Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Purification of metallo-B-lactamase CcrA from Bacteroides fragilis with salting-out method

A simple and effective salting-out method was developed for the purification of the metallo-β-lactamase CcrA from Bacteroides fragilis based on the plasmid pMSZ02, in which the crude protein secreted into growth medium was precipitated by 80% sulfate saturation of the medium and purified with Q-Sepharose to offer pure CcrA with yield of 20.1 mg per litter medium. The dependence of the amount of protein precipitation on sulfate saturation was investigated, which showed that more than 80% sulfate saturation resulted the maximum protein precipitated. The purified CcrA was evaluated by steady-state kinetics using penicillin G and cephalothin V as substrates, which showed the Kmvalues of 68±2 and 17±2 µM and Kcatvalues of 63±1 and 102±3 S-1, respectively. The comparison with the data of the protein from literature method showed that the salting-out method was viable, and it could be useful for the purification of other proteins secreted into growth medium.
Context-Free Fine-Grained Motion Sensing Using WiFi

WiFi-based motion sensing has received a lot of research attention in recent years. Taking advantage of Channel State Information(CSI) collected from physical layer, previous techniques are able to extract useful information from CSI values to infer human movements. However, these works concentrate either on coarse-grained motion sensing or on fine-grained but context-related motion sensing. In this paper, we propose WiTalk, a new fine-grained human motion sensing technique with the distinct context-free character. To profile human motion using CSI, WiTalk generates CSI spectrograms using signal processing techniques and extracts features by calculating the contours of the CSI spectrograms. We verify the proposed technique in the application scenario of lip reading, where the fine-grained motion is the mouth movements. We implement WiTalk on a commercial laptop. Experiment results show that WiTalk can achieve over 92.3% recognition accuracy to discern a set of 12 syllables and 74.3% accuracy to discern a set of short sentences up to six words.
The Impact of 2015 NHSN Catheter-associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI) Definition Change on Central Line-associated Bloodstream Infection (CLABSI) Rates and CLABSI Prevention Efforts at an Academic Medical Center

The 2015 changes in the catheter-associated urinary tract infection definition led to an increase in central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) and catheter-related candidemia in some health systems due to the change in CLABSI attribution. However, our rates remained unchanged in 2015 and further declined in 2016 with the implementation of new vascular-access guidelines. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2018;878–880
ANLN functions as a key candidate gene in cervical cancer as determined by integrated bioinformatic analysis

Background Cervical cancer, one of the leading causes of female deaths, remains a top cause of mortality in gynecologic oncology and tends to affect younger individuals. However, the pathogenesis of cervical cancer is still far from clear. Given the high incidence and mortality of cervical cancer, uncovering the causes and pathogenesis as well as identifying novel biomarkers are of great significance and are desperately needed. Materials and methods First, raw data were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. The Robuse Multi-Array Average algorithm and combat function of the sva package were subsequently applied to preprocess and remove batch effects. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) analyzed with the limma package were followed by gene ontology and pathway analysis, and a protein–protein interaction (PPI) network based on the STRING website and the Cytoscape software was constructed. Weighted Correlation Network Analysis (WGCNA) was utilized to build the coexpression network. Subsequently, UALCAN websites were employed to conduct survival analysis. Finally, the oncomine database was used to validate the expression of ANLN in other datasets. Results GSE29570 and GSE89657, including 49 cervical cancer tissues and 20 normal cervical tissues, were screened as the datasets. Three-hundred-twenty-four DEGs were identified and, among them, 123 were upregulated, while 201 were downregulated. The DEGs PPI network complex, contained 305 nodes and 4,962 edges, and 8 clusters were calculated according to k-core =2. Among them, cluster 1, which had 65 nodes and 1,780 edges, had the highest score in these clusters. In coexpression analysis, there were 86 hubgenes from the Brown modules that were chosen for further analysis. Sixty-one key genes were identified as the intersecting genes of the Brown module of WGCNA and DEGs. In survival analysis, only ANLN was a prognostic factor, and the survival was significantly better in the low-expression ANLN group. Conclusion Our study suggested that ANLN may be a potential tumor oncogene and could serve as a biomarker for predicting the prognosis of cervical cancer patients.
A Compendium of Preparation and Application of Stem Cells in Parkinson's Disease: Current Status and Future Prospects

Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a progressively neurodegenerative disorder, implicitly characterized by a stepwise loss of dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) and explicitly marked by bradykinesia, rigidity, resting tremor and postural instability. Currently, therapeutic approaches available are mainly palliative strategies, including L-3,4-dihydroxy-phenylalanine (L-DOPA) replacement therapy, DA receptor agonist and deep brain stimulation (DBS) procedures. As the disease proceeds, however, the pharmacotherapeutic efficacy is inevitably worn off, worse still, implicated by side effects of motor response oscillations as well as L-DOPA induced dyskinesia (LID). Therefore, the frustrating status above has propeled the shift to cell replacement therapy (CRT), a promising restorative therapy intending to secure a long-lasting relief of patients' symptoms. By far, stem cell lines of multifarious origins have been established, which can be further categorized into embryonic stem cells (ESCs), neural stem cells (NSCs), induced neural stem cells (iNSCs), mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). In this review, we intend to present a compendium of preparation and application of multifarious stem cells, especially in relation to PD research and therapy. In addition, the current status, potential challenges and future prospects for practical CRT in PD patients will be elaborated as well.
Coagulation Factor XII Levels and Intrinsic Thrombin Generation in Multiple Sclerosis

Background Factor XII (FXII) activation initiates the intrinsic (contact) coagulation pathway. It has been recently suggested that FXII could act as an autoimmunity mediator in multiple sclerosis (MS). FXII depositions nearby dentritic cells were detected in the central nervous system of MS patients and increased FXII activity has been reported in plasma of relapsing remitting and secondary progressive MS patients. FXII inhibition has been proposed to treat MS. Objective To investigate in MS patients multiple FXII-related variables, including the circulating amount of protein, its pro-coagulant function, and their variation over time. To explore kinetic activation features of FXII in thrombin generation (TG). Methods In plasma from 74 MS patients and 49 healthy subjects (HS), FXII procoagulant activity (FXII:c) and FXII protein (FXII:Ag) levels were assessed. Their ratio (FXII:ratio) values were derived. Intrinsic TG was evaluated by different triggers. Results Higher FXII:Ag levels (p = 0.003) and lower FXII:ratio (p < 0.001) were detected in MS patients compared with HS. FXII variables were highly correlated over four time points, which supports investigation of FXII contribution to disease phenotype and progression. A significant difference over time was detected for FXII:c (p = 0.031). In patients selected for the lowest FXII:ratio, TG triggered by ellagic acid showed a trend in lower endogenous thrombin potential (ETP) in MS patients compared with HS (p = 0.042). Intrinsic triggering of TG by nucleic acid addition produced longer time parameters in patients than in HS and substantially increased ETP in MS patients (p = 0.004) and TG peak height in HS (p = 0.008). Coherently, lower FXII:ratio and longer lag time (p = 0.02) and time to peak (p = 0.007) point out a reduced response of FXII to activation in part of MS patients. Conclusion In MS patients, factor-specific and modified global assays suggest the presence of increased FXII protein level and reduced function within the intrinsic coagulation pathway. These novel findings support further investigation by multiple approaches of FXII contribution to disease phenotype and progression.
Classification of Semantic Relations by Humans and Machines

This paper addresses the classification of semantic relations between pairs of sentences extracted from a Dutch parallel corpus at the word, phrase and sentence level. We first investigate the performance of human annotators on the task of manually aligning dependency analyses of the respective sentences and of assigning one of five semantic relations to the aligned phrases (equals, generalizes, specifies, restates and intersects). Results indicate that humans can perform this task well, with an F-score of . 98 on alignment and an F-score of . 95 on semantic relations (after correction). We then describe and evaluate a combined alignment and classification algorithm, which achieves an F-score on alignment of . 85 (using EuroWordNet) and an F-score of . 80 on semantic relation classification.
On some classes of codes with a few weights

We generalize the code constructed recently by Wang et al, and obtain many classes of codes with a few weights. The weight distribution of these codes is completely determined, and the minimum distance of the duals of these codes is determined. We also show that some subclasses of the duals of these codes are optimal. Furthermore, some parameters of the generalized Hamming weight of these codes are calculated in certain cases.
Poorer prognosis in young female patients with non-metastatic colorectal cancer: a hospital-based analysis of 5,047 patients in China

Purpose To investigate the association of age and sex on survival in non-metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and to identify groups at high risk for poor outcomes. Materials and methods We performed a retrospective analysis of 5,047 non-metastatic CRC patients from 2008 to 2013. Data regarding age at diagnosis; gender; tumor site; tumor stage; differentiation; lymphatic, neural or vascular invasion; and survival outcomes were collected. Patients were stratified into 10-year age groups (≤35, 36–45, 46–55, 56–65, 66–75, >75) and then further analyzed in three age groups (≤35, 36–75, >75). Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were evaluated using univariate and multivariate Cox regression models. Results Of the 5,047 eligible patients, 41.3% were female. The tumor stages were balanced between the genders. In the female patients, the tumor stages were similarly distributed among the different age groups, while younger male patients were diagnosed with more advanced disease (P<0.001 for trend). When stratified into three age groups, young females experienced significantly poorer survival than young males (DFS: hazard ratio [HR]=1.85 [1.04–3.30], OS: HR=2.65 [1.11–6.34]). After adjusting for tumor stage, site, differentiated grade and lymphatic or vascular invasion status, females ≤35 and >75 had shorter DFS than patients between 36 and 75 years old (HR=1.57 [1.03–2.38] and HR=1.51 [1.11–2.05, respectively]), while there was no difference in DFS between females ≤35 and those >75. For male patients, older age was associated with poorer OS after the same adjustment. Conclusion Young female CRC patients (≤35 years old) had the poorest DFS and quite poor OS compared to the other age groups. This emphasizes the need for health care providers to have a heightened awareness and to conduct further research when caring for young female CRC patients.
SIL1, the endoplasmic-reticulum-localized BiP co-chaperone, plays a crucial role in maintaining skeletal muscle proteostasis and physiology

ABSTRACT Mutations in SIL1, a cofactor for the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-localized Hsp70 chaperone, BiP, cause Marinesco-Sjögren syndrome (MSS), an autosomal recessive disorder. Using a mouse model, we characterized molecular aspects of the progressive myopathy associated with MSS. Proteomic profiling of quadriceps at the onset of myopathy revealed that SIL1 deficiency affected multiple pathways critical to muscle physiology. We observed an increase in ER chaperones prior to the onset of muscle weakness, which was complemented by upregulation of multiple components of cellular protein degradation pathways. These responses were inadequate to maintain normal expression of secretory pathway proteins, including insulin and IGF-1 receptors. There was a paradoxical enhancement of downstream PI3K-AKT-mTOR signaling and glucose uptake in SIL1-disrupted skeletal muscles, all of which were insufficient to maintain skeletal muscle mass. Together, these data reveal a disruption in ER homeostasis upon SIL1 loss, which is countered by multiple compensatory responses that are ultimately unsuccessful, leading to trans-organellar proteostasis collapse and myopathy. Editor's choice: This study provides molecular insights into the progressive myopathy and cellular compensatory responses attempted upon loss of SIL1, a component of the endoplasmic-reticulum-resident Hsp70 protein-folding machinery.
A Performance Model to Execute Workflows on High-Bandwidth-Memory Architectures

This work presents a realistic performance model to execute scientific workflows on high-bandwidth-memory architectures such as the Intel Knights Landing. We provide a detailed analysis of the execution time on such platforms, taking into account transfers from both fast and slow memory and their overlap with computations. We discuss several scheduling and mapping strategies: not only tasks must be assigned to computing resources, but also one has to decide which fraction of input and output data will reside in fast memory and which will have to stay in slow memory. We use extensive simulations to assess the impact of the mapping strategies on performance. We also conduct experiments for a simple 1D Gauss-Seidel kernel, which assess the accuracy of the model and further demonstrate the importance of a tuned memory management. Our model and results lay the foundations for further studies and experiments on dual-memory systems.
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation over right intraparietal sulcus enhances emotional face processing in the left visual field

The frontoparietal network is largely involved in the process of emotional face perception and attention. However, how the right intraparietal sulcus (rIPS) may guide this process is not yet established. The effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the intraparietal sulcus in the perception of emotional faces is still unclear. To address that, we applied a modified Posner attention task where participants discriminated backward-masked emotional faces at the valid side and delivered 10-Hz rTMS over rIPS and vertex. Behavioral results demonstrated a processing advantage for emotional faces compared with neutral ones. rTMS over the rIPS caused a significant emotional difference (emotional-neutral faces) in the left visual field. This result suggests that rTMS over the rIPS enhances emotional face processing in the left visual field compared with neutral faces. The stimulation of rIPS possibly enhanced the functional connectivity between intraparietal sulcus and superior temporal sulcus, and visual cortex. It helps the emotional faces grab attentional resources and reach the conscious awareness.
Ion Gated Synaptic Transistors Based on 2D van der Waals Crystals with Tunable Diffusive Dynamics

Neuromorphic computing represents an innovative technology that can perform intelligent and energy‐efficient computation, whereas construction of neuromorphic systems requires biorealistic synaptic elements with rich dynamics that can be tuned based on a robust mechanism. Here, an ionic‐gating‐modulated synaptic transistor based on layered crystals of transitional metal dichalcogenides and phosphorus trichalcogenides is demonstrated, which produce a diversity of short‐term and long‐term plasticity including excitatory postsynaptic current, paired pulse facilitation, spiking‐rate‐dependent plasticity, dynamic filtering, etc., with remarkable linearity and ultralow energy consumption of ≈30 fJ per spike. Detailed transmission electron microscopy characterization and ab initio calculation reveal two‐stage ionic gating effects, namely, surface adsorption and internal intercalation in the channel medium, causing different poststimulation diffusive dynamics and thus accounting for the observed short‐term and long‐term plasticity, respectively. The synaptic activity can therefore be effectively manipulated by tailoring the ionic gating and consequent diffusion dynamics with varied thickness and structure of the van der Waals material as well as the number, duration, rate, and polarity of gate stimulations, making the present synaptic transistors intriguing candidates for low‐power neuromorphic systems.
Is it all bleak? A systematic review of factors contributing to relationship change in dementia

ABSTRACT Background: The care of community-dwelling people with dementia often occurs in the context of pre-existing family relationships. The presence of dementia can result in changes to the quality of those relationships. The purpose of this systematic review is to identify factors that enhance or challenge the quality of spousal or offspring relationships in the context of dementia. Methods: Both qualitative and quantitative studies were included in a systematic review of the literature. Thematic analysis of results was conducted that examined factors related to the relationship quality of community dwelling people with dementia and their spousal or offspring carer. Meta-analysis was not possible due to the heterogeneity of the included studies. Results: Four themes were extracted from seven qualitative studies: connection to the carer role; identity of the people with dementia; current efforts to maintain relationship connection; and the dyads response to dementia. Each of these four themes incorporated positive and negative facets that impacted on relationship quality. An analysis of nine quantitative and one mixed methods studies identified four domains: influence of dementia characteristics; connection within the dyad; relationship response to stress and carer burden; and carer demographic factors. Conclusions: The findings of this review highlight relationship factors that are important for supporting relationship quality for the people with dementia and the carer individually, as well as for the dyad together. These findings extend an existing framework of relationship quality in dementia. Implications for interventions to enhance relationship quality in the dementia context are discussed.
Acquisition and interactive 3D exploration of the internal structure of a dissected specimen

We present a system to keep track of a destructive process such as a medical specimen dissection, from data acquisition to interactive and immersive visualization, in order to build ground truth models. Acquisition is a two-step process, first involving a 3D laser scanner to get a 3D surface, and then a high resolution camera for capturing the texture. This acquisition process is repeated at each step of the dissection, depending on the expected accuracy and the specific objects to be studied. Thanks to fiducial markers, surfaces are registered on each others. Experts can then explore data using interaction hardware in an immersive 3D visualization. An interactive labeling tool is provided to the anatomist, in order to identify regions of interest on each acquired surface. 3D objects can then be reconstructed according to the selected surfaces. We aim to produce ground truths which for instance can be used to validate data acquired with MRI. The system is applied to the specific case of white fibers reconstruction in the human brain.
Influence of visual feedback in the regulation of arm stiffness following stroke

Stroke survivors strongly rely on visual feedback to control their movements, since segmental reflexes are characterized by an inherent hyper-excitability. To test the effect of visual feedback on the modulation of arm stability we estimated the stiffness of the paretic arm in nine stroke survivors during robot mediated therapy, where subjects trained with and without vision. While several studies found a negligible effect in unimpaired individuals, our results highlighted a marked reduction of stroke survivors' arm stiffness in absence of visual feedback.
FDD Massive MIMO Channel Estimation With Arbitrary 2D-Array Geometry

This paper addresses the problem of downlink channel estimation in frequency-division duplexing massive multiple-input multiple-output systems. The existing methods usually exploit hidden sparsity under a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) basis to estimate the downlink channel. However, there are at least two shortcomings of these DFT-based methods: first, they are applicable to uniform linear arrays (ULAs) only, since the DFT basis requires a special structure of ULAs; and second, they always suffer from a performance loss due to the leakage of energy over some DFT bins. To deal with the above-mentioned shortcomings, we introduce an off-grid model for downlink channel sparse representation with arbitrary two-dimensional-array antenna geometry, and propose an efficient sparse Bayesian learning approach for the sparse channel recovery and off-grid refinement. The main idea of the proposed off-grid method is to consider the sampled grid points as adjustable parameters. Utilizing an in-exact block majorization–minimization algorithm, the grid points are refined iteratively to minimize the off-grid gap. Finally, we further extend the solution to uplink-aided channel estimation by exploiting the angular reciprocity between downlink and uplink channels, which brings enhanced recovery performance.
Distributed nonlinear model predictive control based on contraction theory

A novel distributed model predictive control algorithm for continuous‐time nonlinear systems is proposed in this paper. Contraction theory is used to estimate the prediction error in the algorithm, leading to new feasibility and stability conditions. Compared to existing analysis based on Lipschitz continuity, the proposed approach gives a distributed model predictive control algorithm under less conservative conditions, allowing stronger couplings between subsystems and a larger sampling interval when the subsystems satisfy the specified contraction conditions. A numerical example is given to illustrate the effectiveness and advantage of the proposed approach.
Source (or Part of the following Source): Type Article Title Learning-associated Gamma-band Phase-locking of Action-outcome Selective Neurons in Orbitofrontal Cortex Author(s) Learning-associated Gamma-band Phase-locking of Action–outcome Selective Neurons in Orbitofrontal Cortex Gamma Oscillations 

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