Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Involvement of the KIT/KITL Signaling Pathway in 4-Vinylcyclohexene Diepoxide-Induced Ovarian Follicle Loss in Rats1

Abstract Repeated daily dosing of rats with the occupational chemical 4-vinylcyclohexene diepoxide (VCD) depletes the ovary of primordial and primary follicles through an increase in the natural process of atresia. Additionally, in vitro exposure of Postnatal Day 4 (PND 4) rat ovaries to VCD causes similar follicular depletion. This study was designed to investigate survival signaling pathways that may be associated with VCD-induced ovotoxicity in small preantral follicles. Female Fischer 344 rats (PND 28) were dosed daily (80 mg/kg/day VCD i.p.; 12 days in vivo), and PND 4 ovaries were cultured (VCD 20 or 30 μM; 8 days in vitro). Microarray analysis identified a subset of 14 genes whose expression was increased or decreased by VCD in both experiments (i.e., via both exposure routes). Particularly, the analysis showed that relative to controls, VCD did not affect mRNA expression of growth and differentiation factor 9 (Gdf9), whereas there were decreases in mRNA encoding bone morphogenic protein receptor 1a (Bmpr1a) and Kit. To confirm findings from microarray, the genes Gdf9, Bmpr1a, and Kit were further examined. When growth factors associated with these pathways were added to ovarian cultures during VCD exposure, GDF9 and BMP4 had no effect on VCD-induced ovotoxicity; however, KITL attenuated this follicle loss. Additionally, there was a decrease in Kit and an increase in Kitl expression (mRNA and protein) following VCD exposure, relative to control. These results support that VCD compromises KIT/KITL signaling, which is critical for follicular survival in primordial and primary follicles.
Bayesian Multi-Task Reinforcement Learning

We consider the problem of multi-task reinforcement learning where the learner is provided with a set of tasks, for which only a small number of samples can be generated for any given policy. As the number of samples may not be enough to learn an accurate evaluation of the policy, it would be necessary to identify classes of tasks with similar structure and to learn them jointly. We consider the case where the tasks share structure in their value functions, and model this by assuming that the value functions are all sampled from a common prior. We adopt the Gaussian process temporal-difference value function model and use a hierarchical Bayesian approach to model the distribution over the value functions. We study two cases, where all the value functions belong to the same class and where they belong to an undefined number of classes. For each case, we present a hierarchical Bayesian model, and derive inference algorithms for (i) joint learning of the value functions, and (ii) efficient transfer of the information gained in (i) to assist learning the value function of a newly observed task.
Evaluating Birth Preparedness and Pregnancy Complications Readiness Knowledge and Skills of Accredited Social Health Activists in India

Background: The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in India relies on Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) to act as a link between pregnant women and health facilities. All ASHAs are required to have a birth preparedness plan and be aware of danger signs of complications to initiate appropriate and timely referral to obstetric care. Objectives: To examine the extent to which Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) are equipped with necessary knowledge and skills and the adequacy of support they get from supervisors to carry out their assigned tasks in a rural district in Karnataka, (South) India. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out among 225 ASHAs between June – July 2011. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected using pre-tested semi-structured interview schedule. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 17. Chi-square test was used to determine associations between categorical variables. Results: The response rate was 207(92%). In terms of knowledge of all key danger signs (Complication Readiness), 2(1%), 10(4.8%), and 15(7.2%) ASHAs were aware of key danger signs for labor and child birth, postpartum period and pregnancy period, respectively. Knowledge of key danger signs was associated with repeated, recent and practical training (p <0.05). A majority (71%) scored 4-7 of the maximum score out of 8 for knowledge regarding Birth Preparedness. Conclusions and Public Health Implications: ASHAs in rural Karnataka, India, are poorly equipped to identify obstetric complications and to help expectant mothers prepare a birth preparedness plan. There is critical need for the implementation of appropriate training and follow-up supervision of ASHAs within a supportive, functioning and responsive health care system.
Stellar Evolution in NGC 6791: Mass Loss on the Red Giant Branch and the Formation of Low-Mass White Dwarfs

We present the first detailed study of the properties (temperatures, gravities, and masses) of the NGC 6791 white dwarf population. This unique stellar system is both one of the oldest (8 Gyr) and most metal-rich ([Fe/H] ~ +0.4) open clusters in our Galaxy and has a color-magnitude diagram (CMD) that exhibits both a red giant clump and a much hotter extreme horizontal branch. Fitting the Balmer lines of the white dwarfs in the cluster using Keck/LRIS spectra suggests that most of these stars are undermassive, ⟨M⟩ = 0.43 ± 0.06 M☉, and therefore could not have formed from canonical stellar evolution involving the helium flash at the tip of the red giant branch. We show that at least 40% of NGC 6791's evolved stars must have lost enough mass on the red giant branch to avoid the flash and therefore did not convert helium into carbon-oxygen in their core. Such increased mass loss in the evolution of the progenitors of these stars is consistent with the presence of the extreme horizontal branch in the CMD. This unique stellar evolutionary channel also naturally explains the recent finding of a very young age (2.4 Gyr) for NGC 6791 from white dwarf cooling theory; helium-core white dwarfs in this cluster will cool ~3 times slower than carbon-oxygen-core stars, and therefore the corrected white dwarf cooling age is in fact ≳7 Gyr, consistent with the well-measured main-sequence turnoff age. These results provide direct empirical evidence that mass loss is much more efficient in high-metallicity environments and therefore may be critical in interpreting the ultraviolet upturn in elliptical galaxies.
Multiscale monitoring of autocorrelated processes using wavelets analysis

This article proposes a new method to develop multiscale monitoring control charts for an autocorrelated process that has an underlying unknown ARMA(2, 1) model structure. The Haar wavelet transform is used to obtain effective monitoring statistics by considering the process dynamic characteristics in both the time and frequency domains. Three control charts are developed on three selected levels of Haar wavelet coefficients in order to simultaneously detect the changes in the process mean, process variance, and measurement error variance, respectively. A systematic method for automatically determining the optimal monitoring level of Haar wavelet decomposition is proposed that does not require the estimation of an ARMA model. It is shown that the proposed wavelet-based Cumulative SUM (CUSUM) chart on Haar wavelet detail coefficients is only sensitive to the variance changes and robust to process mean shifts. This property provides the separate monitoring capability between a variance change and a mean shift, which shows its advantage by comparison with the traditional CUSUM monitoring chart. For the purpose of mean shift detection, it is also shown that using the proposed wavelet-based Exponentially Weighted Moving Average (EWMA) chart to monitor Haar wavelet scale coefficients will more successfully detect small mean shifts than direct-EWMA charts.
Inhibitory Interneuron Progenitor Transplantation Restores Normal Learning and Memory in ApoE4 Knock-In Mice without or with Aβ Accumulation

Excitatory and inhibitory balance of neuronal network activity is essential for normal brain function and may be of particular importance to memory. Apolipoprotein (apo) E4 and amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides, two major players in Alzheimer's disease (AD), cause inhibitory interneuron impairments and aberrant neuronal activity in the hippocampal dentate gyrus in AD-related mouse models and humans, leading to learning and memory deficits. To determine whether replacing the lost or impaired interneurons rescues neuronal signaling and behavioral deficits, we transplanted embryonic interneuron progenitors into the hippocampal hilus of aged apoE4 knock-in mice without or with Aβ accumulation. In both conditions, the transplanted cells developed into mature interneurons, functionally integrated into the hippocampal circuitry, and restored normal learning and memory. Thus, restricted hilar transplantation of inhibitory interneurons restores normal cognitive function in two widely used AD-related mouse models, highlighting the importance of interneuron impairments in AD pathogenesis and the potential of cell replacement therapy for AD. More broadly, it demonstrates that excitatory and inhibitory balance are crucial for learning and memory, and suggests an avenue for investigating the processes of learning and memory and their alterations in healthy aging and diseases.
Assessment of social cognition in frail older adults and its association with social functioning in the nursing home.

PURPOSE The aims of this study were to reliably assess a range of social-cognitive functioning in frail seniors and to examine the association between measures of social cognition and nurses' ratings of residents' social functioning in a nursing home. DESIGN AND METHODS Forty nursing home residents with and without cognitive impairment completed 11 social cognition tasks on two occasions after assessment of their cognitive functioning with the Cambridge Cognitive Examination-Revised (CAMCOG), CAMCOG Executive Function, and two tests of working memory. Staff on the nursing units completed two measures of social behavior. RESULTS Participants completed the social cognition protocol without difficulty. The measures demonstrated good internal (median alpha =.75) and test-retest reliability (median correlation =.70). Four of the social cognition measures were significantly associated with the measures of cognitive functioning; three additional measures showed significant positive associations with subsets of the cognitive tests. Regression analyses revealed that measures of social cognition were significantly and independently associated with nurses' ratings of residents' social functioning after age, gender, education, and the four measures of cognitive functioning were controlled for. One measure of social cognition that assessed interpersonal problem-solving accounted for 45% of the variance in nurses' ratings of participants' social functioning (F = 41.35; df = 1,17; p <.001). IMPLICATIONS Measures of social cognition assess a domain of functioning that is not evaluated by traditional tests of cognitive status. These measures are informative about frail, older adults' ability to understand and respond to others and could be used to predict patterns of social functioning in nursing homes and other naturalistic settings.
A unified information-theoretic framework for viewpoint selection and mesh saliency

Viewpoint selection is an emerging area in computer graphics with applications in fields such as scene exploration, image-based modeling, and volume visualization. In particular, best view selection algorithms are used to obtain the minimum number of views (or images) in order to understand or model an object or scene better. In this article, we present a unified framework for viewpoint selection and mesh saliency based on the definition of an information channel between a set of viewpoints (input) and the set of polygons of an object (output). The mutual information of this channel is shown to be a powerful tool to deal with viewpoint selection, viewpoint stability, object exploration and viewpoint-based saliency. In addition, viewpoint mutual information is extended using saliency as an importance factor, showing how perceptual criteria can be incorporated to our method. Although we use a sphere of viewpoints around an object, our framework is also valid for any set of viewpoints in a closed scene. A number of experiments demonstrate the robustness of our approach and the good behavior of the proposed measures.
Nanorobotic handling of few-layer graphene membranes using a combined AFM/SEM/FIB setup

This paper presents a new experimental approach for pick and place handling of few-layer graphene nanomembranes with side length of 10 μm and below. In the as-received condition, the membranes are freely suspended on a grid which is covered with a lacey carbon film. Using focused ion beam cutting and a nanorobotic driven tungsten tip, selected membrane-fragments can be separated from the grid and transferred to any chosen substrate with high accuracy. As an example, one membrane is placed on a hole with a diameter of 5 μm on a Si/SiO2 sample. Subsequently, the membrane is fixed and mechanically characterized. The paper investigates the advantages, the opportunities and the limits of this technique in particular with regard to possible applications.
Financial evaluations of antibiotic stewardship programs—a systematic review

Introduction: There is an increasing awareness to counteract problems due to incorrect antimicrobial use. Interventions that are implemented are often part of an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program (ASPs). Studies publishing results from these interventions are increasing, including reports on the economical effects of ASPs. This review will look at the economical sections of these studies and the methods that were used. Methods: A systematic review was performed of articles found in the PubMed and EMBASE databases published from 2000 until November 2014. Included studies found were scored for various aspects and the quality of the papers was assessed following an appropriate check list (CHEC criteria list). Results: 1233 studies were found, of which 149 were read completely. Ninety-nine were included in the final review. Of these studies, 57 only mentioned the costs associated with the antimicrobial medication. Others also included operational costs (n = 23), costs for hospital stay (n = 18), and/or other costs (n = 19). Nine studies were further assessed for their quality. These studies scored between 2 and 14 out of a potential total score of 19. Conclusions: This review gives an extensive overview of the current financial evaluation of ASPs and the quality of these economical studies. We show that there is still major potential to improve financial evaluations of ASPs. Studies do not use similar nor consistent methods or outcome measures, making it impossible draw sound conclusions and compare different studies. Finally, we make some recommendations for the future.
Lymph node biopsy analysis reveals an altered immunoregulatory balance already during the at‐risk phase of autoantibody positive rheumatoid arthritis

The balance between proinflammatory and regulatory CD4+ T cells is tightly controlled in lymphoid organs. In autoimmune diseases this balance is altered in the periphery and target tissue of patients. However, not much is known about the balance initiated in lymphoid organs during the development of disease. Since systemic autoimmunity is present years before the clinical manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), it is possible to study the immunoregulatory balance during the earliest (preclinical) phases of disease. Here, we report for the first time the frequency and phenotype of proinflammatory and regulatory CD4+ T cells in lymph node biopsies obtained from autoantibody positive individuals at risk for developing RA, patients with established disease and healthy controls. The frequency of proinflammatory LN Th1 cells was increased in RA patients compared with HCs, while the frequency of regulatory T cells was lower in LN biopsies of RA‐risk individuals. Upon in vitro stimulation LN CD4+ T cells produced lower levels of proinflammatory cytokines, IFN‐γ and IL‐17A, in both RA‐risk individuals and early RA patients. This study shows that already during the earliest phases of systemic autoimmunity the immunoregulatory balance between proinflammatory and regulatory CD4+ T cells is altered in LN tissue.
Broadband PVDF Membrane Hydrophone for Comparisons of Hydrophone Calibration Methods up to 140 MHz

A PVDF membrane hydrophone has been constructed in particular for comparisons of broadband ultrasound hydrophone calibration methods and of the results obtained by different laboratories. Intercomparisons have to accompany the efforts currently undertaken to enhance the calibration frequency ranges and to implement the extension from the determination of amplitude-only to complex-valued calibration data. It can be expected that such hydrophone data will be used much more frequently in the future for exposure measurements on medical ultrasound equipment, in particular for the detection of non- linearly distorted waveforms. The hydrophone design chosen has a foil thickness of 9 mum and an electrode diameter of 210 mum. A broadband differential preamplifier ( -3 dB roll-off frequency: 95 MHz) is integrated to achieve a high signal-to-noise ratio over a broad frequency range (e.g., 26 dB-30 dB in the range 50 MHz to 140 MHz for measurements of nonlinearly distorted pulses). The hydrophone response was characterized by means of a primary interferometric calibration technique, by substitution calibration using time-delay spectrometry, and by complex broadband pulse calibration using nonlinear sound propagation. The results show a flat frequency response up to 40 MHz (maximum variations below plusmn0.6 dB) and a thickness mode resonance at about 105 MHz. They indicate a useable bandwidth up to 140 MHz. The effective diameter as derived from directional response measurements is 240 mum at frequencies beyond 15 MHz.
Factors Influencing on the Dimensions Accuracy in Laser Cutting

This research aims to establish the influence of different factors on the dimensions accuracy in laser cutting. Samples with different thickness were made of DC01 EN 10130 steel. On each sample 32 round or square holes were cut in 4 rows by different laser beam movement schemes linear, zig-zag and random. The tests were made by pulse CO2 laser with regimes, recommended for each sheet thickness, by the machine operating manual. The diameters of the round holes and the dimensions of the square holes along the laser head and the table axes were measured by a projector. The varying intervals of the dimensions and the shape deviations were calculated. It was established that three groups of factors influence on the dimensions accuracy in laser cutting: factors, related to the machine, laser parameters power, laser cutting speed and focus distance, determining the technological process parameters, and the material characteristics thermal physical properties and sample sizes. Factors, related to the machine, exert effect mainly on the intervals of dimensions varying, while the laser parameters and the material properties influence on the dimensions value independently of the cutting scheme. In the all laser cutting schemes the increasing of the sample thickness leads to the larger interval of the dimensions varying and increasing of the shape deviation. Nomenclature
A Note on Logical Relations Between Semantics and Syntax

This note gives a new proof of the ‘operational extensionality’ property of Abramsky’s lazy lambda calculus|namely the coincidence of contextual equivalence with a co-inductively dened notion of ‘applicative bisimilarity’. This purely syntactic result is here proved using a logical relation (due to Plotkin) between the syntax and its denotational semantics. The proof exploits a mixed inductive/coinductive characterisation of the logical relation recently discovered by the author. 1
Pharmacological activation of CB 2 receptors counteracts the deleterious effect of ethanol on cell proliferation in the main neurogenic zones of the adult rat brain

Citation: Rivera P, Blanco E, Bindila L, Alen F, Vargas A, Rubio L, Pavón FJ, Serrano A, Lutz B, Rodríguez de Fonseca F and Suárez J (2015) Pharmacological activation of CB2 receptors counteracts the deleterious effect of ethanol on cell proliferation in the main neurogenic zones of the adult rat brain Front. Cell. Neurosci. 9:379. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2015. 00379 Pharmacological activation of CB2 receptors counteracts the deleterious effect of ethanol on cell proliferation in the main neurogenic zones of the adult rat brain
Multi-modal identity verification using support vector machines (SVM)

The contribution of this paper is twofold: (1) to formulate a decision fusion problem that is encountered in the design of a multi-modal identity verification system as a particular classification problem, and (2) to solve this problem by using a support vector machine (SVM). The multi-modal identity verification system under consideration is built of d modalities in parallel, each one delivering as output a scalar number, called a score, stating how well the claimed identity is verified. A fusion module receiving the d scores as input has to take a binary decision: to accept or reject the identity. This fusion problem has been solved using SVMs. The performance of this fusion module has been evaluated and compared with other proposed methods on a multi-modal database containing both vocal and visual modalities.
Unsupervised endmember extraction of martian hyperspectral images

In this paper, we try to identify and quantify the chemical species present on the surface of planet Mars with the help of hyperspectral images provided by the instrument OMEGA [1]. For this purpose, we suppose that the spectrum of each pixel is a linear mixture of the spectra of different endmembers. From this linear mixture hypothesis, our work is divided into two steps. Firstly, we propose a new unsupervised method for estimating the number of endmembers based on the eigenvalues of covariance and correlation matrix of the hyperspectral data. This method is then validated on synthetic data. With the help of the number estimated by the precedent step, we use the Vertex Component Analysis (VCA) to extract the spectra and the abundances of the endmembers. The results on hyperspectral image acquired by the OMEGA instrument are shown.