Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reducing pre-clinical blood volumes for toxicokinetics: toxicologists, pathologists and bioanalysts unite.

Blood samples are taken from animals during general toxicology, reproductive toxicology and safety pharmacology studies with pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical chemicals to demonstrate that the compound is present in the groups of animals being tested and to understand how the degree of systemic exposure may be linked to any toxicological effects observed. The blood (plasma or serum) concentration data generated from each sample are used to derive toxicokinetic (TK) data and regulatory guidance dictates generally how and when these data are needed during compound development. A number of OECD and ICH documents [1–6] indicate the value of relating achieved exposure to toxicological findings and how this provides useful information for estimating safety margins for clinical trials and for supporting dose level selection for chronic toxicity studies. For pharmaceuticals, typically, a full concentration profile is needed at the start and end of a study, but there is some variation between organizations in the number of samples taken to generate a profile and whether all or selected control animals are sampled [7]. For non-pharmaceutical chemicals, the use of TK in toxicology studies is not generally required in the registration processes but is considered beneficial [8–10]. There are differences across industry sectors in how TK data are generated and used, but the advantages of monitoring exposure in toxicity studies are frequently discussed and agreed [11,12]. From a risk assessment perspective for non-pharmaceutical chemicals, actual animal exposure to parent and metabolites may be used to unravel the relevance of toxicological findings to human health, regardless of how the TK profile is generated (e.g. steady state determinations in dietary studies versus PK-like profiling in oral gavage studies) [13]. Other uses include comparing ‘external’ and ‘systemic’ “no observed adverse effect levels” across studies, setting an internal reference dose or chemical-specific uncertainty factors, enabling the use of physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling [11]. Exposure data are useful where different doses, species, strains, gender and life stages are compared at the end of a toxicology program [14].
Sleep panic attacks: A micromovement analysis

Earlier work by our group and others has pointed to a role for movement during sleep in sleep‐panic attacks. Specifically, our group has reported that panic disorder patients, as a group, appear to move more during sleep than age‐matched controls, whereas the subgroup of panic disorder who “panic” during sleep move less on the nights they experience sleep‐panic attacks than they do on nights without sleep‐panic attacks. We studied the movement of sleep‐panic patients in a more detailed fashion with more than one sleep movement index. Fourteen patients with sleep‐panic attacks were compared with 14 waking panic patients, 13 social phobic patients, and 14 normal controls. Subjects from the other groups were age matched to the sleep‐panic group. Their comparison study night corresponded to the night number of the sleep‐panic attack. Sleep‐panic patients did move less on panic nights than did the normal controls on the corresponding sleep‐panic night according to two separate sleep movement indices. Although not statistically significant, sleep‐panic patients also moved less on their panic night than did either of the other anxious groups on corresponding nights. Rechtshaffen and Kales' Movement Time (MT) measure appears to overestimate actual min of movement during sleep in all subjects. The movement noted in sleep‐panic patients may have some role in the pathophysiology of sleep‐panic attacks. A possible mechanism is explained. Depression Anxiety 18:214–220, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Fas small interfering RNA reduces motoneuron death in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis mice

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive, fatal neurodegenerative disease characterized by selective motoneuron death. Understanding of the molecular mechanisms that trigger and regulate motoneuron degeneration could be relevant to ALS and other motoneuron disorders. This study investigates the role of Fas‐linked motoneuron death in the pathogenesis of ALS.
A Deep Learning Framework of Quantized Compressed Sensing for Wireless Neural Recording

In low-power wireless neural recording tasks, signals must be compressed before transmission to extend battery life. Recently, compressed sensing (CS) theory has successfully demonstrated its potential in neural recording applications. In this paper, a deep learning framework of quantized CS, termed BW-NQ-DNN, is proposed, which consists of a binary measurement matrix, a non-uniform quantizer, and a non-iterative recovery solver. By training the BW-NQ-DNN, the three parts are jointly optimized. Experimental results on synthetic and real datasets reveal that BW-NQ-DNN not only drastically reduce the transmission bits but also outperforms the state-of-the-art CS-based methods. On the challenging high compression ratio task, the proposed approach still achieves high recovery performance and spike classification accuracy. This framework is of great values to wireless neural recoding devices, and many variants can be straightforwardly derived for low-power wireless telemonitoring applications.
Different data from different labs: lessons from studies of gene-environment interaction.

It is sometimes supposed that standardizing tests of mouse behavior will ensure similar results in different laboratories. We evaluated this supposition by conducting behavioral tests with identical apparatus and test protocols in independent laboratories. Eight genetic groups of mice, including equal numbers of males and females, were either bred locally or shipped from the supplier and then tested on six behaviors simultaneously in three laboratories (Albany, NY; Edmonton, AB; Portland, OR). The behaviors included locomotor activity in a small box, the elevated plus maze, accelerating rotarod, visible platform water escape, cocaine activation of locomotor activity, and ethanol preference in a two-bottle test. A preliminary report of this study presented a conventional analysis of conventional measures that revealed strong effects of both genotype and laboratory as well as noteworthy interactions between genotype and laboratory. We now report a more detailed analysis of additional measures and view the data for each test in different ways. Whether mice were shipped from a supplier or bred locally had negligible effects for almost every measure in the six tests, and sex differences were also absent or very small for most behaviors, whereas genetic effects were almost always large. For locomotor activity, cocaine activation, and elevated plus maze, the analysis demonstrated the strong dependence of genetic differences in behavior on the laboratory giving the tests. For ethanol preference and water escape learning, on the other hand, the three labs obtained essentially the same results for key indicators of behavior. Thus, it is clear that the strong dependence of results on the specific laboratory is itself dependent on the task in question. Our results suggest that there may be advantages of test standardization, but laboratory environments probably can never be made sufficiently similar to guarantee identical results on a wide range of tests in a wide range of labs. Interpretations of our results by colleagues in neuroscience as well as the mass media are reviewed. Pessimistic views, prevalent in the media but relatively uncommon among neuroscientists, of mouse behavioral tests as being highly unreliable are contradicted by our data. Despite the presence of noteworthy interactions between genotype and lab environment, most of the larger differences between inbred strains were replicated across the three labs. Strain differences of moderate effects size, on the other hand, often differed markedly among labs, especially those involving three 129-derived strains. Implications for behavioral screening of targeted and induced mutations in mice are discussed.
GPS-free and Anchor-free Indoor Localization for Wireless Sensor Networks

In wireless sensor networks (WSNs), many applications require location awareness. GPS is generally not suitable to establish indoor locations. In this paper, we propose a GPS-free and Anchor-free (GFAF) indoor localization algorithm. GFAF algorithm uses a mobile node to move according to a special trajectory in deployment area and the mobile node calculates its real-time coordinate according to the start coordinate and move information, and then the mobile node broadcasts its current coordinate to unknown nodes within its transmission radius, and finally the unknown nodes can use these broadcasted coordinates and the observations between unknown nodes and mobile node to calculate their locations based on a posterior probability formula. In contrast to current up-to-date anchor-based localization methods, the proposed algorithm is fully distributed, where each unknown node only needs the information of real-time observation and mobile node coordinate, without cumbersome partitioning and merging process. The algorithm is highly scalable, with limited error propagation and linear computation and communication cost with respect to the size of the network. Extensive simulations and comparison with other methods under various representative network settings are carried out, showing superior performance of the proposed algorithm.
A Robust Object Recognition Method Using Surface Images of 3D Objects

Robots which automatically perform outdoor work require robust and accurate environments. The authors devised a new object recognition method, comparing surface images of a target object with 2D surface image models stored in a database. First, range data is segmented into several regions to obtain stable surface images. Second, a surface image is compiled from each stable region. The surface image is comprised of a series of depth values. The depth value is defined as the height from a tangential plane on the center point of a region to points on a geodesic circle. Third, the compiled surface image is compared with prototypical surface images, so as to identify the classification of the region. Lastly, the object’s pose can be precisely obtained by applying the 3D template matching technique with the use of a 3D object mesh model. From these processes, the proposed method enables robust recognition of a complex-shaped object. Through the simulation applying the synthesized 3D model, as well as the outdoor experiment, the validity of the proposed method can be obtained. The method is expected to allow robot operators to perform distribution work, such as pole and insulator replacement, more easily and rapidly.
Bending characteristics of single mode-Multimode-Single mode optical fiber structures

Multimode interference has been used in many integrated and fiber-optic devices, including sensors. A basic structure proposed for sensing using this phenomenon is the Single mode-Multimode-Single mode (SMS) fiber section concatenation, where multimode interference in the multimode section leads to the formation of a self-image of the single mode excitation onto the output single mode fiber core. The perturbation of modal interference in the multimode section by a changing measurand provides the basis for sensing. This paper reports on an investigation of the bending characteristics of these structures for their possible use as bending sensors. Numerical simulations using the beam propagation method are used to explore the sensitivity of SMS structures of parabolic and step-index multimode fibers to bending. The results of experimental examination of a realized SMS fiber structure are related to its bending characteristics obtained by simulations. It is concluded that SMS fiber structures of step-index multimode sections are expected to be more suitable than graded-index fiber structures for use as bending sensors in the range of bending radii of practical interest.
Evaluation of Human Altruism Using a DTN-based Mobile Social Network Application

Advancement in mobile computing and smartphone proliferation has enabled mobile devices to support a richer range of services besides calls and texting. Recently there has been a lot of focus on developing human centric mobile social applications to perform collaborative social activities for mobile users in highly distributed environment, such as photo and information sharing, and proximity-based communication. However, the success of these applications relies on selfless and altruistic participation of individuals (i.e. mobile users). In this paper we develop DMS, a resource-aware delay tolerant network (DTN)based mobile social network application to get a better understanding of the altruistic nature of human behavior. We study how limited resources like battery can affect the user’s behavior toward the mobile application with varying levels of scrutiny in lab and daily life environment.
Muscarinic cholinergic binding in chick embryo retino‐tectal system: Effects of corticosterone

Muscarinic binding sites were measured using the radioligand [3H]quinuclidinyl benzilate (QNB) in the retina and tectum of 11‐day‐old chick embryos, after intracerebral administration of 0.02 μg of corticosterone at 8 days of incubation. This age was chosen because the hormone preferentially accumulates in retinas at 8 days of development. Hormone treatment significantly affected the affinity of 3H‐QNB‐binding sites in retinas and slightly affected the affinity in treated tecta, whereas the number of binding sites remained unchanged. The specific binding was determined with either atropine or unlabeled QNB. Scatchard plot analysis of specific 3H‐QNB binding revealed the presence of nonsaturable binding at high 3H‐QNB concentrations (6‐11 nM) in the treated retinas, but not in controls. It can be concluded from these data that the hormone has a primary effect on retinal cells during early growth in the chick embryo. The possibility that the hormone delays maturation of specific populations of retinal cells is considered in the discussion.
Neuropeptide Y induces potent migration of human immature dendritic cells and promotes a Th2 polarization

Neuropeptide Y (NPY), a major autonomic nervous system and stress mediator, is emerging as an important regulator of inflammation, implicated in autoimmunity, asthma, atherosclerosis, and cancer. Yet the role of NPY in regulating phenotype and functions of dendritic cells (DCs), the professional antigen‐presenting cells, remains undefined. Here we investigated whether NPY could induce DCs to migrate, mature, and polarize naive T lymphocytes. We found that NPY induced a dose‐dependent migration of human monocyte‐derived immature DCs through the engagement of NPY Y1 receptor and the activation of ERK and p38 mitogen‐activated protein kinases. NPY promoted DC adhesion to endothelial cells and transendothelial migration. It failed to induce phenotypic DC maturation, whereas it conferred a T helper 2 (Th2) polarizing profile to DCs through the up‐regulation of interleukin (IL)‐6 and IL‐10 production. Thus, during an immune/inflammatory response NPY may exert proinflammatory effects through the recruitment of immature DCs, but it may exert antiinflammatory effects by promoting a Th2 polarization. Locally, at inflammatory sites, cell recruitment could be amplified in conditions of intense acute, chronic, or cold stress. Thus, altered or amplified signaling through the NPY‐NPY‐Y1 receptor‐DC axis may have implications for the development of inflammatory conditions. —Buttari, B. , Profumo, E. , Domenici, G. , Tagliani, A. , Ippoliti, F. , Bonini, S. , Businaro, R. , Elenkov, I. , Riganò, R. Neuropeptide Y induces potent migration of human immature dendritic cells and promotes a Th2 polarization. FASEB J. 28, 3038–3049 (2014). www.fasebj. org
Comparison of Whole Body Kinematics between Fracture and Non-Fracture Finite ElementHuman Body Models during Side Impact

The age-specific finite element human body models representing rib fracture were developed by the authors. They are limited, however, in quantitative evaluation of a strain that exceeds the predetermined threshold, i.e. the strain measured on the “fracture” model is censored. A “non-fracture” model can evaluate the value of the strain throughout the impact, but may be at a disadvantage when trying to represent post-fracture kinematics. The objective of the present study is to examine the compatibility between “fracture” and “non-fracture” finite element (FE) human body models in order to establish the method to quantify the probability of the rib fracture. The authors conducted a series of simulated side-impact tests using human body models with and without representation of the rib fracture. Simulations were done in compliance with the IIHS SICE protocol. The results indicate that the whole-body kinematics of the “non-fracture” human models was almost identical to those of “fracture” models. The locations in the “non-fracture” models, where the values of the strain reached the pre-determined threshold, were well correlated with those where the element elimination was activated in the “fracture” models. The results suggested the feasibility of the methods for probability-based evaluation of the rib fracture using human FE models.
Identification of epithelial label-retaining cells at the transition between the anal canal and the rectum in mice

In certain regions of the body, transition zones exist where stratified squamous epithelia directly abut against other types of epithelia. Certain transition zones are especially prone to tumorigenesis an example being the anorectal junction, although the reason for this is not known. One possibility is that the abrupt transition of the simple columnar epithelium of the colon to the stratified squamous epithelium of the proximal portion of the anal canal may contain a unique stem cell niche. We investigated whether the anorectal region contained cells with stem cell properties relative to the adjacent epithelium. We utilized a tetracycline-regulatable histone H2B-GFP transgenic mice model, previously used to identify hair follicle stem cells, to fluorescently label slow-cycling anal epithelial cells (e.g. prospective stem cells) in combination with a panel of putative stem cell markers. We identified a population of long-term GFP label-retaining cells concentrated at the junction between the anal canal and the rectum. These cells are BrdU-retaining cells and expressed the stem cell marker CD34. Moreover, tracking the fate of the anal label-retaining cells in vivo revealed that the slow-cycling cells only gave rise to progeny of the anal epithelium. In conclusion, we identified a unique population of cells at the anorectal junction which can be separated from the other basal anal epithelial cells based upon the expression of the stem cell marker CD34 and integrin a6, and thus represent a putative anal stem cell population.
Transmission of IPv6 Packets over IEEE 802.15.4 Networks

This document describes the frame format for transmission of IPv6 packets and the method of forming IPv6 link-local addresses and statelessly autoconfigured addresses on IEEE 802.15. 4 networks. Additional specifications include a simple header compression scheme using shared context and provisions for packet delivery in IEEE 802.15. 4 meshes. [STANDARDS-TRACK]
Necrotizing soft tissue infection masquerading as cutaneous abcess following illicit drug injection.

OBJECTIVE To assess factors that might predict serious necrotizing soft tissue infections following illicit drug injection. DESIGN A retrospective review of a consecutive case series. SETTING An urban municipal hospital. PATIENTS Thirty patients presenting with cutaneous abscesses resulting from illicit drug injections during a 5-year period. All cases presented clinically with fluctuance, erythema, or induration but required extensive debridement at the time of incision and drainage. INTERVENTIONS Operative treatment employed wide incision, routine subfascial examination, and aggressive debridement. Clinical management included broad-spectrum antibiotics, critical care support, and reconstructive procedures. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Mortality, extent of debridement, preoperative vital signs and laboratory values, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) scores, bacteriologic and pathologic test results. RESULTS Postoperatively, all patients were housed in the intensive care unit for 8.4 +/- 14.5 days. Six patients died (20%). On arrival at the intensive care unit, systolic blood pressure was 80 mm Hg or less in 2 patients, 1 of whom died. White blood cell count on hospital admission was elevated in 27 of 30 patients (mean, 27.2 +/- 15.3 x 10(9)/L) and 2 patients were identified as having human immunodeficiency virus infection. All patients underwent initial surgery less than 24 hours after admission; following debridement, the average wound size was 276 +/- 238 cm2 (range, 15-783 cm2). Five patients required extremity amputation, and all other survivors underwent reconstruction with skin grafts and/or myocutaneous flaps. All but 1 patient were reexamined in the operating room within 12 hours and underwent an average of 3.1 +/- 1.6 operative procedures. Of those wound cultures obtained in the operating room, there was no pattern to the bacteriologic isolates. Seventeen patients had mixed isolates and 11 had single organisms. Pathologic findings in 20 patients included panniculitis (3 patients), necrotizing fasciitis (11 patients), myositis (6 patients), and osteomyelitis (1 patient). We failed to identify any clinical factor, including temperature, heart rate, systolic blood pressure, white blood cell count, base deficit, albumin level, PO2, or APACHE II score that could predict mortality or the requirement for extensive debridement. CONCLUSIONS Parenteral injections of illicit drugs can produce infections that present with signs of simple cutaneous abscess and yet unpredictably become extensive necrotizing soft tissue infections. Treatment requires a high index of suspicion along with an inquisitive operative approach to avoid missing these potentially serious infections.
A Longitudinal Study of Undergraduate Performance in Mathematics , an Application of Generalized Estimating Equation ( GEE ) 1

Students’ performance in mathematics has been an issue of great concern to most countries, especially the developing nations. So many programmes have been put in place to improve performances and to also encourage student to study the course in tertiary institution. In this study we investigate the relationship of semester, department of a student, age and load unit on marginal mathematics performance o f undergraduate students. A marginal model was formulated using four working correlation structure where the exchangeable working correlation structure was selected as the best that models the dataset using quasi information criteria. The semester, age and load unit were found to be related to the marginal performance in mathematics
SENSITIVITIES OF DIFFERENT BACTERIOPHAGE SPECIES TO IONIZING RADIATIONS

where S is the survival ratio (number of plaque forming phage particles after exposure to a dose D of radiation) /(number of plaque-forming phage particles before exposure), and R is the radiosensitivity of the phage (for a recent discussion of this subject, see Pollard, 1954). The radiosensitivities of a number of bacteriophage species have been measured, and are presented here and compared with data available in the literature, as a contribution to phage taxonomy and as a possible help in the choice of material for future investigations.