Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Switch in Hepatic Cortisol Metabolism across the Spectrum of Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Context Non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the hepatic manifestation of the metabolic syndrome. NAFLD represents a spectrum of liver disease ranging from reversible hepatic steatosis, to non alcoholic steato-hepatitis (NASH) and cirrhosis. The potential role of glucocorticoids (GC) in the pathogenesis of NAFLD is highlighted in patients with GC excess, Cushing's syndrome, who develop central adiposity, insulin resistance and in 20% of cases, NAFLD. Although in most cases of NAFLD, circulating cortisol levels are normal, hepatic cortisol availability is controlled by enzymes that regenerate cortisol (F) from inactive cortisone (E) (11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1, 11β-HSD1), or inactivate cortisol through A-ring metabolism (5α- and 5β-reductase, 5αR and 5βR). Objective and Methods In vitro studies defined 11β-HSD1 expression in normal and NASH liver samples. We then characterised hepatic cortisol metabolism in 16 patients with histologically proven NAFLD compared to 32 obese controls using gas chromatographic analysis of 24 hour urine collection and plasma cortisol generation profile following oral cortisone. Results In patients with steatosis 5αR activity was increased, with a decrease in hepatic 11β-HSD1 activity. Total cortisol metabolites were increased in this group consistent with increased GC production rate. In contrast, in patients with NASH, 11β-HSD1 activity was increased both in comparison to patients with steatosis, and controls. Endorsing these findings, 11β-HSD1 mRNA and immunostaining was markedly increased in NASH patients in peri septal hepatocytes and within CD68 positive macrophages within inflamed cirrhotic septa. Conclusion Patients with hepatic steatosis have increased clearance and decreased hepatic regeneration of cortisol and we propose that this may represent a protective mechanism to decrease local GC availability to preserve hepatic metabolic phenotype. With progression to NASH, increased 11β-HSD1 activity and consequent cortisol regeneration may serve to limit hepatic inflammation.
Pressurization Analysis for Flame Heating of a Screw Top Utility Can Loaded With Plutonium Oxide Powder

The documented safety analysis for the Savannah River Site (SRS) evaluates the consequences of a postulated 1000 °C (1273 K) fire in a glovebox. The radiological dose consequences for a pressurized release of plutonium oxide powder during such a fire depend on the maximum pressure that is attained inside the oxide storage containers. To enable evaluation of the dose consequences, temperature and pressure transients have been calculated for exposure of a typical set of storage containers to the fire. The oxide storage configuration selected for analysis is can/bag/can, comprised of oxide powder inside an 8.38E-6 m 3 stainless steel B vial inside 0.006 kg of polyethylene bagging inside a one-quart screw top utility can of the type commonly used to package solvents or rubber cements. The analysis accounts for pressurization from gases generated by pyrolysis of the polyethylene bagging and evaporation of moisture adsorbed onto the oxide powder. Results were obtained for different can orientations and different surface fire exposures, with and without initial pressurization of the B vial by hydrogen from the radiolysis of
ON DIFFERENT LEARNING APPROACHES WITH ECHO STATE NETWORKS FOR LOCALIZATION OF SMALL MOBILE ROBOTS

— Animals such as rats have innate and robust localization capabilities which allow them to navigate to goals in a maze. The rodent’s hippocampus, with the so called place cells, is responsible for such spatial processing. This work seeks to model these place cells using either supervised or unsupervised learning techniques. More speciﬁcally, we use a randomly generated recurrent neural network (the reservoir) as a non-linear temporal kernel to expand the input to a rich dynamic space. The reservoir states are linearly combined (using linear regression) or, in the unsupervised case, are used for extracting slowly-varying features from the input to form place cells (the architectures are organized in hierarchical layers). Experiments show that a small mobile robot with cheap and low-range distance sensors can learn to self-localize in its environment with the proposed systems.
Identification of Three Residues Essential for 5-HT 2 A-mGlu 2 Receptor Heteromerization and its Psychoactive Behavioral Function

Departments of Psychiatry, Neurology, Neuroscience, Center for Translational Systems Biology, and Friedman Brain Institute, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029, USA. Department of Pharmacology and Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), E-48490 Leioa, Bizkaia, Spain. Instituto de Biomedicina y Biotecnología de Cantabria (IBBTEC-CSIC), Facultad de Medicina, E-39011 Santander, Spain. Molecular Pharmacology Group, Institute of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, Scotland, UK. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Subjective Social Status and Rumination in Relation to Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms and Psychopathology Among Economically Disadvantaged Latinos in Primary Care

The present investigation examined the interactive effects of subjective social status and rumination in relation to anxiety/depressive symptoms and psychopathology among 276 Latinos (82% female; Mage = 39.2, SD = 11.1; 97.0% reported Spanish as first language) who attended a community-based primary health care clinic. Results indicated that the interaction between rumination and subjective social status was significantly associated with depression (B = −.04, t = −3.52, p < .001, 95% CI [−.06, −.02]), social anxiety (B = −.01, t = −3.84, p < .001, 95% CI [−.02, −.01]), and the number of mood and anxiety disorders (B = −.004, t = −2.80, p = .005, 95% CI [−.006, −.001]), after controlling for main effects of rumination and subjective social status. The form of the interactions suggested that the associations of rumination and the outcome variables were stronger for those with lower compared to higher subjective social status. For anxious arousal symptoms, however, there was not a statistically significant interaction. These findings underscore the potential importance of examining the interplay between rumination and subjective social status in regard to better understanding, and intervening to reduce, various forms of anxiety/depressive symptoms and disorders among Latinos in primary care settings.
GABRA2, Alcohol, and Illicit Drug Use: An Event-Level Model of Genetic Risk for Polysubstance Use

GABRA2, the gene encoding the &agr;2 subunit of the GABAA receptor, potentially plays a role in the etiology of problematic drinking, as GABRA2 genotype has been associated with subjective response to alcohol and other alcohol-related reward processes. The GABRA2 gene has also been associated with illicit drug use, but the extent to which associations with drug use are independent of associations with alcohol use remains unclear, partly because most previous research has used a cross-sectional design that cannot discriminate comorbidity at the between-person level and co-occurrence within-persons. The present study used a daily monitoring method that assessed the effects of GABRA2 variation on substance use as it occurred in the natural environment during emerging adulthood. Non-Hispanic European participants provided DNA samples and completed daily reports of alcohol and drug use for 1 month per year across 4 years (N = 28,263 unique observations of N = 318 participants). GABRA2 variants were associated with illicit drug use in both sober and intoxicated conditions. Moreover, the effect of GABRA2 variation on drug use was moderated by an individual’s degree of intoxication. These findings are consistent with recent genetic and neuroscience research, and they suggest GABRA2 variation influences drug-seeking behavior through both alcohol-related and alcohol-independent pathways.
Injectable polyethylene glycol hydrogel for islet encapsulation: an in vitro and in vivo characterization

An injection of hydrogel-encapsulated islets that controls blood glucose levels over long term would provide a much needed alternative treatment for type 1 diabetes mellitus. To this end, we tested the feasibility of using an injectable polyethylene glycol (PEG) hydrogel as a scaffold for islet encapsulation. Encapsulated islets cultured in vitro for 6 d showed excellent cell viability and released insulin with higher basal and stimulated insulin secretion than control islets. Host responses to PEG hydrogels were studied by injecting PEG hydrogels (no treatment and vehicle controls used) into the peritoneal cavities of B6D2F1 mice and monitoring alterations in body weight, food and water intake, and blood glucose levels. After 2 weeks, peritoneal cavity cells were harvested, followed by hydrogel retrieval, and extraction of spleens. Body weights, food and water intake, and blood glucose levels were unaltered in mice injected with hydrogels compared to no treatment and vehicle-injected control mice. Frozen sections of a hydrogel showed the presence of tissues and small number of immune cells surrounding the hydrogel but no cell infiltration into the hydrogel bulk. Spleen sizes were not significantly different under the experimental conditions. Peritoneal cavity cells were slightly higher in mice injected with hydrogels compared to control mice but no statistical difference between vehicle- and hydrogel-injected mice was noted. As an in vivo feasibility study, streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice were injected with vehicle or hydrogels containing 50 islets each into two sites, the peritoneal cavity and a subcutaneous site on the back. Transient control of blood glucose levels were observed in mice injected with hydrogels containing islets. In summary, we developed an injectable PEG hydrogel that supported islet function and survival in vitro and in vivo and elicited only a mild host response. Our work illustrates the feasibility of using injectable PEG hydrogels for islet encapsulation.
The effective space wire behavior model for a virtual prototype of embedded systems

The effective integrated approach is proposed to the modelling of functional units (FU), on-board computers and embedded systems at the hardware development phase. It is applicable to enterprises with a complete production cycle of industrial systems, including on-board control and information processing devices, space and aeronautical systems and others. With a traditional approach the software is debugged and verified after production of the functional unit (FU) or computer, greatly increasing the time to market for the finished product. The hierarchical approach to modelling equipment at a transactional level using the SystemC library [1-2] allows to accelerate the development of FUs and computers, as well as detection of errors and limitations of the designed system.
Cooperative multicast scheduling with random network coding in WiMAX

The Multicast and Broadcast Service (MBS) in WiMAX has emerged as the next-generation wireless infrastructure to broadcast data or digital video. Multicast scheduling protocols play a critical role in achieving efficient multicast transmissions in MBS. However, the current state-of-the-art protocols, based on the shared-channel single-hop transmission model, do not exploit any potential advantages provided by the channel and cooperative diversity in multicast sessions, even while WiMAX OFDMA provides such convenience. The inefficient multicast transmission leads to the under-utilization of scarce wireless bandwidth. In this paper, we revisit the multicast scheduling problem, but with a new perspective in the specific case of MBS in WiMAX, considering the use of multiple ODFMA channels, multiple hops, and multiple paths simultaneously. Participating users in the multicast session are dynamically enabled as relays and concurrently communicate with others to supply more data. During the transmission, random network coding is adopted, which helps to significantly reduce the overhead. We design practical scheduling protocols by jointly studying the problems of channel and power allocation on relays, which are very critical for efficient cooperative communication. Protocols that are theoretically and practically feasible are provided to optimize multicast rates and to efficiently allocate resources in the network. Finally, with simulation studies, we evaluate our proposed protocols to highlight the effectiveness of cooperative communication and random network coding in multicast scheduling with respect to improving performance.
On ( ≤ k ) – pseudoedges in generalized configurations and the pseudolinear crossing number of K n B

It is known that every generalized configuration with n points has at least 3 ` k+2 2 ́ (≤ k)–pseudoedges, and that this bound is tight for k ≤ n/3− 1. Here we show that this bound is no longer tight for (any) k > n/3 − 1. As a corollary, we prove that the usual and the pseudolinear (and hence the rectilinear) crossing numbers of the complete graph Kn are different for every n ≥ 10. It has been noted that all known optimal rectilinear drawings of Kn share a triangular–like property, which we abstract into the concept of 3–decomposability. We give a lower bound for the crossing numbers of all pseudolinear drawings of Kn that satisfy this property. This bound coincides with the best general lower bound known for the rectilinear crossing number of Kn, established recently in a groundbreaking work by Aichholzer, Garćıa, Orden, and Ramos. We finally use these results to calculate the pseudolinear (which happen to coincide with the rectilinear) crossing numbers of Kn for n ≤ 12 and n = 15.
A Modified Least-Laxity-First scheduling algorithm for real-time tasks

The Least-Laxity-First (LLF) scheduling algorithm assigns higher priority to a task with the least laxity, and has been proved to be optimal for uniprocessor systems. The algorithm, however is impractical to implement because laxity tie results in the frequent context switches among the tasks. The Modified Least-Laxity-First (MLLF) scheduling algorithm proposed in this paper solves the problem of the LLF scheduling algorithm by reducing the number of context switches significantly. By reducing the system overhead due to unnecessary context switches, the MLLF scheduling algorithm avoids the degradation of system performance and conserves more system resources for unanticipated aperiodic tasks. We propose the MLLF scheduling algorithm and prove its optimality. We show the performance enhancement of the proposed MLLF scheduling algorithm by using simulation results.
Covariate-Adjusted Response-Adaptive Randomization for Multi-Arm Clinical Trials Using a Modified Forward Looking Gittins Index Rule

We introduce a non‐myopic, covariate‐adjusted response adaptive (CARA) allocation design for multi‐armed clinical trials. The allocation scheme is a computationally tractable procedure based on the Gittins index solution to the classic multi‐armed bandit problem and extends the procedure recently proposed in Villar et al. (2015). Our proposed CARA randomization procedure is defined by reformulating the bandit problem with covariates into a classic bandit problem in which there are multiple combination arms, considering every arm per each covariate category as a distinct treatment arm. We then apply a heuristically modified Gittins index rule to solve the problem and define allocation probabilities from the resulting solution. We report the efficiency, balance, and ethical performance of our approach compared to existing CARA methods using a recently published clinical trial as motivation. The net savings in terms of expected number of treatment failures is considerably larger and probably enough to make this design attractive for certain studies where known covariates are expected to be important, stratification is not desired, treatment failures have a high ethical cost, and the disease under study is rare. In a two‐armed context, this patient benefit advantage comes at the expense of increased variability in the allocation proportions and a reduction in statistical power. However, in a multi‐armed context, simple modifications of the proposed CARA rule can be incorporated so that an ethical advantage can be offered without sacrificing power in comparison with balanced designs.
Deep neural networks for segmentation of basal ganglia sub-structures in brain MR images

Automated segmentation of brain structure in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans is an important first step in diagnosis of many neurological diseases. In this paper, we focus on segmentation of the constituent sub-structures of basal ganglia (BG) region of the brain that are responsible for controlling movement and routine learning. Low contrast voxels and undefined boundaries across sub-regions of BG pose a challenge for automated segmentation. We pose the segmentation as a voxel classification problem and propose a Deep Neural Network (DNN) based classifier for BG segmentation. The DNN is able to learn distinct regional features for voxel-wise classification of BG area into four sub-regions, namely, Caudate, Putamen, Pallidum, and Accumbens. We use a public dataset with a collection of 83 T-1 weighted uniform dimension structural MRI scans of healthy and diseased (Bipolar with and without Psychosis, Schizophrenia) subjects. In order to build a robust classifier, the proposed classifier has been trained on a mixed collection of healthy and diseased MRs. We report an accuracy of above 94% (as calculated using the dice coefficient) for all the four classes of healthy and diseased dataset.
Bioaffinity Mass Spectrometry Screening using Droplet-Based Microfluidics

Bioaffinity mass spectrometry screening is a novel approach using non-denaturing electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry (MS) in identifying drug leads. This screening technique can detect and preserve noncovalent protein-active drug ligand complexes under different physiological conditions. Although there are many successful screening campaigns employing this technique, the big challenge of the screening is the reduction of sample volume needed. We demonstrate in this paper that analysis of samples can be performed using droplet-based microfluidics. Droplets of samples to be screened are formed and delivered directly into the electrospray emitter of a Fourier Transform mass spectrometer. The results show that a MS instrument with a conventional ESI source can clearly detect the samples and distinguish it with the separating oil phase. The proposed technique opens the possibility of bioaffinity mass spectrometry screening of small samples with a simple microfluidic device.
Profit maps for precision agriculture

During the last few years, yield maps have become economically feasible for farmers due to technological advances in precision agriculture. However, evidence of yield profitability is still uncertain, and variability in yield has seldom been correlated to variability in profits. Differently from yield maps, profit maps can supply additional information about the economic return for each particular area of a field. The objective of the present work was to study how management decisions can be facilitated by transforming yield-map datasets into profit maps and the importance of the selection of interpolator type. Yield and profit maps were generated for each data set (three soybean fields and one corn field) using the inverse of the distance (ID), the inverse of the square of the distance (IDS) and kriging (KRG) as interpolation methods. It can be concluded that profit maps are an important tool for the diagnosis of the spatial variability of economic return because they can assist farmers with management decision-making. The impact of the interpolator type was less than 200 kg ha -1 for the yield and US$ 30 ha -1 for the profit, indicating that the choice of interpolator type is of secondary importance. In addition, the profit maps showed large variability that would not be easily found if only yield maps were analyzed. Durante los ultimos anos, los mapas de rendimiento se han convertido economicamente viables para los agricultores, debido a los avances tecnologicos en la agricultura de precision. Sin embargo, la evidencia de la rentabilidad del rendimiento, aun es desconocida, y la variabilidad del rendimiento rara vez ha sido correlacionada con la variabilidad de la rentabilidad. A diferencia de los mapas de rendimiento, los mapas de rentabilidad pueden suministrar informacion adicional relacionada con el retorno economico para cada area particular del campo. El objetivo del presente trabajo ha sido estudiar como las decisiones de gestion pueden ser facilitadas por la transformacion de los conjuntos de datos de los mapas del rendimiento en mapas de beneficio, bien como la importancia de la seleccion de los mapas de interpolacion. Para cada conjunto de datos (tres zonas de soya e un de maiz), mapas de rendimiento e de beneficio, fueron generados utilizando los metodos de interpolacion de distancia inversa (DI), de distancia cuadrada inversa (DCI) y de Krigagem (KRG). Se puede concluir que los mapas de beneficio y rentabilidad son herramientas importantes para el diagnostico de la variabilidad espacial del rendimiento economico, ya que ayudan a los agricultores en la gestion de la toma de decisiones. El impacto del tipo de interpolacion fue de menos de 200 kg por hectarea en el rendimiento, US$ 30 en el beneficio, significando que la eleccion puede ser colocada en el segundo plano. En adiccion, los mapas de beneficio mostraron una gran variabilidad que no haria facil encontrar, solamente por el analisis de los mapas de productividad.
Development of Velopharyngeal Closure for Vocalization During the First 2 Years of Life.

Purpose The vocalizations of young infants often sound nasalized, suggesting that the velopharynx is open during the 1st few months of life. Whereas acoustic and perceptual studies seemed to support the idea that the velopharynx closes for vocalization by about 4 months of age, an aeromechanical study contradicted this (Thom, Hoit, Hixon, & Smith, 2006). Thus, the current large-scale investigation was undertaken to determine when the velopharynx closes for speech production by following infants during their first 2 years of life. Method This longitudinal study used nasal ram pressure to determine the status of the velopharynx (open or closed) during spontaneous speech production in 92 participants (46 male, 46 female) studied monthly from age 4 to 24 months. Results The velopharynx was closed during at least 90% of the utterances by 19 months, though there was substantial variability across participants. When considered by sound category, the velopharynx was closed from most to least often during production of oral obstruents, approximants, vowels (only), and glottal obstruents. No sex effects were observed. Conclusion Velopharyngeal closure for spontaneous speech production can be considered complete by 19 months, but closure occurs earlier for speech sounds with higher oral pressure demands.