Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Review: Depression in epilepsy: mechanisms and therapeutic approach

In patients with epilepsy, mood disorders represent a frequent psychiatric comorbidity but they often remain unrecognized and untreated. However, comorbid depression may have a major impact on the quality of life of patients with epilepsy, sometimes even more than the seizures. Among the potential neurobiological and psychosocial determinants, epilepsy-related variables (age at onset of seizures, temporal lobe epilepsy and frequency of seizures) and the antiepileptic drug treatment have been associated with depression. Nonetheless, data on treatment strategies are still limited with a lack of controlled trials on the use of antidepressant drugs. Moreover, the issue of psychotropic drug treatment of depression in epilepsy is interlinked with that of worsening seizures. This paper is aimed at discussing all these subjects in the light of current literature on the neurobiology of depression in epilepsy.
Liver: An organ with predominant innate immunity

Blood circulating from the intestines to the liver is rich in bacterial products, environmental toxins, and food antigens. To effectively and quickly defend against potentially toxic agents without launching harmful immune responses, the liver relies on its strong innate immune system. This comprises enrichment of innate immune cells (such as macrophages, natural killer, natural killer T, and γδ T cells) and removal of waste molecules and immunologic elimination of microorganisms by liver endothelial cells and Kupffer cells. In addition, the liver also plays an important role in controlling systemic innate immunity through the biosynthesis of numerous soluble pathogen‐recognition receptors and complement components. Conclusion: The liver is an organ with predominant innate immunity, playing an important role not only in host defenses against invading microorganisms and tumor transformation but also in liver injury and repair. Recent evidence suggests that innate immunity is also involved in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis, providing novel therapeutic targets to treat such a liver disorder. (HEPATOLOGY 2007.)
Double window optimisation for constant time visual SLAM

We present a novel and general optimisation framework for visual SLAM, which scales for both local, highly accurate reconstruction and large-scale motion with long loop closures. We take a two-level approach that combines accurate pose-point constraints in the primary region of interest with a stabilising periphery of pose-pose soft constraints. Our algorithm automatically builds a suitable connected graph of keyposes and constraints, dynamically selects inner and outer window membership and optimises both simultaneously. We demonstrate in extensive simulation experiments that our method approaches the accuracy of offline bundle adjustment while maintaining constant-time operation, even in the hard case of very loopy monocular camera motion. Furthermore, we present a set of real experiments for various types of visual sensor and motion, including large scale SLAM with both monocular and stereo cameras, loopy local browsing with either monocular or RGB-D cameras, and dense RGB-D object model building.
Patterns of periodic holes created by increased cell motility

The reaction and diffusion of morphogens is a mechanism widely used to explain many spatial patterns in physics, chemistry and developmental biology. However, because experimental control is limited in most biological systems, it is often unclear what mechanisms account for the biological patterns that arise. Here, we study a biological model of cultured vascular mesenchymal cells (VMCs), which normally self-organize into aggregates that form into labyrinthine configurations. We use an experimental control and a mathematical model that includes reacting and diffusing morphogens and a third variable reflecting local cell density. With direct measurements showing that cell motility was increased ninefold and threefold by inhibiting either Rho kinase or non-muscle myosin-II, respectively, our experimental results and mathematical modelling demonstrate that increased motility alters the multicellular pattern of the VMC cultures, from labyrinthine to a pattern of periodic holes. These results suggest implications for the tissue engineering of functional replacements for trabecular or spongy tissue such as endocardium and bone.
Distributed Concurrency Control Based on Limited Wait-Depth

The performance of high-volume transaction processing systems for business applications is determined by the degree of contention for hardware resources as well as for data. Hardware resource requirements may be met cost-effectively with a data-partitioned or shared-nothing architecture. However, the two-phase locking (2PL) concurrency control method may restrict the performance of a shared-nothing system more severely than that of a centralized system due to increased lock holding times. Deadlock detection and resolution are an added complicating factor in shared-nothing systems. The authors describe distributed Wait-Depth Limited (WDL) concurrency control (CC), a locking-based distributed CC method that limits the wait-depth of blocked transactions to one, thus preventing the occurrence of deadlocks. Several implementations of distributed WDL which vary in the number of messages and the amount of information available for decision making are discussed. The performance of a generic implementation of distributed WDL is compared with distributed 2PL (with general-waiting policy) and the Wound-Wait CC method through a detailed simulation. It is shown that distributed WDL behaves similarly to 2PL for low lock contention levels, but for substantial lock contention levels (caused by higher degrees of transaction concurrency), distributed WDL outperforms the other methods to a significant degree. >
Structural stability and thermal properties of BeO from the quasiharmonic approximation

The phase diagram and thermal properties of BeO crystal are calculated within the quasiharmonic approximation and using density functional theory. The wurtzite, zinc blende and rocksalt phases of BeO are considered. Phonons are calculated versus external pressure. The pressure dependence of frequencies for the zone-center phonon modes is analyzed. The resulting free energy provides predictions for the temperature dependence of various quantities such as the equilibrium volume, thermal expansivity and isobaric heat capacity. The mean-squared vibrations of BeO atoms are investigated as well. The calculated (p,T) diagram predicts a structural phase transition from the wurtzite to rocksalt phase solely. The zinc blende structure is energetically not preferred in the investigated range of pressures and temperatures. Theoretical results are compared with the available experimental data and other ab initio calculations. Existing discrepancies between quasiharmonic theory and experiment are discussed and some explanation is given.
Different Soluble Forms of the Interleukin-6 Family Signal Transducer gp130 Fine-tune the Blockade of Interleukin-6 Trans-signaling*

Soluble forms of the IL-6 receptor (sIL-6R) bind to the cytokine IL-6 with similar affinity as the membrane-bound IL-6R. IL-6·sIL-6R complexes initiate IL-6 trans-signaling via activation of the ubiquitously expressed membrane-bound β-receptor glycoprotein 130 (gp130). Inhibition of IL-6 trans-signaling has been shown to be favorable in numerous inflammatory diseases. Furthermore, different soluble forms of gp130 (sgp130) exist that, together with the sIL-6R, are thought to form a buffer for IL-6 in the blood. However, a functional role for the different sgp130 forms has not been described to date. Here we demonstrate that the metalloproteases ADAM10 and ADAM17 can produce sgp130 by ectodomain shedding of gp130, even though this mechanism only accounts for a minor proportion of sgp130 in the circulation. We further show that full-length sgp130 and the shorter forms sgp130-rheumatoid arthritis-associated peptide (RAPS) and sgp130-E10 are differentially expressed in a cell type- specific manner. Remarkably, full-length sgp130 is expressed by monocytes, but this expression is completely lost during differentiation into macrophages in vitro. Using genetically engineered murine pre-B cells that secrete different forms of sgp130, we found that these secreted sgp130 proteins are able to prevent trans-signaling-driven cell proliferation of the secreting cells, whereas conditioned supernatant from these cells failed to block IL-6 trans-signaling in other cells. Thus, our data suggest that the different sgp130 forms are released from cells into their immediate surroundings and appear to form cell-associated gradients to modulate their own susceptibility for IL-6 trans-signaling.
Variants in folate pathway genes as modulators of genetic instability and lung cancer risk

Genetic instability plays a crucial role in cancer development. The genetic stability of the cell as well as DNA methylation status could be modulated by folate levels. Several studies suggested associations between polymorphisms in folate genes and alterations in protein expression and variations in serum levels of the folate. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of folate pathway polymorphisms on modulating genetic instability and lung cancer risk. Genotyping of 5 SNPs in folate pathway genes and cytokinesis‐blocked micronucleus cytome assay analysis (to determine the genetic instability at baseline and following NNK treatment) was conducted on 180 lung cancer cases and 180 age‐, gender‐, and smoking‐matched controls. Our results showed that individually, folate pathway SNPs were not associated with cytogenetic damage or lung cancer risk. However, in a polygenic disease such as lung cancer, gene–gene interactions are expected to play an important role in determining the phenotypic variability of the diseases. We observed that interactions between MTHFR677, MTHFR1298, and SHMT polymorphisms may have a significant impact on genetic instability in lung cancer patients. With regard to cytogenetic alterations, our results showed that lymphocytes from lung cancer patients exposed to the tobacco‐specific carcinogen 4‐(methylnitrosamino)‐1‐(3‐pyridyl)‐1‐butanone [NNK] had considerably increased frequency of cytogenetic damage in presence of MTHFR 677, MTHFR 1298, and SHMT allelic variants. These findings support the notion that significant interactions may potentially modulate the lung cancer susceptibility and alter the overall the repair abilities of lung cancer patients when exposed to tobacco carcinogens such as NNK. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Functional topography of the human entorhinal cortex

Despite extensive research on the role of the rodent medial and lateral entorhinal cortex (MEC/LEC) in spatial navigation, memory and related disease, their human homologues remain elusive. Here, we combine high-field functional magnetic resonance imaging at 7 T with novel data-driven and model-based analyses to identify corresponding subregions in humans based on the well-known global connectivity fingerprints in rodents and sensitivity to spatial and non-spatial information. We provide evidence for a functional division primarily along the anteroposterior axis. Localising the human homologue of the rodent MEC and LEC has important implications for translating studies on the hippocampo-entorhinal memory system from rodents to humans. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.06738. 001
Interneuronal Network Activity at the Onset of Seizure-Like Events in Entorhinal Cortex Slices

The onset of focal seizures in humans and in different animal models of focal epilepsy correlates with reduction of neuronal firing and enhanced interneuronal network activity. Whether this phenomenon contributes to seizure generation is still unclear. We used the in vitro entorhinal cortex slices bathed in 4-aminopirydine (4-AP) as an experimental paradigm model to evaluate the correlation between interneuronal GABAergic network activity and seizure-like events. Epileptiform discharges were recorded in layer V–VI pyramidal neurons and fast-spiking interneurons in slices from male and female mice and in the isolated female guinea pig brain preparation during perfusion with 4-AP. We observed that 90% of seizure-like events recorded in principal cells were preceded by outward currents coupled with extracellular potassium shifts, abolished by pharmacological blockade of GABAA receptors. Potassium elevations associated to GABAA receptor-mediated population events were confirmed in the entorhinal cortex of the in vitro isolated whole guinea pig brain. Fast-rising and sustained extracellular potassium increases associated to interneuronal network activity consistently preceded the initiation of seizure-like events. We conclude that in the 4-AP seizure model, interneuronal network activity occurs before 4-AP-induced seizures and therefore supports a role of interneuron activity in focal seizure generation. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The paper focuses on the mechanisms of ictogenesis, a topic that requires a step beyond the simplistic view that seizures, and epilepsy, are due to an increase of excitatory network activity. Focal temporal lobe seizures in humans and in several experimental epilepsies likely correlate with a prevalent activation of interneurons. The potassium channel blocker 4-aminopyridine reliably induces seizure-like events in temporal lobe structures. Herein, we show that a majority of seizures in the entorhinal cortex starts with interneuronal network activity accompanied by a fast and sustained increase in extracellular potassium. Our new findings reinforce and add a new piece of evidence to the proposal that limbic seizures can be supported by GABAergic hyperactivity.
Position Estimation of Mobile Robots Considering Characteristic Terrain Properties

Due to the varying terrain conditions in outdoor scenarios the kinematics of mobile robots is much more complex compared to indoor environments. In this paper we present an approach to predict future positions of mobile robots which considers the current terrain. Our approach uses Gaussian process regression (GPR) models to estimate future robot positions. An unscented Kalman filter (UKF) is used to project the uncertainties of the GPR estimates into the position space. The approach utilizes optimized terrain models for estimation. To decide which model to apply, a terrain classification is implemented using Gaussian process classification (GPC) models. The transitions between terrains are modeled by a 2-step Bayesian filter (BF). This allows us to assign different probabilities to distinct terrain sequences, while taking the properties of the classifier into account and coping with false classifications. Experiments showed the approach to produce better estimates than approaches considering only a single terrain model and to be competitive to other dynamic approaches.
In Vitro Dissolution of Uranium-contaminated Soil in Simulated Lung Fluid Containing a Pulmonary Surfactant

AbstractDuring the latter part of the twentieth century, the United States developed a highly technical nuclear weapons complex that involved workers at many facilities performing complex missions at a number of different industrial sites across the country. Now, many of these sites are being remediated to remove legacy materials including chemical and radioactive wastes. Along with remediation comes the responsibility to adequately assess risk to cleanup workers who could be exposed to any hazardous materials, including resuspended uranium dust, encountered during environmental restoration. Inhalation of resuspended uranium represents one of the exposure hazards at an abandoned former metal rolling mill where approximately 11 thousand tons of uranium metal was rolled between 1947 and 1958. Residual uranium contamination in the dirt floor of this abandoned site has been exposed to rain, ice, snow, and other environmental factors for more than 50 y. This report describes the solubility of the uranium contamination in this dirt measured in vitro using a modified recipe for simulated lung fluid that contains a pulmonary surfactant. Small (0.1 g) aliquots of dirt collected at this site were sequentially dissolved in simulated lung fluid for increasing periods of time up to 30 d. Solubility was classified according to the ICRP categories as fast, medium, and slow. Results demonstrate that the solubility designation for the uranium contamination in the dirt is approximately 50% fast, 15% medium, and 35–40% slow. There was no observed difference in solubility when a pulmonary surfactant was added to the simulated lung fluid.
Extrapair paternity in the Hoopoe Upupa epops : an exploration of the influence of interactions between breeding pairs, non-pair males and strophe length

Previous studies of the Hoopoe Upupa epops have shown that the strophe length of male songs influences female mate choice, and is correlated with female reproductive rates and male production of fledglings in the male’s own brood. However, frequent interactions between breeding pairs and non-pair males suggests that extrapair copulations could occur and could affect the real number of fledglings sired by males, and therefore the relationship between strophe length and breeding success. Here we analyse the incidence of interactions between breeding pairs and non-pair males, and of extrapair paternity, the interrelation of these parameters, the influence of male strophe length on them, and whether extrapair fertilizations affect the correlation between strophe length and breeding success of males, in a colour-ringed population of Hoopoes in south-eastern Spain. Multilocus DNAfingerprinting revealed that 10% of the broods contained offspring sired by extrapair males, representing 7.7% of the chicks. However, the interactions between pairs and non-pair males were more frequent, with more than 25% of broods being visited by non-pair males, and about 10% being helped (fed or defended) by males other than the nest owner. Most of these relationships were apparently attempts by visitor males to obtain copulations with paired females, or to obtain access to such females or nests in future breeding attempts. However, there was no significant link between the detection of interactions with alien males in a nest and the occurrence of extrapair paternity in it, indeed extrapair paternity was found in only 30% of the nests with interactions, and therefore the detection of visits or helping by nonpair males cannot be considered evidence of extrapair paternity in visited or helped broods. Males that sang with long strophes never suffered losses of paternity within their broods, while 25% of males that sang with short strophes did. However, these differences were not significant. Nevertheless, strophe length of males was significantly positively correlated with per brood and seasonal production of fledglings after accounting for losses of paternity within their own broods.
Adaptive Bayesian Power Spectrum Analysis of Multivariate Nonstationary Time Series

This article introduces a nonparametric approach to multivariate time-varying power spectrum analysis. The procedure adaptively partitions a time series into an unknown number of approximately stationary segments, where some spectral components may remain unchanged across segments, allowing components to evolve differently over time. Local spectra within segments are fit through Whittle likelihood based penalized spline models of modified Cholesky components, which provide flexible nonparametric estimates that preserve positive definite structures of spectral matrices. The approach is formulated in a Bayesian framework, in which the number and location of partitions are random, and relies on reversible jump Markov chain and Hamiltonian Monte Carlo methods that can adapt to the unknown number of segments and parameters. By averaging over the distribution of partitions, the approach can approximate both abrupt and slow-varying changes in spectral matrices. Empirical performance is evaluated in simulation studies and illustrated through analyses of electroencephalography during sleep and of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation.
Linear low-dose extrapolation for noncancer health effects is the exception, not the rule

The nature of the exposure-response relationship has a profound influence on risk analyses. Several arguments have been proffered as to why all exposure-response relationships for both cancer and noncarcinogenic endpoints should be assumed to be linear at low doses. We focused on three arguments that have been put forth for noncarcinogens. First, the general “additivity-to-background” argument proposes that if an agent enhances an already existing disease-causing process, then even small exposures increase disease incidence in a linear manner. This only holds if it is related to a specific mode of action that has nonuniversal properties—properties that would not be expected for most noncancer effects. Second, the “heterogeneity in the population” argument states that variations in sensitivity among members of the target population tend to “flatten out and linearize” the exposure-response curve, but this actually only tends to broaden, not linearize, the dose-response relationship. Third, it has been argued that a review of epidemiological evidence shows linear or no-threshold effects at low exposures in humans, despite nonlinear exposure-response in the experimental dose range in animal testing for similar endpoints. It is more likely that this is attributable to exposure measurement error rather than a true nonthreshold association. Assuming that every chemical is toxic at high exposures and linear at low exposures does not comport to modern-day scientific knowledge of biology. There is no compelling evidence-based justification for a general low-exposure linearity; rather, case-specific mechanistic arguments are needed.
Pallial and subpallial derivatives in the embryonic chick and mouse telencephalon, traced by the expression of the genes Dlx‐2, Emx‐1, Nkx‐2.1, Pax‐6, and Tbr‐1

Pallial and subpallial morphological subdivisions of the developing chicken telencephalon were examined by means of gene markers, compared with their expression pattern in the mouse. Nested expression domains of the genes Dlx‐2 and Nkx‐2.1, plus Pax‐6‐expressing migrated cells, are characteristic for the mouse subpallium. The genes Pax‐6, Tbr‐1, and Emx‐1 are expressed in the pallium. The pallio‐subpallial boundary lies at the interface between the Tbr‐1 and Dlx‐2 expression domains. Differences in the expression topography of Tbr‐1 and Emx‐1 suggest the existence of a novel “ventral pallium” subdivision, which is an Emx‐1‐negative pallial territory intercalated between the striatum and the lateral pallium. Its derivatives in the mouse belong to the claustroamygdaloid complex. Chicken genes homologous to these mouse genes are expressed in topologically comparable patterns during development. The avian subpallium, called “paleostriatum,” shows nested Dlx‐2 and Nkx‐2.1 domains and migrated Pax‐6‐positive neurons; the avian pallium expresses Pax‐6, Tbr‐1, and Emx‐1 and also contains a distinct Emx‐1‐negative ventral pallium, formed by the massive domain confusingly called “neostriatum. ” These expression patterns extend into the septum and the archistriatum, as they do into the mouse septum and amygdala, suggesting that the concepts of pallium and subpallium can be extended to these areas. The similarity of such molecular profiles in the mouse and chicken pallium and subpallium points to common sets of causal determinants. These may underlie similar histogenetic specification processes and field homologies, including some comparable connectivity patterns. J. Comp. Neurol. 424:409–438, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.