Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Plasma Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Levels Predict the Clinical Outcome of Depression Treatment in a Naturalistic Study

Remission is the primary goal of treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD). However, some patients do not respond to treatment. The main purpose of this study was to determine whether brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels are correlated with treatment outcomes. In a naturalistic study, we assessed whether plasma BDNF levels were correlated with clinical outcomes by measuring plasma BDNF in patients with depressive syndrome (MADRS score ≥18), and subsequently comparing levels between the subgroup of patients who underwent remission (MADRS score ≤8) and the subgroup who were refractory to treatment (non-responders). Patients with depressive syndrome who underwent remission had significantly higher plasma BDNF levels (p<0.001), regardless of age or sex. We also found a significant negative correlation between MADRS scores and plasma BDNF levels within this group (ρ = –0.287, p = 0.003). In contrast, non-responders had significantly lower plasma BDNF levels (p = 0.029). Interestingly, plasma BDNF levels in the non-responder group were significantly higher than those in the remission group in the initial stage of depressive syndrome (p = 0.002). Our results show that plasma BDNF levels are associated with clinical outcomes during the treatment of depression. We suggest that plasma BDNF could potentially serve as a prognostic biomarker for depression, predicting clinical outcome. Trial Registration UMIN Clinical Trials Registry UMIN000006264
Occurrence rate of whistler waves in the magnetotail reconnection region

It has long been suggested that whistler waves play an active role during magnetic reconnection. However, all previous observations were based on case studies and could not give a detailed picture as to where the whistler waves occur in the reconnection region. In this paper, a statistical study by using the Cluster data is performed to investigate the spatial distribution and the occurrence rate of whistler waves in the magnetotail reconnection region. It is found that the occurrence rate of the whistler waves is large in the separatrix region (|Bx/B0| > 0.4) and in the pileup region (|Bx/B0| < 0.2, |θ| > 45°, where θ = arctan(Bz/Bx)), but is very small in the vicinity of the X‐line. These statistical results are well consistent with recent kinetic simulations and with previous observational case studies.
Thermalization of Inelastic Dark Matter in the Sun

Particle dark matter is a popular candidate to explain certain cosmological observations. Weak interactions with standard matter are not ruled out and dark matter could thus accumulate and thermalize in the Sun, where it could have observable effects. Inelastic dark matter has been hypothesized to explain experimental conflicts. We model and compute the thermalization process for this type of particle in the Sun. We find that inelastic dark matter stabilizes at a significantly elevated mean kinetic energy level, but has a lower evaporation rate, compared to elastic dark matter. The radial distribution is also found to be less concentrated to the center, which has implications for dark matter annihilation rate estimates.
Observation of the decay B 0 s → φπ + π − and evidence for B 0 → φπ

The first observation of the rare decay B0 s → φπ+π− and evidence for B0 → φπ+π− are reported, using pp collision data recorded by the LHCb detector at center-of-mass energies √s=7 and 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb1. The branching fractions in the π+π− invariant mass range 400 < m(π+π−) < 1600MeV/c2 are [3.48 ± 0.23 ± 0.17 ± 0.35] × 106 and [1.82 ± 0.25 ± 0.41±0.14]×107 for B0 s → φπ+π− and B0 → φπ+π− respectively, where the uncertainties are statistical, systematic and from the normalization mode B0 s → φφ. A combined analysis of the π+π− mass spectrum and the decay angles of the final-state particles identifies the exclusive decays B0 s → φf0(980), B0 s → φf2(1270), and B0 s → φρ0 with branching fractions of [1.12 ± 0.16+0.09 0.08 ± 0.11] × 106, [0.61 ± 0.13+0.12 0.05 ± 0.06] × 106 and [2.7 ± 0.7 ± 0.2 ± 0.2] × 107, respectively. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.95. 012006 Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-146440 Journal Article Published Version The following work is licensed under a Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License. Originally published at: LHCb Collaboration; Bernet, R; Müller, K; Serra, N; Steinkamp, O; Straumann, U; Vollhardt, A; et al (2017). Observation of the decay B0 s → φπ+π− and evidence for B0 → φπ+π−. Physical Review. D, Particles, fields, gravitation and cosmology, D95(1):012006. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.95. 012006 Observation of the decay Bs → φπþπ− and evidence for B0 → φπþπ−
The Packing Chromatic Number of Random d-regular Graphs

Let G = ( V ( G ) , E ( G )) be a simple graph of order n and let i be a positive integer. X i ⊆ V ( G ) is called an i-packing if vertices in X i are pairwise distance more than i apart. A packing coloring of G is a partition X = { X 1 , X 2 , X 3 , . , X k } of V ( G ) such that each color class X i is an i -packing. The minimum order k of a packing coloring is called the packing chromatic number of G , denoted by χ ρ ( G ). Let G n,d denote the random d -regular graph on n vertices. In this thesis, we show that for any ﬁxed d ≥ 4, there exists a positive constant c d such that
Journal of Medicinally Active Plants Journal of Medicinally Active Plants Variation in Morphological and Agronomic Traits of Selected Variation in Morphological and Agronomic Traits of Selected African Eggplant Accessions African Eggplant Accessions

The African eggplant is an important indigenous vegetable crop in Africa. However, there is limited information on variations among the wild species that could potentially act as a source for crop improvement. A study conducted in Kenya at the University of Nairobi’s field station evaluated the agro-morphological traits of 72 accessions of African eggplant sourced from the World Vegetable Center and the National Gene Bank of Kenya. Randomized complete block design with three replications was used. Based on qualitative traits, cluster analysis grouped the accessions into two main groups. Cluster I had 51 accessions while cluster II had 21 accessions. Two of the three principal components axes had Eigen values > 7 and cumulatively accounted for 67.5% of total variability. Fruit and leaf characters supported the largest portion of variability among the African eggplant genotypes. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences ( P <0.05) among accessions in all quantitative traits evaluated. The average yield per plant ranged from 72.3 g to 2902.3 g while the mean number of fruits ranged from 2 to 360 fruits per plant. The average weight of a single fruit per plant recorded a highly significant positive correlation with fruit length (r=0.73) and breadth (r=0.71). However, a negative but highly significant correlation was observed between fruit weight and the number of days to 50% flowering (r= -0.24). Generally, the study revealed significant morphological and agronomic differences among the indicating genotypic that into
High bandwidth noninvasive measurements of the linear viscoelasticity of collagen gels

We report measurements of the linear viscoelastic modulus of collagen gels. Collagen gels are cross-linked networks of bundles formed from the association of single filaments. Their structure is heterogeneous at microscopic length scales, and measurements of their viscoelasticity at a larger scale are required. We use a technique that we recently developed based on the measurement of surface thermal fluctuations and called surface fluctuation specular reflection [Pottier et al., Soft Matter 7, 7843–7850 (2011)] to characterize the linear viscoelastic properties of collagen gels for frequencies ranging from 1 Hz to 30 kHz. These properties are determined at a mesoscopic scale (∼100 μm) at which the gels are homogeneous. We further study the influence of both collagen origin and concentration in the light of previous findings on these systems.
Functional properties and storage stability of optimized cereal-based complementary foods

The functional properties and good quality of food materials are important factors that determine the suitability for complementary foods for children. This study evaluated the functional properties and storage stability of cereal-based and legume- based complementary food (CF). Nutri-survey (2007) was used to optimize and generate six composite blends designated F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, and F6 from yellow maize (Zea mays), wheat (Triticum aestivum), millet (Pennisetumglaucum), groundnut (Arachis hypogea), soyabeans (Glycine max), and Moringa oleifera. Freshly prepared samples were subjected to analysis of functional properties. During storage, the composite blends were subjected to sensory evaluation, microbial count, moisture content, peroxide value and free fatty acid determination at 15-day intervals for a period of 60 days. Data obtained were analyzed by ANOVA and results expressed as mean and standard error of mean. Results of functional properties revealed that bulk density ranged from (0.63-0.81 g/cm3), water absorption capacity (86-90%), swelling index (0.33-1.34 cm3/g), reconstitution index (2.20-3.20) and pH (6.52-6.69). The organoleptic properties and keeping quality of the formulated complementary foods were not signiﬁcantly different (P> 0.05) at baseline and end line. Therefore, this study provides a basis for the development of acceptable complementary foods with optimal functional properties and storage stability.
The Impact of Daycare Attendance on Math Test Scores for a Cohort of Fourth Graders in Brazil

Abstract We estimate the impact of having attended centre-based daycare institutions during early childhood on math test scores at the fourth grade level of elementary school. We find evidence that daycare attendance has a net impact on math proficiency, and that the effects are heterogeneous. The effect of daycare and kindergarten attendance on proficiency varies according to mother’s education. The effects of the impact of daycare vary from −0.28 standard deviation for mothers with no education to 0.42 standard deviation for mother’s with college or more.
Added mass energy recovery of octopus-inspired shape change

Dynamic shape change of the octopus mantle during fast jet escape manoeuvres results in added mass energy recovery to the energetic advantage of the octopus, giving escape thrust and speed additional to that due to jetting alone. We show through numerical simulations and experimental validation of overall wake behaviour, that the success of the energy recovery is highly dependent on shrinking speed and Reynolds number, with secondary dependence on shape considerations and shrinking amplitude. The added mass energy recovery ratio $\unicode[STIX]{x1D702}_{ma}$ , which measures momentum recovery in relation to the maximum momentum recovery possible in an ideal flow, increases with increasing the non-dimensional shrinking parameter $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70E}^{\ast }={\dot{a}}_{max}/U\sqrt{\mathit{Re }_{0}}$ , where ${\dot{a}}_{max}$ is the maximum shrinking speed, $U$ is the characteristic flow velocity and $\sqrt{\mathit{Re }_{0}}$ is the Reynolds number at the beginning of the shrinking motion. An estimated threshold $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70E}^{\ast }\approx 10$ determines whether or not enough energy is recovered to the body to produce net thrust. Since there is a region of high transition for $10<\unicode[STIX]{x1D70E}^{\ast }<30$ where the recovery performance varies widely and for $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70E}^{\ast }>100$ added mass energy is recovered at diminishing returns, we propose a design criterion for shrinking bodies to be in the range of $50<\unicode[STIX]{x1D70E}^{\ast }<100$ , resulting in 61–82 % energy recovery.
ISSN 2348 – 0319 International Journal of Innovative and Applied Research (2014), Volume 2, Issue (6): 8- 20

1. Veterinary Research Institute, Zarrar Shaheed Road Lahore Cantt-13 Pakistan. 2. Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. Abstract: Belonging to genus Avibirnavirus and family Birnaviridae infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) is a double stranded RNA virus and it causes an acute highly infectious disease in poultry resulting in watery diarrhoea, anorexia, high morbidity and mortality and hemorrhagic lesions on breast and leg muscles leading to down grading of poultry meat. The present study was designed to isolate and molecularly identify the causative agent (IBDV) from a clinically suspected flock of infectious bursal disease and to check the effects of isolated virus on cell mediated immune response and serum biochemical parameters in broilers along with reference strain (IBDV-2512). Bursae were collected and subjected to trituration and supernatent when inoculated in 9-day old embryonated chicken eggs resulted in the death of all the embryos during first three blind passages. Every triturate produced a clear and distinct line of precipitation with IBDV-known antisera in agar gel precipitation test (AGPT). Serum samples collected at the time of occurrence of disease presented a low anti-IBDV titer which was between 1:2 and 1:8 as elucidated by indirect haemagglutination inhibition (IHA) test while serum samples of same flock collected 14 days after first sampling presented a drastic increase in anti-IHA-IBDV antibodies that was between 1:64 and 1:512. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) revealed a product of approximately 743bp of VP2 gene of IBDV for all three suspected samples along with the reference strain. Broiler birds of 3 weeks of age when injected with field isolated resulted in decreased lymphoproliferative response as elucidated by tuberculin test and serum biochemical parameters were also altered in field isolated injected birds and these alterations were more or less similar to that of birds injected with reference strain (IBDV-2512) suggesting high pathogenicity of isolated virus.
ISSN 2348 – 0319 International Journal of Innovative and Applied Research (2014), Volume 2, Issue (6): xxxx

Objective: The present study is to compare the principal metabolites in the seminal liquids obtained with patients in age to procreate presenting azoospermia and normospermia. Méthodology: With the glance as standards of the World Health Organization, 39 samples (22 azoospermia and 17 normospermia) were collected by masturbation. The seminal plasma of each sample was recovered after centrifugation thus allowing to the various parameters such as glucose, urea, creatinine, uric acid, total cholesterol, triglycerides and total proteins. Results: According to the statistical analysis, a precision of P < 0.05 was considered significant. Average concentrations of urea showed a significant difference (P = 0.0319) in the two samples. This parameter can be used as discriminant in the diagnosis of the azoospermia profiles with a median value of 0,495 ± 0,059 g/L compared to normospermia which value averages is of 0,923± 0.204 g/L. Whereas the age of patients, as well as the others cannot be discriminating in the diagnosis of the azoospermia profiles compared to the normospermia. Nevertheless, the average concentrations of glucose, total cholesterol and triglycerides in the azoospermia samples were lower than those obtained in the samples normospermia what in the other hand is the reverse for creatinin, the uric acid and total proteins. Conclusion: the evaluation of urea in plasma seminal could be one of the biochemical markers differentials between the normospermia and the azoospermia.
Computer-Aided Colorectal Tumor Classification in NBI Endoscopy Using CNN Features

In this paper we report results for recognizing colorectal NBI endoscopic images by using features extracted from convolutional neural network (CNN). In this comparative study, we extract features from different layers from different CNN models, and then train linear SVM classifiers. Experimental results with 10-fold cross validations show that features from first few convolution layers are enough to achieve similar performance (i.e., recognition rate of 95%) with non-CNN local features such as Bag-of-Visual words, Fisher vector, and VLAD.
On nonlinear horizontal dynamics and vibrations control for high-speed elevators

In this work, the horizontal nonlinear response of a three-degree-of-freedom vertical transportation model excited by guide rail deformations is investigated. The equation of motion contains nonlinearities in the form of Duffing stiffness for the translational spring in tilting motion of the cabin. In order to improve the comfort for passengers a control strategy based on the State-dependent Ricatti Equation (SDRE) is proposed. Numerical simulations are performed to study the nonlinear behavior of the adopted mathematical model. In addition, we test the robustness of the SDRE control technique considering parametric errors and noise. The obtained results confirm that the proposed strategy can be effective in controlling the response of the system.
Contributing Factors to Colorectal Cancer Screening among Chinese People: A Review of Quantitative Studies

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a major health problem in Asia. It has been reported that the Chinese are more susceptible to CRC than many other ethnic groups. Screening for CRC is a cost-effective prevention and control strategy; however, the screening rates among the Chinese are sub-optimal. We conducted a review to identify the factors associated with CRC screening participation among Chinese people. Twenty-two studies that examined the factors related to CRC screening behaviors among the Chinese were identified through five databases. Seven factors were consistently reported to influence CRC screening behaviors in at least one of the studies: socio-demographic characteristics (educational level, health insurance, and knowledge about CRC and its screening); psychological factors (perceived severity of CRC, susceptibility of having CRC, and barriers to screening); and contact with medical provider (physician recommendation). The evidence base for many of these relationships is quite limited. Furthermore, the associations of many factors, including age, gender, income, cancer worry/fear, and self-efficacy with CRC screening behaviors, were mixed or inconsistent across these studies, thereby indicating that more studies are needed in this area.
Asymptotic Speed of Propagation for Fisher-Type Degenerate Reaction-Diffusion-Convection Equations

Abstract The paper deals with the initial value problem for the degenerate reaction-diffusion-convection equation ut + h(u)ux = (um)xx + f(u), x ∈ ℝ, t > 0, where h is continuous, m > 1, and f is of Fisher-type. By means of comparison type techniques, we prove that the equilibrium u ≡ 1 is an attractor for all solutions with a continuous, bounded, non-negative initial condition u0(x) = u(x, 0) ≢ 0. When u0 is also compactly supported and satisfies 0 ≤ u0 ≤ 1, the convergence is such that an asymptotic estimate of the interface can be obtained. The employed techniques involve the theory of travelling-wave solutions that we improve in this context. The assumptions on f and h guarantee that the threshold speed wavefront is not stationary and we show that the asymptotic speed of the interface equals this minimal speed.
A PDTB-Styled End-to-End Discourse Parser

We have developed a full discourse parser in the Penn Discourse Treebank (PDTB) style. Our trained parser first identifies all discourse and non-discourse relations, locates and labels their arguments, and then classifies their relation types. When appropriate, the attribution spans to these relations are also determined. We present a comprehensive evaluation from both component-wise and error-cascading perspectives.
On the method of moments for estimation in latent linear models

Latent linear models are powerful probabilistic tools for extracting useful latent structure from otherwise unstructured data and have proved useful in numerous applications such as natural language processing and computer vision. However, the estimation and inference are often intractable for many latent linear models and one has to make use of approximate methods often with no recovery guarantees. An alternative approach, which has been popular lately, are methods based on the method of moments. These methods often have guarantees of exact recovery in the idealized setting of an infinite data sample and well specified models, but they also often come with theoretical guarantees in cases where this is not exactly satisfied. In this thesis, we focus on moment matchingbased estimation methods for different latent linear models. Using a close connection with independent component analysis, which is a well studied tool from the signal processing literature, we introduce several semiparametric models in the topic modeling context and for multi-view models and develop moment matching-based methods for the estimation in these models. These methods come with improved sample complexity results compared to the previously proposed methods. The models are supplemented with the identifiability guarantees, which is a necessary property to ensure their interpretability. This is opposed to some other widely used models, which are unidentifiable.
The GAPS Programme with HARPS-N at TNG. XXXI. The WASP-33 system revisited with HARPS-N

[abridged] We analyse four transits of WASP-33b observed with the optical high-resolution HARPS-N spectrograph to confirm its nodal precession, study its atmosphere and investigate the presence of star-planet interactions.We extract the mean line profiles of the spectra by using the LSD method, and analyse the Doppler shadow and the RVs. We also derive the transmission spectrum of the planet, correcting it for the stellar contamination due to rotation, CLV and pulsations. We confirm the previously discovered nodal precession of WASP-33b, almost doubling the time coverage of the inclination and projected spin-orbit angle variation. We find that the projected obliquity reached a minimum in 2011 and use this constraint to derive the geometry of the system, in particular its obliquity at that epoch ($\epsilon=113.99^{\circ}\pm 0.22^{\circ}$) and the inclination of the stellar spin axis ($i_{\rm s}=90.11^{\circ}\pm 0.12^{\circ}$), as well as the gravitational quadrupole moment of the star $J_2=(6.73\pm 0.22)\times 10^{-5}$. We present detections of H$\alpha$ and H$\beta$ absorption in the atmosphere of the planet with a contrast almost twice smaller than previously detected in the literature. We also find evidence for the presence of a pre-transit signal, which repeats in all four analysed transits. The most likely explanation lies in a possible excitation of a stellar pulsation mode by the presence of the planetary companion. Future common analysis of all available datasets in the literature will help shedding light on the possibility that the observed Balmer lines transit depth variations are related to stellar activity and/or pulsation, and to set constraints on the energetics possibly driving atmospheric escape. A complete orbital phase coverage of WASP-33b with high-resolution spectroscopic (spectro-polarimetric) observations could help understanding the nature of the pre-transit signal.