Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Collagen Type III and VI Remodeling Biomarkers Are Associated with Kidney Fibrosis in Lupus Nephritis

Visual Abstract Key Points Prognostic biomarkers that identify patients with SLE at risk of developing lupus nephritis and progressing to kidney failure are needed. Tubulointerstitial fibrosis is an important pathologic feature of lupus nephritis and is associated with kidney disease progression. Circulatory and urinary markers of collagen type III and type VI remodeling noninvasively reflect levels of kidney fibrosis in patients with lupus nephritis. Background Lupus nephritis (LN) occurs in <40% of patients with SLE. Reliable biomarkers of kidney damage are needed to identify patients with SLE at risk of developing LN to improve screening, treat the disease earlier, and halt progression to kidney failure. Novel biomarkers of extracellular matrix remodeling were evaluated as markers of kidney fibrosis and disease activity in patients with LN. Methods Biomarkers of the interstitial collagen type III (PRO-C3) and type VI (PRO-C6) formation and of collagen type III (C3M) degradation were evaluated in the serum and urine of 40 patients with LN, 20 patients with SLE but without LN, 20 healthy controls, and ten biopsy controls (histologic kidney inflammation/damage without SLE). Their association with histologic markers of interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy, with inflammatory cell infiltration and with disease activity and chronicity in the patients with LN was assessed. Results Despite PRO-C3 (serum) and PRO-C6 (serum and urine) being significantly elevated in patients with LN compared with healthy controls, the markers did not differentiate patients with LN from those with SLE. C3M (urine) levels were not different in LN compared with the other groups. C3M (urine) strongly correlated and PRO-C6 (serum and urine) inversely correlated with kidney function (eGFR). The biomarkers of interstitial collagen turnover PRO-C6 (serum) and C3M (urine) correlated with histologic markers of interstitial fibrosis, tubular atrophy, and monocyte infiltration. Conclusions Noninvasive collagen turnover biomarkers are promising tools to identify patients with SLE with kidney histologic modifications.
Detection of vasodilator drugs through microwave spectroscopy of Au NP colorimetric probes using a microwave metallic photonic crystal-inspired resonant probe

Here, we report a low-cost, time-effective, easy-to-use, and novel analytical technique incorporating microwave spectroscopy of unmodified gold nanoparticles for the successful detection of two vasodilator drugs – amlodipine besylate and minoxidil. The sensor probe consists of a microwave metallic photonic crystal, which is loaded into the ground plane of a ∼λ/4 cylindrical line source. The sensing scheme is based on inducing aggregation in the gold nanoparticles upon addition of the analyte drug, and then performing microwave spectroscopy for different concentrations of the two drugs. The proposed method was validated in the concentration ranges of 100–0.05 μM and 20–0.625 mM for amlodipine besylate and minoxidil drugs, respectively, and a good linearity was obtained for the calibrated data. The scope of the reported user-friendly technique can be further enhanced by improvement of the limit of detection of specific drugs by favourable functionalization and/or surface modification of suitable nanoparticle probes.
AutoRelax: HW-SW Co-Optimization for Efficient SpGEMM Operations With Automated Relaxation in Deep Learning

We propose a HW-SW co-optimization technique to perform energy-efficient spGEMM operations for deep learning. First, we present an automated pruning algorithm, named AutoRelax, that allows some level of relaxation to achieve higher compression ratio. As the benefit of the proposed pruning algorithm may be limited by the sparsity level of a given weight matrix, we present additional steps to further improve its efficiency. Along with the software approach, we also present a hardware architecture for processing sparse GEMM operations to maximize the benefit of the proposed pruning algorithm and sparse matrix format. To validate the efficiency of our co-optimization methodology, we evaluated the proposed method on three benchmarks, language modeling, speech recognition and image classification. As a result, our approach improves the on-chip performance on spGEMM operations by 9.50<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\sim$</tex-math><alternatives><mml:math><mml:mo>∼</mml:mo></mml:math><inline-graphic xlink:href="kung-ieq1-3089848.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula>27.57% and achieves 15.35<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\sim$</tex-math><alternatives><mml:math><mml:mo>∼</mml:mo></mml:math><inline-graphic xlink:href="kung-ieq2-3089848.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula>33.28% energy reduction considering DRAM accesses over other sparse accelerators.
Economies of Scale and Perceived Corruption in Natural Resource Management: A Comparative Study between Ukraine, Romania, and Iceland

The aim of this paper is to enhance understanding of factors that undermine sustainable management of renewable resources by identifying and analyzing the main drivers and dynamics involved, with a focus on the role of corruption perceptions and its implications. To shed light on the research question, we chose to perform a comparative study of three different resource sectors in European countries that are ranked differently on the Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International, namely fisheries in Iceland, forestry in Romania, and arable soils in Ukraine. We conducted 40 in-depth semi-structured interviews with various stakeholders to explore assumptions on individual actions and behavior in the sectors. The interviews were analyzed using a qualitative coding procedure based on causal loop diagrams, a method from system dynamics. The results indicate that even though the cases are different, they share a similar outcome, in that privatization of the resource and consolidation of companies took place, along with perceived risk of both unsustainable resource management practices and corruption. Our findings suggest that the underlying similarities of the cases are that privatization occurred around the same time in early 1990s, when neoliberal economic ideology influentially held up the idea that private ownership meant better management. What followed was a transition to economies of scale that ultimately resulted in dominance of large vertically integrated companies in the sectors. The resulting inequalities between large and small actors in the renewable resource management systems serve to increase the risk for unsustainable management decisions as well as increase perceptions of corruption risks, especially amongst smaller actors in the sectors.
Bioelastomers Based on Cocoa Shell Waste with Antioxidant Ability

In this study, a new strategy for the utilization of cocoa shell waste, a by‐product of cocoa industry, is presented for the development of new bioelastomers. The cocoa shell waste (CSW) is first micronized and then incorporated into single component acetoxy‐poly(dimethylsiloxane) (acetoxy‐PDMS) macromolecular matrix by a mixing process to produce bioelastomer composites with tunable properties. A detailed study is carried out to investigate the influence of micronized cocoa waste concentration on the curing process and on the properties of final materials. It is found that addition of CSWs has a strong effect on the curing behavior of PDMS due to establishment of an intermolecular hydrogen bond network between the two components. CSW bioelastomers are hydrophobic and exhibit good water barrier properties. In addition, the bioelastomers show effective antioxidant scavenging activity against 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl free radical (DPPH•) and 2,2′‐azinobis(3‐ethylbenzothiazoline‐6‐sulfonic acid) radical cation (ABTS•+). The incorporation of micronized CSW into PDMS is also found to significantly enhance the Young's modulus of the elastomers. Hence, these antioxidant bioelastomers originating from food industry waste can be highly suitable as materials for active food packaging applications.
Role of TRIP6 and Angiomotins in the Regulation of the Hippo Signaling Pathway

Mechanical tension is an important regulator of cell proliferation, differentiation, migration and cell death. It is involved in the control of tissue architecture and wound repair and its improper sensing can contribute to cancer. The Hippo tumor suppressor pathway was recently shown to be involved in regulating cell proliferation in response to mechanical tension. The core of the pathway consists of the kinases MST1/2 and LATS1/2, which regulate the target of the pathway, the transcription co-activator YAP/ TAZ (hereafter referred to as YAP). When the Hippo pathway is inactive, YAP remains in the nucleus and promotes cell proliferation and stem cell maintenance. When the Hippo signaling pathway is turned on, MST1/2 phosphorylate and activates LATS1/2. LATS1/2 phosphorylates and inactivates YAP in the cytoplasm which is sequestered and degraded, stopping cell proliferation and promoting differentiation of stem cells. Mechanical forces are transmitted across cells and tissues through the cell-cell junctions and the actin cytoskeleton. However, the factors that connect cell-cell junctions to the Hippo signaling pathway were not clearly known. We identified a LIM domain protein called TRIP6 that functions at the adherens junctions to regulate the Hippo signaling pathway in a tension-dependent manner. TRIP6 responds to mechanical tension at adherens junctions and regulates LATS1/2 activity. Under high mechanical tension, TRIP6 sequesters and inhibits LATS1/2 at adherens junctions to promote YAP activity. Conditions that reduce tension at adherens junctions by inhibition of actin stress fibers or disruption of cell-cell junctions reduce TRIP6-LATS1/2 binding, which activates LATS1/2 to inhibit YAP. Vinculin has been shown to act as part of a mechanosensory complex at adherens junctions. We show that vinculin promotes TRIP6 inhibition of LATS1/2 in response to mechanical tension. Furthermore, we show
Dangerous tangents: an application of Γ-convergence to the control of dynamical systems

Inspired by the classical riot model proposed by Granovetter in 1978, we consider a parametric stochastic dynamical system describing the collective behavior of a large population of interacting agents. By controlling a parameter, a policy maker aims at maximizing her own utility which, in turn, depends on the steady state of the system. We show that this economically sensible optimization is ill-posed and illustrate a novel way to tackle this practical and formal issue. Our approach is based on Γ-convergence of a sequence of mean-regularized instances of the original problem. The corresponding maximizers converge towards a unique value which intuitively is the solution of the original ill-posed problem. Notably, to the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first applications of Γ-convergence in economics.
Air Pollution and Innovation

We estimate the causal effect of air pollution on innovation using two weather phenomena as sources of exogenous variation in pollution. Results suggest that a decrease of 0.17 micro-gram/m³ in PM2.5 concentration -- Europe's average yearly reduction over the past two decades -- leads to 1.7% more patented innovations. This effect is 50% larger in areas with above-median pollution. The effect size in predominantly urban regions is about half of that in regions with intermediate levels of urbanization. As the latter are less innovation-intensive, the effect on the total number of innovations is similar. Weighting for innovation quality does not materially change the baseline results, suggesting that the decrease in quantity is not offset by an increase in quality. Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that accounting for effects on innovation increases previous estimates of the economic costs of air pollution by at least 10%.
Prejudice Towards Sex Workers Depends on the Sexual Activity and Autonomy of Their Work, Hobbies and Daily Activities

Women are more likely than men to be sexualized, objectified and dehumanized. Female sex workers experience stigma and violence associated with these judgements at far higher rates than other women. Here, we use a pre-registered experimental design to consider which aspects of sex work – the level of sexual activity, earned income, or perceived autonomy of the work – drive dehumanization. A first group of participants (N = 217) rated 80 vignettes of women varying by full-time employment, hobbies and interests on humanness. These ratings were subtracted from the ratings of a second group of participants (N = 774) who rated these same vignettes which additionally described a part-time job, hobby or activity that varied in sexual activity, income earned and autonomy over one’s actions. We find that women and especially men dehumanize women they believe are engaging in penetrative sex. We also find that women’s autonomy of, but not their income from, their sexual activity increases dehumanization. Our findings suggest that opposition to women’s ability to pursue casual sex and generalizations about the exploitative conditions of sex work may drive the harshest negative prejudice towards female sex workers and, by similar mechanisms, women’s sexuality in general.
Does Location Uncertainty Modulate Unconscious Processing Under Continuous Flash Suppression?

Previous research suggests that selective spatial attention is a determining factor for unconscious processing under continuous flash suppression (CFS), and specifically, that inattention toward stimulus location facilitates its unconscious processing by reducing the depth of CFS (Eo et al., 2016). The aim of our study was to further examine this modulation-by-attention model of CFS using a number priming paradigm. Participants (N = 26) performed a number comparison task on a visible target number (“compare target to five”). Prime-target pairs were either congruent (both smaller or larger than five) or incongruent. Spatial attention toward the primes was varied by manipulating the uncertainty of the primes’ location. Based on the modulation-by-attention model, we hypothesized the following: In trials with uncertain prime location, RTs for congruent prime-target pairs should be faster than for incongruent ones. In trials with certain prime location, RTs for congruent versus incongruent prime-target pairs should not differ. We analyzed our data with sequential Bayes factors (BFs). Our data showed no effect of location uncertainty on unconscious priming under CFS (BF0+ = 5.16). However, even visible primes only weakly influenced RTs. Possible reasons for the absence of robust number priming effects in our study are discussed. Based on exploratory analyses, we conclude that the numerical order of prime and target resulted in a response conflict and interfered with the predicted priming effect.
Pathogenic TP53 mutations influence chemotherapy response and survival rate of HPV-negative oral carcinomas

Background/Aim. Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common tumor type of head and neck carcinomas, characterized by a high recurrence rate and poor survival. Further elucidation of the function and regulation of the TP53, a pivotal tumor suppressor gene, would provide advances in predicting the clinical behavior, prognosis and chemotherapy response of OSCC patients. Thus, we investigated the association of TP53 gene mutations with survival and response to cisplatin chemotherapy in HPV-negative OSCC patients. Methods. The potential clinical relevance of TP53 mutations was analyzed in 82 patients with HPV-negative OSCC. All patients underwent radiotherapy and 25 patients received cisplatin chemotherapy. A negative HPV status was determined by type-specific PCR, for high-risk HPV 16, 18, 31, and 33. Targeted sequencing of TP53 exons 4-8 was assessed by Sanger sequencing. Results. Of 82 HPV-negative OSCC patients, 49 (59.79%) had TP53 mutation, and 26 patients (31.7%) carried pathogenic TP53 mutations. Patients with pathogenic TP53 mutations had significantly reduced overall survival, p=0.009. Recurrences status, but not TP53 mutations, was an independent marker of poor survival in our cohort, HR=4.733, [2.027-11.053], p=0.0001. In the subcohort of patients who underwent cisplatin-based chemotherapy, pathogenic TP53 mutations were predictors of poor response to chemotherapy, p=0.026. Conclusions. Our findings indicate that pathogenic TP53 mutations in HPV-negative OSCC tumors could be a prognostic marker of patients? reduced overall survival. In addition, pathogenic TP53 mutations in HPV-negative OSCC could be a marker of poor chemotherapy response.
Growth and Photosynthetic Pigments Accumulation of Jute Mallow (Corchorus olitorius Linn.) in Response to Different Levels of Magnesium Application

The hereby study investigated the effect of Magnesium application at different levels on the morphological parameters and photosynthetic pigment accumulation of Corchorus olitorius . Seeds of C. olitorius were utilized in the experiment. These seeds were sown in 2 big bowls and were supplied with 200 ml of water every day until they were fully established. After three weeks of sowing, the seedlings were transplanted into plastic pots. The treatments were: distilled water (control); nutrient solution in which the concentration of Magnesium was increased by the factor of 5 (N5), nutrient solution in which the concentration of Magnesium was increased by the factor of 10 (N10) and nutrient solution lacking Magnesium source (NMg). The seedlings were then divided into 4 regimes, with each regime containing each treatment. From the results obtained, it was observed that there was a significant effect at (P≥0.05) on the Corchorus olitorius growth parameters and photosynthetic pigment accumulation among the treatments. There was an increase in the shoot height, number of leaves, number of flowers, leaf area and the photosynthetic pigment accumulation in the seedlings treated with magnesium increased by the factor of 5 (N5) than by other treatments. The control recorded the lowest values for these parameters. It can be concluded that for an optimum growth of Corchorus olitorius , it can be inferred that the plant can do well in nutrient solution having Magnesium source (at moderate level).
Study of Sperm Dna Fragmentation Index in Patients from Rural Areas of Wardha Region

Background: Sperm DNA fragmentation test is an advanced test for proper sperm function with respectto semen analysis, as semen analysis is used for motility and morphology assessment, it cannot explainsperm at molecular level and thus SDF test has been introduced to evaluate male fertility. The integrity ofgenetic material in sperm is crucial for successful fertilization & normal embryo development as this willlead to proper transmission of genetic information. Patients having varicocele, recurrent failure of ARTtecniques and improper lifestyle (radiation, smoking, alcohol, BMI, ageing, etc) are considered for spermDNA fragmentation test. SDF test is useful in selecting patients for the ART procedures i.e. IVF/ICSI/IUIand highest pregnancy and live birth outcomes.Objectives:· To predict male infertility with normal semen parameters & its diagnostic values. · To investigate the clinical factors related to sperm DNA fragmentation in male with infertility. · To investigate the rate of sperm DNA fragmentation in male related to improper fertilization, embryodevelopment and recurrent pregnancy loss.Methods: The participants (n=40) with male fertility problems will be included in randomised control trial.All 40 participants will be randomly selected to evaluate their sperm DNA integrity from their respectivesemen samples using sperm chromatin dispersion test.Discussion: Efficiency of the Sperm DNA Fragmentation test is assessed by performing sperm chromatindispersion test on respective processed semen sample using Halosperm G2 test kit.
Work-Family Conflict Disaster: From Organizational Commitment to Job Satisfaction

- This study aimed to measure the effect of work-family conflict on job satisfaction through organizational commitment (affective, continuence, normative) as mediation. The data collection was done by simple random sampling to 251 population of woman employee in an automotive industry in Tangerang. The returned and valid questionnaire results were 170 samples. Data processing was used SEM method with SmartPLS 3.0 software. The results of this study concluded that work-family conflict have not significant effect on job satisfaction, work-family conflict have significant effect on organizational commitment (affective, continuence, normative), and organizational commitment (continuence and normative) have mediating effect on relationship between work-family conflict and job satisfaction, except affective commitment have not significant effect on job satisfaction. This new research proposed a model for building job satisfaction among women employee of automotive industry in Tangerang through enhancing organizational commitment and by manage the work-family conflict. This research could pave the way to improve woman employee readiness in facing the era of industrial revolution 4.0.
Holistic Approach in Microalgae Conversion to Bioproducts and Biofuels Through Flash Hydrolysis

HOLISTIC APPROACH IN MICROALGAE CONVERSION TO BIOPRODUCTS AND BIOFUELS THROUGH FLASH HYDROLYSIS Ali Teymouri Old Dominion University, 2017 Director: Sandeep Kumar In recent years, the demand for renewable energy, mainly biomass has increased. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that more than 13.3% of the total energy production in the first seven months of 2017 was produced from a biomass source. Among all biomass resources, microalgae has brought a lot of attention due to their numerous advantages such as higher growth rate and productivity compared with the conventional energy crops, higher energy conversion efficiency by photosynthesis, and less water requirement than terrestrial crops. However, its development is far behind industrial production. Several research efforts across the globe have been concerned with addressing the technical barriers in the commercialization of algae-based sustainable biorefineries. Nutrients cost and management have been highlighted as one of the most significant challenges in algae cultivation and downstream processing. Therefore, any technology advancement that can reduce the energy input to the process, any nutrients recycling that result in reduction of nutrients input or/and production of value-added bioproducts, will enhance the commercialization potential. This study has developed multiple viable pathways to effectively contribute to the algal based industries. Chapter 1, includes an overall introduction through these approaches. In Chapter 2, kinetics of peptides and arginine production from Scenedesmus sp. microalgae through flash hydrolysis (FH) were studied.
Recent Developments in Spin Transfer Torque MRAM

Spin transfer torque (STT) switching‐based magnetic random access memory (MRAM) is gaining significant industrial and academic attention due to its potential application as a non‐volatile memory device in computing devices, smartphones, and so on. STT‐MRAM devices with in‐plane magnetization configuration have been marketed as niche products. Devices with out‐of‐plane magnetization are being considered for embedded memory as the first step. Aggressive goals include replacing dynamic random access memory (DRAM) with STT‐MRAM. This review article introduces the basics of STT‐MRAM and describes the recent progress in overcoming certain challenges such as reduction of power consumption and increase of storage density, which will make it a strong competitor for DRAM.