Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Conjugated linoleic acid depresses the delta9 desaturase index and stearoyl coenzyme A desaturase enzyme activity in porcine subcutaneous adipose tissue.

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) has been shown to have an effect on subcutaneous fatty acid composition and has been reported to decrease stearoyl coenzyme A desaturase (SCD) activity by decreasing mRNA expression and(or) catalytic activity in rodents and rodent cell lines. This investigation was designed to study the effects of CLA, corn oil, or beef tallow supplementation on s.c. adipose tissue fatty acid composition, adiposity, SCD enzyme activity, and the delta9 desaturase index in piglets. Eighteen crossbred barrows 16 to 18 d of age were adapted to diet for 1 wk and then assigned randomly to one of three treatments: 1.5% added CLA, 1.5% added corn oil, or 1.5% added beef tallow. Barrows were penned individually and fed the supplemental oils for 35 d (to 25.6 +/- 0.6 kg BW). Subcutaneous adipose tissue samples were obtained after slaughter. Fatty acid composition of the s.c. adipose tissue differed for each fatty acid measured due to diet with the exception of 18:3. The concentrations of CLA trans-10, cis-12 and cis-9, trans-11 were elevated from nondetectable to 1.62 and 2.52 g/100 g lipid, respectively (P < 0.001 for both isomers). Conjugated linoleic acid decreased the delta9 desaturase index (P < 0.01) and SCD enzyme activity, expressed as nanomoles of palmitate converted to palmitoleate/(7 min x g of tissue) (P = 0.075) and nanomoles of palmitate converted to palmitoleate/(7 min 105 cells) (P= 0.056). Tallow-fed pigs had a greater proportion of large adipocytes (> 700 pL) and the greatest SCD activity. These data provide the first direct evidence that dietary CLA depresses SCD enzyme activity in porcine adipose tissue, which may in part be responsible for the depression of adiposity by CLA observed by others in market weight pigs.
Autism: explaining the enigma

From the combination of knowledge and actions, someone can improve their skill and ability. It will lead them to live and work much better. This is why, the students, workers, or even employers should have reading habit for books. Any book will give certain knowledge to take all benefits. This is what this autism explaining the enigma tells you. It will add more knowledge of you to life and work better. Try it and prove it.
Changes in the X-Ray Emission from the Magnetar Candidate 1E 2259+586 during Its 2002 Outburst

An outburst of more than 80 individual bursts, similar to those seen from Soft Gamma Repeaters (SGRs), was detected from the anomalous X-ray pulsar (AXP) 1E 2259+586 in 2002 June. Coincident with this burst activity were gross changes in the pulsed flux, persistent flux, energy spectrum, pulse profile, and spin-down of the underlying X-ray source. We present Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer and X-Ray Multi-Mirror Mission observations of 1E 2259+586 that show the evolution of the aforementioned source parameters during and following this episode and identify recovery timescales for each. Specifically, we observe an X-ray flux increase (pulsed and phase-averaged) by more than an order of magnitude having two distinct components. The first component is linked to the burst activity and decays within ~2 days, during which the energy spectrum is considerably harder than during the quiescent state of the source. The second component decays over the year following the glitch according to a power law in time with an exponent -0.22 ± 0.01. The pulsed fraction decreased initially to ~15% rms but recovered rapidly to the preoutburst level of ~23% within the first 3 days. The pulse profile changed significantly during the outburst and recovered almost fully within 2 months of the outburst. A glitch of size Δνmax/ν = (4.24 ± 0.11) × 10-6 was observed in 1E 2259+586, which preceded the observed burst activity. The glitch could not be well fitted with a simple partial exponential recovery. An exponential rise of ~20% of the frequency jump with a timescale of ~14 days results in a significantly better fit to the data; however, contamination from a systematic drift in the phase of the pulse profile cannot be excluded. A fraction of the glitch (~19%) was recovered in a quasi-exponential manner having a recovery timescale of ~16 days. The long-term postglitch spin-down rate decreased in magnitude relative to the preglitch value. The changes in the source properties of 1E 2259+586 during its 2002 outburst are shown to be qualitatively similar to changes seen during or following burst activity in two SGRs, thus further solidifying the common nature of SGRs and AXPs as magnetars. The changes in persistent emission properties of 1E 2259+586 suggest that the star underwent a plastic deformation of the crust that simultaneously impacted the superfluid interior (crustal and possibly core superfluid) and the magnetosphere. Finally, the changes in persistent emission properties coincident with burst activity in 1E 2259+586 enabled us to infer previous burst-active episodes from this and other AXPs. The nondetection of these outbursts by all-sky gamma-ray instruments suggests that the number of active magnetar candidates in our Galaxy is larger than previously thought.
Sarcasm SIGN: Interpreting Sarcasm with Sentiment Based Monolingual Machine Translation

Sarcasm is a form of speech in which speakers say the opposite of what they truly mean in order to convey a strong sentiment. In other words, “Sarcasm is the giant chasm between what I say, and the person who doesn’t get it. ”. In this paper we present the novel task of sarcasm interpretation, defined as the generation of a non-sarcastic utterance conveying the same message as the original sarcastic one. We introduce a novel dataset of 3000 sarcastic tweets, each interpreted by five human judges. Addressing the task as monolingual machine translation (MT), we experiment with MT algorithms and evaluation measures. We then present SIGN: an MT based sarcasm interpretation algorithm that targets sentiment words, a defining element of textual sarcasm. We show that while the scores of n-gram based automatic measures are similar for all interpretation models, SIGN’s interpretations are scored higher by humans for adequacy and sentiment polarity. We conclude with a discussion on future research directions for our new task.
Structural insights into the interactions of xpt riboswitch with novel guanine analogues: a molecular dynamics simulation study

Ligand recognition in purine riboswitches is a complex process requiring different levels of conformational changes. Recent efforts in the area of purine riboswitch research have focused on ligand analogue binding studies. In the case of the guanine xanthine phosphoribosyl transferase (xpt) riboswitch, synthetic analogues that resemble guanine have the potential to tightly bind and subsequently influence the genetic expression of xpt mRNA in prokaryotes. We have carried out 25 ns Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation studies of the aptamer domain of the xpt G-riboswitch in four different states: guanine riboswitch in free form, riboswitch bound with its cognate ligand guanine, and with two guanine analogues SJ1 and SJ2. Our work reveals novel interactions of SJ1 and SJ2 ligands with the binding core residues of the riboswitch. The ligands proposed in this work bind to the riboswitch with greater overall stability and lower root mean square deviations and fluctuations compared to guanine ligand. Reporter gene assay data demonstrate that the ligand analogues, upon binding to the RNA, lower the genetic expression of the guanine riboswitch. Our work has important implications for future ligand design and binding studies in the exciting field of riboswitches.
Long-term perspective on wildfires in the western USA

Understanding the causes and consequences of wildfires in forests of the western United States requires integrated information about fire, climate changes, and human activity on multiple temporal scales. We use sedimentary charcoal accumulation rates to construct long-term variations in fire during the past 3,000 y in the American West and compare this record to independent fire-history data from historical records and fire scars. There has been a slight decline in burning over the past 3,000 y, with the lowest levels attained during the 20th century and during the Little Ice Age (LIA, ca. 1400–1700 CE [Common Era]). Prominent peaks in forest fires occurred during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (ca. 950–1250 CE) and during the 1800s. Analysis of climate reconstructions beginning from 500 CE and population data show that temperature and drought predict changes in biomass burning up to the late 1800s CE. Since the late 1800s , human activities and the ecological effects of recent high fire activity caused a large, abrupt decline in burning similar to the LIA fire decline. Consequently, there is now a forest “fire deficit” in the western United States attributable to the combined effects of human activities, ecological, and climate changes. Large fires in the late 20th and 21st century fires have begun to address the fire deficit, but it is continuing to grow.
Normative Data for Neuropsychological Tests in a Rural Elderly Chinese Cohort

Normative information is important for appropriate interpretation of cognitive test scores as a critical component of dementia diagnosis in the elderly population. A cross-sectional evaluation of 1826 participants aged 65 years and older from four rural counties in China was conducted using six cognitive instruments including tests of global cognitive function (the Community Screening Instrument for Dementia), memory (Word List Learning and Recall tasks from the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease, IU Story), language (Animal Fluency Test), and executive function (IU Token). Multiple regression models adjusting for demographic variables were used to provide standardized residuals z-scores and corresponding percentile ranking for each cognitive test. In all cognitive tests older age was associated with worse test performance while exposure to education was related to better cognitive test performance. We also detected a significant gender difference with men scoring better than women and a significant gender by education interaction on two tests. The interaction indicates that gender difference in test scores was much smaller in participants with more education than those who had less or no education. These demographically adjusted, regression-based norms can be a useful tool to clinicians involved with differential diagnosis of cognitive and memory disorders in older adults in rural China.
Brain atrophy in Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) has traditionally been considered to be primarily an inflammatory demyelinating disorder affecting the white matter. Nowadays it is recognized as both an inflammatory and a neurodegenerative condition involving the white and grey matter. Grey matter atrophy occurs in the earliest stages of MS, progresses faster than in healthy individuals, and shows significant correlations with cognitive function and physical disability; indeed, brain atrophy is the best predictor of subsequent disability and can be measured using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). There are a number of MRI methods for measuring global or regional brain volume, including cross-sectional and longitudinal techniques. Preventing brain volume loss may therefore have important clinical implications affecting treatment decisions, with several clinical trials now demonstrating an effect of disease-modifying treatments (DMTs) on reducing brain volume loss. In clinical practice, it may therefore be important to consider the potential impact of a therapy on reducing the rate of brain volume loss. This article summarizes the knowledge on brain volume in MS.
A new H∞ filter design for linear time delay systems

A new delay-dependent H/sub /spl infin// filtering design is proposed for linear, continuous, time-invariant systems with time delay. The obtained filter is of the Luenberger observer type. The design guarantees that the H/sub /spl infin//-norm of the system, relating the exogenous signals to the estimation error, is less than a prescribed level. The filter is based on the application of a newly derived version of the bounded real lemma for time-delayed systems. This novel approach is compared, via an example, with another solution that appears in the literature.
Clinical Analysis of Acinic Cell Carcinoma in Parotid Gland

Objectives Acinic cell carcinoma (AciCC) is a rarely encountered malignancy in parotid gland. Because AciCC is rare and was recently recognized as the entity of malignancy, AciCC has been difficult to study. We aimed to analyze the diagnosis and treatment experience for this malignancy in our hospital. Methods We retrospectively reviewed medical records of the 20 patients with AciCC of parotid gland diagnosed from 1990 to 2009. The preoperative computed tomography scan, preoperative fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) and intraoperative frozen section results were compared with the final diagnosis. The survival and recurrence were analyzed with the cancer stages and treatment modalities. Results There were 10 males and 10 females, with a mean age of 44.4 years, ranging 8-77 years. The AJCC tumor stage distributions of the patients were 70%, 15%, and 15% for stages I, II, and IV, respectively. The sensitivity of FNAC and intraoperative frozen section was 26.7% and 50.0% respectively. The 10-year survival rate was 90.9% with a mean follow-up of 111 months, ranging 17-251 months. The 10-year disease free survival rate was 74.2% and the mean duration of recurrence from initial surgery was 92.3 months. Conclusion AciCC of the parotid gland is a rare malignancy that has features of less aggressive behavior, and good prognosis. Intraoperative frozen section examination may be helpful in the diagnosis of AciCC of the parotid gland because of the low sensitivity of preoperative computed tomography scan and FNAC. Surgery with adjuvant postoperative radiotherapy is satisfactory for disease control.
ACCOUNTING FOR SMOKING IN THE RADON-RELATED LUNG CANCER RISK AMONG GERMAN URANIUM MINERS: RESULTS OF A NESTED CASE-CONTROL STUDY

The possible confounding effect of smoking on radon-associated risk for lung cancer mortality was investigated in a case-control study nested in the cohort of German uranium miners. The study included 704 miners who died of lung cancer and 1,398 controls matched individually for birth year and attained age. Smoking status was reconstructed from questionnaires and records from the mining company’s health archives for 421 cases and 620 controls. Data on radon exposure were taken from a job-exposure matrix. Smoking adjusted odds ratios for lung cancer in relation to cumulative radon exposure have been calculated with conditional logistic regression. The increase in risk per Working Level Month (WLM) was assessed with a linear excess relative risk (ERR) model taking smoking into account as a multiplicative factor. In addition, the potential impact of temporal factors on the ERR per WLM was examined. Lung cancer mortality risk increased with increasing radon exposure, yielding a crude ERR per WLM of 0.25% (95% CI: 0.13–0.46%). Adjustment for smoking led only to marginal changes of the radon-associated lung cancer risks. The adjusted ERR per WLM was very similar (0.23%, 95%-CI: 0.11–0.46%) to the crude risk and to the risk found in the Wismut cohort study. This stability of the radon-related lung cancer risks with and without adjustment for smoking suggests that smoking does not act as a major confounder in this study and presumably also not in the cohort study.
Membranous Expression of Secreted Frizzled-Related Protein 4 Predicts for Good Prognosis in Localized Prostate Cancer and Inhibits PC3 Cellular Proliferation in Vitro

Purpose: Activation of the Wnt-signaling pathway is implicated in aberrant cellular proliferation in a variety of cancers. Secreted frizzled-related protein 4 (sFRP4) is a secreted protein with putative inhibitory activity of the Wnt-signaling cascade through binding and sequestering Wnt ligands. Because sFRP4 mRNA is overexpressed in prostate cancers (PCs), the aim of this study was to define the pattern of sFRP4 protein expression in normal and malignant human prostate tissue and to determine whether changes in expression were associated with disease progression and prognosis, as well as to define the phenotype of sFRP4-overexpression in an in vitro model of PC. Experimental Design: Polyclonal antibodies were raised against a COOH-terminal peptide of sFRP4, characterized and used to assess sFRP4 protein expression in benign prostate tissue and 229 patients with clinically localized PC (median follow-up 77 months, range 1–156). In vitro studies of the function of sFRP4 overexpression were performed using PC3 cells transfected with sFRP4. Results: Benign and malignant prostate tissue demonstrated cytoplasmic sFRP4 immunoreactivity, but there was a decrease in the expression of membranous sFRP4 in PCs compared with the hyperplastic lesions (P < 0.0001). Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that patients whose PC expressed membranous sFRP4 in >20% of cells had improved relapse-free survival compared with those with ≤20% membranous expression (P = 0.002). Moreover, membranous sFRP4 expression (P = 0.04) was an independent predictor of relapse when modeled with Gleason score (P = 0.006), pathological stage (P = 0.002), and pre-operative prostate-specific antigen levels (P = 0.004). In addition, in vitro studies demonstrated a decrease in the proliferation rate of PC3 cells transfected with sFRP4 when compared with the control PC3-empty vector cells (P < 0.0001). Decreased levels of phosphorylated glycogen synthase kinase 3β in PC3-sFRP4 cells suggested that this phenotype is mediated by the “Wnt/β-catenin” pathway. Conclusions: These data suggest that sFRP4 expression may be prognostic for localized PC, potentially as a consequence of an inhibitory effect on PC cell proliferation.
Option Pricing With Modular Neural Networks

This paper investigates a nonparametric modular neural network (MNN) model to price the S&P-500 European call options. The modules are based on time to maturity and moneyness of the options. The option price function of interest is homogeneous of degree one with respect to the underlying index price and the strike price. When compared to an array of parametric and nonparametric models, the MNN method consistently exerts superior out-of-sample pricing performance. We conclude that modularity improves the generalization properties of standard feedforward neural network option pricing models (with and without the homogeneity hint).
Stable and Robust Geometric Self-Calibration for Cone-Beam CT Using Mutual Information

We present a novel geometric calibration method for cone beam computed tomography, which is based on an iterative multiresolution 2-D-3-D image registration framework. Our technique does not require a dedicated calibration phantom or any other specific markers inside the scanned object, so that the geometric parameters can be computed online from the acquired data itself. In contrast to existing registration-based calibration methods, our approach uses the mutual information for maximization of the similarity between the original and the reprojected projections. Furthermore, we incorporated a consistent volume update scheme into our algorithm that supports the registration to accurately retrieve the geometrical misalignment of the scanner. In addition to this, stochastic ray sampling in combination with forward and backprojection operators implemented on the graphics card make the overall runtime comparable to current registration-based approaches. However, we can reach as accurate results as the current phantom-based techniques. Our results will show that our algorithm converges stably to the correct solution, that it is robust against projection noise and that it is independent of the underlying system geometry. It can be applied to circular and to helical trajectories with arbitrary cone angles. Moreover, our studies on simulated and on real data demonstrate that our algorithm can deal with arbitrary imaging objects.
Generalised Pre-Coding Aided Spatial Modulation

A new Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) transmission scheme termed as Generalised Pre-coding aided Spatial Modulation (GPSM) is proposed, where the key idea is that a particular subset of receive antennas is activated and the activation pattern itself conveys useful information. This is in contrast to the previously proposed Spatial Modulation (SM) schemes, which operated by activating a specific subset of transmit antennas. We provide both analytical and numerical results characterizing the GPSM scheme proposed for both conventional as well as for large-dimensional MIMO configurations subject to both realistic imperfect Channel State Information at the Transmitter (CSIT) and to the low-rank approximation invoked for large-dimensional MIMO configurations. We also design a so-called reinforcement matrix for attaining substantial performance improvements for our proposed GPSM scheme. Our investigations show that the GPSM scheme constitutes a flexible alternative to the state-of-the-art MIMO transmission schemes, especially because it is capable of achieving a high throughput. Moreover, the benefits of mapping information to the spatial domain rather than relying on conventional modulation has substantial benefits in the medium to high Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) region. Quantitatively, GPSM is capable of supporting the same throughput as the conventional full-multiplexing gain based MIMO arrangements at an SNR gain of about 1dB at the same receiver complexity. Furthermore, the reinforcement matrix aided GPSM scheme attains a further 3-4dB performance improvement as compared to the conventional GPSM scheme.
Neurochemical Effects of Chronic Administration of Calcitriol in Rats

Despite accumulating data showing the various neurological actions of vitamin D (VD), its effects on brain neurochemistry are still far from fully understood. To further investigate the neurochemical influence of VD, we assessed neurotransmitter systems in the brain of rats following 6-week calcitriol (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D) administration (50 ng/kg/day or 100 ng/kg/day). Both the two doses of calcitriol enhanced VDR protein level without affecting serum calcium and phosphate status. Rats treated with calcitriol, especially with the higher dose, exhibited elevated γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) status. Correspondingly, the mRNA expression of glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) 67 was increased. 100 ng/kg of calcitriol administration also increased glutamate and glutamine levels in the prefrontal cortex, but did not alter glutamine synthetase (GS) expression. Additionally, calcitriol treatment promoted tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and tryptophan hydroxylase 2 (TPH2) expression without changing dopamine and serotonin status. However, the concentrations of the metabolites of dopamine and serotonin were increased and the drug use also resulted in a significant rise of monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) expression, which might be responsible to maintain the homeostasis of dopaminergic and serotonergic neurotransmission. Collectively, the present study firstly showed the effects of calcitriol in the major neurotransmitter systems, providing new evidence for the role of VD in brain function.