Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An effective treatment for Alzheimer's disease must consider both amyloid and tau

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder resulting in cognitive impairment, loss of executive functions and progressive dementia. AD is the most common cause of dementia and incidence is increasing, probably due to a rapidly ageing population. Despite research efforts and a substantial unmet medical need, no effective cure has been identi fied and treatment remains symptomatic. In this review, I assess the current status of AD research and examine future approaches for the development of a potential disease-modifying treatment. Research has focused primarily on amyloid pathology, after a correlation was discovered between mutations in several genes associated with amyloid processing and AD. The Amyloid Cascade Hypothesis suggests that increased amyloid beta (Aβ) aggregation is the major cause of AD, triggering the toxic events that lead to progressive neurodegeneration. However, no drug candidate targeting the cascade has yet produced a successful treatment. It is now speculated that treatment requires early targeting of Aβ, when pathology remains reversible, and clinical trials are focusing on assessing Aβ compounds in pro-dromal AD. Lack of an effective A β-focused treatment has resulted in the consideration of hyperphosphorylated neurofibrillary tangles of tau (NFT), another major pathologi cal hallmark of AD. Studies have repeatedly demonstrated a strong correlation between NFT build up and cognitive decline, and recent studies have identified a number of tau genetic markers associated with AD. Compounds preventing the hyper phosphorylation of tau may therefore halt disease progression; however, the failure of previous tauopathy trials in progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) has highlighted potential set-backs. The importance of tau as an independent cause of AD, and therefore a target for treatment, may be clarified by ongoing tau-focused clinical studies. Although A β and tau are both highly relevant, their relationship in causing AD remains unknown. Amyloid- and tau-targeting treatments may individually prove effective, however the convergent progression of A β and tau pathology suggests combination therapy may eventually be required, particularly in late stages of disease when both are abundant. While ongoing work focuses on single target therapies, a dual Aβ and tau targeting approach may be more likely to produce a breakthrough.
Generational Inequalities and Welfare Regimes Generational Inequalities and Welfare Regimes

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com. Social Forces 92(4) 1259–1283, June 2014 doi: 10.1093/sf/sot156 Advance Access publication on 28 February 2014 This research project received the support of the Luxembourg Fonds National de la Recherche (FNR), FNR/P11/05 & FNR/P11/05bis. The authors would also like to thank Yinon Cohen, Sy Spilerman, Tom DiPrete, Janet Gornick, and the Columbia University Department of Sociology, as well as the two anonymous referees, for their useful suggestions. Generational Inequalities and Welfare Regimes
Observing the Formation of the Hubble Sequence in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey

Understanding the physical formation of the Hubble sequence remains one of the most important unsolved astrophysical problems. Searches for protodisks and proto-elliptical galaxies can now be effectively done using deep wide-field Hubble Space Telescope images taken with the new Advanced Camera for Surveys. Through an analysis of the concentrations (C), asymmetries (A), and clumpiness values (S) of galaxies found in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey Field South, we are able to identify objects possibly forming onto the Hubble sequence. Using this approach, we detect a sizeable population of star-forming luminous diffuse objects and star-forming luminous asymmetric objects between redshifts 0.5 < z < 2. These galaxies have extremely low light concentrations, or high asymmetries, with absolute magnitudes MB < -19. The luminous diffuse objects are found in abundance between z = 1 and 2, with fewer objects at z > 2 and z < 1. The luminous asymmetric objects are found at a similar abundance, with a peak at z ~ 1. We argue that these galaxies are a subset of modern disks and elliptical galaxies in formation. The comoving volume density of the luminous diffuse objects between z = 1 and 2 is similar to the local density of bright disk galaxies, with values ~5 × 105 Gpc-3. The spectral energy distributions of these objects are mostly consistent with starbursts, or star-forming normal galaxies, with average uncorrected for extinction star formation rates of ~4 M☉ yr-1. These galaxies also host 35%-40% of the star formation activity at 1 < z < 2. We briefly discuss the implications of these objects for understanding the origin of the Hubble sequence.
Diagnostic performance of instantaneous wave-free ratio for the evaluation of coronary stenosis severity confirmed by fractional flow reserve

Background:The instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR) is a new vasodilator-free index of coronary stenosis severity. The aim of this meta-analysis is to assess the diagnostic performance of iFR for the evaluation of coronary stenosis severity with fractional flow reserve as standard reference. Methods:We searched PubMed, EMBASE, CENTRAL, ProQuest, Web of Science, and International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) for publications concerning the diagnostic value of iFR. We used a random-effects covariate to synthesize the available data of sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (LR+), negative likelihood ratio (LR−), and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR). Overall test performance was summarized by the summary receiver operating characteristic curve (sROC) and the area under the curve (AUC). Results:Eight studies with 1611 subjects were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, LR+, LR−, and DOR for iFR were respectively 73.3% (70.1–76.2%), 86.4% (84.3–88.3%), 5.71 (4.43–7.37), 0.29 (0.22–0.38), and 20.54 (16.11–26.20). The area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curves for iFR was 0.8786. No publication bias was identified. Conclusion:The available evidence suggests that iFR may be a new, simple, and promising technology for coronary stenosis physiological assessment.
Synthesis and In-Vivo Pharmacological Evaluation of Some Novel 4(3H)- Quinazolinone Derivatives as Potential Anti-malarial Agents

In this work six 3-aryl-2-(substituted styryl)-4(3H)-quinazolinones derivatives were synthesized by the reaction of 3-aryl-2-methyl-4(3H)-quinazolinone (intermediate products) with different substituted aromatic aldehydes. Three intermediate products were synthesized by reacting 2-methyl-3,1-benzoxazin-4-one, which was initially prepared by cyclizing anthranilic acid using acetic anhydride, with three aromatic amines. Their structures were confirmed using IR, 1HNMR, 13CNMR spectroscopic methods and elemental microanalyses. The synthesized compounds were evaluated for their in vivo antimalarial activity against P. berghei. Four of the synthesized compounds (IIIc, IVa, IVb and IVf) exhibited activity against the parasite. Among these compound IVa was found to be the most active compound. Results of acute toxicity study showed that oral administration of the synthesized compounds in single doses (100, 250 and 500 mg/kg) had no adverse effects, indicating that the compounds have high safety margin and their LD50 is higher than 500 mg/kg.In general this study indicates that 4(3H)-quinazolinones derivatives are potential sources of lead compounds for anti malarial drugs.
Photos on the go: a mobile application case study

We designed and iterated on a photo browsing application for high-end mobile phones. The application, Zurfer, supports viewing of photos from the user, their contacts, and the general user population. Photos are organized using a channel metaphor, driven by multiple dimensions: social, spatial and topical. Zurfer was deployed to over 500 users; extensive user research was conducted with nine participants. The data from the deployment and the study exposes general themes of mobile application use, as well as requirements for mobile applications in the photos domain, mobile social applications, and entertainment-driven mobile applications.
A STUDY OF INTERNATIONAL PATIENTS ’ PERCEPTION TOWARDS SERVICE QUALITY OF PRIVATE HOSPITALS IN BANGKOK

ARTICLE INFO Corresponding Author: Mon Nang, Ei Master of Business Administration in Management, School of Management, Shinawatra University, Bangkok, Thailand ABSTRACT This paper aims to investigate the effects and the relative importance of the seven perceived service quality dimensions on customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and intentional behavior. To obtain results, descriptive statistics and linear regression techniques are applied to data collected from 258 international outpatients of the four largest private hospitals in Bangkok. The findings indicate that the seven dimensions significantly affect on customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and intentional behavior. More specifically, among the seven perceived service quality dimensions, tangibles dimension is the most satisfied one and service charges dimension was the least satisfied dimension even though the respondents felt satisfied with overall charges.
Applying OpenMP-based parallel implementations of NSGA-II and SPEA2 to study phylogenetic relationships

Throughout the years, biological processing demands have been addressed by relying on the design of algorithmic approaches for parallel architectures. By taking advantage of multicore processor systems, we can deal with the main sources of complexity which explain the NP-hard nature of multiple problems in computational biology. In this work, we address the inference of phylogenetic topologies by using two multiobjective metaheuristics: Fast Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm and Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm 2. The additional complexity introduced by the multiobjective formulation of the problem motivates that parallel designs of these algorithms must be undertaken. For this purpose, OpenMP-based implementations of these two metaheuristics are applied. To evaluate the performance of these approaches, a comparative study has been conducted by performing experimentation on four nucleotide data sets. Our experiments suggest the relevance of these parallel algorithmic designs, improving the phylogenetic results reported by other multiobjective tools in reduced execution times.
Pattern of pulmonary function test in rheumatoid arthritis patients

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by a painful symmetrical peripheral polyarthritis. Extra-articular involvement in RA is a common condition. Pulmonary involvement occurs in 20 to 67 % of RA patients and it is responsible for about 10-20 % of mortality in RA patients. Objectives: To evaluate the extent and pattern of pulmonary involvement in RA patients by using spirometry. Methods: A case control study conducted at the rheumatology unit of Al Sader teaching hospital, forty RA patients [33(82.5%) female and 7(17.5%) male] and sixty apparently healthy subjects {50(83.3%) female and 10(16.7 %) male} were included in the study. All subjects had subjected to a pulmonary function test (PFT) for pulmonary function evaluation using MIR spirolab III. Measured and predicted forced vital capacities (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) and FEV1 / FVC ratio were considered as the parameters in this study for both groups. Results: Nine patients were found to have a restrictive pattern of pulmonary function test, while obstructive pattern was found in only one patient. On the other hand, the pulmonary function tests were normal in all of sixty healthy control. The mean of FEV1 in patient group (2.07 ± 0.56L) and of FEV1% (95.8%  25.2) are significantly lower than those in the control group (2.46 ± 0.65 L; 105.3%  13.09). In addition, mean FVC in the patient group (2.35 ± 0.62L) and its mean percentage (92%  22.68) showed a clear significant reduction compared to those in control group (2.71 ± 0.67 L; 100.53  12.12). No significant difference (P = 0.173) has been observed in FEV1 / FVC ratio between patient (88.17  7.47) and control group (89.87  4.99). Conclusions: Different pattern of pulmonary function abnormalities could be manifested in RA patients and the restrictive pattern represents the most common feature. Spirometry is indicated as a baseline assessment and for follow up of RA patient to enhance early detection and management of the pulmonary involvement.
Social capital as it pertains to international ventures in Asia

Social capital was investigated in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (abbreviated as Laos), and findings were compared and contrasted to social capital practices in Confucian contexts (in particular China). We found horizontal social capital between heterogeneous groups in Theravada Buddhist Laos to be relatively accessible compared to the more homogeneous Confucian networks, whereas vertical networks with government officials are of greater importance in Confucian contexts. Through comparison between Lao and variations of Confucian social capital, we identified a number of distinctive features of Lao social capital (teun tang sangkhom) which delineate it from guanxi and other concepts identified in the literature. We argue that Lao social capital is not merely a new label for old concepts in the Western or guanxi literature, but rather is a uniquely evolved artefact of Lao society and thus represents a new distinct concept in the literature. Furthermore, through comparative insights into networking practices in Theravada Buddhist Laos and Confucian contexts, this research provides a more nuanced understanding of similarities and differences in cross-cultural management in the region.
What we talk about when we talk about fiduciary duties: the changing role of a legal theory concept in corporate governance studies

ABSTRACT Corporate law, as a constitutive law in the corporate system, includes the legal theory concept of fiduciary duties. Fiduciary duty law prescribes that a fiduciary should act in the interest of the beneficiary and without self-interest. Fiduciary law, even its proponents admit, is quite complicated to pin down into statutes, and yet it serves many ends in society. In the field of corporate governance, fiduciary law has been challenged by contract law and contractual relations. The proponents of the contractual theory of the firm suggest that contracts more effectively monitor and reduce agency costs, and discipline managers to act in the interest of shareholder, i.e. eo ipso, generate net economic welfare. The article examines how corporate legislation has been reinterpreted overtime, and how legal concepts such as contracts and fiduciary duties have to a varying degree been invoked in the corporate governance literature. In the current regime of shareholder primacy governance, fiduciary is a legal device that can be reintroduced to handle concerns regarding governance issues.
Scalable Multimedia Retrieval by Deep Learning Hashing with Relative Similarity Learning

Learning-based hashing methods are becoming the mainstream for approximate scalable multimedia retrieval. They consist of two main components: hash codes learning for training data and hash functions learning for new data points. Tremendous efforts have been devoted to designing novel methods for these two components, i.e., supervised and unsupervised methods for learning hash codes, and different models for inferring hashing functions. However, there is little work integrating supervised and unsupervised hash codes learning into a single framework. Moreover, the hash function learning component is usually based on hand-crafted visual features extracted from the training images. The performance of a content-based image retrieval system crucially depends on the feature representation and such hand-crafted visual features may degrade the accuracy of the hash functions. In this paper, we propose a semi-supervised deep learning hashing (DLH) method for fast multimedia retrieval. More specifically, in the first component, we utilize both visual and label information to learn an relative similarity graph that can more precisely reflect the relationship among training data, and then generate the hash codes based on the graph. In the second stage, we apply a deep convolutional neural network (CNN) to simultaneously learn a good multimedia representation and hash functions. Extensive experiments on three popular datasets demonstrate the superiority of our DLH over both supervised and unsupervised hashing methods.
Quantitative Assessment of Synovial Vascularity Using Contrast-Enhanced Power Doppler Ultrasonography: Correlation with Histologic Findings and MR Imaging Findings in Arthritic Rabbit Knee Model

Objective To validate contrast-enhanced power Doppler ultrasonography (PD US) for the evaluation of synovial vascularity in an arthritic rabbit knee model in correlation with MR and histological findings. Materials and Methods Power Doppler ultrasonography was performed for carrageenin-induced arthritic left knee and control right knee of 13 rabbits, first without and then with sonic contrast agent enhancement (Levovist, Schering, Berlin Germany), followed by gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging. Synovial vascularity was quantitatively assessed by calculating the color pixel area in power Doppler sonography using a computer-aided image analysis program and by grading the enhancement on MR images: grade 1, enhancement of knee joint is less than one-third of the area; grade 2, one-third to two-thirds enhancement; and grade 3, more than two-thirds enhancement. Microvessel density (MVD) was measured on slides stained immunohistochemically for CD31 antigen for histological assessment. Results The mean area of color pixels in PD US changed from 4.37 to 16.42 mm2 in the arthritic knee after enhancement (p < 0.05), whereas it changed from 0.77 to 2.31 mm2 in the control knee (p < 0.05). Arthritic knees had greater power Doppler signal than control knees both before and after contrast administration (p < 0.05). The average MVD was 88 in arthritic knees and 46 in control knees. MVDs correlated with color pixel areas of contrast-enhanced power Doppler imaging in arthritic knees. In MR grading of arthritic knees, five were grade 2 and eight were grade 3. MVD and PD US revealed no significant difference between grade 2 and 3 arthritic knees (p > 0.05). Conclusion Sonic contrast-enhanced PD US improves the visualization of synovial vascularity and allows quantitative measurement in experimentally induced rabbit arthritic knees.
Evolution of Star-forming and Active Galaxies in Nearby Clusters

We have used optical spectroscopy to investigate the active galaxy populations in a sample of 20 nearby Abell clusters. The targets were identified on the basis of 1.4 GHz radio emission, which identifies them as either active galactic nuclei (AGNs) or galaxies forming stars at rates comparable to or greater than that of the Milky Way. The spectra were used to characterize the galaxies via their emission and absorption features. The spectroscopy results reveal a significant population of star-forming galaxies with large amounts of nuclear dust extinction. This extinction eliminates bluer emission lines such as [O II] from the spectra of these galaxies, meaning their star formation could easily be overlooked in studies that focus on such features. Around 20% of the cluster star-forming galaxies have spectra of this type. The radial distributions of active galaxies in clusters show a strong segregation between star-forming galaxies and AGNs, with star-forming galaxies broadly distributed and AGNs preferentially in the cluster cores. The radial distribution of the dusty star-forming galaxies is more centrally concentrated than the star-forming galaxies in general, which argues that they are a consequence of some cluster environmental effect. Furthermore, we note that such galaxies may be identified using their 4000 Å break strengths. We find that discrepancies in reported radio luminosity functions for AGNs are likely the result of classification differences. There exists a large population of cluster galaxies whose radio fluxes, far-infrared fluxes, and optical magnitudes suggest their radio emission may be powered by stars yet whose spectra lack emission lines. Understanding the nature of these galaxies is critical to assessing the importance of AGNs in the radio luminosity function at low luminosities. We also find that regardless of this population, the crossover point where the radio luminosity function is composed equally of star-forming galaxies and AGNs occurs at lower luminosities in clusters than in the field. This is likely a simple consequence of the reduction in star formation in cluster galaxies and the morphological mix in clusters compared with the field.
Interdependence of body mass index with handgrip strength and endurance among apparently healthy teenagers

This study investigated the relationship of body mass index (BMI) with handgrip strength and endurance among apparently healthy Nigerian Teenagers. A total of 200 secondary school students participated in this study. Body height and body weight were measured with a wall–mounted stadiometer in meters (m) and bathroom weighing scale in kilogram (kg) respectively. Body mass index (BMI) was then calculated using the formula weight (kg)/height (m 2 ). An electronic handgrip dynamometer was used to measure handgrip strength (HGS) in kg and handgrip endurance (HGE) in seconds (s). The relationship of BMI with HGS and HGE was analyzed using Pearson’s product moment coefficient of correlation. Then, differences in BMI, HGS and HGE across gender categories were analyzed using the independent sample t-test. The outcome of this study showed that BMI correlated proportionately and significantly (p < 0.05) with HGS and HGE. Also, a significant difference (p < 0.05) exists in HGS and HGE across gender characteristics. This study therefore concluded that BMI is a determinant of HGS and HGE among apparently healthy Nigerian Teenagers and thus, could be considered as a marker of nutritional and health status, as well as physical fitness of these individuals. Also, a gender difference does influence HGS and HGE among apparently healthy Nigerian Teenagers.
Ketamine induces tau hyperphosphorylation at serine 404 in the hippocampus of neonatal rats

Male Wistar 7-day-old rats were injected with 40 mg/kg ketamine intraperitoneally, followed by three additional injections of 20 mg/kg ketamine each upon restoration of the righting reflex. Neonatal rats injected with equivalent volumes of saline served as controls. Hippocampal samples were collected at 1, 7 or 14 days following administration. Electron microscopy showed that neuronal structure changed noticeably following ketamine treatment. Specifically, microtubular structure became irregular and disorganized. Quantitative real time-PCR revealed that phosphorylated tau mRNA was upregulated after ketamine. Western blot analysis demonstrated that phosphorylated tau levels at serine 396 initially decreased at 1 day after ketamine injection, and then gradually returned to control values. At 14 days after injection, levels of phosphorylated tau were higher in the ketamine group than in the control group. Tau protein phosphorylated at serine 404 significantly increased after ketamine injection, and then gradually decreased with time. However, the levels of tau protein at serine 404 were significantly greater in the ketamine group than in the control group until 14 days. The present results indicate that ketamine induces an increase of phosphorylated tau mRNA and excessive phosphorylation of tau protein at serine 404, causing disruption of microtubules in the neonatal rat hippocampus and potentially resulting in damage to hippocampal neurons.