Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gut microbiota after gastric bypass in human obesity: increased richness and associations of bacterial genera with adipose tissue genes.

BACKGROUND Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery is one of the most efficient procedures for treating morbid obesity and results in weight-loss and improvements in metabolism and inflammation. OBJECTIVE We examined the impact of RYGB on modifications of gut microbiota and its potential associations with changes in gene expression in white adipose tissue (WAT). DESIGN Gut microbiota were profiled from fecal samples by using pyrosequencing in morbidly obese individuals, explored before (0 mo), 3 mo after, and 6 mo after RYGB. WAT gene expression was studied at 0 and 3 mo. We explored associations between microbial genera and differentially expressed genes in WAT and clinical markers. RESULTS The richness of gut microbiota increased after RYGB; 37% of increased bacteria belonged to Proteobacteria. The associations between gut microbiota composition and WAT gene expression increased after RYGB. Fourteen discriminant bacterial genera (7 were dominant and 7 were subdominant) and 202 WAT genes changed after RYGB. Variations in bacterial genera correlated with changes in both clinical phenotype and adipose tissue gene expression. Some genes encode metabolic and inflammatory genes. Almost half of the correlations were independent of the change in calorie intake. CONCLUSION These results show an increase in gut microbiota richness and in the number of associations between gut microbiota and WAT genes after RYGB in obesity. Variations of gut microbiota were associated with changes in WAT gene expression. These findings stimulate deeper explorations of the mechanisms linking gut microbiome and WAT pathological alterations in human obesity and its changes after weight loss.
Pluripotent Stem Cell‐Based Platforms in Cardiac Disease Modeling and Drug Testing

The ability to generate patient/disease‐specific human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)‐derived cardiomyocytes (hPSC‐CMs) brings a unique value to the fields of cardiac disease modeling, drug testing, drug discovery, and precision medicine. Further integration of emerging innovative technologies such as developmental‐biology inspired differentiation into chamber‐specific cardiomyocyte subtypes, genome‐editing, tissue‐engineering, and novel functional phenotyping methodologies should facilitate even more advanced investigations. Here, we review cornerstone concepts and recent highlights of hPSC‐based cardiac disease modeling and drug testing.
American Society of Clinical Oncology Statement on minimum standards and exemplary attributes of clinical trial sites.

PURPOSE To describe both minimum requirements for a site conducting quality clinical trials and attributes of an exemplary site. METHODS Minimum requirements and exemplary attributes were selected based on literature review, prevailing regulatory requirements, and consensus among a group of community and academic clinical researchers. RESULTS To provide guidance to oncologists who wish to conduct patient-oriented research, recommendations are made to assist in the development and implementation of high-quality research programs with the priority of protecting the welfare and rights of trial participants. A quality research site complies with the International Conference on Harmonisation (ICH) Good Clinical Practice (GCP) guidelines, the accepted international ethical and scientific quality standards for designing, conducting, recording, and reporting trials involving human participants. Recognizing that many research sites conduct clinical trials in compliance with accepted GCP standards, supplemental attributes of an exemplary research site that exceed the GCP criteria are also described. These attributes include diversification of clinical trial mix, high accrual activity, participation in the trial development process, maintenance of high educational standards, quality assurance, multidisciplinary involvement in the clinical trial process, and promotion of clinical trial awareness programs. CONCLUSION Meeting the minimum criteria ensures conduct of quality clinical trials; however, some sites may wish to incorporate value-added attributes to exceed GCP compliance. These attributes are proposed as performance goals rather than requirements, recognizing that all sites conducting research will not necessarily meet each attribute but may still conduct high-quality clinical trials.
Prototype Proposal for Profiling and Identification of TV Viewers using Watching Patterns

Content based recommendation systems have widely been used for recommendations in ecommerce and in TV content recommendations for a long period of time. Such recommendation systems could help multimedia content providers separate content on individual level of TV viewers and offer better advertising options for media agencies and advertisers. One of the greatest challenges for providing individual TV content is identification of distinct TV viewers in household and link them with social economic and demographic metrics individually. From a technical point of view Machine Learning ensemble model should be created with several separate models for each need. In this study a prototype for a content-based recommendation system was created that can fulfil content targeting and watched content efficiency using real time watching data. The solution prototype covers all important parts of the model including data filtering, cleaning and transformation. The technical prototype allows to test efficiency of Machine Learning techniques used for prediction of household composition and social profiles assigned to an individual inhabitant of the household.
Successful Immunization Against Acanthamoeba Keratitis in a Pig Model

The feasibility of inducing protective immunity to Acanthamoeba keratitis was tested in a pig model. Experiments were designed to determine if ocular infection with Acanthamoeba trophozoites would elicit protection against reinfection. Additional experiments examined whether injection of parasite antigens either intramuscularly, subconjunctivally, or by both routes would induce immunity. Therefore, four groups of animals were examined: (a) pigs that had resolved a primary corneal infection with Acanthamoeba; (b) pigs immunized intramuscularly; (c) pigs immunized subconjunctivally; and (d) pigs immunized intramuscularly and subconjunctivally. Animals were subsequently challenged with parasite-laden soft contact lenses and observed clinically for the appearance of Acanthamoeba keratitis. Acanthamoeba-specific serum antibody titers and blastogenic responses of peripheral blood lymphocytes were determined weekly. The results indicated that intramuscular injection of Acanthamoeba antigens failed to protect against ocular infection even though hosts developed high titers of IgG antibodies and displayed lymphocyte blastogenic responses to parasite antigens. Ocular infection alone failed to stimulate immunity in any of the animals. By contrast, 50% of the hosts immunized subconjunctivally were protected against corneal disease, and 100% of the animals immunized by a combination of intramuscular and subconjunctival administration of parasite antigens were completely protected against two separate ocular challenges with infectious parasites. Protection did not correlate with either IgG antibody titers or blastogenic potentials of peripheral blood lymphocytes. Interestingly, ocular infection alone failed to stimulate immunity to subsequent ocular challenge with infectious parasites. Thus, administration of parasite antigen via the subconjunctival route can protect against Acanthamoeba keratitis.
Distribution of alpha2, alpha3, alpha4, and beta2 neuronal nicotinic receptor subunit mRNAs in the central nervous system: A hybridization histochemical study in the rat

Previous studies have revealed the existence of a gene family that encodes a group of neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) subunits. Four members of this family have been characterized thus far; three of these subunits (alpha2, alpha3, and alpha4) are structurally related to the ligand binding subunit expressed in muscle and form functional nAChRs when combined with the beta2 gene product in Xenopus oocytes. In addition, the alpha4 gene appears to encode two different products (alpha4‐1 and alpha4‐2) that have been proposed to arise by alternative mRNA splicing. Nine different [35S]‐complementary ribonucleic acid (cRNA) probes were used in the present study to map the distribution of these nAChR subunit mRNAs throughout the central nervous system (CNS) of the rat.
On the origins of denial negation

ABSTRACT These are the principal questions of this study: are the early fonctions of negation, such as REJECTION, and the later emerging DENIAL no developmentally related? And when do children start to deny? So far, evidence for the questions at hand has been almost exclusively observational. We decided on a simple elicitation procedure instead, asking 48 children (ages between 1;1 and 2;7) easy yes/no-questions. The most likely age range for the appearance of denial no was 1;8–2;1. Its error-free acquisition supports the continuity theory of negation development, which holds that essentials of denial no carry over from the earlier fonctions of no. Finally an attempt is made to account for the beginnings of denial in terms of semantics and the representational theory of child cognition.
Variability of Aortic Valve Calcification Measurement With Multislice Spiral Computed Tomography

Objectives:We sought to assess the variability of aortic valve calcifications (AVCs) regarding the reconstruction window at different heart phases using multislice-spiral computed tomography. Materials and Methods:A total of 46 patients (26 men; mean age. 65 years) underwent AVC scoring with multislice-spiral computed tomography (12 × 0.75 mm, 120 kV, 133 mAseff). Image reconstruction was performed every 10% of the RR-interval (0–90%). AVC was quantified using Agatston score, calcium volume, and calcium mass. Images were assessed for least motion artifacts. Coefficients of variation and Wilcoxon test were calculated. Results:AVC scores are lowest at 60% and highest at 0% of the RR-interval (P < 0.001). Mean coefficients of variation were 36.2% (Agatston score), 38.7% (calcium volume), and 32.9% (calcium mass). At 60% (50–70%). minimal motion artifacts and the lowest variability of the scores were found. Conclusions:AVC scores show large variability depending on the point of image reconstruction. Diastolic image reconstruction at 60% of the RR-interval is recommended.
Spatial Entity Resolution between Restaurant Locations and Transportation Destinations in Southeast Asia

As a tech company, Grab has expanded from transportation to food delivery, aiming to serve Southeast Asia with hyperlocalized applications. Information about places as transportation destinations can help to improve our knowledge about places as restaurants, so long as the spatial entity resolution problem between these datasets can be solved. In this project, we attempted to recognize identical place entities from databases of Points-of-Interest (POI) and GrabFood restaurants, using their spatial and textual attributes, i.e., latitude, longitude, place name, and street address. Distance metrics were calculated for these attributes and fed to tree-based classifiers. POI-restaurant matching was conducted separately for Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Experimental estimates demonstrate that a matching POI can be found for over 35% of restaurants in these countries. As part of these estimates, test datasets were manually created, and RandomForest, AdaBoost, Gradient Boosting, and XGBoost perform well, with most accuracy, precision, and recall scores close to or higher than 90% for matched vs. unmatched classification. To the authors' knowledge, there are no previous published scientific papers devoted to matching of spatial entities for the Southeast Asia region.
RDV: An Alternative To Proof-of-Work And A Real Decentralized Consensus For Blockchain

A blockchain is a decentralized ledger where all transactions are recorded. For having a reliable blockchain and double-spending prevention, we need a decentralized consensus and agreement on a blockchain. Bitcoin uses proof-of-work (PoW). It is a cryptographic puzzle that is difficult to solve but easy to verify. However, because of significant latency of proof-of-work for transactions confirmation, this consensus mechanism is vulnerable against double-spending. On the other hand, PoW consumes a significant amount of energy that by growing the network, it becomes a major problematic of this consensus mechanism. In this paper, we introduce an alternative to PoW, because of all its major problems and security issues that may lead to collapsing decentralization of the blockchain, while a full decentralized system is the main purpose of using blockchain technology. The approach we introduce is based on a distributed voting process and called "RDV: Register, Deposit, Vote". Since in RDV algorithm, there is no mining process, so it is appropriate for low-level energy devices and Internet of Things (IoT).
The structure of Nudaurelia capensis beta virus: the first example of a capsid with icosahedral surface symmetry T-4.

Summary The three-dimensional reconstruction from electron micrographs of a virus isolated from larvae of the pine emperor moth, Nudaurelia capensis β virus, shows that its surface structure is based on the T = 4 icosahedral surface lattice. The 240 protein subunits are clustered in trimers with the four trimers per icosahedral face approximately planar but with deep grooves between adjacent faces.
A 65 nm CMOS digital processor for multi-mode time interleaved high-pass ΣΔ A/D converters

Digital processing in Time Interleaved High-Pass Sigma-Delta (TIHPΣΔ) Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) remains a bottleneck to realize high performances data converters. This paper proposes a new digital filter architecture which use Comb-filter cells. Comparing to existing solutions, our circuit reduces considerably complexity and power consumption of the digital post-filtering at the back end of the TIHPΣΔ. The proposed solution was validated and synthesized in a 1.2 V , 65 nm CMOS process using VHDL language. For a clock rate of 220 MHz, the evaluated power consumption and die area are 12 µW and 0.13 mm2 respectively.
Concentration of plasma sialic acid in the offspring of one type 2 diabetic parent

Sialic acid, oral glucose and plasma lipids were determined in 70 control subjects (age range 20-60) and 150 individuals of (age range 20-60) who were offspring of one type 2 diabetic parent. The number of first degree relatives who had impaired glucose tolerance were 50. The total sialic acid concentration was significantly higher (p<0.05) in the first degree relatives when compared to the control subjects. However the total sialic acid concentration was significantly higher in the offspring with normal glucose tolerance than in those with impaired glucose tolerance. There was no significant difference in the lipids between the control subjects and the offspring with normal glucose tolerance But the total cholesterol and triglycerides were significantly higher in the offspring with impaired glucose tolerance when compared to the control subjects and the offspring with normal glucose tolerance. Our study shows that desialylation of the vascular endothelium is an early event that precedes the expression of impaired glucose tolerance or any lipid changes in asymptomatic offspring of one type2 diabetic parent
The Term "Chin" in the Semitic Languages

Of all the words used to express parts of the face in the Semitic languages, that for chin is one of the least common (Holma 1911: 10-37). Unlike many other facial parts the "prominence of the lower jaw" is usually not found in idioms or phrases and never in metaphorical expressions (Dhorme 1963: 69-90), although it may be used figuratively in the term for scarab (see below). The chin, in addition to being the place where the main part of the beard grows, has in some languages often been thought to be synonymous with beard. It is our purpose to examine how the various Semitic languages render this term. For this purpose the languages will be discussed separately in the following order: Akkadian, Hebrew, Aramaic-Syriac, Arabic, and Ugaritic.
Design Analysis of Optical Loop Memory

This paper describes the fiber optic loop buffer-based switch in which contention is resolved in the time and wavelength domain. In the loop buffer, tunable wavelength converters (TWCs) are placed in place of semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) as in conventional loop buffer-based architectures. The placement of TWCs inside the buffer facilitate simultaneous read/write operation and dynamic re-allocation of wavelengths and improves the switch performance significantly. It is a well known fact that the re-circulating type buffer structure suffers from circulation limit (maximum revolutions that data can take in the buffer) due to the loss and noise accumulation in the switch. This paper presents a mathematical model to obtain a maximum number of allowed circulations of the data in loop buffer-based switch architecture. This model is derived for various configurations (transparent, noisy, and regenerative) of TWC. The detrimental effect of crosstalk and four wave mixing are shown, and the affect of dispersion on the maximum allowed bit rate is discussed. The minimum length of the loop is also evaluated. Finally, the bounded region is shown (bit rate versus number of wavelengths graph) where memory can work efficiently.
Contractile Regulatory Proteins Tropomyosin and Troponin-T as Indicators of the Modulatory Role of Retinoic Acid

Retinoic acid (RA), the active metabolite of vitamin A, plays a significant role in regulating cardiac form and function throughout the life of the organism. Both cardiac morphogenesis and myocardial differentiation are affected by alterations in RA homeostasis. In order to test the effect of all-trans RA and 13-cis RA on cardiomyocyte differentiation, we studied the level and the subcellular compartmentalization of α-tropomyosin and troponin-T proteins in cultures of chick embryo cardiomyocytes obtained from Hamburger and Hamilton’s (HH) stage 22, 32 and 40 embryos. The retinoids increased the levels of α-tropomyosin and troponin-T in the cytoplasmic and cytoskeletal fractions of cells at all three stages of development. The greatest increases in α-tropomyosin occurred in the cytoplasmic fraction in HH22 cells cultured for 24 h with all-trans RA or 13-cis RA, whereas the greatest increases in troponin-T were found in the cytoplasmic fraction of HH32 cells exposed to retinoids for 24 h. In cultures treated for 48 h with retinoids, the levels of α-tropomyosin and troponin-T showed significant increases in the cytoplasmic compartment of cells treated in HH32-with respect to the control values. These findings are further evidence that RA plays a modulating role in the formation and reorganization of sarcomeric proteins during the process of cardiomyocyte maturation.
Establishment of Application Guidance for OTC non-Kampo Crude Drug Extract Products in Japan

Currently, there are no standardized regulatory systems for herbal medicinal products worldwide. Communication and sharing of knowledge between different regulatory systems will lead to mutual understanding and might help identify topics which deserve further discussion in the establishment of common standards. Regulatory information on traditional herbal medicinal products in Japan is updated by the establishment of Application Guidance for over-the-counter non-Kampo Crude Drug Extract Products. We would like to report on updated regulatory information on the new Application Guidance. Methods for comparison of Crude Drug Extract formulation and standard decoction and criteria for application and the key points to consider for each criterion are indicated in the guidance. Establishment of the guidance contributes to improvements in public health. We hope that the regulatory information about traditional herbal medicinal products in Japan will be of contribution to tackling the challenging task of regulating traditional herbal products worldwide.
Nonlinear sliding-mode torque control with adaptive backstepping approach for induction motor drive

In this paper, the nonlinear sliding-mode torque and flux control combined with the adaptive backstepping approach for an induction motor drive is proposed. Based on the state-coordinates transformed model representing the torque and flux magnitude dynamics, the nonlinear sliding-mode control is designed to track a linear reference model. Furthermore, the adaptive backstepping control approach is utilized to obtain the robustness for mismatched parameter uncertainties. With the proposed control of torque and flux amplitude, the controlled induction motor drive possesses the advantages of good transient performance and robustness to parametric uncertainties, and the transient dynamics of the induction motor drive can be regulated through the design of a linear reference model which has the desired dynamic behaviors for the drive system. Finally, some experimental results are demonstrated to validate the proposed controllers.
PREELECTION MOBILIZATION AND ELECTORAL OUTCOME IN AUTHORITARIAN REGIMES

Does preelection protest have an effect on the outcomes of authoritarian elections? Electoral authoritarian regimes use elections to consolidate their power and claim democratic legitimacy. Nonetheless, on some occasions authoritarian incumbents lose elections despite their advantages, and a democratic breakthrough is achieved. I propose that preelection protests contribute to such election results. Existing scholarship focuses primarily on the effectiveness of postelection upheavals, and the effects of preelection protest are still theoretically and empirically understudied. This article proposes a theory for why preelection contention has an independent effect on incumbent defeat of authoritarian regimes and democratization. I present empirical support for the association between preelection protest activities, incumbent defeat, and democratization using data from 190 elections across 65 countries with nondemocratic regimes. The findings of this analysis have important implications for studies of social.
A virtual network to achieve low energy consumption in optical large-scale datacenter

A data center network should provide communication with sufficiently large bandwidth and small delay between all servers. On the other hand, energy consumption of the data center network should be minimized. To satisfy all of the above requirements, in this paper, we introduce the virtual network configured over the data center network constructed of the optical cross connects (OXCs) and the electronic switches. We design the virtual network topology (VNT) so as to achieve sufficiently large bandwidth and small delay with small energy consumption. To calculate the suitable VNT in a short period, we propose the topology called Generalized Flattened Butterfly and a method to set the parameters so as to suit the current condition. In our evaluation, we clarify that our method achieves the sufficient bandwidth and the target maximum number of hops between top-of rack(ToR) switches with small energy consumption.