Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Donor kidney injury molecule‐1 promotes graft recovery by regulating systemic necroinflammation

Ischemia‐reperfusion injury during kidney transplantation predisposes to delayed graft function, rejection, and premature graft failure. Exacerbation of tissue damage and alloimmune responses may be explained by necroinflammation: an autoamplification loop of cell death and inflammation, which is mediated by the release of damage‐associated molecular patterns (eg, high‐mobility group box‐1; HMGB1) from necrotic cells that activate both innate and adaptive immune pathways. Kidney injury molecule‐1 (KIM‐1) is a phosphatidylserine receptor that is upregulated on injured proximal tubular epithelial cells and enables them to clear apoptotic and necrotic cells. Here we show a pivotal role for clearance of dying cells in regulating necroinflammation in a syngeneic murine kidney transplant model. We found persistent KIM‐1 expression in KIM‐1+/+ kidney grafts posttransplantation. Compared to recipients of KIM‐1+/+ kidneys, recipients of KIM‐1−/− kidneys exhibited significantly more renal dysfunction, apoptosis and necrosis, tubular obstruction, and graft failure. KIM‐1−/− grafts also had more inflammatory cytokines, infiltrating neutrophils, and macrophages compared to KIM‐1+/+ grafts. Most significantly, passive release of HMGB1 from apoptotic and necrotic cells led to dramatically higher serum HMGB1 levels and increased proinflammatory macrophages in recipients of KIM‐1−/− grafts. Our data identify an endogenous protective mechanism against necroinflammation in kidney grafts that may be of therapeutic relevance in transplantation.
Dried shiitake (Lentinulla edodes) and oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus) mushrooms as a good source of nutrient

Due to presented in literature potential health benefits of shiitake Lentinula edodes (Berk.) Pegl. and oyster mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacq.: Fr.) Kumm. , chemical composition as well as Fe, Cu and Zn ions sorption (in conditions related to human digestive tract) by dried shiitake and oyster were investigated. Both dried mushrooms had the high content of dietary fiber, Fe, Cu, Mg, K but low of fat, Na and Ca. Relatively low sorption of micronutrients was found in pH = 1.8, while the high sorption of Cu and Fe was observed in pH = 8.7. Dried mushrooms satisfied the maximum permissible level standards concerning toxic metals. The results of the research suggest that dried shiitake and oyster mushrooms can be used as additives in food products.
Influence of graded inclusion of white lupin (Lupinus albus) meal on performance, nutrient digestibility and ileal viscosity of laying hens

ABSTRACT 1. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of white lupin (Lupinus albus) meal (WLM) addition on the intestinal viscosity, bird performance and nutrient utilisation of laying hens. 2. The experiment was conducted with 360 laying hens aged 21 weeks fed one of 6 treatments, including a corn-soybean meal control diet (CON) and 5 experimental diets containing 60, 120, 180, 240 and 300 g/kg WLM. 3. A linear increase in feed intake (p < 0.001) was observed with higher levels of WLM from 0 to 300 g/kg. Laying rate decreased quadratically (p < 0.05) and egg weight (at 6th, 12th and 18th weeks of the trial) decreased linearly with WLM inclusion from 0 to 300 g/kg. Birds fed 60 g/kg or more of WLM laid lighter eggs (p < 0.05) than CON hens. When 240 g/kg or more WLM was included into the diet, laying rate was affected negatively (p < 0.05). 4. As WLM increased from 0 to 300 g/kg, apparent metabolisable energy and pre-caecal digestibility of dry matter and crude protein decreased quadratically (p < 0.05). When 300 g/kg of WLM was used, there was a tendency (p < 0.1) to decrease pre-caecal starch digestibility. WLM dose exerted a quadratic effect (p < 0.05) on total sialic acid excretion. As WLM increased, the viscosity of ileal digesta linearly increased (p < 0.05). 5. In the 6th and 12th weeks of the experiment (p < 0.05), eggshell thickness decreased linearly when 240 g/kg of WLM was added. At the 6th, 12th and 18th weeks, a linear decrease in eggshell content was observed (p < 0.05) after WLM addition. 6. In conclusion, the graded inclusion of WLM into laying hens’ diets resulted in depressed performance, AMEN and eggshell quality.
SMARTPHONE USE IN PAEDIATRIC PRACTICE: A NATIONAL SURVEY

Results: From a total of 78 randomly selected eligible participants, 75 (96%) paediatricians agreed to participate in the study. The majority of physicians reported that they owned a smartphone (n53, 71%) and the rest (n22, 29%) used a Symbian phone as their primary device. Of those who owned a smartphone, 40% (n21) reported using at least one app related to their clinical work. The mean number of applications used by these users was 3.5. The majority (44/53, 83%) responded that they did not use their smartphone as a tool for managing patient appointments, while 9 out of the 53 (17%) responded positively. Over 80% of participants used their smartphone to take or receive a picture or a video from their patients for professional purposes. Conclusion: This study found a high level of smartphone ownership and usage among medical Cypriot paediatricians, corroborating with previous literature for other specialties in other countries. Despite the benefits they offer, more rigorous validation practices regarding mobile medical apps need to be established to ensure they are used safely and appropriately.
Design space exploration of multiple loops on FPGAs using high level synthesis

Real-world applications such as image processing, signal processing, and others often contain a sequence of computation intensive kernels, each represented in the form of a nested loop. High-level synthesis (HLS) enables efficient hardware implementation of these loops using high-level programming languages. HLS tools also allow the designers to evaluate design choices with different trade-offs through pragmas/directives. Prior design space exploration techniques for HLS primarily focus on either single nested loop or multiple loops without consideration to the data dependencies among them. In this paper, we propose efficient design space exploration techniques for applications that consist of multiple nested loops with or without data dependencies. In particular, we develop an algorithm to derive the Pareto-optimal curve (performance versus area) of the application when mapped onto FPGAs using HLS. Our algorithm is efficient as it effectively prunes the dominated points in the design space. We also develop accurate performance and area models to assist the design space exploration process. Experiments on various scientific kernels and real-world applications demonstrate that our design space exploration technique is accurate and efficient.
Multi-locus data distinguishes between population growth and multiple merger coalescents

Abstract We introduce a low dimensional function of the site frequency spectrum that is tailor-made for distinguishing coalescent models with multiple mergers from Kingman coalescent models with population growth, and use this function to construct a hypothesis test between these model classes. The null and alternative sampling distributions of the statistic are intractable, but its low dimensionality renders them amenable to Monte Carlo estimation. We construct kernel density estimates of the sampling distributions based on simulated data, and show that the resulting hypothesis test dramatically improves on the statistical power of a current state-of-the-art method. A key reason for this improvement is the use of multi-locus data, in particular averaging observed site frequency spectra across unlinked loci to reduce sampling variance. We also demonstrate the robustness of our method to nuisance and tuning parameters. Finally we show that the same kernel density estimates can be used to conduct parameter estimation, and argue that our method is readily generalisable for applications in model selection, parameter inference and experimental design.
Astrocytes locally translate transcripts in their peripheral processes

Significance Cellular compartments are specialized for particular functions. In astrocytes, the peripheral, perisynaptic processes contain proteins specialized for reuptake of neurotransmitters and ions, and have been shown to alter their morphology in response to activity. Regulated transport of a specific subset of nuclear-derived mRNAs to specific compartments is thought to support the specialization of these compartments and allow for local regulation of translation. In neurons, local translation near activated synapses is thought to generate the proteins needed for the synaptic alterations that constitute memory. We demonstrate that astrocytes also have sequence-dependent local translation in their peripheral processes, including transcripts with roles in regulating synapses, and identify one mechanism regulating this translation. These findings suggest local translation in astrocyte processes may play a role in synapse modulation. Local translation in neuronal processes is key to the alteration of synaptic strength necessary for long-term potentiation, learning, and memory. Here, we present evidence that regulated de novo protein synthesis occurs within distal, perisynaptic astrocyte processes. Astrocyte ribosomal proteins are found adjacent to synapses in vivo, and immunofluorescent detection of peptide elongation in acute slices demonstrates robust translation in distal processes. We have also developed a biochemical approach to define candidate transcripts that are locally translated in astrocyte processes. Computational analyses indicate that astrocyte-localized translation is both sequence-dependent and enriched for particular biological functions, such as fatty acid synthesis, and for pathways consistent with known roles for astrocyte processes, such as GABA and glutamate metabolism. These transcripts also include glial regulators of synaptic refinement, such as Sparc. Finally, the transcripts contain a disproportionate amount of a binding motif for the quaking RNA binding protein, a sequence we show can significantly regulate mRNA localization and translation in the astrocytes. Overall, our observations raise the possibility that local production of astrocyte proteins may support microscale alterations of adjacent synapses.
Conformal coating by photoresist of sharp corners of anisotropically etched through-holes in silicon

The authors describe a photoresist treatment yielding conformal coating of three-dimensional silicon structures. This even includes the sharp corners of through-holes obtained by anisotropic etching in (100)-silicon. Resist reflow from these corners is avoided by replacing the common baking procedure with a proper vacuum treatment. The investigated photoresist is Shipley's Eagle 2100 ED, a negative-working electrodeposited photoresist. Electrical frontside to backside interconnections have been made using this photoresist as an etch mask.
The diagnostic value of supine blood pressure in hypertension

Introduction Correct blood pressure (BP) measurement is crucial in the diagnosis of arterial hypertension (AH), and controversy exists whether supine BP should be treated as equal to sitting BP. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relation of supine BP to sitting BP and ambulatory BP with regard to identification of diagnostic cut-offs for hypertension. Material and methods This study included 280 patients with AH (mean age: 44.3 ±10.6 years). The following measurements of BP were performed and analyzed: 1) sitting office blood pressure measurement (OSBP and ODBP); 2) supine BP (supSBP and supDBP), measured automatically (5 times with a 2-minute interval) during evaluation by the Niccomo device (Medis, Germany); 3) 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) monitoring. Results The mean supSBP and supDBP were found to be lower than OSBP and ODBP (130.9 ±14.2 vs. 136.6 ±15.5 mm Hg and 84.8 ±9.4 vs. 87.8 ±10.2 mm Hg, respectively; p < 0.000001). The correlations between ABP and supBP/OBP were moderate and strong (correlation coefficients in range 0.55–0.76). The ROC analysis revealed that mean supBP ≥ 130/80 mm Hg was more precise than OBP ≥ 140/90 mm Hg in diagnosing hypertension (AUC: 0.820 vs. 0.550; sensitivity 80.7% vs. 57.4%; specificity 83.2% vs. 52.7%; p < 0.0001) and the additive value derived mostly from its higher predictive power of identifying patients with increased night-time BP. Conclusions In young and middle-aged hypertensive patients the blood pressure during a 10-minute supine rest was lower than in the sitting position. The supine blood pressure ≥ 130/80 mm Hg was found to be a specific and sensitive threshold for hypertension.
Effects of Aging, Word Frequency, and Text Stimulus Quality on Reading Across the Adult Lifespan: Evidence From Eye Movements

Reductions in stimulus quality may disrupt the reading performance of older adults more when compared with young adults because of sensory declines that begin early in middle age. However, few studies have investigated adult age differences in the effects of stimulus quality on reading, and none have examined how this affects lexical processing and eye movement control. Accordingly, we report two experiments that examine the effects of reduced stimulus quality on the eye movements of young (18–24 years), middle-aged (41–51 years), and older (65+ years) adult readers. In Experiment 1, participants read sentences that contained a high- or low-frequency critical word and that were presented normally or with contrast reduced so that words appeared faint. Experiment 2 further investigated effects of reduced stimulus quality using a gaze-contingent technique to present upcoming text normally or with contrast reduced. Typical patterns of age-related reading difficulty (e.g., slower reading, more regressions) were observed in both experiments. In addition, eye movements were disrupted more for older than younger adults when all text (Experiment 1) or just upcoming text (Experiment 2) appeared faint. Moreover, there was an interaction between stimulus quality and word frequency (Experiment 1), such that readers fixated faint low-frequency words for disproportionately longer. Crucially, this effect was similar across all age groups. Thus, although older readers suffer more from reduced stimulus quality, this additional difficulty primarily affects their visual processing of text. These findings have important implications for understanding the role of stimulus quality on reading behavior across the lifespan.
TDP-43 controls lysosomal pathways thereby determining its own clearance and cytotoxicity

TDP-43 is a nuclear RNA-binding protein whose cytoplasmic accumulation is the pathological hallmark of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). For a better understanding of this devastating disorder at the molecular level, it is important to identify cellular pathways involved in the clearance of detrimental TDP-43. Using a yeast model system, we systematically analyzed to which extent TDP-43-triggered cytotoxicity is modulated by conserved lysosomal clearance pathways. We observed that the lysosomal fusion machinery and the endolysosomal pathway, which are crucial for proper lysosomal function, were pivotal for survival of cells exposed to TDP-43. Interestingly, TDP-43 itself interfered with these critical TDP-43 clearance pathways. In contrast, autophagy played a complex role in this process. It contributed to the degradation of TDP-43 in the absence of endolysosomal pathway activity, but its induction also enhanced cell death. Thus, TDP-43 interfered with lysosomal function and its own degradation via lysosomal pathways, and triggered lethal autophagy. We propose that these effects critically contribute to cellular dysfunction in TDP-43 proteinopathies.
Investigation into fibre orientation and weldline reduction of injection moulded short glass-fibre/polyamide 6-6 automotive components

Due to the increasing demands on automotive components, manufacturers are relying on injection moulding components from fibre-reinforced polymers in an attempt to increase strength to weight ratio. The use of reinforcing fibres in injection moulded components has led to component failures whereby the material strength is hampered through the formation of weldlines which are also a problem for unreinforced plastics. In this study, an industrial demonstrator component has the injection locations verified through a combination of fibre orientation tensor simulation and optical microscopy analysis of key locations on the component. Furthermore, the automotive component manufactured from 30% glass fibre–reinforced polyamide 6-6 is simulated and optimized through a Taguchi parametric study. A comparison is made between the component, as it is currently manufactured, and the optimum processing parameters determined by the study. It was found that the component can be manufactured with roughly 7.5% fewer weldlines and with a mould fill time 132 ms quicker than the current manufacturing process.
The relationship between stress and clinical outcomes for persons living with HIV/AIDS: a systematic review of the global literature

ABSTRACT For persons living with HIV/AIDS, the relationship between stress and clinical outcomes has received little attention in current research, yet represents an important area for future research and intervention. Chronic illness has been theorized to place additional demands on a person that may exceed their ability to cope with daily life, leading to long-term stress, which then increases the risk for negative health outcomes in persons already at risk. This paper reviews the existing global literature to answer two main questions: (1) how is stress conceptualized in research with persons living with HIV/AIDS? and (2) what are the current findings linking stress to clinical outcomes? Twenty-three articles are included in the final review. Findings reveal that researchers conceptualize stress in multiple ways for persons living with HIV/AIDS, including depressive symptomology, post-traumatic stress, life events, emotions linked to stress, and biological markers (such as cortisol levels and autonomic nervous system activity). Further, findings related to the link between stress and clinical outcomes are mixed; however, stress was shown to be related to lower CD4 cell counts, higher viral load, and disease progression. Several studies also showed a link between stress and poorer treatment adherence. Implications and directions for future research are discussed, including further thought into how we conceptualize stress for persons living with HIV, future research that is necessary to elucidate current mixed findings on the link between stress and clinical outcomes, and preliminary suggestions for intervention to prevent and alleviate stress in this population.
Exponential random graphs behave like mixtures of stochastic block models

We study the behavior of exponential random graphs in both the sparse and the dense regime. We show that exponential random graphs are approximate mixtures of graphs with independent edges whose probability matrices are critical points of an associated functional, thereby satisfying a certain matrix equation. In the dense regime, every solution to this equation is close to a block matrix, concluding that the exponential random graph behaves roughly like a mixture of stochastic block models. We also show existence and uniqueness of solutions to this equation for several families of exponential random graphs, including the case where the subgraphs are counted with positive weights and the case where all weights are small in absolute value. In particular, this generalizes some of the results in a paper by Chatterjee and Diaconis from the dense regime to the sparse regime and strengthens their bounds from the cut-metric to the one-metric.
Cell‐autonomous astrocytopathy in Alzheimer's disease

Neurono-centric doctrine, which regards neurones as the main and the only substrate of pathological evolution, lies at the very core of philosophy of neurology; the neurono-centricity defines, to a very large extend, the therapeutic strategies and search for new pharmacological treatments. Pathological responses of the neuroglia are commonly thought to be secondary, which is highlighted in the concept of glial reactivity that is universally considered as a generalised and non-specific cellular riposte to any form of an insult to the nervous system. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Expression of AKR1B10 as an independent marker for poor prognosis in human oral squamous cell carcinoma

Aldo‐keto reductase family 1 member B10 (AKR1B10) is implicated in xenobiotic detoxification and has disparate functions in tumorigenesis that are dependent on the cell types. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinicopathological significance of AKR1B10 as a prognostic marker for oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs).
Carbon Nanodots: A Review—From the Current Understanding of the Fundamental Photophysics to the Full Control of the Optical Response

Carbon dots (CDs) are an emerging family of nanosystems displaying a range of fascinating properties. Broadly speaking, they can be described as small, surface-functionalized carbonaceous nanoparticles characterized by an intense and tunable fluorescence, a marked sensitivity to the environment and a range of interesting photochemical properties. CDs are currently the subject of very intense research, motivated by their possible applications in many fields, including bioimaging, solar energy harvesting, nanosensing, light-emitting devices and photocatalyis. This review covers the latest advancements in the field of CDs, with a focus on the fundamental understanding of their key photophysical behaviour, which is still very debated. The photoluminescence mechanism, the origin of their peculiar fluorescence tunability, and their photo-chemical interactions with coupled systems are discussed in light of the latest developments in the field, such as the most recent results obtained by femtosecond time-resolved experiments, which have led to important steps forward in the fundamental understanding of CDs. The optical response of CDs appears to stem from a very complex interplay between the electronic states related to the core structure and those introduced by surface functionalization. In addition, the structure of CD energy levels and the electronic dynamics triggered by photo-excitation finely depend on the microscopic structure of any specific sub-type of CD. On the other hand, this remarkable variability makes CDs extremely versatile, a key benefit in view of their very wide range of applications.
Analyzing the impact of heterogeneous blocks on FPGA placement quality

In this paper we propose a quantitative approach to analyze the impact of heterogeneous blocks (H-blocks) on the FPGA placement quality. The basic idea is to construct synthetic heterogeneous placement benchmarks with known optimal wire-length to facilitate the quantitative analysis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that enables the construction of wirelength-optimal heterogeneous placement examples. Besides analyzing the quality of existing placers, we further decompose the impacts of H-blocks from the architectural aspect and netlist aspect. Our analysis shows that a heterogeneous design hides the wirelength degradation by a more compact netlist than its homogeneous version; however, the heterogeneity results in a optimality gap of 52% in wirelength, where 25% is from architectural heterogeneity and 27% is from netlist heterogeneity. Therefore, new heterogeneous placement algorithms are needed to bridge the optimality gap and improve design quality.