Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sofosbuvir and Simeprevir for Treatment of Recurrent Hepatitis C Infection After Liver Transplant.

OBJECTIVES Recurrent hepatitis C is universal after liver transplant when viremia is present at the time of transplant, and this affects survival. Previous treatments with pegylated interferon and ribavirin with or without boceprevir or telaprevir have yielded modest sustained virologic response rates and frequent adverse effects. A combination of new antiviral agents has been used for recurrent hepatitis C. We aim to describe the outcomes of recurrent hepatitis C in liver transplant patients treated with simeprevir, sofosbuvir, and ribavirin. MATERIALS AND METHODS Fifty-three consecutive patients with recurrent hepatitis C genotype 1 were included. All patients had liver biopsy before enrollment if cirrhosis was not evident. Standard doses of simeprevir and sofosbuvir were used for 12 weeks. Ribavirin was adjusted based on hemoglobin levels. In 53 patients, 50 completed 12 weeks of treatment. RESULTS All 50 patients who completed 12 weeks of treatment achieved sustained virologic response. One patient who completed only 6 weeks also achieved sustained virologic response. Overall, the antiviral treatment was well tolerated, with no interactions with immunosuppressive drugs. CONCLUSIONS The combination of simeprevir and sofosbuvir with or without ribavirin yields a high sustained virologic response rate of 96% in a historically difficult to treat patient population (recurrent hepatitis C genotype 1).
Escape protein supplementation of yearling steers grazing smooth brome pastures.

Two grazing trials utilizing individually supplemented yearling steers were conducted to study the effect of supplemental escape protein on steer performance during the active growth periods, spring and fall, of smooth brome (Bromus inermis). Graded levels (0, .11, .23 and .34 kg.head-1.d-1) of an equal-protein-basis mixture of bloodmeal and corn gluten meal were offered daily, replacing corn starch, which was used as the negative control. All steers received 582 g supplemental dry matter per day. Supplementation with escape protein improved daily performance in both spring (P less than .01) and fall (P less than .02). Analysis of pooled data from both trials indicated a linear (P less than .01) and quadratic (P less than .05) increase in steer performance with increasing level of escape protein in the diet. Analysis of grass samples collected throughout and composited over each trial demonstrated that grass protein was highly degraded in the rumen. Using a modified dacron bag technique, 12-h degradability was found to be 80 to 90% of the potentially digestible protein fraction. Rates of protein degradability were 14 and 11.7%/h. Assuming 5%/h rate of passage, escape protein was calculated to be 9.2 and 13.1% of total protein. As a result of the significant growth response observed above that of the energy-supplemented controls and the high ruminal protein degradabilities of the grass observed in the laboratory, it was concluded that growing ruminants grazing actively growing smooth brome pastures were deficient in metabolizable protein.
Self-Interference Channel Characterization for Wideband $2\times 2$ MIMO Full-Duplex Transceivers Using Dual-Polarized Antennas

This paper presents an investigation of the wideband self-interference (SI) channel characteristics of a $2\times 2$ multi-input multi-output full-duplex transceiver using dual-polarized antennas. The measured SI channel power delay profiles at 2.45 GHz with 500 MHz span in various environments, anechoic chamber, laboratory room, and corridor, reveal that the SI channel can be represented by a multipath model consisting of two components: a quasi-static internal SI subchannel due to the specific Tx/Rx antenna structure and a time-varying external SI subchannel due to possible reflections from the surrounding environment. The quasi-static internal SI subchannel parameters can be derived from the Tx/Rx antenna structure specifications. The time-varying external SI channel exhibits cluster arrival features and can be represented by a modified Saleh–Valenzuela model with lognormal-distributed taps, and the cluster power exponentially decays with cluster arrival delay. However, the path power-versus-arrival-delay decay is exponential in a laboratory-room environment while it follows the power law in a corridor environment. The SI channel coherence bandwidth and delay spread in all three measurement environments follow normal and lognormal distributions, respectively.
Effect of water temperature on diel feeding, locomotion behaviour and digestive physiology in the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus

ABSTRACT This study used controlled laboratory conditions to directly assess the role of water temperature in controlling diel feeding and locomotion behaviours, and digestive physiology, in the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus. The results revealed that both the proportion of feeding individuals and ingestion rate were highest at 16°C. Regardless of water temperature, sea cucumbers appeared to be nocturnal and their peak feeding activity occurred at 00:00 h to 04:00 h. Tentacle insertion rate was not significantly correlated with water temperature (<24°C). In all temperature treatments except 24°C, the proportion of moving sea cucumbers was also observed to be higher at night than during the day. The water temperature above thermal threshold (24°C) for aestivation may alter the diel locomotion rhythm. The highest lipase and amylase activities were both observed at 20°C. The highest activities of lipase and amylase at all temperature treatments were observed at 22:00 h to 02:00 h, which was slightly earlier than the feeding peak. In conclusion, even in total darkness, A. japonicus showed more active feeding and moving activities, and higher digestive enzyme activities, at night than during the day. These results demonstrated that diel feeding and locomotion behaviours, at least in the short term, were not controlled by light or low water temperature (<24°C) but by an endogenous rhythm, and A. japonicus had the ability to optimize the digestive function for the coming feeding peak. These findings should provide valuable information for the development of the aquaculture of this species. Summary: Diel feeding and locomotion behaviours in sea cucumber are not controlled by water temperature in the short term.
Chronic Proliferative Dermatitis in Sharpin Null Mice: Development of an Autoinflammatory Disease in the Absence of B and T Lymphocytes and IL4/IL13 Signaling

SHARPIN is a key regulator of NFKB and integrin signaling. Mice lacking Sharpin develop a phenotype known as chronic proliferative dermatitis (CPDM), typified by progressive epidermal hyperplasia, apoptosis of keratinocytes, cutaneous and systemic eosinophilic inflammation, and hypoplasia of secondary lymphoid organs. Rag1−/− mice, which lack mature B and T cells, were crossed with Sharpin−/− mice to examine the role of lymphocytes in CDPM. Although inflammation in the lungs, liver, and joints was reduced in these double mutant mice, dermatitis was not reduced in the absence of functional lymphocytes, suggesting that lymphocytes are not primary drivers of the inflammation in the skin. Type 2 cytokine expression is increased in CPDM. In an attempt to reduce this aspect of the phenotype, Il4ra−/− mice, unresponsive to both IL4 and IL13, were crossed with Sharpin−/− mice. Double homozygous Sharpin−/−, Il4ra−/− mice developed an exacerbated granulocytic dermatitis, acute system inflammation, as well as hepatic necrosis and mineralization. High expression of CHI3L4, normally seen in CPDM skin, was abolished in Sharpin−/−, Il4ra−/− double mutant mice indicating the crucial role of IL4 and IL13 in the expression of this protein. Cutaneous eosinophilia persisted in Sharpin−/−, Il4ra−/− mice, although expression of Il5 mRNA was reduced and the expression of Ccl11 and Ccl24 was completely abolished. TSLP and IL33 were both increased in the skin of Sharpin−/− mice and this was maintained in Sharpin−/−, Il4ra−/− mice suggesting a role for TSLP and IL33 in the eosinophilic dermatitis in SHARPIN-deficient mice. These studies indicate that cutaneous inflammation in SHARPIN-deficient mice is autoinflammatory in nature developing independently of B and T lymphocytes, while the systemic inflammation seen in CPDM has a strong lymphocyte-dependent component. Both the cutaneous and systemic inflammation is enhanced by loss of IL4 and IL13 signaling indicating that these cytokines normally play an anti-inflammatory role in SHARPIN-deficient mice.
Hallucinated-IQA: No-Reference Image Quality Assessment via Adversarial Learning

No-reference image quality assessment (NR-IQA) is a fundamental yet challenging task in low-level computer vision community. The difficulty is particularly pronounced for the limited information, for which the corresponding reference for comparison is typically absent. Although various feature extraction mechanisms have been leveraged from natural scene statistics to deep neural networks in previous methods, the performance bottleneck still exists. In this work, we propose a hallucination-guided quality regression network to address the issue. We firstly generate a hallucinated reference constrained on the distorted image, to compensate the absence of the true reference. Then, we pair the information of hallucinated reference with the distorted image, and forward them to the regressor to learn the perceptual discrepancy with the guidance of an implicit ranking relationship within the generator, and therefore produce the precise quality prediction. To demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach, comprehensive experiments are evaluated on four popular image quality assessment benchmarks. Our method significantly outperforms all the previous state-of-the-art methods by large margins. The code and model are publicly available on the project page https://kwanyeelin.github. io/projects/HIQA/HIQA.html.
7.5% NaCl Resuscitation Leads to Abnormal Clot Fibrinolysis after Severe Hemorrhagic Shock and its Correction with 7.5% NaCl Adenosine, Lidocaine, and Mg2+

Background: Hyperfibrinolysis is a common complication of hemorrhagic shock. Our aim was to examine the effect of small-volume 7.5% NaCl adenosine, lidocaine, and Mg2+ (ALM) on fibrinolysis in the rat model of hemorrhagic shock. Methods: Rats were anesthetized and randomly assigned to one of four groups: (1) baseline, (2) shock, (3) 7.5% NaCl controls, and (4) 7.5% NaCl ALM. Animals were bled for 20 min (42% blood loss) and left in shock for 60 min before resuscitation with 0.3 ml intravenous bolus 7.5% NaCl ± ALM. Rats were sacrificed at 5, 10, 15, 30, and 60 min for rotation thromboelastometry and 15 and 60 min for ELISA analyses. Results: After hemorrhagic shock, 7.5% NaCl failed to resuscitate and exacerbated coagulopathy and fibrinolysis. At 15 and 60 min, the activation as extrinsically-activated test using tissue factor (EXTEM) with aprotinin to inhibit fibrinolysis (APTEM) test showed little or no correction of fibrinolysis, indicating a plasmin-independent fibrinolysis. Clots also had ~ 60% lower fibrinogen (fibrin-based EXTEM activated test with platelet inhibitor cytochalasin D A10) and 36%–50% reduced fibrinogen-to-platelet ratio (11%–14% vs. 22% baseline). In contrast, 7.5% NaCl ALM resuscitated mean arterial pressure and attenuated hyperfibrinolysis and coagulopathy by 15 min. Correction was associated with lower plasma tissue factor, higher plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, and lower D-dimers (5% of controls at 60 min). Platelet selectin fell to undetectable levels in ALM animals, which may imply improved endothelial and platelet function during resuscitation. Conclusions: Small-volume 7.5% NaCl resuscitation exacerbated coagulopathy and fibrinolysis that was not corrected by APTEM test. Fibrinolysis appears to be associated with altered fibrin structure during early clot formation and elongation. In contrast, 7.5% NaCl ALM rapidly corrected both coagulopathy and hyperfibrinolysis.
Generalized quadrangles weakly embedded of degree 2 in projective space

In this paper, we classify all generalized quadrangles weakly embedded in projective space of degree > 2. More exactly, given a (possibly infinite) generalized quadrangle Γ = (P,L, I ) and a map π from P (respectively L) to the set of points (respectively lines) of a projective space PG(d, K), K some skewfield, d ≥ 2 (but not necessarily finite), such that (i) π is injective on points, (ii) if x ∈ P and L ∈ L with x I L, then xπ is incident with Lπ in PG(d, K), (iii) the set of points {xπ | x ∈ P} generates PG(d, K), (iv) if x, y ∈ P such that yπ is contained in the subspace of PG(d, K) generated by the set {zπ | z is collinear with x in Γ}, then y is collinear with x in Γ, (v) there exists a line of PG(d, K) not in the image of π and which meets Γ in at least 3 points, then we show that Γ is a Moufang quadrangle and we can explicitly describe the weak embedding of Γ in PG(d, K).
IL‐17 induces cellular stress microenvironment of melanocytes to promote autophagic cell apoptosis in vitiligo

Vitiligo is a depigmentary disorder that develops as a result of the progressive disappearance of epidermal melanocytes. Stress can precipitate or exacerbate a skin disease through psychosomatic mechanisms. Stress exposure induces vitiligo‐like symptoms in mice, as cellular damage to melanocytes causes synthetic pigment loss. Stress also increases IL‐17, IL‐1β, and antimelanocyte IgG in model mouse serum. Up‐regulation of the IL‐1β transcript in patients suggests its possible role in autoimmune pathogenesis of vitiligo. We demonstrate that IL‐17 promoted IL‐1β secretion from keratinocytes. Mitochondrial dysfunction, which can induce the excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), is emerging as a mechanism that underlies various inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. In this study, we demonstrate that IL‐17 inhibits melanogenesis of zebrafish, normal human epidermal melanocytes, and B16F10 cells. IL‐17 increased mitochondrial dysfunc‐tion and ROS accumulation, which was related to autophagy induction. Autophagy is needed for autophagic apoptosis of B16F10 cells induced by IL‐17. To inhibit ROS generation, B16F10 cells were pretreated with N‐acetyl‐L‐cysteine (NAC), which inhibited autophagy. 3‐Methyladenine (3‐MA) also had an inhibiting effect on autophagy. NAC or 3‐MA pretreatments inhibited IL‐17‐mediated cell apoptosis. In summary, IL‐17 induces the cellular stress microenvironment in melanocytes to promote autophagic cell apoptosis in vitiligo. —Zhou, J., An, X. , Dong, J., Wang, Y. , Zhong, H. , Duan, L. , Ling, J., Ping, F. , Shang, J. IL‐17 induces cellular stress microenvironment of melanocytes to promote autophagic cell apoptosis in vitiligo. FASEB J. 32, 4899–4916 (2018). www.fasebj. org
A predictive personalised model for the left atrium

We propose an integrated modelling and clinical protocol for characterising local tissue properties in the left atrium and validate the resulting personalised models in four patient cases. We generate a personalised model from a set of measured local activation times (LATs) obtained by pacing the left atrium in the proximity of the coronary sinus with a programmed pacing protocol. We validate the model by evaluating the correlation between a set of measured LATS, obtained by pacing on the high right atrium and a set numerically computed LATs. We then estimate if the tissue is capable of sustaining an atrial fibrillation or a tachycardia by triggering a spiral wave on the computational model and then analysing the activation frequencies and the time elapsed until the termination of the aberrant activation.
Identifying potential areas for biofuel production and evaluating the environmental effects: a case study of the James River Basin in the Midwestern United States

Biofuels are now an important resource in the United States because of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. Both increased corn growth for ethanol production and perennial dedicated energy crop growth for cellulosic feedstocks are potential sources to meet the rising demand for biofuels. However, these measures may cause adverse environmental consequences that are not yet fully understood. This study 1) evaluates the long‐term impacts of increased frequency of corn in the crop rotation system on water quantity and quality as well as soil fertility in the James River Basin and 2) identifies potential grasslands for cultivating bioenergy crops (e.g. switchgrass), estimating the water quality impacts. We selected the soil and water assessment tool, a physically based multidisciplinary model, as the modeling approach to simulate a series of biofuel production scenarios involving crop rotation and land cover changes. The model simulations with different crop rotation scenarios indicate that decreases in water yield and soil nitrate nitrogen (NO3‐N) concentration along with an increase in NO3‐N load to stream water could justify serious concerns regarding increased corn rotations in this basin. Simulations with land cover change scenarios helped us spatially classify the grasslands in terms of biomass productivity and nitrogen loads, and we further derived the relationship of biomass production targets and the resulting nitrogen loads against switchgrass planting acreages. The suggested economically efficient (planting acreage) and environmentally friendly (water quality) planting locations and acreages can be a valuable guide for cultivating switchgrass in this basin. This information, along with the projected environmental costs (i.e. reduced water yield and increased nitrogen load), can contribute to decision support tools for land managers to seek the sustainability of biofuel development in this region.
VDAC1 as Pharmacological Target in Cancer and Neurodegeneration: Focus on Its Role in Apoptosis

Cancer and neurodegeneration are different classes of diseases that share the involvement of mitochondria in their pathogenesis. Whereas the high glycolytic rate (the so-called Warburg metabolism) and the suppression of apoptosis are key elements for the establishment and maintenance of cancer cells, mitochondrial dysfunction and increased cell death mark neurodegeneration. As a main actor in the regulation of cell metabolism and apoptosis, VDAC may represent the common point between these two broad families of pathologies. Located in the outer mitochondrial membrane, VDAC forms channels that control the flux of ions and metabolites across the mitochondrion thus mediating the organelle's cross-talk with the rest of the cell. Furthermore, the interaction with both pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic factors makes VDAC a gatekeeper for mitochondria-mediated cell death and survival signaling pathways. Unfortunately, the lack of an evident druggability of this protein, since it has no defined binding or active sites, makes the quest for VDAC interacting molecules a difficult tale. Pharmacologically active molecules of different classes have been proposed to hit cancer and neurodegeneration. In this work, we provide an exhaustive and detailed survey of all the molecules, peptides, and microRNAs that exploit VDAC in the treatment of the two examined classes of pathologies. The mechanism of action and the potential or effectiveness of each compound are discussed.
The Structure and Performance Study of Aluminates

The structure,evaporation and stability of aluminates to air were studied.It was shown that the aluminates sintered under the common environment were in the multi-phase formation,but the aluminates sintered under the special environment were in the single-phase formation.The evaporation balance of the former is 8%,but that of the latter is 2%. The stability to air of the former is worse than that of the latter.
Theoretical Formulation and Analysis of the Deterministic Dendritic Cell Algorithm

As one of the emerging algorithms in the field of artificial immune systems (AIS), the dendritic cell algorithm (DCA) has been successfully applied to a number of challenging real-world problems. However, one criticism is the lack of a formal definition, which could result in ambiguity for understanding the algorithm. Moreover, previous investigations have mainly focused on its empirical aspects. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a formal definition of the algorithm, as well as to perform runtime analyses to reveal its theoretical aspects. In this paper, we define the deterministic version of the DCA, named the dDCA, using set theory and mathematical functions. Runtime analyses of the standard algorithm and the one with additional segmentation are performed. Our analysis suggests that the standard dDCA has a runtime complexity of O(n(2)) for the worst-case scenario, where n is the number of input data instances. The introduction of segmentation changes the algorithm's worst case runtime complexity to O(max(nN,nz)), for DC population size N with size of each segment z. Finally, two runtime variables of the algorithm are formulated based on the input data, to understand its runtime behaviour as guidelines for further development.
Initial Potassium Replacement in Diabetic Ketoacidosis: The Unnoticed Area of Gap

Diabetic ketoacidosis is an acute complication of diabetes mellitus (DM). It affects all the types of DM and hence is a continuous threat for all the diabetes patients (1). DKA is a well-studied disease. Among the precipitating causes, mostly reported factors are non-compliance of patients with the antidiabetic treatment, and infection; others, however, may not have any precipitating cause (1, 2). The progress of disease is very simple; lack of insulin causes hyperglycemia and inability of glucose to enter the cell. In-turn, triglycerides are broken down to free fatty acids which are used as a source of energy (1, 3, 4). In due process, the end-product of this metabolic derangement, i.e., ketones, cause acidification of blood causing major disruption in homeostasis. Similar to pathophysiology, the treatment of DKA is also simple and encompasses administration of insulin to achieve euglycaemia, and administration of crystalloid or colloidal solution to attain euvolaemia and euelectrolytaemia (1–3). Nevertheless, by the time patient reports for medical attention, these simple derangements and the rectification pathway have had gone significant derailment with potassium being the most affected ion throughout the event and resolution of DKA (5, 6). In similar context, potassium adds on to further exacerbation of already compensating, due to acidosis and respiratory distress observed in DKA, cardiovascular system (CVS).