Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Apolipoprotein E, Not Fibrillar β-Amyloid, Reduces Cerebral Glucose Metabolism in Normal Aging

The ε4 allele of the polymorphic apolipoprotein E gene is associated with increased risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD), deposition of β-amyloid (Aβ), and reduction in cerebral glucose metabolism in asymptomatic people. Although ApoE4 may exert an effect on AD risk through amyloidogenic pathways, whether its effect on glucose metabolism is related to Aβ is unknown. To answer this question, we examined data from 175 cognitively normal older people (mean age, 77; 87 men, 88 women) in the Alzheimer's disease neuroimaging initiative studied concurrently with [18F]flurodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography measures of glucose metabolism and the radiotracer [18F]florbetapir, an imaging agent which labels fibrillar Aβ in vivo. Based on a threshold value of florbetapir uptake determined in separate samples, subjects were categorized as florbetapir+ or florbetapir−. Glucose metabolism was measured as a continuous variable in a group of regions of interest (ROIs) selected a priori based on their involvement in AD, and also by using a whole-brain voxelwise approach. Among this sample, 29% of subjects were florbetapir+ and 23% were ApoE4 carriers. As expected, there was a significant association between ApoE4 genotype and florbetapir positivity. Florbetapir status, however, was not significantly associated with glucose metabolism, but the ApoE4 genotype was associated with lower metabolism in both voxelwise and ROI approaches. These results show that ApoE genotype, and not aggregated fibrillar forms of Aβ, contributes to reduced glucose metabolism in aging and adds to a growing list of neural consequences of ApoE that do not appear to be related to Aβ.
On sensor-based roadmap: a framework for motion planning for a manipulator arm in unknown environments

We present a general framework for sensor-based motion planning for an articulated robot arm with many degrees of freedom. We assume a sensor that measures distances in physical space (a range sensor). Inspired by recent work in classical motion planning, the crux of our framework is to represent the connectivity of the configuration space (C-space) with a graph structure, the roadmap. This roadmap is then incrementally built. We have performed some simulations that show the promise of our approach.
Relationships between the prevalence and intensity of Loa loa infection in the Central province of Cameroon

Ivermectin treatment may induce marked adverse effects in those harbouring > 8000 Loa microfilariae (mff)/ml of blood, individuals with > 30 000 Loa mff/ml being at risk of developing serious neurological reactions. It is thus necessary to delineate the geographical areas where such responses may occur. To determine if the simple measure of prevalence of Loa microfilaraemia would be appropriate to identify the communities at risk, the relationships between prevalence and intensity of Loa microfilaraemia were investigated in 67 villages in Cameroon. The prevalence recorded in the adult population was found to be closely related to each of the indicators of infection intensity investigated. For example, when the prevalences of Loa microfilaraemia in adults were 20%, 30% and 40%, approximately 5%, 9% and 16% of the adults had microfilarial loads exceeding 8000 mff/ml, respectively; the corresponding percentages of adults with > 30 000 mff/ml were about 1%, 3% and 5%–6%. Thus it seems that, in areas where loiasis is co-endemic, the monitoring procedure during large-scale ivermectin treatments for the control of onchocerciasis only needs to be strengthened in those communities where the prevalence of Loa microfilaraemia in adults exceeds 20%.
An improved distributed video coding with low-complexity motion estimation at encoder

Distributed Video Coding (DVC) is a novel scheme which is different from the state-of-the-art video compression standards. A specific characteristic of DVC is its use of a low complexity encoder. However, there exists an issue on the DVC, which requires redundant decoding time. Therefore, low-complexity motion estimation algorithm and skip mode have been applied to the encoder of a hybrid DVC to reduce half of the decoding time. The computational complexity of the encoder only increases slightly with respect to the hybrid DVC, which is still far less than H.264/AVC no motion. In some cases, the encoding time is even reduced instead of being increased. Besides, the rate-distortion performance is improved in high motion videos. However, the rate-distortion performance does not decrease in the static video, because of the added motion estimation.
Wnt‐6 is expressed in the ureter bud and induces kidney tubule development in vitro

Summary: The embryonic kidney is a classic developmental model system for studying inductive tissue interactions that govern organogenesis. We report here that Wnt‐6 is expressed in the ureter bud, and that cell lines expressing Wnt‐6 induce nephrogenesis in vitro. Wnt‐6 cells induce tubules with similar kinetics to spinal cord (SPC) and lead to induced expression of Pax2, Pax8, Sfrp2, and E‐cadherin genes, early markers of tubulogenesis. Moreover, Wnt‐6 signaling rescues tubulogenesis in mesenchyme separated from Wnt‐4 mutant embryos and leads to activation of Wnt‐4 transcription. Wnt‐6 also induces a secondary axis in early Xenopus embryos. We conclude that Wnt‐6 is a candidate for the ureter epithelium‐derived signal that leads to activation of kidney tubulogenesis via Wnt‐4. genesis 32:259–268, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Fault Tolerant Sliding Mode Control Design with Piloted Simulator Evaluation

This paper considers sliding mode allocation schemes for fault tolerant control. The schemes allow redistribution of the control signals to the remaining functioning actuators when a fault or failure occurs. The paper analyzes the schemes and determines conditions under which closed-loop stability is retained for a certain class of faults and failures. It is shown that faults and even certain total actuator failures can be handled directly without reconfiguring the controller. The results obtained from implementing the controllers on a research flight simulator, configured to represent a B747 aircraft, show good performance in both nominal and failure scenarios, even in wind and gust conditions.
MARKET REACTION TO DIVIDEND INITIATION ANNOUNCEMENTS ON THE GHANA STOCK EXCHANGE: THE CASE OF INDUST

This study examines the market’s reaction to dividend initiation announcements. In particular, it considered the magnitude of abnormal returns during the days that surround announcements of dividend initiation. This study expects to reveal whether dividend initiation is important to investors on the Ghana Stock Exchange. It also expects to reveal whether the type of firm’s industry has influence on the investors’ investment decision. This is accomplished by measuring the abnormal returns before, during and after dividend initiation announcements. Using an event study approach, the evidence shows that dividend initiation announcements are greeted positively by investors. Industry based analysis is made to ascertain if firms in different industries react differently to dividend initiation announcement. The industries included: manufacturing, financial service and the other industries. The results suggest that firms in the manufacturing industry experience stronger investors’ reaction than firms in the other industries.
Energy Efficient Ad-hoc Routing Protocol for Disaster Scenario

Due to decentralization and infrastructure less characteristics of ad hoc networks, it can be established in any environment without pre-existing infrastructure with ease of deployment. There are many issues for designing of ad hoc network like MAC layer protocol, security, mobility of nodes, routing protocol, quality of service etc. The most challenging is design of routing protocol which may affects the performance of ad hoc network. Ad-hoc networks are very useful in disaster scenario which provides communication among rescue team members to perform relief operation efficiently. In this paper, we have proposed a new technique based on link stability and energy aware, which is applied to Ad-hoc On Demand Distance Vector (AODV) protocol. We have checked performance of normal AODV, Min max based AODV, distance based AODV and our modified AODV routing protocol in terms of routing metrics like packet delivery ratio, normalized routing load, throughput and remaining energy using NS2 simulator. Nodes in ad hoc network are having limited battery power so; if they consume battery power very efficiently then life time of nodes can be increased. From the simulation results, it is observed that our proposed technique on AODV protocol consume less energy and gives better performance than different variant of AODV.
Non-disruptive knowledge and business processing in knowledge life cycles - aligning value network analysis to process management

Purpose – This paper aims to achieve fully intertwined knowledge and business processing in change processes. It proposes streamlining situated articulation work, value network analyses (VNA) and subject-oriented business process modelling (S-BPM) and execution to provide non-disruptive single and double learning processes driven by concerned stakeholders. When implementing knowledge life cycles, such as Firestone and McElroy’s knowledge life cycle, the agility of organizations is significantly constrained, in particular, when surviving knowledge claims should be implemented in the business processing environment in a seamless way. Design/methodology/approach – The contribution is based on a conceptual analysis of knowledge life cycle implementations, learning loop developments and an exploratory case study in health care to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The solution towards non-disruptive knowledge and business processing allows stakeholders to actively participate in single- an.
ParkSense: Automatic Parking Positioning by Leveraging In-Vehicle Magnetic Field Variation

Drivers often park their vehicles without consciously (physically or mentally) noting down the parked location which makes it hard and inconvenient for the users to later locate their vehicles. Existing solutions either require users to explicitly note down the parked position on their mobile device by performing a certain action, such as pressing a button to turn on their global positioning system, or are erroneous and inaccurate. This paper attempts to build ParkSense, a system that allows a smart phone to accurately and automatically “sense,” and later navigate to, the position at which the vehicle was parked. We propose to make use of the variations of magnetic fields and electromagnetic fields inside the vehicles to detect when a user stops and turns off his or her vehicle. Our evaluation with an actual implementation of the system on different mobile platforms and operating systems, tested on different mobile devices/phones and car models, shows the detection accuracy of more than 90%, confirming the feasibility of our approach.
Specificity and Control of Choline–O-Sulfate Transport in Filamentous Fungi

Choline-O-sulfate uptake by Penicillium notatum showed the following characteristics. (i) Transport was mediated by a permease which is highly specific for choline-O-sulfate. No significant inhibition of transport was caused by choline, choline-O-phosphate, acetylcholine, ethanolamine-O-phosphate, ethanolamine-O-sulfate, methanesulfonyl choline, 2-aminoethane thiosulfate, or the monomethyl or dimethyl analogues of choline-O-sulfate. Similarly, no significant inhibition was caused by any common sulfur amino acid or inorganic sulfur compound. Mutants lacking the inorganic sulfate permease possessed the choline-O-sulfate permease at wild-type levels. (ii) Choline-O-sulfate transport obeyed saturation kinetics (Km = 10−4 to 3 × 10−4m; Vmax = 1 to 6 μmoles per g per min). The kinetics of transport between 10−9 and 10−1m external choline-O-sulfate showed that only one saturable mechanism is present. (iii) Transport was sensitive to 2,4-dinitrophenol, azide, N-ethylmaleimide, p-chloromercuribenzoate, and cyanide. Ouabain, phloridzin, and eserine had no effect. (iv) Transport was pH-dependent with an optimum at pH 6. Variations in the ionic strength of the incubation medium had no effect. (v) Transport was temperature-dependent with a Q10 of greater than 2 between 3 and 40 C. Transport decreased rapidly above 40 C. (vi) Ethylenediaminetetraacetate (sodium salts, pH 6) had no effect, nor was there any stimulation by metal or nonmetal ions. Cu++, Ag+, and Hg++ were inhibitory. (vii) The initial rate at which the ester is transported was independent of intracellular hydrolysis. After long periods of incubation (> 10 min), a significant proportion of the transported choline-O-sulfate was hydrolyzed intracellulary. In the presence of 5 × 10−3m external choline-O-sulfate, the mycelia accumulated choline-O-sulfate to an apparent intracellular concentration of 0.075 m by 3 hr. Transport was unidirectional. No efflux or exchange of 35S-choline-O-sulfate was observed when preloaded mycelia were suspended in buffer alone or in buffer containing a large excess of unlabeled choline-O-sulfate. (viii) The specific transport activity of the mycelium depended on the sulfur source used for growth. (ix) Sulfur starvation of sulfur-sufficient mycelium resulted in an increase in the specific transport activity of the mycelium. This increase was prevented by cycloheximide, occurred only when a metabolizable carbon source was present, and resulted from an increase in the Vmax of the permease, rather than from a decrease in Km. The increase could be partially reversed by refeeding the mycelia with unlabeled choline-O-sulfate, sulfide, sulfite, l-homocysteine, l-cysteine, or compounds easily converted to cysteine. The results strongly suggested that the choline-O-sulfate permease is regulated primarily by repression-derepression, but that intracellular choline-O-sulfate and cysteine can act as feedback inhibitors.
Continuous Multimodal Emotion Recognition Approach for AVEC 2017

This paper reports the analysis of audio and visual features in predicting the continuous emotion dimensions under the seventh Audio/Visual Emotion Challenge (AVEC 2017), which was done as part of a B.Tech. 2nd year internship project. For visual features we used the HOG (Histogram of Gradients) features, Fisher encodings of SIFT (Scale-Invariant Feature Transform) features based on Gaussian mixture model (GMM) and some pretrained Convolutional Neural Network layers as features; all these extracted for each video clip. For audio features we used the Bag-of-audio-words (BoAW) representation of the LLDs (low-level descriptors) generated by openXBOW provided by the organisers of the event. Then we trained fully connected neural network regression model on the dataset for all these different modalities. We applied multimodal fusion on the output models to get the Concordance correlation coefficient on Development set as well as Test set.
Prediction of In Vivo Knee Joint Loads Using a Global Probabilistic Analysis.

Musculoskeletal models are powerful tools that allow biomechanical investigations and predictions of muscle forces not accessible with experiments. A core challenge modelers must confront is validation. Measurements of muscle activity and joint loading are used for qualitative and indirect validation of muscle force predictions. Subject-specific models have reached high levels of complexity and can predict contact loads with surprising accuracy. However, every deterministic musculoskeletal model contains an intrinsic uncertainty due to the high number of parameters not identifiable in vivo. The objective of this work is to test the impact of intrinsic uncertainty in a scaled-generic model on estimates of muscle and joint loads. Uncertainties in marker placement, limb coronal alignment, body segment parameters, Hill-type muscle parameters, and muscle geometry were modeled with a global probabilistic approach (multiple uncertainties included in a single analysis). 5-95% confidence bounds and input/output sensitivities of predicted knee compressive loads and varus/valgus contact moments were estimated for a gait activity of three subjects with telemetric knee implants from the "Grand Challenge Competition. " Compressive load predicted for the three subjects showed confidence bounds of 333 ± 248 N, 408 ± 333 N, and 379 ± 244 N when all the sources of uncertainty were included. The measured loads lay inside the predicted 5-95% confidence bounds for 77%, 83%, and 76% of the stance phase. Muscle maximum isometric force, muscle geometry, and marker placement uncertainty most impacted the joint load results. This study demonstrated that identification of these parameters is crucial when subject-specific models are developed.
Genomics miR-150 Blocks MLL-AF 9 – Associated Leukemia through Oncogene Repression

The microRNA miR-150, a critical regulator of hematopoiesis, is downregulated in mixed-lineage leukemia (MLL). In this study, miR-150 acts as a potent leukemic tumor suppressor by blocking the oncogenic properties of leukemic cells. By usingMLL-AF9–transformed cells, we demonstrate that ectopic expression of miR-150 inhibits blast colony formation, cell growth, and increases apoptosis in vitro. More importantly, ectopic expression of miR150 in MLL-AF9–transformed cells completely blocked the development of myeloid leukemia in transplanted mice. Furthermore, gene expression profiling revealed that miR-150 altered the expression levels of more than 30 "stem cell signature" genes and many others that are involved in critical cancer pathways. In addition to the known miR-150 target Myb, we also identified Cbl and Egr2 as bona fide targets and shRNA-mediated suppression of these genes recapitulated the pro-apoptotic effects observed in leukemic cells with miR-150 ectopic expression. In conclusion, we demonstrate thatmiR-150 is a potent leukemic tumor suppressor that regulatesmultiple oncogenes. Implications: These data establish new, key players for the development of therapeutic strategies to treat MLL-AF9–related leukemia. Mol Cancer Res; 11(8); 912–22. 2013 AACR.
Maximizing paper spread in examination timetabling using a vehicle routing method

One of the desirable attributes of real-life examination timetabling solutions is the maximization of paper spread, which is a measure of the amount of study time that each student has between examinations. We make use of the push-forward insertion heuristic (PFIH), a technique commonly employed in the vehicle routing problem, to find timetable solutions that maximize paper spread. This is done by including PFIH as part of a hybrid exam-timetablmg framework known as the Combined Method.
Hsp90 is involved in the entry of clostridial neurotoxins into the cytosol of nerve terminals

Botulinum and tetanus neurotoxins are the most toxic substances known and form the growing family of clostridial neurotoxins. They are composed of a metalloprotease light chain (L), linked via a disulfide bond to a heavy chain (H). H mediates the binding to nerve terminals and the membrane translocation of L into the cytosol where their substrates, the three SNARE proteins, are localised. L translocation is accompanied by unfolding, and it has to be reduced and reacquire the native fold to exert its neurotoxicity. The Thioredoxin reductase–Thioredoxin system is responsible for the reduction, but it is unknown whether the refolding of L is spontaneous or aided by host chaperones. Here we report that geldanamycin, a specific inhibitor of heat shock protein 90, hampers the refolding of L after membrane translocation and completely prevents the cleavage of SNAREs. We also found that geldanamycin strongly synergises with PX‐12, an inhibitor of thioredoxin, suggesting that the processes of L chain refolding and interchain disulfide reduction are strictly coupled. Indeed we found that the heat shock protein 90 and the Thioredoxin reductase–Thioredoxin system physically interact on synaptic vesicle where they orchestrate a chaperone‐redox machinery which is exploited by clostridial neurotoxins to deliver their catalytic part into the cytosol.
Epidemiologic Typing Systems

Abstract Microbial strain typing is a useful adjunct to clinical epidemiology. Phenotypic typing systems examine expressed characteristics, whereas genotypic systems, including recent PCR-based systems, examine chromosomal or plasmid DNA. Typing systems have evaluated bacteria, fungi, and viruses successfully. The criteria used to assess the utility of each system include typeability, reproducibility, and discriminatory power.
(‐)‐Deprenyl alleviates the degenerative changes induced in the neonatal rat spinal cord by CSF from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients

Previous studies from our laboratory suggest the presence of toxic factor(s) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) which induces degenerative changes in the spinal cord neurons. The present work was carried out to investigate the role of (‐)‐deprenyl in attenuating these degenerative changes. CSF samples from ALS and non‐ALS neurological patients were injected into the spinal subarachnoid space of 3‐day‐old rat pups, followed by a single dose (0.01 mg/kg body weight) of (‐)‐deprenyl, administered 24 h after CSF injection. After a further period of 24 h, the rats were sacrificed and the spinal cord sections were stained with antibodies against phosphorylated neurofilament (NF, SMI‐31 antibody) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). Activity of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) was also measured. (‐)‐Deprenyl injection resulted in a significant (61%) decrease in the number of SMI‐31 stained neuronal soma in the ventral horn of the spinal cord of ALS CSF exposed rats. This was accompanied by a reduction in the astrocytes immunoreactive for GFAP. There was also a significant (35%) decrease in the LDH activity following (‐)‐deprenyl treatment. These results suggest that (‐)‐deprenyl may confer neuroprotection against the toxic factor(s) present in ALS CSF.
Aspects of metabolic changes in first-episode drug-naïve schizophrenic patients

Aim The aim of the study was to investigate the state of parameters characterising different sites of metabolism and the degree of endogenous intoxication in first-episode drug-naïve schizophrenic [first episode of schizophrenia (FES)] patients. It is hypothesised that the FES is the initial step in the development of pathologically disturbed biochemical status that is characteristic of chronic schizophrenia. Methods Platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO) and serum semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase (SSAO) activities, serum concentrations of middle-mass endotoxic molecules (MMEM) and malondialdehyde and parameters of the serum albumin functional state were measured in 26 FES patients and 15 age-matched healthy controls. Results Severity of disorder before the treatment was 75.5 ± 2.2, according to Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale score. FES patients were characterised by significant increase in MAO activity (99%) and MMEM concentration (124%) and significant decrease in SSAO activity (26%) as compared with controls. Changes of all other parameters were insignificant. Regression analysis has showed a significant relationship of three parameters – MAO, SSAO and MMEM, with values of PANNS score. Two methods of extraction of factor analysis revealed that MAO and SSAO belonged to Factor 1, whereas MMEM and albumin functional parameters belonged to Factor 2. Conclusion Comparing our earlier data on chronic schizophrenic patients with present data, we hypothesise that FES patients are at the stage that leads to a stable, pathological state of metabolism.