Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Amisulpride versus placebo in the medium-term treatment of the negative symptoms of schizophrenia

Background Amisulpride is a substituted benzamide with high selectivity for dopamine D2 and D3 receptors. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of 100 mg amisulpride in patients with predominantly negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Method This was a multi-centre, randomised, parallel-group, double-blind study. Patients received either amisulpride (100 mg/day) or placebo over a six-month treatment period. Results A total of 141 patients were included, 69 received amisulpride, 72 placebo. Fifty-eight patients (41%) had received neuroleptic treatment prior to inclusion. The percentage of amisulpride patients completing the study (55%) was significantly higher than that with placebo (32%), and drop-out rates due to lack of efficacy were 27% with amisulpride and 47% with placebo. All efficacy assessments were statistically in favour of amisulpride compared with placebo. The overall incidence of extrapyramidal symptoms was comparable in both groups; only five patients started anti-Parkinsonian treatment during the study (one in the placebo and four in the amisulpride group). Conclusion Amisulpride is effective in the medium-term treatment schizophrenic patients with predominantly negative symptoms.
Message-Passing Receiver for Joint Channel Estimation and Decoding in Broadband Massive MIMO Systems

In this paper, we address the message-passing receiver design for the broadband massive MIMO systems using OFDM modulation. Leveraging the framework of factor graph, a computationally efficient message-passing receiver that performs joint channel estimation and decoding is devised. Forthe task of detection and decoding, three different approximat ion strategies are investigated. Firstly, the mean-field appro ximation is employed, which leads to a concise message updating as both the channel coefficients and data symbols admit the exponential family distributions. However, the mean-fieldmethod has a performance loss, as it ignores the variance of inter-u ser interference. Then, we derive an approximate belief propag ation (BP) algorithm by virtue of the central limit theorem and moment matching, where the inter-user interference and message of channel coefficients are approximated into the Gaussian fam ily. Despite its excellent performance, the approximate BP bear s a heavy computation burden. To reduce the complexity, we combine the mean-field method with the approximate BP in an efficient hybrid-manner. Specifically, pair-wise joint belief of channel coefficient and data symbol is obtained using soft in terference cancellation, after which the marginal beliefs of c hannel coefficient and transmit data are estimated from the pair-wi se joint belief by applying the mean-field approximation. Given the message of channel coefficients extracted from observation s in the task of detection and decoding, an estimator based on Gaussi an message passing is derived for learning the channel coeffici ents between each pair of antennas. Our proposed estimator has a computational complexity of onlyO(K log2 K) by reformulating the message passing as recursions and using the Fast Fourier Transform, where K denotes the number of subcarriers. Finally, the proposed joint algorithms are assessed by simulations, and the results corroborate their superiority to state of the art.
Immunomodulatory Function of Regulatory Dendritic Cells Induced by Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) provide an excellent model for development of stem cell therapeutics, and their potential treatment in the immunopathogenic diseases have gained further interest after demonstration of immunomodulatory effects on complicated interactions between T cells and even dendritic cells (DCs). However, the mechanisms underlying these immunoregulatory effects of MSCs are poorly understood. In this study, we show that bone marrow derived MSCs can differentiate mature DCs (mDCs) into a distinct regulatory DC population. Compared with mDCs, they have lower expression of CD1a, CD80, CD86 and CD40, but higher expression of CD11b. MSCs induced DCs (MSC-DCs) can hardly stimulate T-cell proliferation even when MSC-DCs are stimulated by LPS. In addition, high endocytosic capacity, low immunogenicity, and strong immunoregulatory function of MSC-DCs are also observed. Moreover, MSC-DCs can efficiently generate CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Treg cells from CD4+CD25-Foxp3-T cells. The inhibitory function of MSC-DCs is mediated not only through TGF-β1, but also by inducing the production of Treg cells or T-cell anergy. These results demonstrate that the immunomodulatory effects of regulatory DCs induced by MSCs provide efficacious treatment for immunopathogenic diseases.
The Hispanic Americans baseline alcohol survey: alcoholic beverage preference across Hispanic national groups.

BACKGROUND U.S. Hispanics come from many countries in Latin America, which can lead to different beverage preferences in the United States. This paper examines choice for drinking wine, beer, and liquor across 4 Hispanic national groups: Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans, and South/Central Americans. METHODS A sample of 5,224 individuals 18 years of age and older was selected using multistage cluster procedures from the household population in 5 metropolitan areas of the United States: Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Houston, and Los Angeles. The survey weighted response rate was 76%. Face-to-face interviews lasting 1 hour on average were conducted in the respondents' homes either in English or Spanish. RESULTS Among men, beer drinkers consume the highest mean number of drinks per week in all national groups. Among women, this is true only of Puerto Ricans and Mexican Americans. Among men who drink beer, beer drinking constitutes 52 to 72% of total alcohol consumption. Among women who drink beer, beer consumption is associated with 32 to 64% of total consumption. Beer is the beverage most associated with binge drinking among Puerto Rican and Mexican American women, while among Cuban Americans and South/Central Americans this is seen for wine. Regression analyses showed no significant differences by national group in the likelihood of drinking 2 or fewer drinks (vs. no drinks) of wine, beer, or liquor. Puerto Ricans were more likely (OR = 1.47; 95% CI = 1.00-2.14) than Cuban Americans to drink 3 or more drinks (compared with no drinks) of beer. There was no association between the likelihood of binge drinking and Hispanic national group. CONCLUSIONS Beverage preference across Hispanic national groups is similar. Beer is the preferred beverage. Alcohol control policies such as taxation and control of sales availability should apply equally to beer, liquor, and wine. Prevention interventions directed at different Hispanic national groups in the United States can be relatively uniform in their focus on the dangers associated with drinking different types of alcoholic beverages.
Cognitive Radio Network Tomography

The cognitive radio network (CRN), as a promising technique in future wireless communication networks, shall execute some critical functionalities to enhance existing wireless networks, such as network reconfigurability to adaptively select networks (e.g., in IEEE P1900.4 and ETSI-RSS), spectrum opportunity utilization for transmissions over opportunistic links to enhance spectrum efficiency (e.g., in IEEE 802.22), and further cooperative relays among cognitive radios (CRs) and nodes of coexisting multiradio systems, including heterogeneous primary systems. To support multilink operations and networking functions in CRN, traditional spectrum sensing is not enough, and we thus develop CRN tomography to meet the general needs of CRN operations at both the link and network levels. Borrowing the concept from medical/Internet tomography via statistical inferring, we establish the framework and methodology of CRN tomography that can be passive monitoring or active probing defined over link- or network-level parameter inference. Generally speaking, conventional CR spectrum-sensing techniques belong to the category of the passive link-level monitoring. Multiple-system sensing and identification can be considered as a sort of passive network-level CRN tomography. We further propose active link-level CRN tomography by examining the radio resource for transmissions. Finally, CRN tomography using active network-level probing is illustrated by the estimation of successful packet-transmission probability in network operations. This paper initiates explorations of CRN tomography obtaining the required parameters at the link and network levels for successful CRN operations.
Task-Scheduling in Cloud Computing using Credit Based Assignment Problem

This Cloud computing is a latest new computing paradigm where applications, data and IT services are provided across dynamic and geographically dispersed organization. Job scheduling system problem is a nucleus and demanding issue in Cloud Computing. How to utilize Cloud computing resources proficiently and gain the maximum profits with job scheduling system is one of the Cloud computing service providers' ultimate objectives. In this paper we have used credit based scheduling decision to evaluate the entire group of task in the task queue and find the minimal completion time of all task. Here cost matrix has been generated as the fair tendency of a task to be assigned in a resource.
Prefrontal Oscillations during Recall of Conditioned and Extinguished Fear in Humans

Human neuroimaging studies indicate that the anterior midcingulate cortex (AMC) and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) play important roles in the expression and extinction of fear, respectively. Electrophysiological rodent studies further indicate that oscillatory neuronal activity in homolog regions (i.e., prelimbic and infralimbic cortices) changes during fear expression and fear extinction recall. Whether similar processes occur in humans remains largely unexplored. By assessing scalp surface EEG in conjunction with LORETA source estimation of CS-related theta and gamma activity, we tested whether a priori defined ROIs in the human AMC and vmPFC similarly modulate their oscillatory activity during fear expression and extinction recall, respectively. To this end, 42 healthy individuals underwent a differential conditioning/differential extinction protocol with a Recall Test on the next day. In the Recall Test, nonextinguished versus extinguished stimuli evoked an increased differential (CS+ vs CS−) response with regard to skin conductance and AMC-localized theta power. Conversely, extinguished versus nonextinguished stimuli evoked an increased differential response with regard to vmPFC-localized gamma power. Finally, individuals who failed to show a suppressed skin conductance response to the extinguished versus nonextinguished CS+ also failed to show the otherwise observed alterations in vmPFC gamma power to extinguished CS+. These results indicate that fear expression is associated with AMC theta activity, whereas successful fear extinction recall relates to changes in vmPFC gamma activity. The present work thereby bridges findings from prior rodent electrophysiological research and human neuroimaging studies and indicates that EEG is a valuable tool for future fear extinction research.
Nuclear fusion in gases of deuterium clusters heated with a femtosecond laser

Recent experiments on the interaction of intense, ultrafast pulses with large van der Waals bonded clusters have shown that these clusters can explode with substantial kinetic energy. Producing explosions in deuterium clusters with a 35 fs laser pulse, deuterium ions were accelerated to sufficient kinetic energy to drive deuterium–deuterium (DD) nuclear fusion. By diagnosing the fusion yield through measurements of 2.45 MeV fusion neutrons, over 104 neutrons per laser shot were measured when 100 mJ of laser energy is used.
Optimal Route Selection and Resource Allocation in Multi-Hop Cognitive Radio Networks

Cognitive radio makes it possible for an unlicensed user to access a licensed spectrum opportunistically on the basis of non-interfering. This paper addresses the problem of joint route selection and resource allocation in OFDMA-based multi-hop cognitive radio networks, in the objective of optimizing different types of end-to-end performance. Aiming to solve it optimally, we first show that this problem of optimal resource allocation can be formulated as a convex optimization problem and identify its necessary and sufficient conditions. Based on this conclusion, we propose an iterative algorithm that can be implemented in a distributed manner. This algorithm applies Lagrangian duality theory and the Frank-Wolfe method. The scheme thus converges to a globally optimal solution. We present numerical results from using the algorithm to provide insight into the optimal cross-layer design, e.g., the relationship between bottleneck throughput and hops, and the effect of Interference Temperature constraints.
D Audio and Acoustic Environment Modeling

Recently there has been a proliferation of 3D audio technologies intended for desktop computers. Many sound cards, multimedia speakers, video games, audio software, and CD-ROMs are marketed as having some sort of 3D capability. In addition, a new technology called acoustic environment modeling has emerged which combines basic 3D technology with reverberation and other effects in order to simulate natural acoustic scenes.
Transplantation of Photoreceptor and Total Neural Retina Preserves Cone Function in P23H Rhodopsin Transgenic Rat

Background Transplantation as a therapeutic strategy for inherited retinal degeneration has been historically viewed to restore vision as a method by replacing the lost retinal cells and attempting to reconstruct the neural circuitry with stem cells, progenitor cells and mature neural retinal cells. Methods and Findings We present evidence for an alternative strategy aimed at preventing the secondary loss of cones, the most crucial photoreceptors for vision, by transplanting normal photoreceptors cells into the eye of the P23H rat, a model of dominant retinitis pigmentosa. We carried out transplantation of photoreceptors or total neural retina in 3-month-old P23H rats and evaluated the function and cell counts 6 months after surgery. In both groups, cone loss was significantly reduced (10%) in the transplanted eyes where the cone outer segments were found to be considerably longer. This morphological effect correlated with maintenance of the visual function of cones as scored by photopic ERG recording, but more precisely with an increase in the photopic b-wave amplitudes by 100% and 78% for photoreceptor transplantation and whole retinal transplantation respectively. Conclusions We demonstrate here that the transplanted tissue prevents the loss of cone function, which is further translated into cone survival.
New developments in flavivirus vaccines with special attention to yellow fever

Purpose of review Here we review recent epidemiological trends in flavivirus diseases, findings related to existing vaccines, and new directions in flavivirus vaccine research. We emphasize the need for stepped-up efforts to stop further spread and intensification of these infections worldwide. Recent findings Although the incidence and geographic distribution of flavivirus diseases have increased in recent years, human vaccines are available only for yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, tick-borne encephalitis and Kyasanur forest disease. Factors contributing to resurgence include insufficient supplies of available vaccines, incomplete vaccination coverage and relaxation in vector control. Research has been underway for 60 years to develop effective vaccines against dengue, and recent progress is encouraging. The development of vaccines against West Nile, virus recently introduced to North America, has been initiated. In addition, there is considerable interest in improving existing vaccines with respect to increasing safety (e.g. eliminating the newly recognized syndrome of yellow fever vaccine-associated viscerotropic adverse disease), and to reducing the cost and number of doses required for effective immunization. Summary Traditional approaches to flavivirus vaccines are still employed, while recent advancements in biotechnology produced new approaches to vaccine design, such as recombinant live virus, subunit and DNA vaccines. Live chimeric vaccines against dengue, Japanese encephalitis and West Nile based on yellow fever 17D virus (ChimeriVax) are in phase I/II trials, with encouraging results. Other chimeric dengue, tick-borne encephalitis and West Nile virus candidates were developed based on attenuated dengue backbones. To further reduce the impact of flavivirus diseases, vaccination policies and vector control programs in affected countries require revision.
Adaptive wavelets based multiresolution modeling of irregular meshes via harmonic maps

We propose an adaptive wavelets based multiresolution scheme by using harmonic maps for 3D irregular meshes. This approach extends the previous works by M. Eck et al. (see SIGGRAPH '95, p.173-82, 1995) and M. Lounsbery (see "Multiresolution Analysis for Surfaces of Arbitrary Topological Type", PhD thesis, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Washington, p.129, 1994) which have been developed for regular triangular mesh subdivision. First, we construct parameterizations of the original mesh that results in a remesh having a subdivision connectivity for the wavelets decomposition. Next, the local subdivision based multiresolution scheme is presented. Our algorithm represents effectively a region of interest or a region having complex and high curvature geometry by using bi-orthogonal wavelets. Through the computer simulation tested on some example meshes, we show that the proposed method is more effective than the previous regular subdivision methods.
The Effects of SNP Genotyping Errors on the Power of The Cochran‐Armitage Linear Trend Test for Case/Control Association Studies

The questions addressed in this paper are: What single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping errors are most costly, in terms of minimum sample size necessary (MSSN) to maintain constant asymptotic power and significance level, when performing case‐control studies of genetic association applying the Cochran‐Armitage trend test? And which trend test or χ2 test is more powerful under standard genetic models with genotyping errors? Our strategy is to expand the non‐centrality parameter of the asymptotic distribution of the trend test to approximate the MSSN using a Taylor series linear in the genotyping error rates. We apply our strategy to example scenarios that assume recessive, dominant, additive, or over‐dominant disease models.
Cooperative micro-particle swarm optimization

Cooperative approaches have proved to be very useful in evolutionary computation due to their ability to solve efficiently high-dimensional complex problems through the cooperation of low-dimensional subpopulations. On the other hand, Micro-evolutionary approaches employ very small populations of just a few individuals to provide solutions rapidly. However, the small population size renders them prone to search stagnation. This paper introduces Cooperative Micro-Particle Swarm Optimization, which employs cooperative low-dimensional and low-cardinality subswarms to concurrently adapt different subcomponents of high-dimensional optimization problems. The algorithm is applied on high-dimensional instances of five widely used test problems with very promising results. Comparisons with the standard Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm are also reported and discussed.
CXC Chemokine CXCL12 and Its Receptor CXCR4 in Tree Shrews (Tupaia belangeri): Structure, Expression and Function

Chemokines are small secreted proteins functionally involved in the immune system's regulation of lymphocyte migration across numerous mammalian species. Given its growing popularity in immunological models, we investigated the structure and function of chemokine CXCL12 protein in tree shrews. We found that CXCL12 and its receptor CXCR4 in tree shrew had structural similarities to their homologous human proteins. Phylogenetic analysis supports the view that tree shrew is evolutionarily-close to the primates. Our results also showed that the human recombinant CXCL12 protein directly enhanced the migration of tree shrew's lymphocytes in vitro, while AMD3100 enhanced the mobilization of hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) from bone marrow into peripheral blood in tree shrew in vivo. Collectively, these findings suggested that chemokines in tree shrews may play the same or similar roles as those in humans, and that the tree shrew is a viable animal model for studying human immunological diseases.
Universal Fuzzy Integral Sliding-Mode Controllers for Stochastic Nonlinear Systems

In this paper, the universal integral sliding-mode controller problem for the general stochastic nonlinear systems modeled by Itô type stochastic differential equations is investigated. One of the main contributions is that a novel dynamic integral sliding mode control (DISMC) scheme is developed for stochastic nonlinear systems based on their stochastic T-S fuzzy approximation models. The key advantage of the proposed DISMC scheme is that two very restrictive assumptions in most existing ISMC approaches to stochastic fuzzy systems have been removed. Based on the stochastic Lyapunov theory, it is shown that the closed-loop control system trajectories are kept on the integral sliding surface almost surely since the initial time, and moreover, the stochastic stability of the sliding motion can be guaranteed in terms of linear matrix inequalities. Another main contribution is that the results of universal fuzzy integral sliding-mode controllers for two classes of stochastic nonlinear systems, along with constructive procedures to obtain the universal fuzzy integral sliding-mode controllers, are provided, respectively. Simulation results from an inverted pendulum example are presented to illustrate the advantages and effectiveness of the proposed approaches.