Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mediators of Acute Lung Injury: A Review

Acute lung injury and the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are devastating illnesses with high mortality rates. ARDS is the severe end point of acute lung injury and is defined as a syndrome of inflammation and increased pulmonary vascular permeability in the absence of left heart failure. ARDS is commonly associated with trauma, sepsis, diffuse pneumonia, and shock. Anything that can diffusely injure the lung can lead to ARDS. Regardless of the origin, the pathophysiology and clinical manifestations are the same and can be divided into three phases: the acute or oxidative phase, the proliferative phase, and the fibrotic or reparative phase. Many of the clinical manifestations of acute lung injury and ARDS can be understood in the context of the inflammatory response and inflammatory mediators such as chemotactic factors and chemokines, adhesion molecules, and reactive oxygen species and proteases. The inflammatory cascade creates a response in the microvessels of the lung. Locally released inflammatory cell products damage endothelial and epithelial cells of the alveolar-capillary membrane resulting in increased permeability, release of vasoactive and additional inflammatory mediators, and recruitment of neutrophils. Neutrophils are specifically implicated in the pathogenesis of acute lung injury. The inflammatory processes involved in initiating and perpetuating acute lung injury are highly redundant and self-perpetuating. Before proliferation and repair can occur, the inflammatory process and injury must diminish. Understanding the inflammatory mediators involved in acute lung injury may result in specific therapeutic interventions.
Abundance and Isotopic Composition of Gases in the Martian Atmosphere from the Curiosity Rover

Mars' Atmosphere from Curiosity The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument on the Curiosity rover that landed on Mars in August last year is designed to study the chemical and isotopic composition of the martian atmosphere. Mahaffy et al. (p. 263) present volume-mixing ratios of Mars' five major atmospheric constituents (CO2, Ar, N2, O2, and CO) and isotope measurements of 40Ar/36Ar and C and O in CO2, based on data from one of SAM's instruments, obtained between 31 August and 21 November 2012. Webster et al. (p. 260) used data from another of SAM's instruments obtained around the same period to determine isotope ratios of H, C, and O in atmospheric CO2 and H2O. Agreement between the isotopic ratios measured by SAM with those of martian meteorites, measured in laboratories on Earth, confirms the origin of these meteorites and implies that the current atmospheric reservoirs of CO2 and H2O were largely established after the period of early atmospheric loss some 4 billion years ago. Data from the Curiosity rover provide a detailed account of the chemical and isotopic composition of Mars’ atmosphere. Volume mixing and isotope ratios secured with repeated atmospheric measurements taken with the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument suite on the Curiosity rover are: carbon dioxide (CO2), 0.960(±0.007); argon-40 (40Ar), 0.0193(±0.0001); nitrogen (N2), 0.0189(±0.0003); oxygen, 1.45(±0.09) × 10−3; carbon monoxide, < 1.0 × 10−3; and 40Ar/36Ar, 1.9(±0.3) × 103. The 40Ar/N2 ratio is 1.7 times greater and the 40Ar/36Ar ratio 1.6 times lower than values reported by the Viking Lander mass spectrometer in 1976, whereas other values are generally consistent with Viking and remote sensing observations. The 40Ar/36Ar ratio is consistent with martian meteoritic values, which provides additional strong support for a martian origin of these rocks. The isotopic signature δ13C from CO2 of ~45 per mil is independently measured with two instruments. This heavy isotope enrichment in carbon supports the hypothesis of substantial atmospheric loss.
Why Adults Need New Brain Cells

Neurogenesis and gliogenesis shape connectivity in the adult brain, influencing plasticity and repair. [Also see Report by Freund et al.] Few new cells are generated in the adult brain and spinal cord, and as such, nervous system plasticity was long thought to only involve modulating the contacts between preexisting “old” neurons. That view is changing. New neurons, as well as glial cells (specialized supporting cells), in the adult brain do indeed mediate certain types of plasticity, and the malfunction of such processes may cause neurological or psychiatric disease. On page 756 of this issue, Freund et al. (1) report a link between cognitive challenges, adult brain neurogenesis, and the development of individuality. This relationship supports the idea that a key function of adult neurogenesis is to shape neuronal connectivity in the brain according to individual needs.
MiR-200b and miR-429 Function in Mouse Ovulation and Are Essential for Female Fertility

Female Infertility Anovulation, the failure of a woman's ovary to release an oocyte, is a major cause of female infertility. The mechanisms of ovulation have been studied extensively, with the hypothalamicpituitary axis serving as a key player in its regulation. Hasuwa et al. (p. 71, published online 13 June) describe a mechanism by which anovulation can be caused by the disruption of two microRNAs that are expressed in the pituitary gland. MicroRNAs regulate hormone synthesis in the pituitary and the production of oocytes. Ovulation in the mouse and other mammals is controlled by hormones secreted by the hypothalamo-pituitary-ovarian axis. We describe anovulation and infertility in female mice lacking the microRNAs miR-200b and miR-429. Both miRNAs are strongly expressed in the pituitary gland, where they suppress expression of the transcriptional repressor ZEB1. Eliminating these miRNAs, in turn, inhibits luteinizing hormone (LH) synthesis by repressing transcription of its β-subunit gene, which leads to lowered serum LH concentration, an impaired LH surge, and failure to ovulate. Our results reveal roles for miR-200b and miR-429, and their target the Zeb1 gene, in the regulation of mammalian reproduction. Thus, the hypothalamo-pituitary-ovarian axis was shown to require miR-200b and miR-429 to support ovulation.
Maintained Hand Function and Forearm Bone Health 14 Months After an In-Home Virtual-Reality Videogame Hand Telerehabilitation Intervention in an Adolescent With Hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy

Virtual reality videogames can be used to motivate rehabilitation, and telerehabilitation can be used to improve access to rehabilitation. These uses of technology to improve health outcomes are a burgeoning area of rehabilitation research. So far, there is a lack of reports of long-term outcomes of these types of interventions. The authors report a 15-year-old boy with hemiplegic cerebral palsy and epilepsy because of presumed perinatal stroke who improved his plegic hand function and increased his plegic forearm bone health during a 14-month virtual reality videogame hand telerehabilitation intervention. A total of 14 months after the intervention ended, repeat evaluation demonstrated maintenance of both increased hand function and forearm bone health. The implications of this work for the future of rehabilitation in children with neurological disabilities are discussed in this article.
Predispositions and Plasticity in Music and Speech Learning: Neural Correlates and Implications

Speech and music are remarkable aspects of human cognition and sensory-motor processing. Cognitive neuroscience has focused on them to understand how brain function and structure are modified by learning. Recent evidence indicates that individual differences in anatomical and functional properties of the neural architecture also affect learning and performance in these domains. Here, neuroimaging findings are reviewed that reiterate evidence of experience-dependent brain plasticity, but also point to the predictive validity of such data in relation to new learning in speech and music domains. Indices of neural sensitivity to certain stimulus features have been shown to predict individual rates of learning; individual network properties of brain activity are especially relevant in this regard, as they may reflect anatomical connectivity. Similarly, numerous studies have shown that anatomical features of auditory cortex and other structures, and their anatomical connectivity, are predictive of new sensory-motor learning ability. Implications of this growing body of literature are discussed.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as a Translational Tool for the Study of Neonatal Stroke

More than half of neonatal stroke survivors have long-term sequelae, including seizures and neurological deficits. Although the immature brain has tremendous potential for recovery, mechanisms governing repair are essentially unexplored. We investigated whether magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) early or late after transient middle cerebral arterial occlusion in postnatal day (P) 10 rats can serve as an intermediate endpoint for long-term studies. Injured animals selected by diffusion-weighted MRI during middle cerebral arterial occlusion were scanned using T2-weighted MRI at P18 and P25 (injury volumes on MRI and histology were compared) or were subjected to contrast-enhanced MRI at P13 to characterize cerebral microcirculatory disturbances and blood–brain barrier leakage. Injury volume during middle cerebral artery occlusion did not predict histological outcome at 2 weeks. Major reductions in injury volume occurred by P18, with no further changes by P25 and correlated with histological injury. Cerebral perfusion was significantly reduced in the injured caudate but blood–brain barrier leakage was small. Therefore, conventional T2-weighted MRI performed during a subchronic injury phase predicts a long-term histological outcome after experimental neonatal focal stroke.
Timing of neuronal plasticity in development and aging

Molecular oscillators are well known for their roles in temporal control of some biological processes like cell proliferation, but molecular mechanisms that provide temporal control of differentiation and postdifferentiation events in cells are less understood. In the nervous system, establishment of neuronal connectivity during development and decline in neuronal plasticity during aging are regulated with temporal precision, but the timing mechanisms are largely unknown. Caenorhabditis elegans has been a preferred model for aging research and recently emerges as a new model for the study of developmental and postdevelopmental plasticity in neurons. In this review we discuss the emerging mechanisms in timing of developmental lineage progression, axon growth and pathfinding, synapse formation, and reorganization, and neuronal plasticity in development and aging. We also provide a current view on the conserved core axon regeneration molecules with the intention to point out potential regulatory points of temporal controls. We highlight recent progress in understanding timing mechanisms that regulate decline in regenerative capacity, including progressive changes of intrinsic timers and co‐opting the aging pathway molecules. WIREs Dev Biol 2018, 7:e305. doi: 10.1002/wdev.305
Electroacupuncture Effects on the Disintegration of Beta Amyloid Sheets: Its Application to Alzheimer's Disease

Abstract Recent research indicates that electroacupuncture could help patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Indeed, certain acupoints, when stimulated by electric pulses, activate particular parts of the brain, the details of which have been revealed by magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography. Observed stimulated regions of the brain of Alzheimer's patients can be compared with the images obtained by fluorescence technique with a proper dye in Alzheimer's brain sections. This article provides support based on Western medical science for the treatment of Alzheimer's with electroacupuncture. Electroacupuncture acts in different and efficient ways. First, the positive charge of the electric pulses helps to detach from the neuron or the neuron membranes β amyloid peptides, which have been associated with the pathogenesis of the disease. In addition to this, the presence of the carboxyl group of β amyloids suffers a torque in the presence of an electric field and creates a serious de.
Detection of a Spinning Object Using Light’s Orbital Angular Momentum

Doppler Effect with a Twist The Doppler shift is a familiar and well-understood effect in acoustics. Radar guns use the same effect to determine the speed of moving vehicles. Applied to a rotating object side-on, however, a linear Doppler effect would register no movement. Using twisted light, whereby photons are imprinted with a given amount of optical angular momentum, Lavery et al. (p. 537; see the Perspective by Marrucci) detected rotation with an analogous angular Doppler shift, which may be useful for remote sensing and observational astronomy. Orbital angular momentum modes of light can be used to detect rotation. [Also see Perspective by Marrucci] The linear Doppler shift is widely used to infer the velocity of approaching objects, but this shift does not detect rotation. By analyzing the orbital angular momentum of the light scattered from a spinning object, we observed a frequency shift proportional to product of the rotation frequency of the object and the orbital angular momentum of the light. This rotational frequency shift was still present when the angular momentum vector was parallel to the observation direction. The multiplicative enhancement of the frequency shift may have applications for the remote detection of rotating bodies in both terrestrial and astronomical settings.
Evolutionary exploration of dynamic swarm behaviour

In general, it is difficult to make a highly dynamic swarm system follows explicit behaviour patterns. Multiple, simultaneous interactions among a large number of agents make the non-linear relationship between a parameter change and the corresponding effect on global behaviour non-intuitive and, consequently, hard to control. This paper presents breeding experiments of dynamic swarm behaviour patterns using an interactive evolutionary algorithm. Specifically, eight scalar parameters that influence swarm behaviour dynamics in a 3D swarm simulation are bred to produce agents that collectively fly in line, ring, and figure-eight formations. Our initial examples demonstrate that a 'swarm breeding' system can partly eliminate the manual tuning of control parameters and provides a viable approach to design swarm systems through interactive genetic programming.
What Role for Short-Lived Climate Pollutants in Mitigation Policy?

Parallel strategies must focus on long- and short-lived pollutants, but not at the cost of reducing pressure for action on CO2. Short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) include methane (CH4), black carbon (BC), tropospheric ozone, and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). They are important contributors to anthropogenic climate change, responsible for as much as one-third of the current total greenhouse forcing (1). An emerging strategy, which we refer to as hybrid climate mitigation (HCM), emphasizes reducing SLCPs in parallel with long-lived carbon dioxide (CO2) so as to achieve climate goals, as well as health and food security benefits, associated with some of the SLCPs. Proponents of HCM argue that we should focus substantial effort on reducing SLCPs now, as we wait for sufficient political will to reduce CO2 emissions (2–4). But others (5) worry that any strategy involving SLCPs risks delaying efforts to reduce CO2, the main greenhouse gas most important for long-term warming if emissions continue as projected.
Sudden death during worker transportation due to massive pulmonary thromboembolism

This is a report on a 30-year-old black man who suddenly died in the worker transportation vehicle in which he had been quietly sitting for thirty minutes. No information about his medical or surgical history or any family history has been obtained. This case is intended to highlight the fact that forensic autopsy is a valuable tool to recognize the cause of death and that fatal pulmonary thromboembolism still remains a post-mortem diagnosis. In this case report, the autopsy found a fresh saddle pulmonary thromboembolus associated with partially organized thrombi of the inferior vena cava. Can a prolonged seated position encourage thrombus formation? We think that seat-related factors and especially patient-related factors intervene together in the development of thromboembolic events. In our medico-legal unit, having no means to search for these factors, we speculated on the various causes that could be involved in the occurrence of venous thromboembolism in our subject. We emphasize the importance of focusing research on genetic factors and the impact of traditional medicine in African people.
Biosynthesis of Antinutritional Alkaloids in Solanaceous Crops Is Mediated by Clustered Genes

From Nasty to Tasty Some of our favorite food crops derive from wild relatives that were distasteful or even toxic. Domestication over many years selected for variants with reduced levels of antinutritional compounds. The wild relatives remain valuable, however, for other traits such as resistance to pathogens, but their use in crop development is complicated by the continued presence of unpalatable compounds. Itkin et al. (p. 175, published online 20 June) elucidate the metabolic pathways and genes directing synthesis of some of these antinutritionals in potato and tomato. Some of the chemicals that domestication has reduced in potato and tomato are derived from clusters of biosynthetic genes. Steroidal glycoalkaloids (SGAs) such as α-solanine found in solanaceous food plants—as, for example, potato—are antinutritional factors for humans. Comparative coexpression analysis between tomato and potato coupled with chemical profiling revealed an array of 10 genes that partake in SGA biosynthesis. We discovered that six of them exist as a cluster on chromosome 7, whereas an additional two are adjacent in a duplicated genomic region on chromosome 12. Following systematic functional analysis, we suggest a revised SGA biosynthetic pathway starting from cholesterol up to the tetrasaccharide moiety linked to the tomato SGA aglycone. Silencing GLYCOALKALOID METABOLISM 4 prevented accumulation of SGAs in potato tubers and tomato fruit. This may provide a means for removal of unsafe, antinutritional substances present in these widely used food crops.
Neonatal sepsis: A risk approach

Background: Neonatal sepsis continues to be a major cause of neonatal mortality in India. Incidence of neonatal sepsis in India was 30/1000 live births and is not changed much over the past decade. Aims and Objectives: The present study was intended to know the incidence and mortality rates of neonatal sepsis among hospital admission, whether there is any change in the risk factors over a decade and to evolve a risk approach in the management of neonatal sepsis. Patients and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study in a tertiary care teaching hospital. One hundred and twenty neonates with confirmed sepsis were enrolled. Cases were divided into early onset sepsis (EOS) (presenting in the first 72 h) and late onset sepsis (LOS) (presenting after 72 h). Information regarding risk factors was collected by questionnaire. All cases were started on ampicillin and gentamycin later upgraded based on culture and sensitivity. Cases were followed-up to discharge/death and the risk factors associated with fatal sepsis were analyzed using Chi-square test. Results: During 2003-2004, the incidence of sepsis was 6.04% of total pediatric admissions with EOS and LOS 3.08% and 2.96%. The same in 2013-2014 were 6.03%, 2.57% and 3.44%, respectively. Highly significant risk factors were inadequate antenatal care, assisted vaginal delivery, and premature rupture of membranes, low birth weight and associated complications. Klebsiella, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli were the most common organisms in both EOS and LOS. Conclusion: Overall incidence of sepsis and EOS is not changed much but the incidence of LOS has increased from 2.94% to 3.44%.
A weak association of blood catalase activity and +22348C → T polymorphism of the catalase gene in Hungarian female vitiligo patients

Abstract Background An early event in the pathogenesis of vitiligo may be the chronic oxidative stress via elevated hydrogen peroxide due to decreased blood catalase. There are controversial reports on association of vitiligo and +22348C→T polymorphism. Methods We examined this polymorphism and blood catalase in Hungarian vitiligo patients (n: 78) and controls (n: 201). Genomic DNA was extracted from leukocytes and a PCR/SSCP method was used for genetic examination. Results Blood catalase activity, genotype and allele frequencies did not change in Hungarian vitiligo patients. The mutant CT and TT genotypes yielded decreased (p 0.0813), contrary to the significant (p < 0.05) increase of mutant CT genotype and T allele frequencies in US/Canada and in UK. Conclusions Our results based on blood catalase determinations and genetic examination of +22348C→T polymorphism sugg.
EPC: Extended Path Coverage for Measurement-Based Probabilistic Timing Analysis

Measurement-based probabilistic timing analysis (MBPTA) computes trustworthy upper bounds to the execution time of software programs. MBPTA has the connotation, typical of measurement-based techniques, that the bounds computed with it only relate to what is observed in actual program traversals, which may not include the effective worst-case phenomena. To overcome this limitation, we propose Extended Path Coverage (EPC), a novel technique that allows extending the representativeness of the bounds computed by MBPTA. We make the observation data probabilistically path-independent by modifying the probability distribution of the observed timing behaviour so as to negatively compensate for any benefits that a basic block may draw from a path leading to it. This enables the derivation of trustworthy upper bounds to the probabilistic execution time of all paths in the program, even when the user-provided input vectors do not exercise the worst-case path. Our results confirm that using MBPTA with EPC produces fully trustworthy upper bounds with competitively small overestimation in comparison to state-of-the-art MBPTA techniques.
The Roots of Cultivation in Southwestern Asia

Evidence of early cultivation of crops in the Zagros Mountains of Iran helps to elucidate where and when humans first started to cultivate wild cereals. [Also see Report by Riehl et al.] The origins of agriculture have been the source of much speculation, but recent discoveries are enabling archaeologists to piece together a more accurate picture. Fifty years ago, the earliest known farming village was Jericho in the southern Levant, dated to about 11,000 years ago (1). Since then, a series of sites dated hundreds of years earlier has been found in an arc extending to northern Iraq. Discoveries in Iran at Chogha Golan and Sheikh-e Abad (2), dated to 11,700 years ago, extend the arc to Iran, allowing five clusters of sites to be defined (see the figure, panel A). Archaeological excavations in the foothills of the Zagros Mountains of Iran reported by Riehl et al. on page 65 of this issue (3) provide evidence that wild cereal cultivation in the eastern cluster occurred almost as early as in the clusters farther west.