Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ratanasampil (Tibetan Medicine, RNSP) Reduces β-Amyloid Protein (Aβ) and Pro-Inflammatory Factor Levels and Improves Cognitive Functions in Mild-to-Moderate Alzheimer's Disease (AD) Patients Living at High Altitude

Ratanasampil (RNSP) is a traditional Tibetan medicine used for the treatment of stroke and cerebrovascular diseases. Previous discoveries that RNSP can reduce β-amyloid protein levels and increase learning and memory in Alzheimer’s mouse models (Tg2576) led us to investigate whether RNSP can improve cognitive functions in Alzheimer’s patients. In this study, 146 AD patients living in Qinghai province received either one gram or 0.33 gram daily of RNSP for 16 weeks. Placebo patients received Piracetam. Serum Aβ40 and Aβ42 levels were measured at the beginning of the study and after 4 and 16 weeks of treatment. Compared to the same group before treatment, MMSE scores, ADAS-cog scores and ADL scores were significantly improved (p 0.05, p > 0.05). After 16-week treatment, serum TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and Aβ42 levels were significantly decreased (p < 0. 01) in the high-dose RNSP group, whereas no significant differences were found in the low-dose and placebo groups. The Aβ42/Aβ40 ratio was significantly decreased after 4-week and 16-week treatment in the high-dose RNSP group (p < 0. 05, p < 0.01). Furthermore, serum Aβ42 concentrations had a strong positive correlation with TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 levels. There were no observable adverse effects in either treatment or control groups. We conclude that further clinical trials of RNSP in Alzheimer disease are warranted.
Exploring a Pedagogical Approach to Integrating Research, Practice and Teaching

Application of evidence is accepted as an important component of clinical practice. Teaching research to undergraduate students has been reported internationally as a challenge, particularly for nurse educators. In this paper, reported is a strategy designed to enhance research learning for undergraduate midwifery students at one university, which formed part of a larger, international investigation into women's responses to caesarean birth. Following theory classes and briefings, students worked with their clinical educators in practice to interview women using existing tools, and were engaged in qualitative data analysis. A number of challenges were encountered throughout the process, both for the educators and students. However, the teaching approach provided benefits for students in learning about midwifery research. Recommended as essential is for continued development of pedagogical approaches that make research tangible for students. Furthermore, provision of support for clinical staff working with students is important for success of such approaches.
The hard but necessary task of gathering order-one effect size indices in meta-analysis

Meta-analysis of studies with two groups and two measurement occasions must employ order-one effect size indices to represent study outcomes. Especially with non-random assignment, non-equivalent control group designs, a statistical analysis restricted to post-treatment scores can lead to severely biased conclusions. The 109 primary studies included in 4 metaanalyses were recovered, and their authors were contacted to request the raw data to calculate the order-one effect size indices. From this total we only got 13 primary studies. The results with the raw data analysis were compared with those performed with the order-zero and order-one indices. Despite the difficulties for gathering the data, the few data sets analyzed show that if the meta-analysis is performed with order-zero indices, the results can be severely misleading.
Hypothermia therapy after traumatic brain injury in children.

BACKGROUND Hypothermia therapy improves survival and the neurologic outcome in animal models of traumatic brain injury. However, the effect of hypothermia therapy on the neurologic outcome and mortality among children who have severe traumatic brain injury is unknown. METHODS In a multicenter, international trial, we randomly assigned children with severe traumatic brain injury to either hypothermia therapy (32.5 degrees C for 24 hours) initiated within 8 hours after injury or to normothermia (37.0 degrees C). The primary outcome was the proportion of children who had an unfavorable outcome (i.e., severe disability, persistent vegetative state, or death), as assessed on the basis of the Pediatric Cerebral Performance Category score at 6 months. RESULTS A total of 225 children were randomly assigned to the hypothermia group or the normothermia group; the mean temperatures achieved in the two groups were 33.1+/-1.2 degrees C and 36.9+/-0.5 degrees C, respectively. At 6 months, 31% of the patients in the hypothermia group, as compared with 22% of the patients in the normothermia group, had an unfavorable outcome (relative risk, 1.41; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.89 to 2.22; P=0.14). There were 23 deaths (21%) in the hypothermia group and 14 deaths (12%) in the normothermia group (relative risk, 1.40; 95% CI, 0.90 to 2.27; P=0.06). There was more hypotension (P=0.047) and more vasoactive agents were administered (P<0.001) in the hypothermia group during the rewarming period than in the normothermia group. Lengths of stay in the intensive care unit and in the hospital and other adverse events were similar in the two groups. CONCLUSIONS In children with severe traumatic brain injury, hypothermia therapy that is initiated within 8 hours after injury and continued for 24 hours does not improve the neurologic outcome and may increase mortality. (Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN77393684 [controlled-trials.com].).
Dynamic visualization of transcription and RNA subcellular localization in zebrafish

Live imaging of transcription and RNA dynamics has been successful in cultured cells and tissues of vertebrates but is challenging to accomplish in vivo. The zebrafish offers important advantages to study these processes – optical transparency during embryogenesis, genetic tractability and rapid development. Therefore, to study transcription and RNA dynamics in an intact vertebrate organism, we have adapted the MS2 RNA-labeling system to zebrafish. By using this binary system to coexpress a fluorescent MS2 bacteriophage coat protein (MCP) and an RNA of interest tagged with multiple copies of the RNA hairpin MS2-binding site (MBS), live-cell imaging of RNA dynamics at single RNA molecule resolution has been achieved in other organisms. Here, using a Gateway-compatible MS2 labeling system, we generated stable transgenic zebrafish lines expressing MCP, validated the MBS-MCP interaction and applied the system to investigate zygotic genome activation (ZGA) and RNA localization in primordial germ cells (PGCs) in zebrafish. Although cleavage stage cells are initially transcriptionally silent, we detect transcription of MS2-tagged transcripts driven by the βactin promoter at ∼3-3.5 h post-fertilization, consistent with the previously reported ZGA. Furthermore, we show that MS2-tagged nanos3 3′UTR transcripts localize to PGCs, where they are diffusely cytoplasmic and within larger cytoplasmic accumulations reminiscent of those displayed by endogenous nanos3. These tools provide a new avenue for live-cell imaging of RNA molecules in an intact vertebrate. Together with new techniques for targeted genome editing, this system will be a valuable tool to tag and study the dynamics of endogenous RNAs during zebrafish developmental processes. Summary: An easily-applied MS2 labeling system in zebrafish allows the visualization of RNA localization in germline stem cells and zygotic genome activation in vivo.
Correlation of Trimethylamine Oxide and Habitat Depth within and among Species of Teleost Fish: An Analysis of Causation

Most shallow‐water teleosts have moderate levels of trimethylamine N‐oxide (TMAO; ∼50 mmol/kg wet mass), a common osmolyte in many other marine animals. Recently, muscle TMAO contents were found to increase linearly with depth in six families. In one hypothesis, this may be an adaptation to counteract the deleterious effects of pressure on protein function, which TMAO does in vitro. In another hypothesis, TMAO may be accumulated as a by‐product of acylglycerol (AG) production, increasing with depth because of elevated lipid metabolisms known to occur in some deep‐sea animals. Here we analyze muscle TMAO contents and total body AG (mainly triacyglycerol [TAG]) levels in 15 species of teleosts from a greater variety of depths than sampled previously, including eight individual species caught at two or more depths. Including data of previous studies (total of 17 species, nine families), there is an apparent sigmoidal increase in TMAO contents between 0‐ and 1.4‐km depths, from about 40 to 150 mmol/kg. From 1.4 to 4.8 km, the increase appears to be linear ( \documentclass{aastex} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{bm} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{pifont} \usepackage{stmaryrd} \usepackage{textcomp} \usepackage{portland,xspace} \usepackage{amsmath,amsxtra} \usepackage[OT2,OT1]{fontenc} \newcommand\cyr{ \renewcommand\rmdefault{wncyr} \renewcommand\sfdefault{wncyss} \renewcommand\encodingdefault{OT2} \normalfont \selectfont} \DeclareTextFontCommand{\textcyr}{\cyr} \pagestyle{empty} \DeclareMathSizes{10}{9}{7}{6} \begin{document} \landscape $$r^{2}=0.91$$ \end{document} ), rising to 261 mmol/kg at 4.8 km. The trend also occurred within species: in most cases in which a species was caught at two or more depths, TMAO was higher in the deeper‐caught specimens (e.g., for Coryphaenoides armatus, TMAO was 173, 229, and 261 mmol/kg at 1.8, 4.1, and 4.8 km, respectively). TMAO contents not only were consistent within species at a given depth but also did not vary with season or over a wide range of body masses or TAG contents. Thus, no clear link between TMAO and lipid was found. However, TMAO contents might correlate with the rate (rather than content) of TAG production, which could not be quantified. Overall, the data strongly support the hypothesis that TMAO is adaptively regulated with depth in deep‐sea teleosts. Whether lipid metabolism is the source of that TMAO is a question that remains to be tested fully.
Non-iterative approach for fast and accurate vanishing point detection

We present an algorithm that quickly and accurately estimates vanishing points in images of man-made environments. Contrary to previously proposed solutions, ours is neither iterative nor relies on voting in the space of vanishing points. Our formulation is based on a recently proposed algorithm for the simultaneous estimation of multiple models called J-Linkage. Our method avoids representing edges on the Gaussian sphere and the computations and error measures are done in the image. We show that a consistency measure between a vanishing point and an edge of the image can be computed in closed-form while being geometrically meaningful. Finally, given a set of estimated vanishing points, we show how this consistency measure can be used to identify the three vanishing points corresponding to the Manhattan directions. We compare our algorithm with other approaches on the York Urban Database and show significant performance improvements.
Superior episodic memory is associated with interhemispheric processing.

The dependence of episodic memories on interhemispheric processing was tested. In Experiment 1, positive familial sinistrality (FS+; e.g., presence of left-handed relatives) was associated with superior episodic memory and inferior implicit memory in comparison with negative familial sinistrality (i.e., FS-). This reflected a greater degree of interhemispheric interaction in FS+ participants, which was hypothesized as facilitating episodic memory. In Experiment 2, the authors directly manipulated inter- versus intrahemispheric processing using tests of episodic (recognition) and semantic (lexical decision) memory in which letter strings were presented twice within trial blocks. Semantic memory was superior when the 2nd presentation went to the same hemisphere as the 1st. Episodic memory, however, was superior when the 2nd presentation of a stimulus went to the opposite hemisphere. Results support an interhemispheric processing basis for episodic memories.
Data Mining : A prediction of performer or underperformer using classification

Now a day's students have a large set of data having precious information hidden. Data mining technique can help to find this hidden information. In this paper, data mining techniques name Byes classification method is used on these data to help an institution. Institutions can find those students who are consistently perform well. This study will help to institution reduce the drop put ratio to a significant level and improve the performance level of the institution.
A Deep Hierarchical Approach to Lifelong Learning in Minecraft

We propose a lifelong learning system that has the ability to reuse and transfer knowledge from one task to another while efficiently retaining the previously learned knowledge-base. Knowledge is transferred by learning reusable skills to solve tasks in Minecraft, a popular video game which is an unsolved and high-dimensional lifelong learning problem. These reusable skills, which we refer to as Deep Skill Networks, are then incorporated into our novel Hierarchical Deep Reinforcement Learning Network (H-DRLN) architecture using two techniques: (1) a deep skill array and (2) skill distillation, our novel variation of policy distillation (Rusu et. al. 2015) for learning skills. Skill distillation enables the H-DRLN to efficiently retain knowledge and therefore scale in lifelong learning, by accumulating knowledge and encapsulating multiple reusable skills into a single distilled network. The H-DRLN exhibits superior performance and lower learning sample complexity compared to the regular Deep Q Network (Mnih et. al. 2015) in sub-domains of Minecraft.
Trans-Equatorial Migration Routes, Staging Sites and Wintering Areas of a High-Arctic Avian Predator: The Long-tailed Skua (Stercorarius longicaudus)

The Long-tailed Skua, a small (<300 g) Arctic-breeding predator and seabird, is a functionally very important component of the Arctic vertebrate communities in summer, but little is known about its migration and winter distribution. We used light-level geolocators to track the annual movements of eight adult birds breeding in north-east Greenland (n = 3) and Svalbard (n = 5). All birds wintered in the Southern Hemisphere (mean arrival-departure dates on wintering grounds: 24 October-21 March): five along the south-west coast of Africa (0–40°S, 0–15°E), in the productive Benguela upwelling, and three further south (30–40°S, 0–50°E), in an area extending into the south-west Indian Ocean. Different migratory routes and rates of travel were documented during post-breeding (345 km d−1 in late August-early September) and spring migrations (235 km d−1 in late April) when most birds used a more westerly flyway. Among the different staging areas, a large region off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland appears to be the most important. It was used in autumn by all but one of the tracked birds (from a few days to three weeks) and in spring by five out of eight birds (from one to more than six weeks). Two other staging sites, off the Iberian coast and near the Azores, were used by two birds in spring for five to six weeks. Over one year, individuals travelled between 43,900 and 54,200 km (36,600–45,700 when excluding staging periods) and went as far as 10,500–13,700 km (mean 12,800 km) from their breeding sites. This study has revealed important marine areas in both the south and north Atlantic Ocean. Sustainable management of these ocean basins will benefit Long-tailed Skuas as well as other trans-equatorial migrants from the Arctic.
Statistical methods to compare functional outcomes in randomized controlled trials with high mortality

Mortality is a common primary endpoint in randomized controlled trials of patients with a high severity of illness, such as critically ill patients. However, researchers are increasingly evaluating functional outcomes, such as quality of life. Importantly, in such trials some patients may die before the assessment of a functional outcome, resulting in the functional outcome being “truncated due to death. ” As described in this paper, defining and testing treatment effects on functional outcomes in this setting requires careful consideration. Data from a completed trial of critically ill patients are used to highlight key differences among three statistical approaches used when analyzing such trials.
Modifying sodium transport to improve salinity tolerance of commercial rice cultivars (Oryza sativa L.).

xv Declaration . xvi Acknowledgments . xvii Chapter 1 : Literature Review and Research Aims . 1 1.1. The importance of rice . 1 1.1.1. Rice as a major staple food in the world . 1 1.1.2. Rice as a model species of cereals . 1 1.2. The salinity problem in agriculture with emphasis on rice production . 1 1.3. Symptoms of salinity stress in plants . 2 1.4. Mechanisms of salinity tolerance. 4 1.4. 1. Osmotic stress tolerance . 5 1.4. 2. Sodium exclusion . 7 1.4. 3. Tissue tolerance . 13 1.5. Modification of Na transport to increase salinity tolerance . 15 1.6. Progress in the development of salt tolerant rice . 16 1.7. Research aims . 18 Chapter 2 : General Materials and Methods . 20 2.1. Rice cultivars . 20 2.2. Rice growth conditions . 22 2.2.1. Growth facilities. 22 2.2.2. Soil mix . 22 2.2.3. Seed treatment and germination. 22 2.2.4. Hydroponic systems . 23 2.3. Destructive measurements of plant biomass and tissue ion concentration . 24 2.4. Molecular Analysis . 25 2.4. 1. Genomic DNA extraction . 25
Supporting autistic communities through parent-led and child/young person-led digital social story interventions: an exploratory study

Introduction Social Stories (SS) is a socially-valid intervention for autistic children and young people (CYP) which is used widely by professionals and parents. Research suggests that whilst parents are in an ideal position to deliver interventions for their autistic CYP, a lack of procedural integrity can result in a great deal of variability in parent-mediated intervention outcomes. Methods This exploratory study investigated the extent to which SS can be effectively developed and delivered, through digital mediation, by parents with little to no researcher input (n = 17, sample 1) and the factors that impact effectiveness. Furthermore, the study also investigated the extent to which digitally-mediated SS can support autistic CYP to develop and deliver their own stories, thereby utilising the intervention as a means for self-support and self-management (n = 5, sample 2). Results The outcomes of the study indicate that digital mediation can effectively support parent-led SS intervention. Findings also indicate that receptive/expressive language skills of autistic CYP, their level of systemizing, as well as the practice of consulting with the autistic CYP whilst identifying goals and developing stories, are individual and procedural characteristics which positively influence the effectiveness of the parent-led intervention. The study also found that digitally-mediated SS can be utilised as a self-support tool by autistic CYP themselves. Discussion The results inform the developing literature on digital interventions and support tools that aim to engage with, and involve further, the autistic community in the setting and authoring of interventions and research.
An Asymptotic Maximum Likelihood for Joint Estimation of Nominal Angles and Angular Spreads of Multiple Spatially Distributed Sources

This paper proposes a large-sample approximation of the maximum likelihood (ML) criterion for the joint estimation of nominal directions and angular spreads in the presence of multiple spatially spread sources. The key idea is the concentration on the exact likelihood function by replacing the parametric nuisance estimate, which depends on all unknown parameters at the critical point, by another estimate relying on only the angles of interest, such as nominal angles and angular spreads. Rather than the (3NS + 1) -dimensional optimization required by the exact ML estimator, the proposed large-sample approximation allows 2NS-dimensional search, where NS is the number of sources. To demonstrate the proposed estimator, numerical results are conducted for the illustration of estimation error variance. In the non-asymptotic region, the proposed estimator outperforms previous approaches adopting the 2NS-dimensional search.
Potential of IMU Sensors in Performance Analysis of Professional Alpine Skiers

In this paper, we present an analysis to identify a sensor location for an inertial measurement unit (IMU) on the body of a skier and propose the best location to capture turn motions for training. We also validate the manner in which the data from the IMU sensor on the proposed location can characterize ski turns and performance with a series of statistical analyses, including a comparison with data collected from foot pressure sensors. The goal of the study is to logically identify the ideal location on the skier’s body to attach the IMU sensor and the best use of the data collected for the skier. The statistical analyses and the hierarchical clustering method indicate that the pelvis is the best location for attachment of an IMU, and numerical validation shows that the data collected from this location can effectively estimate the performance and characteristics of the skier. Moreover, placement of the sensor at this location does not distract the skier’s motion, and the sensor can be easily attached and detached. The findings of this study can be used for the development of a wearable device for the routine training of professional skiers.
Exploring the Gut Microbiome and Metabolome in Individuals with Alopecia Areata Disease

In recent years, heightened attention has been devoted to unravelling the intricate interplay between genetic and environmental factors shaping the gut microbiota and its significance for human health. This study delves into exploring the plausible connection between Alopecia Areata (AA), an autoimmune disease, and the dynamics of the gut microbiome. Examining a cohort of healthy adults and individuals with AA, both the gut microbiota composition and volatile organic compound (VOC) metabolites from faeces and urine were analysed. While overall microbiota composition showed no significant differences, intra-individual variability revealed distinctions related to age, gender, and pathology status, with AA individuals exhibiting reduced species richness and evenness. Differential abundance analysis identified microbial biomarkers for AA, notably Firmicutes, Lachnospirales, and Blautia, while Coprococcus stood out for healthy individuals. The Data Integration Analysis for Biomarker discovery using Latent Components (DIABLO) method further supported these findings including metabolite biomarkers, such as esters of branched chain fatty acids and branched chain amino acids as predictors for AA, suggesting potential links to oxidative stress. Despite certain limitations, the study highlights the complexity of the gut microbiome and its metabolites in the context of AA, while the biomarkers identified could be useful starting points for upcoming studies.
Recurrent neural network training with preconditioned stochastic gradient descent

This paper studies the performance of a recently proposed preconditioned stochastic gradient descent (PSGD) algorithm on recurrent neural network (RNN) training. PSGD adaptively estimates a preconditioner to accelerate gradient descent, and is designed to be simple, general and easy to use, as stochastic gradient descent (SGD). RNNs, especially the ones requiring extremely long term memories, are difficult to train. We have tested PSGD on a set of synthetic pathological RNN learning problems and the real world MNIST handwritten digit recognition task. Experimental results suggest that PSGD is able to achieve highly competitive performance without using any trick like preprocessing, pretraining or parameter tweaking.