Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Podocyte involvement in human immune crescentic glomerulonephritis.

BACKGROUND The role of podocytes in human crescentic glomerulonephritis (GN) has been underestimated. This may be due to the confounding fact that "dysregulated" podocytes are able to proliferate, lose their markers, and acquire new epitopes. Moreover, in experimental anti-glomerular basement membrane (GBM) crescentic GN, podocytes participate in the crescent formation. The aim of this study was to investigate the involvement of podocytes in human immune crescentic GN. METHODS Renal biopsies from 12 patients with anti-GBM disease and 14 with class IV lupus GN were studied by immunohistochemistry for the following markers: (1) synaptopodin, GLEPP1, podocalyxin, podocin, alpha-actinin-4, and vimentin for podocyte identification; (2) PCNA, Ki-67, and p57 for cell cycle assessment; (3) cytokeratins for identifying epithelial cells but not normal podocytes; (4) CD68 for tagging a macrophagic epitope; (5) alpha-smooth-muscle actin (alpha-SMA), a phenotypic marker of myofibroblasts. RESULTS "True" (capsular) crescents lining Bowman's capsule and (tuft) "pseudocrescents" covering the glomerular tuft with a persistent patent urinary space were present in the 2 types of crescentic GN in similar percentages. Several features indicated that podocytes were involved in the formation of the both crescent types. Identifiable podocytes expressed proliferation markers. Podocyte cytoplasmic expansions and racket-like podocytes bridged between the tuft and Bowman's capsule. True and pseudocrescents contained labeled podocytes. In addition, podocytes located outside of the crescents had often lost their markers (dedifferentiation) and acquired new epitopes (cytokeratins and CD68). CONCLUSION In human immune crescentic GN, podocytes undergo proliferation and dysregulation that are indicative of a podocytopathy. Podocytes contribute to crescent formation.
Machine Learning Final Project Report : Video Summarization via Deep Convolutional Networks

As the demand of video summarization techniques increases nowadays, many methods are proposed for how to extract best representating key frames of a video. While most of them rely on hand-crafted image features, we resort to the feature learning power of deep convolutional networks. In this final project, we propose to learn a new image representation such that the similarity of frames are specifically learned for video summarization task, directly supervised by humans key frame selection. To realize this idea, we propose and implement a loss function for deep network in Caffe. We also comprehensively studied baseline methods and discuss our qualitative result and properties with them.
Looking beyond general metrics for model comparison – lessons from an international model intercomparison study

International collaboration between research institutes and universities is a promising way to reach consensus on hydrological model development. Although model comparison studies are very valuable for international cooperation, they do often not lead to very clear new insights regarding the relevance of the modelled processes. We hypothesise that this is partly caused by model complexity and the comparison methods used, which focus too much on a good overall performance instead of focusing on a variety of specific events. In this study, we use an approach that focuses on the evaluation of specific events and characteristics. Eight international research groups calibrated their hourly model on the Ourthe catchment in Belgium and carried out a validation in time for the Ourthe catchment and a validation in space for nested and neighbouring catchments. The same protocol was followed for each model and an ensemble of best-performing parameter sets was selected. Although the models showed similar performances based on general metrics (i.e. the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency), clear differences could be observed for specific events. We analysed the hydrographs of these specific events and conducted three types of statistical analyses on the entire time series: cumulative discharges, empirical extreme value distribution of the peak flows and flow duration curves for low flows. The results illustrate the relevance of including a very quick flow reservoir preceding the root zone storage to model peaks during low flows and including a slow reservoir in parallel with the fast reservoir to model the recession for the studied catchments. This intercomparison enhanced the understanding of the hydrological functioning of the catchment, in particular for low flows, and enabled to identify present knowledge gaps for other parts of the hydrograph. Above all, it helped to evaluate each model against a set of alternative models.
Study of basal cell carcinoma and its histopathological variants

1Department of Pathology, S.Nijalingappa Medical College, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India, 2Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, S.Nijalingappa Medical College, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India, 3Department of Surgery, ABVRH, Sawangi, Wardha, Maharashtra, India, 4Department of Surgery, Devraj urs Medical College, Kolar, Karnataka, India, 5Department of Anaesthesia, ABVRH, Sawangi, Wardha, Maharashtra, India, 6Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Devraj urs Medical College, Kolar, Karnataka, India
Origins of marine patterns of biodiversity: some correlates and applications

Abstract: Marine shelf diversity patterns correlate with macroecological features of basic importance that may play causal roles in macroevolution. We have investigated the global diversity pattern of living Bivalvia, which is dominated by the latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG), maintained by high tropical origination rates. Generic‐level lineages expand poleward, chiefly through speciation, so that species richness within provinces and globally is positively correlated with generic geographical ranges. A gradient in diversity accommodation progressively lowers both immigration and speciation rates in higher latitudes. The LDG correlates with seasonality of trophic resources but not with area; tropical provinces are not diverse because they are large but because they are tropical. A similar dynamic evidently underlays Jurassic and Carboniferous LDGs. Larval developmental modes correlate with the LDG and thus with resource seasonality, with tropical dominance of planktotrophs offset by increasing nonplanktotrophy to poleward. The acquisition of planktotrophy in several early Palaeozoic clades indicates a change in macroecological relationships during Cambrian and Ordovician radiations.
INFLUENCE OF IRRIGATION AND POTASSIUM FERTILIZATION ON THE PRODUCTION AND QUALITY OF BANANA FRUIT IN BRASÍLIA

Avaliou-se aspectos quantitativos e qualitativos da produtividade, da bananeira ‘BRS Tropical’ sob diferentes niveis de adubacao potassica e volumes de irrigacao. O presente experimento foi disposto em quatro blocos inteiramente casualizados, consistindo nas repeticoes, em um esquema fatorial 5x5, em parcelas subdivididas. As parcelas foram formadas por cinco volumes de irrigacao em litros por cova, (1090 – 2177 – 4300 – 6540 – 8720), correspondente as lâminas de 121 mm, 242 mm, 478 mm, 727 mm e 969 mm em funcao da area ocupada por cada cova; 9 m2. As subparcelas pelos cinco niveis de potassio em kg.ha-1 (0 – 167 – 334 – 500 – 667). Tanto os volumes de irrigacao quanto os niveis de potassio foram fornecidas durante os anos de 2013 e 2014. As observacoes analisadas foram produtividade, numero total de cachos por ha, numero de pencas por cacho, numero de bananas por cacho, numero de bananas por penca, peso medio do fruto, comprimento, diâmetro medio do fruto, relacao entre comprimento e diâmetro e a firmeza media da polpa. A maior produtividade observada foi 11.752 Kg.ha-1, correspondente a 500 Kg.ha-1 de K2O e 6.540 litros de agua por cova. Os volumes de irrigacao foram significativos para massa do fruto, comprimento e diâmetro, no entanto, nao foram para as demais variaveis estudadas. Requer-se cautela na aplicacao de potassio nessa cultura, pois dose excessiva desse adubo e prejudicial a produtividade e a qualidade do fruto.
Computational Microscopy of PEDOT:PSS/Cellulose Composite Paper

Organic composite cellulose/conducting polymer materials have recently demonstrated their potential for energy storage applications. Here, we report a computational morphological study of CNF-PEDOT paper, which is composed of cellulose nanofibers (CNFs), and conducting polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) blended with poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS). With use of coarse-grained MARTINI molecular dynamics simulations, we study the aggregation of PEDOT:PSS on the cellulose surface, exploring different initial conditions for the self-assembly. The orientation of PEDOT chains with respect to the cellulose surface was studied, and the diffraction patterns were simulated. Finally, available experimental data were discussed and compared with calculated morphological models.
The effects of ibotenic hippocampal lesions on discriminative fear conditioning to context in mice: impairment or facilitation depending on the associative value of a phasic explicit cue

To what extent the hippocampus is required for contextual conditioning remains a matter of debate. The present experiments examined the effects of ibotenate hippocampal lesions on discriminative fear conditioning to context in mice using measures of freezing in two conditioning paradigms. In both paradigms animals received foot shock as the unconditional stimulus (US) when placed in the (conditioning) context and no foot‐shock when placed in the other (neutral) context. In both contexts, animals were presented with a tone as the conditioned stimulus (CS). In the conditioning context there was either no interval (delay condition) or a 30‐s interval (trace condition) between tone CS end and shock US onset. These two paradigms were used because theory predicts that in the trace condition animals would learn more about contextual cues as predictors, or not, of shock US occurrence than in the delay condition. In agreement with this, we observed that sham‐operated mice learned the context discrimination faster in the trace than in the delay condition. Lesions of the hippocampus significantly retarded, but did not prevent, the acquisition of the context discrimination in the trace condition. In contrast, lesions produced an opposite (facilitatory) effect in the delay condition, which was mainly observed during tone CS presentation. The data suggest that mice used two distinct competing strategies in solving this discrimination task: (i) a strategy relying on the processing of background contextual stimuli allowing direct establishment of context–US associations of different strengths, and (ii) a conditional cue (tone)‐based strategy. Hence, hippocampal lesions may impair the use of the former strategy while exacerbating (unmasking) the use of the latter.
Infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis: genes and environment

Most paediatricians take great pleasure in making a diagnosis of infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (IHPS; OMIM 179010). It is a most satisfying experience to observe the dramatic gastric peristalsis and to palpate the pyloric “tumour” during a positive test feed. Over 120 years after the condition has become a clinical entity,1 its aetiology remains unclear. The condition has an interesting age-specific and tissue-specific nature. IHPS is never seen beyond the age of 3 months except in reports of premature infants in whom enteral feeding had been started late. This suggests that a period of enteral feeding is required for the condition to become clinically evident. Either the defect is only critical to the infant in the first 3 months of life and/or there are compensatory mechanisms that will circumvent the pyloric obstruction over time. The main reported pathology is restricted to the pylorus associated with smooth muscle hypertrophy, and the pylorus has been shown to make a complete recovery after surgery.2 Recent advances in understanding of the control of gastrointestinal motility have provided a firmer basis for identification of the disease pathways underlying IHPS. The control and regulation of gastric motility and pyloric sphincter function is a complex system which involves the intrinsic myogenic activity of smooth muscle cells, the interstitial cells of Cajal (pacemaker cells), gastrointestinal hormones (eg, motilin, cholecystokinin and gastrin), the autonomic nervous system and the enteric nervous system. The excitatory pathway is mediated mainly by acetylcholine, tachykinins, serotonin, gastrin-releasing peptide and motilin. The inhibitory pathway includes the non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic enteric nervous system, the main neurotransmitters of which are nitric oxide and members of the vasoactive intestinal peptide family. Many of these pathways, …
Monitoring desertification in arid and semi-arid areas of China with NOAA-AVHRR and MODIS data

Based on investigation of current research and previous efforts on desertification, in this paper we propose a desertification index system suitable for large-scale desertification monitoring using remote sensing techniques. According to the desertification index design principle, we selected five desertification indexes (MSAVI, FVC, Albedo, LST and TVDI) suitable for large-scale desertification monitoring using remote sensing technique. Based on analysis and comparison of current retrieval algorithms, we utilized a suitable algorithm on large scale to retrieve five desertification indexes with ten-day NOAA AVHRR data set in 1995 and 16-day MODIS data set in 2001. By assessing the classification accuracies of three types of classifiers (unsupervised classifier, maximum likelihood classifier and decision tree classifier), we select decision tree classifier for desertification monitoring. Supported by desertification index system and the database of desertification indexes, the desertification status in 1995 and 2001 was classified by decision tree classifier, and analysis of desertification changes from 1995 to 2001 was also completed in study area. Statistical result according to individual country shows that the speed of desertification developing is faster than that of rehabilitating, there is a trend of development as a whole and improving locally in desertificated areas in arid and semiarid areas of China.
Heart rate and daily physical activity with long-duration habitation of the International Space Station.

INTRODUCTION We investigated the pattern of activity and heart rate (HR) during daily living on the International Space Station (ISS) compared to on Earth in 7 long-duration astronauts to test the hypotheses that the HR responses on the ISS would be similar to preflight values, although the pattern of activity would shift to a dominance of arm activity, and postflight HR would be elevated compared to preflight during similar levels of activity. METHODS HR and ankle and wrist activity collected for 24-h periods before, during, and after spaceflight were divided into night, morning, afternoon, and evening segments. Exercise was excluded and analyzed separately. RESULTS Consistent with the hypotheses, HR during daily activities on the ISS was unchanged compared to preflight; activity patterns shifted to predominantly arm in space. Contrary to the hypothesis, only night time HR was elevated postflight, although this was very small (+4 +/- 3 bpm compared to preflight). A trend was found for higher postflight HR in the afternoon (+10 +/- 10 bpm) while ankle activity level was not changed (99 +/- 48, 106 +/- 52 counts pre- to postflight, respectively). Astronauts engaged in aerobic exercise 4-8 times/week, 30-50 min/session, on a cycle ergometer and treadmill. Resistance exercise sessions were completed 4-6 times/week for 58 +/- 14 min/session. DISCUSSION Astronauts on ISS maintained their HR during daily activities; on return to Earth there were only very small increases in HR, suggesting that cardiovascular fitness was maintained to meet the demands of normal daily activities.
The eukaryotic RNA exosome: Same scaffold but variable catalytic subunits

The RNA exosome is a versatile ribonucleolytic protein complex that participates in a multitude of cellular RNA processing and degradation events. It consists of an invariable nine-subunit core that associates with a variety of enzymatically active subunits and co-factors. These contribute to or even provide the catalytic activity and substrate specificity of the complex. The S. cerevisiae exosome has been intensively studied since its discovery in 1997 and thus serves as the archetype of eukaryotic exosomes. Notably, its catalytic potential, derived exclusively from associated subunits, differs between the nuclear and cytoplasmic versions of the complex. The same holds true for other eukaryotes, however, recent discoveries from various laboratories including our own have revealed that there are variations on this theme. Here, we review the latest findings concerning catalytic subunits of eukaryotic exosomes, and we discuss the apparent need for differential composition and subcellular distribution of exosome variants.
Physicochemical and sensory properties of yogurt enriched with microencapsulated fish oil

Encapsulation of marine omega-3 oil by complex coacervation technique has been introduced as most effective approach to delay its oxidation and extend shelf life of ω3-enriched food products. Therefore, to produce enriched yogurt, fish oil containing long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids was microencapsulated in complex coacervates of gelatin/acacia gum. Then, the microcapsules were dried and their surface oil was extracted. Set yogurt was prepared by enriched milk with microcapsules powder. Physicochemical and sensory properties of enriched yogurt were measured during 21 days storage. Acidity, apparent viscosity and water holding capacity of enriched samples were higher and gel strength and amount of whey separation were lower compared to the control. The enriched yogurt samples were more yellowish compared to control. The peroxide value of free and encapsulated fish oil in enriched yogurt samples, after 22 days storage, were increased to 72% and 260%, respectively. Fish oil release of microcapsules was not detected by gas chromatography in extracted oil from enriched yogurt. Sensory results showed that untrained panelists evaluated overall acceptance of enriched yogurt with treated-fish oil microcapsules by lime juice as ‘neither liked nor disliked to slightly liked’.
Impact and Culture Change After the Implementation of a Preprocedural Checklist in an Interventional Radiology Department.

OBJECTIVE It has been accepted that the implementation of the a preprocedural surgical checklist can reduce perioperative morbidity and mortality in the operating suite. From this success, there has been focus on applying this intervention to other clinical areas. The objective of this study was to evaluate the acceptance and culture change after the implementation of a preprocedural checklist in the interventional radiology suite. METHODS A preimplementation audit was performed to identify the need for a checklist in the department. A checklist was then developed, based on the surgical model. At 1 and 12 months after implementation, a survey was distributed to the staff at 3 separate teaching centers. RESULTS Results showed that opinion of the checklist was generally positive, with staff agreement that it served as an important communication tool was in the patient's best interest, and presented a good opportunity for the team to identify important issues. CONCLUSIONS The checklist was regarded as having little effect on delay between cases. In our setting, the checklist has become a useful and consistent safety measure to ensure that relevant patient data are brought to the forefront before intervention. As a secondary benefit, it also serves as an important communication tool and improves collaboration among team members.
Characteristics of Hollow Viscus Injury following Blunt Abdominal Trauma; a Single Centre Experience from Eastern India.

OBJECTIVE To determine the presentation, anatomical distribution, diagnostic method, management and outcome of hollow viscus injury (HVI) from blunt abdominal trauma. METHODS This was a retrospective cross-ecnal study including patients with blunt abdominal trauma leading to HVI admitted at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, Ranchi, over a period of 4.5 years (January 2009 to July 2014). Data were retrieved from patients' medical records. Total 173 patients with HVI due to blunt abdominal trauma, who underwent laparotomy at our institute, were reviewed. Data regarding clinical presentation, anatomical distribution, management and outcome were recorded and analysed. RESULTS Out of 173 patients 87.1% were men and 12.9% were women. Mean age of patients was 29±14.02 years. The most common site of injury was ileum (46.2%) followed by jejunum (44.5%). There were 5 gastric perforations (2.9%), 2 (1.15%) duodenal, 2 (1.15%) colonic, 2 (1.15%) sigmoidal and 2 (1.15%) rectal injuries. One caecal injury was also recorded. Road traffic accident was the most common mechanism of injury (57.2%) followed by fall from height (36.4%) and assault (6.4%). Free gas under diaphragm on erect abdomen radiography was seen in 85.5% of cases while preoperative CT Abdomen was done in 11.6% of cases. Treatment consisted of simple closure of the perforation (66.5%), resection and anastomosis (11.0%) and stoma (22.5%). Major complication was anastamotic leak which was recorded in 6.4% cases and 15.6% patients developed burst abdomen. Average hospital stay was 13±6 days. Overall mortality rate was 12.7%. CONCLUSION Although early recognition of intestinal injuries from blunt abdominal trauma may be difficult in all cases, it is very important due to its tremendous life threatening potential. Age of the patient, anatomical site and time of presentation are probably main prognostic factors.
Brain dopamine‐stimulated adenylyl cyclase activity in Parkinson's disease, multiple system atrophy, and progressive supranuclear palsy

The dopamine D1 receptor is considered to participate in levodopa's antiparkinsonian action and levodopa‐induced dyskinesias. We examined the functional status of the D1 receptor in brain of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), multiple system atrophy (MSA), and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Dopamine‐stimulated adenylyl cyclase activity was significantly increased in putamen (+43%) and frontal cortex (+52%) in PD, normal in PSP, but decreased by 47% in putamen in MSA. The supersensitive dopamine D1 receptors in both striatum and cerebral cortex in PD might compensate for dopamine deficiency, but could also contribute to long‐term complications of levodopa therapy.
A Gradient-Assisted Energy-Efficient Backpressure Scheduling Algorithm for Wireless Sensor Networks

Backpressure based scheduling has revealed remarkable performance in wireless multihop networks as reported in a lot of previous work. However, its lack of consideration on energy use efficiency is still an obstacle for backpressure based algorithms to be deployed in resource-constrained wireless sensor networks (WSNs). In this paper, we focus on studying the design of energy efficient backpressure based algorithm. For this purpose, we propose a gradient-assisted energy-efficient backpressure scheduling algorithm (GRAPE) for WSNs. GRAPE introduces a new link-weight calculation method, based on which gradient information and nodal residual energy are taken into account when making decisions on backpressure based transmission scheduling. According to the decisions made by this new method, packets are encouraged to be forwarded to nodes with more residual energy. We theoretically prove the throughput-optimality of GRAPE. Simulation results demonstrate that GRAPE can achieve significant performance improvements in terms of energy use efficiency, network throughput, and packet delivery ratio as compared with existing work.