Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Toll-Like Receptor-Mediated Inflammatory Signaling Reprograms Cardiac Energy Metabolism by Repressing Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor &ggr; Coactivator-1 Signaling

Background—Currently, there are no specific therapies available to treat cardiac dysfunction caused by sepsis and other chronic inflammatory conditions. Activation of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is an early event in Gram-negative bacterial sepsis, triggering a robust inflammatory response and changes in metabolism. Peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor-&ggr; coactivator-1 (PGC-1) &agr; and &bgr; serve as critical physiological regulators of energy metabolic gene expression in heart. Methods and Results—Injection of mice with LPS triggered a myocardial fuel switch similar to that of the failing heart: reduced mitochondrial substrate flux and myocyte lipid accumulation. The LPS-induced metabolic changes were associated with diminished ventricular function and suppression of the genes encoding PGC-1&agr; and &bgr;, known transcriptional regulators of mitochondrial function. This cascade of events required TLR4 and nuclear factor-&kgr;B activation. Restoration of PGC-1&bgr; expression in cardiac myocytes in culture and in vivo in mice reversed the gene regulatory, metabolic, and functional derangements triggered by LPS. Interestingly, the effects of PGC-1&bgr; overexpression were independent of the upstream inflammatory response, highlighting the potential utility of modulating downstream metabolic derangements in cardiac myocytes as a novel strategy to prevent or treat sepsis-induced heart failure. Conclusions—LPS triggers cardiac energy metabolic reprogramming through suppression of PGC-1 coactivators in the cardiac myocyte. Reactivation of PGC-1&bgr; expression can reverse the metabolic and functional derangements caused by LPS-TLR4 activation, identifying the PGC-1 axis as a candidate therapeutic target for sepsis-induced heart failure.
Estimating neural sources from each time-frequency component of magnetoencephalographic data

We have developed a method that incorporates the time-frequency characteristics of neural sources into magnetoencephalographic (MEG) source estimation. This method, referred to as the time-frequency multiple-signal-classification algorithm, allows the locations of neural sources to be estimated from any time-frequency region of interest. In this paper, we formulate the method based on the most general form of the quadratic time-frequency representations. We then apply it to two kinds of nonstationary MEG data: gamma-band (frequency range between 30-100 Hz) auditory activity data and spontaneous MEG data. Our method successfully detected the gamma-band source slightly medial to the N1m source location. The method was able to selectively localize sources for alpha-rhythm bursts at different locations. It also detected the mu-rhythm source from the alpha-rhythm-dominant MEG data that was measured with the subject's eyes closed. The results of these applications validate the effectiveness of the time-frequency MUSIC algorithm for selectively localizing sources having different time-frequency signatures.
Smg6/Est1 licenses embryonic stem cell differentiation via nonsense-mediated mRNA decay

Nonsense‐mediated mRNA decay (NMD) is a post‐transcriptional mechanism that targets aberrant transcripts and regulates the cellular RNA reservoir. Genetic modulation in vertebrates suggests that NMD is critical for cellular and tissue homeostasis, although the underlying mechanism remains elusive. Here, we generate knockout mice lacking Smg6/Est1, a key nuclease in NMD and a telomerase cofactor. While the complete loss of Smg6 causes mouse lethality at the blastocyst stage, inducible deletion of Smg6 is compatible with embryonic stem cell (ESC) proliferation despite the absence of telomere maintenance and functional NMD. Differentiation of Smg6‐deficient ESCs is blocked due to sustained expression of pluripotency genes, normally repressed by NMD, and forced down‐regulation of one such target, c‐Myc, relieves the differentiation block. Smg6‐null embryonic fibroblasts are viable as well, but are refractory to cellular reprograming into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Finally, depletion of all major NMD factors compromises ESC differentiation, thus identifying NMD as a licensing factor for the switch of cell identity in the process of stem cell differentiation and somatic cell reprograming.
Development of the Person–Family Fit Construct: An Extension of Person–Environment Fit into the Family Domain

Abstract This article defines a person’s environment as a combination of work and family environments by extending the person–environment fit theory to include the family domain. The study extends the person–environment fit construct by including person–job fit, person–organization fit, person–group fit, person–supervisor fit (all in work environment) and person–family fit (family environment). In the two studies that were carried using operational-level employees from various industries, we empirically develop a scale for the new concept person–family fit, validated person–family fit scale and the person–environment fit construct. This study makes several theoretical contributions including defining person–family fit construct, developing a scale to measure the same and confirming its inclusion into the person–environment fit construct. Managerial implications are provided to ensure person–job fit, person–group fit, person–supervisor fit and person–family fit in the working environment.
Performance The Effects of Team-Skills Training on Transactive Memory and

can be found at: Small Group Research Additional services and information for http://sgr.sagepub. com/cgi/alerts Email Alerts: http://sgr.sagepub. com/subscriptions Subscriptions: http://www.sagepub. com/journalsReprints.nav Reprints: http://www.sagepub. com/journalsPermissions.nav Permissions: http://sgr.sagepub. com/cgi/content/refs/38/6/696 SAGE Journals Online and HighWire Press platforms): (this article cites 37 articles hosted on the Citations
Incentives in Experiments: A Theoretical Analysis

Experimental economists currently lack a convention for how to pay subjects in experiments with multiple tasks. We provide a theoretical framework for analyzing this question. Assuming statewise monotonicity and nothing else, we prove that paying for one randomly chosen problem—the random problem selection mechanism—is essentially the only incentive compatible mechanism. Paying for every period is similarly justified when we assume only a “no complementarities at the top” condition. To help experimenters decide which is appropriate for their particular experiment, we discuss empirical tests of these two assumptions.
Differentiated Murine Airway Epithelial Cells Synthesize a Leukocyte-adhesive Hyaluronan Matrix in Response to Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress*

In this report, we describe a novel method for culturing murine trachea epithelial cells on a native basement membrane at an air-liquid interface to produce a pseudostratified, differentiated airway epithelium composed of ciliated and nonciliated cells. This model was used to examine hyaluronan synthesis by the airway epithelial cells (AECs) in response to poly(I,C) and tunicamycin. The former induces a response similar to viral infection, and the latter is a bacterial toxin known to induce endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. We found significant accumulation of hyaluronan on the apical surface of the AECs in response to ER stress, but, unlike previously reported results with smooth muscle cells, no increase in hyaluronan was observed in response to poly(I,C). Monocytic U937 cells adhered at 4 °C to the apical surface of the AECs subjected to ER stress by a mechanism almost entirely mediated by hyaluronan. The U937 cells spontaneously released themselves from the abnormal hyaluronan matrix when their metabolism was restored by shifting the temperature from 4 to 37 °C in a custom-made flow chamber. Time lapse confocal microscopy permitted live imaging of this interaction between the U937 cells and the hyaluronan matrix and their subsequent response at 37 °C. Within 45 min, we observed dynamic protrusions of the U937 cell plasma membrane into nearby hyaluronan matrix, resulting in the degradation of this matrix. Simultaneously, we observed some reorganization of the hyaluronan matrix, from a generalized, apical distribution to localized regions around the AEC tight junctions. We discuss the implications these results might have for the airway epithelium and its relation to airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness associated with asthma and other airway diseases.
Relative blindsight in normal observers and the neural correlate of visual consciousness

By using a paradigm based on metacontrast masking, we created experimental conditions in which the subjective report of consciousness differs but the objectively measured ability to discriminate visual targets does not. This approach allowed us to study the neural correlate of consciousness while having performance levels carefully matched in healthy human subjects. A comparison of the neural activity associated with these conditions as measured by functional MRI showed that conscious perception is associated with spatially specific activity in the mid-dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (area 46). Further analysis confirms that this activation is not only free from any performance confound, but is also not driven by differences in the timing of the physical stimuli. Our results suggest that the prefrontal cortex is important for the essentially subjective aspects of conscious perception.
Learning dynamics in feedforward neural networks

This investigation studies the learning dynamics of artificial feedforward neural networks for the purpose of designing new algorithms and architectures with increased learning ability and computational efficiency. The concept of a system matrix for the learning algorithm is developed and the condition number of this matrix is shown to be a good indicator of convergence in backpropagation. The concept of a linearly independent internal representation is developed and used to derived the minimal number of hidden units required for exact learning. The minimization of the sum of squared error is shown to enhance the linear independence of the internal representation, thereby increasing the likelihood of exact learning. A family of architectures, the Tree-Like Architectures, are studied for potential efficacy in learning and computational efficiency. The Tree-Like Perceptron network, a member of the Tree-Like Architecture family, is useful in the context of resource limited training when compared to the Multilayer Perceptron. In addition, preliminary results show that the Tree-Like Perceptron network may enhance convergence in large-scale applications. The Tree-Like Shared network, another member of the Tree-Like Architecture family, combines the Tree-Like Perceptron with the concept of a linearly independent internal representation. The Tree-Like Shared network allows communication between decomposed subnetworks to increase convergence at the expense of parallelism. A novel two hidden layer network with a reduced parameter representation is proposed and analyzed by numerical simulation. Preliminary results indicate a dependence on the available dynamic range and precision of the computing platform. Thesis Supervisor: Chi-Sang Poon Title: Principal Research Scientist
Adult Hematology and Clinical Chemistry Laboratory Reference Ranges in a Zimbabwean Population

Background Laboratory reference ranges used for clinical care and clinical trials in various laboratories in Zimbabwe were derived from textbooks and research studies conducted more than ten years ago. Periodic verification of these ranges is essential to track changes over time. The purpose of this study was to establish hematology and chemistry laboratory reference ranges using more rigorous methods. Methods A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out in Harare, Chitungwiza, and Mutoko. A multistage sampling technique was used. Samples were transported from the field for analysis at the ISO15189 certified University of Zimbabwe-University of California San Francisco Central Research Laboratory. Hematology and clinical chemistry reference ranges lower and upper reference limits were estimated at the 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles respectively. Results A total of 769 adults (54% males) aged 18 to 55 years were included in the analysis. Median age was 28 [IQR: 23–35] years. Males had significantly higher red cell counts, hemoglobin, hematocrit, and mean corpuscular hemoglobin compared to females. Females had higher white cell counts, platelets, absolute neutrophil counts, and absolute lymphocyte counts compared to males. There were no gender differences in eosinophils, monocytes, and absolute basophil count. Males had significantly higher levels of urea, sodium, potassium, calcium, creatinine, amylase, total protein, albumin and liver enzymes levels compared to females. Females had higher cholesterol and lipase compared with males. There are notable differences in the white cell counts, neutrophils, cholesterol, and creatinine kinase when compared with the currently used reference ranges. Conclusion Data from this study provides new country specific reference ranges which should be immediately adopted for routine clinical care and accurate monitoring of adverse events in research studies.
Scalable clip-based near-duplicate video detection with ordinal measure

Detection of duplicate or near-duplicate videos on large-scale database plays an important role in video search. In this paper, we analyze the problem of near-duplicates detection and propose a practical and effective solution for real-time large-scale video retrieval. Unlike many existing approaches which make use of video frames or key-frames, our solution is based on a more discriminative signature of video clips. The feature used in this paper is an extension of ordinal measures which have proven to be robust to change in brightness, compression formats and compression ratios. For efficient retrieval, we propose to use Multi-Probe Locality Sensitive Hashing (MPLSH) to index the video clips for fast similarity search and high recall. MPLSH is able to filter out a large number of dissimilar clips from video database. To refine the search process, we apply a slightly more expensive clip-based signature matching between a pair of videos. Experimental results on the data set of 12, 790 videos [26] show that the proposed approach achieves at least 6.5% average precision improvement over the baseline color histogram approach while satisfying real-time requirements. Furthermore, our approach is able to locate the frame offset of copy segment in near-duplicate videos.
Brain size, head size, and intelligence quotient in monozygotic twins

Many studies of monozygotic (MZ) twins have revealed evidence of genetic influences on intellectual functions and their derangement in certain neurologic and psychiatric diseases afflicting the forebrain. Relatively little is known about genetic influences on the size and shape of the human forebrain and its gross morphologic subdivisions. Using MRI and quantitative image analysis techniques, we examined neuroanatomic similarities in MZ twins and their relationship to head size and intelligence quotient (IQ). ANOVA were carried out using each measure as the dependent variable and genotype, birth order, and sex, separately, as between-subject factors. Pairwise correlations between measures were also computed. We found significant effects of genotype but not birth order for the following neuroanatomic measures: forebrain volume (raw, p ≤ 0.0001; normalized by body weight, p = 0.0003); cortical surface area (raw, p = 0.002; normalized, p = 0.001); and callosal area (raw, p ≤ 0.0001; normalized by forebrain volume, p = 0.02). We also found significant effects of genotype but not birth order for head circumference (raw, p = 0.0002; normalized, p ≤ 0.0001) and full-scale IQ (p = 0.001). There were no significant sex effects except for raw head circumference (p = 0.03). Significant correlations were observed among forebrain volume, cortical surface area, and callosal area and between each brain measure and head circumference. There was no significant correlation between IQ and any brain measure or head circumference. These results indicate that: 1) forebrain volume, cortical surface area, and callosal area are similar in MZ twins; and 2) these brain measures are tightly correlated with one another and with head circumference but not with IQ in young, healthy adults.
On the quantization of reducible gauge systems

Reducible gauge theories with constraints linear in the momenta are quantized. The equivalence of the reduced phase space quantization, Dirac quantization, and BRST quantization is established, provided one transforms appropriately the Dirac wave functions under changes of representation of the constraint surface and of the reducibility functions. The ghosts of ghosts are found to play a crucial role in the equivalence proof.
An Image-directed Robotic System For Precise Orthopaedic Surgery

The authors have developed an image-directed robotic system to augment the performance of human surgeons in precise bone machining procedures in orthopaedic surgery, initially targeted at cementless total hip replacement surgery. The total system consists of an interactive CT-based presurgical planning component and a surgical system consisting of a robot, redundant motion monitoring, and man-machine interface components. In vitro experiments conducted with this system have demonstrated an order-of-magnitude improvement in implant fit and placement accuracy, compared to standard manual preparation techniques. The first generation system described in this paper was used in a successful veterinary clinical trial on 26 dogs needing hip replacement surgery. It was the basis for subsequent development of a second-generation system that is now in human clinical trials. >
BIPS: BIANA Interolog Prediction Server. A tool for protein–protein interaction inference

Protein–protein interactions (PPIs) play a crucial role in biology, and high-throughput experiments have greatly increased the coverage of known interactions. Still, identification of complete inter- and intraspecies interactomes is far from being complete. Experimental data can be complemented by the prediction of PPIs within an organism or between two organisms based on the known interactions of the orthologous genes of other organisms (interologs). Here, we present the BIANA (Biologic Interactions and Network Analysis) Interolog Prediction Server (BIPS), which offers a web-based interface to facilitate PPI predictions based on interolog information. BIPS benefits from the capabilities of the framework BIANA to integrate the several PPI-related databases. Additional metadata can be used to improve the reliability of the predicted interactions. Sensitivity and specificity of the server have been calculated using known PPIs from different interactomes using a leave-one-out approach. The specificity is between 72 and 98%, whereas sensitivity varies between 1 and 59%, depending on the sequence identity cut-off used to calculate similarities between sequences. BIPS is freely accessible at http://sbi.imim. es/BIPS.php.
Antimicrobial activity of nigella sativa seed extract

Pathogenic bacterial infections have become a major health problem worldwide. New antimicrobial agents are urgently needed to overcome this problem. In this study, antibacterial activity of Nigella sativa seed extract against some pathogenic bacterial strains (Streptococcus pyogene, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebseilla pneumoniae and Proteus vulgaris) was evaluated. Methanol extract at the concentration of 100 mg/mL had a remarkable sensitivity towards all tested bacteria in this study. Klebseila pneumonia and Proteus vulgaris showed resistance against aqueous extract at 20 mg/mL. Methanol extract of Nigella sativa exhibited significant antibacterial activity at the concentration of 50 mg/mL (p ≤ 0.01) against Streptococcus pyogenes with a greater inhibition zone of 19 mm, while a 15 mm zone of inhibition was observed in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, pneumonia and Proteus vulgaris. Kruskal Wallis analysis showed that both aqueous and methanol extract of black seed exhibited a greater inhibition on Gram positive bacteria (Streptococcus pyogenes) compared with Gram negative bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebseilla pneumoniae and Proteus vulgaris). Our study also showed that species, strains and concentrations of Nigella sativa extract are some of the factors that may influence the sensitivity of the tested bacteria. A significant correlation was observed between zone of inhibition and concentration of extract.
The effect of social support and gender on depression and quality of life in patients with schizophrenia

Social support buffers against stressful life events, increases adherence to medical treatments and improves recovery from medical illness. The quality of life of patients suffering from schizophrenia is dependent on amount of social support to a great extent. Also rates of depression are high in schizophrenia patients. So we undertook this study among 68 patients to understand the relationship of social support and gender with depression and quality of life amongst the patients of schizophrenia. The scales used were the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia and the WHO Quality of LifeBref Scale. It is observed that means score of depression was higher in low social support group and amongst females. Similarly QOL was poorer amongst low social support groups and females. The difference was statistically significant only in QOL scores in social support group and depression scores in gender group. Thus the study concludes that social support has an impact on depression and quality of life amongst the patients of schizophrenia.
High-speed visual estimation using preattentive processing

A new method is presented for performing rapid and accurate numerical estimation. The method is derived from an area of human cognitive psychology called preattentive processing. Preattentive processing refers to an initial organization of the visual field based on cognitive operations believed to be rapid, automatic, and spatially parallel. Examples of visual features that can be detected in this way include hue, intensity, orientation, size, and motion. We beleive that studies from preattentive vision should be used to assist in the design of visualization tools, especially those for which high-speed target detection, boundary identification, and region detection are important. In our present study, we investigated two known preattentive features (hue and orientation) in the context of a new task (numerical estimation) in order to see whether preattentive estimation was possible. Our experiments tested displays that were designed to visualize data from salmon migration simulations. The results showed that rapid and accurate estimation was indeed possible using either hue or orientation. Furthermore, random variation in one of these features resulted in no interference when subjects estimated the percentage of the other. To test the generality of our results, we varied two important display parameters—display duration and feature difference—and found boundary conditions for each. Implications of our results for application to real-world data and tasks are discussed.