Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cell Surface Expression of Polysialic Acid on NCAM Is a Prerequisite for Activity-Dependent Morphological Neuronal and Glial Plasticity

Polysialic acid (PSA) on the extracellular domain of the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) reduces cell adhesion and is considered an important regulator of cell surface interactions. The hypothalamo-neurohypophysial system (HNS), whose glia, neurons, and synapses undergo striking, reversible morphological changes in response to physiological stimulation, expresses high levels of PSA-NCAM throughout life. Light and electron microscopic immunocytochemistry in normal rats and rats in which cell transport was blocked with colchicine showed that PSA-NCAM is expressed in both HNS neurons and glia, particularly at the level of astrocytic processes that envelop neuronal profiles and can undergo remodeling. Moreover, we confirmed that the overall levels of PSA-NCAM were not greatly altered by stimulation (lactation and chronic salt ingestion). Nevertheless, PSA is essential to morphological plasticity. Using comparative ultrastructural analysis, we found that, after specific enzymatic removal of PSA from NCAM by microinjection of endoneuraminidase close to the hypothalamic magnocellular nuclei in vivo, there was no apparent withdrawal of astrocytic processes nor any increase in synaptic contacts normally induced by lactation and dehydration. Our observations demonstrate, therefore, that expression of PSA on cell surfaces in the adult HNS is indispensable to its capacity for activity-dependent morphological neuronal–glial and synaptic plasticity. The carbohydrate PSA on NCAM can thus be considered a necessary permissive factor to allow neuronal and glial remodeling to occur whenever the proper inductive stimulus intervenes.
Pyrogallol-Phloroglucinol-6,6’-Bieckol from Ecklonia cava Improved Blood Circulation in Diet-Induced Obese and Diet-Induced Hypertension Mouse Models

Blood circulation disorders, such as hyperlipidemia and arteriosclerosis, are not easily cured by dietary supplements, but they can be mitigated. Although Ecklonia cava extract (ECE), as dietary supplements, are associated with improving the conditions, there are not many studies verifying the same. In this study, the beneficial effect of ECE and leaf of Ginkgo biloba extract (GBE), which is a well-known dietary supplement, were first confirmed in a diet induced-obese model. Afterwards, 4 phlorotannins were isolated from ECE, and their inhibitory effects on vascular cell dysfunction were validated. Pyrogallol-phloroglucinol-6,6-bieckol (PPB) was selected to be orally administered in two mice models: the diet induced obese model and diet induced hypertension model. After four weeks of administration, the blood pressure of all mice was measured, after which they were subsequently sacrificed. PPB was found to significantly improve blood circulation, including a reduction of adhesion molecule expression, endothelial cell (EC) death, excessive vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation and migration, blood pressure, and lipoprotein and cholesterol levels. Based on the excellent efficacy in diet-induced mouse models of obese and hypertension, our results demonstrate that PPB is a valuable active compound from among the phlorotannins that were isolated and it has the potential to be used in functional foods for improving the blood circulation.
The G‐protein‐biased agents PZM21 and TRV130 are partial agonists of μ‐opioid receptor‐mediated signalling to ion channels

Opioids remain the most efficient medications against severe pain; they act on receptors that couple to heterotrimeric G‐proteins in the Gαi/o family. Opioids exert many of their acute effects through modulating ion channels via Gβγ subunits. Many of their side effects are attributed to β‐arrestin recruitment. Several biased agonists that do not recruit β‐arrestins, but activate G‐protein‐dependent pathways, have recently been developed. While these compounds have been proposed to be full agonists of G‐protein signalling in several high throughput pharmacological assays, their effects were not studied on ion channel targets.
Imaging and bone marrow assessments improve minimal residual disease prediction in multiple myeloma

The value of minimal residual disease (MRD) status by bone marrow and imaging analysis as independent prognostic factors has been well established in multiple myeloma (MM). Nevertheless data about their potential complementarity for a more accurate assessment are limited. With this aim, we retrospectively analyzed the prediction of outcome with the combination of PET‐CT and MRD, assessed by multiparameter flow cytometry (MFC) in 103 patients with newly diagnosed MM. We confirmed the benefit in terms of progression‐free survival (PFS), linked to the achievement of negativity by MFC (hazard ratio [HR] 0.53; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.28‐0.98), and PET‐CT (HR 0.18; 95% CI: 0.09‐0.36) individually. By combining both techniques, patients who became MRD‐/PET‐, with a median of PFS 92 months, had significant prolonged median PFS (P < .001). This is compared with MRD+/PET‐ and PET+ patients (median PFS of 45 and 28 months, respectively). We observed a significant difference (P = .003) in overall survival (OS) outcomes between MRD‐/PET‐ and MRD+/PET‐ patients (4‐year OS 94.2% and 100%, respectively), vs PET+ patients (4‐year OS 73.8%). All survival results were confirmed in a conditional landmark analysis. These findings support the potential complementarity between PET‐CT and MFC, and highlight their better predictive capability when improving sensitivity.
Semantic mapping using object-class segmentation of RGB-D images

For task planning and execution in unstructured environments, a robot needs the ability to recognize and localize relevant objects. When this information is made persistent in a semantic map, it can be used, e. g. , to communicate with humans. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to learning such maps. Our approach registers measurements of RGB-D cameras by means of simultaneous localization and mapping. We employ random decision forests to segment object classes in images and exploit dense depth measurements to obtain scale-invariance. Our object recognition method integrates shape and texture seamlessly. The probabilistic segmentation from multiple views is filtered in a voxel-based 3D map using a Bayesian framework. We report on the quality of our object-class segmentation method and demonstrate the benefits in accuracy when fusing multiple views in a semantic map.
Hypoxic burden captures sleep apnoea-specific nocturnal hypoxaemia.

We thank Drs Linz and Baumert for their comments on the importance of our study and for emphasizing the need for using better metrics than the apnoea–hypopnoea index to capture the cardiovascular risks of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). The main objective of our article was to develop an ‘OSA-specific’ metric that can be easily quantified in clinical settings and cross-validated in independent cohorts. Our study applied rigorous statistical models to examine the ability of the OSA-specific hypoxic burden to predict mortality beyond conventional polysomnography parameters. There are a growing list of candidate metrics to predict OSA outcomes, including the recent paper by Baumert et al. The hypoxic burden, presented in our article, was designed to capture the OSA-specific nocturnal burden, whereas T90-related metrics, including the hypoxaemic burden developed by Baumert et al., are not OSA-specific but will vary in response to varied exposures (such as from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or obesity hypoventilation) that may be unrelated to upper airway obstruction and OSA. Indeed, if the goal was only to predict cardiovascular outcomes, metrics such as circulatory time could potentially be stronger candidates. However, these metrics, including those related to T90, do not provide direct information on the targets for OSA treatment (e.g. continuous positive airway pressure), which mostly address episodic airway obstruction. Additionally, T90-related measures depend on somewhat arbitrary absolute thresholds (e.g. 90%), which may not apply across populations. Indeed, we found that SpO2 values <_90% are rare in women and T93, not T90, predicted mortality in women. In addition, in contrast to Baumert et al. findings, we were unable to find a significant association between T90 and CV mortality in the MrOS study [possibly due to different cardiovascular mortality event data used; our analysis relied on a sample with larger number of adjudicated CV events (440 vs. 185)] which led us to consider that the OSA-specific hypoxic burden was more informative than the T90 in this respect. We also disagree with the notion that to quantify the hypoxic burden, comprehensive sleep studies are required. Indeed, in our current algorithm, only the airflow and SpO2 signals are required, and these signals are available in the home sleep apnoea testing devices and sleep laboratories, underscoring the clinical relevance of our work.
Almost-Euclidean Subspaces of 1 N via Tensor Products : A Simple Approach to Randomness Reduction

It has been known since 1970’s that the N-dimensional l1space contains nearly Euclidean subspaces whose dimension is Ω(N). However, proofs of existence of such subspaces were probabilistic, hence non-constructive, which made the results not-quite-suitable for subsequently discovered applications to high-dimensional nearest neighbor search, error-correcting codes over the reals, compressive sensing and other computational problems. In this paper we present a “low-tech” scheme which, for any γ > 0, allows us to exhibit nearly Euclidean Ω(N)dimensional subspaces of l1 while using only N γ random bits. Our results extend and complement (particularly) recent work by GuruswamiLee-Wigderson. Characteristic features of our approach include (1) simplicity (we use only tensor products) and (2) yielding almost Euclidean subspaces with arbitrarily small distortions.
A clustering approach to integrate traffic safety in road maintenance prioritization

Abstract Objectives: We combine data on roads and crash characteristics to identify patterns in road traffic crashes with regard to road characteristics. We illustrate how combined analysis of data regarding road maintenance, maintenance costs, road characteristics, crash characteristics, and geographical location can enrich road maintenance prioritization from a traffic safety perspective. Methods: The study is based on traffic crash data merged with road maintenance data and annual average daily traffic (AADT) collected in Denmark. We analyzed 3,964 crashes that occurred from 2010 to 2015. A latent class clustering (LCC) technique was used to identify crash clusters with different road and crash characteristics. The distribution of crash severity and estimated road maintenance costs for each cluster was found and cluster differences were compared using the chi-square test. Finally, a map matching procedure was used to identify the geographical distribution of the crashes in each cluster. Results: Results showed that based on road maintenance levels there was no difference in the distribution of crash severity. The LCC technique revealed 11 crash clusters. Five clusters were characterized by crashes on roads with a poor maintenance level (levels 4 and 3). Only a few of these crashes included a vulnerable road user (VRU) but many occurred on roads without barriers. Four clusters included a large share of crashes on acceptably maintained roads (level 2). For these clusters only small variations in road characteristics were found, whereas the differences in crash characteristics were more dominant. The last 2 clusters included crashes that mainly occurred on new roads with no need for maintenance (level 1). Injury severity, estimated maintenance costs, and geographical location were found to be differently distributed for most of the clusters. Conclusions: We find that focusing solely on road maintenance and crash severity does not provide clear guidance of how to prioritize between road maintenance efforts from a traffic safety perspective. However, when combined with geographical location and crash characteristics, a more nuanced picture appears that allows consideration of different target groups and perspectives.
Initial SRAM State as a Fingerprint and Source of True Random Numbers for RFID Tags

RFID applications create a need for low-cost security and privacy in potentially hostile environments. Our measurements show that initialization of SRAM produces a physical ﬁngerprint. We propose a system of Fingerprint Extraction and Random Numbers in SRAM (FERNS) that harvests static identity and randomness from existing volatile CMOS storage. The identity results from manufacture-time physically random device threshold mismatch, and the random numbers result from run-time physically random noise. We use experimental data from virtual tags, microcontroller memory, and the WISP UHF RFID tag to validate the principles behind FERNS. We show that a 256byte SRAM can be used to identify circuits among a population of 160 virtual tags, and can potentially produce 128bit random numbers capable of passing cryptographic statistical tests.
Development of a novel plaque reduction neutralisation test for hantavirus infection

In the Americas, hantaviruses cause severe cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS) with a high fatality rate. Hantavirus infection is commonly diagnosed using serologic techniques and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. This paper presents a novel plaque reduction neutralisation test (PRNT) for detecting antibodies to Brazilian hantavirus. Using PRNT, plaque detection was enhanced by adding 0.6% of dimethyl sulfoxide into the overlay culture medium of the infected cells. This procedure facilitated clear visualisation of small plaques under the microscope and provided for easy and accurate plaque counting. The sera from 37 HCPS patients from the city of Ribeirão Preto, Brazil was evaluated for the Rio Mamoré virus (RIOMV) using PRNT. Six samples exhibited neutralising antibodies; these antibodies exhibited a low titre. The low level of seropositive samples may be due to fewer cross-reactions between two different hantavirus species; the patients were likely infected by Araraquara virus (a virus that has not been isolated) and RIOMV was used for the test. This assay offers a new approach to evaluating and measuring neutralising antibodies produced during hantavirus infections and it can be adapted to other hantaviruses, including viruses that will be isolated in the future.
Objective and Subjective Speech Quality Assessment of Amplification Devices for Patients With Parkinson’s Disease

This paper investigated subjective and objective assessment of Parkinsonian speech quality. Speech stimuli were recorded from 11 Parkinsonian and 10 age-matched normal control participants under different amplification and environmental conditions. Quality ratings of the recorded stimuli were obtained from naïve listeners. For objective assessment, feature vectors were derived from the speech recordings based on temporal, spectral, and/or cepstral parametrization. These feature vectors were subsequently mapped to the predicted quality scores through several regression methods, including support vector regression, Gaussian process regression, and deep learning. Analyses of subjective speech quality ratings showed that Parkinsonian speech quality was significantly poorer than control subjects’ speech quality, and that the amplification devices differentially affected perceived quality of Parkinsonian speech. Objective analyses revealed disparity in performance among feature vectors and mappers, with some feature vector and mapper combinations exhibiting statistically similar correlations with subjective ratings. A set consisting of cepstral, spectral, and modulation domain speech features when combined with Gaussian process regression or deep learning resulted in the highest correlation of 0.85 with the subjective data.
Model-Based Recursive Partitioning

Recursive partitioning is embedded into the general and well-established class of parametric models that can be fitted using M-type estimators (including maximum likelihood). An algorithm for model-based recursive partitioning is suggested for which the basic steps are: (1) fit a parametric model to a dataset; (2) test for parameter instability over a set of partitioning variables; (3) if there is some overall parameter instability, split the model with respect to the variable associated with the highest instability; (4) repeat the procedure in each of the daughter nodes. The algorithm yields a partitioned (or segmented) parametric model that can be effectively visualized and that subject-matter scientists are used to analyzing and interpreting.
Persistent Truncus Arteriosus: A Clinical, Hemodynamic, and Autopsy Study of Nineteen Cases

The clinical, hemodynamic, and autopsy data on 19 patients with a diagnosis of persistent truncus arteriosus have been presented.A proposed clinical classification, dividing the patients into types I and II only, with exclusion of type IV, provides a uniform clinical profile. The patients, as a rule, are small infants with a large left-to-right shunt, minimal cyanosis, wide pulse pressure, left or combined ventricular hypertrophy, and congestive heart failure, and resemble patients with a ventricular septal defect or patent ductus arteriosus.At cardiac catheterization distinct but slight differences in pressures or saturations between pulmonary arteries and “ascending aorta” do not exclude the diagnosis of persistent truncus arteriosus.The prognosis is uniformly poor. Most infants die in congestive heart failure within the first 6 months of life, others develop pulmonary vascular obstructive disease in later years.
A cross-sectional survey of the relationship between walking, biking, and the built environment for adults aged over 70 years

Purpose Determine the relationship between walkability scores (using the Walk Score®) and activity levels (both bicycle and walking) in adults aged between 70 and 85 years in Rochester, Minnesota. Patients and methods This was a self-reported cross-sectional survey in adults aged over 70 years living in Rochester, Minnesota. Analysis used t-tests or chi-square analysis as appropriate. The primary endpoint was bicycle use or walking. The predictor variables were the Walk Score® as determined by their address, Charlson index, Duke Activity Status Index (DASI), and a 12-item short-form survey (SF-12) scores. Secondary analysis used an outcome of functional status (using the DASI) and walkability scores. Results Fifty-three individuals completed the surveys (48% return rate). The average age in the overall cohort was 77.02 years. Eighty-nine percent of individuals could walk at least a block and 15.1% rode their bicycles. The Walk Scores® did not differ between those who walked (38.9 ± 27.4) and those that did not (40.0 ± 36.08; P = 0.93). In a similar fashion, the Walk Scores® were not different for those who biked (36.38 ± 27.68) and those that did not (39.44 ± 28.49; P = 0.78). There was no relationship between Walk Scores® and DASI; however, a decreased DASI score was associated with increased age and comorbid illness (Charlson Score). Conclusion In this small pilot survey, there was no difference in Walk Scores® between those older adults who walked or biked, compared to those that did not. The Walk Scores® were low in both groups, which may indicate the lack of accessibility for all older adults living in Rochester, Minnesota. The functional status seemed to be more related to age or comorbid conditions than the built environment.
Efficient Data Structures for Local Inconsistency Detection in Firewall ACL Updates

Filtering is a very important issue in next generation networks. These networks consist of a relatively high number of resource constrained devices and have special features, such as management of frequent topology changes. At each topology change, the access control policy of all nodes of the network must be automatically modified. In order to manage these access control requirements, Firewalls have been proposed by several researchers. However, many of the problems of traditional firewalls are aggravated due to these networks particularities, as is the case of ACL consistency. A firewall ACL with inconsistencies implies in general design errors, and indicates that the firewall is accepting traffic that should be denied or vice versa. This can result in severe problems such as unwanted accesses to services, denial of service, overflows, etc. Detecting inconsistencies is of extreme importance in the context of highly sensitive applications (e.g. health care). We propose a local inconsistency detection algorithm and data structures to prevent automatic rule updates that can cause inconsistencies. The proposal has very low computational complexity as both theoretical and experimental results will show, and thus can be used in real time environments.
Accretion Disk Spectra of the Brightest Ultraluminous X-Ray Source in M82

Emission spectra of hot accretion disks characteristic of advection-dominated accretion flow (ADAF) models are investigated for comparison with the brightest ultraluminous source, X-1, in the galaxy M82. If the spectral state of the source is similar to the low-luminosity hard state of stellar mass black holes in our Galaxy, a fit to the Chandra X-ray spectrum and constraints from the radio and infrared upper limits requires a black hole mass in the range of 9 × 104-5 × 105 M☉. Lower black hole masses (≲104 M☉) are possible if M82 X-1 corresponds to the high-luminosity hard state of Galactic black hole X-ray binary sources. Both of these spectrally degenerate hot accretion disk solutions lead to an intermediate-mass black hole interpretation for M82 X-1. Since these solutions have different spectral variability with X-ray luminosity and predict different radio/infrared emission, they could be distinguished by future off-axis Chandra observations or simultaneous sensitive radio/infrared detections.
Rates of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma in chronic hepatitis B and the role of surveillance: a 10-year follow-up of 673 patients

Background and objectives Development of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are critical milestones in the natural history of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. There are no prospective data on the risk of these critical milestones in HBV patients in Singapore. The efficacy and justification of HCC surveillance is determined by the rate of HCC development. Our study aims to determine the rates of cirrhosis and HCC in HBV patients in Singapore and hence the appropriateness of HCC surveillance. Materials and methods A total of 673 HBV patients were enrolled between March 2003 and March 2004 and followed up for 10 years with regular surveillance for HCC using &agr;-fetoprotein and abdominal ultrasound. Results Overall, 62.6% of the patients were men, mean age 56.4 years. In all, 31% were hepatitis B e antigen-positive and 14.9% had cirrhosis at baseline. Seventy-four patients developed cirrhosis and 42 patients developed HCC after 10 years. The overall 10-year incidence of cirrhosis and HCC was 16.2% (1.6%/year) and 7.8% (0.8%/year), respectively. The overall incidence of HCC in cirrhotics was 29.7% (3.0%/year), highest within a year of diagnosis of cirrhosis (7.9%). The rate of cirrhosis was significantly higher in those aged more than 55 years (P=0.001). Sex and hepatitis B e antigen status did not affect the rate of cirrhosis. Factors with significantly higher overall rates of HCC were age 55 years or more (P=0.001), male sex (P=0.001), and baseline &agr;-fetoprotein of 4.1 µg/l or more (P<0.0001). However, age more than 55 years was not significant in the development of HCC in cirrhotics. Conclusion The rate of cirrhosis in HBV patients in Singapore is about 1.6% per year. The rate of HCC is about 0.8% per year overall and 3.0% per year in cirrhotics, which justifies HCC surveillance.