Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Life events, difficulties and onset of depressive episodes in later life

Background. The importance of stressful life events and long-term difficulties in the onset of episodes of unipolar depression is well established for young and middle-aged persons, but less so for older people. Method. A prospective case–control study was nested in a large community survey of older people. We recruited 83 onset cases during a 2-year period starting 2½ years after the survey, via screening (N = 59) and GP monitoring (N = 24), and 83 controls, a random sample from the same survey population. We assessed depression with the PSE-10 and life stress exposure with the LEDS. Results. Risk of onset was increased 22-fold by severe events and three-fold by ongoing difficulties of at least moderate severity. Severe events accounted for 21% of all episodes but ongoing difficulties for 45%. The association of onset with life stress, often health-related such as death, major disability and hospitalization of subject or someone close, was most pronounced in the cases identified by screening. While a clear risk threshold for events was found between threat 2 and 3 (on a scale of 1–4), the risk associated with difficulties increased more gradually with severity of difficulty. Compared with controls, severe events involved a larger risk for cases without a prior history of depression (OR = 39·48) than for cases with (OR = 8·86). The opposite was found for mild events (OR = 2·94 in recurrent episodes; OR = 1·09 in first episodes). The impact of ongoing difficulties was independent of severity of episode and history of depression. Conclusion. Although the nature of life stress in later life, in particular health-related disability and loss of (close) social contacts, is rather different from that in younger persons, it is a potent risk factor for onset of a depressive episode in old age. Severe events show the largest relative risk, but ongoing difficulties account for most episodes. The association of severe events with onset tends to be stronger in first than in recurrent episodes. Mild events can trigger a recurrent episode but not a first one.
Restoring theta‐like rhythmicity in rats restores initial learning in the Morris water maze

Neural activity often becomes rhythmic during mental processing. But there has been no direct proof that rhythmicity, per se, is important for mental function. We assessed this issue in relation to the contribution of hippocampal theta‐frequency rhythmicity to learning in the Morris water maze by blocking theta (and other septal inputs to the hippocampus) and then using electrical stimulation to restore rhythmicity. We injected tetracaine into the medial septal area, and so blocked septal input to the hippocampus in rats throughout 16 consecutive trials in a Morris water maze. Rats with no hippocampal theta also showed no initial learning in the maze. Theta rhythmicity in the supramammillary area remained after septal blockade, and we used this to trigger electrical stimulation of the fornix superior. This substantially restored hippocampal theta‐like rhythmicity throughout training at a normal frequency but with abnormal wave forms. This treatment applied throughout training substantially restored initial learning. Fixed frequency (7.7 Hz) stimulation produced rhythmic activity and a brief improvement in learning. Irregular stimulation with an average frequency of 7.7 Hz produced little rhythmicity and little improvement in learning. These results demonstrate that brain rhythmicity, per se, can be important for mental processing even when the detailed information originally carried by neurons is lost and when the reinstated pattern of population firing is not normal. The results suggest that the precise frequency of rhythmicity may be important for hippocampal function. Functional rhythmicity needs, therefore, to be included in neural models of cognitive processing. The success of our procedure also suggests that simple alterations of rhythmicity could be used to ameliorate deficits in learning and memory. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Dynamic Decision-making in Continuous Partially Observable Domains: A Novel Method and its Application for Autonomous Driving

Decision-making is a crucial challenge on the way to fully autonomous systems. In real world tasks, assessing the consequences of decisions is aggravated by two factors: uncertainty and the continuous nature of the environment. In this work, we develop a general method for solving continuous partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs) that combines learning and planning. We apply it to autonomous driving in urban scenarios with hidden objects and cooperative driver interactions.
MicroRNA-223-5p and -3p Cooperatively Suppress Necroptosis in Ischemic/Reperfused Hearts*

Recent studies have shown that myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R)-induced necrosis can be controlled by multiple genes. In this study, we observed that both strands (5p and 3p) of miR-223 were remarkably dysregulated in mouse hearts upon I/R. Precursor miR-223 (pre-miR-223) transgenic mouse hearts exhibited better recovery of contractile performance over reperfusion period and lesser degree of myocardial necrosis than wild type hearts upon ex vivo and in vivo myocardial ischemia. Conversely, pre-miR-223 knock-out (KO) mouse hearts displayed opposite effects. Furthermore, we found that the RIP1/RIP3/MLKL necroptotic pathway and inflammatory response were suppressed in transgenic hearts, whereas they were activated in pre-miR-223 KO hearts upon I/R compared with wild type controls. Accordingly, treatment of pre-miR-223 KO mice with necrostatin-1s, a potent necroptosis inhibitor, significantly decreased I/R-triggered cardiac necroptosis, infarction size, and dysfunction. Mechanistically, we identified two critical cell death receptors, TNFR1 and DR6, as direct targets of miR-223-5p, whereas miR-223-3p directly suppressed the expression of NLRP3 and IκB kinase α, two important mediators known to be involved in I/R-induced inflammation and cell necroptosis. Our findings indicate that miR-223-5p/-3p duplex works together and cooperatively inhibits I/R-induced cardiac necroptosis at multiple layers. Thus, pre-miR-223 may constitute a new therapeutic agent for the treatment of ischemic heart disease.
Dark Counts in Nanostructured NbN Superconducting Single-Photon Detectors and Bridges

We present our studies on dark counts, observed as transient voltage pulses, in current-biased NbN superconducting single-photon detectors (SSPDs), as well as in ultrathin (~4 nm), submicrometer-width (100 to 500 nm) NbN nanobridges. The duration of these spontaneous voltage pulses varied from 250 ps to 5 ns, depending on the device geometry, with the longest pulses observed in the large kinetic-inductance SSPD structures. Dark counts were measured while the devices were completely isolated (shielded by a metallic enclosure) from the outside world, in a temperature range between 1.5 and 6 K. Evidence shows that in our two-dimensional structures the dark counts are due to the depairing of vortex-antivortex pairs caused by the applied bias current. Our results shed some light on the vortex dynamics in 2D superconductors and, from the applied point of view, on intrinsic performance of nanostructured SSPDs.
The Coiled-coil Domain Is Required for HS1 to Bind to F-actin and Activate Arp2/3 Complex*

HS1 (hematopoietic lineage cell-specific protein 1), a substrate of protein tyrosine kinases in lymphocytes, binds to F-actin, and promotes Arp2/3 complex-mediated actin polymerization. However, the mechanism for the interaction between HS1 and F-actin has not yet been fully characterized. HS1 contains 3.5 tandem repeats, a coiled-coil region, and an SH3 domain at the C terminus. Unlike cortactin, which is closely related to HS1 and requires absolutely the repeat domain for F-actin binding, an HS1 mutant with deletion of the repeat domain maintains a significant F-actin binding activity. On the other hand, deletion of the coiled-coil region abolished the ability of HS1 to bind to actin filaments and to activate the Arp2/3 complex for actin nucleation and actin branching. Furthermore, a peptide containing the coiled-coil sequence only was sufficient for F-actin binding. Within cells overexpressing green fluorescent protein-tagged HS1 proteins, wild type HS1 co-localizes with cortical F-actin at the cell leading edge, whereas mutants with deletion of either the coiled-coil region or the repeat domain diffuse in the cytoplasm. Immunoprecipitation analysis reveals that the coiled-coil deletion mutant binds poorly to F-actin, whereas the mutant without the repeat domain fails to bind to both Arp2/3 complex and F-actin. These data suggest that the HS1 coiled-coil region acts synergistically with the repeat domain in the modulation of the Arp2/3 complex-mediated actin polymerization.
Spatiotemporal patterning of IP3‐mediated Ca2+ signals in Xenopus oocytes by Ca2+‐binding proteins

Ca2+‐binding proteins (CaBPs) are expressed in a highly specific manner across many different cell types, yet the physiological basis underlying their selective distribution patterns remains unclear. We used confocal line‐scan microscopy together with photo‐release of IP3 in Xenopus oocytes to investigate the actions of mobile cytosolic CaBPs on the spatiotemporal properties of IP3‐evoked Ca2+ signals. Parvalbumin (PV), a CaBP with slow Ca2+‐binding kinetics, shortened the duration of IP3‐evoked Ca2+ signals and ‘balkanized’ global responses into discrete localized events (puffs). In contrast, calretinin (CR), a presumed fast buffer, prolonged Ca2+ responses and promoted ‘globalization’ of spatially uniform Ca2+ signals at high [IP3]. Oocytes loaded with CR or PV showed Ca2+ puffs following photolysis flashes that were subthreshold in controls, and the spatiotemporal properties of these localized events were differentially modulated by PV and CR. In comparison to results we previously obtained with exogenous Ca2+ buffers, PV closely mimicked the actions of the slow buffer EGTA, whereas CR showed important differences from the fast buffer BAPTA. Most notably, puffs were never observed after loading BAPTA, and this exogenous buffer did not show the marked sensitization of IP3 action evident with CR. The ability of Ca2+ buffers and CaBPs with differing kinetics to fine‐tune both global and local intracellular Ca2+ signals is likely to have significant physiological implications.
HYPERREFLECTIVE RETINAL SPOTS AND VISUAL FUNCTION AFTER ANTI-VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH FACTOR TREATMENT IN CENTER-INVOLVING DIABETIC MACULAR EDEMA

Background: To assess and correlate early modifications in hyperreflective retinal spots (HRS), retinal sensitivity (RS), fixation stability, and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) after anti-vascular endothelial growth factor treatment in naive center-involving diabetic macular edema. Methods: Cross-sectional comparative case–control series. Twenty diabetic patients underwent 3 consecutive intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor injections in the study eye (20 fellow eyes served as control), full ophthalmologic examination including spectral domain optical coherence tomography (Retinascan RS-3000; Nidek, Gamagori, Japan), and microperimetry (MP1; Nidek) at baseline (Visit-V1), 1 month after each injection (V2, V3, V4), and at 6 months (V5). Central retinal thickness, inner and outer retinal thickness, number of HRS, BCVA, RS, and bivariate contour ellipse area were evaluated by analysis of variance test with Bonferroni post hoc test. Correlation analyses were performed by Spearman correlation. Results: In treated eyes, central retinal thickness and inner retinal thickness significantly decreased at V2, V3, V4 versus V1 (P < 0.03 at least for all); the mean number of HRS significantly decreased in both inner and outer retina at all follow-up visits versus V1 (P < 0.008 at least for all); mean RS and bivariate contour ellipse area remained statistically unchanged during the follow-up; BCVA significantly improved at V3, V4, and V5 versus V1 (P = 0.009 at least for all). In fellow eyes, central retinal thickness, HRS, RS, and BCVA did not change at any follow-up. The number of HRS correlated inversely with RS, directly with bivariate contour ellipse area, and not significantly with BCVA. Conclusion: A significant decrease in HRS in the retina after anti-vascular endothelial growth factor treatment is documented. A decrease in HRS correlates with functional parameters, specifically RS. New parameters may be used for treatment evaluation in center-involving diabetic macular edema.
An Unsupervised Approach to Modelling Visual Data

Daniel Matthew Steinberg Doctor of Philosophy The University of Sydney July 2013 An Unsupervised Approach to Modelling Visual Data With the advent of cheap, high fidelity, digital imaging systems it is now easy to create huge collections of digital images. Subsequently, the computer vision community has seen an explosion of research in classifying these images into scenes, recognising objects within images, propagating user tags to new images, and even attempts at whole image “understanding”. Most of this research uses supervised or semi-supervised algorithms, which rely upon some form of human generated “ground-truth”. For very large scientific datasets with many classes, producing the ground-truth data can represent a substantial, and potentially expensive, human effort. In these situations there is scope for the use of unsupervised approaches that can model collections of images and automatically summarise their content. The primary motivation for this thesis comes from the problem of labelling large visual datasets of the seafloor obtained by an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) for ecological analysis. It is expensive to label this data, as taxonomical experts for the specific region are required. Quick, approximate summaries of quasi-habitats and objects within images can be generated by unsupervised methods “for free”. These can be used to focus the efforts of experts, and inform decisions on additional sampling. These techniques are equally applicable to large photo albums and collections, such as the millions of images hosted on sites like Flickr, where image annotations may be incorrect or absent entirely. The contributions in this thesis arise from modelling this visual data in entirely unsupervised ways to obtain comprehensive visual summaries for subsequent expert annotation. Firstly, popular unsupervised image feature learning approaches are adapted to work with large datasets and unsupervised clustering algorithms. Next, using Bayesian models the performance of rudimentary scene clustering is boosted by sharing clusters between multiple related datasets, such as photo albums or AUV surveys. Then these Bayesian scene clustering models are extended to simultaneously cluster sub-image super-pixels, or segments, to form unsupervised notions of “objects” within
Determination of trace elements bound to soil and sediment fractions (IUPAC Technical Report)

Abstract This paper presents an overview of methods for chemical speciation analysis of elements in samples of sediments and soils. The sequential leaching procedure is thoroughly discussed, and examples of different applications are shown. Despite some drawbacks, the sequential extraction method can provide a valuable tool to distinguish among trace element fractions of different solubility related to mineralogical phases. The understanding of the speciation of trace elements in solid samples is still rather unsatisfactory because the appropriate techniques are only operationally defined. The essential importance of proper sampling protocols is highlighted, since the sampling error cannot be estimated and corrected by standards. The Community Bureau of Reference (BCR) protocols for sediment and soil give a good basis for most of the solid samples, and the results can be compared among different laboratories.
Reliability of Pedometer-Determined Free-Living Physical Activity Data in College Women

This study examined stability and reliability of free-living physical activity assessed by pedometer in 69 young female college students (M age = 18.7 years, SD = 1.2, range: 18-25 years; body mass index = 23.2 kg/m2, SD = 0.6) for two complete weeks (Week 1 and Week 2) separated by 12 weeks. During Week 1, participants took an average of 8,880 steps/day, SD = 3,219, range: 1,858-19,480; during Week 2 9,088 steps/day, SD = 3,299, range 1,736-16,837; t (68) = -. 568, p = . 572. In both weeks, only Sunday differed significantly (repeated measures analysis of variance; Week 1: p < .0001; Week 2: p < .01) from all other days of the week. The computed intraclass correlation between weeks was moderate (.72). Group mean pedometer-determined physical activity was stable across 2 weeks separated by 12 weeks in this young, healthy sample of women. Individuals within these groups held their rank order to a moderate extent over time. These findings provide important evidence of the reliability of pedometer-determined physical activity data and are of practical importance to study design.
1.36 W Passively Q-Switched YVO4/Nd:YVO4 Laser With a WS2 Saturable Absorber

By using WS<sub>2</sub> as saturable absorber (SA), a diode-pumped passively <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$Q$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-switched YVO<sub>4</sub>/Nd:YVO<sub>4</sub> laser is demonstrated. Under the pump power of 6.28 W, a maximum output power of 1.36 W and minimum pulse duration of 56 ns with a repetition rate of 1.03 MHz are obtained, resulting in a peak power of as high as 23.6 W. So far as we know, it is the shortest pulse duration in <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$Q$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-switched lasers with 2-D materials. The experimental results show that WS<sub>2</sub> is an excellent SA for all-solid-state <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$Q$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-switched lasers.
The Influence of Aerobic Exercise on State Anxiety in College Students

Many college students have feelings of state anxiety, a temporary emotional response that is described by subjective, perceived feelings of concern, stress, and apprehension. The present study measured state anxiety across participants separated into a control and experimental group, which performed an exercise routine. Participants were also designated as regular or non-exercisers. Individuals in the experimental group and those who do not normally exercise were predicted to show larger decreases in state anxiety. All participants completed the Beck Anxiety Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory, and Zung Self-rating Anxiety Scale at three separate sessions over a two-week time span. Results showed no significant effect of group placement, amount of exercise in everyday life, or in the interaction of these variables. THE INFLUENCE OF AEROBIC EXERCISE ON STATE ANXIETY IN COLLEGE STUDENTS Anxiety affects the lives of many college-aged students, and its influence is often exacerbated during the academic year. Finding preventive measures or mitigating anxiety can be difficult for college students, and the option of seeking professional help is not always available or realistic. State anxiety, the focus of the present study, is the temporary experience of emotional arousal when encountering situations or demands subjectively interpreted as threatening or dangerous (Schlicht, 1994; Schwarzer, 1997). Many individuals face difficulties with state anxiety from constantly encountering stressful demands and new situations that could be viewed as psychologically menacing (Bartholomew & Linder, 1998). State anxiety tends to increase when individuals are placed in stressful situations such as studying, memorizing large portions of content in small periods of time, grade competition, and rigorous examination periods (Misra & McKean, 2000). In association with feelings of state anxiety, individuals often experience feelings of depression, desperation, and suicidal thoughts (Taliaferro, Rienzo, Pigg, Miller & Dodd, 2009). In order to combat state anxiety and other negative mood states, several studies explored exercise as a technique for improving emotional welfare. Research into this method specifically focuses on aerobic exercise as the physical training regime that is most effective in combating state anxiety, due to the universal acceptance of aerobic exercise as a positive mediator of physiological and mental health GS019 JUR09_GS JUR text 1/21/10 4:28 PM Page 1
Survival of Salmonella enterica Serovar Newport in Manure and Manure-Amended Soils

ABSTRACT Salmonella enterica serovar Newport has undergone a rapid epidemic spread in dairy cattle. This provides an efficient mechanism for pathogen amplification and dissemination into the environment through manure spreading on agricultural land. The objective of this study was to determine the survival characteristics of Salmonella serovar Newport in manure and manure-amended soils where the pathogen may be amplified. A multidrug-resistant (MDR) Salmonella serovar Newport strain and a drug-susceptible (DS) strain, both bovine isolates, were inoculated into dairy manure that was incubated under constant temperature and moisture conditions alone or after being mixed with sterilized or nonsterilized soil. Salmonella serovar Newport concentrations increased by up to 400% in the first 1 to 3 days following inoculation, and a trend of steady decline followed. With manure treatment, a sharp decline in cell concentration occurred after day 35, possibly due to microbial antagonism. For all treatments, decreases in Salmonella serovar Newport concentrations over time fit a first-order kinetic model. Log reduction time was 14 to 32 days for 1 log10, 28 to 64 days for 2 log10, and 42 to 96 days for 3 log10 declines in the organisms' populations from initially inoculated concentrations. Most-probable-number monitoring data indicated that the organisms persisted for 184, 332, and 405 days in manure, manure-amended nonsterilized soil, and manure-amended sterilized soil, respectively. The MDR strain and the DS strain had similar survival patterns.
Bacteria Associated with the Guts of Two Wood-Boring Beetles: Anoplophora glabripennis and Saperda vestita (Cerambycidae)

Abstract Commensal microorganisms have significant impacts on the health of many insect hosts. Little is known, however, about the structure of commensal bacterial communities associated with the Cerambycidae, despite the important roles this large family of herbivorous endophytic insects plays in ecosystem processes, economic losses to ornamental and forest trees, and biological invasions. We analyzed the bacterial commensal communities of the exotic Asian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis, and the native linden borer, Saperda vestita, by randomly sequencing 16S rRNA gene fragments from bacterial DNA extracted directly from the gut of larvae. The 16S rRNA gene sequences sampled from S. vestita were derived entirely from the γ-Proteobacteria phylum of Bacteria. In contrast, the gut of A. glabripennis larvae contained members of the α-Proteobacteria, β-Proteobacteria, γ-Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes. A better understanding of insect-microbe interactions may lead to new strategies to reduce the effects of these pest species.