Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A high-fat jelly diet restores bioenergetic balance and extends lifespan in the presence of motor dysfunction and lumbar spinal cord motor neuron loss in TDP-43A315T mutant C57BL6/J mice

ABSTRACT Transgenic transactivation response DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) mice expressing the A315T mutation under control of the murine prion promoter progressively develop motor function deficits and are considered a new model for the study of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS); however, premature sudden death resulting from intestinal obstruction halts disease phenotype progression in 100% of C57BL6/J congenic TDP-43A315T mice. Similar to our recent results in SOD1G93A mice, TDP-43A315T mice fed a standard pellet diet showed increased 5′ adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activation at postnatal day (P)80, indicating elevated energetic stress during disease progression. We therefore investigated the effects of a high-fat jelly diet on bioenergetic status and lifespan in TDP-43A315T mice. In contrast to standard pellet-fed mice, mice fed high-fat jelly showed no difference in AMPK activation up to P120 and decreased phosphorylation of acetly-CoA carboxylase (ACC) at early-stage time points. Exposure to a high-fat jelly diet prevented sudden death and extended survival, allowing development of a motor neuron disease phenotype with significantly decreased body weight from P80 onward that was characterised by deficits in Rotarod abilities and stride length measurements. Development of this phenotype was associated with a significant motor neuron loss as assessed by Nissl staining in the lumbar spinal cord. Our work suggests that a high-fat jelly diet improves the pre-clinical utility of the TDP-43A315T model by extending lifespan and allowing the motor neuron disease phenotype to progress, and indicates the potential benefit of this diet in TDP-43-associated ALS. Summary: A high-fat diet extends lifespan in a TDP-43 mutant mouse model of motor neuron disease and might be a possible treatment strategy for individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Association of DENND1A Gene Polymorphisms with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Meta-Analysis

Objective: The rs2479106 and rs10818854 polymorphisms in the DENND1A gene have been reported to be extensively associated with risk of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). However, the results from these studies remained inconclusive and conflicting. To detect a true association of rs2479106 and rs10818854 polymorphisms with PCOS risk, a single study may be underpowered, particularly for those studies with inadequate sample size. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis of all available studies to explore this association. Methods: All studies published up to March 2015 on the association were identified by searching electronic databases PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure. Studies containing available genotype frequencies of those 2 polymorphisms were chosen, and the odds ratios and associated 95% confidence intervals were calculated using fixed- or random- effects models. Results: A total of 8 studies about s2479106 polymorphism (8185 cases and 28675 controls) and 5 studies about rs10818854 polymorphism (6638 cases and 27443 controls) met the inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis. Overall, significant increase of PCOS risk was found between DENND1A-rs10818854 and PCOS susceptibility. In addition, we also found an increased risk of PCOS in rs2479106 allele model, heterozygote variant genetic model, and dominant genetic model. Conclusion: This meta-analysis suggested that rs2479106 and rs10818854 polymorphisms in the DENND1A gene were associated with increased risk of PCOS. To validate the association between these polymorphisms and PCOS susceptibility, further large and well-designed studies are needed.
Predicting speech overlaps from speech tokens and co-occurring body behaviours in dyadic conversations

This paper deals with speech overlaps in dyadic video record-ed spontaneous conversations. Speech overlaps are quite common in everyday conversations and it is therefore important to study their occurrences in different communicative situations and settings and to model them in applied communicative systems. In the present work, we wanted to investigate the frequency and use of speech overlaps in a multimodally annotated corpus of first encounters. Speech overlaps were automatically tagged and a Bayesian Network learner was trained on the multimodal annotations in order to determine to which extent overlaps can be predicted so they can be dealt with in conversational devices and to investigate the relation between overlaps, speech tokens and co-occurring body behaviours. The annotations comprise shape and functions of head movements, facial expressions and body postures. 23% of the speech tokens and 90% of the spoken contributions of the first encounters are overlapping. The best classification results were obtained training the classifier on multimodal behaviours (speech and co-occurring head movements, facial expressions and body postures) which surround-ed the overlaps. Training the classifier on all speech tokens also gave good results while adding the shape of co-occurring body behaviours to them did not affect the results. Thus, the behaviours of the conversation participants does not change when there is a speech overlap. This could indicate that most of the overlaps in the first encounters are non competitive.
Psychological predictors of injury occurrence: a prospective investigation of professional Swedish soccer players.

CONTEXT Athletes participating in sport are exposed to a high injury risk. Previous research has found a great number of risk factors (both physiological and psychological) that could increase injury risk. One limitation in previous studies is that few have considered the complex interaction between psychological factors in their research design. OBJECTIVE To study whether personality, stress, and coping predicted injury occurrence in an elite soccer population based on a hypothesized model. DESIGN Prospective. PARTICIPANTS 56 (n = 38 male, n = 18 female) Swedish Premiere League soccer players were selected based on convenience sampling. INTERVENTION Participants completed 4 questionnaires including the Swedish Universities Scales of Personality, Life Events Survey for Collegiate Athletes, and Brief COPE during the initial questionnaire administration. Subsequent to the first meeting, participants also completed the Hassle and Uplift Scale5 once per wk for a 13-wk period throughout the competitive season. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES A path analysis was conducted examining the influence of personality traits (ie, trait anxiety), state-level stressors (ie, negative-life-event stress and daily hassles), and coping on injury frequency. RESULTS Results of the path analysis indicated that trait anxiety, negative-life-event stress, and daily hassle were significant predictors of injury among professional soccer players, accounting for 24% of the variance. CONCLUSION The findings highlight the need for athletes, coaches, and medical practitioners to attempt to reduce state-level stressors, especially daily hassles, in minimizing injury risk. Educating and training athletes and coaches in proactive stress-management techniques appears warranted.
Measurement and Prediction of Heat Transfer Losses on the XMv 3 Rotary Engine

This paper describes predictive models and validation experiments used to quantify the in-chamber heat transfer of LiquidPiston’s rotary 70cc SI “XMv3” engine. The XMv3 engine is air cooled, with separate cooling flow paths for the stationary parts and the rotor. The heat transfer rate to the stationary parts was measured by thermal energy balance of that circuit’s cooling air. However, because the rotor’s cooling air mixes internally with the engine’s exhaust gas, a similar procedure was not practical for the rotor circuit. Instead, a CONVERGE CFD model was developed, and used together with GT-POWER to derive boundary conditions to estimate a ratio between rotor and stationary parts heat transfer, thus allowing estimation of rotor and total heat losses. For both cases studied (5000 and 9000 rpm under full load), the rotor’s heat loss was found to be ∼60% that of the stationary parts, and overall heat losses were less than 35% of supplied fuel energy. The significance of this work relates to the following facts: • It represents the first time that heat transfer was quantified for the “X” engine architecture; • Preliminary experimental and modelling results show reasonable correlation • The predictive models developed will inform future engine cooling system optimization work, leading to higher power densities and thermal efficiencies. Results for these two metrics are already market competitive in the 3 horsepower engine size. CITATION: Costa, T. , Nickerson, M. , Littera, D. , Martins, J. et al., "Measurement and Prediction of Heat Transfer Losses on the XMv3 Rotary Engine," SAE Int. J. Engines 9(4):2016, doi:10.4271/2016-32-0033. 2016-32-0033 20168033 Published 11/08/2016 Copyright © 2016 SAE International doi:10.4271/2016-32-0033 saeeng.saejournals. org Downloaded from SAE International by Tiago COSTA, Friday, October 21, 2016
CrDoCo: Pixel-Level Domain Transfer With Cross-Domain Consistency

Unsupervised domain adaptation algorithms aim to transfer the knowledge learned from one domain to another (e.g., synthetic to real images). The adapted representations often do not capture pixel-level domain shifts that are crucial for dense prediction tasks (e.g., semantic segmentation). In this paper, we present a novel pixel-wise adversarial domain adaptation algorithm. By leveraging image-to-image translation methods for data augmentation, our key insight is that while the translated images between domains may differ in styles, their predictions for the task should be consistent. We exploit this property and introduce a cross-domain consistency loss that enforces our adapted model to produce consistent predictions. Through extensive experimental results, we show that our method compares favorably against the state-of-the-art on a wide variety of unsupervised domain adaptation tasks.
Susceptibility of clinical Candida species isolates to antifungal agents by E-test, Southern Iran: A five year study

Background and Objectives The incidence of fungal infections in immunocompromised patients, especially by Candida species, has increased in recent years. This study was designed to identify Candida species and determine antifungal susceptibility patterns of 595 yeast strains isolated from various clinical specimens. Material and Methods Identification of the isolates were determined by the API 20 C AUX kit and antifungal susceptibilities of the species to fluconazole, amphotericin B, ketoconazole, itraconazole, voriconazole, and caspofungin were determined by the agar-based E-test method. Results Candida albicans (48%) was the most frequently isolated species, followed by Candida kruzei (16.1%), Candida glabrata (13.5%), Candida kefyr (7.4%), Candida parapsilosis (4.8%), Candida tropicalis (1.7%) and other species (8.5%). Resistance varies depending on the species and the respective antifungal agents. Comparing the MIC90 for all the strains, the lower MIC90 was observed for caspofungin (0.5 µg/ml). The MIC90 for all Candida species were 64 µg/ml for fluconazole, 0.75 µg/ml for amphotericin B, 4 µg/ml for ketoconazole, 4 µg/ml for itraconazole, and 2 µg/ml for voriconazole. Conclusions Species definition and determination of antifungal susceptibility patterns are advised for the proper management and treatment of patients at risk for systemic candidiasis. Resistance to antifungal agents is an alarming sign for the emerging common nosocomial fungal infections.
GEMS: Galaxy Fitting Catalogs and Testing Parametric Galaxy Fitting Codes: GALFIT and GIM2D

In the context of measuring the structures of intermediate-redshift galaxies with HST ACS surveys, we tune, test, and compare two widely used fitting codes (GALFIT and GIM2D) for fitting single-component Sérsic models to both simulated and real galaxy data. Our study focuses on the GEMS survey with the sensitivity of typical HST survey data, and we include our final catalog of fit results for all 41,495 objects detected in GEMS. Using simulations, we find that fitting accuracy depends sensitively on galaxy profile shape. Exponential disks are well fit and have small measurement errors, whereas fits to de Vaucouleurs profiles show larger uncertainties owing to the large amount of light at large radii. Both codes provide reliable fits with little systematic error for galaxies with effective surface brightnesses brighter than that of the sky; the formal uncertainties returned by these codes significantly underestimate the true uncertainties (as estimated using the simulations). We find that GIM2D suffers significant systematic errors for spheroids with close companions owing to the difficulty of effectively masking out neighboring galaxy light; there appears to be no work-around to this important systematic in GIM2D's current implementation. While this crowding error affects only a small fraction of galaxies in GEMS, it must be accounted for in the analysis of deeper cosmological images or of more crowded fields with GIM2D. In contrast, GALFIT results are robust to the presence of neighbors because it can simultaneously fit the profiles of multiple companions as well as the galaxy of interest. We find GALFIT's robustness to nearby companions and factor of ≳20 faster runtime speed are important advantages over GIM2D for analyzing large HST ACS data sets.
Change of Fate Commitment in Adult Neural Progenitor Cells Subjected to Chronic Inflammation

Neural progenitor cells (NPCs) have regenerative capabilities that are activated during inflammation. We aimed at elucidating how NPCs, with special focus on the spinal cord-derived NPCs (SC-NPCs), are affected by chronic inflammation modeled by experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). NPCs derived from the subventricular zone (SVZ-NPCs) were also included in the study as a reference from a distant inflammatory site. We also investigated the transcriptional and functional difference between the SC-NPCs and SVZ-NPCs during homeostatic conditions. NPCs were isolated and propagated from the SVZ and cervical, thoracic, and caudal regions of the SC from naive rats and rats subjected to EAE. Using Affymetrix microarray analyses, the global transcriptome was measured in the different NPC populations. These analyses were paralleled by NPC differentiation studies. Assessment of basal transcriptional and functional differences between NPC populations in naive rat revealed a higher neurogenic potential in SVZ-NPCs compared with SC-NPCs. Conversely, during EAE, the neurogenicity of the SC-NPCs was increased while their gliogenicity was decreased. We detected an overall increase of inflammation and neurodegeneration-related genes while the developmentally related profile was decreased. Among the decreased functions, we isolated a gliogenic signature that was confirmed by differentiation assays where the SC-NPCs from EAE generated fewer oligodendrocytes and astrocytes but more neurons than control cultures. In summary, NPCs displayed differences in fate-regulating genes and differentiation potential depending on their rostrocaudal origin. Inflammatory conditions downregulated gliogenicity in SC-NPCs, promoting neurogenicity. These findings give important insight into neuroinflammatory diseases and the mechanisms influencing NPC plasticity during these conditions.
THE EFFECT OF MICROSTRUCTURE AND PORE MORPHOLOGY ON MECHANICAL AND DYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF FERROUS P/M MATERIALS

The objective of this study was to quantify and understand the combined role of microstructure and pore characteristics on the transverse rupture strength (TRS), tensile properties and rotating bend fatigue response of conventional and ANCORDENSE processed FLN2-4405 premixes. To this end, the premixes were made with samples using fine (4μm) and coarse (50μm) nickel powder to promote differences in pore size and diffusion characteristics. Compacts were sintered in synthetic DA (75 v/o H2 / 25 v/o N2) at 2050°F (1120°C) or 2300°F (1260°C) to densities in the range of 6.8 g/cm3 7.2 g/cm3. Pore size and spacing, cumulative pore size and number of pores per unit area were determined by stereological analysis, and the crack path was monitored by means of optical microscopy. The static and dynamic properties of the materials made from the two premixes are interpreted in terms of the attendant microstructures and pore characteristics, as dictated by the premix type, sintering temperature and sintered density.
Integrated LFSR Reseeding, Test-Access Optimization, and Test Scheduling for Core-Based System-on-Chip

We present a system-on-chip (SOC) testing approach that integrates test data compression, test-access mechanism/test wrapper design, and test scheduling. An efficient linear feedback shift register (LFSR) reseeding technique is used as the compression engine. All cores on the SOC share a single on-chip LFSR. At any clock cycle, one or more cores can simultaneously receive data from the LFSR. Seeds for the LFSR are computed from the care bits for the test cubes for multiple cores. We also propose a scan-slice-based scheduling algorithm that attempts to maximize the number of care bits the LFSR can produce at each clock cycle, such that the overall test application time (TAT) is minimized. This scheduling method is static in nature because it requires predetermined test cubes. We also present a dynamic scheduling method that performs test compression during test generation. Experimental results for International Symposium on Circuits and Systems and International Workshop on Logic and Synthesis benchmark circuits, as well as industrial circuits, show that optimum TAT, which is determined by the largest core, can often be achieved by the static method. If structural information is available for the cores, the dynamic method is more flexible, particularly since the performance of the static compression method depends on the nature of the predetermined test cubes.
Chromoendoscopy with a Standard-Resolution Colonoscope for Evaluation of Rectal Aberrant Crypt Foci

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most common cause of death worldwide. According to the theory by Vogelstein, colorectal carcinogenesis involves a series of successive changes in the normal colonic mucosa, starting with excessive proliferation and focal disorders of intestinal crypts, followed by adenoma and its subsequent malignant transformation. The first identifiable changes in CRC carcinogenesis are aberrant crypt foci (ACF). ACF are invisible during routine colonoscopy yet are well identifiable in chromoendoscopy using methylene blue or indigo carmine. High-resolution colonoscopes are used for assessment of ACF. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the usefulness of standard-resolution colonoscopy for identification of rectal ACF. The following parameters were evaluated: duration of chromoendoscopy of a given rectal segment, type of ACF, sensitivity and specificity of endoscopy combined with histopathological evaluation. The mean duration of colonoscopy and chromoendoscopy was 26.8 min. In the study population, typical ACF were found in 73 patients (p = 0.489), hyperplastic ACF in 49 (p = 0.328), and dysplastic ACF in 16 patients (p = 0.107). Mixed ACF were observed in 11 individuals (p = 0.073). The sensitivity of the method was found to be 0.96 whereas its specificity 0.99. Identification of rectal ACF using standard-resolution colonoscopy combined with rectal mucosa staining with 0.25% methylene blue is characterised by high sensitivity and specificity.
Cobots: Robots for Collaboration With Human Operators

A “cobot” is a robotic device which manipulates objects in collaboration with a human operator. A cobot provides assistance to the human operator by setting up virtual surfaces which can be used to constrain and guide motion. While conventional servo-actuated haptic displays may be used in this way also, an important distinction is that, while haptic displays are active devices which can supply energy to the human operator, cobots are intrinsically passive. This is because cobots do not use servos to implement constraint, but instead employ “steerable” nonholonomic joints. As a consequence of their passivity, cobots are potentially well-suited to safety-critical tasks (e.g. surgery) or those which involve large interaction forces (e.g. automobile assembly). This paper focuses on the simplest possible cobot, which has only a single joint (a steerable wheel). Two control modes of this “unicycle cobot”, termed “virtual caster” and “virtual wall” control, are developed in detail. Experimental results are also presented.
The Impact of Improved Nutrition on Labor Productivity and Human Resource Development: An Economic Perspective

laolating the effects of improved nutritiop on labor productivity and on be&ltb, education and-other-human capital investments is proving to be very difficult. A major problem has been that statistical analysis, both of ·experimental and survey data, consists of correlations between variables which econ.c=ic analysis suggests are influenced by household decisions. Exa1D.ples ixlw:le correlations between measured labor productivity and current nutrient intakes. Since such associations may result from an income-calorie -COl:l.SlllliPtion relationship, i::ausality cannot be inferred. With sufficiently . rkh ecan®lic data it is. sometimes possible to infer causality using inst~ental variables techniques. A very small number of studies have . atteq>ted to this, with promising results • . Uis paper reviews the methodologies which have been used in the empirical . literature, explains why the conclusions drawn from these methodologies don't -elvays 11JS.ke sense when the economic behavior of individuals and households are 'CQQsidered, and points out corrective 111easures traditionally Uf? ed by ,e:onoais_ts that have only begun to be used to analyze nutrition-productivity­ health interactions. Jolm Strauss, ·•The Impact of Improved Nutrition on Labor Productivity and Human Resource Development: AnEconomic Perspective" The Impact of Improved Nutrition on Labor Productivity and Human Resource Development: An Economic Perspective*
Fine-Scale Spatiotemporal Analysis of Population Vulnerability to Earthquake Disasters: Theoretical Models and Application to Cities

China is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes and has suffered a high number of earthquake casualties. Therefore, it is imperative to develop effective methods for assessing population vulnerability in order to provide practical and useful information for pre-disaster preparedness and emergency management. However, there are many problems with existing approaches to assessing population vulnerability in China. This study developed a method combining dasymetric population mapping with population vulnerability indexing to estimate populations’ vulnerability to earthquakes at block level in daytime and nighttime. The method aims to provide high spatial-temporal resolution information on vulnerable populations and population vulnerability. In a case study of Haidian District in Beijing, we combined our population spatialization model with a population vulnerability assessment model and sensitivity analysis to efficiently identify areas with high population vulnerability, the location of vulnerable populations, and key sensitive factors influencing population vulnerability during daytime and nighttime. This information can be used to identify where and which aspects of pre-disaster mitigation, preparedness, and emergency response activities should be prioritized. It is expected that these methods will be used to analyze vulnerable populations and population vulnerability in other areas of China.