Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Functional Mitochondria in Health and Disease

The ability to rapidly adapt cellular bioenergetic capabilities to meet rapidly changing environmental conditions is mandatory for normal cellular function and for cancer progression. Any loss of this adaptive response has the potential to compromise cellular function and render the cell more susceptible to external stressors such as oxidative stress, radiation, chemotherapeutic drugs, and hypoxia. Mitochondria play a vital role in bioenergetic and biosynthetic pathways and can rapidly adjust to meet the metabolic needs of the cell. Increased demand is met by mitochondrial biogenesis and fusion of individual mitochondria into dynamic networks, whereas a decrease in demand results in the removal of superfluous mitochondria through fission and mitophagy. Effective communication between nucleus and mitochondria (mito-nuclear cross talk), involving the generation of different mitochondrial stress signals as well as the nuclear stress response pathways to deal with these stressors, maintains bioenergetic homeostasis under most conditions. However, when mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations accumulate and mito-nuclear cross talk falters, mitochondria fail to deliver critical functional outputs. Mutations in mtDNA have been implicated in neuromuscular and neurodegenerative mitochondriopathies and complex diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, gastrointestinal disorders, skin disorders, aging, and cancer. In some cases, drastic measures such as acquisition of new mitochondria from donor cells occurs to ensure cell survival. This review starts with a brief discussion of the evolutionary origin of mitochondria and summarizes how mutations in mtDNA lead to mitochondriopathies and other degenerative diseases. Mito-nuclear cross talk, including various stress signals generated by mitochondria and corresponding stress response pathways activated by the nucleus are summarized. We also introduce and discuss a small family of recently discovered hormone-like mitopeptides that modulate body metabolism. Under conditions of severe mitochondrial stress, mitochondria have been shown to traffic between cells, replacing mitochondria in cells with damaged and malfunctional mtDNA. Understanding the processes involved in cellular bioenergetics and metabolic adaptation has the potential to generate new knowledge that will lead to improved treatment of many of the metabolic, degenerative, and age-related inflammatory diseases that characterize modern societies.
A Mean-Variance Benchmark for Intertemporal Portfolio Theory

Mean-variance portfolio theory can apply to the streams of payoffs such as dividends following an initial investment, in place of one-period returns. This description is especially useful when returns are not independent over time and investors have non-marketed income. Investors hedge their outside income streams, and then their optimal payoff is split between an indexed perpetuity - the risk-free payoff - and a long-run mean-variance efficient payoff. "Long-run" moments sum over time as well as states of nature. In equilibrium, long-run expected returns vary with long-run market betas and outside- income betas. State-variable hedges do not appear in optimal payoffs or this equilibrium.
The Cyborg Astrobiologist: porting from a wearable computer to the Astrobiology Phone-cam

Abstract We have used a simple camera phone to significantly improve an ‘exploration system’ for astrobiology and geology. This camera phone will make it much easier to develop and test computer-vision algorithms for future planetary exploration. We envision that the ‘Astrobiology Phone-cam’ exploration system can be fruitfully used in other problem domains as well.
> Replace This Line with Your Paper Identification Number (double-click Here to Edit) < Smart Distribution System Design: Automatic Reconfiguration for Improved Reliability

1  Abstract—this paper explores distribution system automation , automatic reconfiguration after a disturbance and the impact on reliability in a 'smart' power distribution system. The use of network incidence or connectivity matrices is shown and an example indicates the potential operational capabilities of a 'smart distribution system'. A discussion of the potential advantages of electronic switching in distribution engineering is also given. The connection with the Smart Grid initiative is made in the paper. MART GRID technology includes the application of automation and digital controls to power systems in general and to distribution systems in particular. Title XIII of the recently signed Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 [1] includes the following characteristics of a Smart Grid:  Increase in use of digital control and information technology with real time availability  Dynamic optimization relating to grid operability  Inclusion of demand side response (DSR)  Demand side management (DSM) technologies  Integration of distributed resources (DR) including renewables and energy storage  Deployment of smart metering  Distribution automation  Smart appliances and customer devices at the point of end use. The details of how the Smart Grid will accomplish these goals and the details of what is (and is not) included in the Smart Grid is a subject of continuing discussion; however, the elements of Fig. 1 illustrate the scope of the Department of Energy (DoE) Grid 2030 vision [2]. It is interesting to contrast 'Smart Grid' technologies with classical distribution system design. One conclusion of such an exercise is that Smart Grid designs should have the same or superior levels of safety and reliability as compared to classical designs. References [3-5] are a small sample of the many comprehensive references relating to classical design. The main elements of distribution system assessment are:  Reliability  Efficiency  Voltage regulation  Cost  Environmental and aesthetic impact  Safety. The art and science of distribution engineering, distribution system design and system operation present a multitude of complex objectives, as previously identified. For example, reliability, efficiency, and safety must be maximized while simultaneously protecting assets, minimizing costs and customer disturbances. These objectives impact the choice of distribution system assets, substation topologies, locations,
Post processing for offline Chinese handwritten character string recognition

Offline Chinese handwritten character string recognition is one of the most important research fields in pattern recognition. Due to the free writing style, large variability in character shapes and different geometric characteristics, Chinese handwritten character string recognition is a challenging problem to deal with. However, among the current methods over-segmentation and merging method which integrates geometric information, character recognition information and contextual information, shows a promising result. It is found experimentally that a large part of errors are segmentation error and mainly occur around non-Chinese characters. In a Chinese character string, there are not only wide characters namely Chinese characters, but also narrow characters like digits and letters of the alphabet. The segmentation error is mainly caused by uniform geometric model imposed on all segmented candidate characters. To solve this problem, post processing is employed to improve recognition accuracy of narrow characters. On one hand, multi-geometric models are established for wide characters and narrow characters respectively. Under multi-geometric models narrow characters are not prone to be merged. On the other hand, top rank recognition results of candidate paths are integrated to boost final recognition of narrow characters. The post processing method is investigated on two datasets, in total 1405 handwritten address strings. The wide character recognition accuracy has been improved lightly and narrow character recognition accuracy has been increased up by 10.41% and 10.03% respectively. It indicates that the post processing method is effective to improve recognition accuracy of narrow characters.
Influence of the yihE gene of Shigella flexneri on global gene expression: on analysis using DNA arrays.

Inactivation of dsbA (disulfide bond formation), either by an insertion (Sh4, dsbA::kan) or by alteration of the active site (Sh42, dsbA33G), renders Shigella flexneri avirulent. However, Sh4 and Sh42 behave differently in many ways in vitro and in vivo. A gene of unknown function, yihE, up-stream and cotranscribed with dsbA, is thought to differentiate Sh4 and Sh42 as the kan insertion may result in a truncated unstable yihE-dsbA mRNA in Sh4. To gain insight into the function of yihE, DNA array hybridization was performed to study the genomic expression in Sh4, Sh42, and a newly constructed yihE mutant (Sh54). Compared to the wild-type, M90TS, Sh4, and Sh54 demonstrated significantly changed transcription levels of about 100 genes, of which many involved in energy metabolism and stress response were down- and up-regulated, respectively. In contrast, Sh42 showed altered transcription levels of only 20 genes. The results argue that yihE is principally responsible for the changed genomic expression in Sh4 and Sh54. Given the fact that the transcription of yihE-dsbA is regulated by the CpxRA two-component signal transduction system, yihE is probably involved in the extracytoplasmic stress response in a manor deserving further studies.
A Study on the Computational Complexity of the Bilevel Knapsack Problem

We analyze the computational complexity of three fundamental variants of the bilevel knapsack problem. All three variants are shown to be complete for the second level of the polynomial hierarchy. We also discuss the somewhat easier situation where the weight and profit coefficients in the knapsack problem are encoded in unary: two of the considered bilevel variants become solvable in polynomial time, whereas the third becomes NP-complete. Furthermore, we design a polynomial time approximation scheme for this third variant, whereas the other two variants cannot be approximated in polynomial time within any constant factor (assuming P\;$\ne$\;NP).
The Neuronal EGF-Related Gene Nell2 Interacts with Macf1 and Supports Survival of Retinal Ganglion Cells after Optic Nerve Injury

Nell2 is a neuron-specific protein containing six epidermal growth factor-like domains. We have identified Nell2 as a retinal ganglion cell (RGC)-expressed gene by comparing mRNA profiles of control and RGC-deficient rat retinas. The aim of this study was to analyze Nell2 expression in wild-type and optic nerve axotomized retinas and evaluate its potential role in RGCs. Nell2-positive in situ and immunohistochemical signals were localized to irregularly shaped cells in the ganglion cell layer (GCL) and colocalized with retrogradely-labeled RGCs. No Nell2-positive cells were detected in 2 weeks optic nerve transected (ONT) retinas characterized with approximately 90% RGC loss. RT-PCR analysis showed a dramatic decrease in the Nell2 mRNA level after ONT compared to the controls. Immunoblot analysis of the Nell2 expression in the retina revealed the presence of two proteins with approximate MW of 140 and 90 kDa representing glycosylated and non-glycosylated Nell2, respectively. Both products were almost undetectable in retinal protein extracts two weeks after ONT. Proteome analysis of Nell2-interacting proteins carried out with MALDI-TOF MS (MS) identified microtubule-actin crosslinking factor 1 (Macf1), known to be critical in CNS development. Strong Macf1 expression was observed in the inner plexiform layer and GCL where it was colocalizied with Thy-1 staining. Since Nell2 has been reported to increase neuronal survival of the hippocampus and cerebral cortex, we evaluated the effect of Nell2 overexpression on RGC survival. RGCs in the nasal retina were consistently more efficiently transfected than in other areas (49% vs. 13%; n = 5, p<0.05). In non-transfected or pEGFP-transfected ONT retinas, the loss of RGCs was approximately 90% compared to the untreated control. In the nasal region, Nell2 transfection led to the preservation of approximately 58% more cells damaged by axotomy compared to non-transfected (n = 5, p<0.01) or pEGFP-transfected controls (n = 5, p<0.01).
RNA-related nuclear functions of human Pat1b, the P-body mRNA decay factor

Analysis of the nuclear life of human Pat1b, a member of the Pat1 family of RNA-binding proteins that at steady state reside in cytoplasmic P-bodies and silence gene expression there, shows that Pat1b has multiple functions linked to transcription and splicing in nuclear speckles, PML bodies, and nucleolar caps.
Barcelona Economics Working Paper Series the Importance of Relative Performance Feedback Information: Evidence from a Natural Experiment Using High School Students the Importance of Relative Performance Feedback Information: Evidence from a Natural Experiment Using High School Students * Ghazala Azm

We study the effect of providing relative performance feedback information on performance, when individuals are rewarded according to their absolute performance. A natural experiment that took place in a high school offers an unusual opportunity to test this effect in a real-effort setting. For one year only, students received information that allowed them to know whether they were performing above (below) the class average as well as the distance from this average. We exploit a rich panel data set and find that the provision of this information led to an increase of 5% in students' grades. Moreover, the effect was significant for the whole distribution. However, once the information was removed, the effect disappeared. To rule out the concern that the effect may be artificially driven by teachers within the school, we verify our results using national level exams (externally graded) for the same students, and the effect remains. * We are grateful to Oiartzo Ikastola (former Orereta Ikastola) and the University of the Basque Country for giving us access to the data. We also thank
Maximum likelihood parameter estimation in probabilistic fuzzy classifiers

Probabilistic fuzzy systems make it possible to model linguistic uncertainty and probabilistic uncertainty in a single system. This paper is concerned with the estimation of the parameters in probabilistic fuzzy classifiers. The purpose of the paper is to introduce a new method that simultaneously estimates all the parameters in a probabilistic fuzzy classifier. The method uses a maximum likelihood criterion and a gradient-based optimization algorithm. The performance of the method is evaluated on two benchmark data sets. The method is compared with a sequential parameter estimation method used in previous publications. Also, a comparison with an alternative method from the literature is made
Care of war veterans with mild traumatic brain injury.

n engl j med 361;5 nejm.org july 30, 2009 536 ene receptor antagonists during pregnancy. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2007;119:618-25. National Asthma Education and Prevention Program Asth2. ma and Pregnancy Working Group. NAEPP Expert Panel report: managing asthma during pregnancy: recommendations for pharmacologic treatment — 2004 update. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2005;115:34-46. [Erratum, J Allergy Clin Immunol 2005;115: 477. ]
Multidrug-resistance gene (P-glycoprotein) is expressed by endothelial cells at blood-brain barrier sites.

Endothelial cells of human capillary blood vessels at the blood-brain and other blood-tissue barrier sites express P-glycoprotein as detected by mouse monoclonal antibodies against the human multidrug-resistance gene product. This pattern of endothelial cell expression may indicate a physiological role for P-glycoprotein in regulating the entry of certain molecules into the central nervous system and other anatomic compartments, such as the testes. These tissues, which limit the access of systemic drugs, are known pharmacologic sanctuaries for metastatic cancer. P-glycoprotein expression in capillary endothelium of brain and testes and not other tissues (i.e., kidney and placenta) may in part explain this phenomenon and could have important implications in cancer chemotherapy.
Identifying Corneal Infections in Formalin-Fixed Specimens Using Next Generation Sequencing

Purpose We test the ability of next-generation sequencing, combined with computational analysis, to identify a range of organisms causing infectious keratitis. Methods This retrospective study evaluated 16 cases of infectious keratitis and four control corneas in formalin-fixed tissues from the pathology laboratory. Infectious cases also were analyzed in the microbiology laboratory using culture, polymerase chain reaction, and direct staining. Classified sequence reads were analyzed with two different metagenomics classification engines, Kraken and Centrifuge, and visualized using the Pavian software tool. Results Sequencing generated 20 to 46 million reads per sample. On average, 96% of the reads were classified as human, 0.3% corresponded to known vectors or contaminant sequences, 1.7% represented microbial sequences, and 2.4% could not be classified. The two computational strategies successfully identified the fungal, bacterial, and amoebal pathogens in most patients, including all four bacterial and mycobacterial cases, five of six fungal cases, three of three Acanthamoeba cases, and one of three herpetic keratitis cases. In several cases, additional potential pathogens also were identified. In one case with cytomegalovirus identified by Kraken and Centrifuge, the virus was confirmed by direct testing, while two where Staphylococcus aureus or cytomegalovirus were identified by Centrifuge but not Kraken could not be confirmed. Confirmation was not attempted for an additional three potential pathogens identified by Kraken and 11 identified by Centrifuge. Conclusions Next generation sequencing combined with computational analysis can identify a wide range of pathogens in formalin-fixed corneal specimens, with potential applications in clinical diagnostics and research.
Auditory verbal hallucinations: neuroimaging and treatment

Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) are a frequently occurring phenomenon in the general population and are considered a psychotic symptom when presented in the context of a psychiatric disorder. Neuroimaging literature has shown that AVH are subserved by a variety of alterations in brain structure and function, which primarily concentrate around brain regions associated with the processing of auditory verbal stimuli and with executive control functions. However, the direction of association between AVH and brain function remains equivocal in certain research areas and needs to be carefully reviewed and interpreted. When AVH have significant impact on daily functioning, several efficacious treatments can be attempted such as antipsychotic medication, brain stimulation and cognitive–behavioural therapy. Interestingly, the neural correlates of these treatments largely overlap with brain regions involved in AVH. This suggests that the efficacy of treatment corresponds to a normalization of AVH-related brain activity. In this selected review, we give a compact yet comprehensive overview of the structural and functional neuroimaging literature on AVH, with a special focus on the neural correlates of efficacious treatment.
Generalization of Auditory Sensory and Cognitive Learning in Typically Developing Children

Despite the well-established involvement of both sensory (“bottom-up”) and cognitive (“top-down”) processes in literacy, the extent to which auditory or cognitive (memory or attention) learning transfers to phonological and reading skills remains unclear. Most research has demonstrated learning of the trained task or even learning transfer to a closely related task. However, few studies have reported “far-transfer” to a different domain, such as the improvement of phonological and reading skills following auditory or cognitive training. This study assessed the effectiveness of auditory, memory or attention training on far-transfer measures involving phonological and reading skills in typically developing children. Mid-transfer was also assessed through untrained auditory, attention and memory tasks. Sixty 5- to 8-year-old children with normal hearing were quasi-randomly assigned to one of five training groups: attention group (AG), memory group (MG), auditory sensory group (SG), placebo group (PG; drawing, painting), and a control, untrained group (CG). Compliance, mid-transfer and far-transfer measures were evaluated before and after training. All trained groups received 12 x 45-min training sessions over 12 weeks. The CG did not receive any intervention. All trained groups, especially older children, exhibited significant learning of the trained task. On pre- to post-training measures (test-retest), most groups exhibited improvements on most tasks. There was significant mid-transfer for a visual digit span task, with highest span in the MG, relative to other groups. These results show that both sensory and cognitive (memory or attention) training can lead to learning in the trained task and to mid-transfer learning on a task (visual digit span) within the same domain as the trained tasks. However, learning did not transfer to measures of language (reading and phonological awareness), as the PG and CG improved as much as the other trained groups. Further research is required to investigate the effects of various stimuli and lengths of training on the generalization of sensory and cognitive learning to literacy skills.
Validation of Wireless and Mobile Network Models and Simulation

Wireless and mobile networks present substantial challenges in the validation of large-scale network models and simulation, even beyond the already difficult problem of validation in more conventional wired and stationary networks. These additional challenges are due to the complications and subtleties of physical movement and wireless propagation, making the system highly variable and substantially increasing the complex interactions between the parts of the system and the surrounding environment. These same factors also make wireless and mobile experiments in the real world not easily or accurately repeatable, reducing the use of such experiments for validation. In particular, the position and movement of nodes in the network can have a significant effect on the behavior and performance of the system being modeled. The position and possible movement of other objects in the environment around the nodes themselves, such as buildings, hills, and trees, or vehicles, people, and rain, can also significantly effect the system being modeled. Furthermore, to accurately control an entire experiment in the real world, all of these positions and movements would need to be controlled to within a fraction of a wavelength of the radios involved, due to differences in the radio multipath environment even such small position differences can cause. Having complete control over all of these factors is simply not fully achievable in any real system, and so models and real experiments, to some degree, can only be approximations.