Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ursodeoxycholic acid inhibits epithelial-mesenchymal transition, suppressing invasiveness of bile duct cancer cells: An in vitro study

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) features are associated with pathological severity in the progression and metastasis of various cancer types, including bile duct cancer (BDC). Our previous study demonstrated that ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) blocked the EGFR-MAPK signaling pathway and inhibited the invasion of BDC cells. The present study was performed to determine whether UDCA inhibits EMT and promotes the expression of E-cadherin to inhibit the invasion and aggressiveness of BDC. In addition, the present study aimed to confirm that the primary mechanism of inhibition of EMT by UDCA is related to the EGFR axis. Human extrahepatic BDC cells were cultured. The effect of UDCA on cell proliferation was evaluated using MTT assays. A cell death ELISA kit was used to measure apoptosis, and western blot assays or immunofluorescence staining assays measured the expression levels of various target proteins. The mRNA expression of Slug and ZEB1 was evaluated via reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. The invasiveness of BDC cells was estimated by invasion assays and western blot assays for focal adhesion kinase (FAK). UDCA inhibited the proliferation of BDC cells as effectively as gefitinib (an EGFR inhibitor), and the combination of UDCA and gefitinib revealed an additive effect on the proliferation of cells. UDCA and gefitinib induced apoptosis, and the combination of UDCA and gefitinib demonstrated an additive effect on apoptosis in BDC cells. UDCA restored the E-cadherin expression inhibited by EGF and suppressed N-cadherin expression increased by EGF as effectively as gefitinib. UDCA suppressed the Slug and ZEB1 mRNA expression induced by EGF in BDC cells. UDCA suppressed the invasiveness of BDC cells and FAK expression linked to the invasiveness of BDC. In conclusion, UDCA enhanced E-cadherin expression and suppressed N-cadherin expression through inhibition of the EGF-EGFR axis, contributing to the inhibition of EMT and invasiveness in BDC cells. Therefore, UDCA may be applied as an adjuvant or palliative antineoplastic agent and as a therapeutic option to enhance the effect of other chemotherapeutics.
Oncolytic Vaccinia Virus Carrying Aphrocallistes vastus Lectin (oncoVV-AVL) Enhances Inflammatory Response in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells

Aphrocallistes vastus lectin (AVL) is a C-type marine lectin derived from sponges. Our previous study demonstrated that oncolytic vaccinia virus carrying AVL (oncoVV-AVL) significantly enhanced the cytotoxicity of oncoVV in cervical cancer, colorectal cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma through the activation of Ras/ERK, MAPK/ERK and PI3K/Akt signaling pathways. In this study, the inflammatory response induced by oncoVV-AVL in a hepatocellular carcinoma cell (HCC) model was investigated. The results showed that oncoVV-AVL increased the levels of inflammatory cytokines including IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α through activating the AP-1 signaling pathway in HCC. This study provides novel insights into the utilization of lectin AVL in the field of cancer therapy.
Testing Metal-poor Stellar Models and Isochrones with HST Parallaxes of Metal-poor Stars

Hubble Space Telescope (HST) fine guidance sensor observations were used to obtain parallaxes of eight metal-poor ([Fe/H] < −1.4) stars. The parallaxes of these stars determined by the new Hipparcos reduction average 17% accuracy, in contrast to our new HST parallaxes, which average 1% accuracy and have errors on the individual parallaxes ranging from 85 to 144 μas. These parallax data were combined with HST Advanced Camera for Surveys photometry in the F606W and F814W filters to obtain the absolute magnitudes of the stars with an accuracy of 0.02–0.03 mag. Six of these stars are on the main sequence (MS) (with −2.7 < [Fe/H] < −1.8) and are suitable for testing metal-poor stellar evolution models and determining the distances to metal-poor globular clusters (GCs). Using the abundances obtained by O’Malley et al., we find that standard stellar models using the VandenBerg & Clem color transformation do a reasonable job of matching five of the MS stars, with HD 54639 ([Fe/H] = −2.5) being anomalous in its location in the color–magnitude diagram. Stellar models and isochrones were generated using a Monte Carlo analysis to take into account uncertainties in the models. Isochrones that fit the parallax stars were used to determine the distances and ages of nine GCs (with −2.4 ≤ [Fe/H] ≤ −1.9). Averaging together the age of all nine clusters led to an absolute age of the oldest, most metal-poor GCs of 12.7 ± 1.0 Gyr, where the quoted uncertainty takes into account the known uncertainties in the stellar models and isochrones, along with the uncertainty in the distance and reddening of the clusters.
Pathwise Uniqueness of the Stochastic Heat Equation with Hölder continuous o diffusion coefficient and colored noise

We consider the stochastic heat equation in $\mathbb{R}_+ \times \mathbb{R}^q$ with multiplicative noise: \[ \partial_t u(t,x) = \frac{1}{2} \Delta u(t,x) + b(t,x,u(t,x)) + \sigma(t,x,u(t,x)) \, \dot{W}(t,x) . \] Here, $\dot{W}$ is a centered Gaussian noise which is white in time and colored in space with correlation kernel $k(x,y) \leq const ( |x-y|^{- \alpha } +1)$ for $x,y \in \mathbb{R}^q$ and $\alpha \in (0, 2 \wedge q)$: $E[\dot{W}(t,x)\dot{W}(s,y)] =\delta(s-t) k(x,y). $ Our main result states that if the noise coefficient $\sigma$ is H\"older-continuous of order $\gamma$ in the solution $u$ and satisfies $\alpha < 2(2\gamma -1),$ then the equation has a pathwise unique solution. This was conjectured by Mytnik and Perkins in 2011. Additionally, if $q =1$, we show that the compact support property holds for nonnegative solutions of the stochastic heat equation with $\sigma(t,x,u) = u^\gamma$ for all $\alpha, \gamma \in (0,1)$.
When Less is More: Using Short-Term Signals to Overcome Systematic Bias in Long-Run Targeting

Firms are increasingly interested in developing targeted interventions for customers with the best response. Doing so requires firms to identify differences in customer sensitivity, which they often obtain using uplift modeling (i.e., heterogeneous treatment effect estimation). To optimize the longrun business performance, firms should, in theory, construct such models for a long-term outcome. However, we show that targeting using such models fails to improve (even hurts) firms’ long-run profitability when the outcome of interest accumulates noisy customer behaviors over time. We identify two causes of this problem. First, most state-of-the-art uplift models misattribute noise to the treatment effect, making firms fail to identify customers with the highest long-run sensitivity. Second, customer attrition, present in most marketing contexts, exacerbates the problem by creating an identification issue. To overcome this problem, we argue that firms should only use less-noisy short-term signals to estimate heterogeneity in the long-term treatment effect. In particular, we propose a novel imputation technique that reduces noise in attrition and transaction processes. Using simulation and a real-world experiment, we show that (i) using short-term signals instead of the actual long-term outcome in targeting can significantly improve the long-run profitability, and (ii) the proposed technique outperforms the existing imputation approaches.
Separate Ways: The Mass–Metallicity Relation Does Not Strongly Correlate with Star Formation Rate in SDSS-IV MaNGA Galaxies

We present the integrated stellar mass–metallicity relation (MZR) for more than 1700 galaxies included in the integral field area SDSS-IV MaNGA survey. The spatially resolved data allow us to determine the metallicity at the same physical scale (effective radius, Reff) using a heterogeneous set of 10 abundance calibrators. In addition to scale factors, the shape of the MZR is similar for all calibrators, consistent with those reported previously using single-fiber and integral field spectroscopy. We compare the residuals of this relation against the star formation rate (SFR) and specific SFR (sSFR). We do not find a strong secondary relation of the MZR with either SFR or sSFR for any of the calibrators, in contrast with previous single-fiber spectroscopic studies. Our results agree with a scenario in which metal enrichment happens at local scales, with global outflows playing a secondary role in shaping the chemistry of galaxies and cold-gas inflows regulating the stellar formation.
The Molecular Interplay between Human Oncoviruses and Telomerase in Cancer Development

Simple Summary The expression of the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) gene is commonly repressed in terminally differentiated somatic cells and becomes reactivated in the large majority of tumors. Oncogenic viruses have evolved multiple strategies to subvert the telomerase function in the host cells. Viruses may promote TERT transcription through the binding of their oncoproteins to cis-regulatory elements in the gene promoter or by integrating their genomes nearby TERT locus. Other viruses cause telomerase activation via epigenetic mechanisms that contribute to the maintenance of long telomeres and cellular immortality. This review will outline recent findings on the strategies employed by viruses to deregulate telomerase activity and telomere length and to promote cancer development. Abstract Human oncoviruses are able to subvert telomerase function in cancer cells through multiple strategies. The activity of the catalytic subunit of telomerase (TERT) is universally enhanced in virus-related cancers. Viral oncoproteins, such as high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) E6, Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) LMP1, Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (HHV-8) LANA, hepatitis B virus (HBV) HBVx, hepatitis C virus (HCV) core protein and human T-cell leukemia virus-1 (HTLV-1) Tax protein, interact with regulatory elements in the infected cells and contribute to the transcriptional activation of TERT gene. Specifically, viral oncoproteins have been shown to bind TERT promoter, to induce post-transcriptional alterations of TERT mRNA and to cause epigenetic modifications, which have important effects on the regulation of telomeric and extra-telomeric functions of the telomerase. Other viruses, such as herpesviruses, operate by integrating their genomes within the telomeres or by inducing alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) in non-ALT cells. In this review, we recapitulate on recent findings on virus–telomerase/telomeres interplay and the importance of TERT-related oncogenic pathways activated by cancer-causing viruses.
Ground Penetrating Radar applied to asphaltic pavements – a study in a controlled site

ABSTRACT. The major challenges in road infrastructure studies are related to the evaluation of the road pavement quality in a practical, non-destructive, and low-cost way. Information about the thickness of the layers is fundamental to pavement repairing. In this study, the applicability of the ground penetrating radar (GPR) method in the delimitation of the pavement layer is tested at the Shallow Geophysical Test Site Applied to Engineering of Universidade Estadual de Goiás (UEG). The ground penetrating radar presents satisfactory results, identifying the top and bottom of the first five layers by the 270, 400, and 900 MHz antennas. The 2 GHz antenna was able to only delimit the top and bottom of the Hot Rolled Asphalt (HRA). The geomembrane with geotextile set and the concrete layer were not identified in the radargrams. The resolution of each antenna is 9.8 cm for 270 MHz; 6.0 cm for 400 MHz; 2.9 for 900 MHz; and 1.6 cm for 1600 MHz. Concerning layer thickness estimates, the antennas had an efficiency percentage of 83 % (270 and 1600 MHz), 83.29 % (400 MHz), and 84.40 % (900 MHz). Layer thickness estimates obtained by GPR antennas were compared with true thickness using a paired t-test (α= 0.05). No significant differences in layer thickness were observed for the GPR antennas versus the actual pavement thickness.Keywords: GPR; geosynthetics; road investigation; shallow geophysical test site; non-destructive testing.
Diffraction in QCD

This lecture presents a short review of the main features of diffractive processes and QCD inspired models. It includes the following topics: (1) Quantum mechanics of diffraction: general properties; (2) Color dipole description of diffraction; (3) Color transparency; (4) Soft diffraction in hard reactions: DIS, Drell-Yan, Higgs production; (5) Why Pomerons interact weakly; (6) Small gluonic spots in the proton; (7) Diffraction near the unitarity bound: the Goulianos-Schlein "puzzle"; (8) Diffraction on nuclei: diffractive Color Glass; (9) CGC and gluon shadowing.
H∞ optimization‐based fractional‐order PID controllers design

In this paper we propose a fractional‐order proportional‐integral‐derivative controller design based on the solution of an H∞ model matching problem for fractional first‐order‐plus‐dead‐time processes. Starting from the analytical solution of the problem, we show that a fractional proportional‐integral‐derivative suboptimal controller can be obtained. Guidelines for the tuning of the controller parameters are given in order to address the robust stability issue and to obtain the required performance. The main differences with respect to the integer‐order case are highlighted. Simulation results show that the design methodology is effective and allows the user to consider process with different dynamics in a unified framework. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Life and Leisure Activities following Stroke or Transient Ischaemic Attack (TIA): An Observational, Multi-Centre, 6-Month Follow-Up Study

Objective: To examine changes in leisure participation following stroke/transient ischaemic attack (TIA) and explore its relationship to modifiable and non-modifiable participant characteristics. Design: An observational study design with self-report questionnaires collected at two time points (baseline and 6-months). Setting: The study was conducted across 21 hospital sites in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Participants: Participants were aged 18+ and had experienced a first or recurrent stroke or TIA and had a post-stroke/TIA modified Rankin score (mRS) of ≤3. Procedure: Research practitioners at each site approached potential participants. Individuals who agreed to participate completed a baseline questionnaire whilst an inpatient or at a first post-stroke/TIA clinic appointment. A follow-up questionnaire was posted to participants with a freepost return envelope. Two questionnaires were developed that collected demographic information, pre-stroke/TIA mRS, social circumstances (e.g., employment situation) and incorporated the shortened Nottingham Leisure Questionnaire (sNLQ). Results: The study recruited eligible participants (N = 3295); 2000 participants returned questionnaires at follow-up. Data showed three participant variables were significant predictors of engagement in leisure activities post-stroke/TIA: age, sex, and deprivation decile. There was an overall decline in the number and variety of leisure activities, with an average loss of 2.2 activities following stroke/TIA. Only one activity, “exercise/fitness” saw an increase in engagement from baseline to follow-up; watching TV remained stable, whilst participation in all other activities reduced between 10% and 40% with an average activity engagement reduction of 22%. Conclusions: Some groups experienced a greater reduction in activities than others—notably older participants, female participants, and those living in a low socioeconomic area. Registration: researchregistry4607. Strengths and limitations of this study: 1. This is the largest-ever study to survey life and leisure activity engagement following stroke/TIA. 2. Survey responses were self-reported retrospectively and, therefore, may have been misreported, or misremembered. 3. Despite the large cohort, there were few participants, and so respondents, from ethnic minority groups.
Women have a greater cardiac vagal withdrawal to heat stress compared to men

ABSTRACT The heated environment shifts the sympatho-vagal balance toward sympathetic predominance and vagal withdrawal. Women’s heart is more reliant on vagal autonomic control, while men’s heart is more dependent on sympathetic control. However, sex differences in cardiovascular autonomic responses to heat stress remain unknown. We aimed to investigate the cardiovascular autonomic regulation under heat stress between sexes. Thirty-two young participants (27 ± 4 years old; 16 women) were enrolled in a single visit, resting for 30min at baseline (thermal reference condition TC; ∼24°C) and 30min under a heated environment (HOT; ∼38°C). Blood pressure (BP), skin temperature, electrocardiogram, and respiratory oscillations were continuously recorded. The heart rate variability (HRV) was assessed by spectral analysis (low-frequency [LFnu; sympathetic and vagal] and high-frequency [HFnu; vagal]), and symbolic analysis (0 V% [sympathetic] and 2UV%, and 2LV% [vagal]). The spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) was calculated by the gain between BP and R–R within the LF band (αLF). The estimated maximal aerobic capacity and body surface area were employed as covariates in sex comparisons. The effects of HOT were the following: 1) Women have a greater cardiac vagal withdrawal to heat stress compared to men; 2) Sex differences on cardiac autonomic response to heat stress exist after controlling for the effect of estimated physical fitness and body surface area. Therefore, heat stress provokes a higher vagal withdrawal to the heart in women compared to men. It could be attributed to sex per se since significant differences between men and women were not modified after covariate analysis.
Correlation Properties in Worldwide and Synthetic Earthquake Networks

In this work, we studied the correlation properties of seismic networks by analyzing the assortativity of worldwide and synthetic earthquake networks. We used data from the World Earthquake Catalog for the period from 2002 to 2016, considering earthquakes with magnitude thresholds 4.5 and 5.0. Shallow earthquakes (a depth of up to 70 km) and deep earthquakes (a depth greater than 70 km) were analyzed separately. Synthetic data were produced from simulations using a modified version of the Olami-Feder-Christensen model, which can reproduce several statistical characteristics of actual earthquakes. The study was carried out for two methodologies of connections between the network elements, where the correlation measures were calculated for all networks. The results for shallow earthquakes and synthetic data indicate: assortative correlation (locations with similar seismic activities tend to have a greater number of connections between them); mainshocks induce other mainshocks in both close and further away regions; the structure found has a type of “attracting dynamics”, where the places with a more intense seismic activity produce large numbers of connections in other locations around them. Deep earthquake networks are neutral and therefore do not have an explicit correlation type. Our findings agree with previous works for specific areas and contribute to better understand correlations between seismological regions.
Substance Use Problem Trajectories in Canadian Adolescents: A Longitudinal Study.

Background Adolescents experience rapid changes and are more vulnerable for developing substance use problems than other age groups. Many studies have focused on the trajectories of adolescent substance use frequencies, rather than symptoms. Objective The present study examined the trajectory of substance use disorder symptoms, particularly beginning in early adolescence and within a Canadian context. Methods Data were drawn from a Canadian longitudinal project, in which a province-wide survey was administered to students across three biennial waves starting in grades 7-8. The final sample was comprised of 765 adolescents (baseline M age = 12.73, SD = 0.67, 49.7% female, 57.6% White). Latent class analysis was conducted to identify substance use disorder symptom classes based on participants' responses on a substance use disorder screener across the three waves. Group differences tests were also computed to examine if the substance use classes differed in participants' demographics. Results Four classes were identified, labelled as low stable (n = 538, 70.3%), deteriorating (n = 169, 22.1%), recovered (n = 12, 1.6%), and high-risk relapse (n = 46, 6.0%) substance use. Among the demographic variables, non-White ethnicity, both parents being born outside of Canada, and parents' completion of post-secondary education were significantly associated with a less severe substance use class. Conclusions Results fill a gap in the evidence on the trajectory of symptoms of substance use disorder among adolescents, using a Canadian sample, an area of limited study. Results highlight an at-risk group (i.e., high-risk relapse class) that warrants further tailored prevention and intervention efforts.
Journal Pre-proof Efficacity of tDCS in catatonic patients with syndrome, a case series

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Response of tossa jute (Corchorus olitorius L.) salt stressed plants to external application of calcium and potassium

This study focused on the improving effect of external application of calcium and potassium on growth, ions and organic solutes accumulation in tossa jute plants grown under salt stress. Young plants were subjected in pots to ten treatments including the control without NaCl, 120 mM NaCl and a combination of 120 mM NaCl and an addition of 40 or 60 mM CaSO 4 , CaCl 2, K 2 SO 4 or KNO 3 . Plant growth, sodium, potassium, proline and soluble sugars contents were determined after two weeks. Results revealed that only the external application of CaSO 4 and K 2 SO 4 at 40 mM significantly improved the growth reduction induced by NaCl followed by CaCl 2 ; whereas at 60 mM, only CaSO 4 induced similar changes in plant growth. Only, the exogenous application of calcium at 40 mM induced a significant decrease (p<0.05) in the Na + content and a significant increase (p<0.001) of the K + /Na + ratio of leaves in comparison with salt stressed plants, while the two forms of calcium and K 2 SO 4 induced a significant increase (p=0.05) in the K + content. CaSO 4 had the best improving effects on plants growth under salt stress, followed by K 2 SO 4 and CaCl 2 at 40 mM. This improving effect is due to a better exclusion of Na + from the leaves, the maintenance of a high ionic selectivity ratio K/Na and/or a better accumulation of K + .