Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Altered Dairy Protein Intake Does Not Alter Circulatory Branched Chain Amino Acids in Healthy Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Dairy, as a major component of a high protein diet, is a critical dietary source of branched chain amino acids (BCAA), which are biomarkers of health and diseases. While BCAA are known to be key stimulators of protein synthesis, elevated circulatory BCAA is an independent risk factor for type 2 diabetes mellitus. This study examined the impact of altered dairy intake on plasma BCAA and their potential relationship to insulin sensitivity. Healthy adults (n = 102) were randomized to receive dietary advice to reduce, maintain, or increase habitual dairy intake for 1 month. Food intake was recorded with food frequency questionnaires. Self-reported protein intake from dairy was reported to be reduced (−14.6 ± 3.0 g/day), maintained (−4.0 ± 2.0 g/day) or increased (+13.8 ± 4.1 g/day) according to group allocation. No significant alterations in circulating free amino acids (AA), including BCAA, were measured. Insulin sensitivity, as assessed by homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), was also unaltered. A significant change in dairy protein intake showed no significant effect on fasting circulatory BCAA and insulin sensitivity in healthy populations.
A Generative Model for Dynamic Networks with Applications

Networks observed in real world like social networks, collaboration networks etc., exhibit temporal dynamics, i.e. nodes and edges appear and/or disappear over time. In this paper, we propose a generative, latent space based, statistical model for such networks (called dynamic networks). We consider the case where the number of nodes is fixed, but the presence of edges can vary over time. Our model allows the number of communities in the network to be different at different time steps. We use a neural network based methodology to perform approximate inference in the proposed model and its simplified version. Experiments done on synthetic and real world networks for the task of community detection and link prediction demonstrate the utility and effectiveness of our model as compared to other similar existing approaches.
Toward the Use of Deep Learning for Topographic Feature Extraction from High Resolution Optical Satellite Imagery

This paper introduces the exploitation of a convolutional neural network for the extraction of topographic features from high-resolution optical satellite imagery. A UNET based model was trained for seven feature classes of roads, buildings, waterbodies using two 3-band (RGB) images for a study site in Kingston (Canada). The trained model's accuracy was evaluated on eight tiles of 8000×8000 pixels using a confusion matrix, the overall accuracy and kappa. The results show overall accuracy varying between 90 % and 99 % and kappa varying between 0.48 and 0.98, with five of the eight tiles being over 0.85. The model generally produced accurate predictions, except for commercial and industrial buildings and for unpaved roads, which were under represented in the training data. The project provided perspective for the development of a training database for topographic feature extraction using deep learning and for expansion to the national scale.
Microglia: Immune Regulators of Neurodevelopment

Microglia, the tissue-resident macrophages of the central nervous system (CNS), have characterized roles in combating infection, clearing cellular debris, and maintaining tissue homeostasis. In addition to these typical immunological roles, microglia have been revealed to be active players in complex neurodevelopmental programs such as neurogenesis and synaptic pruning, during which they interact with neurons and macroglia to provide trophic support, respond to cytokine, and metabolic signals derived from the local neural environment, and drive the refinement of functional neuronal circuits. Microglia appear to be developmentally regulated by the host microbiome, and have been shown to dynamically respond to metabolic products from gut microbiota in a sex-dependent manner. Due to their constant surveillance of the brain parenchyma, involvement in development, and salient reactivity to both peripheral immune and microbiome-derived signals, microglia may additionally serve as a key cellular intermediate linking neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and schizophrenia with microbiota influences in models of maternal immune activation (MIA). This review examines both well-established and emerging literature and perspectives on microglia in the context of neurodevelopment, with a particular emphasis on the role of the host microbiome in influencing microglial function during health and disease states.
Age-Period-Cohort Analyses of Tuberculosis Incidence Rates by Nativity, United States, 1996-2016

Objectives To assess changes in US tuberculosis (TB) incidence rates by age, period, and cohort effects, stratified according to race/ethnicity and nativity. Methods We used US National Tuberculosis Surveillance System data for 1996 to 2016 to estimate trends through age-period-cohort models. Results Controlling for cohort and period effects indicated that the highest rates of TB incidence occurred among those 0 to 5 and 20 to 30 years of age. The incidence decreased by age for successive birth cohorts. There were greater estimated annual percentage decreases among US-born individuals (-7.3%; 95% confidence interval [CI] = -7.5, -7.1) than among non-US-born individuals (-4.3%; 95% CI = -4.5, -4.1). US-born individuals older than 25 years exhibited the largest decreases, a pattern that was not reflected among non-US-born adults. In the case of race/ethnicity, the greatest decreases by nativity were among US-born Blacks (-9.3%; 95% CI = -9.6, -9.1) and non-US-born Hispanics (-5.7%; 95% CI = -6.0, -5.5). Conclusions TB has been decreasing among all ages, races and ethnicities, and consecutive cohorts, although these decreases are less pronounced among non-US-born individuals.
Alibaba’s Neural Machine Translation Systems for WMT18

This paper describes the submission systems of Alibaba for WMT18 shared news translation task. We participated in 5 translation directions including English ↔ Russian, English ↔ Turkish in both directions and English → Chinese. Our systems are based on Google’s Transformer model architecture, into which we integrated the most recent features from the academic research. We also employed most techniques that have been proven effective during the past WMT years, such as BPE, back translation, data selection, model ensembling and reranking, at industrial scale. For some morphologically-rich languages, we also incorporated linguistic knowledge into our neural network. For the translation tasks in which we have participated, our resulting systems achieved the best case sensitive BLEU score in all 5 directions. Notably, our English → Russian system outperformed the second reranked system by 5 BLEU score.
Jason-3 and Sentinel-3A Altimeter Validation Along the French Atlantic Coast in the Southern Bay of Biscay

Altimetry-derived sea surface heights (SSH) from the recently launched Jason-3 and Sentinel-3A missions were validated against records from seven tide gauges located along the French Atlantic coast in the southern Bay of Biscay. Comparisons between Jason-2 and Jason-3 based SSH were performed along-track when they were orbiting 80 seconds apart during the tandem mission that lasted more than six months. The benefits of the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) acquisition mode on Sentinel-3A is compared to the classical Low Resolution Mode (LRM) on Jason-2 and 3 missions are analyzed.
Nuclear E-Cadherin Acetylation Promotes Colorectal Tumorigenesis via Enhancing β-Catenin Activity

The E-cadherin/β-catenin signaling pathway plays a critical role in the maintenance of epithelial architecture and regulation of tumor progression. Normally, E-cadherin locates on the cell surface with its cytosolic domain linking to the actin cytoskeleton through interaction with catenins. Although the nuclear localization of E-cadherin has been frequently observed in various types of cancers, little is known regarding the functional consequences of its nuclear translocation. Here, we showed that in colorectal cancer samples and cell lines, E-cadherin localized in the nucleus; and the nuclear localization was mediated through protein interaction with CTNND1. In the nucleus, E-cadherin was acetylated by CREB-binding protein at Lysine870 and Lysine871 in its β-catenin–binding domain, and the acetylation can be reversed by SIRT2. Acetylation of nuclear E-cadherin attenuated its interaction with β-catenin, which therefore released β-catenin from the complex, resulting in increased expression of its downstream genes and accelerated tumor growth and migration. Further study showed that acetylation level of nuclear E-cadherin had high prognostic significance in clinical colorectal samples. Taken together, our findings reveal a novel mechanism of tumor progression through posttranslational modification of E-cadherin, which may serve as a potential drug target of tumor therapy. Implications: This finding that acetylation of nuclear E-cadherin regulates β-catenin activity expands our understanding of the acetylation of E-cadherin promotes colorectal cancer cell growth and suggests novel therapeutic approaches of targeting acetylation in tumors.
Amphiregulin (AREG) and Epiregulin (EREG) Gene Expression as Predictor for Overall Survival (OS) in Oxaliplatin/Fluoropyrimidine Plus Bevacizumab Treated mCRC Patients—Analysis of the Phase III AIO KRK-0207 Trial

Background: The EGFR (epithelial growth factor receptor) ligands amphiregulin (AREG) and epiregulin (EREG) have been considered as predictors for EGFR-antibody efficacy. The effect of AREG and EREG expression levels in primary tumor samples on the outcome of bevacizumab-treated patients is unknown. Patients and Methods: Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tumor samples from surgically removed primaries of the AIO KRK-0207 trial have been tested for AREG and EREG expression. The AIO KRK-0207 trial was a randomized phase-3 study to investigate the best maintenance strategy after oxaliplatin/fluoropyrimidine plus bevacizumab induction treatment in patients with mCRC. Association of AREG and EREG levels with outcome parameters were investigated, taking into account RAS and BRAF mutations. Results: A total of 331 tumor samples had measurable AREG and EREG tissue levels. In the total cohort using continuous expression levels, higher logAREG and logEREG levels were associated with a significant longer overall survival (OS) (HR 0.80; p = 0.003 and HR 0.78; p = 0.001, respectively). The subgroup of BRAF mutant tumors displayed significantly lower AREG and EREG levels compared to wild-type tumors. The prognostic effect of AREG and EREG expression was limited to the double wild-type subpopulation, whereas in the RAS mutant and BRAF mutant subgroups no prognostic effect was detected. Conclusion: Low logAREG and logEREG levels are associated with a shorter OS in oxaliplatin/fluoropyrimidine plus bevacizumab treated patients. As low AREG and EREG level are associated with BRAF mutations, the prognostic value of EREG and AREG levels is limited to the RAS and BRAF wild-type subpopulation.
New Advances in General Biomedical Applications of PAMAM Dendrimers

Dendrimers are nanoscopic compounds, which are monodispersed, and they are generally considered as homogeneous. PAMAM (polyamidoamine) was introduced in 1985, by Donald A. Tomalia, as a new class of polymers, named ‘starburst polymers’. This important contribution of Professor Tomalia opened a new research field involving nanotechnological approaches. From then on, many groups have been using PAMAM for diverse applications in many areas, including biomedical applications. The possibility of either linking drugs and bioactive compounds, or entrapping them into the dendrimer frame can improve many relevant biological properties, such as bioavailability, solubility, and selectivity. Directing groups to reach selective delivery in a specific organ is one of the advanced applications of PAMAM. In this review, structural and safety aspects of PAMAM and its derivatives are discussed, and some relevant applications are briefly presented. Emphasis has been given to gene delivery and targeting drugs, as advanced delivery systems using PAMAM and an incentive for its use on neglected diseases are briefly mentioned.
Dinsar Data Integration in Vulnerability Analyses of Buildings Exposed to Slow-Moving Landslides

High and very-high resolution remote sensing data provided by the processing of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images via Differential Interferometry techniques (DInSAR) allow detecting ground surface displacements that can be used in monitoring/control of urban areas and integrated within procedures aimed at analyzing the vulnerability of affected facilities (e.g. structures and infrastructure). In this regard, this paper presents the results of a study that combines DInSAR data and information gathered from damage surveys to buildings interacting with slow-moving landslides. In particular, relationships between cause (DInSAR-derived differential settlements of buildings) and effect (recorded building damages) are retrieved and empirical fragility and vulnerability curves (to be used for damage forecasting purposes) are generated. Considering the encouraging outcomes, the adopted methodological approach can be successfully integrated within a more general framework for the management of slow-moving landslide risk to which urban areas are exposed.
A Transactive Memory Systems Perspective on Virtual Team Creativity

Regulating the creativity of virtual teams (VTs) has turned up to be a major concern for many companies. Furthermore, organizations with geographically distributed teams, are struggling to keep up satisfactory VT relations to enhance creativity initiatives. This research analyses how firms can manage the relationship between transactive memory systems (TMS) components (specialization, coordination and credibility) with VT creativity. We examined the collected data from 231 professionals employing structural equation modeling to assess the model fit and partial least squares to evaluate the robustness of our results. Our investigations found different results. The first conclusion shows that TMS components have a positive impact on VT creativity. Second, our study gives a confirmation of the combined intra and inter-TMS components’ effect on VT creativity.
Shallow Water Bathymetry Mapping Using Hyperspectral Data

Using airborne hyperspectral images and field survey data of Yamada Bay, northeast Japan, we examined to improve the water depth accuracy by enhancing benthic type classification accuracy and generalize the method. Also, the method was applied to airborne hyperspectral data of Aka-jima Island, southwest Japan and the versatility of the method was verified. Compared to field survey data in Yamada Bay, the determination coefficient of water depth improved from 0.19 to 0.50, however, RMSE increased from 2.7 m to 3.3 m. In Aka-jima Island, the determination coefficient improved from 0.34 to 0.74, and RMSE decreased from 2.6 m to 1.3 m.
Mindfulness and health behaviors in college students: The moderating role of sleep

Abstract Objective: To examine the moderating effects of subjective sleep quality (SSQ) and sleep duration on the relationships between mindfulness and health behaviors (i.e. nutrition and exercise) among undergraduate students. The unique influence of the five facets (i.e. factors) of mindfulness (i.e. observing, describing, acting with awareness, nonreactivity to inner experience and nonjudging of inner experience) on students’ health behaviors was also explored. Participants: Three hundred fifty seven undergraduate students enrolled in U.S. colleges. Methods: Students completed an online survey. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine whether SSQ moderated the relationship between mindfulness and nutrition behavior. Results: SSQ moderated the relationship between mindfulness and nutrition behavior. The observe facet of mindfulness was the most predictive of nutrition behavior, whereas the observe and describe facets were the most predictive of exercise behavior. Conclusions: Interventions that target mindfulness and sleep quality may help promote healthy eating and increased exercise engagement in college students.
Gabapentin Enacarbil Extended‐Release for Alcohol Use Disorder: A Randomized, Double‐Blind, Placebo‐Controlled, Multisite Trial Assessing Efficacy and Safety

BACKGROUND Several single-site alcohol treatment clinical trials have demonstrated efficacy for immediate-release (IR) gabapentin in reducing drinking outcomes among individuals with alcohol dependence. The purpose of this study was to conduct a large, multisite clinical trial of gabapentin enacarbil extended-release (GE-XR) (HORIZANT® ), a gabapentin prodrug formulation, to determine its safety and efficacy in treating alcohol use disorder (AUD). METHODS Men and women (n = 346) who met DSM-5 criteria for at least moderate AUD were recruited across 10 U.S. clinical sites. Participants received double-blind GE-XR (600 mg twice a day) or placebo and a computerized behavioral intervention (Take Control) for 6 months. Efficacy analyses were prespecified for the last 4 weeks of the treatment period. RESULTS The GE-XR and placebo groups did not differ significantly on the primary outcome measure, percentage of subjects with no heavy drinking days (28.3 vs. 21.5, respectively, p = 0.157). Similarly, no clinical benefit was found for other drinking measures (percent subjects abstinent, percent days abstinent, percent heavy drinking days, drinks per week, drinks per drinking day), alcohol craving, alcohol-related consequences, sleep problems, smoking, and depression/anxiety symptoms. Common side-effects were fatigue, dizziness, and somnolence. A population pharmacokinetics analysis revealed that patients had lower gabapentin exposure levels compared with those in other studies using a similar dose but for other indications. CONCLUSIONS Overall, GE-XR at 600 mg twice a day did not reduce alcohol consumption or craving in individuals with AUD. It is possible that, unlike the IR formulation of gabapentin, which showed efficacy in smaller Phase 2 trials at a higher dose, GE-XR is not effective in treating AUD, at least not at doses approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treating other medical conditions.
A self-expanding percutaneous valve for patients with pulmonary regurgitation and an enlarged native right ventricular outflow tract: one-year results.

AIMS The aim of the study was to evaluate the midterm safety and efficacy of a self-expanding valve (Venus P-valve) in the treatment of patients with pulmonary regurgitation and a native right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) in China. METHODS AND RESULTS Patients who had moderate or severe pulmonary regurgitation after surgical repair of the RVOT with a transannular or RVOT patch were included in the study. Fifty-five patients (67% female; average age 28.7±12.4 years) from six different hospitals in China were enrolled. The procedure success rate was 98.2%. In the one failure, the patient experienced valve dislodgement two days after the procedure. During the 12-month follow-up, two patients died, one due to infective endocarditis. Three other patients developed infective endocarditis. Two patients developed atrial flutter, and one patient had a pulmonary embolism. Echocardiography examinations at 12 months showed that two patients had mild pulmonary regurgitation, and 19 patients had trace pulmonary regurgitation. No paravalvular regurgitation occurred. The mean peak pulmonary gradient was 16.3±7.4 (range 4-38) mmHg. Compared with the baseline data, the right ventricular end-diastolic volume index (RVEDVI) was reduced from 137.6±15.8 mL/m2 to 83.9±16.0 mL/m2 (p<0.001), and the New York Heart Association (NYHA) class was significantly improved (p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS The one-year results of the China Venus P-valve study show considerable promise for a hitherto unmet need in patients with pulmonary regurgitation and an enlarged native RVOT.
Validation of the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission Core Observatory Over Great Britain and Ireland

This study compares the instantaneous surface rain rate estimates over Great Britain and Ireland (GBI) from the spaceborne dual-frequency precipitation radar (DPR) and the GPM microwave imager (GMI) on board the GPM Core Observatory (GPM-CO) to estimates from the ground-based United Kingdom Meteorological Office's ground-radar network. In particular, the version-5, level-2 DPR and DPR-GMI (CMB) combined products (5 km resolution) and the Radarnet 4 radar composite product (1 km resolution) are used for the three year study (May 2014 - April 2017). Products are collocated both temporally and spatially, and subject to quality control, prior to the comparison where the Radarnet product is considered to be the “ground truth”. The GPM products are found to underestimate the surface rain rates detected by the Radarnet product from a sample of 575512 collocated 5 km data. The CMB product (bias -2% and correlation 0.49) performs better in comparison to the DPR product (bias -17% and correlation 0.42). Large standard deviations of around 132% suggest that the results are highly variable.
Explaining the Pre-Announcement Drift

We propose a theoretical explanation for the puzzling positive pre-announcement drift that has been empirically documented to occur before scheduled announcements, using as a main example the drift before the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings. We construct a general equilibrium model of disagreement (difference-of-opinion) where two groups of investors react differently to the information released at the scheduled announcement and to costly signals available in the interval between two announcement releases. The model shows that the risk premium is not realized uniformly over time and matches consistently three key empirical facts: (1) the upward drift in prices just before the announcement, which does not revert after the announcement, (2) lower price volatility before the announcement, followed by higher volatility after the announcement, and (3) low (high) trading volume before (after) the announcement.
Recapture probability, flight morphology, and microorganisms

Abstract Microorganisms on and within organisms are ubiquitous and interactions with their hosts range from mutualistic over commensal, to pathogenic. We hypothesized that microorganisms might affect the ability of barn swallows Hirundo rustica to escape from potential predators, with positive associations between the abundance of microorganisms and escape ability implying mutualistic effects, while negative associations would imply antagonistic effects. We quantified escape behavior as the ability to avoid capture in a mist net and hence as a small number of recaptures. Because recapture probability may also depend on timing of reproduction and reproductive success, we also tested whether the association between recapture and microorganisms was mediated by an association between recapture and life history. We found intermediate to strong positive relationships between recapture probability and abundance of Bacillus megaterium, but not abundance of other bacteria or fungi. The abundance of B. megaterium was associated with an advance in laying date and an increase in reproductive success. However, these effects were independent of the number of recaptures. This interpretation is supported by the fact that there was no direct correlation between laying date and reproductive success on one hand and the number of recaptures on the other. These findings have implications not only for predator–prey interactions, but also for capture-mark-recapture analyses of vital rates such as survival and dispersal.