Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The basic physics of the binary black hole merger GW150914

The first direct gravitational‐wave detection was made by the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory on September 14, 2015. The GW150914 signal was strong enough to be apparent, without using any waveform model, in the filtered detector strain data. Here, features of the signal visible in the data are analyzed using concepts from Newtonian physics and general relativity, accessible to anyone with a general physics background. The simple analysis presented here is consistent with the fully general‐relativistic analyses published elsewhere, in showing that the signal was produced by the inspiral and subsequent merger of two black holes. The black holes were each of approximately 35M⊙ , still orbited each other as close as ∼350 km apart and subsequently merged to form a single black hole. Similar reasoning, directly from the data, is used to roughly estimate how far these black holes were from the Earth, and the energy that they radiated in gravitational waves.
Segmentation, Splitting, and Classification of Overlapping Bacteria in Microscope Images for Automatic Bacterial Vaginosis Diagnosis

Quantitative analysis of bacterial morphotypes in the microscope images plays a vital role in diagnosis of bacterial vaginosis (BV) based on the Nugent score criterion. However, there are two main challenges for this task: 1) It is quite difficult to identify the bacterial regions due to various appearance, faint boundaries, heterogeneous shapes, low contrast with the background, and small bacteria sizes with regards to the image. 2) There are numerous bacteria overlapping each other, which hinder us to conduct accurate analysis on individual bacterium. To overcome these challenges, we propose an automatic method in this paper to diagnose BV by quantitative analysis of bacterial morphotypes, which consists of a three-step approach, i.e., bacteria regions segmentation, overlapping bacteria splitting, and bacterial morphotypes classification. Specifically, we first segment the bacteria regions via saliency cut, which simultaneously evaluates the global contrast and spatial weighted coherence. And then Markov random field model is applied for high-quality unsupervised segmentation of small object. We then decompose overlapping bacteria clumps into markers, and associate a pixel with markers to identify evidence for eventual individual bacterium splitting. Next, we extract morphotype features from each bacterium to learn the descriptors and to characterize the types of bacteria using an Adaptive Boosting machine learning framework. Finally, BV diagnosis is implemented based on the Nugent score criterion. Experiments demonstrate that our proposed method achieves high accuracy and efficiency in computation for BV diagnosis.
Correlation of long non-coding RNA H19 expression with cisplatin-resistance and clinical outcome in lung adenocarcinoma

The acquired drug resistance would influence the efficacy of cisplatin-based chemotherapy in non-small-cell lung cancer. The present study aimed to investigate the correlation of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) H19 with cisplatin-resistance and clinical outcome in lung adenocarcinoma. In our study, the expression of H19 in cisplatin-resistant A549/DDP cells was unregulated. Knockdown of H19 restored the response of A549/DDP cells to cisplatin. H19-mediated chemosensitivity enhancement was associated with metastasis, induction of G0/G1 cell-cycle arrest, cell proliferation, and increased apoptosis. Furthermore, lncRNA H19 expression was significantly related to TNM stage and metastasis (P = 0.012). Overexpression of H19 was negatively correlated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy response in patients. Patients with high H19 expression exhibited a significantly shorter median progression-free survival (PFS) [4.7 months] than the low-expression patients (6.3months) [P = 0.002]. In summary, H19-mediated regulation of cisplatin resistance in human lung adenocarcinoma cells is demonstrated for the first time. H19 could potentially serve as a molecular marker to predict the clinical outcomes of lung adenocarcinoma patients.
A Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Trial on the Effect of a “feeding buddy” Program on adherence to the Prevention of Mother-To-Child-Transmission Guidelines in a Rural Area of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Background:The uptake of prevention of mother-to-child-transmission (PMTCT) services has improved in South Africa but challenges remain, including adherence to the World Health Organization's (WHO) PMTCT recommendations of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF), taking antiretroviral medication (ARV); testing for early infant diagnosis; and reducing stigma. Women who practice EBF for the first 6 months are less likely to transmit HIV to their infants, yet only 7% of women EBF for 6 months in South Africa. Adherence to these recommendations remains challenging because of difficulties relating to disclosure and stigma. To address this challenge, the feeding buddy concept was developed based on studies where ARV buddies have proved effective in providing support for women living with HIV. Buddies have demonstrated a positive effect on providing emotional and social support to adhere to PMTCT guidelines. Methods:A cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted in 16 selected randomly assigned clinics in uMhlathuze and uMlalazi districts of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. HIV-positive pregnant women (n = 625) who intended to breastfeed were enrolled at 8 control clinics and 8 intervention clinics. The clinics were stratified on the basis of urban/rural/periurban locale and then randomly allocated to either intervention or control. In the intervention clinics, the mother chose a feeding buddy to be enrolled alongside her. Quantitative interviews with mothers and their chosen buddies took place at enrollment during pregnancy and at routine postdelivery visits at day 3 and weeks 6, 14 and 22. Women in the control clinics were followed using the same evaluation schedule. The trial evaluated the effect of a voluntary PMTCT feeding buddy program on HIV-infected women's adherence to PMTCT recommendations and stigma reduction. The proportion of women exclusively feeding at 5.5 months postpartum was the primary end-point of the trial. In-depth interviews were conducted among a convenience sample of PMTCT counselors, community caregivers, mothers, and buddies from intervention clinics and control clinics to document their overall experiences. Discussion:The information collected in this study could be used to guide recommendations on how to build upon the current South Africa. PMTCT “buddy” strategy and to improve safe infant feeding. The information would be applicable to many other similar resource poor settings with poor social support structures.
THE BLOOD LEVELS AND RENAL CLEARANCE IN RABBITS AND MAN OF AN ANTIBIOTIC DERIVED FROM B. SUBTILIS (BACITRACIN).

The renal clearances of penicillins F, G, and X have been shown to approximate the total renal plasma flow (1, 2), varying between 529 and 865 ml. per minute in man, and 23 to 111 ml. per minute in rabbits (2). In consequence of that rapid excretion, the serum concentration of penicillin G decreases after its intramuscular injection in aqueous solution, at an average rate of 2 to 3 per cent of the residual penicillin per minute, and 70 to 80 per cent per hour; and it disappears from the blood even more rapidly after intravenous injection (3, 8). A therapeutic agent equal with a rate would for longer periods of time, and might be correspondingly more effective than similarly injected.
Neuroendocrine and physiological regulation of intake with particular reference to domesticated ruminant animals

The central nervous system undertakes the homeostatic role of sensing nutrient intake and body reserves, integrating the information, and regulating energy intake and/or energy expenditure. Few tasks regulated by the brain hold greater survival value, particularly important in farmed ruminant species, where the demands of pregnancy, lactation and/or growth are not easily met by often bulky plant-based and sometimes nutrient-sparse diets. Information regarding metabolic state can be transmitted to the appetite control centres of the brain by a diverse array of signals, such as stimulation of the vagus nerve, or metabolic ‘feedback’ factors derived from the pituitary gland, adipose tissue, stomach/abomasum, intestine, pancreas and/or muscle. These signals act directly on the neurons located in the arcuate nucleus of the medio-basal hypothalamus, a key integration, and hunger (orexigenic) and satiety (anorexigenic) control centre of the brain. Interest in human obesity and associated disorders has fuelled considerable research effort in this area, resulting in increased understanding of chronic and acute factors influencing feed intake. In recent years, research has demonstrated that these results have relevance to animal production, with genetic selection for production found to affect orexigenic hormones, feeding found to reduce the concentration of acute controllers of orexigenic signals, and exogenous administration of orexigenic hormones (i.e. growth hormone or ghrelin) reportedly increasing DM intake in ruminant animals as well as single-stomached species. The current state of knowledge on factors influencing the hypothalamic orexigenic and anorexigenic control centres is reviewed, particularly as it relates to domesticated ruminant animals, and potential avenues for future research are identified.
Psychosocial Risk and Protective Factors for Depression Among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Queer Youth: A Systematic Review

ABSTRACT Many lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer (LGBQ) youth suffer from depression. Identifying modifiable risk and protective factors for depression can inform the development of psychosocial interventions. The aim of this review is to evaluate the methodological characteristics and summarize the substantive findings of studies examining psychosocial risk and protective factors for depression among LGBQ youth. Eight bibliographic databases were searched, and 35 studies that met all inclusion criteria were included for review. Results show that prominent risk factors for depression include internalized LGBQ-related oppression, stress from hiding and managing a socially stigmatized identity, maladaptive coping, parental rejection, abuse and other traumatic events, negative interpersonal interactions, negative religious experiences, school bullying victimization, and violence victimization in community settings. Prominent protective factors include a positive LGBQ identity, self-esteem, social support from friends, and family support. LGBQ youth may face an array of threats to their mental health originating from multiple socioecological levels.
Supporting Creative Group Processes: Design Principles for Appropriate Groupware

Creative work is often conducted in distributed groups. Therefore information exchange is frequently facilitated by groupware systems. However, group work suffers from several losses such as information overload, production blocking, free riding, evaluation apprehension and production matching and yet has not been tailored to the need of creative work. In order to reduce these losses and to best support creative group processes (CGP), we propose a framework which combines a) the stages of the creative process, b) the potential losses of creative group processes and c) different media characteristics drawn from the Media Synchronicity Theory to formulate groupware design principles. We conclude that idea generation should be supported by asynchronous groupware functionality whilst idea evaluation merits from synchronous functionality.
Population‐based Clinical Practice Research Datalink study using algorithm modelling to identify the true burden of hidradenitis suppurativa

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a long‐term skin disease affecting young adults, causing multiple boils in skin crease sites such as the armpits and groins. The boils are painful, may produce pus and leave disfiguring scars. How common HS is remains controversial, with recent reports using USA medical insurance data suggesting about 0.1% of the population is affected, which is lower than European studies using self‐reported questionnaires (completed by the patient). This may be because insurance databases miss undiagnosed cases. Our study team based in the UK aimed to use UK electronic data recorded by General Practitioners (GPs) to identify known and previously undiagnosed cases of HS. We identified undiagnosed cases by looking for patients who had seen their GP for at least 5 skin boils and validated their diagnosis by sending some of the GPs a questionnaire to double‐check. Out of 4.3 million patients in the GP database, we found 23,000 diagnosed HS patients and 10,000 undiagnosed patients, showing that 0.77% of the UK population has HS. Including probable cases, who had 1‐4 skin boil consultations, the figure rises to 1.19%. Comparing people with HS to similar people without HS, there are higher rates of smoking and obesity (both 3 times more common), as well as type 2 diabetes, Crohn's disease, raised fat levels in the blood, acne, high blood pressure and depression. However a link was not found between HS and ulcerative colitis or polycystic ovary syndrome. In conclusion, we found that HS is relatively common, nearly 10 times more common than the estimates using USA insurance data. People with HS have higher rates of risk factors for heart disease and stroke and so checking for these conditions is important.
Group cognitive behavioural therapy for stroke survivors with depression and their carers

Abstract Background: Depression in stroke survivors is common, leads to poorer outcomes and often not treated. A group cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) program (Brainstorm) for stroke survivors with depression, and their carers has been running as part of usual care since 2007. Objective: To evaluate the implementation and acceptability of Brainstorm, a closed group intervention consisting of up to 10 sessions of education, activity planning, problem solving and thought challenging. Methods: Participating stroke survivors and their carers complete assessment measures at baseline, post-treatment and 1-month and 6-months follow-up. A mixed models for repeated measures data was conducted with depression and anxiety scores for stroke survivors (Beck Depression Inventory-II; Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) and the assessment of depression, anxiety and carer burden for carers. Acceptability was assessed by session attendance and written and open participant feedback upon completion of the program. Results: Forty-eight community dwelling stroke survivors and 34 carers attended Brainstorm, with a median attendance of 88% of sessions. Follow-up assessments were completed by 77% (post-treatment), 46% (1-month) and 38% (6-month) of stroke survivors. Stroke survivors’ depression scores decreased from baseline to post-treatment (p<.001); maintained at 1-month (p<.001) but not at 6-month (p=.056). Anxiety scores decreased between baseline and 1-month (p=.013). Carer burden, depression and anxiety scores at 1-month and 6-month follow-up, for carers, were all reduced when compared with baseline (p<.05). Conclusion: The Brainstorm group intervention for depression in stroke survivors appears to have been effectively implemented and is acceptable to stroke survivors and carers.
Male Infertility and Risk of Nonmalignant Chronic Diseases: A Systematic Review of the Epidemiological Evidence

Abstract The association between male infertility and increased risk of certain cancers is well studied. Less is known about the long-term risk of nonmalignant diseases in men with decreased fertility. A systemic literature review was performed on the epidemiologic evidence of male infertility as a precursor for increased risk of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and all-cause mortality. PubMed and Embase were searched from January 1, 1980, to September 1, 2016, to identify epidemiological studies reporting associations between male infertility and the outcomes of interest. Animal studies, case reports, reviews, studies not providing an accurate reference group, and studies including infertility due to vasectomy or malignancy were excluded. The literature search resulted in 2,485 references among which we identified seven articles fulfilling the eligibility criteria. Of these, four articles were prospective (three on risk of mortality, one on risk of chronic diseases) and three were cross-sectional relating male infertility to the Charlson Comorbidity Index. The current epidemiological evidence is compatible with an association between male infertility and risk of chronic disease and mortality, but the small number of prospective studies and insufficient adjustment of confounders preclude strong statements about male infertility as precursor of these outcomes.
The Role of LRRK2 in Neurodegeneration of Parkinson Disease

The leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) gene and α-synuclein gene (SNCA) are the key influencing factors of Parkinson’s disease (PD). It is reported that dysfunction of LRRK2 may influence the accumulation of α-synuclein and its pathology to alter cellular functions and signaling pathways by the kinase activation of LRRK2. The accumulation of α-synuclein is one of the main stimulants of microglial activation. Microglia are macrophages that reside in the brain, and acti-vation of microglia is believed to contribute to neuroinflammation and neuronal death in PD. Therefore, clarifying the com-plex relationship among LRRK2, α-synuclein and microglials could offer targeted clinical therapies for PD. Here, we provide an updated review focused on the discussion of the evidence supporting some of the key mechanisms that are important for LRRK2-dependent neurodegeneration in PD
Mof (MYST1 or KAT8) Is Essential for Progression of Embryonic Development Past the Blastocyst Stage and Required for Normal Chromatin Architecture

ABSTRACT Acetylation of histone tails is a hallmark of transcriptionally active chromatin. Mof (males absent on the first; also called MYST1 or KAT8) is a member of the MYST family of histone acetyltransferases and was originally discovered as an essential component of the X chromosome dosage compensation system in Drosophila. In order to examine the role of Mof in mammals in vivo, we generated mice carrying a null mutation of the Mof gene. All Mof-deficient embryos fail to develop beyond the expanded blastocyst stage and die at implantation in vivo. Mof-deficient cell lines cannot be derived from Mof−/− embryos in vitro. Mof−/− embryos fail to acetylate histone 4 lysine 16 (H4K16) but have normal acetylation of other N-terminal histone lysine residues. Mof−/− cell nuclei exhibit abnormal chromatin aggregation preceding activation of caspase 3 and DNA fragmentation. We conclude that Mof is functionally nonredundant with the closely related MYST histone acetyltransferase Tip60. Our results show that Mof performs a different role in mammals from that in flies at the organism level, although the molecular function is conserved. We demonstrate that Mof is required specifically for the maintenance of H4K16 acetylation and normal chromatin architecture of all cells of early male and female embryos.
Non-Autoregressive Neural Machine Translation

Existing approaches to neural machine translation condition each output word on previously generated outputs. We introduce a model that avoids this autoregressive property and produces its outputs in parallel, allowing an order of magnitude lower latency during inference. Through knowledge distillation, the use of input token fertilities as a latent variable, and policy gradient fine-tuning, we achieve this at a cost of as little as 2.0 BLEU points relative to the autoregressive Transformer network used as a teacher. We demonstrate substantial cumulative improvements associated with each of the three aspects of our training strategy, and validate our approach on IWSLT 2016 English-German and two WMT language pairs. By sampling fertilities in parallel at inference time, our non-autoregressive model achieves near-state-of-the-art performance of 29.8 BLEU on WMT 2016 English-Romanian.
Contrasting drivers of reproductive ageing in albatrosses

Abstract Age‐related variation in reproductive performance is ubiquitous in wild vertebrate populations and has important consequences for population and evolutionary dynamics. The ageing trajectory is shaped by both within‐individual processes, such as improvement and senescence, and the among‐individual effects of selective appearance and disappearance. To date, few studies have compared the role of these different drivers among species or populations. In this study, we use nearly 40 years of longitudinal monitoring data to contrast the within‐ and among‐individual processes contributing to the reproductive ageing patterns in three albatross species (two biennial and one annual breeder) and test whether these can be explained by differences in life histories. Early‐life performance in all species increased with age and was predominantly influenced by within‐individual improvements. However, reproductive senescence was detected in only two of the species. In the species exhibiting senescent declines, we also detected a terminal improvement in breeding success. This is suggestive of a trade‐off between reproduction and survival, which was supported by evidence of selective disappearance of good breeders. We demonstrate that comparisons of closely related species which differ in specific aspects of their life history can shed light on the ecological and evolutionary forces shaping variation in ageing patterns.
Increased Akt-mTOR Signaling in Lung Epithelium Is Associated with Respiratory Distress Syndrome in Mice

ABSTRACT Pregnancy in women with diabetes is associated with a higher risk of perinatal complications. In particular, infants of diabetic mothers frequently suffer from respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), which is a leading cause of death in preterm infants and is considered to be primarily due to hyperinsulinemia in infants in response to maternal hyperglycemia. To elucidate the mechanism of how insulin signaling induces RDS, bronchoalveolar epithelium-specific Akt1 transgenic (TG) mice were generated. Akt1 overexpression in fetal lung epithelium resulted in RDS in preterm infants born by Caesarean section at embryonic day 18.5 (E18.5). The expression levels of hypoxia-inducible factor 2α (HIF-2α) and its target vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were downregulated in the lung of Akt1 TG mice. Inhibition of the Akt-mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling axis by rapamycin restored the expression of VEGF and improved the lung pathology of Akt1 TG pups. Rapamycin also attenuated the RDS phenotype in wild-type mice delivered preterm at E17.5. In cultured lung epithelial cells, insulin reduced VEGF expression and transcriptional activity of HIF-2 on VEGF promoter in an mTOR-dependent manner. Thus, aberrant activation of the Akt-mTOR pathway in lung epithelium plays a causal role in the pathogenesis of infant RDS, presumably through downregulation of HIF-2-dependent VEGF expression in the lung.