Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
FGF2 antagonizes aberrant TGFβ regulation of tropomyosin: role for posterior capsule opacity

Transforming growth factor (TGF) β2 and fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 2 are involved in regulation of posterior capsule opacification (PCO) and other processes of epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) such as cancer progression, wound healing and tissue fibrosis as well as normal embryonic development. We previously used an in vivo rodent PCO model to show the expression of tropomyosin (Tpm) 1/2 was aberrantly up‐regulated in remodelling the actin cytoskeleton during EMT. In this in vitro study, we show the Tpms family of cytoskeleton proteins are involved in regulating and stabilizing actin microfilaments (F‐actin) and are induced by TGFβ2 during EMT in lens epithelial cells (LECs). Importantly, we found TGFβ2 and FGF2 played contrasting roles. Stress fibre formation and up‐regulation of α‐smooth muscle actin (αSMA) induced by TGFβ2 could be reversed by Tpm1/2 knock‐down by siRNA. Expression of Tpm1/2 and stress fibre formation induced by TGFβ2 could be reversed by FGF2. Furthermore, FGF2 delivery to TGFβ‐treated LECs perturbed EMT by reactivating the mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK)/ extracellular signal‐regulated kinase (ERK) pathway and subsequently enhanced EMT. Conversely, MEK inhibitor (PD98059) abated the FGF2‐mediated Tpm1/2 and αSMA suppression. However, we found that normal LECs which underwent EMT showed enhanced migration in response to combined TGFβ and FGF2 stimulation. These findings may help clarify the mechanism reprogramming the actin cytoskeleton during morphogenetic EMT cell proliferation and fibre regeneration in PCO. We propose that understanding the physiological link between levels of FGF2, Tpm1/2 expression and TGFβs‐driven EMT orchestration may provide clue(s) to develop therapeutic strategies to treat PCO based on Tpm1/2.
Serum prolactin levels, plasma risperidone levels, polymorphism of cytochrome P450 2D6 and clinical response in patients with schizophrenia

The object of this study is to assess 1) the relationship between plasma antipsychotic drug concentration, serum prolactin levels and the clinical efficacy of risperidone, 2) the relationship between the CYP2D6 polymorphisms and metabolizing of risperidone and 3) the role of 9-hydroxyrisperidone in elevating prolactin levels. One-hundred and eighteen Chinese schizophrenia patients (40 males, 78 females, age 15—60 years) were given risperidone at dosages ranging from 2—8 mg/day for 8 weeks. Clinical efficacy was determined using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scores (BPRS). Serum prolactin levels were assayed before and after the 8 week treatment and plasma risperidone and 9-hydroxyrisperidone levels were also measured at the end of the 8-week treatment. The results showed there was no significant correlation between the concentration of active moiety and clinical response. Risperidone treatment significantly increased serum prolactin levels. Furthermore, changes of prolactin levels were not correlated with the clinical response. For the risperidone/ 9-hydroxyrisperidone ratio, there was a statistically significant difference among the CYP2D6*1/*1, *1/*10, *10/*10 genotypes (Kruskal—Wallis test, p = 0.012). No significant differences were found in the concentration of 9-hydroxyrisperidone and active moiety among the genotypes. In addition, the concentration of 9-hydroxyrisperidone was not significantly correlated with the increase of serum prolactin. In conclusion, our study has, for the first time, produced evidence that in Chinese schizophrenic patients, the metabolism of risperidone is dependent on CYP2D6. Neither changes in serum prolactin levels nor plasma concentration of active moiety were significantly correlated with clinical efficacy of risperidone. 9-hydroxyrisperidone may not play a predominant role in elevating serum prolactin level.
Task-Related Edge Density (TED)—A New Method for Revealing Dynamic Network Formation in fMRI Data of the Human Brain

The formation of transient networks in response to external stimuli or as a reflection of internal cognitive processes is a hallmark of human brain function. However, its identification in fMRI data of the human brain is notoriously difficult. Here we propose a new method of fMRI data analysis that tackles this problem by considering large-scale, task-related synchronisation networks. Networks consist of nodes and edges connecting them, where nodes correspond to voxels in fMRI data, and the weight of an edge is determined via task-related changes in dynamic synchronisation between their respective times series. Based on these definitions, we developed a new data analysis algorithm that identifies edges that show differing levels of synchrony between two distinct task conditions and that occur in dense packs with similar characteristics. Hence, we call this approach “Task-related Edge Density” (TED). TED proved to be a very strong marker for dynamic network formation that easily lends itself to statistical analysis using large scale statistical inference. A major advantage of TED compared to other methods is that it does not depend on any specific hemodynamic response model, and it also does not require a presegmentation of the data for dimensionality reduction as it can handle large networks consisting of tens of thousands of voxels. We applied TED to fMRI data of a fingertapping and an emotion processing task provided by the Human Connectome Project. TED revealed network-based involvement of a large number of brain areas that evaded detection using traditional GLM-based analysis. We show that our proposed method provides an entirely new window into the immense complexity of human brain function.
Satisfaction and associated factors of outpatient psychiatric service consumers in Ethiopia

Purpose The purpose of this study was to assess the level of patient satisfaction and associated factors with psychiatric outpatient services in Ethiopia. Patients and methods A cross-sectional study was performed from May 2015 to June 2015. A total of 454 participants selected by systematic random sampling were included in this study. Pretested and interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. Patient satisfaction was measured using Charleston Psychiatric Outpatient Satisfaction Scale, and other validated tools were used to assess the associated variables. Multivariate logistic regressions with 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to assess the strength, and P-value <0.05 was used to indicate significance of association. Results A total of 441 respondents were enrolled, with a response rate of 97.1% and magnitude of satisfaction of 61.2%. Being male (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] =0.612, 95% CI: 0.39, 0.94), being widowed (AOR =0.13, 95% CI: 0.05, 0.36), urban residence (AOR =0.49, 95% CI: 0.31, 0.78), diagnosed with schizophrenia (AOR =0.48, 95% CI: 0.28, 0.81), unfavorable attitude (AOR =0.49, 95% CI: 0.28, 0.86), and poor social functioning (AOR =0.52, 95% CI: 0.34, 0.80) were significantly associated with satisfaction. Conclusion More than one-third of psychiatric service consumers were dissatisfied with the service they received. Integrating patients to their own treatment plan and regular service evaluation are important to improve satisfaction.
Your Mouse Reveals Your Next Activity: Towards Predicting User Intention from Mouse Interaction

This paper presents an investigation into user intention prediction in two common web-based tasks: crowdsourcing annotation and web search, based on human-mouse interaction information. User experience is gaining importance within the research area of human-centered computing, and is particularly useful for complex, multi-step tasks. To enhance user experience, the computer should be intelligent enough to be able to predict the user intention. For instance, an intelligent agent might be able to anticipate when the user is about to press a button, and helpfully enlarge or highlight it in advance. In this paper, we propose two prediction models on user intention: a classical model that considers only historical mouse activity sequence, and a multimodal model that utilizes mouse interaction signals as well as features extracted from mouse trajectory and clicking events. We evaluate our models and find that they achieve reasonable accuracy. Our preliminary results indicate that we can dynamically learn a multimodal model that can effectively predict a user’s next activity from historical activity sequence and mouse interaction signals.
AINTEGUMENTA Contributes to Organ Polarity and Regulates Growth of Lateral Organs in Combination with YABBY Genes1

Lateral organs in flowering plants display polarity along their adaxial-abaxial axis with distinct cell types forming at different positions along this axis. Members of three classes of transcription factors in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana; the Class III homeodomain/leucine zipper [HD-ZIP] proteins, KANADI proteins, and YABBY proteins) are expressed in either the adaxial or abaxial domain of organ primordia where they confer these respective identities. Little is known about the factors that act upstream of these polarity-determining genes to regulate their expression. We have investigated the relationship between AINTEGUMENTA (ANT), a gene that promotes initiation and growth of lateral organ primordia, and polarity genes. Although ant single mutants do not display any obvious defects in organ polarity, loss of ANT activity in combination with mutations in one or more YABBY genes results in polarity defects greater than those observed in the yabby mutants alone. Our results suggest that ANT acts in combination with the YABBY gene FILAMENTOUS FLOWER (FIL) to promote organ polarity by up-regulating the expression of the adaxial-specifying HD-ZIP gene PHABULOSA. Furthermore, we show that ANT acts with FIL to up-regulate expression of the floral homeotic gene APETALA3. Our work defines new roles for ANT in the development of lateral organs.
Rate of recurrence and malignant transformation in 88 cases with inverted papilloma between 1998–2008

Abstract Conclusions The recurrence rate of IP in the current study is comparable to international and national studies. When the primary tumour was located in the frontal or the sphenoid sinus, the tumour seemed more likely to recur. Some recurrences were more than 2 years after primary surgery, suggesting continued need for long-term follow-up. The rate of malignant transformation in inverted papilloma cases has not changed in Denmark. Objectives Inverted papillomas are benign tumours located in the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses. They are known for their tendency to recur after surgery and show invasive growth, causing bone remodulation and the association with malignant transformation. The introduction of endoscopic sinus surgery and computer aided sinus surgery over the last decades has made this tumour more approachable with less cosmetic and functional damage. The objective of this study is to establish whether the recurrence rate and the rate of malignant transformation of IP have changed with the application of these new techniques. Method A retrospective study between 1998–2008 including 88 cases with inverted papilloma. Results In total, 25.3% had recurrence. Combined surgical approach with endoscope/open approach had the lowest rate of recurrence. A malignant transformation in the postoperative histological examination was found in 8.9%.
Kerr-AdS black holes and non-relativistic conformal QM theories in diverse dimensions

We study the discrete light cone quantization of Kerr-AdSd+3 black holes with a plane wave boundary. The resulting backgrounds are conjectured to be dual of non-relativist conformal quantum mechanical theories in d spatial dimensions at finite temperature and finite chemical potential. This includes the discrete light cone quantization of Kerr-AdS4 and Kerr-AdS6 black holes. These are conjectured to be dual of non-relativistic conformal quantum mechanical theories in one and three spatial dimensions, respectively, which are defined on plane wave backgrounds. We also consider the case of the BTZ black hole. We calculate thermodynamic properties of these systems by using the gravity dual models. We discuss the embedding of these backgrounds in string theory and M-theory. We give general formulas for the discrete light cone quantization of Kerr-AdS black holes in higher dimensions and their thermodynamic properties.
Development of Laboratory Procedure for Measuring Friction of HMA Mixtures - Phase I

Pavement friction during wet conditions continues to be a major safety concern for pavement design and maintenance. The skid resistance of pavements is commonly measured using ASTM E 274, Skid Resistance of Paved Surfaces Using a Full-Scale Tire. However, there are no standard test procedures for evaluating the friction of a hot mix asphalt (HMA) wearing course during the mix design process. The objective of this study was to design and build a prototype laboratory device and develop tentative laboratory procedures for evaluating the wet friction and/or aggregate polishing characteristics of HMA mixtures.
Analysis and Inter-Calibration of Wet Path Delay Datasets to Compute the Wet Tropospheric Correction for CryoSat-2 over Ocean

Unlike most altimetric missions, CryoSat-2 is not equipped with an onboard microwave radiometer (MWR) to provide wet tropospheric correction (WTC) to radar altimeter measurements, thus, relying on a model-based one provided by the European Center for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). In the ambit of ESA funded project CP4O, an improved WTC for CryoSat-2 data over ocean is under development, based on a data combination algorithm (DComb) through objective analysis of WTC values derived from all existing global-scale data types. The scope of this study is the analysis and inter-calibration of the large dataset of total column water vapor (TCWV) products from scanning MWR aboard Remote Sensing (RS) missions for use in the WTC computation for CryoSat-2. The main issues regarding the computation of the WTC from all TCWV products are discussed. The analysis of the orbital parameters of CryoSat-2 and all other considered RS missions, their sensor characteristics and inter-calibration is presented, providing an insight into the expected impact of these datasets on the WTC estimation. The most suitable approach for calculating the WTC from TCWV is investigated. For this type of application, after calibration with respect to an appropriate reference, two approaches were found to give very similar results, with root mean square differences of 2 mm.
Are Semantically Coherent Topic Models Useful for Ad Hoc Information Retrieval?

The current topic modeling approaches for Information Retrieval do not allow to explicitly model query-oriented latent topics. More, the semantic coherence of the topics has never been considered in this field. We propose a model-based feedback approach that learns Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic models on the top-ranked pseudo-relevant feedback, and we measure the semantic coherence of those topics. We perform a first experimental evaluation using two major TREC test collections. Results show that retrieval performances tend to be better when using topics with higher semantic coherence.
Sharing feelings online: studying emotional well-being via automated text analysis of Facebook posts

Digital traces of activity on social network sites represent a vast source of ecological data with potential connections with individual behavioral and psychological characteristics. The present study investigates the relationship between user-generated textual content shared on Facebook and emotional well-being. Self-report measures of depression, anxiety, and stress were collected from 201 adult Facebook users from North Italy. Emotion-related textual indicators, including emoticon use, were extracted form users’ Facebook posts via automated text analysis. Correlation analyses revealed that individuals with higher levels of depression, anxiety expressed negative emotions on Facebook more frequently. In addition, use of emoticons expressing positive emotions correlated negatively with stress level. When comparing age groups, younger users reported higher frequency of both emotion-related words and emoticon use in their posts. Also, the relationship between online emotional expression and self-report emotional well-being was generally stronger in the younger group. Overall, findings support the feasibility and validity of studying individual emotional well-being by means of examination of Facebook profiles. Implications for online screening purposes and future research directions are discussed.
Prevalence of sleep related symptoms in four Latin American cities.

STUDY OBJECTIVES to estimate the prevalence of the most common sleep related symptoms (SRS) in the metropolitan areas of Mexico City, Montevideo (Uruguay), Santiago (Chile), and Caracas (Venezuela). METHODS The study consisted of a multistage cluster sampling of adults aged > or = 40 years living in metropolitan areas. All participants completed a questionnaire on sleep related symptoms. Simplified respiratory polygraphy during sleep was conducted on 188 subjects from Mexico City. Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome was defined as Epworth Sleepiness Scale score > or = 11 and respiratory disturbance index (RDI) > or = 15 events/h; a cut-off of 15 was chosen because of its high sensitivity and specificity in association with the portable monitor used in the study. RESULTS The study included 4,533 subjects (1,062 in Mexico City, 941 in Montevideo, 1,173 in Santiago, and 1,357 in Caracas). Snoring was reported by 60.2% (95% CI 58.8% to 61.6%), excessive daytime sleepiness by 16.4% (15.3% to 17.5%), observed apneas by 12.3% (11.4% to 13.3%), insomnia by 34.7% (33.3% to 36%), sedative use by 15.1% (14.1% to 16.2%), daytime napping by 29.2% (27.7% to 30.6%), and a combination of snoring, sleepiness, and observed apneas by 3.4% (2.9% to 4%). Men had a higher frequency of snoring and daytime napping, whereas women reported more insomnia and sedative use. Prevalence of OSAS varied from 2.9% among subjects who denied snoring, excessive daytime sleepiness, and observed apneas, to 23.5% among those reporting these 3 symptoms. CONCLUSIONS A high prevalence of sleep related symptoms and undiagnosed obstructive sleep apnea in Latin America was observed.
ScholarlyCommons Departmental Papers ( ESE ) Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering April 2007 Distributed Geodesic Control Laws for Flocking of Nonholonomic Agents

We study the problem of flocking and velocity alignment in a group of kinematic nonholonomic agents in 2 and 3 dimensions. By analyzing the velocity vectors of agents on a circle (for planar motion) or sphere (for 3-D motion), we develop a geodesic control law that minimizes a misalignment potential and results in velocity alignment and flocking. The proposed control laws are distributed and will provably result in flocking when the underlying proximity graph which represents the neighborhood relation among agents is connected. We further show that flocking is possible even when the topology of the proximity graph changes over time, so long as a weaker notion of joint connectivity is preserved.
Anillin-dependent organization of septin filaments promotes intercellular bridge elongation and Chmp4B targeting to the abscission site

The final step of cytokinesis is abscission when the intercellular bridge (ICB) linking the two new daughter cells is broken. Correct construction of the ICB is crucial for the assembly of factors involved in abscission, a failure in which results in aneuploidy. Using live imaging and subdiffraction microscopy, we identify new anillin–septin cytoskeleton-dependent stages in ICB formation and maturation. We show that after the formation of an initial ICB, septin filaments drive ICB elongation during which tubules containing anillin–septin rings are extruded from the ICB. Septins then generate sites of further constriction within the mature ICB from which they are subsequently removed. The action of the anillin–septin complex during ICB maturation also primes the ICB for the future assembly of the ESCRT III component Chmp4B at the abscission site. These studies suggest that the sequential action of distinct contractile machineries coordinates the formation of the abscission site and the successful completion of cytokinesis.
A homology and cohomology theory for real projective varieties

In this paper we develop homology and cohomology theories which play the same role for real projective varieties that Lawson homology and morphic cohomology play for projective varieties respectively. They have nice properties such as the existence of long exact sequences, the homotopy invariance, the Lawson suspension property, the homotopy property for bundle projection, the splitting principle, the cup product, the slant product and the natural transformations to singular theories. The Friedlander-Lawson moving lemma is used to prove a duality theorem between these two theories. This duality theorem is compatible with the ℤ 2 -Poincare duality for real projective varieties with connected full real points.
Molecular signatures of cell migration in C. elegans Q neuroblasts

Metazoan cell movement has been studied extensively in vitro, but cell migration in living animals is much less well understood. In this report, we have studied the Caenorhabditis elegans Q neuroblast lineage during larval development, developing live animal imaging methods for following neuroblast migration with single cell resolution. We find that each of the Q descendants migrates at different speeds and for distinct distances. By quantitative green fluorescent protein imaging, we find that Q descendants that migrate faster and longer than their sisters up-regulate protein levels of MIG-2, a Rho family guanosine triphosphatase, and/or down-regulate INA-1, an integrin α subunit, during migration. We also show that Q neuroblasts bearing mutations in either MIG-2 or INA-1 migrate at reduced speeds. The migration defect of the mig-2 mutants, but not ina-1, appears to result from a lack of persistent polarization in the direction of cell migration. Thus, MIG-2 and INA-1 function distinctly to control Q neuroblast migration in living C. elegans.
Interstellar Krypton Abundances: The Detection of Kiloparsec-scale Differences in Galactic Nucleosynthetic History

We present an analysis of Kr I λ1236 line measurements from 50 sight lines in the Hubble Space Telescope Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph data archives that have sufficiently high resolution and signal-to-noise ratio to permit reliable krypton-to-hydrogen abundance ratio determinations. The distribution of Kr/H ratios in this sample is consistent with a single value for the ISM within 5900 pc of the Sun, log10(Kr/H) = −9.02 ± 0.02, apart from a rough annulus from between ~600 and 2500 pc distant. The Kr/H ratio toward stars within this annulus is elevated by approximately 0.11 dex, similar to previously noted elevations of O/H and Cu/H gas-phase abundances beyond ~800 pc. A significant drop in the gas-phase N/O ratio in the same region suggests that this is an artifact of nucleosynthetic history. Since the physical scale of the annulus’ inner edge is comparable to the radius of the Gould Belt and the outer limit of heliocentric distances where the D/H abundance ratio is highly variable, these phenomena may be related to the Gould Belt’s origins.