Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
dMyc Functions Downstream of Yorkie to Promote the Supercompetitive Behavior of Hippo Pathway Mutant Cells

Genetic analyses in Drosophila epithelia have suggested that the phenomenon of “cell competition” could participate in organ homeostasis. It has been speculated that competition between different cell populations within a growing organ might play a role as either tumor promoter or tumor suppressor, depending on the cellular context. The evolutionarily conserved Hippo (Hpo) signaling pathway regulates organ size and prevents hyperplastic disease from flies to humans by restricting the activity of the transcriptional cofactor Yorkie (yki). Recent data indicate also that mutations in several Hpo pathway members provide cells with a competitive advantage by unknown mechanisms. Here we provide insight into the mechanism by which the Hpo pathway is linked to cell competition, by identifying dMyc as a target gene of the Hpo pathway, transcriptionally upregulated by the activity of Yki with different binding partners. We show that the cell-autonomous upregulation of dMyc is required for the supercompetitive behavior of Yki-expressing cells and Hpo pathway mutant cells, whereas the relative levels of dMyc between Hpo pathway mutant cells and wild-type neighboring cells are critical for determining whether cell competition promotes a tumor-suppressing or tumor-inducing behavior. All together, these data provide a paradigmatic example of cooperation between tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes in tumorigenesis and suggest a dual role for cell competition during tumor progression depending on the output of the genetic interactions occurring between confronted cells.
Noninvasive Brain Stimulation 7 for the Study of Memory 8 Enhancement in Aging 9

11 Abstract. Noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques such as transcranial 12 magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) have 13 recently attracted interest due to their potential for transiently improving cognitive 14 functions and memory in human beings. In aging, these techniques may prove 15 particularly valuable given the impact of age-related cognitive dysfunction on quality 16 of life. The present review summarizes the currently available evidence of working 17 and episodic memory enhancement achieved using NIBS in healthy elderly people. 18 The evidence reviewed indicates that research is still at an early stage and that there 19 is a need to define the best procedures for operating and performing multicenter 20 characterization of protocols. However, a limited number of sham-controlled studies 21 have reported improvements in both working memory and episodic memory domains 22 among healthy elders using NIBS. Furthermore, some studies have demonstrated the 23 long-term persistence of the positive effects, a finding that opens up the possibility of 24 using NIBS as an adjuvant therapeutic strategy in the management of age-associated 25 memory decline. However, the relevance of many of the variables involved and 26 approaches used remains to be elucidated, including the potential benefits of single 27 versus multiple NIBS sessions, the putative synergistic effects of using NIBS in 28 combination with cognitive training, and the importance of individual differences 29 between subjects. Overall, NIBS techniques represent a promising opportunity for 30 psychologists seeking strategies to improve memory functions in the elderly. 31 Nevertheless, their use requires appropriate technical knowledge coupled with a 32 clear understanding of the neurophysiology and cognitive neuroscience of aging. Only 33 by ensuring that these requirements are met can we refine our hypotheses and select 34 the best procedures for optimizing the effect of NIBS on cognition Q3 . 35
Effect of Skin Barrier Therapy on Neonatal Mortality Rates in Preterm Infants in Bangladesh: A Randomized, Controlled, Clinical Trial

OBJECTIVE. Skin barrier therapy during the neonatal period, when the skin barrier is most highly compromised and the risk of death is greatest, has been shown to have a number of potential benefits, including reduced risk of nosocomial sepsis. Topical application of emollients that augment skin barrier function was evaluated as a strategy for improving survival rates among hospitalized preterm infants in Bangladesh. METHODS. A prospective, randomized, controlled, clinical trial was conducted in the special care nursery at Dhaka Shishu (Children) Hospital, the largest tertiary care children's hospital in Bangladesh. Preterm infants (gestational age: ≤33 weeks; N = 497) received daily topical applications of sunflower seed oil or Aquaphor ointment. Neonatal mortality rates were compared in an intent-to-treat analysis with a control group that did not receive emollient therapy. RESULTS. Treatment with sunflower seed oil resulted in a statistically significant 26% reduction in mortality rates, compared with infants not receiving topical emollient therapy. Aquaphor therapy also significantly reduced mortality rates, by 32%. CONCLUSIONS. Topical therapy with skin barrier-enhancing emollients improved survival rates among preterm hospitalized infants in Bangladesh. This study provides strong evidence for the implementation of topical therapy for high-risk preterm neonates in developing countries.
From HMMS to DNNS: Where do the improvements come from?

Deep neural networks (DNNs) have recently been the focus of much text-to-speech research as a replacement for decision trees and hidden Markov models (HMMs) in statistical parametric synthesis systems. Performance improvements have been reported; however, the configuration of systems evaluated makes it impossible to judge how much of the improvement is due to the new machine learning methods, and how much is due to other novel aspects of the systems. Specifically, whereas the decision trees in HMM-based systems typically operate at the state-level, and separate trees are used to handle separate acoustic streams, most DNN-based systems are trained to make predictions simultaneously for all streams at the level of the acoustic frame. This paper isolates the influence of three factors (machine learning method; state vs. frame predictions; separate vs. combined stream predictions) by building a continuum of systems along which only a single factor is varied at a time. We find that replacing decision trees with DNNs and moving from state-level to frame-level predictions both significantly improve listeners' naturalness ratings of synthetic speech produced by the systems. No improvement is found to result from switching from separate-stream to combined-stream predictions.
Understanding images with natural sentences

We propose a novel system which generates sentential captions for general images. For people to use numerous images effectively on the web, technologies must be able to explain image contents and must be capable of searching for data that users need. Moreover, images must be described with natural sentences based not only on the names of objects contained in an image but also on their mutual relations. The proposed system uses general images and captions available on the web as training data to generate captions for new images. Furthermore, because the learning cost is independent from the amount of data, the system has scalability, which makes it useful with large-scale data.
A Second Function of Gamma Frequency Oscillations: An E%-Max Winner-Take-All Mechanism Selects Which Cells Fire

The role of gamma oscillations in producing synchronized firing of groups of principal cells is well known. Here, we argue that gamma oscillations have a second function: they select which principal cells fire. This selection process occurs through the interaction of excitation with gamma frequency feedback inhibition. We sought to understand the rules that govern this process. One possibility is that a constant fraction of cells fire. Our analysis shows, however, that the fraction is not robust because it depends on the distribution of excitation to different cells. A robust description is termed E%-max: cells fire if they have suprathreshold excitation (E) within E% of the cell that has maximum excitation. The value of E%-max is approximated by the ratio of the delay of feedback inhibition to the membrane time constant. From measured values, we estimate that E%-max is 5–15%. Thus, an E%-max winner-take-all process can discriminate between groups of cells that have only small differences in excitation. To test the utility of this framework, we analyzed the role of oscillations in V1, one of the few systems in which both spiking and intracellular excitation have been directly measured. We show that an E%-max winner-take-all process provides a simple explanation for why the orientation tuning of firing is narrower than that of the excitatory input and why this difference is not affected by increasing excitation. Because gamma oscillations occur in many brain regions, the framework we have developed for understanding the second function of gamma is likely to have wide applicability.
Monitoring eye movements as an evaluation of synthesized speech

We describe a novel empirical method for synthesized speech evaluation that relies on monitoring participant eye movements as they respond to spoken instructions in a visual workspace. We use instruction sets generated with two different text-to-speech synthesizers and a human voice for baseline comparison. We replicate findings demonstrating incremental processing for natural speech and at the same time demonstrate incremental processing for synthesized speech for both lexical and discourse-level processing. Results reveal differences in the time course of processing between natural and synthesized voices as well as between the two synthesized voices. These results, including the detection of subtle processing differences between voices, demonstrate the potential for eye movement monitoring as a promising new methodology that provides an on-line measure of synthesized speech processing more fine-grained than possible with techniques used to date.
Angiopoietin-2, permeability oedema, occurrence and severity of ALI/ARDS in septic and non-septic critically ill patients

Background: Angiopoietin-2 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) may impair vascular barrier function while angiopoietin-1 may protect it. It was hypothesised that circulating angiopoietin-2 is associated with pulmonary permeability oedema and severity of acute lung injury (ALI)/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) during septic or non-septic critical illness. Methods: Plasma levels of angiopoietin-1 and angiopoietin-2 were measured in mechanically ventilated patients (24 with sepsis, 88 without sepsis), together with the pulmonary leak index (PLI) for 67-gallium-labelled transferrin and extravascular lung water (EVLW) by transpulmonary thermal-dye dilution as measures of pulmonary permeability and oedema, respectively. ALI/ARDS was characterised by consensus criteria and the lung injury score (LIS). Plasma VEGF and von Willebrand factor (VWF) levels were assayed. Results: Angiopoietin-2, VWF, PLI, EVLW and LIS were higher in patients with sepsis than in those without sepsis and higher in patients with ALI/ARDS (n = 10/12 in sepsis, n = 19/8 in non-sepsis) than in those without. VEGF was also higher in patients with sepsis than in those without. Patients with high PLI, regardless of EVLW, had higher angiopoietin-2 levels than patients with normal PLI and EVLW. Angiopoietin-2 correlated with the PLI, LIS and VWF levels (minimum r = 0.34, p<0.001) but not with EVLW. Angiopoietin-2 and VWF were predictive for ARDS in receiver operating characteristic curves (minimum area under the curve = 0.69, p = 0.006). Angiopoietin-1 and VEGF did not relate to the permeability oedema of ALI/ARDS. Conclusion: Circulating angiopoietin-2 is associated with pulmonary permeability oedema, occurrence and severity of ALI/ARDS in patients with and without sepsis. The correlation of angiopoietin-2 with VWF suggests activated endothelium as a common source.
Eco-Genetic Structure of Bacillus cereus sensu lato Populations from Different Environments in Northeastern Poland

The Bacillus cereus group, which includes entomopathogens and etiologic agents of foodborne illness or anthrax, persists in various environments. The basis of their ecological diversification remains largely undescribed. Here we present the genetic structure and phylogeny of 273 soil B. cereus s.l. isolates from diverse habitats in northeastern Poland, with samplings acquired from the last European natural forest (Białowieża National Park), the largest marshes in Europe (Biebrza National Park), and a farm. In multi-locus sequence typing (MLST), despite negative selection in seven housekeeping loci, the isolates exhibited high genetic diversity (325 alleles), mostly resulting from mutation events, and represented 148 sequencing types (131 STs new and 17 STs already described) grouped into 19 complexes corresponding with bacterial clones, and 80 singletons. Phylogenetic analyses showed that 74% of the isolates clustered with B. cereus s.l. environmental references (clade III), while only 11 and 15%, respectively, grouped with isolates of clinical origin (clade I), and B. cereus ATCC 14579 and reference B. thuringiensis (clade II). Predominantly within clade III, we found lineages adapted to low temperature (thermal ecotypes), while putative toxigenic isolates (cytK-positive) were scattered in all clades of the marsh and farm samplings. The occurrence of 92% of STs in bacilli originating from one habitat, and the description of new STs for 78% of the isolates, strongly indicate the existence of specific genotypes within the natural B. cereus s.l. populations. In contrast to the human-associated B. cereus s.l. that exhibit a significant level of similarity, the environmental isolates appear more complex. Thus we propose dividing B. cereus s.l. into two groups, the first including environmental isolates, and the second covering those that are of clinical relevance.
Ecohydrological Controls on Temperate Wetland Shrub Dynamics

To test the controlling effects of soil moisture on the growth of wetland shrub species, which is currently unknown for these plant types, an experimental plot within a post-agricultural field was established to manipulate soil moisture around individual plants and biomass accumulation over the growing season was measured by harvesting all plants. Variance and overall growth trends within each experimental treatment were determined to assess moisture tolerance and growth success of each species under a range of moisture availability. The results show that there are considerable differences in growth of the different wetland species, indicating either a positive, negative, or null response to increasing moisture levels. This information can be used to improve planting plans for restoration projects to ensure species are receiving appropriate moisture for optimal growth according to the wetland hydrologic regime.
Tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the SE Mediterranean passive margin, offshore Egypt and Libya

Abstract The regional tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the offshore SE Mediterranean passive margin is evaluated using detailed 2D seismic interpretations. New models for the development of the margin are proposed in the context of the break-up of northern Gondwana and the subsequent evolution of the southern Neotethys Ocean. The SE Mediterranean margin is segmented into distinct rift and transform-dominated tectonic domains as a consequence of multiple phases of rifting and continental break-up during the Middle Triassic–Middle Jurassic (c. 240–170 Ma) and the Late Jurassic–Mid-Cretaceous (c. 145–93 Ma), controlled by reactivation of pre-existing Pan-African basement fabrics and shear zones in varying regional stress fields. The pre-existing basement-involved extensional fault systems were repeatedly reactivated during major phases of inversion in the late Santonian–Maastrichtian (c. 84–65 Ma) and Middle–Late Eocene (c. 49–37 Ma) and episodes of mild inversion during the Oligocene–Early Pleistocene, as a consequence of the convergence of the African–Arabian and Eurasian plates and closure of the Neotethys oceans. The inversion history was fundamentally controlled by the structure and along-strike segmentation of the margin inherited from Neotethyan rifting.
Batch mode active learning and its application to medical image classification

The goal of active learning is to select the most informative examples for manual labeling. Most of the previous studies in active learning have focused on selecting a single unlabeled example in each iteration. This could be inefficient since the classification model has to be retrained for every labeled example. In this paper, we present a framework for "batch mode active learning" that applies the Fisher information matrix to select a number of informative examples simultaneously. The key computational challenge is how to efficiently identify the subset of unlabeled examples that can result in the largest reduction in the Fisher information. To resolve this challenge, we propose an efficient greedy algorithm that is based on the property of submodular functions. Our empirical studies with five UCI datasets and one real-world medical image classification show that the proposed batch mode active learning algorithm is more effective than the state-of-the-art algorithms for active learning.
Effects of permanent offset on the response of the Curved Surface Sliders

The large worldwide diffusion of isolation systems with Curved Surface Sliders (CSS), also known as the Friction Pendulum System®, requires detailed knowledge of their behavior and improved modelling capability under seismic conditions. Restoring capability after the earthquake is one of the fundamental functions required to seismic isolation systems. It is noted the dependency of residual displacements on ground motions characteristics and isolator mechanical properties, namely the radius of curvature and the coefficient of friction. Current standards on antiseismic devices (EN15129, AASHTO) and design codes (Eurocode 8) provide criteria to ensure good restoring capability. An analytical model has also been formulated based on numerical analysis to predict the residual displacement of the isolation system. In mainshock-aftershock sequences it is possible that at the occurrence of the aftershock the isolation system present an offset from its original configuration as a result of the main shock. The main concern is whether or not an increase in the maximum or residual displacement consequent to the displacement accrual starting from the offset position may lead, under certain conditions, to exceed the displacement capacity of CSS device and the structural integrity or compromise the serviceability of the structure. In this study, some hundreds of nonlinear time-history analyses of SDOF systems were conducted within an extensive parametric study aimed to investigate the effects of a non-centered initial position on the CSS response, in terms of maximum and residual displacements. Five different initial offsets were considered coupled with a wide range of devices and earthquakes, characterized by different values of the isolator design parameters and characteristics of the ground motion. Twenty different CCS isolators were considered varying five radii of curvature (from 2 200 mm to 5 000 mm) and four friction laws, covering the current design practice. Twenty-four natural ground motion time histories were selected from a database and classified in terms of the predominant period of the quake and the level of impulsivity (to this scope, a “Pulse Index” was formulated based on the rate of transmission of the kinetic energy). The effects of an initial offset are discussed herein in terms of maximum and residual displacements of the isolators. The displacement responses obtained in presence of the offset are eventually compared with the relevant response provided by the isolation system that moves from its centred configuration.
Relationships between Climate and Growth of Quercus rubra, Pinus strobus, and Tsuga canadensis in Northern Vermont

The impacts of climate change on global ecosystems are becoming increasingly clear. Research consistently shows increasing global temperatures are affecting biodiversity, vegetation dynamics, oceans, and important environmental processes. This study examines how climate has influenced tree growth in northern Vermont over the last 100 years for three tree species, Quercus rubra, Pinus strobus, and Tsuga canadensis, in an attempt to understand how these species might respond to expected future shifts in temperature and precipitation. Increment tree cores for these species were collected in Jericho Research Forest and response function analysis was used to examine how temperature and precipitation patterns have affected their growth in this region of Vermont. The importance of precipitation and temperature in driving past growth varied between species. Precipitation only affected Quercus rubra growth, with strong positive correlations between growth rates and precipitation in June and July. Temperature was more important to the two conifer species examined (Pinus strobus and Tsuga canadensis), with the strongest correlations being negative correlations between growth and June temperature. Tsuga canadensis growth was also negatively correlated with the temperatures in May, July, and August. These results highlight the importance of diverse species forests in conferring resilience to future climate change, as these represent a range of potential climate responses and sensitivities. Findings indicate Pinus strobus and Tsuga canadensis may be most vulnerable to changes in future temperature regimes, particularly shifts towards warmer temperatures, whereas Quercus rubra demonstrated greater moisture sensitivity. Maintaining mixtures of these and other species may be an effective management strategy for ensuring a wide range of climate responses are present across the landscape. Future work on a wider range of sites and species Climate-Growth Relationships in Northern Vermont 3 will be critical for expanding the results of this study to the broader landscape of Vermont to inform conservation efforts and identify vulnerable trees species. Climate-Growth Relationships in Northern Vermont 4
Novel methods for storage stability and release of Bacillus spores

Bacillus subtilis spores were immobilized in activated charcoal and tapioca and filled with acacia gum. These formulations were tested for spore stability during storage at temperatures ranging from 40°C to 90°C and for bacterial release. Thermodynamic analysis showed that immobilization of spores in acacia gum significantly increased their viability compared with unprotected spores. The viability was further increased when suspensions of spores in acacia gum were added to granules of charcoal and tapioca. The number of the spores released after storage was also increased when spores were treated with acacia gum prior to immobilization in tapioca and charcoal. Formulations of Bacillus spores with acacia gum and porous carriers (charcoal and tapioca) prolong the anticipated shelf‐life of spores even under ambient temperature and provide slow and steady bacterial release consistent with their high viability.