Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Silibinin inhibits inflammation and apoptosis in a rat model of temporal lobe epilepsy

Inflammation and apoptosis in the hippocampus are closely related to temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Silibinin has shown significant anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects in other diseases including hepatitis, cerebral ischemia, and neuroinflammatory disease. However, the biological effects of silibinin in brain during epilepsy remain unclear. Our study aimed to investigate the protective effects of silibinin in rats after status epilepticus (SE) and its potential mechanisms of protection. Silibinin was intragastrically administered to rats 30 minutes before induction of SE and the animals were then given a gavage of silibinin daily before sacrificing. Our data showed that silibinin inhibited overexpression of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), caspase-3, cleaved caspase-3, and hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) in the hippocampus at both 24 hours and 72 hours after SE induction. In addition, silibinin significantly reduced apoptotic cell death and neuronal loss in the CA1 region of the hippocampus. Overall, our study shows that silibinin has anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects during epileptogenesis and we conclude that its effects may result from the inhibition of HIF-1α signaling.
Partnership dynamics across generations of immigration in France: Structural vs. cultural factors

Background: Postponed union formation, declines in marriage, and increases in cohabitation represent major changes in family behavior. The question arises whether these changes have taken place among immigrants and their descendants. Objective: This study analyzes the integration dynamics across generations of immigrants in France by focusing on partnership formation patterns. It addresses how the socialization vs. assimilation hypothesis shapes immigrants and their descendants’ first partnership formation patterns, analyzing the interplay of cultural and structural factors. Methods: It compares i) the timing of union formation, ii) the type of first union (cohabitation vs. marriage), and iii) the transition from cohabitation to marriage of first- and second-generation male and female immigrants from the same region of origin with those of the native-born. The data come from the Trajectories and Origins survey (2008) that oversamples immigrants and their descendants. Piecewise-constant exponential models are estimated. Results: There is a convergence towards prevailing French behavior across the generations of immigrants. Second-generation immigrants form their first union later than the first generation and the level of informal cohabitation increases. Structural factors such as higher level of education have led to changes in partnership formation patterns over generations of immigrants but the convergence is not complete, and cultural factors have a strong effect, especially for women. Conclusions: Descendants of immigrants have more choices than their parents regarding lifestyle and personal arrangements, and traditional family behaviors weaken. But first unions are still considered to be a long-term commitment rather than a trial period.
Thiazolidinediones and Rexinoids Induce Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-Coactivator (PGC)-1α Gene Transcription: An Autoregulatory Loop Controls PGC-1α Expression in Adipocytes via Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-γ Coactivation

Thiazolidinediones (TZDs) are insulin-sensitizing drugs currently used to treat type 2 diabetes. They are activators of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-, and adiposetissueconstitutesamajorsitefortheirbiologicaleffects. PPAR coactivator (PGC)-1 is a transcriptional coactivator of PPAR and other transcription factors. It is involved in the control of mitochondrial biogenesis, and its activity has been linked to insulin sensitization. Here we report that PGC-1 gene expression in brown and white adipocytes is a direct target of TZDs via PPAR activation. Activators of the retinoidXreceptoralsoinducePGC-1geneexpression.Thisisdue to the presence of a PPAR-responsive element in the distal region of the PGC-1 gene promoter that binds PPAR/retinoid X receptor heterodimers. Moreover, there is a positive autoregulatory loop of control of the PGC-1 gene through coactivation of PPAR responsiveness to TZDs by PGC-1 itself. These data indicate that some of the effects of TZDs, especially promotion of mitochondrial biogenesis and oxidative pathways in adipose depots, entail PGC-1 up-regulation via enhanced transcription of the PGC-1 gene. (Endocrinology 147: 2829–2838, 2006)
The declining effect of sibling size on children's education in Costa Rica

© 2014 Jing Li, William H. Dow and Luis Rosero-Bixby. Background: Costa Rica experienced a dramatic fertility decline in the 1960s and 1970s. The same period saw substantial improvement in children's educational attainment in Costa Rica. This correlation is consistent with household-level quantity-quality tradeoffs, but prior research on quantity-quality tradeoffmagnitudes is mixed, and little research has estimated quantity-quality tradeoffbehaviors in Latin America. Objective: This study explores one dimension of the potential demographic dividend from the fertility decline: the extent to which it was accompanied by quantity-quality tradeoffs leading to higher educational attainment. Specifically, we provide the first estimate of quantity-quality tradeoffs in Costa Rica, analyzing the increase in secondary school attendance among Costa Rican children as the number of siblings decreases. Furthermore, we advance the literature by exploring how that tradeoffhas changed over time. Methods: We use 1984 and 2000 Costa Rican census data as well as survey data from the Costa Rican Longevity and Healthy Aging Study (CRELES). To address endogenous family size, the analysis uses an instrumental variable strategy based on the gender of the first two children to identify the causal relationship between number of siblings and children's education. Results: We find that, among our earlier cohorts, having fewer siblings is associated with a significantly higher probability of having attended at least one year of secondary school, particularly among girls. The effect is stronger after we account for the endogeneity of number of children born by the mother. For birth cohorts after 1980 this relationship largely disappears. Conclusions: This study provides strong evidence for a declining quantity-quality (Q-Q) tradeoffin Costa Rica. This result suggests one potential explanation for the heterogeneous findings in prior studies elsewhere, but more work will be required to understand why such tradeoffs might vary across time and context.
The Impact of PAPR on the Wireless Power Transfer in IoT Applications

This paper is dedicated to the experimental study of the impact of multi-tone signal with a high peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) on the performance of wireless power transfer (WPT) using a single stage Cockcroft-Walton voltage multiplier with HSMS-285C diodes. The study is done using unlicensed sub-GHz frequencies 863 – 868 MHz in a laboratory under real-life conditions. Two types of design of radio frequency (RF) energy harvesting device (with and without matching network) are used to demonstrate PAPR impact on WPT performance. Eight sub-carriers summed in-phase are used to produce a multi-tone signal with a high PAPR level. For WPT results comparison, a single-tone signal with the same average power is exploited. For the experimental implementation of WPT, pairs of directional (LP0410 Log Periodic PCB) and omnidirectional (VERT900) antennas are used. Moreover, during the experiments the distance between transmitting and receiving antennas is being changed up to 3.2m. The main objective of the experiment is to find conditions when multi-tone signal with a high PAPR provides substantially higher output power compared to single-tone signal. The experimental measurement process includes evaluating the average power at the RF rectifier circuit output for different signals, distances, antennas, and RF-DC converter circuit designs. Furthermore, an additional WPT experiment is performed and the analysis of channel characteristics in the frequency range of interest is done to investigate the reason of the difference between the harvested power using single-tone and multi-tone signals.
Association between Dietary Vitamin E Intake and Esophageal Cancer Risk: An Updated Meta-Analysis

Epidemiological studies have provided ambiguous evidence on the association between vitamin E and esophageal cancer risk. To resolve this controversy, we performed this meta-analysis. The literature was searched by using Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE), PubMed, the Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library from the inception to April 2018. A random effect model was utilized to calculate the odds ratio (OR) with the 95% confidence interval (95% CI). Twelve articles reporting 14 studies involving 3013 cases and 11,384 non-cases were included. By comparing the highest category with the lowest category of dietary vitamin E intake, we found that dietary vitamin E intake was inversely related to esophageal cancer risk (OR = 0.47, 95% CI: 0.36–0.60). Subgroup analysis revealed that dietary vitamin E intake had a significantly negative association with both the esophageal squamous cell carcinoma risk (OR = 0.29, 95% CI: 0.18–0.44) and the esophageal adenocarcinoma risk (OR = 0.66, 95% CI: 0.49–0.88). No study significantly affected the findings in the sensitivity analysis. Publication bias was discovered, however, the OR (95% CI) remained unchanged after the trim-and-fill analysis. This meta-analysis showed that the higher dietary vitamin E intake is associated with a lower esophageal cancer risk. However, the association still needs to be upheld by more large-scaled randomized controlled trials and prospective studies.
Mutation in Nav1.7 causes high olfactory sensitivity

Mutations in the sodium‐channel Nav1.7, encoded by the gene SCN9A, are known to cause pain disorders. In particular, gain‐of‐function missense mutations in Nav1.7 have been shown to be causal in primary erythromelalgia. We present a patient with erythromelalgia, pain attacks and hyperosmia with a mutation within the sodium‐channel gene SCN9A. A 50‐year‐old woman presented with burning pain in both feet and abdominal pain attacks developed over the course of 10 years. Furthermore, this patient experienced a hypersensitivity for odours. Clinical investigation as well as serum/cerebrospinal fluid laboratory findings and electrophysiological testing were unremarkable. Olfactory testing showed high olfactory acuity for all screened modalities and good intranasal sensitivity. Furthermore, quantitative sensory testing within the trigeminal area revealed very low thresholds for thermal, tactile and pain detection. In addition, quantitative sensory testing at the lower legs showed hyperalgesia and, as the disease progresses, thermal sensory function loss. Skin biopsies of the proximal and distal lower limbs revealed reduced epidermal nerve fibre density indicating small fibre neuropathy. Genetic analysis of the SCN9A gene demonstrated a heterozygous mutation in Exon 20 – c.3734A>G (p.N1245S). Treatment with clinically available sodium‐channel inhibitors did not result in significant pain relief. Local application of the sodium‐channel blocker ambroxol however, reduced pain intensity. Continuous odour exposure stabilised mood and induced a short‐term pain relief. This clinical note illustrates the course of middle‐age onset erythromelalgia and points to clinical findings related to a likely pathogenic missense mutation affecting the sodium‐channel Nav1.7.
Fertility transition and social stratification in the town of Alghero, Sardinia: 1866-1935

Background: Despite the large amount of research on European fertility transition, the mechanisms of this demographic process are still poorly understood. This is particularly true in the Italian demographic experience, especially for some regions. Objective: We wish to improve the knowledge of the determinants of fertility transition in Sardinia, a region situated in the heart of the Mediterranean but paradoxically one which is the least „Mediterranean‟ region of the country. The analysis of SES differentials and their evolution over the transition process is the core purpose of this paper Methods: We use a complex individual database deriving from the combination of civil and religious sources of Alghero, a large costal town in north-western Sardinia. Our analysis is focussed on the reproductive history of Alghero marriage cohorts (1866-1905), followed through the mid-1930s. A micro-level statistical analysis is performed on legitimate births of parity 2+. Results: We find that, in the period under examination, the process of fertility decline already underway in the northern and central regions, was almost absent in Alghero. However we did prove significant socio-economic differentials in marital fertility. The "elite" group shows the first clear signs of deliberate marital fertility control. Conclusions: The results testify to a new and more conscious attitude towards birth control adopted by the elite minority, while no significant change is detectable for the rest of the population until the 1930s. This is the first research carried out at the individual level related to an urban population in Southern Italy.
Fooling a Deep Neural Network Forever

With deep learning systems becoming increasingly ubiquitous in the real-world, an adversarial attack could cause tremendous damage. Work presented in [1, 2] show that neural networks can be fooled easily. In light of this, we propose a system which automatically generates examples, which seem benign to humans, but consistently fool neural networks. While previous methods either only work on a single example or require explicit knowledge of the neural network, our proposed method assumes neither.
DIZK: A Distributed Zero Knowledge Proof System

Recently there has been much academic and industrial interest in practical implementations of zero knowledge proofs . These techniques allow a party to prove to another party that a given statement is true without revealing any additional information. In a Bitcoin-like system, this allows a payer to prove validity of a payment without disclosing the payment’s details. Unfortunately, the existing systems for generating such proofs are very expensive, especially in terms of memory overhead. Worse yet, these systems are “monolithic”, so they are limited by the memory resources of a single machine. This severely limits their practical applicability. We describe DIZK, a system that distributes the generation of a zero knowledge proof across machines in a compute cluster. Using a set of new techniques, we show that DIZK scales to computations of up to billions of logical gates (100 × larger than prior art) at a cost of 10µs per gate (100 × faster than prior art). We then use DIZK to study various security applications.
Diet of oceanic loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) in the central North Pacific

Diet analysis of 52 log- gerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) collected as bycatch from 1990 to 1992 in the high-seas driftnet fishery oper- ating between lat. 29.5°N and 43°N and between long. 150°E and 154°W demonstrated that these turtles fed predominately at the surface; few deeper water prey items were pres- ent in their stomachs. The turtles ranged in size from 13.5 to 74.0 cm curved carapace length. Whole tur- tles (n=10) and excised stomachs (n= 42) were frozen and transported to a laboratory for analysis of major faunal components. Neustonic species accounted for four of the five most common prey taxa. The most common prey items were Janthina spp. (Gas- tropoda); Carinaria cithara Benson 1835 (Heteropoda); a chondrophore, Velella velella (Hydrodia); Lepas spp. (Cirripedia), Planes spp. (Decapoda: Grapsidae), and pyrosomas (Pyrosoma spp.).
Complex adaptive systems: a new approach for understanding health practices

ABSTRACT This article explores the potential of complex adaptive systems (CAS) theory to inform behaviour change research. A CAS describes a collection of heterogeneous agents interacting within a particular context, adapting to each other’s actions. In practical terms, this implies that behaviour change is (1) socially and culturally situated; (2) highly sensitive to small baseline differences in individuals, groups, and intervention components; and (3) determined by multiple components interacting ‘chaotically’. Two approaches to studying CAS are briefly reviewed. Agent-based modelling is a computer simulation technique that allows researchers to investigate ‘what if’ questions in a virtual environment. Applied qualitative research techniques, on the other hand, offer a way to examine what happens when an intervention is pursued in real-time, and to identify the sorts of rules and assumptions governing social action. Although these represent very different approaches to complexity, there may be scope for mixing these methods – for example, by grounding models in insights derived from qualitative fieldwork. Finally, I will argue that the concept of CAS offers one opportunity to gain a deepened understanding of health-related practices, and to examine the social psychological processes that produce health-promoting or damaging actions.
Pharmacogenetics of genes associated with outcome of conbercept treatment for age-related macular degeneration in a Chinese population

To ascertain whether single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of complement factor H (CFH), interleukin 8 (IL8), vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA), age-related maculopathy susceptibility 2 (LOC387715/ARMS2), high-temperature requirement A-1 (HTRA1), and complement component C3 (C3) genes impact the outcomes of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) by conbercept in Chinese patients, we enrolled 184 neovascular AMD patients from the AURORA and PHOENIX trials, and participants were administrated conbercept. For each patient, baseline best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) letter score was recorded, and the BCVA score at each subsequent visit, age, sex, and the number of injections were also recorded. Seven candidate SNPs were selected. The SNP genotyping was performed by TaqMan SNP genotyping assays. Single-locus analysis and haplotype analysis were used to determine the influence of each SNP on treatment outcome at 6 and 12 months. We found that, both in single-locus analysis and haplotype analysis, rs10490924 and rs11200638 were significantly associated with patient response to conbercept treatment for neovascular AMD in the Chinese population. These findings suggest that SNPs rs10490924 and rs11200638 could be used as genetic biomarkers for estimation of visual outcomes in response to conbercept treatment for neovascular AMD. As a result, a subgroup of Chinese patients that benefit from this modality of treatment can be identified.
How clean is your house? A study of house dust mites, allergens and other contents of dust samples collected from households

ABSTRACT Household dust contains an array of constituents, including house dust mites (HDM) and the HDM allergen, Der p 1, which can cause sensitivities such as asthma and eczema. Vacuuming can help alleviate symptoms, yet little is understood about cleaning behaviour in different households. This pilot study investigated the contents of dust from four household types (students; over 65 s; and families with and without pets). This was then related to cleaning behaviours and perceptions of cleanliness. Our investigation found that HDMs and Der p 1 were present in all households and sampling locations, including participants’ cars. The median Der p 1 was greatest in the living room, though results varied. Demographic group was a determinant for the number of human and pet hairs present in dust. Surprisingly, vacuuming was the most disliked task overall. This information requires consideration when developing cleaning products and advising individuals with dust-related health issues.
Distribution and drug resistance analysis of multi-drug resistant bacteria in hospital

Objective: To retrospectively analyze the drug resistant characteristics and distribution of multi-drug resistant bacteria infection in our hospital, and to provide clinical reference for decreasing nosocomial infection rate of multi-drug resistant bacteria. Methods: A total of 120 cases treated in our hospital from October 2015 to June 2017 were selected as subjects. The automatic microorganism analyzer VITEK-2 was used for bacterial identification; Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method was used for susceptibility test; WHONTE 5.6 software was used to analyze the distribution and drug sensitivity of isolated bacteria. Results: Among the 148 strains of multi-drug resistant bacteria, the proportion of Gram-negative bacteria was 62.16%, and the proportion of Gram-positive bacteria was 25.68%; other strains accounted for 12.16%. Multi-drug resistant bacteria mostly distributed in sputum, accounting for 47.97%; 50.00% multi-drug resistant strains were from intensive care unit. Resistant rates of staphylococcus aureus, staphylococcus epidermidis and staphylococcus haemolyticus to antibacterial agents (penicillins and cephalosporins) were close to or higher than 50%, and to both vancomycin and teicoplanin were 0. The antibacterial agents of low resistant rate for Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter cloacae, pseudomonas aeruginosa, acinetobacter baumannii were different. Conclusion: Gram-negative bacteria are the main multi-drug resistant bacteria of nosocomial infections in our hospital, mainly distributing in respiratory system and urinary system. They are highly resistant to most antibacterial agents, which provides a theoretical basis for the prevention and control of multi-drug resistant bacteria infection in hospital.
The AirCirc: design and development of a thermal management prototype device for below-knee prosthesis leg socket

Abstract This study describes a newly developed prosthetic leg socket design for a below-knee amputation. Excessive heat and the resulted perspiration within a prosthetic socket were the most common causes for reporting a reduced quality of life for prosthetic users. The product namely AirCirc means air circulation and it has been designed by approach of medical device design process in providing the amputees to maintain the skin temperature inside the socket. This device has been designed to provide the amputees with comfort and ultimate breathable. In order to design the device, the small hole was made in prosthetic socket surface since it has a function as air circulation. Four types of proposed sockets namely P1, P2, P3 and P4 and one control socket were compared on a single patient to determine the best design of prosthetic socket. The result successfully reveals that by using holes can be maintain the temperature inside prosthetic socket. In addition to the eco-friendly material, the woven kenaf was used as material that provides good strength as compared to glass fibre and offer sustainable and biodegradable product yet provides unique and aesthetic surface as came from woven kenaf itself. The objective of this paper is to provide the airflow prosthetic socket design and optimize the use of natural fibre in prostheses field. Thus, with the use of the environmental friendly material, functionality device and heat removal capability make the device suitable for maintaining a comfortable and healthy environment for prosthesis. Implications of Rehabilitation Newly developed prosthetic leg socket design for a below-knee amputation Device has been designed to provide the amputees with comfort and ultimate breathable Woven kenaf was used as material that provides good strength as compared to glass fibre for sustainable and biodegradable product Results show that by using holes can be maintain the temperature inside prosthetic socket