Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Design and Structure–Function Characterization of 3D Printed Synthetic Porous Biomaterials for Tissue Engineering

3D printing is now adopted for use in a variety of industries and functions. In biomedical engineering, 3D printing has prevailed over more traditional manufacturing methods in tissue engineering due to its high degree of control over both macro‐ and microarchitecture of porous tissue scaffolds. However, with the improved flexibility in design come new challenges in characterizing the structure–function relationships between various architectures and both mechanical and biological properties in an assortment of clinical applications. Presently, the field of tissue engineering lacks a comprehensive body of literature that is capable of drawing meaningful relationships between the designed structure and resulting function of 3D printed porous biomaterial scaffolds. This work first discusses the role of design on 3D printed porous scaffold function and then reviews characterization of these structure–function relationships for 3D printed synthetic metallic, polymeric, and ceramic biomaterials.
n-3 Fatty acids in psoriasis

Increased concentrations of free arachidonic acid (AA) and its proinflammatory metabolites have been observed in psoriatic lesions. Replacement of arachidonic acid by alternative precursor polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), especially eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), which can be metabolized via the same enzymatic pathways as AA, might be a therapeutic option in psoriasis. However the results of studies evaluating the therapeutic benefit of dietary fish oil have been conflicting and not clearly dose-dependent. To overcome the slow kinetics and limited availability of oral supplementation, we have performed three studies to assess the efficacy and safety of an intravenously administered fish oil derived lipid emulsion on different forms of psoriasis. Patients received daily infusions of either an n-3 fatty acid-based lipid emulsion (Omegaven) or a conventional n-6 lipid emulsion (Lipoven) in different time and dose regimens. In addition to an overall assessment of the clinical course of psoriasis, EPA- and AA-derived neutrophil 5-lipoxygenase (LO)--products, thromboxane (TX) B2/B3, PAF and plasma free fatty acids were investigated. Treatment with n-3 fatty acids resulted in a considerably higher response rate than infusion of n-6 lipids. A more than 10-fold increase in neutrophil EPA-derived 5-LO product formation was noted in the n-3 group, accompanied by a rapid increase in plasma-free EPA within the first days. In conclusion, intravenous n-3-fatty acid administration causes reduction of psoriasis, which may be related to changes in inflammatory eicosanoid generation. The rapidity of the response to intravenous n-3 lipids exceeds by orders of magnitude the hitherto reported kinetics of improvement of psoriatic lesions upon use of oral supplementation.
Neonatal hypocalcemia and its relation to vitamin D and calcium supplementation

Objectives: To assess the prevalence of hypocalcemia in outpatient clinic neonates and its relation to vitamin D and calcium supplementation. Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study was conducted at the University Teaching Hospital from May to October 2016. Data were collected from 100 neonates by interviewing mothers using a structured questionnaire; which included socio-demographic information, maternal and neonatal history; in addition to investigations of serum calcium total and ionized and serum vitamin D level. Results: The prevalence of hypocalcemia was 76%, late hypocalcemia represent 52% of hypocalcemic neonates. The prevalence of hypovitaminosis D was 38%. Hypocalcemia was found more prevalent among neonates with no history of vitamin D supplementation (98.7%), no history of maternal calcium supplementation (57.9%), while they had a history of neonatal jaundice on phototherapy (46.1%) which increased to 53.8% with late hypocalcemia. Conclusion: Neonatal hypocalcemia is widely prevalent in Fayoum governorate with significant association with a history of neonatal jaundice on phototherapy, not receiving maternal calcium or neonatal vitamin D supplementation.
Post Selection Inference with Kernels

We propose a novel kernel based post selection inference (PSI) algorithm, which can not only handle non-linearity in data but also structured output such as multi-dimensional and multi-label outputs. Specifically, we develop a PSI algorithm for independence measures, and propose the Hilbert-Schmidt Independence Criterion (HSIC) based PSI algorithm (hsicInf). The novelty of the proposed algorithm is that it can handle non-linearity and/or structured data through kernels. Namely, the proposed algorithm can be used for wider range of applications including nonlinear multi-class classification and multi-variate regressions, while existing PSI algorithms cannot handle them. Through synthetic experiments, we show that the proposed approach can find a set of statistically significant features for both regression and classification problems. Moreover, we apply the hsicInf algorithm to a real-world data, and show that hsicInf can successfully identify important features.
The optimum dietary amino acid pattern for growing pigs

A series of four nitrogen-balance experiments was carried out with growing pigs to determine the optimum balance amongst the amino acids in the diet. The reduction in N retention when 20% of a single amino acid was removed from the diet was used to calculate a dietary amino acid pattern in which each amino acid would he equally limiting. A mixture of amino acids simulating the amino acid pattern of casein was used with the same efficiency as casein. From two successive deletion experiments an optimum balance amongst the essential amino acids was derived. Expressed relative to lysine = 100 this had threonine 72, valine 75, methionine + cystine 63, isoleucine 60, leucine 110, phenylalanine + tryosine 120, tryptophan 18. No estimate was made for histidine. Essential amino acids in this pattern were mixed with non-essential amino acids in ratios of 36:64 up to 57:43. The highest efficiency of N retention was achieved with diets having a ratio of a t least 45:55. This included (g/16 g N) lysine 6.5, threonine 4.7, valine 4.9, methionine + cystine 4.1, isoleucine 3.9, leucine 7.2, phenylalanine + tyrosine 7.8, tryptophan 12. The N of diets with this amino acid pattern was utilized significantly better than when the pattern proposed by the Agricultural Research Council (1981) was used. The flow of amino acids past the terminal ileum of pigs given the semi-synthetic diet with this amino acid pattern was no greater than that observed with protein-free diets. The proposed pattern thus describes the intrinsic requirements of the growing pig for absorbed amino acids.
Five‐country manikin study found that neonatologists preferred using the LISAcath rather than the Angiocath for less invasive surfactant administration

Less invasive surfactant administration (LISA) has been shown to decrease the risk of death and bronchopulmonary dysplasia in preterm neonates. The LISAcath is the first catheter to be specifically developed for LISA, and we compared the clinical impressions of neonatologists using the LISAcath and the commonly used Angiocath in a simulated setting.
Takotsubo cardiomyopathy-related complete heart block and torsades de pointes

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TCM) is a relatively recently recognised clinical entity. It frequently mimics acute coronary syndrome and is accompanied by reversible left ventricular apical ballooning in the absence of angiographically significant coronary artery stenosis. TCM is a reversible condition, and the prognosis is usually well. However, in rare instances, it can be associated with life-threatening arrhythmic complications. Herein, we report the case of a patient with TCM who developed complete atrioventricular block followed by QT prolongation and torsades de pointes. Furthermore, we undertook a literature review of this rare complication of TCM and discussed the formidable therapeutic challenge encountered in such patients.
Novel Microstrip-Based Simplified Approach for Fast Determination of Substrate Permittivity

This paper presents a simple and fast microstrip transmission line method for the broadband radio frequency characterization of dielectric substrate materials. The proposed method utilizes only the magnitude of the S-parameters of the microstrip line at certain discrete frequency points. The technique is thus free from the phase uncertainty problem, which is the main concern in conventional broadband microwave characterization techniques. Additionally, the proposed method does not require the 50- $\Omega $ microstrip line to be designed on the test sample, and hence prior knowledge of the approximate substrate permittivity is not required, unlike earlier proposed planar methods. The scheme presented in this paper is based on the derivation of a novel closed-form relationship to determine the real part of the substrate permittivity from the measured reflection coefficient. The loss tangent of the substrate material is obtained from the numerical model based on the transmission coefficients of designed microstrip line. The proposed method is validated numerically using the 3-D electromagnetic solver CST Microwave Studio. For the experimental validation, the microstrip structure of arbitrary impedance is fabricated on the test substrate, and its complex permittivity is retrieved using the proposed scheme in terms of S-parameters measured with the network analyzer. The extracted permittivities of standard samples using both simulated and the experimental data agree well with their reference values available in the literature.
Attention and visual texture segregation

Visual texture segregation is believed to be performed preattentively. Recent evidence, however, suggests that attention does play an important role. Using visual evoked potentials (VEPs), we investigated the effect of different tasks on texture segregation. Stimuli consisted of Gabor-filtered binary noise patterns. In segregated stimuli, local texture orientation contrasts defined global checkerboard patterns. VEP responses specific to texture segregation were obtained by computing the difference between VEPs to homogeneous and segregated stimuli. Four conditions were examined that required attending either the global pattern, the local structure, random numbers displayed on the screen, or a series of tones. Responses specific to texture segregation were dominated by two occipital negativities peaking around 110 and 230 ms. The earlier one was not affected by the task, whereas the later one was completely abolished when the subjects attended to either numbers or tones (p = .0005 and p = .006, respectively). The results suggest that early stages of texture segregation are not affected by attention, whereas task relevance is crucial for later processes. The timing is compatible with a recurrent processing pattern with initial bottom-up processing of basic stimulus characteristics and a subsequent top-down flow of higher level modulatory information. As attention effects occur across modalities, they cannot be simply explained by competition within the visual cortex.
War and the Practice of Psychotherapy: The UK Experience 1939–1960

During the Second World War, it is argued, “the neuroses of battle” not only deepened an understanding of “psychopathological mechanisms”, but also created opportunities for the practice of psychotherapy, while its perceived efficacy led to a broader acceptance within medicine and society once peace had returned. This recognition is contrasted with the aftermath of the First World War when a network of outpatient clinics, set up by the Ministry of Pensions to treat veterans with shell shock, were closed within a few years in response to financial pressures and doubts about their therapeutic value. In the private sector, psychoanalysis under the leadership of Ernest Jones remained an idiosyncratic activity confined largely to the affluent middle classes of London. According to Gregorio Kohon, “it was strongly opposed by the general public, the Church, the medical and psychiatric establishment, and the press”. The Medico-Psychological Clinic of London, originally set up in 1913, offered psychotherapy on three afternoons a week in premises at 30 Brunswick Square under the direction of Dr James Glover. However, it closed in 1923 after Glover and his brother Edward had both become psychoanalysts. As the First World War drew to a close, Maurice Craig helped to persuade Sir Ernest Cassel to fund a hospital for ‘Functional and Nervous Disorders’ at Penshurst, Kent, to treat neuroses in the civilian population. Although moved to permanent premises near Richmond, it remained small-scale and at the time no attempt was made to establish a network of similar institutions throughout the UK. The Tavistock Clinic, opened in Bloomsbury in 1920, struggled to secure funding throughout the interwar period and its efforts to win official recognition from the University of London were consistently rebutted. Thus, despite the epidemic of shell shock and other so-called war neuroses, psychotherapy remained a marginal activity during the 1920s and 1930s.
Changes in macroautophagy, chaperone-mediated autophagy, and mitochondrial metabolism in murine skeletal and cardiac muscle during aging

Aging causes a general decline in cellular metabolic activity, and function in different tissues and whole body homeostasis. However, the understanding about the metabolomic and autophagy changes in skeletal muscle and heart during aging is still limited. We thus examined markers for macroautophagy, chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA), mitochondrial quality control, as well as cellular metabolites in skeletal and cardiac muscle from young (5 months old) and aged (27 months old) mice. We found decreased autophagic degradation of p62 and increased ubiquitinated proteins in both tissues from aged mice, suggesting a decline in macroautophagy during aging. In skeletal muscle from aged mice, there also was a decline in LC3B-I conjugation to phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) possibly due to decreased protein levels of ATG3 and ATG12-ATG5. The CMA markers, LAMP-2A and Hsc70, and mitochondrial turnover markers, Drp1, PINK1 and PGC1α also were decreased. Metabolomics analysis showed impaired β-oxidation in heart of aged mice, whereas increased branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) and ceramide levels were found in skeletal muscle of aged mice that in turn, may contribute to insulin resistance in muscle. Taken together, our studies showed similar declines in macroautophagy but distinct effects on CMA, mitochondrial turnover, and metabolic dysfunction in muscle vs. heart during aging.
Advertising Strategies for Mobile Platforms With “Apps”

Mobile platforms are prevalently used in the age of social media. They serve a two-sided market to connect users and app developers. In this system, members simultaneously sell products, publish advertisements (ads), and advertise. This paper aims to explore advertising strategies for the mobile platform incorporating their roles as sellers, ad publishers, and advertisers. Specifically, we develop a game-theoretical model which captures the relationship among the works of the platform owner and app developers in a dynamic setting. Our analysis shows that when the platform displays apps’ ads, the owner may be better off to participate in apps’ advertising under certain conditions, rather than always charging them aggressively as suggested by convention wisdom. Surprisingly, although the negative impacts evoked by multiple apps’ entry deserve much attention, it is unnecessary for app developers to take into account when making advertising decisions. We further find that the coordinating bilateral participation in advertising is a new mechanism to improve the profitability. Unlike the result proposed in the previous literature, the mechanism here will cause free-riding among app developers when they participate in the platform’s advertising. Furthermore, when accompanied with the revenue sharing policy, the relatively low participation rates could absolutely eliminate the system inefficiency.
The Effects of Performance Evaluation Market Ratios on the Stock Return : Evidence from the Tehran Stock Exchange

The main objective of this study is to investigate the effect of performance evaluation market ratios on the stock return of companies listed in the Tehran Stock Exchange. For this purpose, a sample of 80 companies were investigated and analyzed among the companies listed in the Tehran Stock Exchange during the years 2006 to 2010. In this study is used the variables of earnings per share (EPS), price to earnings ratio (P/E) and the ratio of market value to book value of equity (M/B) to evaluate the market ratios of performance evaluation of companies. The research results indicate that earnings per share has significant and positive effects on stock return of current year, but on the stock return of future year has positive and bound line effects. Also obtained results show that the variables of price to earnings ratio and market value to book value ratio statistically have significant and negative effects on stock return of current and future year.
Cancer etiology: Variation in cancer risk among tissues is poorly explained by the number of gene mutations

Recent evidence indicates that the risk of being diagnosed with cancer in a tissue is strongly correlated (0.80) with the number of stem cell divisions accumulated by the tissue. Since cell division can generate random mutations during DNA replication, this correlation has been used to propose that cancer is largely caused by the accumulation of unavoidable mutations in driver genes. However, no correlation between the number of gene mutations and cancer risk across tissues has been reported. Because many somatic mutations in cancers originate prior to tumor initiation and the number of cell divisions occurring during tumor growth is similar among tissues, I use whole genome sequencing information from 22 086 cancer samples and incidence data from the largest cancer registry in each continent to study the relationship between the number of gene mutations and the risk of cancer across 33 tissue types. Results show a weak positive correlation (mean = 0.14) between these 2 parameters in each of the 5 cancer registries. The correlation became stronger (mean = 0.50) when gender‐related cancers were excluded. Results also show that 1003 samples from 29 cancer types have zero mutations in genes. These data suggest that cancer etiology can be better explained by the accumulation of stem cell divisions than by the accumulation of gene mutations. Possible mechanisms by which the accumulation of cell divisions in stem cells increases the risk of cancer are discussed.
Towards a crowdsourced solution for the authoring bottleneck in interactive narratives

Interactive Storytelling research has produced a wealth of technologies that can be employed to create personalised narrative experiences, in which the audience takes a participating rather than observing role. But so far this technology has not led to the production of large scale playable interactive story experiences that realise the ambitions of the field. One main reason for this state of affairs is the difficulty of authoring interactive stories, a task that requires describing a huge amount of story building blocks in a machine friendly fashion. This is not only technically and conceptually more challenging than traditional narrative authoring but also a scalability problem. This thesis examines the authoring bottleneck through a case study and a literature survey and advocates a solution based on crowdsourcing. Prior work has already shown that combining a large number of example stories collected from crowd workers with a system that merges these contributions into a single interactive story can be an effective way to reduce the authorial burden. As a refinement of such an approach, this thesis introduces the novel concept of Crowd Task Adaptation. It argues that in order to maximise the usefulness of the collected stories, a system should dynamically and intelligently analyse the corpus of collected stories and based on this analysis modify the tasks handed out to crowd workers. Two authoring systems, ENIGMA and CROSCAT, which show two radically different approaches of using the Crowd Task Adaptation paradigm have been implemented and are described in this thesis. While ENIGMA adapts tasks through a realtime dialog between crowd workers and the system that is based on what has been learned from previously collected stories, CROSCAT modifies the backstory given to crowd workers in order to optimise the distribution of branching points in the tree structure that combines all collected stories. Two experimental studies of crowdsourced authoring are also presented. They lead to guidelines on how to employ crowdsourced authoring effectively, but more importantly the results of one of the studies demonstrate the effectiveness of the Crowd Task Adaptation approach.
Neuroprotective effect of amantadine on corticosterone‐induced abnormal glutamatergic synaptic transmission of CA3‐CA1 pathway in rat's hippocampal slices

Depression is a psychiatric disorder and chronic stress, leading to altered glucocorticoid secretion patterns, is one of the factors that induce depression. Our previous study showed that amantadine significantly attenuated the impairments of synaptic plasticity and cognitive function a rat model of CUS. However, little is known regarding the underlying mechanism. In the present study, the whole‐cell patch‐clamp technique was applied to examine the protection effect of amantadine on the hippocampus CA3‐CA1 pathway. Evoked excitatory postsynaptic currents (eEPSCs), miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSCs), paired‐pulse ratio (PPR) and the action potentials of CA3 neurons were recorded. Our data showed that corticosterone increased the amplitude of eEPSCs and decreased the value of paired‐pulse ratio (PPR), but both of them were significantly reversed by amantadine. In addition, the frequency of mEPSC was considerably increased by corticosterone, but it was reduced by amantadine. Moreover, we used the Fluo‐3/AM image to detect the Ca2+ influx in primary cultured hippocampal neurons. The results showed that the intracellular calcium levels were significantly decreased by amantadine in the corticosterone treated neurons. Additionally, the superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities were reduced by corticosterone, while they were enhanced by either amantadine or low‐calcium artificial cerebral spinal fluid (ACSF). These results suggest that amantadine significantly improves corticosterone‐induced abnormal glutamatergic synaptic transmission of CA3‐CA1 synapses presynaptically and alleviates the activities of antioxidant enzymes via regulating the calcium influx.