks that were asymmetric (absolute asymmetry) did not differ from symmetric fish for either δ 15 N or δ 13 C signatures. However, this result masked a significant and consistent effect of signed asymmetries (right side – left side), with δ 15 N enrichment among right-biased compared to left-biased asymmetric. These unexpected results indicate the presence of subtle and previously unrecognized niche differences in lateral plate number and asymmetry phenotypes and are consistent with the predictions of niche-width and adaptive variation hypotheses. The results also suggest the wider application of isotopic techniques to elucidate phenotype-specific ecological and selective landscapes.
A global analysis of selection at the avian MHC

Recent advancements in sequencing technology have resulted in rapid progress in the study of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) in non‐model avian species. Here, we analyze a global dataset of avian MHC class I and class II sequences (ca. 11,000 sequences from over 250 species) to gain insight into the processes that govern macroevolution of MHC genes in birds. Analysis of substitution rates revealed striking differences in the patterns of diversifying selection between passerine and non‐passerine birds. Non‐passerines showed stronger selection at MHC class II, which is primarily involved in recognition of extracellular pathogens, while passerines showed stronger selection at MHC class I, which is involved in recognition of intracellular pathogens. Positions of positively selected amino‐acid residues showed marked discrepancies with peptide‐binding residues (PBRs) of human MHC molecules, suggesting that using a human classification of PBRs to assess selection patterns at the avian MHC may be unjustified. Finally, our analysis provided evidence that indel mutations can make a substantial contribution to adaptive variation at the avian MHC.
NAIS-Net: Stable Deep Networks from Non-Autonomous Differential Equations

This paper introduces "Non-Autonomous Input-Output Stable Network" (NAIS-Net), a very deep architecture where each stacked processing block is derived from a time-invariant non-autonomous dynamical system. Non-autonomy is implemented by skip connections from the block input to each of the unrolled processing stages and allows stability to be enforced so that blocks can be unrolled adaptively to a pattern-dependent processing depth. We prove that the network is globally asymptotically stable so that for every initial condition there is exactly one input-dependent equilibrium assuming tanh units, and multiple stable equilibria for ReLU units. An efficient implementation that enforces the stability under derived conditions for both fully-connected and convolutional layers is also presented. Experimental results show how NAIS-Net exhibits stability in practice, yielding a significant reduction in generalization gap compared to ResNets.
THE IMPACT OF FDI ON GROWTH OF SAUDI ECONOMY: AN EMPIRICAL EVALUATION OF MANUFACTURING SECTOR

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows have produced considerable impact on the economy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, both directly and indirectly, by playing major role in stimulating the growth potentials and providing stability to the Kingdom’s economy. This study aims to evaluate the impact of FDI inflows on the economy of Saudi Arabia in general, and on the manufacturing sector in particular, over the last few decades, more specifically over the period from 1968 to 2014, by using Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method. The results showed positive significant impacts, but limited, of FDI on manufacturing sector in Saudi Arabia during this period. The results also found positive impacts of labor, non-oil private capital formation, and the latest Foreign Investment Act (FIA) enacted in 2000. Finally, conclusion and recommendations to promote the role of FDI in developing the manufacturing sector of Saudi Arabia.
Information, communication and political consumerism: How (online) information and (online) communication influence boycotts and buycotts

The development and diffusion of digital media is one frequently mentioned factor to explain the popularity of political consumerism; yet, to what extent (online) information and (online) communication activities influence the intensity of political consumerism has rarely been investigated. Arguing that (online) information and (online) communication activities have impacts on various forms of political consumerism – namely, on boycotts and buycotts – two data sets collected in Germany were analysed. Based on the citizen communication mediation model, the results indicate that (online) communication mediates the influence of (online) information on boycotts and buycotts; furthermore, the results suggest that boycotts are influenced by communication activities in a stronger way than buycotts.
COHERENT 2018 at the Spallation Neutron Source

The primary goal of the COHERENT collaboration is to measure and study coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEvNS) using the high-power, few-tens-of-MeV, pulsed source of neutrinos provided by the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The COHERENT collaboration reported the first detection of CEvNS [Akimov:2017ade] using a CsI[Na] detector. At present the collaboration is deploying four detector technologies: a CsI[Na] scintillating crystal, p-type point-contact germanium detectors, single-phase liquid argon, and NaI[Tl] crystals. All detectors are located in the neutron-quiet basement of the SNS target building at distances 20-30 m from the SNS neutrino source. The simultaneous measurement in all four COHERENT detector subsystems will test the $N^2$ dependence of the cross section and search for new physics. In addition, COHERENT is measuring neutrino-induced neutrons from charged- and neutral-current neutrino interactions on nuclei in shielding materials, which represent a non-negligible background for CEvNS as well as being of intrinsic interest. The Collaboration is planning as well to look for charged-current interactions of relevance to supernova and weak-interaction physics. This document describes concisely the COHERENT physics motivations, sensitivity, and next plans for measurements at the SNS to be accomplished on a few-year timescale.
Shock propagation and diffraction through cavity

This work presents a numerical analysis of a planar moving shock wave with Mach number Ms = 1.3, travelling through a square cavity geometry with rigid boundaries. A high-order artificial viscosity based Discontinuous Spectral Element Method (DSEM) is used for this purpose. The explicit numerical scheme utilizes entropy generation based transport coefficients to solve the conservative form of the viscous compressible fluid flow equations. Numerical prediction of the shock propagation and diffraction is found to be in excellent agreement with the experimental results of the literature. The stable numerical scheme resolves the detail of the complex flow dynamics for varying reference Reynolds number (Ref). The range of values of the artificial coefficients and the relative contribution of the components of the artificial energy dissipation rate are investigated and compared for different cases. Artificial energy dissipation is less for low Ref. The dilatational dissipation dominates over other components till the incident shock wave resides in the flow domain.
Longitudinal Impact of Depression on Quality of Life in Stroke Patients

Objective Stroke is associated with significant long-term morbidity and poor quality of life (QOL). Depression is one of the most common complications after stroke and has been associated with QOL cross-sectionally. We investigated the longitudinal impact of depression in the acute phase of stroke on QOL 1 year after stroke. Methods In total, 423 patients were evaluated 2 weeks after stroke, and 288 (68%) were followed 1 year later. QOL was assessed using the World Health Organization Quality of Life-Abbreviated form (WHOQOL-BREF) at baseline and follow-up. Depression was diagnosed according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV criteria; demographic and clinical characteristics data, including stroke severity, were obtained at baseline. The longitudinal associations of post-stroke depression (PSD) at baseline with QOL across two evaluation points were assessed using a repeated-measures analysis of variance. Results The WHOQOL-BREF scores were significantly and persistently lower 1 year after stroke in patients with PSD at baseline compared with those without PSD at baseline independent of demographic and clinical characteristics, including stroke severity. Conclusion PSD in the acute phase of stroke is an independent predictor of QOL in both the acute and chronic phases of stroke. Our findings underscore the importance of evaluating depression in the acute phase of stroke.
Estimation of baroreflex sensitivity during anesthesia induction with propofol

This paper presents the analysis of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) control and cardiac baroreflex sensitivity in patients undergoing general anesthesia for major surgery, with the goal of evaluating the effects of anesthesia bolus induction with propofol on autonomic control of heart rate (HR) and arterial blood pressure (ABP). The increase in baroreflex gain in the LF band observed through two different methods hints at the fact that the baroreflex may increase heart period (HP) following a transient ABP decrease, but its response displays a larger amplitude, to compensate for the blunting of the sympathetic action on heart rate and vascular resistance.
Transferring Grasping Skills to Novel Instances by Latent Space Non-Rigid Registration

Robots acting in open environments need to be able to handle novel objects. Based on the observation that objects within a category are often similar in their shapes and usage, we propose an approach for transferring grasping skills from known instances to novel instances of an object category. Correspondences between the instances are established by means of a non-rigid registration method that combines the Coherent Point Drift approach with subspace methods. The known object instances are modeled using a canonical shape and a transformation which deforms it to match the instance shape. The principle axes of variation of these deformations define a low-dimensional latent space. New instances can be generated through interpolation and extrapolation in this shape space. For inferring the shape parameters of an unknown instance, an energy function expressed in terms of the latent variables is minimized. Due to the class-level knowledge of the object, our method is able to complete novel shapes from partial views. Control poses for generating grasping motions are transferred efficiently to novel instances by the estimated non-rigid transformation.
Pharmacological Inhibition of Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 Regulates T Cell Development In Vitro

The development of functional T cells requires receptor-mediated transition through multiple checkpoints in the thymus. Double negative 3 (DN3) thymocytes are selected for the presence of a rearranged TCR beta chain in a process termed β-selection which requires signalling via the pre-TCR, Notch1 and CXCL12. Signal integration by these receptors converges on core pathways including the Phosphatidylinositol–3-kinase (PI3K) pathway. Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 (GSK3) is generally thought to be negatively regulated by the PI3K pathway but its role in β-selection has not been characterised. Here we show that developmental progression of DN3 thymocytes is promoted following inhibition of GSK3 by the synthetic compound CHIR99021. CHIR99021 allows differentiation in the absence of pre-TCR-, Notch1- or CXCL12-mediated signalling. It antagonizes IL-7-mediated inhibition of DP thymocyte differentiation and increases IL-7-promoted cell recovery. These data indicate a potentially important role for inactivation of GSK3 during β-selection. They might help to establish an in vitro stromal cell-free culture system of thymocyte development and offer a new platform for screening regulators of proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis.
Self-ordering of Ge islands on step-bunched Si(111) surfaces

By using step-bunched Si(111) surfaces as templates, we demonstrate the self-assembly of an ordered distribution of Ge islands without lithographic patterning. Initially, islands nucleate and evolve at step edges, up to complete ripening, forming long ribbons. Subsequently, island nucleation takes place at the center of flat terraces. Ge islands appear to be regularly spaced in scanning tunneling microscope images. The exploitation of this effect provides a possible route to grow ordered arrays of semiconducting nanostructures.
The ECMWF ensemble prediction system: Looking back (more than) 25 years and projecting forward 25 years

This paper has been written to mark 25 years of operational medium‐range ensemble forecasting. The origins of the ECMWF Ensemble Prediction System are outlined, including the development of the precursor real‐time Met Office monthly ensemble forecast system. In particular, the reasons for the development of singular vectors and stochastic physics – particular features of the ECMWF Ensemble Prediction System ‐ are discussed. The author speculates about the development and use of ensemble prediction in the next 25 years.