Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Design-driven quadrangulation of closed 3D curves

We propose a novel, design-driven, approach to quadrangulation of closed 3D curves created by sketch-based or other curve modeling systems. Unlike the multitude of approaches for quad-remeshing of existing surfaces, we rely solely on the input curves to both conceive and construct the quad-mesh of an artist imagined surface bounded by them. We observe that viewers complete the intended shape by envisioning a dense network of smooth, gradually changing, flow-lines that interpolates the input curves. Components of the network bridge pairs of input curve segments with similar orientation and shape. Our algorithm mimics this behavior. It first segments the input closed curves into pairs of matching segments, defining dominant flow line sequences across the surface. It then interpolates the input curves by a network of quadrilateral cycles whose iso-lines define the desired flow line network. We proceed to interpolate these networks with all-quad meshes that convey designer intent. We evaluate our results by showing convincing quadrangulations of complex and diverse curve networks with concave, non-planar cycles, and validate our approach by comparing our results to artist generated interpolating meshes.
Research paper does not show causal link between benzodiazepine use and diagnosis of dementia

The prospective population based study by Billioti de Gage and colleagues shows an association between benzodiazepine use and the subsequent diagnosis of dementia but it does not show causality.1 Sleep disturbance is a common feature of many neurodegenerative diseases and may precede dementia by years.2 For example, the 10 year risk of a …
Discovery of Type II Inhibitors of TGFβ-Activated Kinase 1 (TAK1) and Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinase Kinase Kinase 2 (MAP4K2)

We developed a pharmacophore model for type II inhibitors that was used to guide the construction of a library of kinase inhibitors. Kinome-wide selectivity profiling of the library resulted in the identification of a series of 4-substituted 1H-pyrrolo[2,3-b]pyridines that exhibited potent inhibitory activity against two mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), TAK1 (MAP3K7) and MAP4K2, as well as pharmacologically well interrogated kinases such as p38α (MAPK14) and ABL. Further investigation of the structure–activity relationship (SAR) resulted in the identification of potent dual TAK1 and MAP4K2 inhibitors such as 1 (NG25) and 2 as well as MAP4K2 selective inhibitors such as 16 and 17. Some of these inhibitors possess good pharmacokinetic properties that will enable their use in pharmacological studies in vivo. A 2.4 Å cocrystal structure of TAK1 in complex with 1 confirms that the activation loop of TAK1 assumes the DFG-out conformation characteristic of type II inhibitors.
Long-Acting Injectable Naltrexone Induction: A Randomized Trial of Outpatient Opioid Detoxification With Naltrexone Versus Buprenorphine.

OBJECTIVE At present there is no established optimal approach for transitioning opioid-dependent adults to extended-release injection naltrexone (XR-naltrexone) while preventing relapse. The authors conducted a trial examining the efficacy of two methods of outpatient opioid detoxification for induction to XR-naltrexone. METHOD Participants were 150 opioid-dependent adults randomly assigned 2:1 to one of two outpatient detoxification regimens, naltrexone-assisted detoxification or buprenorphine-assisted detoxification, followed by an injection of XR-naltrexone. Naltrexone-assisted detoxification lasted 7 days and included a single day of buprenorphine followed by ascending doses of oral naltrexone along with clonidine and other adjunctive medications. Buprenorphine-assisted detoxification included a 7-day buprenorphine taper followed by a week-long delay before administration of XR-naltrexone, consistent with official prescribing information for XR-naltrexone. Participants from both groups received behavioral therapy focused on medication adherence and a second dose of XR-naltrexone. RESULTS Compared with participants in the buprenorphine-assisted detoxification condition, participants assigned to naltrexone-assisted detoxification were significantly more likely to be successfully inducted to XR-naltrexone (56.1% compared with 32.7%) and to receive the second injection at week 5 (50.0% compared with 26.9%). Both models adjusted for primary type of opioid use, route of opioid administration, and morphine equivalents at baseline. CONCLUSIONS These results demonstrate the safety, efficacy, and tolerability of low-dose naltrexone, in conjunction with single-day buprenorphine dosing and adjunctive nonopioid medications, for initiating adults with opioid dependence to XR-naltrexone. This strategy offers a promising alternative to the high rates of attrition and relapse currently observed with agonist tapers in both inpatient and outpatient settings.
Context Aware Emotional Model for Group Decision Making

Decision making is the cognitive process leading to the selection of a course of action among variations; indeed, decision making is said to be a psychological construct, depending on the individual or individuals. Although being an important factor in individuals every day life, emotions are many times forgotten in the development of systems to be used by persons. In this paper we present a context aware model of emotions that can be used to design intelligent agents endowed with emotional capabilities that can be used to simulate group decision making processes. Our experiments show that agents endowed with emotional awareness are able to achieve agreements more rapidly.
Comparison of Midgut Hemagglutination Activity in Three Different Geographical Populations of Anopheles stephensi

that agglutinate red blood cells (RBCs) were demonstrated in Anopheles stephensi mosquito midgut extracts using human (four groups: A, B, AB and O, RH+) rat, sheep and rabbit blood cells. Only rabbit RBCs showed agglutination reaction against the midgut extracts. Significant differences in hemagglutinin titers and carbohydrate specifity were detected between male and female mosquitoes as well as among three different geographical populations of Anopheles stephensi from south of Iran. Overall agglutinin levels were increased following a blood meal. The highest hemagglintination titers were due to Kazerun population. All hemagglutination assays were versus rabbit RBCS. A significant difference was detected among the number of egg-float ridges. Iranshahr population was different from Bandar-abbas and Kazerun population in egg-float ridges number. Bandr-abbas population was in the intermediate category. Iranshahr population fell between mysoransis and intermediate group and Kazerun population was between intermediate and type form. This study presents the first report on the occurrence of heterogeneous anti Rabbit RBC agglutinins in the midget extracts of the different geographical populations of An.stephensi with the sugar - binding specificities. The sugar- inhibition pattern was different between & within geographical population of An.stephensi.
A Novel Variant of Inpp5f Is Imprinted in Brain, and Its Expression Is Correlated with Differential Methylation of an Internal CpG Island

ABSTRACT Using a tissue-specific microarray screen in combination with chromosome anomalies in the mouse, we identified a novel imprinted gene, Inpp5f_v2 on mouse chromosome 7. Characterization of this gene reveals a 3.2-kb transcript that is paternally expressed in the brain. Inpp5f_v2 is a variant of the related 4.7-kb transcript, Inpp5f, an inositol phosphatase gene that is biallelically expressed in the mouse. Inpp5f_v2 uses an alternative transcriptional start site within an intron of Inpp5f and thus has a unique alternative first exon. Whereas other imprinted transcripts have a unique first exon located within intron 1 of a longer transcript variant (such as at the Gnas and WT1 loci), Inpp5f_v2 is the first example of which we are aware in which the alternative first exon of an imprinted gene is embedded in a downstream intron (intron 15) of a transcript variant. The CpG island associated with the nonimprinted Inpp5f gene is hypomethylated on both alleles, a finding consistent with biallelic expression, whereas the CpG island present 5′ of Inpp5f_v2 is differentially methylated on the maternal versus paternal alleles consistent with its imprinting status.
Indebtedness: An adverse aspect of asking for and receiving help.

On the assumption that indebtedness is an aversive state, this study tested the hypothesis that Ss who do not anticipate being able to return a favor are less willing to ask for and receive needed help than Ss who anticipate being able to reciprocate. 48 Ss were assigned to one of four cells in a 2 x 2 factorial design, the independent variables being sex and anticipation of reciprocity. All three measures of unwillingness to ask for and receive help yielded data consistent with the hypothesis. There were no sex differences, nor was there any interaction between sex and anticipation of reciprocity.
Anticipating Conflict Facilitates Controlled Stimulus-response Selection

Cognitive control can be triggered in reaction to previous conflict, as suggested by the finding of sequential effects in conflict tasks. Can control also be triggered proactively by presenting cues predicting conflict (“proactive control”)? We exploited the high temporal resolution of ERPs and controlled for sequential effects to ask whether proactive control based on anticipating conflict modulates neural activity related to cognitive control, as may be predicted from the conflict-monitoring model. ERPs associated with conflict detection (N2) were measured during a cued flanker task. Symbolic cues were either informative or neutral with respect to whether the target involved conflicting or congruent responses. Sequential effects were controlled by analyzing the congruency of the previous trial. The results showed that cueing conflict facilitated conflict resolution and reduced the N2 latency. Other potentials (frontal N1 and P3) were also modulated by cueing conflict. Cueing effects were most evident after congruent than after incongruent trials. This interaction between cueing and sequential effects suggests neural overlap between the control networks triggered by proactive and reactive signals. This finding clarifies why previous neuroimaging studies, in which reactive sequential effects were not controlled, have rarely found anticipatory effects upon conflict-related activity. Finally, the high temporal resolution of ERPs was critical to reveal a temporal modulation of conflict detection by proactive control. This novel finding suggests that anticipating conflict speeds up conflict detection and resolution. Recent research suggests that this anticipatory mechanism may be mediated by preactivation of ACC during the preparatory interval.
Activities and regulation of peptidoglycan synthases

Peptidoglycan (PG) is an essential component in the cell wall of nearly all bacteria, forming a continuous, mesh-like structure, called the sacculus, around the cytoplasmic membrane to protect the cell from bursting by its turgor. Although PG synthases, the penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs), have been studied for 70 years, useful in vitro assays for measuring their activities were established only recently, and these provided the first insights into the regulation of these enzymes. Here, we review the current knowledge on the glycosyltransferase and transpeptidase activities of PG synthases. We provide new data showing that the bifunctional PBP1A and PBP1B from Escherichia coli are active upon reconstitution into the membrane environment of proteoliposomes, and that these enzymes also exhibit DD-carboxypeptidase activity in certain conditions. Both novel features are relevant for their functioning within the cell. We also review recent data on the impact of protein–protein interactions and other factors on the activities of PBPs. As an example, we demonstrate a synergistic effect of multiple protein–protein interactions on the glycosyltransferase activity of PBP1B, by its cognate lipoprotein activator LpoB and the essential cell division protein FtsN.
Genomic and transcriptomic predictors of response levels to endurance exercise training

Predicting the responsiveness to regular exercise is a topic of great relevance due to its potential role in personalized exercise medicine applications. The present review focuses on cardiorespiratory fitness (commonly measured by maximal oxygen uptake, V̇O2 max ), a trait with wide‐ranging impact on health and performance indicators. Gains in V̇O2 max demonstrate large inter‐individual variation even in response to standardized exercise training programmes. The estimated ΔVO2 max heritability of 47% suggests that genomic‐based predictors alone are insufficient to account for the total trainability variance. Candidate gene and genome‐wide linkage studies have not significantly contributed to our understanding of the molecular basis of trainability. A genome‐wide association study suggested that V̇O2 max trainability is influenced by multiple genes of small effects, but these findings still await rigorous replication. Valuable evidence, however, has been obtained by combining skeletal muscle transcript abundance profiles with common DNA variants for the prediction of the V̇O2 max response to exercise training. Although the physiological determinants of V̇O2 max measured at a given time are largely enunciated, what is poorly understood are the details of tissue‐specific molecular mechanisms that limit V̇O2 max and related signalling pathways in response to exercise training. Bioinformatics explorations based on thousands of variants have been used to interrogate pathways and systems instead of single variants and genes, and the main findings, along with those from exercise experimental studies, have been summarized here in a working model of V̇O2 max trainability.
Vision Disturbances in Multiple Sclerosis

Abstract Visual disturbances are frequently encountered in multiple sclerosis (MS), and include problems with how affected individuals see the world (afferent visual pathway symptoms) and how their eyes move together (efferent visual pathway disorders). Optic neuritis is the most common afferent visual pathway manifestation of MS, from which visual recovery is often incomplete. Visual field defects caused by lesions in the retrochiasmal or retrogeniculate regions of the afferent visual pathway also occur, albeit less frequently. Efferent visual pathway lesions causing ocular misalignment and nystagmus may lead to diplopia and oscillopsia, respectively. Vision loss has a major impact on perceptions regarding quality of life in MS. Therefore, it is important for clinicians to be able to identify and localize the underlying basis of visual disturbances to provide the best care possible for their patients.
Applying the Health Belief Model and an Integrated Behavioral Model to Promote Breast Tissue Donation Among Asian Americans

ABSTRACT An important part in the effort to prevent, treat, and cure breast cancer is research done with healthy breast tissue. The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Tissue Bank at Indiana University Simon Cancer Center (KTB) encourages women to donate a small amount of healthy breast tissue and then provides that tissue to researchers studying breast cancer. Although KTB has a large donor base, the volume of tissue samples from Asian women is low despite prior marketing efforts to encourage donation among this population. This study builds on prior work promoting breast cancer screenings among Asian women by applying constructs from the Health Belief Model (HBM) and the Integrated Behavioral Model (IBM) to investigate why Asian-American women are less inclined to donate their healthy breast tissue than non-Asian women and how this population may be motivated to donate in the future. A national online survey (N = 1,317) found Asian women had significantly lower perceived severity, some lower perceived benefits, and higher perceived barriers to tissue donation than non-Asian women under HBM and significantly lower injunctive norms supporting breast tissue donation, lower perceived behavioral control, and lower intentions to donate under IBM. This study also compares and discusses similarities and differences among East, Southeast, and South Asian women on these same constructs.
Dark matter annihilation in the halo of the Milky Way

If the dark matter in the Universe is made of weakly self-interacting particles, they may self-annihilate and emit γ-rays. We use high-resolution numerical simulations to estimate directly the annihilation flux from the central regions of the Milky Way and from dark matter substructures in its halo. Although such estimates remain uncertain because of their strong dependence on the structure of the densest regions, our numerical experiments suggest that less direct calculations have overestimated the emission both from the centre and from the halo substructure. We estimate a maximal enhancement of at most a factor of a few with respect to a smooth spherical halo of standard Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW) structure. We discuss detection strategies for the next generation of γ-ray detectors and find that the annihilation flux may be detectable, regardless of uncertainties about the densest regions, for the annihilation cross-sections predicted by currently popular elementary particle models for the dark matter.
Depressive Expression and Anti-Depressive Protection in Adolescence: Stress, Positive Affect, Motivation and Self-Efficacy

The present study aims at identifying predisposing and protective factors for the purpose of showing their respective contribution and interaction for adolescents’ stress disorders and depressive states, and to find key attributes for the identification of pupils at risk in a normal population of adolescents. The study was performed with 211 high-school pupils over a period of 18 months. The results are reported from the pupils participating in 4 consecutive administrations of the instruments (N = 115). The following instruments were used: “Kutcher Adolescent Depression Scale”, “Stress”, “Helplessness”, “Hopelessness”, “Uppsala Sleep inventory”, “Barratt’s Impulsiveness Scale”, “Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale”, “Life Orientation Test”, “General Self-Efficacy”, “Locus of Control”, “Situational Intrinsic Motivational Scale”. The Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale were also used to categorize participants into four affective profiles: “self-fulfilling”, high affective”, “low affective” and “self-destructive”. Linear regression analyses showed that situational depression (hopelessness) was predicted by depressive. Negative affect predicted stress, which in turn predicted general and situational depressiveness. General self-efficacy, positive affect and Identified regulation were found to be protective factors to both general and situational depressiveness. Depressiveness was found to be linked to the “self-destructive” affective personality type. “Negative affect” and distractiveness are suggested as markers for pupils at risk, whereas positive affect, self-efficacy and identified regulation appear to have protecting roles.
Looking at spillover from both sides: an examination of work and home flexibility and permeability

ABSTRACT This study examined how flexibility and permeability in the boundaries surrounding the work and home domains affect the spillover from work to home and home to work. We looked at both flexibility and permeability in each of the two domains using directional and dichotomous measures of both negative and positive spillovers. Multivariate analyses and hierarchical regression showed that for 362 survey respondents, boundary flexibility reduced time- and strain-based spillover from work to home and home to work. Flexibility also was positively related to positive spillover from home to work. Permeability, on the other hand, was positively related to time-based spillover from work to home and from home to work. The results also showed support for the notion of asymmetric permeability, such that the relationships between work boundary permeability and the W→H spillovers were stronger than those between home boundary permeability and the H→W spillovers.
Capsule Commentary on Uittenbroek et al . , Integrated Care for Older Adults Improves Perceived Quality of Care : Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial of Embrace

U ittenbroek and colleagues randomized elderly patients to usual care or multi-disciplinary home-based case management. They found that a multi-disciplinary home-based team improved the quality of care for the frail or complex elderly patients, but not for those considered robust. One interesting finding is that among Dutch citizens 75 years or older, nearly 60% of them were considered robust; 16% were frail and 25% had complex care needs. This mirrors findings in France and England. This generation of elderly is aging well with a substantial portion healthy well into their 90s. However, 40% are frail or have complex care needs, and healthcare systems need to develop plans to deal with this group, particularly as developed countries deal with the baby boomer bulge. One limitation not mentioned by Uittenbroek is that the control group in their study had relatively robust systems of integrated healthcare. The Dutch healthcare system includes comprehensive care for all citizens. It is likely that the impact of integrated care would be greater in a more fragmented healthcare system, such as in the US. Another limitation is the lack of information on other critical outcomes, such as transition to nursing homes. Keeping elderly citizens in their own home and reducing the need to move to higher levels of care could be very important. The Veterans Administration has developed a system of home-based primary care for veterans who are frail and/or have complex care needs, which is remarkably similar to the approach used by Uittenbroek. The VA program has been shown to improve quality of care and to reduce ER and hospitalization costs by about 12%. The impact of delaying transition to nursing homes has yet to be reported. Given how expensive institutional care is, minimal delays in transitioning to institutional care could produce sufficient cost reductions to render these interventions costeffective. Nations and health systems with integrated care should watch these innovative programs closely.