Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cognitive Test Performance and Brain Pathology

Background: Cognitive impairment, assessed using paper-and-pencil tests, occurs with multiple syndromes, including heart failure; however, relationships between test performance and brain injury are unclear. Objectives: To determine the extent of brain injury assessed by magnetic resonance T2 relaxometry procedures in a mixed sample with cognitive impairment as measured by the Mini-Mental State Examination, Trailmaking Test parts A (TMT-A) and B (TMT-B), and the Watson Clock-Drawing Test (CDT). Methods: A comparative design was used with a convenience sample of 66 participants (age 48.2 ± 8.4 years, 41 males, 52 right-handed). Normal and abnormal performances on cognitive tests were compared using T2 relaxation values across the brain (p < .005). Fifty-four of the participants were healthy, and 12 had heart failure (New York Heart Association classes II-III, left ventricular ejection fraction <0.40). Results: All participants scored normally on the Mini-Mental State Examination; thus, this test was excluded from further analysis. Abnormal cognitive scores were found in 14-20% of the participants, with significant brain injury appearing in participants with abnormal test scores. Injured structures included frontal, temporal, parietal, insular, and cingulate cortices; corpus callosum; and caudate. The CDT results showed the greatest extent of structural injury. The TMT-A test demonstrated relationships to specific injury sites, whereas the TMT-B showed relationships only to isolated areas of damage. Discussion: The findings suggest that paper-and-pencil cognitive tests relate to injury in brain structures, with CDT values relating to the greatest extent of injury. Specific damage sites may correlate with unique tests, such as TMT-A. Specialized tests should be developed that would indicate neural injury in specific areas.
Neutrophil extracellular trap formation is associated with autophagy‐related signalling in ANCA‐associated vasculitis

Increasing evidence indicates that aberrant neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation could contribute to the pathogenesis of anti‐neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)‐associated vasculitis (AAV). Recent research has provided evidence that a novel type of ANCA autoantibody, anti‐lysosomal membrane protein‐2 (LAMP‐2) antibody, may have a pathogenic role in AAV. We have shown previously that anti‐LAMP‐2 antibody‐stimulated NET formation contains autoantigens and anti‐microbial peptides. The current study sought to determine whether LAMP‐2, as a novel antigen of ANCA, was present on NETs in AAV patients, the influence of the anti‐LAMP‐2 antibody on the neutrophil apoptosis rate and the role of autophagy in anti‐LAMP‐2 antibody‐induced NET formation. NET formation was assessed using immunofluorescence microscopy, scanning electron microscopy or live cell imaging. The neutrophil apoptosis rate was analysed using fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS). Autophagy was detected using LC3B accumulation and transmission electron microscopy. The results showed that enhanced NET formation, which contains LAMP‐2, was observed in kidney biopsies and neutrophils from AAV patients. The apoptosis rate decreased significantly in human neutrophils stimulated with anti‐LAMP‐2 antibody, and this effect was attenuated by the inhibitors of autophagy 3‐methyladenine (3MA) and 2‐morpholin‐4‐yl‐8‐phenylchromen‐4‐one (LY294002). The anti‐LAMP‐2 antibody‐stimulated NET formation was unaffected by benzyloxycarbonyl‐Val‐ Ala‐Asp (OMe)‐fluoromethylketone (zVAD‐fmk) and necrostatin‐1 (Nec‐1), which are inhibitors of apoptosis and necrosis, respectively, but was inhibited by 3MA and LY294002. Moreover, the proportion of LC3BI that was converted to LC3BII increased significantly (P = 0·0057), and massive vacuolizations that exhibited characteristics typical of autophagy were detected in neutrophils stimulated with anti‐LAMP‐2 antibody. Our results provide further evidence that autophagy is involved in ANCA‐induced NET formation in human neutrophils.
Real-time remote transmission of multiple tactile properties through master-slave robot system

Remote transmission of high quality sense of touch requires the representation of multiple tactile properties and compensation of communication delay. We developed a real-time remote transmission system that can deliver multiple tactile properties using a master-slave robot system. First, we assessed what type of tactile properties should be transmitted and how to connect them in real time. Three tactile properties—roughness, friction, and softness—were transmitted on the basis of the real-time estimated physical properties of three main wavelengths, a kinetic friction coefficient, and spring constants, respectively. Tactile stimulations were generated in synchronization with hand exploration at the master side by using local tactile generation models to compensate for communication time delay. The transmission of multiple tactile properties was achieved by the integration and enhancement of our previously reported methods for vibrotactile displays and tactile sensors. A discrimination experiment using different materials showed the feasibility of the total system involving the three tactile properties.
Boundary states for the rolling D-branes in NS5 background

In this paper we construct the time dependent boundary states describing the ``rolling D-brane solutions'' in the NS5 background discovered recently by Kutasov by means of the classical DBI analysis. We first survey some aspects of non-compact branes in the NS5 background based on known boundary states in the = 2 Liouville theory. We consider two types of non-compact branes, one of which is BPS and the other is non-BPS but stable. Then we clarify how to Wick-rotate the non-BPS one appropriately. We show that the Wick-rotated boundary state realizes the correct trajectory of rolling D-brane in the classical limit, and leads to well behaved spectral densities of open strings due to the existence of non-trivial damping factors of energy. We further study the cylinder amplitudes and the emission rates of massive closed string modes.
How Do Human Cells React to the Absence of Mitochondrial DNA?

Background Mitochondrial biogenesis is under the control of two different genetic systems: the nuclear genome (nDNA) and the mitochondrial genome (mtDNA). The mtDNA is a circular genome of 16.6 kb encoding 13 of the approximately 90 subunits that form the respiratory chain, the remaining ones being encoded by the nDNA. Eukaryotic cells are able to monitor and respond to changes in mitochondrial function through alterations in nuclear gene expression, a phenomenon first defined in yeast and known as retrograde regulation. To investigate how the cellular transcriptome is modified in response to the absence of mtDNA, we used Affymetrix HG-U133A GeneChip arrays to study the gene expression profile of two human cell lines, 143BTK− and A549, which had been entirely depleted of mtDNA (ρ° cells), and compared it with that of corresponding undepleted parental cells (ρ+ cells). Results Our data indicate that absence of mtDNA is associated with: i) a down-regulation of cell cycle control genes and a reduction of cell replication rate, ii) a down-regulation of nuclear-encoded subunits of complex III of the respiratory chain and iii) a down-regulation of a gene described as the human homolog of ELAC2 of E. coli, which encodes a protein that we show to also target to the mitochondrial compartment. Conclusions Our results indicate a strong correlation between mitochondrial biogenesis and cell cycle control and suggest that some proteins could have a double role: for instance in controlling both cell cycle progression and mitochondrial functions. In addition, the finding that ELAC2 and maybe other transcripts that are located into mitochondria, are down-regulated in ρ° cells, make them good candidates for human disorders associated with defective replication and expression of mtDNA.
Replicator Equations, Maximal Cliques, and Graph Isomorphism

We present a new energy-minimization framework for the graph isomorphism problem that is based on an equivalent maximum clique formulation. The approach is centered around a fundamental result proved by Motzkin and Straus in the mid-1960s, and recently expanded in various ways, which allows us to formulate the maximum clique problem in terms of a standard quadratic program. The attractive feature of this formulation is that a clear one-to-one correspondence exists between the solutions of the quadratic program and those in the original, combinatorial problem. To solve the program we use the so-called replicator equationsa class of straightforward continuous- and discrete-time dynamical systems developed in various branches of theoretical biology. We show how, despite their inherent inability to escape from local solutions, they nevertheless provide experimental results that are competitive with those obtained using more elaborate mean-field annealing heuristics.
Exploring minimal nonverbal interruption in HRI

Designing robotic behaviours capable of initiating an interruption will be extremely important as robots increasingly interact with people. Consequently, we explore the social impact of a minimal set of physical nonverbal cues that can be exhibited by a robot to initiate robot-human interruption: (a) speed of motion, (b) gaze, (c) head movement, d) rotation and (e) proximity to the person. We present two related studies evaluating this set. First, for requirements gathering, we observed the behaviour of interruption between humans, with a human actor attempting to interrupt other humans while being constrained to use only a set of behavioural cues that could be mimicked by a simple nonverbal robot. Next, we programmed a robot to exhibit similar social physical nonverbal cues, and tested their feasibility in a user study of robotic nonverbal interruption across interruption scenarios. Our results show that people were able to interpret interruption urgency from robot behaviour using only minimal nonverbal behavioural cues. These findings contribute to informing future designs of social human-robot interfaces.
Delayed maturation of an IL-12–producing dendritic cell subset explains the early Th2 bias in neonatal immunity

Primary neonatal T cell responses comprise both T helper (Th) cell subsets, but Th1 cells express high levels of interleukin 13 receptor α1 (IL-13Rα1), which heterodimerizes with IL-4Rα. During secondary antigen challenge, Th2-produced IL-4 triggers the apoptosis of Th1 cells via IL-4Rα/IL-13Rα1, thus explaining the Th2 bias in neonates. We show that neonates acquire the ability to overcome the Th2 bias and generate Th1 responses starting 6 d after birth. This transition was caused by the developmental maturation of CD8α+CD4− dendritic cells (DCs), which were minimal in number during the first few days of birth and produced low levels of IL-12. This lack of IL-12 sustained the expression of IL-13Rα1 on Th1 cells. By day 6 after birth, however, a significant number of CD8α+CD4− DCs accumulated in the spleen and produced IL-12, which triggered the down-regulation of IL-13Rα1 expression on Th1 cells, thus protecting them against IL-4–driven apoptosis.
Formulation and In-vitro Evaluation of pH-Sensitive Oil Entrapped Polymeric Blend Amoxicillin Beads for the Eradication of Helicobacter pylori

Oral pH sensitive drug delivery systems are of utmost importance as these systems deliver the drug at specific part of the gastrointestine (GI) as per the pH of GI, resulting in improved patient therapeutic efficacy and compliance. The pH range of fluids in various segments of the GI tract may provide environmental stimuli for drug release. The aim of this study was to design buoyant beads containing amoxicillin (Am) and to evaluate its potential for the eradication of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). The gel bead of gellan, wherein the oil was entrapped, was blended with hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose or Carbopol 934. Buoyant beads of gellan were prepared through ionotropic gellation technique to achieve the controlled and pH-sensitive drug release in stomach. The effects of processing variables such as particle size, buoyancy, percent encapsulation efficiency and in-vitro antimicrobial activity were evaluated. The scanning electron micrograph indicated that prepared beads were spherical in shape and all the beads showed satisfactory floating efficiency in the phthalate buffer solution. The diameter of the gel beads was increased through raising the gellan gum and calcium carbonate concentration. The formulation exhibited sustained release profile and was best fitted in the Peppas model with n < 0.45. Subsequent coating of microbeads exhibited zero-order sustained pattern of the drug release up to 8 h. In-vitro growth inhibition study showed complete eradication of the isolated H. pylori strain . These results provide evidence that the optimized formulation bearing antibiotics like amoxicillin should be useful in H. pylori treatment.
Evaluating the Genetic Component of Ischemic Stroke Subtypes: A Family History Study

Background and Purpose— Twin and family history studies support a role for genetic factors in stroke risk. Because the etiology of ischemic stroke is heterogeneous, genetic factors may vary by etiologic subtype. We determined the familial aggregation of stroke risk in different stroke phenotypes and used the results to model estimated sample size requirements for case-control studies. Methods— One thousand consecutive white subjects with ischemic stroke and 800 white controls matched for age and sex were recruited. A first-degree family history of stroke and myocardial infarction was obtained by structured interview. Stroke subtype was determined with the use of modified Trial of Org 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment (TOAST) criteria. Results— A family history of stroke at ≤65 years was a significant risk factor for large-vessel disease (odds ratio [OR], 2.24; 95% CI, 1.49 to 3.36;P <0.001) and for small-vessel disease (OR, 1.93; 95% CI, 1.25 to 2.97;P =0.003). When only cases aged ≤65 years were considered, these ORs increased to 2.93 (95% CI, 1.68 to 5.13) (P <0.001) and 3.15 (95% CI, 1.81 to 5.50) (P <0.001), respectively. No significant associations were seen for cardioembolic stroke or stroke of undetermined etiology. Conclusions— A family history of vascular disease is an independent risk factor for both large-vessel atherosclerosis and small-vessel disease, especially in cases presenting before age 65 years. The estimated sample sizes for case-control studies illustrate how candidate gene studies for ischemic stroke might be made more effective by focusing on these specific phenotypes, in which the genetic component of the disease appears to be strongest.
ATM Gene Founder Haplotypes and Associated Mutations in Polish Families with Ataxia‐Telangiectasia

Ataxia‐telangiectasia (A‐T) is an early onset autosomal recessive ataxia associated with characteristic chromosomal aberrations, cell cycle checkpoint defects, cancer susceptibility, and sensitivity to ionizing radiation. We utilized the protein truncation test (PTT), and single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) on cDNA, as well as denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (dHPLC) on genomic DNA (gDNA) to screen for mutations in 24 Polish A‐T families. Twenty‐six distinct Short Tandem Repeat (STR) haplotypes were identified. Three founder mutations accounted for 58% of the alleles. Three‐quarters of the families had at least one recurring (shared) mutation, which was somewhat surprising given the low frequency of consanguinity in Poland. STR haplotyping greatly improved the efficiency of mutation detection. We identified 44 of the expected 48 mutations (92%): sixty‐nine percent were nonsense mutations, 23% caused aberrant splicing, and 5% were missense mutations. Four mutations have not been previously described. Two of the Polish mutations have been observed previously in Amish and Mennonite A‐T patients; this is compatible with historical records. Shared mutations shared the same Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) and STR haplotypes, indicating common ancestries. The Mennonite mutation, 5932 G>T, is common in Russian A‐T families, and the STR haplovariants are the same in both Poland and Russia. Attempts to correlate phenotypes with genotypes were inconclusive due to the limited numbers of patients with identical mutations.
Dynamic analysis of Robinia pseudoacacia forest health levels from 1995 to 2013 in the Yellow River Delta, China using multitemporal Landsat imagery

ABSTRACT The Robinia pseudoacacia forest in the Yellow River Delta (YRD), China, was planted in the 1970s and has continuously suffered dieback and mortality since the 1990s. Timely and accurate information on forest growth and forest condition and its dynamic change as well is essential for assessing and developing effective management strategies. In this study, multitemporal Landsat imagery was used to analyze and monitor changes of the R. pseudoacacia forest in the YRD from 1995 to 2013. To do so, Landsat image band reflectance, three fraction images calculated by using a multiple endmember spectral mixture analysis (MESMA) method, and four vegetation indices (VIs) were used to discriminate three health levels of R. pseudoacacia forest in years 1995, 2007, and 2013 with a random forest (RF) classifier. The four VIs include a difference infrared index (DII) developed in this study, normalized difference vegetation index, soil-adjusted vegetation index, and normalized difference infrared index (NDII), all of which were computed from Landsat Thematic Mapper and Operational Land Imager multispectral (MS) bands. The dynamic changes of the forest health levels during the periods of 1995–2007 and 2007–2013 were analysed. The analysis results demonstrate that three fraction images created by MESMA method and four VIs were powerful in separating the three forest health levels. In addition to the Landsat MS bands, the additional three fraction images increased the classification accuracy by 14−20%; if coupled with the four VIs, the overall accuracy was further increased by 5−6%. According to the importance values calculated by RF classifier for all input features, the DII vegetation index was the second effective feature, outperforming NDII. From 1995 to 2013, a total of 2615 ha of forest in the study area suffered from mortality or loss.
Intra-Vacuolar Proliferation of F. Novicida within H. Vermiformis

Francisella tularensis is a gram negative facultative intracellular bacterium that causes the zoonotic disease tularemia. Free-living amebae, such as Acanthamoeba and Hartmannella, are environmental hosts of several intracellular pathogens. Epidemiology of F. tularensis in various parts of the world is associated with water-borne transmission, which includes mosquitoes and amebae as the potential host reservoirs of the bacteria in water resources. In vitro studies showed intracellular replication of F. tularensis within A. castellanii cells. Whether ameba is a biological reservoir for Francisella in the environment is not known. We used Hartmannella vermiformis as an amebal model system to study the intracellular life of F. novicida. For the first time we show that F. novicida survives and replicates within H. vermiformis. The iglC mutant strain of F. novicida is defective for survival and replication not only within A. castellanii but also in H. vermiformis cells. In contrast to mammalian cells, where bacteria replicate in the cytosol, F. novicida resides and replicates within membrane-bound vacuoles within the trophozoites of H. vermiformis. In contrast to the transient residence of F. novicida within acidic vacuoles prior to escaping to the cytosol of mammalian cells, F. novicida does not reside transiently or permanently in an acidic compartment within H. vermiformis when examined 30 min after initiation of the infection. We conclude that F. tularensis does not replicate within acidified vacuoles and does not escape into the cytosol of H. vermiformis. The Francisella pathogenicity island locus iglC is essential for intra-vacuolar proliferation of F. novicida within H. vermiformis. Our data show a distinct intracellular lifestyle for F. novicida within H. vermiformis compared to mammalian cells.
A Batch-mode Mapping Algorithm in Highly Heterogeneous Computational Grids using Learning Automata

The computational grid is a new paradigm in parallel and distributed computing systems for realizing a virtual supercomputer over idle resources available in a wide area network like the Internet. Computational Grids are characterized for exploiting highly heterogeneous resources; so, one of the main concerns in developing computational grids is how to effectively map tasks onto heterogeneous resources in order to gain high utilization. Two approaches for mapping the tasks exist, online mode and batch mode. In batch-mode at any mapping event, a batch of tasks is mapped, whereas in online mode only one task is mapped. In this paper, two batch-mode algorithms for task mapping based on learning automata are introduced. To show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms, computer simulations have been conducted. The results of experiments show that the proposed algorithms outperform three best existing mapping algorithms when the heterogeneity of the environment is very high.
Arithmetic Progressions in Sumsets and Lp-Almost-Periodicity

We prove results about the Lp-almost-periodicity of convolutions. One of these follows from a simple but rather general lemma about approximating a sum of functions in Lp, and gives a very short proof of a theorem of Green that if A and B are subsets of {1,. ,N} of sizes αN and βN then A+B contains an arithmetic progression of length at least \begin{equation} \exp ( c (\alpha \beta \log N)^{1/2} - \log\log N). \end{equation} Another almost-periodicity result improves this bound for densities decreasing with N: we show that under the above hypotheses the sumset A+B contains an arithmetic progression of length at least \begin{equation} \exp\biggl( c \biggl(\frac{\alpha \log N}{\log^3 2\beta^{-1}} \biggr)^{1/2} - \log( \beta^{-1} \log N) \biggr). \end{equation}
Context-specific requirements for Fgfr1 signaling through Frs2 and Frs3 during mouse development

Fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (Fgfr1) plays pleiotropic roles during embryonic development, but the mechanisms by which this receptor signals in vivo have not previously been elucidated. Biochemical studies have implicated Fgf receptor-specific substrates (Frs2, Frs3) as the principal mediators of Fgfr1 signal transduction to the MAPK and PI3K pathways. To determine the developmental requirements for Fgfr1-Frs signaling, we generated mice (Fgfr1ΔFrs/ΔFrs) in which the Frs2/3-binding site on Fgfr1 is deleted. Fgfr1ΔFrs/ΔFrs embryos die during late embryogenesis, and exhibit defects in neural tube closure and in the development of the tail bud and pharyngeal arches. However, the mutant receptor is able to drive Fgfr1 functions during gastrulation and somitogenesis, and drives normal MAPK responses to Fgf. These findings indicate that Fgfr1 uses distinct signal transduction mechanisms in different developmental contexts, and that some essential functions of this receptor are mediated by Frs-independent signaling.