Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Plin4-Dependent Lipid Droplets Hamper Neuronal Mitophagy in the MPTP/p-Induced Mouse Model of Parkinson’s Disease

Epidemiological studies have shown that both lipid metabolism disorder and mitochondrial dysfunction are correlated with the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs), including Parkinson’s disease (PD). Emerging evidence suggests that deposition of intracellular lipid droplets (LDs) participates in lipotoxicity and precedes neurodegeneration. Perilipin family members were recognized to facilitate LD movement and cellular signaling interactions. However, the direct interaction between Perilipin-regulated LD deposition and mitochondrial dysfunction in dopaminergic (DA) neurons remains obscure. Here, we demonstrate a novel type of lipid dysregulation involved in PD progression as evidenced by upregulated expression of Plin4 (a coating protein and regulator of LDs), and increased intracellular LD deposition that correlated with the loss of TH-ir (Tyrosine hydroxylase-immunoreactive) neurons in the MPTP/p-induced PD model mouse mesencephalon. Further, in vitro experiments showed that inhibition of LD storage by downregulating Plin4 promoted survival of SH-SY5Y cells. Mechanistically, reduced LD storage restored autophagy, leading to alleviation of mitochondrial damage, which in turn promoted cell survival. Moreover, the parkin-poly-Ub-p62 pathway was involved in this Plin4/LD-induced inhibition of mitophagy. These findings were further confirmed in primary cultures of DA-nergic neurons, in which autophagy inhibitor treatment significantly countermanded the ameliorations conferred by Plin4 silencing. Collectively, these experiments demonstrate that a dysfunctional Plin4/LD/mitophagy axis is involved in PD pathology and suggest Plin4-LDs as a potential biomarker as well as therapeutic strategy for PD.
Transcending the Rational Symbol System : how Information and Communication Technology integrates science , art , philosophy and spirituality into a global brain

Because symbols support the uniquely human capabilities of language, culture and thinking, cognitive science has tried to explain intelligence as founded on rational symbol systems (RSS). Such systems consist of collections of symbols along with the logical and grammatical rules required for combining these symbols into meaningful expressions. The main shortcoming of this RSS mechanism is that it reduces the continuous experience of reality to a combination of static, discrete, and to some degree arbitrary, elements. To fully support intelligence, such symbols need to be grounded in subsymbolic networks of associations and situated interactions that capture the subjective, transient and intuitive aspects of experience. Historically, different approaches have tried to overcome the shortcomings of rational symbol systems, albeit as yet with limited success. These include science, by formalizing and operationalizing symbols; philosophy, by seeking for the reality behind symbols while analyzing the shortcomings of symbolic representations; art, by evoking intuitive insights and experiences; and spirituality, by expanding consciousness beyond rational symbol systems. The on-going explosion in information and communication technology now makes it possible to extend and integrate their results, through techniques such as computer simulation, artificial intelligence, neural networks, multimedia, virtual and augmented reality, and braincomputer interfaces. Thus, the subsymbolic level of cognition, like the symbolic level before it, becomes externalized and controllable, supporting and automating creativity and intuition. It is proposed that this will produce an evolutionary transition to a supra-human level of knowledge, intelligence and consciousness, envisioned as a Global Brain for humanity.
Robust Batch Steganography in Social Networks With Non-Uniform Payload and Data Decomposition

Batch steganography refers to a steganography method where a user tries to hide confidential payload within a batch of images from social networks. It is significantly different from the traditional laboratory steganography where a user only considers an individual image. To apply batch steganography in social media networks, we are faced with two nontrivial problems: 1) how to assign payload to multiple images? and 2) how to recover the hidden payload if some images are lost during transmission? We tackle the problems by: 1) developing an optimal payload embedding strategy and 2) designing a special type of data decomposition. In the former, an optimal non-uniform payload distribution for multiple images is obtained by iterative feature back replacement. In the later, we employ special matrix operation to expand original data and split them into multiple shares. These shares are then embedded into different covers following the optimal non-uniform payload distribution. Our solution is robust in the sense that the recipient can recover the hidden data even if some images are intercepted or lost during delivery. Comprehensive experimental results show that our method outperforms the state-of-the-art in terms of anti-detectability and robustness.
Association of Smoking Status With Mortality and Hospitalization in Hemodialysis Patients.

RATIONALE & OBJECTIVE The relationship between tobacco smoking and comorbid condition outcomes in hemodialysis (HD) patients is not well understood. This study examined the association of tobacco smoking status with hospitalization and mortality in HD patients. STUDY DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS Adult HD patients at 2,223 US dialysis centers with HD vintage of 30 days or less who completed a tobacco smoking status survey as part of standard care between April 2013 and June 2015. PREDICTOR Tobacco smoking category: never smoked, currently living with smoker, former smoker, moderate smoker (<1 pack per day), or heavy smoker (≥1 pack per day). OUTCOMES Death and hospital admissions within 2 years of the tobacco smoking survey. ANALYTICAL APPROACH Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards regression for time to death; cumulative incidence function and Cox proportional hazards regression for time to first hospitalization; negative-binomial regression for number of hospitalizations. RESULTS Of 22,230 patients studied, 13% were active smokers. Mortality probabilities increased with greater exposure to smoking (17%, 22%, 23%, and 27% for never, moderate, former, and heavy smokers, respectively; P<0.001), as did incidence rates for first hospitalization (23%, 27%, 27%, and 30%, respectively; P<0.001). Compared to never smoked, heavy smokers had the highest mortality rate (HR for heavy smokers, 1.41 [95% CI, 1.18-1.69]; HR for moderate smokers, 1.39 [95% CI, 1.24-1.55]; HR for former smokers, 1.19 [95% CI, 1.11-1.28]). Living with a smoker was not associated with mortality (HR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.72-1.22). HRs for first hospitalization followed similar patterns. The incidence rate of mortality for active smokers with diabetes was 173.7/1,000 patient-years and 103.5/1,000 patient-years for those who never smoked (incidence rate ratio, 1.68; P<0.001). LIMITATIONS Self-reported survey without detailed history of smoking/cessation. CONCLUSIONS Risks for death and hospitalization are elevated among HD patients who smoke, being highest among younger individuals and those with diabetes. Second-hand smoke was not associated with poor clinical outcomes.
The Assessment of Isometric, Dynamic, and Sports-Specific Upper-Body Strength in Male and Female Competitive Surfers

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate gender differences in the dynamic strength index (DSI): an assessment of upper-body dynamic strength relative to maximal isometric strength. The secondary purpose was to investigate gender differences in the dynamic skill deficit (DSD): an assessment of sports-specific dynamic strength relative to maximal isometric strength, and its association with a sports-specific performance measure in surfers. Nine male (age = 30.3 ± 7.3 yrs) and eight female (age = 25.5 ± 5.2 yrs) surfers undertook three upper-body assessments: isometric push-up, dynamic push-up, and a force plate pop-up to determine the DSI and DSD. The performance measure of time taken to pop-up (TTP) was recorded. No gender differences for the DSI (d = 0.48, p = 0.33) or DSD (d = 0.69, p = 0.32) were observed. Normalized peak force (PF) of the isometric push-up, dynamic push-up, and force plate pop-up were significantly greater in males (p ≤ 0.05), with males recording significantly quicker TTP (d = 1.35, p < 0.05). The results suggest that male and female surfers apply a similar proportion of their maximal strength in sports-specific movements. However, greater normalized isometric and dynamic strength in males resulted in greater sports-specific PF application and a faster TTP. It would appear favorable that female surfers improve their maximal strength to facilitate sports-specific pop-up performance.
5G Millimeter-Wave Mobile Broadband: Performance and Challenges

Future cellular systems will employ the so-called big three technologies: UDN, massive MIMO, and mmWave (and/or terahertz) communications. The goal is to support the explosive demands for mobile broadband services foreseen for the next decade. In this work, we investigate the joint impact of the three technologies. Using system-level simulations, we evaluate the performance of two-tier cellular networks with μ Wave macrocells and densely deployed mmWave small cells. Our results show that much higher capacity can be realized with UDNs than in macrocell-only setups. The results also reveal that performance does not scale proportionally with increase in the employed mmWave bandwidth. The corresponding increase in noise (due to larger bandwidths) reduces the SINR. Outdoor users experience promising data rates notwithstanding, but the throughputs of indoor users are highly degraded. This is due to the additional wall and indoor losses (on top of the inherently high path loss at mmWave frequencies), which further reduce the SINR of indoor users. Therefore, techniques that significantly enhance the SINR are highly import ant design considerations in unleashing the amazing prospects and potentials of mmWave UDNs.
Differences among Three Measures of Reaction Time Based on Hand Laterality in Individual Sports

(1) Aim: The study aimed at assessing simple-reaction, recognition and cognitive-reaction times to visual stimuli among student athletes: boxing, gymnastics, taekwondo, judo, karate and wrestling, using computer games tests. (2) Methods: Our study involved 332 students and athletes. We applied three types of computer tests to measure the dominant and non-dominant hands: the simple motor reaction time through the Human Benchmark test, the recognition time by the Hit-the-dots and the cognitive reaction time by the Trail making test part B. (3) Results: For dominant and non-dominant hands, better results of individual sports were for: simply reaction time—boxing; recognition reaction time—taekwondo; cognitive reaction—judo. (4) Conclusions: Athletes had better simple reaction with the left hand than with the right hand. Athletes had better recognition and cognitive reaction time with the right hand than with the left hand regardless of the dominant hand. The outcomes of our study indicate that the reaction times of left and right hands were influenced by the hand laterality, the type of applied stimulus, the stress complexity of tests and the type of practiced sport.
Validated Stability-Indicating Derivative Spectrophotometry and Synchronous Fluorescence Spectroscopy Methods for the Determination of Dapoxetine Hydrochloride in the Presence of its Degradation Product and Co-Formulated Drugs

The stability of dapoxetine hydrochloride (DP) was studied in the presence of its acidic degradation product namely, (+)-N, N-dimethyl-1-phenyl-3-propanolamine (Deg 1) and the co-formulated drugs Vardenafil (VR) and Tadalafil (TD) using derivative spectrophotometry and synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy methods. Method I, stability indicating derivative spectrophotometry 1D was developed for the determination of DP in the presence of its hydrolytic degradation product and the co-formulated drug VR. The amplitude of the first derivative spectra 1D at λmax of 240 nm and 227 nm was measured for DP and VR, respectively. Method IIA, stability indicating synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy (SFS) was described for the determination of DP in the presence of its hydrolytic degradation product and the co-formulated drug TD. In this method (SFS) was performed at Δλ of 70 nm in acetonitrile medium and the synchronous fluorescence intensities of TD were measured at 212 nm. Method IIB, The first derivative synchronous fluorescence spectra FDSFS were applied for measuring the amplitudes of FDSFS at 295 nm and 242 nm for analysis of DP and TD, respectively. The degradation products was obtained in acidic stress condition of 5 M hydrochloric acid, separated, and identified by IR and mass spectrometry to confirm its structure, and elucidate degradation pathway. The methods were applied for stability-indicating assay of DP (method I and II), VR (method I) and TD (method II) in bulk powders, laboratory prepared mixtures and co-formulated pharmaceutical preparations containing degradation product of DP. The results obtained were satisfactory compared with those obtained from the comparison methods and no significant differences were found. The two stability indicating methods were validated as per ICH guidelines.
A Dataset for Building Code-Mixed Goal Oriented Conversation Systems

There is an increasing demand for goal-oriented conversation systems which can assist users in various day-to-day activities such as booking tickets, restaurant reservations, shopping, etc. Most of the existing datasets for building such conversation systems focus on monolingual conversations and there is hardly any work on multilingual and/or code-mixed conversations. Such datasets and systems thus do not cater to the multilingual regions of the world, such as India, where it is very common for people to speak more than one language and seamlessly switch between them resulting in code-mixed conversations. For example, a Hindi speaking user looking to book a restaurant would typically ask, “Kya tum is restaurant mein ek table book karne mein meri help karoge? ” (“Can you help me in booking a table at this restaurant? ”). To facilitate the development of such code-mixed conversation models, we build a goal-oriented dialog dataset containing code-mixed conversations. Specifically, we take the text from the DSTC2 restaurant reservation dataset and create code-mixed versions of it in Hindi-English, Bengali-English, Gujarati-English and Tamil-English. We also establish initial baselines on this dataset using existing state of the art models. This dataset along with our baseline implementations will be made publicly available for research purposes.
Understanding the Relative Contributions of Sensitive and Insensitive Parent Behaviors on Infant Vaccination Pain

Parents play a critical role in supporting infants’ ability to manage strong emotions. Routine vaccinations provide an ideal context to observe the effect of parents’ behaviors on infants’ pain-related distress. Previous research in the vaccination context showed that parent sensitivity, operationalized by variables such as emotional availability and proximal soothing behaviors, is associated with infant pain-related distress behavior. However, the magnitudes of these relationships were smaller than expected given the established importance of parents in the development of distress regulation. In recent work, a reliable and valid measure to operationalize insensitive behaviors was developed. The objective of the current study was to examine the relative contribution of variables representing sensitive and insensitive behaviors to the prediction of infant pain-related distress behaviors during the reactivity and regulation phases of needle pain. Archival data was used to analyze a subsample of infants followed during their two-month, six-month, and 12-month vaccinations (n = 81). Results of regression analyses indicated that parent insensitive behaviors generally had the strongest relationships with pain outcomes across all ages, with a greater influence on regulation-phase pain-related distress behavior, rather than reactivity-phase pain-related distress behavior. Our findings support the utility of a measure of distress-promoting parent behaviors in a vaccination context, and highlight the potential value of this measure for clinicians and researchers.
On Machine Learning and Structure for Mobile Robots

Due to recent advances - compute, data, models - the role of learning in autonomous systems has expanded significantly, rendering new applications possible for the first time. While some of the most significant benefits are obtained in the perception modules of the software stack, other aspects continue to rely on known manual procedures based on prior knowledge on geometry, dynamics, kinematics etc. Nonetheless, learning gains relevance in these modules when data collection and curation become easier than manual rule design. Building on this coarse and broad survey of current research, the final sections aim to provide insights into future potentials and challenges as well as the necessity of structure in current practical applications.
Lenalidomide and Programmed Death-1 Blockade Synergistically Enhances the Effects of Dendritic Cell Vaccination in a Model of Murine Myeloma

The therapeutic efficacy of dendritic cell (DC)-based immunotherapy may be potentiated in combination with other anticancer therapies that enhance DC function by modulating immune responses and the tumor microenvironment. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of DC vaccination in combination with lenalidomide and programmed death (PD)-1 blockade in a model of murine myeloma. MOPC-315 cell lines were injected subcutaneously to establish myeloma-bearing mice and the following five test groups were established: PBS control, DCs, DCs + lenalidomide, DCs + PD-1 blockade, and DCs + lenalidomide + PD-1 blockade. The combination of DCs plus lenalidomide and PD-1 blockade more potently inhibited tumor growth compared to the other groups. This effect was associated with a reduction in immune suppressor cells (such as myeloid-derived suppressor cells, M2 macrophages, and regulatory T cells) and an increase in immune effector cells [such as CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, natural killer (NK) cells, and M1 macrophages] in the spleen. Functional activities of cytotoxic T lymphocytes and NK cells were also enhanced by the triple combination. Levels of immunosuppressive cytokines, such as TGF-β and IL-10, were significantly reduced in the tumor microenvironment. These findings suggest that the combination of DCs plus lenalidomide and PD-1 blockade synergistically establishes a robust anti-myeloma immunity through a two-way mechanism, which inhibits immunosuppressive cells while activating effector cells with superior polarization of the Th1/Th2 balance in favor of the tumor immune response. This result should provide an experimental ground for incorporating check point inhibitors to existing immunotherapeutic modalities against multiple myeloma.
Misconceptions about HIV transmission among adolescents: levels, trends and correlates from the Botswana AIDS impact surveys, 2001–2013: A short report

ABSTRACT Botswana is the world’s second HIV heavily affected country, with an average HIV prevalence of 17.6% in 2013. The data used for this study are from Botswana AIDS Impact Surveys, I-IV, which are nationally representative sample surveys conducted in 2001, 2004, 2008 and 2013 respectively by the Central Statistics Office and the National AIDS Coordinating Agency. The purpose of this study was to investigate the levels, trends and factors associated with misconceptions about HIV transmission among adolescents. Both descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression analysis were used to address the study objectives. Overall the levels of HIV-related misconceptions among adolescents showed a declining trend over time, even though this trend is not consistent across the various misconception variables. The statistically significant factors influencing misconceptions were primary or lower education and being male in three surveys out of the four surveys. The study results show that despite major intervention aimed at behaviour change, myths and misconceptions about HIV transmission remain. Therefore, the intensification of the information, education and communication campaigns aimed at dispelling misconceptions are required, particularly aimed at the less educated and male adolescents.
Trajectories of depression in adolescents and young adults in Vietnam during rapid urbanisation: evidence from a longitudinal study

Objectives: This paper investigates the trajectories of depression symptoms in adolescents and young adults, and explores factors associated with their depression. Method: For each respondent, three waves of data were collected in 2006, 2009 and 2013 from adolescents and young adults aged 10 to 24 years. The modified Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale was used to interview participants, while the generalised estimating equation (GEE) model was used to identify whether certain factors were associated with depression. Results: The mean depression scores in 2006, 2009 and 2013 were 29.76, 30.80 and 30.51 respectively. Compared to boys, girls reported higher initial levels of depressive symptoms. The depression score was found to be highest among adolescents aged 15 to 17 years. Depression among young people was associated with age, gender, marital status, education levels, general health and living location. Conclusion: Using longitudinal design, this research demonstrated the different trajectories of depression scores between boys and girls over time and provided evidence for interventions improving adolescent mental health in a semi-urban area of Vietnam.
Re-examining the role of interpersonal communications in "time-of-voting decision" studies

Previous voting studies classified voters into three groups – pre-campaign deciders, campaign deciders, and last-minute deciders – according their vote decision timing and suggested a linear relationship between time-of-voting decision and political/nonpolitical characteristics, predicting that the earlier voters make their decisions, the more inclined they are to be politically involved, interested and attentive. This study re-examines the linear relationship suggested by past studies, treating time-of-voting decision as a dependent variable. Furthermore, it explores the roles of interpersonal communications, specifically heterogeneity within interpersonal communication networks, in individuals’ voting behaviors with the expectation that heterogeneity is a primary determinant of the time-of-voting decision. Data for the study came from the 2000 American National Election Studies, and the same variables as previous studies were used in analysis. Results showed there were no significant differences between campaign deciders and last-minute deciders, while precampaign deciders significantly differed from the other two groups. Further analysis with non-voters included found that both campaign deciders and last-minute deciders showed significantly higher levels of political participation and interests than non-voters. These results do not support the findings of previous studies. Heterogeneity was found to be an important predictor for time-of-voting decision. Supporting the “cross-pressure” hypothesis, it was found that as heterogeneity increased, opinion formation was delayed. Also, it was revealed that heterogeneity was negatively correlated with political participation and media use and attention. The results suggest that