Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Oral Salmon Calcitonin Improves Fasting and Postprandial Glycemic Control in Lean Healthy Rats

Abstract A novel oral form of salmon calcitonin (sCT) was recently demonstrated to improve both fasting and postprandial glycemic control and induce weight loss in diet-induced obese and insulin-resistant rats. To further explore the glucoregulatory efficacy of oral sCT, irrespective of obesity and metabolic dysfunction, the present study investigated the effect of chronic oral sCT treatment on fasting and postprandial glycemic control in male lean healthy rats. 20 male rats were divided equally into a control group receiving oral vehicle or an oral sCT (2 mg/kg) group. All rats were treated twice daily for 5 weeks. Body weight and food intake were monitored during the study period and fasting blood glucose, plasma insulin and insulin sensitivity were determined and an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) performed at study end. Compared with the vehicle group, rats receiving oral sCT had improved fasting glucose homeostasis and insulin resistance, as measured by homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR), with no change in body weight or fasting plasma insulin. In addition, the rats receiving oral sCT had markedly reduced glycemia and insulinemia during OGTT. This is the first report showing that chronic oral sCT treatment exerts a glucoregulatory action in lean healthy rats, irrespective of influencing body weight. Importantly, oral sCT seems to exert a dual treatment effect by improving fasting and postprandial glycemic control and insulin sensitivity. This and previous studies suggest oral sCT is a promising agent for the treatment of obesity-related insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
Thermoelectric properties of large-scale Zn3 P2 nanowire assemblies

Gram quantities of both unfunctionalized and 1,4-benzenedithiol (BDT) functionalized zinc phosphide (Zn3P2) nanowire powders, synthesized using direct reaction of zinc and phosphorus, were hot-pressed into highly dense pellets (≥98% of the theoretical density) for the determination of their thermoelectric performance. It was deduced that mechanical flexibility of the nanowires is essential for consolidating them in randomly oriented fashion into dense pellets, without making any major changes to their morphologies. Electrical and thermal transport measurements indicated that the enhanced thermoelectric performance expected of individual Zn3P2 nanowires is still retained within large-scale nanowire assemblies. A maximum reduction of 28% in the thermal conductivity of Zn3P2 resulted from nanostructuring. Use of nanowire morphology also led to enhanced electrical conductivity in Zn3P2. Interface engineering of the nanowires in the pellets, accomplished by hot-pressing BDT functionalized nanowires, resulted in an increase on both the Seebeck coefficient and the electrical conductivity of the nanowire pellets. It is believed that filtering of low energy carriers resulting from the variation of the chemical compositions at the nanowire interfaces is responsible for this phenomenon. Overall, this study indicated that mechanical properties of the nanowires along with the chemical compositions of their surfaces play a hitherto unknown, but vital, role in realizing highly efficient bulk thermoelectric modules based on nanowires.
An Empirical Evaluation of doc2vec with Practical Insights into Document Embedding Generation

Recently, Le and Mikolov (2014) proposed doc2vec as an extension to word2vec (Mikolov et al., 2013a) to learn document-level embeddings. Despite promising results in the original paper, others have struggled to reproduce those results. This paper presents a rigorous empirical evaluation of doc2vec over two tasks. We compare doc2vec to two baselines and two state-of-the-art document embedding methodologies. We found that doc2vec performs robustly when using models trained on large external corpora, and can be further improved by using pre-trained word embeddings. We also provide recommendations on hyper-parameter settings for general purpose applications, and release source code to induce document embeddings using our trained doc2vec models.
Genetic Control of Testis Development

Sex determination refers to the decision of the bipotential early gonads to develop as either testes or ovaries during embryogenesis. In mammals, a single genetic trigger involved in this pivotal decision has been identified on the Y chromosome: the testis-determining gene SRY/Sry. During embryogenesis, SRY triggers the differentiation of Sertoli cells from the supporting cell precursor lineage which would otherwise give granulosa cells in ovaries. Several testis-specific events occur after SRY expression and the onset of Sertoli cell differentiation, notably Leydig cell differentiation, testis cord formation, and development of testis-specific vasculature. Although a number of genes involved in these events have been identified, how they relate to Sry action is poorly understood. Furthermore, even at the adult stage, some of these genes retain a key role in maintaining the testicular fate because conditional ablation of the genes leads to adult testis dysgenesis or transdifferentiation into an ovary. This sheds light on mammalian sex-reprogramming, despite the prevailing dogma that postnatal sex change does not occur in mammals. In this review, we summarize our current understanding of genetic pathways of testis determination and differentiation in mammals, particularly in the mouse and the human.
VLSI architectures for discrete wavelet transforms

A folded architecture and a digit-serial architecture are proposed for implementation of one- and two-dimensional discrete wavelet transforms. In the one-dimensional folded architecture, the computations of all wavelet levels are folded to the same low-pass and high-pass filters. The number of registers in the folded architecture is minimized by the use of a generalized life time analysis. The converter units are synthesized with a minimum number of registers using forward-backward allocation. The advantage of the folded architecture is low latency and its drawbacks are increased hardware area, less than 100% hardware utilization, and the complex routing and interconnection required by the converters used. These drawbacks are eliminated in the alternate digit-serial architecture at the expense of an increase in the system latency and some constraints on the wordlength. In latency-critical applications, the use of the folded architecture is suggested. If latency is not so critical, the digit-serial architecture should be used. The use of a combined folded and digit-serial architecture is proposed for implementation of two-dimensional discrete wavelet transforms. >
A note about hybrid linear regulation

We present some results about the problem of output regulation for a class of hybrid linear systems. We focus on the class of linear systems and exosystems whose dynamics have jumps according to the value of a clock variable, and we address the problem of designing controllers embedding an internal model of the switching exosystem to achieve the regulation objective. This will lead us to generalize concepts and tools well known in the field of output regulation for continuous-time systems, such as the concept of steady-state response, of regulator equations and the internal model property. The actual results are preliminary steps toward the development of a theory of nonlinear hybrid regulation that is under study by the authors.
Detection of Epstein-Barr virus DNA in serum or plasma for nasopharyngeal cancer: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND Studies have shown that the plasma or serum cell-free Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA level might be a tumor marker for the diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of the detection of EBV DNA in plasma or serum for NPC. METHODS Articles related to the diagnosis of NPC by the detection of EBV DNA in plasma or serum were retrieved from different databases. Sensitivity, specificity, summary receiver operator curves, and likelihood ratios were pooled to assess the diagnostic value of individual diagnostic tests. RESULTS Fifteen studies were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled sensitivity and specificity were 89.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 87.0%-90.9%) and 85.0% (95% CI, 83.0%-86.9%). The subgroup analysis regarding sample type found that the pooled sensitivity and specificity were 91.4% (95% CI, 89.0%-93.4%) and 93.2% (95% CI, 91.2%-95.0%) for the plasma group and 84.4% (95% CI, 79.9%-88.3%) and 76.0% (95% CI, 72.1%-79.6%) for the serum group. CONCLUSION The detection of EBV DNA for the diagnosis of NPC has good sensitivity and specificity and might be helpful for the screening of NPC.
Neural Network Analysis to Predict Mortality in End-Stage Renal Disease: Application to United States Renal Data System

We examined whether we could develop models based on data provided to the United States Renal Data System (USRDS) to accurately predict survival. Records were obtained from patients beginning dialysis in 1990 through 2007. We developed linear and neural network models and optimized the fit of these models to the actual time to death. Next, we examined whether we could accurately predict survival in a dataset containing censored and uncensored patients. The results with these models were contrasted with those obtained with a Cox proportional hazards model fit to the entire dataset. The average C statistic over a 6-month to 10-year time range achieved with these models was approximately 0.7891 (linear model), 0.7804 (transformed dataset linear model), 0.7769 (neural network model), 0.7774 (transformed dataset neural network model), 0.8019 (Cox model), and 0.7970 (transformed dataset Cox model). When we used the Cox proportional hazards model, superior C statistic results were found at time points between 2 and 10 years but at earlier time points, the Cox model was slightly inferior. These results suggest that data provided to the USRDS can allow for predictive models which have a high degree of accuracy years following the initiation of dialysis.
Phenobarbital‐induced severe cutaneous adverse drug reactions are associated with CYP2C19*2 in Thai children

Aromatic anticonvulsant–induced severe cutaneous adverse drug reactions (SCARs), including Stevens–Johnson syndrome (SJS), toxic epidermal necrosis (TEN), and drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS), are fatal immune‐mediated adverse drug reactions. CYP2C19, a cytochrome P450 isoform, plays a role in metabolic rate of aromatic anticonvulsant. HLA‐B*1502 has also been demonstrated to be associated with carbamazepine‐induced SJS‐TEN.
Psychopathic Personality Traits in the Military: An Examination of the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scales in a Novel Sample

The Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale is a short, self-report measure initially developed to assess psychopathic traits in noninstitutionalized samples. The present study aimed to explore factor structure and convergent and discriminant validity of the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale in a large U.S. military sample (90.7% Army National Guard). Factor analytic data, regression, and correlational analyses point to the superiority of Brinkley, Diamond, Magaletta, and Heigel’s three-factor model in this sample. Implications for theory and the study of psychopathic personality traits in a military sample are discussed.
Neural Correlates of Depressive Symptoms in Smokers – A Systematic Review of Imaging Studies

ABSTRACT This review aims to summarize neuroimaging studies in order to better understand the neural correlates of depressive symptoms in tobacco smokers. Using the keywords “depressive OR depression” AND “tobacco OR nicotine OR smok* OR cigarette” AND “neuroimage OR magnetic resonance OR smri OR structural magnetic resonance OR fmri OR functional magnetic resonance OR pet OR positron emission tomography”, literature search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science and PsycINFO databases. The first and the last author read the abstracts of all the studies found in the search (n = 179). The inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied and 150 articles were excluded. Then, both authors assessed the remaining 29 studies for eligibility and 16 studies were included in the present review. In the phase of active/chronic smoking, depressive symptoms are characterized as comorbidity related to an enhancement of dopamine release, and smokers have decreased Monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A). Stimuli-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (Stimuli-fMRI) studies also show that there is a positive correlation between the level of depressive symptoms and a greater response to general negative stimuli in active/chronic smokers. In the withdrawal phase, depressive symptoms are related to the withdrawal syndrome and increased MAO-A. Stimuli-fMRI studies show that there is a negative correlation between level of depressive symptoms and reactivity to negative stimuli in recent abstinent smokers. Major areas of the reward system such as the striatum and areas related to impulse control are activated to a greater extent in depressive smokers compared to non-depressed smokers.
Predictors of Depressive Symptoms Among Hispanic Women in South Florida

U.S. Hispanics, especially women, experience a disproportionate amount of disease burden for depression. This disparity among Hispanic women necessitates examination of factors associated with depression. The objective of this study was to use an adaptation of the Stress Process Model to test whether self-esteem mediated the relationship between Hispanic stress and depressive symptoms. Data for this secondary analysis were from a previous randomized-control HIV prevention trial. Participants were 548 Hispanic women (19-52 years). Data collection measures included the Center for Epidemiological Studies–Depression Scale, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and Hispanic Stress Scale. The bootstrap method in Mplus 6 was used to test mediation. Results indicated that self-esteem was inversely related to depression, and Hispanic stress was found to be positively related to depression. Self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between stress and depression. Strategies to improve/maintain self-esteem should be considered in future interventions for Hispanic women with depression.
UniProt: the Universal Protein knowledgebase

To provide the scientific community with a single, centralized, authoritative resource for protein sequences and functional information, the Swiss-Prot, TrEMBL and PIR protein database activities have united to form the Universal Protein Knowledgebase (UniProt) consortium. Our mission is to provide a comprehensive, fully classified, richly and accurately annotated protein sequence knowledgebase, with extensive cross-references and query interfaces. The central database will have two sections, corresponding to the familiar Swiss-Prot (fully manually curated entries) and TrEMBL (enriched with automated classification, annotation and extensive cross-references). For convenient sequence searches, UniProt also provides several non-redundant sequence databases. The UniProt NREF (UniRef) databases provide representative subsets of the knowledgebase suitable for efficient searching. The comprehensive UniProt Archive (UniParc) is updated daily from many public source databases. The UniProt databases can be accessed online (http://www.uniprot.org) or downloaded in several formats (ftp://ftp.uniprot.org/pub). The scientific community is encouraged to submit data for inclusion in UniProt.
Electrical Compact Modeling of Graphene Base Transistors

Following the recent development of the Graphene Base Transistor (GBT), a new electrical compact model for GBT devices is proposed. The transistor model includes the quantum capacitance model to obtain a self-consistent base potential. It also uses a versatile transfer current equation to be compatible with the different possible GBT configurations and it account for high injection conditions thanks to a transit time based charge model. Finally, the developed large signal model has been implemented in Verilog-A code and can be used for simulation in a standard circuit design environment such as Cadence or ADS. This model has been verified using advanced numerical simulation.
Estimation of soil organic carbon stocks and stock changes in Croatia (1980-2006) – use of national soil database and the Corine land Cover.

In this study, estimation of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks for the LULUCF categories was provided together with assessment of spatial and temporal trend of soil carbon density (SCD) from 1980-2006 in Croatia. Calculations of soil carbon stocks was based on existed data of soil organic carbon from the national (pedon) database of Croatian soils, consisted of 2351 soil profiles and Corine Land Cover inventories in 1980, 1990, 2000 and 2006. The total estimated soil organic carbon stock in Croatia for all CLC categories relevant for the LULUCF sector (93% of the total country area in 2006) is 618, 77 Mt. Forests and areas with natural vegetation with 348, 11 Mt contribute the most of all categories of which managed forests (broad-leaved, coniferous and mixed) contain 241, 93 Mt and other natural vegetation classes 106, 18 Mt. Estimated soil carbon stock in agricultural land is 270, 46 Mt of which 166, 99 Mt contain classes of intensive agriculture (arable land, permanent crops and complex cultivation patterns). Total change in SC stock between 1980 and 2006 equals +1, 91 Mt and is mostly due to changes in agricultural practices in rural areas (abandonment of intensive grazing and conversion of pastures into natural grasslands). Changes in the Forestry sector during the considering period were less noticeable but also present particularly for broad-leaved forest class (-2, 73 Mt C). Trends of SC stock changes in LULUCF categories presents good indices of demographic and socio-economic processes in Croatia where three distinctive moments were evident (I) decrease of SC stock from 1980-1990 mostly due to the urban sprawl ; (II) increase of SC stock from 1900 – 2000 due to the decline of agricultural activities in rural areas during and after war period ; (III) decline of SC after 2000 due to more intensive urbanization and infrastructural development.
Induction of Antioxidant Enzymes by Curcumin and Its Analogues in Human Islets: Implications in Transplantation

Objectives The survival of transplanted human islets is hampered by the quality of islets, which is affected by oxidative stress during isolation. The objective of this study was to determine if curcumin and its analogues could induce antioxidant enzymes in &bgr; cells of human islets. Methods The expression of antioxidant enzymes in isolated human islets exposed to curcuminoids was determined at the messenger RNA levels by real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction using Taqman probes and at the protein level by Western blot analysis. Double immunofluorescent staining of islets was carried out to determine the induction of antioxidant enzymes in &bgr; cells. Results Curcuminoids induced the expression of heme oxygenase 1; modulatory subunit of &ggr;-glutamyl-cysteine ligase; and NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 at the messenger RNA levels by 2- to 12-fold and at the protein levels by 2- to 6-fold in human islets. Increased expression of antioxidant enzymes was seen in &bgr; cells of islets as shown by immunofluorescent staining. Curcuminoids also increased the islet content of glutathione (a product of the modulatory subunit of &ggr;-glutamyl-cysteine ligase) and the basal insulin secretion and protected them from oxidative stress. Conclusions Our observations suggest that curcumin or its analogues could be used to induce cellular defense against oxidative stress and improve islet transplantation outcomes.
Enhanced risk management by an emerging multi-agent architecture

Classification in imbalanced datasets has attracted much attention from researchers in the field of machine learning. Most existing techniques tend not to perform well on minority class instances when the dataset is highly skewed because they focus on minimising the forecasting error without considering the relative distribution of each class. This investigation proposes an emerging multi-agent architecture, grounded on cooperative learning, to solve the class-imbalanced classification problem. Additionally, this study deals further with the obscure nature of the multi-agent architecture and expresses comprehensive rules for auditors. The results from this study indicate that the presented model performs satisfactorily in risk management and is able to tackle a highly class-imbalanced dataset comparatively well. Furthermore, the knowledge visualised process, supported by real examples, can assist both internal and external auditors who must allocate limited detecting resources; they can take the rules as roadmaps to modify the auditing programme.
Gut microbiota influences low fermentable substrate diet efficacy in children with irritable bowel syndrome

We sought to determine whether a low fermentable substrate diet (LFSD) decreases abdominal pain frequency in children with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and to identify potential microbial factors related to diet efficacy. Pain symptoms, stooling characteristics, breath hydrogen and methane, whole intestinal transit time, stool microbiome, and metabolite composition were collected and/or documented in eight children with IBS at baseline and during one week of an LFSD intervention. Pain frequency (P < 0.05), pain severity (P < 0.05), and pain-related interference with activities (P < 0.05) decreased in the subjects while on the LFSD. Responders vs. non-responders: four children (50%) were identified as responders (>50% decrease in abdominal pain frequency while on the LFSD). There were no differences between responders and non-responders with respect to hydrogen production, methane production, stooling characteristics, or gut transit time. Responders were characterized by increased pre-LFSD abundance of bacterial taxa belonging to the genera Sporobacter (P < 0.05) and Subdoligranulum (P < 0.02) and decreased abundance of taxa belonging to Bacteroides (P < 0.05) relative to non-responders. In parallel, stool metabolites differed between responders and non-responders and were associated with differences in microbiome composition. These pilot study results suggest that an LFSD may be effective in decreasing GI symptoms in children with IBS. Microbial factors such as gut microbiome composition and stool metabolites while on the diet may relate to LFSD efficacy.