Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
RAN proteins and RNA foci from antisense transcripts in C9ORF72 ALS and frontotemporal dementia

Significance A GGGGCC expansion mutation located in intron 1 of chromosome 9 ORF 72 (C9ORF72) was recently described as a common cause of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/frontotemporal dementia (ALS/FTD). We show that this single mutation results in the accumulation of sense and antisense RNA foci plus six expansion proteins expressed by repeat-associated non-ATG (RAN) translation. RNAs accumulate in nuclear foci and the RAN proteins form cytoplasmic aggregates in neurons that often cluster in affected brain regions. These results indicate that bidirectional transcription and RAN translation are fundamental pathologic features of C9ORF72 ALS/FTD. Additionally these data have broad implications that change our understanding of how microsatellite expansion mutations are expressed in patient cells and how they cause disease. The finding that a GGGGCC (G4C2) hexanucleotide repeat expansion in the chromosome 9 ORF 72 (C9ORF72) gene is a common cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) links ALS/FTD to a large group of unstable microsatellite diseases. Previously, we showed that microsatellite expansion mutations can be bidirectionally transcribed and that these mutations express unexpected proteins by a unique mechanism, repeat-associated non-ATG (RAN) translation. In this study, we show that C9ORF72 antisense transcripts are elevated in the brains of C9ORF72 expansion-positive [C9(+)] patients, and antisense GGCCCC (G2C4) repeat-expansion RNAs accumulate in nuclear foci in brain. Additionally, sense and antisense foci accumulate in blood and are potential biomarkers of the disease. Furthermore, we show that RAN translation occurs from both sense and antisense expansion transcripts, resulting in the expression of six RAN proteins (antisense: Pro-Arg, Pro-Ala, Gly-Pro; and sense: Gly-Ala, Gly-Arg, Gly-Pro). These proteins accumulate in cytoplasmic aggregates in affected brain regions, including the frontal and motor cortex, hippocampus, and spinal cord neurons, with some brain regions showing dramatic RAN protein accumulation and clustering. The finding that unique antisense G2C4 RNA foci and three unique antisense RAN proteins accumulate in patient tissues indicates that bidirectional transcription of expanded alleles is a fundamental pathologic feature of C9ORF72 ALS/FTD. Additionally, these findings suggest the need to test therapeutic strategies that target both sense and antisense RNAs and RAN proteins in C9ORF72 ALS/FTD, and to more broadly consider the role of antisense expression and RAN translation across microsatellite expansion diseases.
The Decisions of Entrepreneurs and Their Agents: Revealed Levels of Risk Aversion and Betrayal Aversion

This paper studies decision making by successful entrepreneurs and their agents. Since entrepreneurs decisions are often influenced by their agents' advice, understanding the behavior of both involved parties is crucial in analyzing observed decisions. To this end, a sample of successful American entrepreneurs and their agents made a high-stakes decision in a real-world context, albeit in an experimental setting offering experimental-scale payoffs. They were asked whether to accept a contract in what was essentially a trust game. A monetary gamble measured economic risk taking; and the difference between the two measured betrayal aversion. All entrepreneurs assumed the professional role as principal. All individuals playing agent were real world agents. We also have some agents play the role of the principal, and thus test whether subjects' roles affect the decisions they make. Consistent with most prior studies, our subjects proved both economically risk-averse and betrayal averse. Little difference in behavior emerged between entrepreneurs and agents in their respective professional capacities, or with agents acting as principals. These results imply that, under our realistically framed business scenario with aligned incentives, agents could be relied upon to be "faithful," to act according to their principals' proclivities. Importantly, however, they do not advise against what many expert observers believe to be principals' excess aversion to risks. That is, they fail to act as "correcting agents".
Compact UWB Band-Pass Filter with Dual Notched Bands Based on Novel Defected Ground Structures

A compact ultra-wide-band (UWB) band-pass filter (BPF) with dual notch bands is presented using novel defected ground structures (DGS). A couple of triangle-ring resonators with four open-stubs fed by a couple of inter-digital coupled structures is developed to meet the UWB requirement of a uniform 3.1GHz to 10.6GHz full-band transmission response. Dual notch bands are generated for filtering out the interference caused by strong signals transmitted from 8/7 X-band systems whose down-link is from 7.25GHz to 7.75GHz and whose up-link is from 7.9GHz to 8.4GHz. The sharp rejection of down-link signals is achieved by etching the first ring DGS on the bottom ground plane. The other rejection of up-link signals is introduced by coupling resonance of the second and third ring DGSs etched on the bottom layer. Moreover, two pairs of ring-arc DGSs are used to achieve a wider upper stop-band. Further, through the surface current analysis, the rejection band and pass-band performances are testified. Eventually, the designed UWB BPF with dual notch bands shows a good pass-band performance from 2.5 to 9.9 GHz and the high stop-band rejection -15dB up to 23GHz from the simulated results.
Cooperative DVFS for energy-efficient HEVC decoding on embedded CPU-GPU architecture

The next generation video coding standard High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) provides better compression rate for high resolution videos, at the cost of substantially higher computational complexity. While some latest off-the-shelf consumer electronics support HEVC via ASIC solutions, software implementation of real-time HEVC remains an open challenge for resource-constraint embedded systems. In this work, we present an HEVC decoder design on a low-power embedded heterogeneous multiprocessor System-on-Chip (HMPSoC) with CPU and GPU. Our analysis shows that the massive parallel architecture of GPU leads to a relatively smooth fluctuation on the processing time between video frames. Moreover, the dynamic workload of each frame has a monotonic correlation with a particular coding parameter that can be obtained at decoding time. Based on these observations, we propose an application-specific userspace CPU-GPU DVFS scheme which effectively saves the energy consumption for HEVC decoding. Furthermore, given our accurate workload prediction, only a small frame buffer is required to ensure real-time video decoding.
Voltammetric Determination of Dinonyl Diphenylamine and Butylated Hydroxytoluene in Mineral and Synthetic Oil

ABSTRACT A method is reported for the determination of diphenylamine and butylated hydroxytoluene in mineral and synthetic oil. The procedure used differential pulse voltammetry with a glassy carbon electrode. This method was then used for determining these antioxidants in supporting electrolyte consisting of dilute sulfuric acid and sodium dodecyl sulfonate in ethanol. Anodic peaks were obtained for both analytes. Oxidation peaks at 250 mV were observed from a mixture of butylated hydroxytoluene and dinonyl diphenylamine, allowing their simultaneous determination. This approach was successfully used for the determination of dinonyl diphenylamine and butylated hydroxytoluene in fortified mineral and synthetic oils with good accuracy and precision.
Investigating Cross-lingual Multi-level Adaptive Networks: The Importance of the Correlation of Source and Target Languages

The multi-level adaptive networks (MLAN) technique is a cross-lingual adaptation framework where a bottleneck (BN) layer in a deep neural network (DNN) trained in a source language is used for producing BN features to be exploited in a second DNN in a target language. We investigate how the correlation (in the sense of phonetic similarity) of the source and target languages and the amount of data of the source language affect the efficiency of the MLAN schemes. We experiment with three different scenarios using, i) French, as a source language uncorrelated to the target language, ii) Ukrainian, as a source language correlated to the target one and finally iii) English as a source language uncorrelated to the target language using a relatively large amount of data in respect to the other two scenarios. In all cases Russian is used as target language. GLOBALPHONE data is used, except for English, where a mixture of LIBRISPEECH, TEDLIUM and AMIDA is available. The results have shown that both of these two factors are important for the MLAN schemes. Specifically, on the one hand, when a modest amount of data from the source language is used, the correlation of the source and target languages is very important. On the other hand, the correlation of the two languages seems to be less important when a relatively large amount of data, from the source language, is used. The best performance in word error rate (WER), was achieved when the English language was used as the source one in the multi-task MLAN scheme, achieving a relative improvement of 9.4% in respect to the baseline DNN model.
Calbindin 2 (CALB2) Regulates 5-Fluorouracil Sensitivity in Colorectal Cancer by Modulating the Intrinsic Apoptotic Pathway

The role of the calcium binding protein, Calbindin 2 (CALB2), in regulating the response of colorectal cancer (CRC) cells to 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) was investigated. Real-time RT-PCR and Western blot analysis revealed that CALB2 mRNA and protein expression were down-regulated in p53 wild-type and p53 null isogenic HCT116 CRC cell lines following 48 h and 72 h 5-FU treatment. Moreover, 5-FU-induced apoptosis was significantly reduced in HCT116 and LS174T CRC cell lines in which CALB2 expression had been silenced. Further investigation revealed that CALB2 translocated to the mitochondria following 5-FU treatment and that 5-FU-induced loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm) was abrogated in CALB2-silenced cells. Furthermore, CALB2 silencing decreased 5-FU-induced cytochrome c and smac release from the mitochondria and also decreased 5-FU-induced activation of caspases 9 and 3/7. Of note, co-silencing of XIAP overcame 5-FU resistance in CALB2-silenced cells. Collectively, these results suggest that following 5-FU treatment in CRC cell lines, CALB2 is involved in apoptosis induction through the intrinsic mitochondrial pathway. This indicates that CALB2 may be an important mediator of 5-FU-induced cell death. Moreover, down-regulation of CALB2 in response to 5-FU may represent an intrinsic mechanism of resistance to this anti-cancer drug.
T Cell Reactivity against Mycolyl Transferase Antigen 85 of M. tuberculosis in HIV-TB Coinfected Subjects and in AIDS Patients Suffering from Tuberculosis and Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Infections

The mycolyl transferase antigen 85 complex is a major secreted protein family from mycobacterial culture filtrate, demonstrating powerful T cell stimulatory properties in most HIV-negative, tuberculin-positive volunteers with latent M.tuberculosis infection and only weak responses in HIV-negative tuberculosis patients. Here, we have analyzed T cell reactivity against PPD and Ag85 in HIV-infected individuals, without or with clinical symptoms of tuberculosis, and in AIDS patients with disease caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria. Whereas responses to PPD were not significantly different in HIV-negative and HIV-positive tuberculin-positive volunteers, responses to Ag85 were significantly decreased in the HIV-positive (CDC-A and CDC-B) group. Tuberculosis patients demonstrated low T cell reactivity against Ag85, irrespective of HIV infection, and finally AIDS patients suffering from NTM infections were completely nonreactive to Ag85. A one-year follow-up of twelve HIV-positive tuberculin-positive individuals indicated a decreased reactivity against Ag85 in patients developing clinical tuberculosis, highlighting the protective potential of this antigen.
On Time-optimal Trajectories for a Car-like Robot with One Trailer

In addition to the theoretical value of challenging optimal control problmes, recent progress in autonomous vehicles mandates further research in optimal motion planning for wheeled vehicles. Since current numerical optimal control techniques suffer from either the curse of dimens ionality, e.g. the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation, or the curse of complexity, e.g. pseudospectral optimal control and max-plus methods, analytical characterization of geodesics for wheeled vehicles becomes important not only from a theoretical point of view but also from a prac tical one. Such an analytical characterization provides a fast motion planning algorithm that can be used in robust feedback loops. In this work, we use the Pontryagin Maximum Principle to characterize extremal trajectories, i.e. candidate geodesics, for a car-like robot with one trailer. We use time as the distance function. In spite of partial progress, this problem has remained open in the past two decades. Besides straight motion and turn with maximum allowed curvature, we identify planar elastica as the third piece of motion that occurs along our extr emals. We give a detailed characterization of such curves, a special case of which, called \emph{merging curve}, connects maximum curvature turns to straight line segments. The structure of extremals in our case is revealed through analytical integration of the system and adjoint equations.
Treatment patterns, risk factor control and functional capacity in patients with cardiovascular and chronic kidney disease in the cardiac rehabilitation setting

Background Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a frequent comorbidity among elderly patients and those with cardiovascular disease. CKD carries prognostic relevance. We aimed to describe patient characteristics, risk factor management and control status of patients in cardiac rehabilitation (CR), differentiated by presence or absence of CKD. Design and methods Data from 92,071 inpatients with adequate information to calculate glomerular filtration rate (GFR) based on the Cockcroft–Gault formula were analyzed at the beginning and the end of a 3-week CR stay. CKD was defined as estimated GFR <60 ml/min/1.73 m2. Results Compared with non-CKD patients, CKD patients were significantly older (72.0 versus 58.0 years) and more often had diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension, and atherothrombotic manifestations (previous stroke, peripheral arterial disease), but fewer were current or previous smokers had a CHD family history. Exercise capacity was much lower in CKD (59 vs. 92 Watts). Fewer patients with CKD were treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), but more had coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. Patients with CKD compared with non-CKD less frequently received statins, acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), clopidogrel, beta blockers, and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, and more frequently received angiotensin receptor blockers, insulin and oral anticoagulants. In CKD, mean low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), total cholesterol, and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were slightly higher at baseline, while triglycerides were substantially lower. This lipid pattern did not change at the discharge visit, but overall control rates for all described parameters (with the exception of HDL-C) were improved substantially. At discharge, systolic blood pressure (BP) was higher in CKD (124 versus 121 mmHg) and diastolic BP was lower (72 versus 74 mmHg). At discharge, 68.7% of CKD versus 71.9% of non-CKD patients had LDL-C <100 mg/dl. Physical fitness on exercise testing improved substantially in both groups. When the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) formula was used for CKD classification, there was no clinically relevant change in these results. Conclusion Within a short period of 3–4 weeks, CR led to substantial improvements in key risk factors such as lipid profile, blood pressure, and physical fitness for all patients, even if CKD was present.
End-to-End Delay Analysis for IEEE 802.11 String-Topology Multi-Hop Networks

String-topology multi-hop network is often selected as an analysis object because it is one of the fundamental network topologies. The purpose of this paper is to establish expression for end-to-end delay for IEEE 802.11 string-topology multi-hop networks. For obtaining the analytical expression, the effects of frame collisions and carrier-sensing effect from other nodes under the non-saturated condition are obtained for each node in the network. For expressing the properties in non-saturated condition, a new parameter, which is frame-existence probability, is defined. The end-to-end delay of a string-topology multi-hop network can be derived as the sum of the transmission delays in the network flow. The analytical predictions agree with simulation results well, which show validity of the obtained analytical expressions. key words: IEEE 802.11, string topology, VANETs, multi-hop networks, end-to-end delay analysis, MAC layer
THE ARITHMETIC THEORY OF QUADRATIC FORMS

1.1. Linear algebra is assumed as a prerequisite to these notes. However, this section serves to review the language of abstract linear algebra (particularly tensor products) for use in the remainder of these notes. We assume the reader familiar with these notions, and therefore do not provide a complete and detailed treatment. In particular, we assume the reader knows what a homomorphism of algebraic objects is.
Memristive computational architecture of an echo state network for real-time speech-emotion recognition

Echo state neural networks (ESNs) provide an efficient classification technique for spatiotemporal signals. The feedback connections in the ESN topology enable feature extraction of both spatial and temporal components in time series data. This property has been used in several application domains such as image and video analysis, anomaly detection, and speech recognition. In this research, we explore a hardware architecture for realizing ESN efficiently in power-constrained devices. Specifically, we propose a scalable computational architecture applied to speech-emotion recognition. Two different topologies are explored, with memristive synapses. The simulation results are promising with a classification accuracy of ≈ 96% for two distinct emotion statuses.
Self-assessment of interpersonal schemas using the relationship patterns questionnaire: A quantitative approach

This article reviews measures used to assess relationship patterns, 1 of which is the Relationship Patterns Questionnaire (RPQ) developed by Kurth and Pokorny (1999). The RPQ is based on the Structural Analysis of Social Behavior (Benjamin, 1974) and the core conflictual relationship theme (Luborsky, 1977). Using data from a representative German population survey (N=2,007), the authors introduced empirical RPQ scales for the reaction of the object, reaction of the subject, and introject items to complement the theoretical scales of the questionnaire. Means and standard deviations according to age, gender, and place of residence are reported as well as correlations between the scales and their dependency on sociodemographic parameters. The empirical scales show good internal consistency and clinical relevance. Thus, the RPQ is suitable to identify a patient's relationship patterns quickly and economically both in practice and in research.
A specific action of estradiol on enzymes involved in testicular steroidogenesis.

LH-Stimulated steroid production was studied in vitro in Leydig cells isolated from testes of 26, 32, 44, 54, and 64-day-old rats treated with estradiol implants. Five days after implantation of estradiol, the maximal testosterone production was decreased in 32, 44, 52, and 64-day-old rats, while maximal � -pregnenolone production was not changed. In 26-day-old rats, however, production rates of both testosterone and � -pregnenolone were decreased. The estradiol effect on testosterone production could be observed 48 h after implantation. Testosterone treatment for 5 days resulted in decreased testosterone as well as t� -pregnenolone production. Corticosterone implants were without effect. In contrast to the decrease in the maximal response with respect to testosterone production after estradiol treatment, a fivefold increase was observed in the sensitivity of Leydig cells for LH with respect to t� -pregnenolone and testosterone production. Administration of estradiol to 32-day-old rats resulted in decreased testicular levels of microsomal cytochrome P450 and in the formation of 3a-hydroxy-5o-pregnan-20-one. In Leydig cells from hypophysectomized 64-day-old rats treated for 5 days with estradiol, a decrease in C17_20-lyase and 17o-hydroxylasc activity was found. It is concluded that the observed decrease in testosterone production by Leydig cells from rats treated in vivo with estradiol is the consequence of a specific action of estradiol on testicular microsomal enzymes (including 1 7o-hydroxylase, C,7 -20 -lyase and cytochrome P450).
La mortalidad infantil en México, 2010

Utilizando el metodo de hijos nacidos vivos e hijos sobrevivientes de Brass, este articulo presenta estimaciones de la Tasa de Mortalidad Infantil (TMI) para el ano 2010, a nivel nacional y para cada una de las entidades federativas del pais. A fin de contar con un panorama sobre los niveles y tendencias de este indicador, adicionalmente se estima la TMI considerando como fuentes de informacion las estadisticas vitales y los ultimos tres censos de poblacion. Los resultados obtenidos confirman, por un lado, el descenso sostenido de la mortalidad infantil en nuestro pais y, por otro, la utilidad de considerar estimaciones indirectas de este indicador.
Travel-Associated Zika Virus Disease Acquired in the Americas Through February 2016: A GeoSentinel Analysis.

Background Zika virus has spread rapidly in the Americas and has been imported into many nonendemic countries by travelers. Objective To describe clinical manifestations and epidemiology of Zika virus disease in travelers exposed in the Americas. Design Descriptive, using GeoSentinel records. Setting 63 travel and tropical medicine clinics in 30 countries. Patients Ill returned travelers with a confirmed, probable, or clinically suspected diagnosis of Zika virus disease seen between January 2013 and 29 February 2016. Measurements Frequencies of demographic, trip, and clinical characteristics and complications. Results Starting in May 2015, 93 cases of Zika virus disease were reported. Common symptoms included exanthema (88%), fever (76%), and arthralgia (72%). Fifty-nine percent of patients were exposed in South America; 71% were diagnosed in Europe. Case status was established most commonly by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing of blood and less often by PCR testing of other body fluids or serology and plaque-reduction neutralization testing. Two patients developed Guillain-Barré syndrome, and 3 of 4 pregnancies had adverse outcomes (microcephaly, major fetal neurologic abnormalities, and intrauterine fetal death). Limitation Surveillance data collected by specialized clinics may not be representative of all ill returned travelers, and denominator data are unavailable. Conclusion These surveillance data help characterize the clinical manifestations and adverse outcomes of Zika virus disease among travelers infected in the Americas and show a need for global standardization of diagnostic testing. The serious fetal complications observed in this study highlight the importance of travel advisories and prevention measures for pregnant women and their partners. Travelers are sentinels for global Zika virus circulation and may facilitate further transmission. Primary Funding Source Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, International Society of Travel Medicine, and Public Health Agency of Canada.