Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Recent advances in understanding/management of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis

Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) can lead to advanced fibrosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and end-stage liver disease requiring liver transplantation. A myriad of pathways and genetic influence contribute to NASH pathogenesis and liver disease progression. Diagnosing patients with NASH and advanced fibrosis is critical prior to treatment and prognostication. There has been ongoing interest in developing non-invasive biomarkers and tools for identifying NASH and advanced fibrosis. To date, there has been no approved therapy for NASH. Recently, the FLINT (Farnesoid X Receptor [FXR] Ligand Obeticholic Acid in NASH Treatment) trial provided promising results of the efficacy of obeticholic acid, a farnesoid X receptor agonist, in improving histological features of NASH and fibrosis. Long-term studies are needed to assess the safety of obeticholic acid and its effects on liver- and cardiovascular-related outcomes.
Anti-ulcerogenic Activity of Extract and Some Isolated Flavonoids from Desmostachia bipinnata (L.) Stapf

Five main flavonoid glycosides were isolated, for the first time, from the ethanol extract of Desmostachia bipinnata (L.)Stapf (Gramineae). They were identified as kaempferol (1) , quercetin (2) , quercetin-3-glucoside (3) , trycin (4) and trycin-7-glucoside (5) . The structure elucidation was based on UV, Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESIMS), 1 H and 13 C NMR, proton- proton correlation spectroscopy ( 1 H- 1 H Cosy), distortionless enhancement by polarization transfer (DEPT), heteronuclear single quantum coherence (HSQC), and heteronuclear multiple bond correlations spectrum (HMBC). The total extract (200 and 300 mg/kg) and two of the isolated compounds (trycin and trycin-7-glucoside.100 mg/kg each) showed a very promising antiulcerogenic activity with curative ratios; 68.31, 70.54, 77.39 and 78.93%, respectively.
Bridging the Gap between HPC and Big Data frameworks

Apache Spark is a popular framework for data analytics with attractive features such as fault tolerance and interoperability with the Hadoop ecosystem. Unfortunately, many analytics operations in Spark are an order of magnitude or more slower compared to native implementations written with high performance computing tools such as MPI. There is a need to bridge the performance gap while retaining the benefits of the Spark ecosystem such as availability, productivity, and fault tolerance. In this paper, we propose a system for integrating MPI with Spark and analyze the costs and benefits of doing so for four distributed graph and machine learning applications. We show that offloading computation to an MPI environment from within Spark provides 3.1−17.7× speedups on the four sparse applications, including all of the overheads. This opens up an avenue to reuse existing MPI libraries in Spark with little effort.
Crisis Management During the SARS Threat

ABSTRACT No one could have predicted the outbreak of SARS and its impact on the tourism business. Within a fortnight, hotel occupancy dropped by more than 80% to a single digit record. The hotel industry in Hong Kong was largely caught unprepared, and had to quickly work out ways in which to mitigate the loss of business and profit. This paper identifies the impact of SARS on hotels in Hong Kong, and the relevant human resources strategies used to tackle the crisis. The findings show that unpaid leave and involuntary separation were the most common immediate solutions adopted by the hotels.
Genes related to sex steroids, neural growth, and social–emotional behavior are associated with autistic traits, empathy, and Asperger syndrome

Genetic studies of autism spectrum conditions (ASC) have mostly focused on the “low functioning” severe clinical subgroup, treating it as a rare disorder. However, ASC is now thought to be relatively common (∼1%), and representing one end of a quasi‐normal distribution of autistic traits in the general population. Here we report a study of common genetic variation in candidate genes associated with autistic traits and Asperger syndrome (AS). We tested single nucleotide polymorphisms in 68 candidate genes in three functional groups (sex steroid synthesis/transport, neural connectivity, and social–emotional responsivity) in two experiments. These were (a) an association study of relevant behavioral traits (the Empathy Quotient (EQ), the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ)) in a population sample (n=349); and (b) a case–control association study on a sample of people with AS, a “high‐functioning” subgroup of ASC (n=174). 27 genes showed a nominally significant association with autistic traits and/or ASC diagnosis. Of these, 19 genes showed nominally significant association with AQ/EQ. In the sex steroid group, this included ESR2 and CYP11B1. In the neural connectivity group, this included HOXA1, NTRK1, and NLGN4X. In the socio‐responsivity behavior group, this included MAOB, AVPR1B, and WFS1. Fourteen genes showed nominally significant association with AS. In the sex steroid group, this included CYP17A1 and CYP19A1. In the socio‐emotional behavior group, this included OXT. Six genes were nominally associated in both experiments, providing a partial replication. Eleven genes survived family wise error rate (FWER) correction using permutations across both experiments, which is greater than would be expected by chance. CYP11B1 and NTRK1 emerged as significantly associated genes in both experiments, after FWER correction (P<0.05). This is the first candidate‐gene association study of AS and of autistic traits. The most promising candidate genes require independent replication and fine mapping.
Genome-Wide Analysis of Histone Modifications : H 3 K 4 me 2 , H 3 K 4 me 3 , H 3 K 9 ac , and H 3 K 27 ac in Oryza sativa L . Japonica

While previous studies have shown that histone modifications could influence plant growth and development by regulating gene transcription, knowledge about the relationships between these modifications and gene expression is still limited. This study used chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput sequencing (ChIP-Seq), to investigate the genome-wide distribution of four histone modifications: di and trimethylation of H3K4 (H3K4me2 and H3K4me3) and acylation of H3K9 and H3K27 (H3K9ac and H3K27ac) in Oryza sativa L. japonica. By analyzing published DNase-Seq data, this study explored DNase-Hypersensitive (DH) sites along the rice genome. The histone marks appeared mainly in generic regions and were enriched around the transcription start sites (TSSs) of genes. This analysis demonstrated that the four histone modifications and the DH sites were all associated with active transcription. Furthermore, the four histone modifications were highly concurrent with transcript regions—a promising feature that was used to predict missing genes in the rice gene annotation. The predictions were further validated by experimentally confirming the transcription of two predicted missing genes. Moreover, a sequence motif analysis was constructed in order to identify the DH sites and many putative transcription factor binding sites.
Bangladesh: Politics, Economy and Civil Society

1. Introduction 2. A state in the making 3. Towards Bangladesh: British and Pakistani rule 4. State, politics and institutions 5. Non-governmental actors and civil society 6. Economic development and transformation 7. Population, natural resources and environment 8. Conclusion: Bangladesh faces the future.
Skewed alpha-stable distributions for modeling and classification of musical instruments

Music information retrieval and particularly musical instrument classification has become a very popular research area for the last few decades. Although in the literature many feature sets have been proposed to represent the musical instrument sounds, there is still need to find a superior feature set to achieve better classification performance. In this paper, we propose to use the parameters of skewed alpha-stable distribution of sub-band wavelet coefficients of musical sounds as features and show the effectiveness of this new feature set for musical instrument classification. We compare the classification performance with the features constructed from the parameters of generalized Gaussian density and some of the state-of-the-art features using support vector machine classifiers.
Reducing the Computational Complexity for BLAST by Using a Novel Fast Algorithm to Compute an Initial Square-Root Matrix

We propose a fast algorithm to compute an initial triangular square-root of the estimation error covariance matrix for BLAST, which are then applied to develop a square-root algorithm for BLAST. The speedups of our square-root BLAST algorithm over the previous square-root BLAST algorithm in the number of multiplications and additions are 3.78-5.8 and 3.95-5 respectively, and the ratios between the computational complexity of our BLAST algorithm and that of the linear MMSE detection algorithm in the number of multiplications and additions are 1.10-0.71 and 0.90-0.71 respectively, which means that for the first time, the nonlinear MMSE BLAST detector with successive interference cancellation can have even lower complexity than the linear MMSE detector. Moreover, our BLAST algorithm is also numerically stable and hardware friendly, since it uses unitary transformations to avoid the matrix inversions, and gets the initial square-root which is equivalent to a Cholesky factor of the estimation error covariance matrix.
Distributed δ-consensus in directed delayed networks of multi-agents*

Abstract In this brief we propose a distributed δ-consensus protocol in directed networks of dynamic agents having communication delays. We provide convergence analysis for such consensus algorithm under stochastic switching communication graphs, and then present some generic criteria for solving the average consensus problem. We also show that directed delayed networks of dynamic agents can achieve average consensus even each agent in the networks intermittently exchanges the information from its neighbors only at some discontinuous moments. Subsequently, a typical numerical example illustrates and visualizes the effectiveness and feasibility of the theoretical results.
The Effect of ABO Blood Types on Periodontal Status

Objectives The purpose of the present study was to determine whether there was a relationship between periodontal diseases and ABO blood groups. Methods This epidemiological study was carried out on 1351 subjects who were randomly selected from individuals referred to the Faculty of Dentistry clinics for periodontal treatment or for other reasons regarding dental health. The study based on periodontal condition, blood group, and medical history. The subjects were divided into three groups as those with gingivitis, periodontitis, and the healthy ones. The effects of blood subgroups on periodontal health, gingivitis and periodontitis were investigated separately. Results A relatively higher percentage of A group patients was found in gingivitis group and relatively higher percentage of O group patients was found in periodontitis group. A significant relationship was also determined between Rh factor and gingivitis. Conclusions ABO blood subgroups and Rh factor may constitute a risk factor on the development of periodontal disease. However, long-term studies are needed to make a more comprehensive assessment of the effects of ABO group on periodontal diseases.
Toxoplasmosis : A global infection , so widespread , so neglected

Toxoplasmosis is an epidemiological paradox. It is one of the most prevalent and most widespread parasitic infections, yet one of the most ignored of all human infections. Between 30% and 65% of all persons worldwide are infected with Toxoplasma gondii, the causative organism. It is a coccidian parasite that infects mostly species of warm-blooded animals including man. It is asymptomatic among immunocompetent persons but presents a spectrum of clinical manifestations among the immunocompromised. Approximately 10% of congenital toxoplasmosis results in abortion or neonatal death. Infection may be associated with other diseases such as HIV/AIDS in humans or immunosuppressive therapy in any species. Toxoplasma encephalitis reportedly develops in approximately 40% of individuals with AIDS, and is fatal in 10-30% of these cases. This paper discussed updates and research trends on the biology, epidemiology, transmission, diagnosis, treatment of toxoplasmosis and made recommendations.
Modeling and numerical simulation of selective laser sintering

Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) is an important branch of additive manufacturing ("3D printing") technologies. The SLS machines are processing powders so that they are selectively sintered by a CO2 or Nd:YAG laser beam. The SLS process was initially developed to produce polymer-based components. Then, SLS had a breakthrough toward the producing of structurally perfect parts directly from metal powders. The high intensity of the laser beam makes it possible to rapidly heat a small region, inducing a disequilibrium of the temperature distribution and large temperature gradients. The numerical simulation is important for the process of laser sintering since it tackles the comprehension of such local heat accumulation. This, in turn, drives the choice of the process parameters in accordance with the processed material characteristics and with the quality aimed for the final sintered product. In the present paper, we use our three-dimensional transient finite element model to study the SLS process applied to amorphous polycarbonate and titanium powders.
FAKTOR-FAKTOR YANG MEMPENGARUHI STRUKTUR MODAL PADA PERUSAHAAN MANUFAKTUR YANG GO PUBLIK DI BEI

Capital structure is a balance between the use of equity capital with the use of debt, which means how much equity and how much debt that will be used, so as to produce an optimal capital structure. This study aims to examine the effect of profitability, liquidity, non-debt tax shield, sales growth, business risk and the size of the company to the capital structure of the companies listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) 2011-2013. The data used is the company went public in the period 2011- 2013. The researcher used purposive sampling and obtained a sample of 147 observation data. Analysis of data using multiple linear regression test. The results of this study showed that the profitability of a significant negative effect on capital structure. Liquidity significant negative effect on the capital structure of the company. Non-debt tax shield positive and significant impact on the capital structure of the company. Sales growth and a significant positive effect on the capital structure of the company. Business risk has no effect on the company's capital structure. The size of the company and a significant positive effect on the company's capital structure. Keywords: Profitability, Liquidity, Non-Debt Tax Shield, Sales Growth, Business Risk, Firm Size and Capital Structure
Spontaneous eyelid closures link vigilance fluctuation with fMRI dynamic connectivity states

Significance Functionally connected brain networks exhibit recurring connectivity fluctuations. Although such dynamic connectivity states (DCS) can be expected to have behavioral correlates, linking fluctuating connectivity with behavioral state is hampered by the use of mental probes that themselves perturb observed behavior. Using the degree of eyelid closure as a proxy for vigilance state, we were able to continuously assay behavior and constrain the myriad of possible DCS to two relevant states denoting arousal in sleep-deprived persons. Intriguingly, these two DCS had counterparts in task-based data that predicted interindividual differences in the frequency of behavioral lapsing and intraindividual fluctuations in response speed. The replication of these findings in an independent dataset should encourage further investigations into the network dynamics of mental states. Fluctuations in resting-state functional connectivity occur but their behavioral significance remains unclear, largely because correlating behavioral state with dynamic functional connectivity states (DCS) engages probes that disrupt the very behavioral state we seek to observe. Observing spontaneous eyelid closures following sleep deprivation permits nonintrusive arousal monitoring. During periods of low arousal dominated by eyelid closures, sliding-window correlation analysis uncovered a DCS associated with reduced within-network functional connectivity of default mode and dorsal/ventral attention networks, as well as reduced anticorrelation between these networks. Conversely, during periods when participants’ eyelids were wide open, a second DCS was associated with less decoupling between the visual network and higher-order cognitive networks that included dorsal/ventral attention and default mode networks. In subcortical structures, eyelid closures were associated with increased connectivity between the striatum and thalamus with the ventral attention network, and greater anticorrelation with the dorsal attention network. When applied to task-based fMRI data, these two DCS predicted interindividual differences in frequency of behavioral lapsing and intraindividual temporal fluctuations in response speed. These findings with participants who underwent a night of total sleep deprivation were replicated in an independent dataset involving partially sleep-deprived participants. Fluctuations in functional connectivity thus appear to be clearly associated with changes in arousal.
Synaptic plasticity at developing neuromuscular junctions: role of the timing of spike activity in the competing inputs

Temporal spike correlation in pre- and post-synaptic cells strengthens or weakens synapses in development or in cellular models of learning (long-term potentiation and depression), two well-known paradigms being Hebb’s postulate and spike-timing-dependent plasticity. A favorable model to investigate synaptic modification is the input elimination that occurs at developing neuromuscular junctions as a result of competition between the motor nerve terminals. Activity influences this process, but its precise role remains controversial. Here we present a series of studies in which we address the role of spike timing in the competing inputs: we provide evidence that synchronous activity blunts competition among motor nerve terminals while an asynchronous one strongly activates competition leading to synapse elimination.
Mixed Emotions and Coping: The Benefits of Secondary Emotions

The existing empirical literature suggests that during difficult situations, the concurrent experience of positive and negative affects may be ideal for ensuring successful adaptation and well-being. However, different patterns of mixed emotions may have different adaptive consequences. The present research tested the proposition that experiencing a pattern of secondary mixed emotion (i.e., secondary emotion that embrace both positive and negative affects) more greatly promotes adaptive coping than experiencing two other patterns of mixed emotional experiences: simultaneous (i.e., two emotions of opposing affects taking place at the same time) and sequential (i.e., two emotions of opposing affects switching back and forth). Support for this hypothesis was obtained from two experiments (Studies 1 and 2) and a longitudinal survey (Study 3). The results revealed that secondary mixed emotions predominate over sequential and simultaneous mixed emotional experiences in promoting adaptive coping through fostering the motivational and informative functions of emotions; this is done by providing solution-oriented actions rather than avoidance, faster decisions regarding coping strategies (Study 1), easier access to self-knowledge, and better narrative organization (Study 2). Furthermore, individuals characterized as being prone to feeling secondary mixed emotions were more resilient to stress caused by transitions than those who were characterized as being prone to feeling opposing emotions separately (Study 3). Taken together, the preliminary results indicate that the pattern of secondary mixed emotion provides individuals with a higher capacity to handle adversity than the other two patterns of mixed emotional experience.
Plasma Renin Activity and Aldosterone Concentrations in Hypertensive Cats with and without Azotemia and in Response to Treatment with Amlodipine Besylate

Background Role of renin‐angiotensin aldosterone system (RAAS) in feline systemic hypertension is poorly understood. Objectives Examine plasma renin activity (PRA) and plasma aldosterone concentrations (PAC) in normotensive and hypertensive cats with variable renal function and in response to antihypertensive therapy. Animals One hundred and ninety‐six cats >9 years from first opinion practice. Methods PRA, PAC, and aldosterone‐to‐renin ratio (ARR) were evaluated in cats recruited prospectively and grouped according to systolic blood pressure (SBP) and renal function (nonazotemic normotensive [Non‐Azo‐NT], nonazotemic hypertensive [Non‐Azo‐HT], azotemic normotensive [Azo‐NT], azotemic hypertensive [Azo‐HT]). Changes in PRA and PAC were evaluated with antihypertensive therapy (amlodipine besylate). Results Plasma renin activity (ng/mL/h; P = .0013), PAC (pg/mL; P < .001), and ARR (P = 0.0062) differed significantly among groups. PRA (ng/mL/h) was significantly lower in hypertensive (Non‐Azo‐HT; n = 25, median 0.22 [25th percentile 0.09, 75th percentile 0.39], Azo‐HT; n = 44, 0.33 [0.15, 0.48]) compared with Non‐Azo‐NT cats (n = 57, 0.52 [0.28, 1.02]). Azo‐HT cats had significantly higher PAC (n = 22, 149.8 [103.1, 228.7]) than normotensive cats (Non‐Azo‐NT; n = 26, 45.4 [19.6, 65.0], Azo‐NT; n = 18, 84.1 [38.6, 137.8]). ARR was significantly higher in Azo‐HT (n = 20, 503.8 [298.8, 1511]) than Azo‐NT cats (n = 16, 97.8 [77.0, 496.4]). Significant increase in PRA was documented with antihypertensive therapy (pretreatment [n = 20] 0.32 [0.15–0.46], posttreatment 0.54 [0.28, 1.51]), but PAC did not change. Conclusions and Clinical Importance Hypertensive cats demonstrate significantly increased PAC with decreased PRA. PRA significantly increases with antihypertensive therapy. Additional work is required to determine the role of plasma aldosterone concentration in the pathogenesis of hypertension and whether this relates to autonomous production or activation of RAAS without demonstrable increase in PRA.
Extracorporeal shock waves enhance normal fibroblast proliferation in vitro and activate mRNA expression for TGF-β1 and for collagen types I and III

Background and purpose Extracorporeal shock waves (ESWs) are used to good effect in the treatment of soft tissue injuries, but the underlying mechanisms are still unknown. We therefore determined the effects of ESWs on normal fibroblasts in vitro, in order to assess treatment-induced cell response. Methods A normal human fibroblast cell line (NHDF-12519) was treated with ESWs generated by a piezoelectric device (Piezoson 100; Richard Wolfe) using different protocols of impulses (300, 1,000, or 2,000 shots) and energy (0.11 or 0.22 mJ/mm2). Untreated controls and treated cells were cultivated for 12 days following a single shock-wave treatment. Viability, growth rate, and expression of mRNA for TGFβ -1 and collagen types I and III were evaluated at days 3, 6, 9, and 12. Results 1 hour after shock-wave treatment, cell viability showed a decrease related mainly to impulse numbers applied. Fibroblasts treated with energy of 0.22 mJ/mm2 subsequently showed an increase in proliferation from day 6 to day 9 that was higher than in untreated controls, without interference with the normal cell kinetic profile. mRNA expression was also higher in treated fibroblasts than in untreated controls for TGFβ -1 on day 6 and day 9, for collagen type I on day 6, and for collagen type III on day 9. Interpretation These in vitro data confirm that the main factors involved in the repair process of connective tissues are activated by ESWs. The study gives the rationale for, and may provide schedules for, ESW treatment of tendonopathies.