Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of Multi-strain Lactobacillus Capsule on Gastric Emptying Function by Tc-99m Scintigraphy in a Crossover Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial

Current pharmacological therapy for gastroparesis is limited by a few optional agents with high side effect profiles. Probiotics, which exert both prokinetic and antibiotic properties, can be a good alternative. This study investigates the effects of capsules containing three species of Lactobacillus on gastric emptying function by using a crossover placebo-controlled clinical trial. The 15 healthy participants recruited were divided into two groups, with one group of 7 persons aged between 20-40 and another group of 8 persons aged between 41-60. All the participants in each group were provided with placebo capsules and probiotic capsules, respectively, to be taken twice a day after meals for 3 weeks with crossover in the following 3 weeks. Tc-99m scintigraphy was performed at the beginning of weeks 0, 3 and 6 to determine the gastric emptying rate. All time-activity curves were constructed and the half time of gastric emptying (Get 1/2) was calculated for the same subject for comparison. The Get 1/2 of the baseline, placebo and Lactobacillus regimen periods for the 20-40 age group were 73.0 ± 16.0, 85.7 ± 10.5, and 87.8 ± 10.0 min, respectively, while those for the 41-60 age group were 79.1 ± 23.9, 70.9 ± 33.1, and 68.4 ± 15.2 min, respectively. Comparison of the two groups showed a positive effect of probiotics capsules on the 41 to 60-year-old participants (p = 0.013) but not on the 20 to 40-year-old participants. There was no significant statistical difference between the two groups in the period of treatment with placebo. This early stage trial indicated that the multi-strain Lactobacillus capsule is safe and the results provided some evidence that it accelerated gastric emptying in healthy adults above 40 years of age and may become a therapeutic approach in future trials for pathological gastric emptying delay, by implication, especially in diabetic gastroparesis.
Contagious Bank Runs and Dealer of Last Resort

In a global-games framework, we show how a dealer-of-last-resort policy can promote financial stability while traditional lender-of-last-resort policies are informationally constrained: Central banks and private investors can be uncertain whether banks selling assets to fend off runs are insolvent or illiquid. Such uncertainty leads to asset price collapses and runs and restricts central banks' role as a lender of last resort. In the presence of aggregate uncertainty, contagion and price volatility emerge as a multiple-equilibria phenomenon despite the global-games refinement. A dealer-of-last-resort policy that requires no information on individual banks' solvency can contain contagion and stabilize prices at zero-expected costs.
RFM-Based customer segmentation as an elaborative analytical tool for enriching the creation of sales and trade marketing strategies

In the current intensified competitive market, analyzing customers meticulously and implementing customer relationship management accordingly are the main reasons behind the success of breakthrough companies. One of the main constraints and deficiencies of sales and trade marketing departments in terms of sales development in FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) industry is that they don‘t know which customer segments to target and how to deal with each one. In this study we discuss how these departments can gather customer data and how they can analyze these data to gain useful customer insights. We provide an overview of customer segmentation based on RFM method and customer lifetime value (CLV). The results would be useful for sales, trade marketing and marketing decision-makings in all industries specially the active companies in FMCG industry.
Complete vectorlike fourth family with 
U(1)′
: A global analysis

In this paper we present an in-depth analysis of a recently proposed Standard Model extension with a complete fourth generation of quarks and leptons, which are vector-like with respect to the Standard Model gauge group and charged under a new spontaneously broken vector-like $\mathrm{U(1)^\prime}$ gauge symmetry. The model is designed to explain the known muon anomalies, i.e. the observed deviations from Standard Model predictions in the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon, $\Delta a_\mu$, and in $b \rightarrow s \ell^+ \ell^-$ processes. We perform a global $\chi^2$ analysis of the data with $65$ model parameters and including $98$ observables. We find many points with $\chi^2$ per degree of freedom $\leq 1$. The vector-like leptons and the new heavy $Z^\prime$ are typically much lighter than a TeV and would, thus, be eminently visible at the HL-LHC.
A Proposal-based Approach for Activity Image-to-Video Retrieval

Activity image-to-video retrieval task aims to retrieve videos containing the similar activity as the query image, which is a challenging task because videos generally have many background segments irrelevant to the activity. In this paper, we utilize R-C3D model to represent a video by a bag of activity proposals, which can filter out background segments to some extent. However, there are still noisy proposals in each bag. Thus, we propose an Activity Proposal-based Image-to-Video Retrieval (APIVR) approach, which incorporates multi-instance learning into cross-modal retrieval framework to address the proposal noise issue. Specifically, we propose a Graph Multi-Instance Learning (GMIL) module with graph convolutional layer, and integrate this module with classification loss, adversarial loss, and triplet loss in our cross-modal retrieval framework. Moreover, we propose geometry-aware triplet loss based on point-to-subspace distance to preserve the structural information of activity proposals. Extensive experiments on three widely-used datasets verify the effectiveness of our approach.
Pixel Adaptive Filtering Units

State-of-the-art methods for computer vision rely heavily on the translation equivariance and spatial sharing properties of convolutional layers without explicitly taking into consideration the input content. Modern techniques employ deep sophisticated architectures in order to circumvent this issue. In this work, we propose a Pixel Adaptive Filtering Unit (PAFU) which introduces a differentiable kernel selection mechanism paired with a discrete, learnable and decorrelated group of kernels to allow for content-based spatial adaptation. First, we demonstrate the applicability of the technique in applications where runtime is of importance. Next, we employ PAFU in deep neural networks as a replacement of standard convolutional layers to enhance the original architectures with spatially varying computations to achieve considerable performance improvements. Finally, diverse and extensive experimentation provides strong empirical evidence in favor of the proposed content-adaptive processing scheme across different image processing and high-level computer vision tasks.
Shenjing: A low power reconfigurable neuromorphic accelerator with partial-sum and spike networks-on-chip

The next wave of on-device AI will likely require energy-efficient deep neural networks. Brain-inspired spiking neural networks (SNN) has been identified to be a promising candidate. Doing away with the need for multipliers significantly reduces energy. For on-device applications, besides computation, communication also incurs a significant amount of energy and time. In this paper, we propose Shenjing, a configurable SNN architecture which fully exposes all on-chip communications to software, enabling software mapping of SNN models with high accuracy at low power. Unlike prior SNN architectures like TrueNorth, Shenjing does not require any model modification and retraining for the mapping. We show that conventional artificial neural networks (ANN) such as multilayer perceptron, convolutional neural networks, as well as the latest residual neural networks can be mapped successfully onto Shenjing, realizing ANNs with SNN’s energy efficiency. For the MNIST inference problem using a multilayer perceptron, we were able to achieve an accuracy of 96% while consuming just 1.26 mW using 10 Shenjing cores.
Clinico-Therapeutics of Hypothyrodism in a Labrador dog

A four and half year old Labrador male dog was presented with skin ailment. Detailed clinical examination revealed anorectic, dull, unresponsive and having generalised skin infection with hair loss/alopecia. The biochemicals profile revealed decrease in T3 and T4 level. Based on history, clinical sign and biochemical profile, the case was diagnosis as hypothyroidism and treated with Thyroxine sodium orally 10mcg/kg body weight BID in divided doses along with fluid therapy, antibiotics and vitamins. The dog recovered completely wthin 3 months of treatment.
How complex is the cosmic web?

The growth of large-scale cosmic structure is a beautiful exemplification of how complexity can emerge in our Universe, starting from simple initial conditions and simple physical laws. Using enzo cosmological numerical simulations, I applied tools from Information Theory (namely, ‘statistical complexity’) to quantify the amount of complexity in the simulated cosmic volume, as a function of cosmic epoch and environment. This analysis can quantify how much difficult to predict, at least in a statistical sense, is the evolution of the thermal, kinetic, and magnetic energy of the dominant component of ordinary matter in the Universe (the intragalactic medium plasma). The most complex environment in the simulated cosmic web is generally found to be the periphery of large-scale structures (e.g. galaxy clusters and filaments), where the complexity is on average ∼10–102 times larger than in more rarefied regions, even if the latter dominate the volume-integrated complexity of the simulated Universe. If the energy evolution of gas in the cosmic web is measured on a ≈100 ${\rm kpc}\, h^{-1}$ resolution and over a ≈200 $\rm Myr$ time-scale, its total complexity is in the range of $\sim 10^{16}\! -\! 10^{17} \rm \,bits$, with little dependence on the assumed gas physics, cosmology, or cosmic variance.
Antifreeze proteins: effective adaptations of organisms for low temperature survival

Abstract. Adaptation to low temperature presents many challenges. On a cellular level, structural integrity and metabolism are profoundly affected in cold temperatures, and at freezing temperatures, ice crystal formation must be prevented or controlled for an organism to survive. Antifreeze proteins (AFP) and glycoproteins (AFGP) are protective molecules expressed by organisms to effectively cope with these challenges. These proteins are extremely effective at protecting tissues from chilling and freezing damage, and are active at low concentrations compared to other cryoprotectants, such as glycerol. Many organisms can prevent ice crystal formation in their tissues by supercooling, where the freezing point of cellular fluid is decreased below the normal freezing point of water. Those that can tolerate freezing use ice nucleating proteins (INP) and AFPs to restrict the growth and coalescence of ice crystals. Studies on the evolution of AFPs and AFGPs in polar species reveal that the genes arose from a variety of mechanisms - including lateral gene transfer, gene duplication and convergent evolution - in response to climate change. AFPs directly bind to ice crystal faces, slowing or preventing crystal growth and coalescence. They also act to reduce membrane permeability by interacting with bilayer lipids, thereby preventing leakage during chilling. Practical applications of these molecules include tissue preservation, cold tolerance in crops and food animals, frozen food storage, and freeze-proof surface coatings.
Functional Response of Chrysoperla carnea (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) on Myzus persicae Nymphs (Hemiptera: Aphididae)

Abstract. Effectiveness of natural enemies greatly depends on their functional responses, one of the key components in the selection of biological control predators. The aim of this study was to describe the functional response of third-instar Chrysoperla carnea Stephens (Neuroptera: Chrysopiade) on fourth-instar Myzus persicae Sulzer (Hemiptera: Aphididae). We determined the type of functional response by logistic regression analysis, which suggested that C. carnea exhibited a type III functional response. The handling time estimated was of 0.0066 (±0.0026) and, attack coefficient “a” is made a function of prey density(a = bNo). Chrysoperla carnea larvae ate an increasingly larger number of M. persicae nymphs as the prey density increased. We obtained an initial accelerated response, because C. carnea became more efficient at finding M. persicae. Roger's model did forecast correctly the expected number of eaten preys, but, the value of Th overestimated the maximum number “T/Th” of preys eaten by one C. carnea predatory larva.
The Anatolian Diagonal and Paleoclimatic Changes Shaped the Phylogeography of Cynips quercus (Hymenoptera, Cynipidae)

Cynips quercus is a with widespread oak-gall wasp species distributed across the Western Palearctic from Europe, the northern Caucasus and North Africa to Iran. In this study, we used 175 asexual-generation individuals of C. quercus collected from 30 localities in Turkey to investigate the effects of topography and climatic factors on the phylogeographic structure of the species. Sequence analysis of the mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene (MT-CYB) and the nuclear ITS2 region supported a genetic break between the eastern and the western sides of the Anatolian Diagonal. The ITS2 results indicated that the populations underwent expansion, while in contrast the MT-CYB data implied a stable population structure for C. quercus. Molecular clock applied to the MT-CYB data suggested that the climatic and environmental changes during the Pliocene and Pleistocene had a profound effect on the phylogeography of the species.
Diverse Mite Communities (Acari: Oribatida, Mesostigmata) from a Broadleaf Forest in Western Norway

Broadleaf forests are rare in Norway and they are considered one of the most biodiverse terrestrial habitats in Fennoscandia. These forests are poorly studied in terms of their acarofauna. Mites of two groups, Oribatida and Mesostigmata, were studied in a broadleaf forest in western Norway. In total, 6350 oribatid mites, representing 67 species (i.e., 25% of the known Norwegian species) and 559 mesostigmatid mites representing 22 species (9% of the species recorded from Norway) were collected. The mean densities of Oribatida and Mesostigmata were 454 and 40 individuals per 0.5 dm3, respectively. The most abundant member of Oribatida was Oribatula exilis (29% of Oribatida collected), while Zercon lindrothi made up 59% of Mesostigmata. Fifteen of the oribatid species were first records for Norway, including six new to Fennoscandia: Phthiracarus compressus, Suctobelbella arcana, S. hammerae, S. prominens, Campachipteria patavina and Liebstadia longior.
Successful Treatment of Chronic Lower Extremity Ulcers with Allogeneic Platelet-Rich Plasma and Artificial Dermis: A Case Report

ABSTRACT Hydroxyurea is an oral medication associated with painful, nonhealing ulcers, for which there is no effective treatment but permanent discontinuation of hydroxyurea. The authors present a case of leg ulcers that likely occurred as a result of hydroxyurea use in a patient with essential thrombocythemia. Topical treatment with allogeneic platelet-rich plasma and artificial dermis completely healed the leg ulcers without hydroxyurea cessation.
Physical and Antibacterial Properties of Peppermint Essential Oil Loaded Poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL) Electrospun Fiber Mats for Wound Healing

The aim of this study was to fabricate and characterize various concentrations of peppermint essential oil (PEP) loaded on poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) electrospun fiber mats for healing applications, where PEP was intended to impart antibacterial activity to the fibers. SEM images illustrated that the morphology of all electrospun fiber mats was smooth, uniform, and bead-free. The average fiber diameter was reduced by the addition of PEP from 1.6 ± 0.1 to 1.0 ± 0.2 μm. Functional groups of the fibers were determined by Raman spectroscopy. Gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) analysis demonstrated the actual PEP content in the samples. In vitro degradation was determined by measuring weight loss and their morphology change, showing that the electrospun fibers slightly degraded by the addition of PEP. The wettability of PCL and PEP loaded electrospun fiber mats was measured by determining contact angle and it was shown that wettability increased with the incorporation of PEP. The antimicrobial activity results revealed that PEP loaded PCL electrospun fiber mats exhibited inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus (gram-positive) and Escherichia coli (gram-negative) bacteria. In addition, an in-vitro cell viability assay using normal human dermal fibroblast (NHDF) cells revealed improved cell viability on PCL, PCLPEP1.5, PCLPEP3, and PCLGEL6 electrospun fiber mats compared to the control (CNT) after 48 h cell culture. Our findings showed for the first time PEP loaded PCL electrospun fiber mats with antibiotic-free antibacterial activity as promising candidates for wound healing applications.
Recent Perspectives on Gene-Microbe Interactions Determining Predisposition to Otitis Media

A comprehensive understanding about the pathogenesis of otitis media (OM), one of the most common pediatric diseases, has the potential to alleviate a substantial disease burden across the globe. Advancements in genetic and bioinformatic detection methods, as well as a growing interest in the microbiome, has enhanced the capability of researchers to investigate the interplay between host genes, host microbiome, invading bacteria, and resulting OM susceptibility. Early studies deciphering the role of genetics in OM susceptibility assessed the heritability of the phenotype in twin and triplet studies, followed by linkage studies, candidate gene approaches, and genome-wide association studies that have helped in the identification of specific loci. With the advancements in techniques, various chromosomal regions and genes such as FBXO11, TGIF1, FUT2, FNDC1, and others have been implicated in predisposition to OM, yet questions still remain as to whether these implicated genes truly play a causative role in OM and to what extent. Meanwhile, 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) sequencing, microbial quantitative trait loci (mbQTL), and microbial genome-wide association studies (mGWAS) have mapped the microbiome of upper airways sites and therefore helped in enabling a more detailed study of interactions between host polymorphisms and host microbiome composition. Variants of specific genes conferring increased OM susceptibility, such as A2ML1, have also been shown to influence the microbial composition of the outer and middle ear in patients with OM, suggesting their role as mediators of disease. These interactions appear to impact the colonization of known otopathogens (Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Moraxella catarrhalis), as well as Neisseria, Gemella, Porphyromonas, Alloprevotella, and Fusobacterium populations that have also been implicated in OM pathogenesis. Meanwhile, studies demonstrating an increased abundance of Dolosigranulum and Corynebacterium in healthy patients compared to those with OM suggest a protective role for these bacteria, thereby introducing potential avenues for future probiotic treatment. Incorporating insights from these genetic, microbiome, and host-pathogen studies will allow for a more robust, comprehensive understanding of OM pathogenesis that can ultimately facilitate in the development of exciting new treatment modalities.
Brain-Derived Microparticles (BDMPs) Contribute to Neuroinflammation and Lactadherin Reduces BDMP Induced Neuroinflammation and Improves Outcome After Stroke

Microparticles (MPs, ~size between 0.1 and 1 mm) are lipid encased containers derived from intact cells which contain antigen from the parent cells. MPs are involved in intercellular communication and regulate inflammation. Stroke increases secretion of brain derived MP (BDMP) which activate macrophages/microglia and induce neuroinflammation. Lactadherin (Milk fat globule–EGF factor-8) binds to anionic phospholipids and extracellular matrices, promotes apoptotic cell clearance and limits pathogenic antigen cross presentation. In this study, we investigate whether BDMP affects stroke-induced neuroinflammation and whether Lactadherin treatment reduces stroke initiated BDMP-induced neuroinflammation, thereby improving functional outcome after stroke. Middle aged (8–9 months old) male C57BL/6J mice were subjected to distal middle cerebral artery occlusion (dMCAo) stroke, and BDMPs were extracted from ischemic brain 24 h after dMCAo by ultracentrifugation. Adult male C57BL/6J mice were subjected to dMCAo and treated via tail vein injection at 3 h after stroke with: (A) +PBS (n = 5/group); (B) +BDMPs (1.5 × 108, n = 6/group); (C) +Lactadherin (400 μg/kg, n = 5/group); (D) +BDMP+Lactadherin (n = 6/group). A battery of neurological function tests were performed and mice sacrificed for immunostaining at 14 days after stroke. Blood plasma was used for Western blot assay. Our data indicate: (1) treatment of Stroke with BDMP significantly increases lesion volume, neurological deficits, blood brain barrier (BBB) leakage, microglial activation, inflammatory cell infiltration (CD45, microglia/macrophages, and neutrophils) into brain, inflammatory factor (TNFα, IL6, and IL1β) expression in brain, increases axon/white matter (WM) damage identified by decreased axon and myelin density, and increases inflammatory factor expression in the plasma when compared to PBS treated stroke mice; (2) when compared to PBS and BDMP treated stroke mice, Lactadherin and BDMP+Lactadherin treatment significantly improves neurological outcome, and decreases lesion volume, BBB leakage, axon/WM injury, inflammatory cell infiltration and inflammatory factor expression in the ischemic brain, respectively. Lactadherin treatment significantly increases anti-inflammatory factor (IL10) expression in ischemic brain and decreases IL1β expression in plasma compared to PBS and BDMP treated stroke mice, respectively. BDMP increases neuroinflammation and aggravates ischemic brain damage after stroke. Thus, Lactadherin exerts anti-inflammatory effects and improves the clearance of MPs to reduce stroke and BDMP induced neurological deficits.
Weathering Dynamics Under Contrasting Greenland Ice Sheet Catchments

Chemical weathering dynamics in Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) catchments are largely unknown, due to a scarcity of field data. This paper presents the most comprehensive study to date of chemical weathering rates from four GrIS catchments of contrasting size. Cationic denudation rates varied greatly between catchments studied (2.6 to 37.6 tons km-2 a-1, world mean = 11.9 tons km -2 a -1), but were of the same order of magnitude to the world non-glacial riverine mean, and are greater than those documented in some major temperate rivers catchments (e.g. Mississippi (1.3 tons km-2 a-1) and Nile (0.4 tons km-2 a-1) rivers). These high chemical denudation rates indicate that the GrIS is a potential source of solute to downstream environments. Dissolved silica yields, indicative of silicate weathering rates, also varied by an order of magnitude, with upper values similar to the world mean (0.2 to 3.8 tons km-2 a-1, world mean = 3.53 tons km-2 a-1). Elevated chemical weathering rates in GrIS catchments are strongly influenced by the specific discharge, which drives flushing of the subglacial environment and physical erosion of the ice sheet bed. The direct relationship between specific discharge and chemical denudation rates supports the hypothesis that Greenland Ice Sheet chemical weathering rates and solute fluxes are likely to increase with enhanced melt rates in a warming climate.