Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Excess sodium is deleterious on endothelial and glycocalyx barrier function: A microfluidic study

BACKGROUND Hypernatremia is a common problem affecting critically ill patients, whether due to underlying pathology or the subsequent result of hypertonic fluid resuscitation. Numerous studies have been published, suggesting that hypernatremia may adversely affect the vascular endothelial glycocalyx. Our study aimed to evaluate if high sodium concentration would impair the endothelial and glycocalyx barrier function and if stress conditions that simulate the shock microenvironment would exacerbate any observed adverse effects of hypernatremia. METHODS Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were cultured in microfluidic channels subjected to flow conditions overnight to stimulate glycocalyx growth. Cells were then subjected to sodium (Na+) concentrations of either 150 mEq/L or 160 mEq/L, with Hepes solution applied to media to maintain physiologic pH. Subsets of HUVEC were also exposed to hypoxia/reoxygenation and epinephrine (HR + Epi) to simulate shock insult, then followed by Na+ treatment. Perfusate was then collected 60 minutes and 120 minutes following treatments. Relevant biomarkers were then evaluated and HUVEC underwent fluorescent staining followed by microscopy. RESULTS Glycocalyx degradation as indexed by hyaluronic acid and syndecan-1 was elevated in all subgroups, particularly those subjected to HR + Epi with Na+ 160 mEq/L. Thickness of the glycocalyx as evaluated by fluorescent microscopy was reduced to half of baseline with Na+ 160 mEq/L and to one third of baseline with additional insult of HR + Epi. Endothelial activation/injury as indexed by soluble thrombomodulin was elevated in all subgroups. A profibrinolytic coagulopathy phenotype was demonstrated in all subgroups with increased tissue plasminogen activator levels and decreased plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 levels. CONCLUSION Our data suggest that hypernatremia results in degradation of the endothelial glycocalyx with further exacerbation by shock conditions. A clinical study using clinical measurements of the endothelial glycocalyx in critically ill or injured patients with acquired hypernatremia would be warranted.
Detection of Matrix Metalloproteinase Activity by Bioluminescence via Intein-Mediated Biotinylation of Luciferase

We report bioluminescence analysis of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activity in biological substances using a surface-bound luciferase probe. Intein-fused luciferase protein enables site-specific biotinylation of luciferase in the presence of N-terminus cysteine-biotin via intein-mediated splicing process, resulting in a strong association with high bioluminescence signal onto a NeutrAvidin-coated surface. When the peptide substrate for MMP-7 was inserted into a region between luciferase and intein, the biotinylated probe detected MMP-7 activity by cleaving the peptide, and surface-induced bioluminescence signal was strongly reduced in the MMP-secreted media or mouse tissue extracts, compared with that in MMP-deficient control set. Our approach is anticipated to be useful for generating biotinylated proteins and for their applications in diagnosing MMP activity in human diseases.
Ye shall Know them by their Verbs: How Gender Express their Opinion in Twitter

It is commonly said that adjectives are a kind of word that people use for emitting their opinion. This is because this lexical category designates the qualities of an entity. However, there are diﬀerent ways to express an explicit opinion besides the use of adjectives. People also can choose verbs, nouns, adverbs and even groups of words that have complex meaning, like idioms or other multi-word expressions. The main purpose of this work was to discover which gender prefers which lexical category to express their opinion. In this paper, we show how sentiment analysis can help to identify a gender. A corpus of tweets was compiled for this research. The tweets were classiﬁed into ‘opinions’ and ‘no opinions’. Within the corpus, we looked at which grammatical category of word was bearing the holder’s subjectivity. We found that women used 27.98% verbs while men 16.91%, speciﬁcally psych verbs, in order to express their assessment.
Skeletal Muscle Quantitative Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy as an Outcome Measure for Clinical Trials

Recent years have seen tremendous progress towards therapy of many previously incurable neuromuscular diseases. This new context has acted as a driving force for the development of novel non-invasive outcome measures. These can be organized in three main categories: functional tools, fluid biomarkers and imagery. In the latest category, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (NMRI) offers a considerable range of possibilities for the characterization of skeletal muscle composition, function and metabolism. Nowadays, three NMR outcome measures are frequently integrated in clinical research protocols. They are: 1/ the muscle cross sectional area or volume, 2/ the percentage of intramuscular fat and 3/ the muscle water T2, which quantity muscle trophicity, chronic fatty degenerative changes and oedema (or more broadly, “disease activity”), respectively. A fourth biomarker, the contractile tissue volume is easily derived from the first two ones. The fat fraction maps most often acquired with Dixon sequences have proven their capability to detect small changes in muscle composition and have repeatedly shown superior sensitivity over standard functional evaluation. This outcome measure will more than likely be the first of the series to be validated as an endpoint by regulatory agencies. The versatility of contrast generated by NMR has opened many additional possibilities for characterization of the skeletal muscle and will result in the proposal of more NMR biomarkers. Ultra-short TE (UTE) sequences, late gadolinium enhancement and NMR elastography are being investigated as candidates to evaluate skeletal muscle interstitial fibrosis. Many options exist to measure muscle perfusion and oxygenation by NMR. Diffusion NMR as well as texture analysis algorithms could generate complementary information on muscle organization at microscopic and mesoscopic scales, respectively. 31P NMR spectroscopy is the reference technique to assess muscle energetics non-invasively during and after exercise. In dystrophic muscle, 31P NMR spectrum at rest is profoundly perturbed, and several resonances inform on cell membrane integrity. Considerable efforts are being directed towards acceleration of image acquisitions using a variety of approaches, from the extraction of fat content and water T2 maps from one single acquisition to partial matrices acquisition schemes. Spectacular decreases in examination time are expected in the near future. They will reinforce the attractiveness of NMR outcome measures and will further facilitate their integration in clinical research trials.
Effects of ethanol on social avoidance induced by chronic social defeat stress in mice

Abstract In rodents, chronic social defeat stress promotes deficits in social interest and social interaction. We further explored these antisocial effects by comparing the consequences of two different defeat stress protocols (episodic vs. continuous stress) in a social investigation test. We expected that continuous, but not episodic, stress would induce social deficits in this model. Furthermore, we tested whether a potentially anxiolytic dose of ethanol reverses social deficits induced by defeat stress. Male Swiss mice were exposed to a 10-day social defeat protocol, using daily confrontations with an aggressive resident mouse. Episodic stress consisted of brief defeat episodes, after which the defeated mouse was returned to its home cage, until the next defeat 24 h later (n = 7–11/group). For continuous stress, similar defeat episodes were followed by cohabitation with the aggressive resident for 24 h, separated by a perforated divider, until the following defeat (n = 8–14/group). Eight days after stress termination, defeated and control mice were assessed in a social investigation test, after treatment with ethanol (1.0 g/kg, i.p.) or 0.9% saline. Considering the time spent investigating a social target, mice exposed to episodic or continuous social stress showed less social investigation than controls (p < .05). Deficits in social interest were not reversed by acute ethanol treatment. However, ethanol reduced time spent in social interaction in one control group (p < .05). Locomotor activity was not affected by social stress or ethanol. Thus, a history of social defeat stress, whether episodic or continuous, promotes deficits in social investigation that were not reversed by acute treatment with ethanol.
On the Spectrum- and Energy-Efficiency Tradeoff in Cognitive Radio Networks

Increasing spectrum-efficiency (SE) as well as energy-efficiency (EE) has attracted much attention recently due to the fact that the future wireless networks need to address the issues of high throughput and low power consumption. However, the objective for optimizing SE sometimes conflicts with the one for optimizing EE, and the methods for improving EE may result in a decrease in SE. In this paper, we consider the SE-EE tradeoff for cognitive radio (CR) networks with co-operative spectrum sensing (CSS). First, we formulate the general problem, and analyze two special cases: the SE maximization problem and the EE maximization problem. The SE and EE are optimized separately via joint optimization of sensing duration and final decision threshold in CSS. Based on the solutions of the two special cases, the general problem for SE-EE tradeoff is solved. Then, we consider the tradeoff of SE and EE from two perspectives: (1) maximizing EE while satisfying SE requirement; and (2) maximizing SE while satisfying EE requirement. Efficient algorithms for sensing strategy design are proposed for each scenario. Finally, we demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed sensing strategies and illustrate the tradeoff between SE and EE via simulations.
Adapted Sojourn Models to Estimate Activity Intensity in Youth: A Suite of Tools

The challenges of using physical activity data from accelerometers have been compounded with the recent focus on wrist-worn monitors and raw acceleration (as opposed to activity counts). Purpose This study developed and systematically evaluated a suite of new accelerometer processing models for youth. Methods Four adaptations of the Sojourn method were developed using data from a laboratory-based experiment in which youth (N = 54) performed structured activity routines. The adaptations corresponded to all possible pairings of hip or wrist attachment with activity counts (AC) or raw acceleration (RA), and they estimated time in sedentary behavior, light activity, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Criterion validity was assessed using direct observation in an independent free-living sample (N = 27). Monitors were worn on both wrists to evaluate the effect of handedness on accuracy, and status quo methods for each configuration were also evaluated as benchmarks for comparison. Tests of classification accuracy (percent accuracy, &kgr; statistics, and sensitivity and specificity) were used to summarize utility. Results In the development sample, percent accuracy ranged from 68.5% (wrist-worn AC, &kgr; = 0.42) to 71.6% (hip-worn RA, &kgr; = 0.50). Accuracy was lower in the free-living evaluation, with values ranging from 49.3% (hip-worn RA, &kgr; = 0.25) to 56.7% (hip-worn AC, &kgr; = 0.36). Collectively, the suite predicted moderate-to-vigorous physical activity well, with the models averaging 96.5% sensitivity and 67.5% specificity. However, in terms of overall accuracy, the new models performed similarly to the status quo methods. There were no meaningful differences in performance at either wrist. Conclusions The new models offered minimal improvements over existing methods, but a major advantage is that further tuning of the models is possible with continued research.
Analgesic efficacy of dexmedetomidine used for epidural anesthesia on labor analgesia

Objective: Toinvestigatetheanalgesic effect of dexmedetomidine in epidural anesthesia for labor analgesia. Methods: 150 nulliparous patients were randomly divided into two groups with 75 cases each: ropivacaine group (R) and ropivacaine+dexmedetomidinegroup (R+Y). R group received analgesia with 0.1% ropivacaine and R+Y group received 0.1% ropivacaine and 0.5 μg/ml dexmedetomidine. The background infusion 10 ml/h, bonus 5 ml, lockout time 20 min. Vital signs, VAS of pain, progress of labor, neonatal Apgar score, postpartum haemorrhage amount, side effects and serum level of IL-6 and TNF-α were recorded. Results: Heart rate and mean arterial pressure of two groups were decreased after analgesia, but still in the normal range. The total stage of labor of R group was (608.2 ± 98.4 min) longer than the R+Y group. Two groups of total labor have a significant difference, especially in the first and second labor. The VAS score of the two groups all decreased after analgesia, score of R+Y group was lower than the other. There were no significant differences in the side effects, postpartum haemorrhage amount and neonatal Apgar score between the two groups. The serum level of IL-6 and TNF-α in R+Y group were lower than the R group in childbirth and 24 h after it. Conclusion: Dexmedetomidine used for epidural anesthesia on labor analgesia has high effect and safety. It can promote the progress of labor without severe side effects. Combination of ropivacaine +dexmedetomidine is better medicine mode for labor analgesia.
Cardiovascular adjustments during anticipated postural changes

It is well‐documented that feedforward cardiovascular responses occur at the onset of exercise, but it is unclear if such responses are associated with other types of movements. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that feedforward cardiovascular responses occur when a passive (imposed) 60° head‐up tilt is anticipated, such that changes in heart rate and carotid artery blood flow (CBF) commence prior to the onset of the rotation. A light cue preceded head‐up tilts by 10 sec, and heart rate and CBF were determined for 5‐sec time periods prior to and during tilts. Even after these stimuli were provided for thousands of trials spanning several months, no systematic changes in CBF and heart rate occurred prior to tilts, and variability in cardiovascular adjustments during tilt remained substantial over time. We also hypothesized that substitution of 20° for 60° tilts in a subset of trials would result in exaggerated cardiovascular responses (as animals expected 60° tilts), which were not observed. These data suggest that cardiovascular adjustments during passive changes in posture are mainly elicited by feedback mechanisms, and that anticipation of passive head‐up tilts does not diminish the likelihood that a decrease in carotid blood flow will occur during the movements.
The Effect of Geographical Scale of Sampling on DNA Barcoding

Abstract Eight years after DNA barcoding was formally proposed on a large scale, CO1 sequences are rapidly accumulating from around the world. While studies to date have mostly targeted local or regional species assemblages, the recent launch of the global iBOL project (International Barcode of Life), highlights the need to understand the effects of geographical scale on Barcoding's goals. Sampling has been central in the debate on DNA Barcoding, but the effect of the geographical scale of sampling has not yet been thoroughly and explicitly tested with empirical data. Here, we present a CO1 data set of aquatic predaceous diving beetles of the tribe Agabini, sampled throughout Europe, and use it to investigate how the geographic scale of sampling affects 1) the estimated intraspecific variation of species, 2) the genetic distance to the most closely related heterospecific, 3) the ratio of intraspecific and interspecific variation, 4) the frequency of taxonomically recognized species found to be monophyletic, and 5) query identification performance based on 6 different species assignment methods. Intraspecific variation was significantly correlated with the geographical scale of sampling (R-square = 0.7), and more than half of the species with 10 or more sampled individuals (N = 29) showed higher intraspecific variation than 1% sequence divergence. In contrast, the distance to the closest heterospecific showed a significant decrease with increasing geographical scale of sampling. The average genetic distance dropped from > 7% for samples within 1 km, to < 3.5% for samples up to > 6000 km apart. Over a third of the species were not monophyletic, and the proportion increased through locally, nationally, regionally, and continentally restricted subsets of the data. The success of identifying queries decreased with increasing spatial scale of sampling; liberal methods declined from 100% to around 90%, whereas strict methods dropped to below 50% at continental scales. The proportion of query identifications considered uncertain (more than one species < 1% distance from query) escalated from zero at local, to 50% at continental scale. Finally, by resampling the most widely sampled species we show that even if samples are collected to maximize the geographical coverage, up to 70 individuals are required to sample 95% of intraspecific variation. The results show that the geographical scale of sampling has a critical impact on the global application of DNA barcoding. Scale-effects result from the relative importance of different processes determining the composition of regional species assemblages (dispersal and ecological assembly) and global clades (demography, speciation, and extinction). The incorporation of geographical information, where available, will be required to obtain identification rates at global scales equivalent to those in regional barcoding studies. Our result hence provides an impetus for both smarter barcoding tools and sprouting national barcoding initiatives—smaller geographical scales deliver higher accuracy.
Differences in the circuitry-based association of copy numbers and gene expression between the hippocampi of patients with schizophrenia and the hippocampi of patients with bipolar disorder.

CONTEXT GAD67 regulation involves a network of genes implicated in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. We have studied the copy number intensities of these genes in specific hippocampal subregions to clarify whether abnormalities of genomic integrity covary with gene expression in a circuitry-based manner. OBJECTIVE To compare the copy number intensities of genes associated with GAD67 regulation in the stratum oriens of sectors CA3/2 and CA1 in patients with schizophrenia, patients with bipolar disorder, and healthy controls. DESIGN Samples of sectors CA3/2 and CA1 were obtained from patients with schizophrenia, patients with bipolar disorder, and healthy controls. Genomic integrity was analyzed using microarrays, and the copy number intensities identified were correlated with the gene expression profile from a subset of these cases previously reported. SETTING Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center at McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts. PATIENTS A total of 15 patients with schizophrenia, 15 patients with bipolar disorder, and 15 healthy controls. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The copy number intensities for 28 target genes were individually examined using single-nucleotide polymorphism microarrays and correlated with homologous messenger RNA (mRNA) fold changes. RESULTS The copy number intensities examined using both microarrays and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction for the GAD67 gene were significantly decreased in sector CA3/2 of patients with schizophrenia and patients with bipolar disorder. Other genes associated with GAD67 regulation also showed changes in copy number intensities, and these changes were similar in magnitude and direction to those previously reported for mRNA fold changes in sector CA3/2 but not sector CA1. Moreover, the copy number intensities and mRNA fold changes were significantly correlated for both patients with schizophrenia (r=0.649; P=.0003) and patients with bipolar disorder (r=0.772; P=.0002) in sector CA3/2 but not in sector CA1. CONCLUSION Insertions and deletions of genomic DNA in γ-aminobutyric acid cells at a key locus of the hippocampal circuit are reflected in transcriptional changes in GAD67 regulation that are circuitry-based and diagnosis-specific.
Recent life stress exposure is associated with poorer long-term memory, working memory, and self-reported memory

Abstract Although substantial research has examined the effects of stress on cognition, much of this research has focused on acute stress (e.g. manipulated in the laboratory) or chronic stress (e.g. persistent interpersonal or financial difficulties). In contrast, the effects of recent life stress on cognition have been relatively understudied. To address this issue, we examined how recent life stress is associated with long-term, working memory, and self-reported memory in a sample of 142 healthy young adults who were assessed at two time points over a two-week period. Recent life stress was measured using the newly-developed Stress and Adversity Inventory for Daily Stress (Daily STRAIN), which assesses the frequency of relatively common stressful life events and difficulties over the preceding two weeks. To assess memory performance, participants completed both long-term and working memory tasks. Participants also provided self-reports of memory problems. As hypothesized, greater recent life stress exposure was associated with worse performance on measures of long-term and working memory, as well as more self-reported memory problems. These associations were largely robust while controlling for possible confounds, including participants’ age, sex, and negative affect. The findings indicate that recent life stress exposure is broadly associated with worse memory. Future studies should thus consider assessing recent life stress as a potential predictor, moderator, or covariate of memory performance.
A method to detect Internet of Things botnets

The main security problems, typical for the Internet of Things (IoT), as well as the purpose of gaining unauthorized access to the IoT, are considered in this paper. Common characteristics of the most widespread botnets are provided. A method to detect compromised IoT devices included into a botnet is proposed. The method is based on a model of logistic regression. The article describes a developed model of logistic regression which allows to estimate the probability that a device initiating a connection is running a bot. A list of network protocols, used to gain unauthorized access to a device and to receive instructions from common and control (C&C) server, is provided too.