Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Immortalized p19ARF null hepatocytes restore liver injury and generate hepatic progenitors after transplantation

Primary hepatocytes are blocked in mitotic activity and well‐defined culture conditions only allow the limited expansion of these cells. Various genetic modifications have therefore been employed to establish immortalized hepatic cell lines, but, unfortunately, proper hepatocyte cultures conducting a faithful hepatic gene expression program and lacking malignancy are hardly available. Here we report the immortalization of primary hepatocytes isolated from p19ARF null mice using the rationale that loss of p19ARF lowers growth‐suppressive functions of p53 and bypasses cellular senescence without losing genetic stability. The established hepatocytes, called MIM, express liver‐specific markers, show a nontumorigenic phenotype, and competence to undergo Fas‐mediated apoptosis. Intrasplenic transplantation of GFP‐expressing parental MIM cells into Fas‐injured livers of SCID mice revealed liver‐reconstituting activity. In the regenerated liver, MIM cells localized in small‐sized clusters and showed presence in structures comparable to canals of Hering, the site of oval cells. Transplantation of MIM‐Bcl‐XL cells, which are protected against apoptosis, and successive Fas‐induced liver damage, enhanced donor‐derived liver repopulation by showing differentiation into cholangiocytes and cells expressing markers characteristic of both fetal hepatocytes and oval cells. In conclusion, these data indicate that long‐term cultivated p19ARF null hepatocytes are capable of generating hepatic progenitor cells during liver restoration, and thus represent a highly valuable tool to study the differentiation repertoire of hepatocytes. (HEPATOLOGY 2004;39:628–634.)
Tumor necrosis factor- (cid:1) -induced leukocyte adhesion and microvessel permeability

Tumor necrosis factor- (cid:1) -induced leukocyte adhesion and microvessel permeability. Am objective of this study was to investigate whether leukocyte adhesion and/or emigration are critical steps in increased microvessel permeability during acute inﬂammation. To conduct this study, we combined autologous blood perfusion with a single microvessel perfusion technique, which allows microvessel permeability to be measured precisely after the endothelium has inter-acted with blood-borne stimuli. Experiments were carried out in intact venular microvessels in rat mesenteries. Firm attachment of leukocytes to endothelial cells was induced by intravenous injection of TNF- (cid:1) (3.5 (cid:2) g/kg) and resuming autoperfusion in a precannulated microvessel. Leukocyte emigration was facilitated by superfusion of formyl-Met-Leu-Phe-OH. Microvessel permeability was measured as hydraulic conductivity ( L p ) or the solute permeability coefﬁcient to tetramethylrhodamine isothiocyanate-labeled (cid:1) -lactalbumin before and after leukocyte adhesion and emigration in individually perfused microvessels. We found that perfusion of a microvessel with TNF- (cid:1) did not affect basal microvessel permeability, but intravenous injection of TNF- (cid:1) caused signiﬁcant leukocyte adhesion. However, the signiﬁcant leukocyte adhesion and emigration did not cause corresponding increases in either L p or solute permeability. Thus our re- sults suggest that leukocyte adhesion and emigration do not necessarily increase microvessel permeability and the mechanisms that regulate the adhesion process act independently from mechanisms that regulate permeability. In addition, silver staining of endothelial boundaries demonstrated that leukocytes preferentially adhere at the junctions of endothelial cells. The appearance of the silver lines indicates that the TNF- (cid:1) -induced ﬁrm adhesion of leukocyte to microvessel walls did not involve apparent changes in the junctional structure of endothelial cells, which is consistent with the results of permeability measurements. mouse anti-rat CD18 (2.5 (cid:2) g/ml) or CD11b (12.5 (cid:2) g/ml) MAb or mouse IgG (12.5 (cid:2) g/ml) for 20 min in the dark and then washed twice with buffer to eliminate excess antibody. Cells were analyzed on a FACScan ﬂow cytometer (Becton-Dickinson; San Diego, CA) using CellQuest software. the of The measured values corrected for a temperature of 37°C based on van’t Hoff’s law.
Natural Scene Recognition Based on Superpixels and Deep Boltzmann Machines

The Deep Boltzmann Machines (DBM) is a state-of-the-art unsupervised learning model, which has been successfully applied to handwritten digit recognition and, as well as object recognition. However, the DBM is limited in scene recognition due to the fact that natural scene images are usually very large. In this paper, an efficient scene recognition approach is proposed based on superpixels and the DBMs. First, a simple linear iterative clustering (SLIC) algorithm is employed to generate superpixels of input images, where each superpixel is regarded as an input of a learning model. Then, a two-layer DBM model is constructed by stacking two restricted Boltzmann machines (RBMs), and a greedy layer-wise algorithm is applied to train the DBM model. Finally, a softmax regression is utilized to categorize scene images. The proposed technique can effectively reduce the computational complexity and enhance the performance for large natural image recognition. The approach is verified and evaluated by extensive experiments, including the fifteen-scene categories dataset the UIUC eight-sports dataset, and the SIFT flow dataset, are used to evaluate the proposed method. The experimental results show that the proposed approach outperforms other state-of-the-art methods in terms of recognition rate.
The impact of Hepatitis C virus infection on kidney transplantation outcomes : A systematic review of 18 observational studies

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection occursin 0% to 51% of dialysis patients, and manyHCV-positive patients are urged to undergo kidney transplantation. However, the outcome of renal transplantation in HCV-positive recipients is unknown. Objectives: Our review aimed to address the outcomesof renal transplantation recipients (RTRs)following kidney transplantation. Materials and Methods: We selected studies that used the adjusted relative risk (aRR) and 95% CI of all-cause mortality and graft loss in HCV-positive compared with HCVnegative RTRs as study endpoints. Cox proportional hazard analysis was usedin all studies to calculate the independent effects of HCV infection on RTR outcomes. Sixteen retrospective cohort studies and 2 clinical trials were selected for our review. Sixteen studies were related to patient survival, and 12 examined graft survival. Results: The combined hazard ratio in HCV-infected recipients was 1.69-fold (1.33-1.97, p < 0.0001) and 1.56 times (1.22-2.004, p < 0.0001) greaterthan that of HCV-negative recipients for mortality and graft loss, respectively. Conclusions: Although HCV-infected RTRs have worse outcomes than HCV-negative RTRs,kidney transplantation is the preferred treatment for patients with HCV infection and end-stage renal disease. A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Received: 26 Apr 2010 Revised: 31 Jan 2011 Accepted: 28 Feb 2011
In vivo bioengineered ovarian tumors based on collagen, matrigel, alginate and agarose hydrogels: a comparative study

Scaffold-based tumor engineering is rapidly evolving the study of cancer progression. However, the effects of scaffolds and environment on tumor formation have seldom been investigated. In this study, four types of injectable hydrogels, namely, collagen type I, Matrigel, alginate and agarose gels, were loaded with human ovarian cancer SKOV3 cells and then injected into nude mice subcutaneously. The growth of the tumors in vitro was also investigated. After four weeks, the specimens were harvested and analyzed. We found that tumor formation by SKOV3 cells was best supported by collagen, followed by Matrigel, alginate, control (without scaffold) and agarose in vivo. The collagen I group exhibited a larger tumor volume with increased neovascularization and increased necrosis compared with the other materials. Further, increased MMP activity, upregulated expression of laminin and fibronectin and higher levels of HIF-1α and VEGF-A in the collagen group revealed that the engineered tumor is closer to human ovarian carcinoma. In order, collagen, Matrigel, alginate, control (without scaffold) and agarose exhibited decreases in tumor formation. All evidence indicated that the in vivo engineered tumor is scaffold-dependent. Bioactive hydrogels are superior to inert hydrogels at promoting tumor regeneration. In particular, biomimetic hydrogels are advantageous because they provide a microenvironment that mimics the ECM of natural tumors. On the other hand, typical features of cancer cells and the expression of genes related to cancer malignancy were far less similar to the natural tumor in vitro, which indicated the importance of culture environment in vivo. Superior to the in vitro culture, nude mice can be considered satisfactory in vivo ‘bioreactors’ for the screening of favorable cell vehicles for tumor engineering in vitro.
Relationship between Clinical Symptoms and EEG Findings in Borderline Personality Disorder

Abstract: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) was diagnosed in female patients (N=41) between the ages of 18 and 30 using the Diagnostic Interview for Borderline Patients (DIB) and DSM‐III. Comparing the EEG findings of BPD (N=18) and non‐BPD (N=21) groups, there were no EEG findings characteristic of BPD. We also assessed the relationship between the EEG findings and DIB items. Positive spikes appeared in patients with high scores for Impulse Action Patterns, while wave and spike phantoms were observed in patients with high scores for Interpersonal Relations. Dividing the patients into BPD and non‐BPD groups, a similar tendency to that observed from an analysis of all patients was observed in the non‐BPD group, but no such tendency was observed in the BPD group. The results suggest that BPD patients include those in whom vulnerability of cerebral function plays an important role in the development of these two clinical symptoms as well as those in whom vulnerability of cerebral function plays almost no pathogenic role.
The Role of Th17 in Neuroimmune Disorders: A Target for CAM Therapy. Part III

Abundant research has mapped the inflammatory pathways leading to autoimmunity and neuroinflammatory disorders. The latest T helper to be identified, Th17, through its proinflammatory cytokine IL-17, plays a pathogenic role in many inflammatory conditions. Today, healthcare providers have a wealth of anti-inflammatory agents from which to choose. On one hand, pharmaceutical companies market brand-name drugs direct to the public and physicians. Medical botanical knowledge, on the other hand, has been passed down from generation to generation. The demands for natural healing therapies have brought corresponding clinical and laboratory research studies to elucidate the medicinal properties of alternative practices. With a variety of options, it can be difficult to pinpoint the proper anti-inflammatory agent for each case presented. In this review, the authors highlight a vast array of anti-inflammatory medicaments ranging from drugs to vitamins and from botanicals to innate molecules. This compilation may serve as a guide for complimentary and alternative healthcare providers who need to target neuroinflammation driven by Th17 and its inflammatory cytokine IL-17. By understanding the mechanisms of anti-inflammatory agents, CAM practitioners can tailor therapeutic interventions to fit the needs of the patient, thereby providing faster relief from inflammatory complaints.
Novel multilevel inverter carrier-based PWM methods

The advent of the transformerless multilevel inverter topology has brought forth various pulse width modulation (PWM) schemes as a means to control the switching of the active devices in each of the multiple voltage levels in the inverter. An analysis of how existing multilevel carrier-based PWM affect switch utilization for the different levels of a diode-clamped inverter is conducted. Two novel carrier-based multilevel PWM schemes are presented which help to optimize or balance the switch utilization in multilevel inverters. A 10 kW prototype six-level diode-clamped inverter has been built and controlled with the novel PWM strategies proposed in this paper to act as a voltage source inverter.
Effects of partial slip on the peristaltic transport of a hyperbolic tangent fluid model in an asymmetric channel

In the present analysis, we have modeled the governing equations of two dimensional hyperbolic tangent fluid model under the assumptions of long wavelength and low Reynolds number. The flow is investigated in a wave frame of reference moving with the velocity of the wave. The governing equations of hyperbolic tangent fluid have been solved using regular perturbation method. The expression for pressure rise has been calculated using numerical integrations. The behavior of different physical parameters have been discussed graphically.
Therapeutic management of bone metastasis in prostate cancer: an update

ABSTRACT Introduction: Bone metastases affect the majority of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), resulting in significant morbidity and mortality. This review describes the current therapies available for the management of CRPC patients with bone metastases. Areas covered: Studies on the use of currently available therapeutic approaches for palliating pain, delaying skeletal-related events (SREs) and prolonging survival in CRPC patients with bone metastases have been examined. PubMed database was searched in May 2016 starting with the following keywords: (‘castration-resistant prostate cancer’ OR ‘CRPC’) AND ‘bone metastases’, and approximately 270 results were retrieved. More specific searches were then performed on the epidemiology and molecular pathogenesis (in particular, ‘vicious cycle’ was used as a keyword), the management of pain, SREs and survival. The following keywords were also used individually: abiraterone, cabazitaxel, denosumab, docetaxel, enzalutamide, radium-223, sipuleucel-T, samarium-153, strontium-89, zoledronate. Randomized-controlled trials, observational studies, reviews, systematic reviews and meta-analyses were selected and articles were excluded if not in English. Expert commentary: Currently, clear recommendations on the optimal use of the agents available to treat mCRPC are lacking. Therefore, to ensure patients the best treatment, both their clinical characteristics and the features of each product have to be considered.
The Effect of Teachers’ Evaluative Feedback on Chinese Students’ Perception of Ability: a cultural and situational analysis

Summary The research explored the effect of teachers’ evaluative feedback on students’ perception of ability. The subjects were 758 Chinese students from elementary schools, high schools, and a university in Hong Kong. Subjects rated ability and effort of two hypothetical students who achieved identical results (success or failure) in a mathematics test but received different feedback (praise, blame, or neutral feedback) from the teacher. They also rated the teacher's perception of their own and their friends’ ability and effort in a similar situation after a real mathematics test. The results of this study support previous findings which indicate that ability perception is influenced by cultural and contextual variables. Contrary to the findings with Western students, ability and effort were positively correlated. The importance of effort among the Chinese students appears to mitigate the effects of teachers’ feedback on students’ ability. Age‐related differences were also observed. The results are discu.
Application of a self-evaluation maintenance model to psychological health in interpersonal contexts

This study examines the possibility of applying Tesser's (1988) Self-Evaluation Maintenance Model, which focuses on self-esteem, to individual psychological health in interpersonal contexts. The participants consist of 243 college students divided into same-sex friendship pairs. The main findings show that when comparing oneself with an close friend in a domain one finds important, positive self-perception is more closely related to psychological health than a positive perception of the friend. In domains not important to the self, no relationship between psychological health and self-perception was found, regardless of the degree of intimacy. These results indicate that the degree of intimacy with the compared person and the degree of importance ascribed to the aspect being compared are connected with individual psychological health. These findings are discussed in relationship to application of the Self-Evaluation Maintenance Model to psychological health.
3D-A-Nets: 3D Deep Dense Descriptor for Volumetric Shapes with Adversarial Networks

Recently researchers have been shifting their focus towards learned 3D shape descriptors from hand-craft ones to better address challenging issues of the deformation and structural variation inherently present in 3D objects. 3D geometric data are often transformed to 3D Voxel grids with regular format in order to be better fed to a deep neural net architecture. However, the computational intractability of direct application of 3D convolutional nets to 3D volumetric data severely limits the efficiency (i.e. slow processing) and effectiveness (i.e. unsatisfied accuracy) in processing 3D geometric data. In this paper, powered with a novel design of adversarial networks (3D-A-Nets), we have developed a novel 3D deep dense shape descriptor (3D-DDSD) to address the challenging issues of efficient and effective 3D volumetric data processing. We developed new definition of 2D multilayer dense representation (MDR) of 3D volumetric data to extract concise but geometrically informative shape description and a novel design of adversarial networks that jointly train a set of convolution neural network (CNN), recurrent neural network (RNN) and an adversarial discriminator. More specifically, the generator network produces 3D shape features that encourages the clustering of samples from the same category with correct class label, whereas the discriminator network discourages the clustering by assigning them misleading adversarial class labels. By addressing the challenges posed by the computational inefficiency of direct application of CNN to 3D volumetric data, 3D-A-Nets can learn high-quality 3D-DSDD which demonstrates superior performance on 3D shape classification and retrieval over other state-of-the-art techniques by a great margin.
The Network Structure of Human Personality According to the NEO-PI-R: Matching Network Community Structure to Factor Structure

Introduction Human personality is described preferentially in terms of factors (dimensions) found using factor analysis. An alternative and highly related method is network analysis, which may have several advantages over factor analytic methods. Aim To directly compare the ability of network community detection (NCD) and principal component factor analysis (PCA) to examine modularity in multidimensional datasets such as the neuroticism-extraversion-openness personality inventory revised (NEO-PI-R). Methods 434 healthy subjects were tested on the NEO-PI-R. PCA was performed to extract factor structures (FS) of the current dataset using both item scores and facet scores. Correlational network graphs were constructed from univariate correlation matrices of interactions between both items and facets. These networks were pruned in a link-by-link fashion while calculating the network community structure (NCS) of each resulting network using the Wakita Tsurumi clustering algorithm. NCSs were matched against FS and networks of best matches were kept for further analysis. Results At facet level, NCS showed a best match (96.2%) with a ‘confirmatory’ 5-FS. At item level, NCS showed a best match (80%) with the standard 5-FS and involved a total of 6 network clusters. Lesser matches were found with ‘confirmatory’ 5-FS and ‘exploratory’ 6-FS of the current dataset. Network analysis did not identify facets as a separate level of organization in between items and clusters. A small-world network structure was found in both item- and facet level networks. Conclusion We present the first optimized network graph of personality traits according to the NEO-PI-R: a ‘Personality Web’. Such a web may represent the possible routes that subjects can take during personality development. NCD outperforms PCA by producing plausible modularity at item level in non-standard datasets, and can identify the key roles of individual items and clusters in the network.
Influence of the microstructure on the shell strength of eggs laid by hens of different ages

1. The eggshell is a bioceramic material constructed of columnar calcite crystals preferentially oriented with their c -axis perpendicular to the shell surface. 2. The influence of microstructure (crystal size, shape and crystallographic orientation of crystal grains) on the mechanical properties of eggshells (shell strength) was investigated using eggs from hens of different ages. 3. There was a strong correlation between crystallographic texture and the strength of the eggshell in the case of eggs laid by young hens. The strength of eggshells increased as the preferential orientation of the crystals constituting the eggshell decreased. 4. By comparing two age populations, the effect of hen age on eggshell properties was evaluated. In general, eggshells from aged hens had a lower breaking strength (less than half that of those laid by young hens) and showed a greater variability in their structural properties such as thickness, grain morphology and crystallographic texture. 5. Texture analysis revealed that shells from eggs laid by aged hens have two preferred crystal orientations, after (001) and (104), compared with mainly one, after (001), in eggs laid by young hens. 6. These observed changes in eggshell properties could be due to changes in the organic matrix of the eggshell associated with ageing of the hens.