Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Id4, a New Candidate Gene for Senile Osteoporosis, Acts as a Molecular Switch Promoting Osteoblast Differentiation

Excessive accumulation of bone marrow adipocytes observed in senile osteoporosis or age-related osteopenia is caused by the unbalanced differentiation of MSCs into bone marrow adipocytes or osteoblasts. Several transcription factors are known to regulate the balance between adipocyte and osteoblast differentiation. However, the molecular mechanisms that regulate the balance between adipocyte and osteoblast differentiation in the bone marrow have yet to be elucidated. To identify candidate genes associated with senile osteoporosis, we performed genome-wide expression analyses of differentiating osteoblasts and adipocytes. Among transcription factors that were enriched in the early phase of differentiation, Id4 was identified as a key molecule affecting the differentiation of both cell types. Experiments using bone marrow-derived stromal cell line ST2 and Id4-deficient mice showed that lack of Id4 drastically reduces osteoblast differentiation and drives differentiation toward adipocytes. On the other hand knockdown of Id4 in adipogenic-induced ST2 cells increased the expression of Pparγ2, a master regulator of adipocyte differentiation. Similar results were observed in bone marrow cells of femur and tibia of Id4-deficient mice. However the effect of Id4 on Pparγ2 and adipocyte differentiation is unlikely to be of direct nature. The mechanism of Id4 promoting osteoblast differentiation is associated with the Id4-mediated release of Hes1 from Hes1-Hey2 complexes. Hes1 increases the stability and transcriptional activity of Runx2, a key molecule of osteoblast differentiation, which results in an enhanced osteoblast-specific gene expression. The new role of Id4 in promoting osteoblast differentiation renders it a target for preventing the onset of senile osteoporosis.
Therapeutic Potential of Targeting the PERK Signaling Pathway in Ischemic Stroke

Many pathologic states can lead to the accumulation of unfolded/misfolded proteins in cells. This causes endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and triggers the unfolded protein response (UPR), which encompasses three main adaptive branches. One of these UPR branches is mediated by protein kinase RNA-like ER kinase (PERK), an ER stress sensor. The primary consequence of PERK activation is the suppression of global protein synthesis, which reduces ER workload and facilitates the recovery of ER function. Ischemic stroke induces ER stress and activates the UPR. Studies have demonstrated the involvement of the PERK pathway in stroke pathophysiology; however, its role in stroke outcomes requires further clarification. Importantly, considering mounting evidence that supports the therapeutic potential of the PERK pathway in aging-related cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases, this pathway may represent a promising therapeutic target in stroke. Therefore, in this review, our aim is to discuss the current understanding of PERK in ischemic stroke, and to summarize pharmacologic tools for translational stroke research that targets PERK and its associated pathways.
An illustrated checklist of the genus Elymnias Hübner, 1818 (Nymphalidae, Satyrinae)

Abstract We review the genus Elymnias Hübner, 1818, a morphologically diverse satyrine butterfly clade involved in multifarious Batesian mimicry relationships throughout Asia and Africa. A variety of different model species are mimicked, and many Elymnias species are sexually dimorphic mimics, with males and females resembling different model species. We revise species and subspecies delimitations in light of an integrative taxonomic investigation using external morphology, male and female genital morphology, and a multi-locus molecular phylogeny. There is little interspecific genitalic variation among species in this group, and previous taxonomists therefore relied almost entirely on wing patterns. Our molecular phylogenetic analysis reveals several examples of polymorphism or wing pattern divergence within a single species currently classified as two or more different species. We also found examples of wing pattern convergence among disparate lineages that mimic the same widespread model species. Frequently, two or more phenotypically similar species were classified as a single species. This comprehensive checklist reviews all names associated with Elymnias to align its taxonomy with the evolutionary history of the group. All available information on nomenclature, type localities, repositories of type specimens, and geographical distributions is summarized, and images of adult specimens and genitalia are provided along with distribution maps of all species and selected subspecies. We identify 2 species incertae sedis, establish 15 monophyletic species groups (including 1 species unplaced in any species group), and make 49 taxonomic changes, including 35 new synonyms, 7 new combinations (2 of which have new status), 1 resurrected combination, 1 resurrected subspecies, and 7 status changes.
Urban Raptor Communities: Why Some Raptors and Not Others Occupy Urban Environments

We live in a world that is experiencing rapid landscape-level changes due to human activities. Indeed, the argument can be made that, from a wildlife perspective, the only form of habitat that is increasing is what we would call “urban habitat. ” Despite the negative implications of this, some wildlife species are attracted to, and may even flourish in, urban settings. This is due primarily to urbanization resulting in an altered landscape that, often unintentionally, provides resources that function as components of habitat.1 This was largely overlooked by biologists until Steve Emlen’s 1974 publication examining bird communities in and near Tucson, Arizona.2 Subsequent to Emlen’s work, interest in the phenomenon of urban wildlife grew, and countless articles have since documented ornithological research in urban areas.3
The 6 th International Conference on Ambient Systems , Networks and Technologies ( ANT 2015 ) Principles and experimentations of self-organizing embedded agents allowing learning from demonstration in ambient robotic

Ambient systems are populated by many heterogeneous devices to provide adequate services to its users. The adaptation of an ambient system to the specific needs of its users is a challenging task. Because human-system interaction has to be as natural as possible, we propose an approach based on Learning from Demonstration (LfD). However, using LfD in ambient systems needs adaptivity of the learning technique. We present ALEX, a multi-agent system able to dynamically learn and reuse contexts from demonstrations performed by a tutor. Results of experiments performed on both a real and a virtual robot show interesting properties of our technology for ambient applications. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. Peer-review under responsibility of the Conference Program Chairs.
MINT.tools: tools and adaptors supporting acquisition, annotation and analysis of multimodal corpora

This paper presents a collection of tools (and adaptors for ex- isting tools) that we have recently developed, which support ac- quisition, annotation and analysis of multimodal corpora. For acquisition, an extensible architecture is offered that integrates various sensors, based on existing connectors (e.g. for motion capturing via VICON, or ART) and on connectors we contribute (for motion tracking via Microsoft Kinect as well as eye track- ing via Seeingmachines FaceLAB 5). The architecture provides live visualisation of the multimodal data in a unified virtual real- ity (VR) view (using Fraunhofer Instant Reality) for control dur- ing recordings, and enables recording of synchronised streams. For annotation, we provide a connection between the annotation tool ELAN (MPI Nijmegen) and the VR visualisation. For anal- ysis, we provide routines in the programming language Python that read in and manipulate (aggregate, transform, plot, anal- yse) the sensor data, as well as text annotation formats (Praat TextGrids). Use of this toolset in multimodal studies proved to be efficient and effective, as we discuss. We make the collection available as open source for use by other researchers.
Bicycling to Work and Primordial Prevention of Cardiovascular Risk: A Cohort Study Among Swedish Men and Women

Background Bicycling to work may be a viable approach for achieving physical activity that provides cardiovascular health benefits. In this study we investigated the relationship of bicycling to work with incidence of obesity, hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, and impaired glucose tolerance across a decade of follow‐up in middle‐aged men and women. Methods and Results We followed 23 732 Swedish men and women with a mean age of 43.5 years at baseline who attended a health examination twice during a 10‐year period (1990–2011). In multivariable adjusted models we calculated the odds of incident obesity, hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, and impaired glucose tolerance, comparing individuals who commuted to work by bicycle with those who used passive modes of transportation. We also examined the relationship of change in commuting mode with incidence of these clinical risk factors. Cycling to work at baseline was associated with lower odds of incident obesity (odds ratio [OR]=0.85, 95% CI 0.73–0.99), hypertension (OR=0.87, 95% CI 0.79–0.95), hypertriglyceridemia (OR=0.85, 95% CI 0.76–0.94), and impaired glucose tolerance (OR=0.88, 95% CI 0.80–0.96) compared with passive travel after adjusting for putative confounding factors. Participants who maintained or began bicycling to work during follow‐up had lower odds of obesity (OR=0.61, 95% CI 0.50–0.73), hypertension (OR=0.89, 95% CI 0.80–0.98), hypertriglyceridemia (OR=0.80, 95% CI 0.70–0.90), and impaired glucose tolerance (OR=0.82, 95% CI 0.74–0.91) compared with participants not cycling to work at both times points or who switched from cycling to other modes of transport during follow‐up. Conclusions These data suggest that commuting by bicycle to work is an important strategy for primordial prevention of clinical cardiovascular risk factors among middle‐aged men and women.
Frequency-Temperature Characteristics of Quartz Crystal Flexure Bars and Quartz Crystal Tuning Forks

Abstruct-The classical flexural bar equation is applied to provide theoretical evidence to show the quality of the frequency-temperature characteristics of the established NT-cut when boundary conditions are free-free. It is also applied in the theoretical prediction of the existence of the new quartz crystal flexure bars with the outstanding frequencytemperature characteristics. Then an overall analysis of the frequencytemperature characteristics of quartz crystal tuning forks based on the free-clamped bars is described and the calculated results are compared with those obtained in experiments with the crystal tuning forks.
Adiabatic Output Coupling of a Bose Gas at Finite Temperatures

We develop a general theory of adiabatic output coupling from trapped atomic Bose-Einstein Condensates at finite temperatures. For weak coupling, the output rate from the condensate, and the excited levels in the trap, settles in a time proportional to the inverse of the spectral width of the coupling to the output modes. We discuss the properties of the output atoms in the quasi-steady-state where the population in the trap is not appreciably depleted. We show how the composition of the output beam, containing condensate and thermal component, may be controlled by changing the frequency of the output coupler. This composition determines the first and second order coherence of the output beam. We discuss the changes in the composition of the bose gas left in the trap and show how nonresonant output coupling can stimulate either the evaporation of thermal excitations in the trap or the growth of non-thermal excitations, when pairs of correlated atoms leave the condensate.
Short communication Spectrophotometric methods for the rapid determination of menadione and menadione sodium bisulphite and their application in pharmaceutical preparations

Two simple, rapid and sensitive spectrophotometric determination of menadione and its sodium bisulphite derivative (MSB) have been carried out. The first method involves the reaction of menadione and its sodium bisulphite derivative with 3-methyl-2-benzothiazolinone hydrazone hydrochloride (MBTH) is sodium hydroxide medium to give blue coloured product having maximum absorption at 625 nm and the coloured species is stable for more than 1 h. The Beer’s law is obeyed in the range 0.4–16 gm l − 1 . The second method proposes the reaction of menadione and its sodium bisulphite derivative with resorcinol in concentrated sulphuric acid medium to give red coloured product having maximum absorption at 520 nm and is stable for 3 h. The Beer’s law was obeyed in the range of 1–24 gm l − 1 . Molar absorptivity for the above two methods were found to be 7.6 × 10 3 and 4.5 ×10 3 l mol −1 cm −1 , respectively. All the measurements were carried out at room temperature. These two methods have been successfully applied for menadione and its sodium bisulphite derivatives in injections and tablets of pharmaceutical formulations. The results compare favourably with official method. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
voyAGEr, a free web interface for the analysis of age-related gene expression alterations in human tissues

We herein introduce voyAGEr, an online graphical interface to explore age-related gene expression alterations in 49 human tissues. voyAGEr offers a visualisation and statistical toolkit for the finding and functional exploration of sex- and tissue-specific transcriptomic changes with age. In its conception, we developed a novel bioinformatics pipeline leveraging RNA sequencing data, from the GTEx project, encompassing more than 900 individuals. voyAGEr reveals transcriptomic signatures of the known asynchronous ageing between tissues, allowing the observation of tissue-specific age periods of major transcriptional changes, associated with alterations in different biological pathways, cellular composition, and disease conditions. Notably, voyAGEr was created to assist researchers with no expertise in bioinformatics, providing a supportive framework for elaborating, testing and refining their hypotheses on the molecular nature of human ageing and its association with pathologies, thereby also aiding in the discovery of novel therapeutic targets. voyAGEr is freely available at https://compbio.imm. medicina.ulisboa. pt/app/voyAGEr.
Universal architecture of bacterial chemoreceptor arrays

Chemoreceptors are key components of the high-performance signal transduction system that controls bacterial chemotaxis. Chemoreceptors are typically localized in a cluster at the cell pole, where interactions among the receptors in the cluster are thought to contribute to the high sensitivity, wide dynamic range, and precise adaptation of the signaling system. Previous structural and genomic studies have produced conflicting models, however, for the arrangement of the chemoreceptors in the clusters. Using whole-cell electron cryo-tomography, here we show that chemoreceptors of different classes and in many different species representing several major bacterial phyla are all arranged into a highly conserved, 12-nm hexagonal array consistent with the proposed “trimer of dimers” organization. The various observed lengths of the receptors confirm current models for the methylation, flexible bundle, signaling, and linker sub-domains in vivo. Our results suggest that the basic mechanism and function of receptor clustering is universal among bacterial species and was thus conserved during evolution.
Recent Scientific Advancements towards a Vaccine against Group A Streptococcus

Group A Streptococcus (GAS), or Streptococcus pyogenes, is a gram-positive bacterium that extensively colonises within the human host. GAS is responsible for causing a range of human infections, such as pharyngitis, impetigo, scarlet fever, septicemia, and necrotising fasciitis. GAS pathogens have the potential to elicit fatal autoimmune sequelae diseases (including rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart diseases) due to recurrent GAS infections, leading to high morbidity and mortality of young children and the elderly worldwide. Antibiotic drugs are the primary method of controlling and treating the early stages of GAS infection; however, the recent identification of clinical GAS isolates with reduced sensitivity to penicillin-adjunctive antibiotics and increasing macrolide resistance is an increasing threat. Vaccination is credited as the most successful medical intervention against infectious diseases since it was discovered by Edward Jenner in 1796. Immunisation with an inactive/live-attenuated whole pathogen or selective pathogen-derived antigens induces a potent adaptive immunity and protection against infectious diseases. Although no GAS vaccines have been approved for the market following more than 100 years of GAS vaccine development, the understanding of GAS pathogenesis and transmission has significantly increased, providing detailed insight into the primary pathogenic proteins, and enhancing GAS vaccine design. This review highlights recent advances in GAS vaccine development, providing detailed data from preclinical and clinical studies across the globe for potential GAS vaccine candidates. Furthermore, the challenges and future perspectives on the development of GAS vaccines are also described.
Simulation and On-Site Detection of the Failure Characteristics of Overlying Strata under the Mining Disturbance of Coal Seams with Thin Bedrock and Thick Alluvium

When mining deep coal seams with thin bedrock and thick alluvium, the collapse and fracture of thin bedrock layers may cause geological disasters, such as water inrush and sand inrush of the mining face. Comprehensively obtaining the response data of coal mining and reasonably analyzing the failure characteristics of overlying strata are helpful in guiding safe production. In this study, the caving zone heights of overlying strata are obtained by field detection during layered mining. Then, the caving zone heights during the once-full-height mining are evaluated by theoretical analysis. Further, the force and failure characteristics of coal–rock structures under different mining conditions are compared by the simulation detection and analysis. Finally, the results of on-site observation, theoretical analysis, and simulation detection are compared and discussed, and an optimized mining technology is proposed to ensure safe mining. The research shows the caving zone heights of on-site and simulation detections are, respectively, 14.65 m and 13.5 m during bottom-layer mining, which is larger than the caving zone heights of the top-layer coal mining. During once-full-height mining, the maximum caving zone height of simulation detection is 21 m, which is in between two standard results. For the mechanical responses of an aquiclude clay layer under thick loose alluvium, the maximum disturbance displacement of clay aquiclude is 5.8 m during layered mining, which is slightly larger than the disturbance displacement of once full-height mining; however, the maximum stress of the clay layer is 25 MPa during once-full-height mining, which is larger than the maximum stress of clay layer during layered mining. For the clay aquiclude failure, the clay layer during layered mining is in the deflection deformation area, and there is no obvious fracture structure to inrush the water and sand of thick loose alluvium; however, the clay layer during once-full-height mining is prone to produce obvious fracture structure. Therefore, the layered mining technology can effectively reduce and prevent the water/sand inrush disaster of mining working face.
Systems Physiology – Neuromuscular and Skeletal INFLUENCE OF ELECTRODE ORIENTATION ON ELECTROMYOGRAPHIC FATIGUE INDICES OF THE VASTUS LATERALIS

Influence of Electrode Orientation on Electromyographic Fatigue Indices of the Vastus Lateralis. JOSEPH P. WEIR, KELLY P. MAHONEY, KATHERINE G. HAAN and AMANDA DAVIS. JEPonline 1999, 2(3):15-20. Monitoring of muscle fatigue in the leg extensors can provide valuable information regarding exercise and rehabilitation. Surface electromyography (EMG) can provide objective measures for monitoring fatigue. However, factors such as electrode orientation relative to muscle fiber direction can potentially affect EMG fatigue indices. That is, bipolar electrodes should be aligned parallel to the muscle fibers, but in pennated muscles alignment of electrodes parallel to the muscle fibers is problematic. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of alterations in electrode orientation on EMG changes during fatiguing isometric contractions. Electrodes were placed parallel and perpendicular to the long axis of the vastus lateralis of thirty subjects who performed a quadriceps contraction for 60 seconds at 50% of their maximal isometric contraction. The data were analyzed for changes in median power frequency (MPF) and integrated EMG (iEMG) over time. Slopes from individual regression analyses, normalized to the subjects’ maximal values, were the dependent variables (units = %max.sec). Paired t-tests indicated that the fatigue slopes for MPF (parallel = -0.13 ± 0.13; perpendicular = -0.21 ± 0.20 ; t = 1.75, p=.09) and iEMG (parallel = 0.22 ± 0.17; perpendicular = 0.25 ± 0.19; t = 1.52, p=.14) were not significantly different between orientations. However, the correlation analysis for MPF slopes showed no significant relationship between parallel and perpendicular measures (r= 0.05, SEE = 0.29). In contrast, the correlation analysis for iEMG slopes indicated a significant relationship between orientations (r=.77, SEE = 0.13, p<.05). These findings suggest that electrode orientation can significantly affect frequency domain indices of fatigue while amplitude measures are less sensitive to alterations in electrode orientation. In pennated muscles such as the vastus lateralis, use of amplitude measures of fatigue may be preferable.
Biostatistical Applications in Epidemiology

Understanding the application of statistical methods is an essential component in the process of evaluating the medical literature. Statistical methods can differ when evaluating randomized controlled clinical trials (experimental design) compared with observational study designs such as cohort or case‐control. A review of common statistical concepts includes variables, measures of central tendency, and measures of dispersion. Other methods include sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value. Observational study designs often include relative risk, odds ratios, relative risk reduction, attributable risk, number needed to treat, and forest plots. A critical component of drug literature evaluation is the understanding of the proper use of parametric and nonparametric statistical tests. Common parametric tests and their nonparametric equivalents are discussed.