Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of aging on circadian patterns of gene expression in the human prefrontal cortex

Significance Circadian rhythms are important in nearly all processes in the brain. Changes in rhythms that come with aging are associated with sleep problems, problems with cognition, and nighttime agitation in elderly people. In this manuscript, we identified transcripts genome-wide that have a circadian rhythm in expression in human prefrontal cortex. Moreover, we describe how these rhythms are changed during normal human aging. Interestingly, we also identified a set of previously unidentified transcripts that become rhythmic only in older individuals. This may represent a compensatory clock that becomes active with the loss of canonical clock function. These studies can help us to develop therapies in the future for older people who suffer from cognitive problems associated with a loss of normal rhythmicity. With aging, significant changes in circadian rhythms occur, including a shift in phase toward a “morning” chronotype and a loss of rhythmicity in circulating hormones. However, the effects of aging on molecular rhythms in the human brain have remained elusive. Here, we used a previously described time-of-death analysis to identify transcripts throughout the genome that have a significant circadian rhythm in expression in the human prefrontal cortex [Brodmann’s area 11 (BA11) and BA47]. Expression levels were determined by microarray analysis in 146 individuals. Rhythmicity in expression was found in ∼10% of detected transcripts (P < 0.05). Using a metaanalysis across the two brain areas, we identified a core set of 235 genes (q < 0.05) with significant circadian rhythms of expression. These 235 genes showed 92% concordance in the phase of expression between the two areas. In addition to the canonical core circadian genes, a number of other genes were found to exhibit rhythmic expression in the brain. Notably, we identified more than 1,000 genes (1,186 in BA11; 1,591 in BA47) that exhibited age-dependent rhythmicity or alterations in rhythmicity patterns with aging. Interestingly, a set of transcripts gained rhythmicity in older individuals, which may represent a compensatory mechanism due to a loss of canonical clock function. Thus, we confirm that rhythmic gene expression can be reliably measured in human brain and identified for the first time (to our knowledge) significant changes in molecular rhythms with aging that may contribute to altered cognition, sleep, and mood in later life.
Characterising receptive language processing in schizophrenia using word and sentence tasks

ABSTRACT Introduction. Language dysfunction is proposed to relate to the speech disturbances in schizophrenia, which are more commonly referred to as formal thought disorder (FTD). Presently, language production deficits in schizophrenia are better characterised than language comprehension difficulties. This study thus aimed to examine three aspects of language comprehension in schizophrenia: (1) the role of lexical processing, (2) meaning attribution for words and sentences, and (3) the relationship between comprehension and production. Methods. Fifty-seven schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder patients and 48 healthy controls completed a clinical assessment and three language tasks assessing word recognition, synonym identification, and sentence comprehension. Poorer patient performance was expected on the latter two tasks. Results. Recognition of word form was not impaired in schizophrenia, indicating intact lexical processing. Whereas single-word synonym identification was not significantly impaired, there was a tendency to attribute word meanings based on phonological similarity with increasing FTD severity. Importantly, there was a significant sentence comprehension deficit for processing deep structure, which correlated with FTD severity. Conclusions. These findings established a receptive language deficit in schizophrenia at the syntactic level. There was also evidence for a relationship between some aspects of language comprehension and speech production/FTD. Apart from indicating language as another mechanism in FTD aetiology, the data also suggest that remediating language comprehension problems may be an avenue to pursue in alleviating FTD symptomatology.
Enhancing SSD performance with LDPC-aware garbage collection

With the technology scaling of solid state drives (SSDs), data reliability has to be ensured by advanced Low-Density Parity-Check (LDPC) codes. As LDPC reads often take high latency, read performance involved in traditional garbage collection, called external GC, is largely decreased, which affects system performance. GC can choose not to correct data with LD-PC codes but just copy valid pages into registers of NAND flash, which we call internal GC. Although this method avoids long latency in LDPC reads, the data integrity is sacrificed because of error aggregation in valid pages. To balance performance and reliability, this paper proposes a new garbage collection method, named as LDPC-aware Garbage Collection (LaGC), to selectively choose blocks with high error rates to perform external GC. These blocks are often close to uncorrectable error rates, which take a small portion during a long flash life period. Thus, most of blocks perform internal GC and keep advantage of low read latency. Experimental results show that LaGC can reduce 78% of read latency in external GC and achieve about 2% system performance improvement.
Combined effects of age and maturation on maximum isometric leg press strength in young basketball players.

AIM Muscular strength of the leg extensor muscles in children can be affected by several factors such as age, sexual maturation, body mass and training status of the subjects. The purpose of the study was to examine maximal isometric strength characteristics of young male basketball players taking into consideration the combined effects of chronological age and sexual maturation. METHODS One hundred and twenty male basketball players, aged from 12 to 17 years divided into 6 equivalent age subgroups performed maximum bilateral isometric leg press efforts. The parameters analysed were the maximal voluntary isometric force (MVC), relative strength (MVC/body mass and MVC/fat free mass), starting strength (F50: force exerted during the first 50 ms of the contraction) and speed strength index (the ratio of maximal force to time to attain maximal force). RESULTS The results indicated that in almost all absolute force parameters, the 12-and 13-year olds demonstrated significantly (p<0.05) lower values compared with the 15(-1)6-and 17-years old groups. Age differences were also significant (p<0.05) when the effects of sexual maturation were taken into consideration in the statistical analysis but they were reduced when strength was adjusted for body mass. Finally, no significant differences for strength per unit of fat free mass were found (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS Maximum absolute strength of basketball players is significantly increased from 12 to 17 years and as sexual maturation stage increases. It also appears that body mass and fat free mass should be taken into consideration when examining age effects on strength in basketball players.
Ligand-induced domain movement in an antibody Fab: molecular dynamics studies confirm the unique domain movement observed experimentally for Fab NC6.8 upon complexation and reveal its segmental flexibility.

Two molecular dynamics simulations were carried out for the antibody Fab NC6.8, both with and without the guanidinium sweetener ligand NC174, in order to assess the segmental flexibility as well as the conformational changes upon ligand binding. Trajectory analyses of the simulation of the uncomplexed Fab suggest low-amplitude motions of the Ig domains with respect to each other, most clearly reflected by a periodic alteration of the elbow angle within a range of 11 degrees. Upon insertion of the hapten into the binding site, the quaternary structure of the Fab exhibits considerable rearrangements: the elbow angle changes by almost 30 degrees, the light chain is elongated and the heavy chain becomes more flexed. Comparison with experiment reveals some interesting agreements with X-ray crystallographic results published previously.
A biologically-inspired eye model for testing oculomotor control theories

INTRODUCTION Although it may not be apparent, our ability to perceive the world is greatly dependent on the movement of our eyes; this sets biological visual systems apart from cameras. Our eyes are constantly in motion, both to stabilize the visual image on the retina and to move the fovea to objects of interest using fast saccadic eye movements. Even though much is known about oculomotor physiology [2], many aspects of the mechanics of the eye, its musculature, and how it is controlled remain poorly understood (e.g., see [1] for a taste of the current controversies). Our goal is to construct a geometrically accurate robotic eye that can serve as a platform for understanding how the human oculomotor plant works. Understanding the tight integration between how we move our eyes and what we perceive is critical to understanding how certain diseases or injuries affect vision as well as to finding potential solutions for treating these conditions. Furthermore, we hope to obtain insights from biology that may aid the future development of robotic eyes.
Study of sunless tanning formulas using molted snake skin as an alternative membrane model

Sunless tanning formulas have become increasingly popular in recent years for their ability to give people convincing tans without the dangers of skin cancer. Most sunless tanners currently on the market contain dihydroxyacetone (DHA), a keto sugar with three carbons. The temporary pigment provided by these formulasis designed to resemble a UV‐induced tan. This study evaluated the effectiveness of carbomer gels and cold process self emulsifying bases on skin pigmentation, using different concentrations of a chemical system composed of DHA and N‐acetyl tyrosine, which are found in moulted snake skins and their effectiveness was tested by Mexameter® MX 18. Eight different sunless tanning formulas were developed, four of which were gels and four of which were emulsions (base, base plus 4.0%, 5.0% and 6.0% (w/w) of a system of DHA and N‐acetyl tyrosine). Tests to determine the extent of artificial tanning were done by applying 30 mg cm−2 of each formula onto standard sizes of moulted snake skin (2.0 cm × 3.0 cm). A Mexameter® MX 18 was used to evaluate the extent of coloration in the moulted snake skin at T0 (before the application) and after 24, 48, 72, 168, 192 and 216 h. The moulted snake skins can be used as an alternative membrane model for in vitro sunless tanning efficacy tests due to their similarity to the human stratum corneum. The DHA concentration was found to influence the initiation of the pigmentation in both sunless tanning systems (emulsion and gel) as well as the time required to increases by a given amount on the tanning index. In the emulsion system, the DHA concentration also influenced the final value on the tanning index. The type of system (emulsion or gel) has no influence on the final value in the tanning index after 216 h for samples with the same DHA concentration.
Research on the control effect of ship information system under hazard factor based signal attack for motion control task

As an important research part of ship intelligence and networking, the communication quality of ship information system is affected by its closeness and fragility which has increased the risk of cyberattack in ship environment. However, before the research of defense mechanisms, the study of attack in ship information system has its own irreplaceable value. Therefore, in this paper, some systematic studies of attack are carried out which include the attack form, algorithm and active area, etc. Meanwhile, such kind of attack which is set by hazard factor is proposed. Finally, chosen motion control mission as an example, the affect and effect of proposed signal attack is lucubrated.
Does Sub-Advising Abroad Improve the Performance of International Mutual Funds?

Using a sample of U.S. international equity mutual funds, we show that funds that hire sub-advisors abroad do not outperform. For example, funds that hire outsourced international sub-advisors underperform on a risk-adjusted basis by up to 126 bps annually, relative to funds that do not sub-advise. The underperformance by both in-house and outsourced international sub-advisors is primarily evident in their local holdings, and it can partly be explained by their lower degree of activeness and greater risk shifting. We rule out several alternative explanations for the underperformance, including agency costs and co-ordination problems when there are multiple sub-advisors.
The Effect of Different Administrative Government Subsidies on Enterprise Innovation: Evidence from China

This study investigated the influence of central-, provincial-, and city-level government subsidies on enterprise innovation. Empirical analysis was conducted using panel data for listed manufacturing companies in China. Central and provincial government subsidies were found to promote innovation while the relationship between city (county) government subsidies and enterprise innovation showed an inverted U-shape. Regarding enterprise type, central and provincial government subsidies were found to promote innovation in state-owned and non-state-owned enterprises while an inverted U-shaped relationship existed between city (county) government subsidies and innovation in non-state-owned enterprises. At all administrative levels, subsidies promoted stronger innovation in non-state-owned enterprises than in state-owned enterprises. The results of this study can serve to guide decision-making for different administrative-level governments in the allocation of subsidies.
Implementation of maintenance employees' work time scheduling

The article presents the method of scheduling work time for maintenance workers. The purpose of the method is to implement the scheduling process in organizations where it has not been used, and the maintenance work consists only in removing failures. The method uses a scheduling table, helpful in scheduling and performance monitoring, and a spreadsheet-based IT tool that analyzes the data collected. The proposed method makes it easy to implement work time scheduling and monitor key performance indicators for maintenance workers.
Altered DNA synthesis in a mutant of Salmonella typhimurium that channels bacteriophage P22 toward lysogeny

Pox-1, a mutant of Salmonella typhimurium, strongly channels P22 toward lysogeny. Viral DNA synthesis in this slow-growing mutant is delayed to a greater extent than viral protein synthesis. The relative enhancement of c2 repressor synthesis results in much higher repressor/DNA synthesis ratios in Pox-1 than in wild-type cells. This probably accounts for the high frequency of lysogenization.
Defective vascularization of HIF-1alpha-null embryos is not associated with VEGF deficiency but with mesenchymal cell death.

Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) is a dimeric transcription factor composed of HIF-1alpha and HIF-1beta subunits that plays an essential role in mammalian O2 homeostasis. In Hif1a-/- knockout mice, complete deficiency of HIF-1alpha resulted in cardiac and vascular malformations and embryonic lethality at E10.5. Between E8. 75 and E9.25 striking vascular regression and abnormal remodeling occurred in the cephalic region concomitant with marked mesenchymal cell death. Similar vascular defects were observed in HIF-1alpha- and VEGF-deficient embryos and VEGF mRNA expression was not induced by hypoxia in Hif1a-/- embryonic stem cells. Surprisingly, Hif1a-/- embryos demonstrated increased VEGF mRNA expression compared to wild-type embryos. In tissue culture cells, VEGF mRNA expression was induced by glucose deprivation independent of HIF-1alpha, providing a mechanism for increased VEGF mRNA expression in Hif1a-/- embryos, in which absence of adequate tissue perfusion resulted in both O2 and glucose deprivation. Rather than being associated with VEGF deficiency, the vascular defects in Hif1a-/- embryos were spatially correlated with cell death, the onset of which preceded vascular regression.
Architectures pour la stéréovision passive dense temps réel : application à la stéréo-endoscopie

L'emergence d'une robotique medicale en chirurgie laparoscopique destinee a automatiser et ameliorer la precision des interventions necessite la mise en Suvre d'outils et capteurs miniaturises intelligents dont la vision 3D temps reel est un des enjeux. Bien que les systemes de vision 3D actuels representent un interet certain pour des manipulations chirurgicales endoscopiques precises, ils ont l'inconvenient de donner une image 3D qualitative plutot que quantitative, laquelle necessite un appareillage specifique rendant l'acte chirurgical inconfortable et empeche le couplage avec un calculateur dans le cadre d'une chirurgie assistee. Nous avons developpe dans la cadre du projet interne " PICASO " (Plate-forme d'Integration de CAmeras multiSenOrielles) dont les enjeux scientifiques concernent le conditionnement de capteurs integres et le traitement et la fusion d'images multi spectrales, un dispositif de vision 3D compatible avec les temps d'execution des actes chirurgicaux. Ce systeme est base sur le principe de la stereoscopie humaine et met en Suvre des algorithmes de stereovision passive dense issus de la robotique mobile. Dans cette these nous presentons des architectures massivement paralleles, implementees dans un circuit FPGA, et capables de fournir des images de disparite a la cadence de 130 trames/sec a partir d'images de resolution 640x480 pixels. L'algorithme utilise est base sur la correlation Census avec une fenetre de calcul de 7 x 7 pixels. Celui-ci a ete choisi pour ses performances en regard de sa simplicite de mise en Suvre et la possibilite de paralleliser la plupart des calculs. L'objectif principal de cet algorithme est de rechercher, pour chaque point, la correspondance entre deux images d'entrees (droite et gauche) prises de deux angles de vue differents afin d'obtenir une "carte de disparites" a partir de laquelle il est possible de reconstruire la scene 3D. Pour mettre en Suvre cet algorithme et tenir les contraintes " temps reel " nous avons developpe des architectures en " pipeline " (calcul des moyennes, transformation Census, recherche des points stereo-correspondants, verification droite-gauche, filtrage. . . ). L'essentiel des differentes parties qui composent l'architecture est decrit en langage VHDL synthetisable. Enfin nous nous sommes interesses a la consommation en termes de ressources FPGA (memoires, macro-cellules) en fonction des performances souhaitees.
CTX-M-1, CTX-M-3, and CTX-M-14 β-Lactamases from Enterobacteriaceae Isolated in France

ABSTRACT Six clinical CTX-M-producing isolates of the family Enterobacteriaceae were detected between 1999 and 2000 in different French hospitals. Two strains produced CTX-M-1 and CTX-M-3 and four strains produced CTX-M-14, a mutant Ala-231→Val of CTX-M-9. A putative transposable element, ISEcp-1, was located 43 bp upstream of all the blaCTX-M genes. Two CTX-M-14-encoding plasmids exhibited similar restriction patterns. The CTX-M-1- and CTX-M-3-encoding plasmids were related to the CTX-M-1- and CTX-M-3-encoding plasmids previously reported in 1990 in France and in 1998 in Poland, respectively.
Polymorphism and Haplotype Structure in River Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) Toll-Like Receptor 5 (TLR5) Coding Sequence

Most of the 160 million river buffalo in the world are in Asia where they are used extensively, both as a food source and for draught power. Only recently have investigations begun exploring the buffalo genome for variation that might influence health and productivity of these economically important animals. This paper describes the sequence variability of the toll-like receptor 5 (TLR5) gene, which recognizes bacterial flagellin and is a key player in the immune system. TLR5 is comprised of a single exon that is 2577 bp and codes 858 amino acids. We examined single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located within the coding region. Overall, 17 SNPs were discovered, seven of which are non-synonymous. Our study population yielded four different haplotypes. We examined predicted protein domain structure and found that river buffalo, swamp buffalo, and African Forest buffalo shared the same protein domain structure and are more similar to each other than they are to cattle and American bison, which are similar to each other. PolyPhen 2 analysis revealed one amino acid substitution in the river buffalo population with potential functional significance.
Employer Branding in B2B and B2C Companies in India: A Qualitative Perspective

The employer branding (EB) phenomenon has garnered the attention of practitioners and academicians over the past decade. However, the subjective experiences of managers on EB are hardly tapped. This study explores company executives’ views on EB through the case study method with semi-structured interviews in the context of the business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) companies located in India. Four key categories relevant to EB emerged from the data. These are (a) essence of a successful EB, (b) precursors of EB, (c) visibility of the employer and (d) outcomes of EB. Attributes of these categories were explored along the sub-themes, which reveal the respondents’ perceptions regarding their implementation of EB strategy. These attributes were similar in B2B and B2C companies.
Consensus Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning for Volt-VAR Control in Power Distribution Networks

Volt-VAR control (VVC) is a critical application in active distribution network management system to reduce network losses and improve voltage profile. To remove dependency on inaccurate and incomplete network models and enhance resiliency against communication or controller failure, we propose consensus multi-agent deep reinforcement learning algorithm to solve the VVC problem, which determines the operation schedules for voltage regulators, on-load tap changers, and capacitors. The VVC problem is formulated as a networked multi-agent Markov decision process, which is solved using the maximum entropy reinforcement learning framework and a novel communication-efficient consensus strategy. The proposed algorithm allows individual agents to learn a group control policy using local rewards. Numerical studies on IEEE distribution test feeders show that our proposed algorithm matches the performance of single-agent reinforcement learning benchmark. In addition, the proposed algorithm is shown to be communication efficient and resilient.
A STUDY OF FINANCIAL PLANNING OF INDONESIAN FAMILY LIVING IN KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA

Many related studies have been conducted in various developed countries and East Asia countries, but rarely in developing countries, including Indonesia. This study focuses on financial planning of Indonesian families living in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Furthermore, gender and spirituality aspects will be studied regarding the financial decision making in the families and savings and investment pattern will be investigated. The desired objectives that want to be achieved by this research are as follow: to study the pattern of financial decision making made by Indonesian families living in Kuala Lumpur; to investigate the savings and investment planning activities of Indonesian families living in Kuala Lumpur; and to examine the impact of religiosity on their financial decisions. Primary data was obtained through interview method. The interviews were conducted to 10 Indonesian Muslim families. Each couple has their own unique financial planning behaviour. However, among this unique behaviour, there are some redline principles that can show particular pattern, but still, its possibility to generalize the pattern is not that accurate. Consequently, further study regarding the uniqueness behaviour of families living in or originally from developing countries has to be more investigated to find out what are the rationale behind the scene.