Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The influence of skeletal muscle on appetite regulation

ABSTRACT Introduction: Fat-free mass, of which skeletal muscle is amajor component, correlates positively with energy intake at energy balance. This is due to the effects of metabolically active tissue on energy expenditure which in itself appears to signal to the brain adrive to eat to ensure cellular energy homeostasis. The mechanisms responsible for this drive to eat are unknown but are likely to be related to energy utilization. Here muscle imparts an indirect influence on hunger. The drive to eat is also enhanced after muscle loss secondary to intentional weight loss. The evidence suggests loss of both fat mass and skeletal muscle mass directly influences the trajectory and magnitude of weight regain highlighting their potential role in long-termappetite control. The mechanisms responsible for the potential direct drive to eat stemming from muscle loss are unknown. Areas covered: The literature pertaining to muscle and appetite at energy balance and after weight loss was examined. Aliterature search was conducted to identify studies related to appetite, muscle, exercise, and weight loss. Expert opinion: Understanding the mechanisms which link energy expenditure and muscle loss to hunger has the potential to positively impact both the prevention and the treatment of obesity.
A multiparametric study of gold nanoparticles cytotoxicity, internalization and permeability using an in vitro model of blood–brain barrier. Influence of size, shape and capping agent

Abstract Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have biomedical application on imaging and due to increased optical performance, star-shaped AuNPs are of special interest. Because shape, size and capping greatly influence their toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics, a systematic multiparametric comparative study of the influence of these parameters on the cytotoxicity, internalization, and in vitro permeability was conducted in human Cerebral Microvascular Endothelial Cell line (hCMEC/D3), an in vitro model of the human blood-brain barrier (BBB). AuNPs of different size (14 nm and ∼50 nm), shape (spheres and stars), and coating (11-mercaptoundecanoic acid or MUA and sodium citrate) were synthesized and fully characterized. The time- and concentration-dependent cytotoxic profile of the tested AuNPs differed for the different AuNPs. Generally, toxicity was greater for stars relative to sphere-shaped AuNPs, and citrate coating was more toxic than MUA. Regarding the influence of size, smaller-sized AuNPs were more cytotoxic when compared at the same Au concentration. However, when the concentration of AuNPs was expressed as the number of AuNPs/mL, a higher degree of cytotoxicity was noted for the larger ̴50 nm AuNPs. To understand the influence of size, shape and capping, a systematic study design, in which only one of the variables changes, is determinant for correct data interpretation. Considering the results herein presented, for the sake of comparison of differently-sized AuNPs, it is preferable to design the study based upon the number of nanoparticles, since at a fixed Au concentration the number of particles available to promote effect is higher for smaller-sized AuNPs. Cellular internalization also differed among the tested AuNPs; although all were unable to cross the in vitro BBB, the intracellularly accumulated AuNPs can induce cell damage and later compromise BBB integrity and permeability.
Progression and Determinants of Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging Measures of Lumbar Disc Degeneration: A Five-Year Follow-up of Adult Male Monozygotic Twins

Study Design. A longitudinal study. Objective. Our goal was to explore the role of digital magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data, by extending our earlier 5-year follow-up study of progression of lumbar spine degeneration with quantitative measures of disc degeneration. Summary of Background Data. A longitudinal study is optimal for investigating disc degeneration but only a few studies (with small sample sizes) or short follow-up studies include repeated MRI data. Methods. Subjects consisted of 134 male monozygotic twins (age 35–69 years). Quantitative MRI measures included changes in disc bulging and height. Inter-rater reliability coefficients were between 0.77 and 0.96. At baseline and follow-up, an extensive interview about exposures to suspected determinants was conducted. Results. Reduction in disc height and increases in bulges (worsening) were seen in 2/3 of subjects. The mean reduction in disc height was 2.2% to 3.6%. A mean increase in bulging of 7% to 10% was found in the L1–L4 discs and 4% in L4–S1 discs. Although the mean changes were small, few reverse changes were observed. Familial aggregation, a proxy for genetic influences, explained 17% of changes in disc height, and 11% and 0% of changes in the sizes of anterior and posterior bulges in the regression models. Higher maximal occupational lifting (AR2 = 4.9%) and smoking (AR2 = 3.5%) during follow-up predicted more disc height reduction. Greater increases in bulging (AR2 = 7.4%–10.2%) were predicted by smaller bulges at baseline. Conclusion. The mean annual changes in disc heights (<1%) and bulges (<2%) were small, and included both decreases and increases, with only a few subjects showing more major changes in either direction. The role of genetics was largest except in posterior bulges, but lifting and smoking were also associated with disc height reduction but none of the other studied risk factors were associated with anterior or posterior disc bulging. Different degenerative findings have different determinants of progression.
Slow‐release caffeine as a countermeasure to driver sleepiness induced by partial sleep deprivation

The effect of partial sleep deprivation (PSD) on driving abilities, as measured with a driving simulator, and the value of slow‐release caffeine as a countermeasure to the expected performance decrements, were studied. Twelve subjects, between 20 and 25 years of age, underwent four experimental conditions, 4.5 or 7.5 h time in bed (TIB) with 300 mg slow‐release caffeine or placebo, according to a Latin square design. Driving performance was measured twice by a 45‐min driving task on a simulator. Subjective sleepiness/alertness and mood were assessed four times, by means of the Stanford Sleepiness Scale (SSS) and Profile of Mood States (POMS). After 4.5 h as compared with 7.5 h TIB lane drifting and speed deviation were higher, but only the effect on the first variable reached significance. In the placebo condition at 13.00 h, accident liability increased after PSD. Subjective sleepiness was higher in the 4.5 h TIB group. Caffeine intake gave rise to a decrease in lane drifting and after PSD it led to a smaller speed deviation and accident liability. The findings suggest that a lack of sleep can lead to a significant driving performance impairment, with drivers having problems to maintain an appropriate road position and a posted speed and more drivers getting involved in an accident. Secondly, the results indicate that caffeine – more specifically slow‐release caffeine – can serve as a valuable countermeasure to these performance decrements, in the absence of any important side‐effects, especially when its application is of an acute nature and when there is no opportunity to take a nap.
Antihypertensive Drugs and the Sympathetic Nervous System

Hypertension has been associated with several modifications in the function and regulation of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). Although it is unclear whether this dysfunction is primary or secondary to the development of hypertension, these alterations are considered to play an important role in the evolution, maintenance, and development of hypertension and its target organ damage. Several pharmacological antihypertensive classes are currently available. The main drugs that have been clearly shown to affect SNS function are β-blockers, α-blockers, and centrally acting drugs. On the contrary, the effects of ACE inhibitors (ACE-Is), AT1 receptor blockers (ARBs), calcium channel blockers (CCBs), and diuretics on SNS function remain controversial. These properties are pharmacologically and pathophysiologically relevant and should be considered in the choice of antihypertensive treatments and combination therapies in order to achieve, beyond optimal blood pressure control, a normalization of SNS physiology and the most effective prevention of target organ damage.
Performance of grid-integrated photovoltaic/fuel cell/ electrolyzer/battery hybrid power system

Integration of different energy sources and power converters is required to meet the load demands adequately under various natural conditions. This research work focuses on the hybrid power system combining renewable energy sources, namely, a photovoltaic (PV) array and a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and a hybrid energy storage system, i.e., a battery bank and hydrogen storage tanks in the proposed architecture. The complete layout is connected to the national grid via power electronics converters to enhance the continuity and reliability of power. In the proposed system, the PV is taken as the primary energy source to satisfy the load demands. The fuel cell and electrolyzer are added to ensure long-term energy balance by using the hydrogen technology. The battery is utilized as a high energy density device to keep the DC-bus voltage constant. The dynamic behaviour of the proposed system is checked under different solar radiation, temperature and load conditions for the simulation of 24 Hrs. The proposed system exhibits excellent performance in terms of grid stability and voltage regulation. All the energy sources and their controllers are designed in Matlab/Simulink.
Image Captioning based on Deep Learning Methods: A Survey

Image captioning is a challenging task and attracting more and more attention in the field of Artificial Intelligence, and which can be applied to efficient image retrieval, intelligent blind guidance and human-computer interaction, etc. In this paper, we present a survey on advances in image captioning based on Deep Learning methods, including Encoder-Decoder structure, improved methods in Encoder, improved methods in Decoder, and other improvements. Furthermore, we discussed future research directions.
New drugs: big changes in conservative heart failure therapy?

Summary During the last 20 years, the prognosis for heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction has steadily improved due to advances in drug treatment and the consistent implementation of guideline-recommended evidence-based drug therapy. Nevertheless, the morbidity and mortality rates of patients with HF can still be improved. The prevalence of HF is high and continues to increase steadily. Thus, timely and efficient drug treatment plays a central role in improving the quality of life and prognosis for patients with HF. Current therapeutic concepts combine inhibition of the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system with blockage of the sympathetic system. New therapeutic approaches such as selective heart rate reduction, attenuation of the degradation of natriuretic peptides by neutral endopeptidase inhibition and treatment of comorbidities (e.g. iron deficiency, diabetes mellitus, hyperkalaemia) have led to a further improvement in the survival, time-out-of hospital and quality of life of affected patients. The goal of this article was to give an overview of the current standard drug therapy for HF and the value of new therapeutic approaches implemented in recent years.
New Subtype B Containing HIV-1 Circulating Recombinant of sub-Saharan Africa Origin in Nigerian Men who have Sex with Men.

BACKGROUND HIV-1 circulating recombinant forms (CRF) containing subtype B are uncommon in sub-Saharan Africa. Prevalent infections observed during enrollment of a prospective study of men who have sex with men (MSM) from Lagos, Nigeria revealed the presence of a family of subtype B and CRF02_AG recombinants. This report describes the HIV-1 genetic diversity within a high-risk, high-prevalence, and previously undersampled cohort of Nigerian MSM. METHODS Between 2013 and 2016, 672 MSM were enrolled at the Lagos site of the TRUST/RV368 study. Prevalent HIV-1 infections were initially characterized via pol sequencing and phylogenetic subtyping analysis. Samples demonstrating the presence of subtype B were further characterized by near full-length sequencing, phylogenetic, and Bayesian analyses. RESULTS Within this cohort, HIV-1 prevalence was 59%. The major subtype was CRF02_AG (57%), followed by CRF02/B recombinants (15%), subtype G (13%), and smaller amounts of A1, B, and other recombinants. Nine clusters of closely related pol sequences indicate ongoing transmission events within this cohort. Among the CRF02_AG/B, a new CRF was identified and termed CRF95_02/B. Shared risk factors and Bayesian phylogenetic inference of the new CRF95_02B and the similarly structured CRF56_cpx, indicate a Nigerian or West African origin of CRF56_cpx prior to its observation in France. CONCLUSION With high HIV-1 prevalence, new strains, and multiple transmission networks, this cohort of Nigerian MSM represents a previously hidden reservoir of HIV-1 strains, including the newly-identified CRF95_02B and closely-related CRF56_cpx. These strains will need to be considered during vaccine selection and development in order to optimize the design of a globally effective HIV-1 vaccine.
Disturbed YouTube for Kids: Characterizing and Detecting Inappropriate Videos Targeting Young Children

A large number of the most-subscribed YouTube channels target children of very young age. Hundreds of toddler-oriented channels on YouTube feature inoffensive, well produced, and educational videos. Unfortunately, inappropriate content that targets this demographic is also common. YouTube's algorithmic recommendation system regrettably suggests inappropriate content because some of it mimics or is derived from otherwise appropriate content. Considering the risk for early childhood development, and an increasing trend in toddler's consumption of YouTube media, this is a worrisome problem. In this work, we build a classifier able to discern inappropriate content that targets toddlers on YouTube with 84.3% accuracy, and leverage it to perform a large-scale, quantitative characterization that reveals some of the risks of YouTube media consumption by young children. Our analysis reveals that YouTube is still plagued by such disturbing videos and its currently deployed counter-measures are ineffective in terms of detecting them in a timely manner. Alarmingly, using our classifier we show that young children are not only able, but likely to encounter disturbing videos when they randomly browse the platform starting from benign videos.
A pulse-driven Josephson arbitrary waveform synthesis system as a quantum AC voltage standard in KRISS

We report our progress in the Josephson arbitrary waveform synthesis system in KRISS. The system is based on the pulse-driven Josephson junction array, and currently we routinely produce arbitrary waveforms up to 100 mVrms amplitude with distortions smaller than 100 dBc. Precision waveform synthesis results are presented. Our future works will include AC-DC thermal transfer measurement and quantum noise source for Johnson noise thermometry.
Peripheral blood counts in workers exposed to synthetic fibres

Acrylonitrile is an intermediary with possible adverse health effects in the synthesis of organic products, such as acrylic fibres. This investigation was undertaken to determine the possible changes in the peripheral blood counts in workers of a polyacrylic fibres plant. The study involved 218 workers exposed to acrylonitrile at low doses and a control group of 200 unexposed workers. The chosen subjects underwent blood tests in order to check their haematological parameters. There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in terms of the red blood cells, haemoglobin and total number of leukocytes. An increase in the neutrophils associated with a reduction of lymphocytes, both statistically significant, was observed. The authors hypothesized that the neutrophils are influenced by the exposure to acrylonitrile at low doses.
Things You May Not Know About Adversarial Example: A Black-box Adversarial Image Attack

Numerous methods for crafting adversarial examples were proposed recently with high attack success rate. Most of the existing works normalize images into a continuous vector, domain firstly, and then craft adversarial examples in the continuous vector space. However, "adversarial" examples may become benign after de-normalizing them back into discrete integer domain, known as the discretization problem. The discretization problem was mentioned in some work, but was despised and have received relatively little attention. In this work, we conduct the first comprehensive study of this discretization problem. We theoretically analyzed 34 representative methods and empirically studied 20 representative open source tools for crafting discretization images. Our findings reveal that almost all of existing works suffer from the discretization problem and the problem is far more serious than we thought. This suggests that the discretization problem should be taken into account when crafting adversarial examples. As a first step towards addressing the discretization problem, we propose a black-box attack method to encode the adversarial example searching problem as a derivative-free optimization problem. Our method is able to craft "real'' adversarial images by derivative-free search on the discrete integer domain. Experimental results show that our method achieves significantly higher attack success rates on the discrete integer domain than most of the other tools, no matter white-box or black-box. Moreover, our method is able to handle any model that is not differentiable and we successfully break the winner of NIPS 17 competition on defense with a 95\% success rate.
Tuberculosis post-liver transplantation: a rare but complicated disease.

INTRODUCTION Tuberculosis is a rare but serious complication after transplantation. We report a case and discuss its presentation and management. CLINICAL PICTURE A 60-year-old Indonesian male presented initially with fever, acute confusion and rapidly progressive right upper lobe pneumonia 3.5 months post-liver transplant, and was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis by positive sputum smear for acid-fast bacilli and tuberculosis culture. TREATMENT/OUTCOME Standard anti-tuberculosis therapy was administered but was complicated by interaction with cyclosporine and drug-induced cholestasis. CONCLUSION A high level of suspicion, prompt antituberculosis treatment and close follow-up are essential in management of post-transplant tuberculosis.
Changes in smoking prevalence in Russia, 1996–2004

Objectives: In Russia, smoking prevalence has historically been high in men and relatively low in women. Female smoking prevalence is predicted to rise but assessment of changes has been limited by the lack of comparable data. Changes in the prevalence of smoking in Russia between 1996 and 2004, and whether theses changes differed by sociodemographic groups, were investigated. Design: Repeated national interview surveys in 1996 (731 men and 868 women) and 2004 (727 men and 864 women) aged 18 years or more. Main outcome measure: Prevalence of current smoking. Results: The age standardised prevalence of smoking in 1996 and 2004 was 61% and 63%, respectively in men and 15% and 16%, respectively in women (both p values > 0.4). In men, the prevalence of smoking seemed to decline in those with university education (from 51% to 40%, p = 0.085). Among women, smoking appeared to increase in those with university education (from 10% to 17%, p = 0.071) and low levels of self-reported material deprivation (from 11% to 18%, p = 0.053). There was a pronounced increase in prevalence among women living in villages (from 8% to 14%, p = 0.049); the strong urban/rural gradient seen in 1996 became considerably weaker by 2004. Conclusions: Overall smoking prevalence in both men and women in Russia remained stable between 1996 and 2004 but, given the sample size, a moderate increase in female smoking cannot be ruled out. In men, smoking increased among the least educated and declined in the most educated. In women the opposite appeared to occur, in addition to an increase in smoking in rural areas. More long term monitoring of smoking patterns in Russia, especially among women, using sufficiently large surveys, is required.
On Estimating Maximum Sum Rate of MIMO Systems with Successive Zero-Forcing Dirty Paper Coding and Per-antenna Power Constraint

In this paper, we study the sum rate maximization for a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system with successive zero-forcing dirty-paper coding (SZFDPC) and per-antenna power constraint (PAPC). Although SZFDPC is a low-complexity alternative to the optimal dirty paper coding, efficient algorithms to compute its sum rate are still open problems especially under practical PAPC. The existing solution to the considered problem is computationally inefficient due to employing high-complexity interior-point method. In this study, we propose two novel low-complexity approaches to this important problem. More specifically, the first algorithm achieves the optimal solution by transforming the original problem in the broadcast channel into an equivalent problem in the multiple access channel, then the resulting problem is solved by alternating optimization together with successive convex approximation. We also derive a suboptimal solution based on machine learning to which simple linear regressions are applicable. The approaches are analyzed and validated extensively to demonstrate their superiors over the existing approach.
Successful treatment and prophylaxis of scalp seborrhoeic dermatitis and dandruff with 2% ketoconazole shampoo: results of a multicentre, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled trial

Pityrosporum ovale appears to play an important role in the pathogenesis of seborrhoeic dermatitis. Ketoconazole is an antimycotic agent with a high in vitro and in vivo efficacy against P. ovale. We performed a multicentre study to investigate the efficacy of ketoconazole 2% shampoo in the treatment and prophylaxis of seborrhoeic dermatitis and dandruff. Five hundred and seventy‐five patients presenting with moderate to severe seborrhoeic dermatitis and dandruff of the scalp were treated with 2% ketoconazole shampoo twice weekly for 2–4 weeks, producing an excellent response in 88%. Of those patients who responded, 312 were included in a prophylactic phase, lasting 6 months. These patients were treated with the active preparation (shampoo containing 2% ketoconazole) once‐weekly, once every other week, alternating with placebo (shampoo without ketoconazole), or with placebo only once‐weekly. Forty‐eight (47%) patients in the placebo group experienced a relapse of seborrhoeic dermatitis, compared with 23 (19%) patients in the active treatment group, and 31 (31%) patients in the active/placebo group. The medication was well tolerated in all three groups.