Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
BFGAN: Backward and Forward Generative Adversarial Networks for Lexically Constrained Sentence Generation

Incorporating prior knowledge like lexical constraints into the model’s output to generate meaningful and coherent sentences has many applications in dialogue system, machine translation, image captioning, etc. However, existing auto-regressive models incrementally generate sentences from left to right via beam search, which makes it difficult to directly introduce lexical constraints into the generated sentences. In this paper, we propose a new algorithmic framework, dubbed BFGAN, to address this challenge. Specifically, we employ a backward generator and a forward generator to generate lexically constrained sentences together, and use a discriminator to guide the joint training of two generators by assigning them reward signals. Due to the difficulty of BFGAN training, we propose several training techniques to make the training process more stable and efficient. Our extensive experiments on three large-scale datasets with human evaluation demonstrate that BFGAN has significant improvements over previous methods.
Hypoxia-induced alterations in the lung ubiquitin proteasome system during pulmonary hypertension pathogenesis

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a clinical disorder characterized by sustained increases in pulmonary vascular resistance and pressure that can lead to right ventricular (RV) hypertrophy and ultimately RV failure and death. The molecular pathogenesis of PH remains incompletely defined, and existing treatments are associated with suboptimal outcomes and persistent morbidity and mortality. Reports have suggested a role for the ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) in PH, but the extent of UPS-mediated non-proteolytic protein alterations during PH pathogenesis has not been previously defined. To further examine UPS alterations, the current study employed C57BL/6J mice exposed to normoxia or hypoxia for 3 weeks. Lung protein ubiquitination was evaluated by mass spectrometry to identify differentially ubiquitinated proteins relative to normoxic controls. Hypoxia stimulated differential ubiquitination of 198 peptides within 131 proteins (p < 0.05). These proteins were screened to identify candidates within pathways involved in PH pathogenesis. Some 51.9% of the differentially ubiquitinated proteins were implicated in at least one known pathway contributing to PH pathogenesis, and 13% were involved in three or more PH pathways. Anxa2, App, Jak1, Lmna, Pdcd6ip, Prkch1, and Ywhah were identified as mediators in PH pathways that undergo differential ubiquitination during PH pathogenesis. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report global changes in protein ubiquitination in the lung during PH pathogenesis. These findings suggest signaling nodes that are dynamically regulated by the UPS during PH pathogenesis. Further exploration of these differentially ubiquitinated proteins and related pathways can provide new insights into the role of the UPS in PH pathogenesis.
Response rates of hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatic colorectal cancer metastases to drug eluting bead regional liver therapy

Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare how hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and colorectal metastases respond to LC Bead chemoembolization using doxorubicin and irinotecan. Methods: The authors report their experience with doxorubicin and irinotecan eluting beads to treat 13 patients with primary HCC and 25 patients with colorectal metastases over a 1-year period at a single community based oncology practice. Within the colorectal cancer group they compared irinotecan eluting beads to doxorubicin eluting beads. Results: Nine of the 11 (81.8%) doxorubicin treated HCC patients had either complete response or partial response. All of the HCC lesions showed reduction in size and tumor enhancement and 10/11 (91%) HCC patients were alive at 24 months post treatment. Fisher’s exact test revealed that among the 22 with colorectal metastases for whom follow-up data were available, those 11 who were treated with doxorubicin were significantly more likely to demonstrate complete or partial response compared to the 11 in the irinotecan treated group (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Overall, HCC and colon metastasis patients clearly demonstrated the effectiveness of drug eluting beads with 91% of the HCC patients alive 24 months after treatment.
GPS Improvement System Using Short-Range Communication

Many Internet of Things (IoT) applications have emerged in recent years. Although some variants exist, IoT systems are basically composed of many devices and servers and therefore require the development of both device- and server-side systems. This makes the development of IoT system difficult. In this paper, an IoT architecture is proposed that avoids this requirement, thereby simplifying the IoT system development. As an example of our proposed architecture, we present a Global Positioning System (GPS) improvement system from the device side only. Each device communicates with other devices to acquire more accurate GPS data. The accuracy of our GPS improvement system was verified with prototype application.
Inhibition of TRAF6 ubiquitin-ligase activity by PRDX1 leads to inhibition of NFKB activation and autophagy activation

ABSTRACT TRAF6 (TNF receptor associated factor 6) plays a pivotal role in NFKB activation and macroautphagy/autophagy activation induced by TLR4 (toll like receptor 4) signaling. The objective of this study was to determine the functional role of PRDX1 (peroxiredoxin 1) in NFKB activation and autophagy activation. PRDX1 interacted with the ring finger domain of TRAF6 and inhibited its ubiquitin-ligase activity. The inhibition on TRAF6 ubiquitin-ligase activity by PRDX1 induced the suppression of ubiquitination of an evolutionarily conserved signaling intermediate in Toll pathways (ECSIT) essential for NFKB activation and BECN1 (beclin 1) required for autophagy activation. An inhibitory effect of PRDX1 on TRAF6 was clearly evidenced in PRDX1-knockdown (PRDX1KD) THP-1, PRDX1KD MDA-MB-231, and PRDX1KD SK-HEP-1 cells. PRDX1KD THP-1 cells showed increases of NFKB activation, pro-inflammatory cytokine production, NFKB-dependent gene expression induced by TLR4 stimulation, and resistance against Salmonella typhimurium infection. Additionally, migration and invasion abilities of PRDX1KD MDA-MB-231 and PRDX1KD SK-HEP-1 cancer cells were significantly enhanced compared to those of control cancer cells. Taken together, these results suggest that PRDX1 negatively regulates TLR4 signaling for NFKB activation and autophagy functions such as bactericidal activity, cancer cell migration, and cancer cell invasion by inhibiting TRAF6 ubiquitin-ligase activity. Abbreviations: 3-MA: 3-methyladenine; BECN1: beclin 1; CHUK/IKKA: conserved helix-loop-helix ubiquitous kinase; ECSIT: ECSIT signalling integrator; ELISA: enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; NFKB: nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells; IB: immunoblotting; IKBKB/IKKB: inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa B kinase subunit beta; IL1B: interleukin 1 beta; IL6: interleukin 6; IP: immunoprecipitation; LPS: lipopolysaccharide; MAP1LC3/LC3: microtuble associated protein 1 light chain 3; MAP3K7/TAK1: mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase 7; MAPK14/p38: mitogen-activated protein kinase 14; mROS: mitochondrial reactive oxygen species; PRDX1: peroxiredoxin 1; PRDX6: peroxiredoxin 6; RELA/p65: RELA proto-oncogene, NF-kB subunit; TRAF6 TNF: receptor associated factor 6.
The chromatin nuclear protein NUPR1L is intrinsically disordered and binds to the same proteins as its paralogue.

NUPR1 is a protumoral multifunctional intrinsically disordered protein (IDP), which is activated during the acute phases of pancreatitis. It interacts with other IDPs such as prothymosin α, as well as with folded proteins such as the C-terminal region of RING1-B (C-RING1B) of the Polycomb complex; in all those interactions, residues around Ala33 and Thr68 (the 'hot-spot' region) of NUPR1 intervene. Its paralogue, NUPR1L, is also expressed in response to DNA damage, it is p53-regulated, and its expression down-regulates that of the NUPR1 gene. In this work, we characterized the conformational preferences of isolated NUPR1L and its possible interactions with the same molecular partners of NUPR1. Our results show that NUPR1L was an oligomeric IDP from pH 2.0 to 12.0, as judged by steady-state fluorescence, circular dichroism (CD), dynamic light scattering, 1D 1H-NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance), and as indicated by structural modelling. However, in contrast with NUPR1, there was evidence of local helical- or turn-like structures; these structures were not rigid, as judged by the lack of sigmoidal behaviour in the chemical and thermal denaturation curves obtained by CD and fluorescence. Interestingly enough, NUPR1L interacted with prothymosin α and C-RING1B, and with a similar affinity to that of NUPR1 (in the low micromolar range). Moreover, NUPR1L hetero-associated with NUPR1 with an affinity of 0.4 µM and interacted with the 'hot-spot' region of NUPR1. Thus, we suggest that the regulation of NUPR1 gene by NUPR1L does not only happen at the DNA level, but it could also involve direct interactions with NUPR1 natural partners.
Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Concentrations Are Associated with Computed Tomography Markers of Subclinical Interstitial Lung Disease among Community-Dwelling Adults in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).

Background Activated vitamin D has anti-inflammatory properties. 25-Hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] deficiency might contribute to subclinical interstitial lung disease (ILD). Objective We examined associations between serum 25(OH)D concentrations and subclinical ILD among middle-aged to older adults who were free of cardiovascular disease at baseline. Methods We studied 6302 Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) participants who had baseline serum 25(OH)D concentrations and computed tomography (CT) imaging spanning ≤ 10 y. Baseline cardiac CT scans (2000-2002) included partial lung fields. Some participants had follow-up cardiac CT scans at exams 2-5 and a full-lung CT scan at exam 5 (2010-2012), with a mean ± SD of 2.1 ± 1.0 scans. Subclinical ILD was defined quantitatively as high-attenuation areas (HAAs) between -600 and -250 Hounsfield units. We assessed associations of 25(OH)D with adjusted HAA volumes and HAA progression. We also examined associations between baseline 25(OH)D and the presence of interstitial lung abnormalities (ILAs) assessed qualitatively (yes or no) from full-lung CT scans at exam 5. Models were adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle factors (including smoking), and lung volumes. Results The cohort's mean ± SD characteristics were 62.2 ± 10 y for age, 25.8 ± 10.9 ng/mL for 25(OH)D concentrations, and 28.3 ± 5.4 for body mass index (kg/m2); 53% were women, with 39% white, 27% black, 22% Hispanic, and 12% Chinese race/ethnicities. Thirty-three percent had replete (≥30 ng/mL), 35% intermediate (20 to <30 ng/mL), and 32% deficient (<20 ng/mL) 25(OH)D concentrations. Compared with those with replete concentrations, participants with 25(OH)D deficiency had greater adjusted HAA volume at baseline (2.7 cm3; 95% CI: 0.9, 4.5 cm3) and increased progression over a median of 4.3 y of follow-up (2.7 cm3; 95% CI: 0.9, 4.4 cm3) (P < 0.05). 25(OH)D deficiency was also associated with increased prevalence of ILAs 10 y later (OR: 1.5; 95% CI: 1.1, 2.2). Conclusions Vitamin D deficiency is independently associated with subclinical ILD and its progression, based on both increased HAAs and ILAs, in a community-based population. Further studies are needed to examine whether vitamin D repletion can prevent ILD or slow its progression. The MESA cohort design is registered at www.clinicaltrials. gov as NCT00005487.
Influence of scaling procedures on the integrity of titanium nitride coated CAD/CAM abutments

PURPOSE To determine the extent of treatment traces, the roughness depth, and the quantity of titanium nitride (TiN) removed from the surface of CAD/CAM abutments after treatment with various instruments. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twelve TiN coated CAD/CAM abutments were investigated for an in vitro study. In the test group (9), each abutment surface was subjected twice (150 g vs. 200 g pressure) to standardized treatment in a simulated prophylaxis measure with the following instruments: acrylic scaler, titanium curette, and ultrasonic scaler with steel tip. Three abutments were used as control group. Average surface roughness (Sa) and developed interfacial area ratio (Sdr) of treated and untreated surfaces were measured with a profilometer. The extent of treatment traces were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy. RESULTS Manipulation with ultrasonic scalers resulted in a significant increase of average surface roughness (Sa, P<.05) and developed interfacial area ratio (Sdr, P<.018). Variable contact pressure did not yield any statistically significant difference on Sa-values for all instruments (P=.8). Ultrasonic treatment resulted in pronounced surface traces and partially detachment of the TiN coating. While titanium curettes caused predominantly moderate treatment traces, no traces or detectable substance removal has been determined after manipulation with acrylic curettes. CONCLUSION Inappropriate instruments during regular plaque control may have an adverse effect on the integrity of the TiN coating of CAD/CAM abutments. To prevent defects and an increased surface roughness at the transmucosal zone of TiN abutments, only acrylic scaling instruments can be recommended for regular maintenance care.
Virtually No Effect? Different Uses of Classroom Computers and Their Effect on Student Achievement

Most studies find little to no effect of classroom computers on student achievement. We suggest that this null effect may combine positive effects of computer uses without equivalently effective alternative traditional teaching practices and negative effects of uses that substitute more effective teaching practices. Our correlated random effects models exploit within-student between-subject variation in different computer uses in the international TIMSS test. We find positive effects of using computers to look up information and negative effects of using computers to practice skills, resulting in overall null effects. Effects are smaller for low-SES students and mostly confined to developed countries.
Effects of Prosthetic Material and Framework Design on Stress Distribution in Dental Implants and Peripheral Bone: A Three-Dimensional Finite Element Analysis

Background The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of prosthetic material and framework design on the stress within dental implants and peripheral bone using finite element analysis (FEA). Material/Methods A mandibular implant-supported fixed dental prosthesis with different prosthetic materials [cobalt-chromium-supported ceramic (C), zirconia-supported ceramic (Z), and zirconia-reinforced polymethyl methacrylate (ZRPMMA)-supported resin (ZP)] and different connector widths (2, 3, and 4 mm) within the framework were used to evaluate stress via FEA under oblique loading conditions. Maximum principal (σmax), minimum principal (σmin), and von Mises (σvM) stress values were obtained. Results Minimum stress values were observed in the model with a 2-mm connector width for C and ZP. The models with 3-mm and 4-mm connector widths showed higher stress values than the model with a 2-mm connector width for C (48–50%) and ZP (50–52%). Similar stress values were observed in the 3- and 4-mm models. There was no significant difference in the amount of stress with Z regardless of connector width. The Z and ZP models showed similar stress values in the 3- and 4-mm models and higher stress values than in the C model. Z, ZP, and C showed the highest stress values for the model with a 2-mm connector width. Conclusions Changes in the material and width of connectors may influence stress on cortical bone, cancellous bone, and implants. C was associated with the lowest stress values. Higher maximum and minimum principal stress values were seen in cortical bone compared to cancellous bone.
From Malthus to Modern Growth: Child Labor, Schooling and Human Capital

This paper develops a dynamic general equilibrium model of fertility, human capital accumulation, child labor and uncertain child survival focusing on the qualitative and quantitative effect of declining mortality on household decisions and economic development. Due to uncertainty about child survival, parents have a precautionary demand for children. Rising survival probability leads to falling fertility, eventually to investment into schooling and the demise of child labor. Child labor can be an obstacle to development since it lowers the incentives of parents to educate children. Furthermore, the paper argues that the decline of precautionary child demand as a consequence of falling mortality is not sufficient to generate a demographic transition. Falling mortality can only explain a relatively small part of the fertility decline. A sizable reduction in fertility can only be achieved by human capital investment and the induced quantity-quality trade off.
Emergent Solutions to High-Dimensional Multitask Reinforcement Learning

Algorithms that learn through environmental interaction and delayed rewards, or reinforcement learning (RL), increasingly face the challenge of scaling to dynamic, high-dimensional, and partially observable environments. Significant attention is being paid to frameworks from deep learning, which scale to high-dimensional data by decomposing the task through multilayered neural networks. While effective, the representation is complex and computationally demanding. In this work, we propose a framework based on genetic programming which adaptively complexifies policies through interaction with the task. We make a direct comparison with several deep reinforcement learning frameworks in the challenging Atari video game environment as well as more traditional reinforcement learning frameworks based on a priori engineered features. Results indicate that the proposed approach matches the quality of deep learning while being a minimum of three orders of magnitude simpler with respect to model complexity. This results in real-time operation of the champion RL agent without recourse to specialized hardware support. Moreover, the approach is capable of evolving solutions to multiple game titles simultaneously with no additional computational cost. In this case, agent behaviours for an individual game as well as single agents capable of playing all games emerge from the same evolutionary run.
Intensified Th9 Response is Associated with the Immunopathogenesis of Active Ulcerative Colitis

ABSTRACT Background: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the large intestine histologically characterized by indistinct sustained inflammatory responses. Genetical susceptibility and environmental factors’ effects play the roles in disease occurrence and it can be life threatening if remains untreated. It seems that intensification of inflammatory responses in this condition is not restricted to a specific cell line of T lymphocytes. Our aim was to determine the number of T helper 9 (Th9) cells in inflamed colonic biopsies of UC patients. We also correlated it with interleukin (IL)-9 protein level in addition to certain genes expressions associated with Th9 phenotype. Methods: Expression of CD4 and IL-9 were evaluated by immunohistochemical staining. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to determine the colonic expression of IL-9 protein and finally mRNA expressions of interferon regulatory factor 4 (Irf4), Smad2, and Smad3 were measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) as critical transcription factors of Th9 differentiation. Results: Number of Th9 cells was significantly increased in inflamed samples as compared with normal tissues. Also quantitative measurement of IL-9 by ELISA and mRNA expressions of Irf4, Smad2, and Smad3 showed notable correlative enhancements in patient’s samples. Conclusion: Function and number of Th9 cells are up-regulated in the inflamed mucosa of UC patients as with the protein secretion of IL-9 and mRNA expressions of Irf4, Smad2, and Smad3, so Th9 cells and IL-9 may become remarkable therapeutic targets for IBD treatment in the future.
Inducing Affective Lexical Semantics in Historical Language

The emotional connotation attached to words undergoes language change. In this paper, we aim at estimating the emotion which is associated with a given word in former language stages of English and German. Emotion is represented following the popular Valence-Arousal-Dominance (VAD) annotation scheme. While being more expressive than polarity alone, existing word polarity induction methods are typically not suited for addressing it. To overcome this limitation, we present adaptations of two popular algorithms to VAD. To measure the effectiveness of these methods in diachronic settings, we present two small gold lexicons for historical word emotions which where annotated by scholars with proficiency in the respective language (stage). In contrast to claims in previous work, we find that limiting the training set to words of supposedly stable emotional meaning does in fact decrease performance, rather than boosting it. This contribution thus elaborates algorithmic and experimental results which form the basis of some of our later publications (Buechel et al., 2017; Buechel and Hahn, 2018; Hellrich et al., 2018) yet had to be skipped there, partly for brevity, partly for a change in focus of our work.
Household Heads Gender Comparison of Perceived Causes of Poverty in a South African Township

This study compared perceptions of the causes of poverty among female and male households’ heads in a South African township. A survey questionnaire was used with a sample of 225 households 156 headed by males and 69 headed by females, randomly selected from Kwakwatsi Township. Instrument used to measure perceptions of the causes of poverty was drawn from The Perceptions of the Causes of Poverty Scale (PCPS) developed by Joe Feagin. In general, the analysis showed that the larger number of Kwakwatsi population was inclined to attribute poverty to individualistic factors, compared to structural and fatalistic factors. Independent t-test indicated that female and male household’s heads expressed similar within the structural and individualistic explanations of the causes of poverty, but they differed significantly in the importance they attributed to the fatalistic attributions. Males reported a higher significant level of inclination to the fatalistic causes of poverty than females. This study confirmed that the link between the perception of causes of poverty and gender cannot be generalised. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014. v5n21p299