Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Dynamic Dark Information Energy Consistent with Planck Data

The 2013 cosmology results from the European Space Agency Planck spacecraft provide new limits to the dark energy equation of state parameter. Here we show that Holographic Dark Information Energy (HDIE), a dynamic dark energy model, achieves an optimal fit to the published datasets where Planck data is combined with other astrophysical measurements. HDIE uses Landauer’s principle to account for dark energy by the energy equivalent of information, or entropy, of stellar heated gas and dust. Combining Landauer’s principle with the Holographic principle yields an equation of state parameter determined solely by star formation history, effectively solving the “cosmic coincidence problem”. While HDIE mimics a cosmological constant at low red-shifts, z < 1, the small difference from a cosmological constant expected at higher red-shifts will only be resolved by the next generation of dark energy instrumentation. The HDIE model is shown to provide a viable alternative to the main cosmological constant/vacuum energy and scalar field/quintessence explanations.
Involvement of Src‐suppressed C kinase substrate in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis: A link between release of astrocyte proinflammatory factor and oligodendrocyte apoptosis

Src‐suppressed C kinase substrate (SSeCKS) is involved in inflammation in the central nervous system (CNS), and plays a role in control of cell signaling and cytoskeletal arrangement. However, the expression and function of SSeCKS and its function in multiple sclerosis (MS) and its common animal model, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) remained to be elucidated. In the present study, we first reported that SSeCKS was remarkably increased in astrocytes of EAE rats in vivo. TNF‐α and NO were significantly induced in astrocytes stimulated with LPS/IFN‐γ in vitro, which was blocked in astrocytes transfected with SSeCKS siRNA. These results indicated that SSeCKS played a role in the production of TNF‐α and NO in astrocytes with inflammatory stimulation. As excessive release of TNF‐α and NO were major mediators in autoimmune diseases and correlated with oligodendrocyte cell death, we further investigated whether SSeCKS participated in oligodendrocyte apoptosis. Conditioned media (CM) from astrocytes treated with LPS/IFN‐γ decreased oligodendrocyte cell viability, while siRNA targeted to SSeCKS in astrocytes inhibited oligodendrocyte cell death. The results from antibody neutralization and NO inhibition suggested that the oligodendrocyte apoptosis may be due to the production of astrocyte‐derived proinflammatory factors (TNF‐α and NO). These findings revealed that there was a pathogenic interaction between SSeCKS expression in astrocytes and oligodendrocyte apoptosis. Understanding the mechanism of SSeCKS in the pathogenesis of EAE may contribute to the development of new therapeutic strategies against EAE and MS. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Physical activity and its correlates in children and adolescents post‐liver transplant

The health benefits of PA are well established for healthy and chronically ill children. This study objectively measures physical fitness and PA levels in children PLT and explores potential correlates and perceived barriers impacting their PA. A total of 23 children (16 females, mean 14.01 ± 2.49 yrs) >1 yr PLT were assessed for peak oxygen consumption (VO2peak), muscle strength, endurance, and flexibility. MVPA and steps/day were determined with accelerometry. Additionally, SE, perceived fatigue, and barriers and benefits of PA were examined. VO2peak (mean 33. 2 ± 7.61 mL/kg/min; 77.0 ± 15.6% predicted) and PA (average 6841 ± 2299 steps/day) were below healthy norms. MVPA (31.6 ± 16.1 min/day) was lower than national guidelines. Six participants (30%) attained criterion standards for abdominal strength and one participant (5%) for push‐ups. Fatigue and SE were lower than reported levels in healthy children. A commonly perceived barrier to PA was “I am tired. ” A positive correlation was shown between SE and MVPA (r = 0.57, p = 0.007), SE and fatigue (r = 0.54, p = 0.01), and PELD score and fatigue (r = 0.66, p = 0.007). Children PLT demonstrate below normal levels of PA and aerobic capacity. SE is a modifiable correlate of their PA. Further investigation of the impact of PA correlates can guide the development of future innovative PA intervention strategies in children PLT.
Dynamics of a structured neuron population

We study the dynamics of assemblies of interacting neurons. For large fully connected networks, the dynamics of the system can be described by a partial differential equation reminiscent of age-structure models used in mathematical ecology, where the ‘age’ of a neuron represents the time elapsed since its last discharge. The nonlinearity arises from the connectivity J of the network. We prove some mathematical properties of the model that are directly related to qualitative properties. On the one hand, we prove that it is well-posed and that it admits stationary states which, depending upon the connectivity, can be unique or not. On the other hand, we study the long time behaviour of solutions; both for small and large J, we prove the relaxation to the steady state describing asynchronous firing of the neurons. In the middle range, numerical experiments show that periodic solutions appear expressing re-synchronization of the network and asynchronous firing.
Functional Abilities in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment

Background: A classification scheme and general set of criteria for diagnosing mild cognitive impairment (MCI) were recently proposed by a multidisciplinary group of experts who met at an international symposium on MCI. One of the proposed criteria included preserved basic activities of daily living and minimal impairment in complex instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). Objective: To investigate whether older adults with MCI classified according to the subtypes identified by the Working Group (i.e. amnestic, single non-memory domain, and multiple domain with or without a memory component) differed from cognitively intact older adults on a variety of measures indexing IADLs and to examine how well measures of IADL predict concurrent MCI status. Methods: Two hundred and fifty community-dwelling older adults, ranging in age from 66 to 92, completed self-report measures of IADLs (Lawton and Brody IADL Scale, Scales of Independent Behaviour-Revised – SIB-R) and a measure of everyday problem solving indexing IADLs (Everyday Problems Test – EPT). Ratings of participants’ IADL functioning were also obtained from informants (e.g. spouse, adult child and friend). Results: Older adults with multiple-domain MCI demonstrated poorer IADL functioning than older adults with no cognitive impairment on the EPT and the SIB-R (both self- and informant-report versions). The multiple-domain MCI participants also demonstrated poorer IADLs than MCI participants with impairments in a single cognitive domain on the self-reported SIB-R and EPT. The single-domain MCI groups demonstrated poorer IADLs than older adults without cognitive impairment on the informant-reported SIB-R and EPT. No significant group differences were found on the Lawton and Brody IADL Scale. Using the EPT and SIB-R as predictors in a multinomial regression analysis, MCI group status was reliably predicted, but the classification rate was poor. Conclusion: Individuals with MCI demonstrated poorer IADL functioning compared to cognitively intact older adults. However, the changes in IADL functioning observed in MCI may be too subtle to be detected by certain measures, such as the Lawton and Brody IADL Scale.
Improved SVRG for Non-Strongly-Convex or Sum-of-Non-Convex Objectives

Many classical algorithms are found until several years later to outlive the confines in which they were conceived, and continue to be relevant in unforeseen settings. In this paper, we show that SVRG is one such method: being originally designed for strongly convex objectives, it is also very robust in non-strongly convex or sum-of-non-convex settings. More precisely, we provide new analysis to improve the state-of-the-art running times in both settings by either applying SVRG or its novel variant. Since non-strongly convex objectives include important examples such as Lasso or logistic regression, and sum-of-non-convex objectives include famous examples such as stochastic PCA and is even believed to be related to training deep neural nets, our results also imply better performances in these applications.
Exercise training in adults with CKD: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND Whether exercise can affect health outcomes in people with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and what the optimal exercise strategies are for patients with CKD remain uncertain. STUDY DESIGN Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. SETTING & POPULATION Adults with CKD stages 2-5, dialysis therapy, or a kidney transplant. SELECTION CRITERIA FOR STUDIES Trials evaluating regular exercise training outcomes identified by searches in Cochrane CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science, BIOSIS, PEDro, AMED, AgeLine, PsycINFO, and KoreaMed, without language restriction. INTERVENTION Regular exercise training for at least 8 weeks. OUTCOMES Vary by study but could include aerobic capacity, muscular functioning, cardiovascular function, walking capacity, and health-related quality of life. Treatment effects were summarized as standardized difference with 95% CIs using random-effects meta-analysis. RESULTS 41 trials (928 participants) comparing exercise training with sham exercise or no exercise were included; overall, improved aerobic capacity, muscular functioning, cardiovascular function, walking capacity, and health-related quality of life were associated with various exercise interventions, although the preponderance of data were for dialysis patients and used aerobic exercise programs. LIMITATIONS Unclear or high risk of bias in 32% of the trials, few trial data concerning resistance training, and limited data for several important outcomes. CONCLUSIONS Regular exercise training generally is associated with improved health outcomes in individuals with CKD. Correctly designed exercise rehabilitation may be an effective part of care for adults with CKD. Future studies should examine longer term outcomes and strategies to translate exercise done in a supervised setting to the home setting for broader applicability.
Comparative analysis of mononuclear cells isolated from mucosal lymphoid follicles of the human ileum and colon

Studies of human mucosal lymphoid follicles are rare and have been limited to children's Peyer's patches, which are visible at endoscopy. We investigated lymphoid follicles in ileum biopsies of 87 patients and surgical colon specimens from 66 cancer patients, and examined phenotype and function of isolated follicular immune cells. Two (0–10) and 12 (0–117) follicles per patient were found in ileum and colon samples respectively (P < 0·001). The number of lymphoid follicles mononuclear cells (LFMC) that could be isolated per patient was higher from colon compared with ileum specimens [725 000 (0–23 Mio) versus 100 000 (0–1·3 Mio), P < 0·001]. T cells were predominant in both LFMC and lamina propria mononuclear cells (LPMC), but B cells were more and plasma cells less frequent in LFMC. T cells from mucosal follicles were more frequently CD4‐positive and CD62L‐positive, but less frequently CD8‐positive, CD103‐positive and CD69‐positive than lamina propria T cells. LFMC from ileum compared with colon showed no differences in mononuclear cell composition. Anti‐CD3/CD28 stimulation induced similar proliferation of LFMC and LPMC from ileum and colon, as well as secretion of high levels of interferon‐γ, tumour necrosis factor‐α and interleukin (IL)‐2, but lower levels of IL‐4, IL‐6 and IL‐10. LFMC from colon secreted more IL‐2 than those from ileum. Our study shows that mucosal lymphoid follicles can be identified clearly in adult human colon and yield viable immune cells sufficient for phenotypical and functional analysis. The cellular composition of LFMC from ileum and colon is similar, and both secrete predominantly T helper type 1 cytokines.
The Gut Microbiota of Wild Mice

The gut microbiota profoundly affects the biology of its host. The composition of the microbiota is dynamic and is affected by both host genetic and many environmental effects. The gut microbiota of laboratory mice has been studied extensively, which has uncovered many of the effects that the microbiota can have. This work has also shown that the environments of different research institutions can affect the mouse microbiota. There has been relatively limited study of the microbiota of wild mice, but this has shown that it typically differs from that of laboratory mice (and that maintaining wild caught mice in the laboratory can quite quickly alter the microbiota). There is also inter-individual variation in the microbiota of wild mice, with this principally explained by geographical location. In this study we have characterised the gut (both the caecum and rectum) microbiota of wild caught Mus musculus domesticus at three UK sites and have investigated how the microbiota varies depending on host location and host characteristics. We find that the microbiota of these mice are generally consistent with those described from other wild mice. The rectal and caecal microbiotas of individual mice are generally more similar to each other, than they are to the microbiota of other individuals. We found significant differences in the diversity of the microbiotas among mice from different sample sites. There were significant correlations of microbiota diversity and body weight, a measure of age, body-mass index, serum concentration of leptin, and virus, nematode and mite infection.
The initial shear field in models with primordial local non-Gaussianity and implications for halo and void abundances

We generalize the Doroshkevich's celebrated formulae for the eigenvalues of the initial shear field associated with Gaussian statistics to the local non-Gaussian f nl model. This is possible because, to at least second order in f nl , distributions at fixed overdensity are unchanged from the case f nl = 0. We use this generalization to estimate the effect of f nl ≠ 0 on the abundance of virialized haloes. Halo abundances are expected to be related to the probability that a certain quantity in the initial fluctuation field exceeds a threshold value, and we study two choices for this variable: it can either be the sum of the eigenvalues of the initial deformation tensor (the initial overdensity) or its smallest eigenvalue. The approach based on a critical overdensity yields results which are in excellent agreement with numerical measurements. We then use these same methods to develop approximations describing the sensitivity of void abundances on f nl . While a positive f nl produces more extremely massive haloes, it makes fewer extremely large voids. Its effect thus is qualitatively different from a simple rescaling of the normalization of the density fluctuation field σ 8 . Therefore, void abundances furnish complementary information to cluster abundances, and a joint comparison of both might provide interesting constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity.
The Dawn of Big Data

My first personal computer was an Apple II+, which had about as much computing power as my current sports watch. I then upgraded to a Macintosh computer that had less computing power than my current cellphone. These computers were useful for word processing but could not do much else; there were no spreadsheets, Internet, or e-mail. Then I learned biostatistics and began to explore the mysteries that lie within large data sets, which could be revealed by precisely asking the right questions. At the time, performing these analyses involved punching holes onto cards that were then loaded into a mainframe computer; answers to one's query—and error messages—came hours later. For most of us, the integration of computers into health care has been a slow journey from paper charts inscribed in undecipherable script to databases of electronic medical records. Now, as we enter the era of big data, health care is poised to take another leap, one that would have been unimaginable only a few years ago. This issue of the NCMJ explores some applications of big data, its benefits, and its limitations. One benefit of big data is that it provides tools that can help individual practices discern how well they are doing in caring for their patients. Years ago I asked local pediatricians to review a sample of charts to see if children really received all of their periodic immunizations on schedule. Before conducting the chart review, all of the pediatricians had been sure their immunization rates were just…
Approximate Distance Oracles with Improved Bounds

A distance oracle is a compact data structure capable of quickly estimating distances in a given graph. In this paper we provide a new construction for distance oracles in general undirected weighted graphs. Our data structure, for any integer k, requires O( n1+1/k) space, guarantees a stretch of 2k-1, and answers any query in only O(1) time.
Adipose tissue is prominent in salivary glands of Sjögren’s syndrome patients and appears to influence the microenvironment in these organs

Abstract A minor salivary gland (SG) biopsy with focal lymphocytic sialadenitis and a focus score of ≥1 is today’s widely accepted pathological finding confirming the SG component of Sjögren’s syndrome (SS). Adipocytes can occupy a large percentage of the SG area although little is known about their significance in SS lesions. This study aimed to characterise adipose tissue infiltration in labial SG biopsies from 27 SS patients and 28 non-SS sicca controls. Biopsies were evaluated by one oral pathologist and assessed for focus score, acinar atrophy, fatty replacement and non-specific chronic inflammation. Moreover, to explore the SG microenvironment, immunohistochemical staining of paraffin-embedded SG tissue was performed using interleukin-6 (IL-6). The fatty replacement was evident in all SS patients possessing autoantibodies (Ro/SSA and/or La/SSB) as well as a positive SG biopsy (focus score ≥1). Additionally, 62% of SS patients having autoantibodies but a negative biopsy showed fatty infiltration (FI) while non-SS controls demonstrated fatty replacement in only 32% of the cases. Overall, the SS group (mean age 53.0 years) had a significantly higher incidence (p value 0.005) of FI than the non-SS controls (mean age 54.8 years). Interestingly, adipocytes were located in IL-6 rich areas, and IL-6 positive adipocytes were detected. As fat deposition seems to be more recurrent in SGs affected by SS, we propose the assessment of adipose tissue replacement as a helpful tool for diagnostic evaluation in SS. Detection of IL-6 positive adipocytes suggests their involvement in immune reactions. Still, functional studies are needed to investigate the SG microenvironment further.
Comparison Between the Effect of Ionic Strength on Acidity and Dissociation Constants of Humic Acids Extracted from Sewage Sludge and Nile Water Hyacinth Composts

2 Abstract: In this work humic acids were extracted from sewage sludge and Nile water hyacinth composts. The acids were investigated by chemical, spectroscopic and potentiometric analyses. The percent of carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen are in agreement with literature. HA has higher percent of nitrogen which attributed SS to pertinacious structures . FTIR spectra of both acids exhibit, generally similar spectra with the typical major peaks reported for humic acids. Humic acid extracted from sewage sludge is characterized by lower average molecular weight, higher acidity, more phenolic groups and low heterogeneity than humic acids extracted from Nile hyacinth. The acidity of the two extracted humic acids were determined by potentiometric titrations and bariyta method The concentrations of COOH were found to be 2.90 and 3.74meq/ g H in HA extracted from +
Nerium indicum, a botanical pesticide affects ultimobranchial gland of the catfish Heteropneustes fossilis

Heteropneustes fossilis were subjected to 11.27 mg L−1 (80% of 96 h LC50) and 2.81 mg L−1 (20% of 96 h LC50) of Nerium indicum leaf extract for short‐term and long‐term, respectively. After sacrificing the fish, blood was collected on 24, 48, 72, and 96 h in short‐term and after 7, 14, 21, and 28 days in long‐term experiment and analyzed for plasma calcium levels. Also, ultimobranchial glands (UBG) were fixed on these intervals. Serum calcium levels of H. fossilis exhibited a decline after 48 h following exposure to Nerium indicum leaf extract. This decrease continued till the end of the experiment (96 h). Ultimobranchial cells exhibited a decrease in the cytoplasmic staining response after 72 h following the treatment. The nuclear volumes of these cells were slightly decreased. These changes were exaggerated after 96 h following the treatment. Chronically exposed fish exhibited a decline in serum calcium levels of H. fossilis on day 14. The level progressively declined till the end of the experiment. Up to day 14 following the treatment there was no change in the histological structure of UBG. A decrease in the nuclear volume of ultimobranchial cells was noticed on day 21. Moreover, the cytoplasm of these cells displayed weakstaining response. The nuclear volume of these cells recorded a further decrease following 28‐day treatment. Also there was noticed vacuolization and degeneration at certain places. To the best of our knowledge, the effects of any botanical pesticides on fish UBG have not been reported yet. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 28: 661–665, 2013.
Joint denoising and contrast enhancement for light microscopy image sequences

This paper describes a novel method for preprocessing of microscopy images by means of denoising and contrast enhancement in the wavelet domain. A non-linear enhancement function has been designed based on the local dispersion of the wavelet coefficients modelled as a bivariate Cauchy distribution. Within the same statistical framework, a simultaneous noise reduction in the image is performed by means of a shrinkage function, thus preventing noise amplification. The proposed method has been tested on a light microscopy image dataset and has been shown to greatly enhance the low-contrast noisy images while outperforming other state-of-art contrast enhancement methods.
Photobook: tools for content-based manipulation of image databases

We describe the Photobook system, which is a set of interactive tools for browsing and searching images and image sequences. These tools differ from those used in standard image databases in that they make direct use of the image content rather than relying on annotations. Direct search on image content is made possible by use of semantics-preserving image compression, which reduces images to a small set of perceptually-significant coefficients. We describe three Photobook tools in particular: one that allows search based on grey-level appearance, one that uses 2D shape, and a third that allows search based on textural properties.