Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of fisetin supplementation on inflammatory factors and matrix metalloproteinase enzymes in colorectal cancer patients.

A growing body of evidence indicates that inflammation is associated with tumorigenesis, metastasis and chemotherapeutic resistance in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). Natural flavonoids are promising agents for inflammation-related tumor progression in patients with CRC. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of flavonoid fisetin supplementation on the inflammatory status and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) levels in these patients. In this double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial, 37 CRC patients undergoing chemotherapy were assigned to receive either 100 mg fisetin (n = 18) or placebo (n = 19) for seven consecutive weeks. The supplementation began one week before chemotherapy and continued until the end of the second chemotherapy cycle. Levels of interleukin (IL)-8, IL-10, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), MMP-7, and MMP-9 were measured in plasma using ELISA, before and after the intervention. The trial was registered at http://www.irct. ir (code: IRCT2015110511288N9). The participants were 55.59 ± 15.46 years old with 62.16% being male. After the intervention, the plasma levels of IL-8 and hs-CRP reduced significantly in the fisetin group (p < 0.04 and p < 0.01, respectively). Additionally, fisetin supplementation suppressed the values of MMP-7 levels (p < 0.02). However, significant changes were observed only in IL-8 concentrations in the fisetin group when compared with the placebo group (p < 0.03). The changes in the levels of other metabolic factors were not statistically significant. According to the results, fisetin could improve the inflammatory status in CRC patients, suggesting it as a novel complementary antitumor agent for these patients and warranting further studies.
Statistical Analysis of Multicore CPUs Operation in Scaled Voltage Conditions

Designers try to reduce the voltage margins of CPU chips to gain energy without sacrificing reliable operation. Statistical analysis methods are appealing to predict the safe operational margins at the system level as they do not induce area overheads and they can be applied during manufacturing or after the chips’ release to the market. In this study, we present a comprehensive statistical analysis of the behavior of ARMv8 64-bit cores that are part of the enterprise 8-core X-Gene 2 micro-server family when they operate in scaled voltage conditions. Our prediction schemes that use real hardware counters as input are based on linear regression models with several feature selection techniques that aim to predict the safe voltage margins of any given workload when the cores operate in scaled conditions. Our findings show that our model is able to accurately predict safe voltage margins that provide up to 20.28% power savings.
Impact of large volume paracentesis on respiratory parameters including transpulmonary pressure and on transpulmonary thermodilution derived hemodynamics: A prospective study

Introduction Appropriate mechanical ventilation and prevention of alveolar collaps is mainly dependent on transpulmonary pressure TPP. TPP is assessed by measurement of esophageal pressure EP, largely influenced by pleural and intraabdominal pressure IAP. Consecutively, TPP-guided ventilation might be particularly useful in patients with high IAP. This study investigates the impact of large volume paracentesis LVP on TPP, EP, IAP as well as on hemodynamic and respiratory function in patients with liver cirrhosis and tense ascites. Material and methods We analysed 23 LVP-procedures in 11 cirrhotic patients ventilated with the AVEA Viasys respirator (CareFusion, USA) which is capable to measure EP via an esophageal tube. Results LVP of a mean volume of 4826±1276 mL of ascites resulted in marked increases in inspiratory (17.9±8.9 vs. 5.4±13.3 cmH2O; p<0.001) as well as expiratory TPP (-3.0±4.7 vs. -15.9±10.9 cmH2O; p<0.001; primary endpoint). In parallel, the inspiratory (2.4±8.7 vs. 14.1±14.5 cmH2O; p<0.001) and expiratory EP (12.4±6.0 vs. 24.9±11.3 cmH2O; p<0.001) significantly decreased. The effects were most pronounced for the release of the first 500 mL of ascites. LVP evoked substantial decreases in IAP and central venous pressure CVP. By contrast, mean arterial pressure, cardiac index, global end-diastolic volume index, extravascular lung water index and systemic vascular resistance index did not change. Among the respiratory parameters we observed an increase in paO2/FiO2 (247.7±60.9 vs. 208.3±46.8 mmHg; p<0.001) and a decrease in Oxygenation Index OI (4.8±2.0 vs. 5.8±3.1 cmH2O/mmHg; p = 0.002). Tidal volume (510±100 vs. 452±113 mL; p = 0.008) and dynamic respiratory system compliance Cdyn (46.8±15.9 vs. 35.1±14.6 mL/cmH20; p<0.001) increased, whereas paCO2 (47.3±10.7 vs. 51.2±12.3mmHg; p = 0.046) and the respiratory rate decreased (17.1±7.3 vs. 19.6±7.8 min-1; p = 0.010). Conclusions In mechanically ventilated patients with decompensated cirrhosis, intraabdominal hypertension resulted in a substantially decreased TPP despite PEEP-setting according to the ARDSNet. In these patients LVP markedly increased TPP and improved respiratory function in parallel with a decline of EP. Furthermore, LVP induced a decrease in IAP and CVP, while other hemodynamic parameters did not change.
Adaptability and survivability of different crossbreds cattle under commercial dairy farming conditions in Chittagong area.

The present study was undertaken to investigate the adaptability and survivability of different crossbred dairy cows under commercial farming conditions in Chittagong, Bangladesh. Different cattle genotypes (Holstein × Local, Sahiwal × Local, Sahiwal × Holstein and Jersey × Local) were found in the studied farms. The percentages of Holstein × Local was (58.94%) higher than other genotype. The survivability of Holstein × Local, Sahiwal × Local, Sahiwal × Holstein and Jersey × Local calves were 84.0±3.90, 100, 97.1±5.48 and 100 percent, respectively. The survivability of calves and cows were significantly different (P<0.05) among genotype. Survivability of bull-calves and heifers were similar for all the genotypes. International Journal of Natural Sciences (2012), 2(3):67-70 DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.3329/ijns.v2i3. 12134
Activity-Induced Remodeling of Olfactory Bulb Microcircuits Revealed by Monosynaptic Tracing

The continued addition of new neurons to mature olfactory circuits represents a remarkable mode of cellular and structural brain plasticity. However, the anatomical configuration of newly established circuits, the types and numbers of neurons that form new synaptic connections, and the effect of sensory experience on synaptic connectivity in the olfactory bulb remain poorly understood. Using in vivo electroporation and monosynaptic tracing, we show that postnatal-born granule cells form synaptic connections with centrifugal inputs and mitral/tufted cells in the mouse olfactory bulb. In addition, newly born granule cells receive extensive input from local inhibitory short axon cells, a poorly understood cell population. The connectivity of short axon cells shows clustered organization, and their synaptic input onto newborn granule cells dramatically and selectively expands with odor stimulation. Our findings suggest that sensory experience promotes the synaptic integration of new neurons into cell type-specific olfactory circuits.
Experimental Design and Surgical Approach to Create a Spinal Fusion Model in a New Zealand White Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

ABSTRACT There are several animal models routinely used for study of the spinal fusion process and animal selection largely depends on the scientific question to be answered. This review outlines the advantages and disadvantages of various animal models used to study spinal fusion and describes the New Zealand White (NSW) rabbit which is the most popular preclinical model to study spinal fusion. We outline critical steps required in planning and performing spinal fusion surgery in this model. This includes determination of the required animal number to obtain statistical significance, an outline of appropriate technique for posterolateral fusion and other components of completing a study. As advances in drug delivery move forward and our understanding of the cascade of gene expression occurring during the fusion process grows, performing and interpreting preclinical animal models will be vital to validating new therapies to enhance spinal fusion.
Affective theory of mind inferences contextually influence the recognition of emotional facial expressions

ABSTRACT The recognition of emotional facial expressions is often subject to contextual influence, particularly when the face and the context convey similar emotions. We investigated whether spontaneous, incidental affective theory of mind inferences made while reading vignettes describing social situations would produce context effects on the identification of same-valenced emotions (Experiment 1) as well as differently-valenced emotions (Experiment 2) conveyed by subsequently presented faces. Crucially, we found an effect of context on reaction times in both experiments while, in line with previous work, we found evidence for a context effect on accuracy only in Experiment 1. This demonstrates that affective theory of mind inferences made at the pragmatic level of a text can automatically, contextually influence the perceptual processing of emotional facial expressions in a separate task even when those emotions are of a distinctive valence. Thus, our novel findings suggest that language acts as a contextual influence to the recognition of emotional facial expressions for both same and different valences.
Production, Characterization and Applications for Toxoplasma gondii-Specific Polyclonal Chicken Egg Yolk Immunoglobulins

Background Toxoplasma gondii may cause abortions, ocular and neurological disorders in warm-blood hosts. Immunized mammals are a wide source of hyperimmune sera used in different approaches, including diagnosis and the study of host-parasite interactions. Unfortunately, mammalian antibodies present limitations for its production, such as the necessity for animal bleeding, low yield, interference with rheumatoid factor, complement activation and affinity to Fc mammalian receptors. IgY antibodies avoid those limitations; therefore they could be an alternative to be applied in T. gondii model. Methodology/Principal Findings In this study we immunized hens with soluble tachyzoite antigens of T. gondii (STAg) and purified egg yolk antibodies (IgY) by an inexpensive and simple method, with high yield and purity degree. IgY anti-STAg antibodies presented high avidity and were able to recognize a broad range of parasite antigens, although some marked differences were observed in reactivity profile between antibodies produced in immunized hens and mice. Interestingly, IgY antibodies against Neospora caninum and Eimeria spp. did not react to STAg. We also show that IgY antibodies were suitable to detect T. gondii forms in paraffin-embedded sections and culture cell monolayers. Conclusions/Significance Due to its cost-effectiveness, high production yield and varied range of possible applications, polyclonal IgY antibodies are useful tools for studies involving T. gondii.
Interleukin 7 Regulates the Survival and Generation of Memory CD4 Cells

Cytokines, particularly those of the common γ chain receptor family, provide extrinsic signals that regulate naive CD4 cell survival. Whether these cytokines are required for the maintenance of memory CD4 cells has not been rigorously assessed. In this paper, we examined the contribution of interleukin (IL) 7, a constitutively produced common γ chain receptor cytokine, to the survival of resting T cell receptor transgenic memory CD4 cells that were generated in vivo. IL-7 mediated the survival and up-regulation of Bcl-2 by resting memory CD4 cells in vitro in the absence of proliferation. Memory CD4 cells persisted for extended periods upon adoptive transfer into intact or lymphopenic recipients, but not in IL-7− mice or in recipients that were rendered deficient in IL-7 by antibody blocking. Both central (CD62L+) and effector (CD62L−) memory phenotype CD4 cells required IL-7 for survival and, in vivo, memory cells were comparable to naive CD4 cells in this regard. Although the generation of primary effector cells from naive CD4 cells and their dissemination to nonlymphoid tissues were not affected by IL-7 deficiency, memory cells failed to subsequently develop in either the lymphoid or nonlymphoid compartments. The results demonstrate that IL-7 can have previously unrecognized roles in the maintenance of memory in the CD4 cell population and in the survival of CD4 cells with a capacity to become memory cells.
Real‐time crystallographic studies of the adenine riboswitch using an X‐ray free‐electron laser

Structures of the four reaction states of the adenine riboswitch aptamer domain, including a transient intermediate state were solved by serial femtosecond crystallography. The structures not only demonstrate the use of X‐ray free‐electron lasers for RNA crystallography but have also proven that transient states can be determined in real time by mix‐and‐inject crystallography. These results illustrate the structural basis for the ligand‐induced conformational changes associated with the molecular ‘switch’.
HexServer: an FFT-based protein docking server powered by graphics processors

HexServer (http://hexserver.loria.fr/) is the first Fourier transform (FFT)-based protein docking server to be powered by graphics processors. Using two graphics processors simultaneously, a typical 6D docking run takes ∼15 s, which is up to two orders of magnitude faster than conventional FFT-based docking approaches using comparable resolution and scoring functions. The server requires two protein structures in PDB format to be uploaded, and it produces a ranked list of up to 1000 docking predictions. Knowledge of one or both protein binding sites may be used to focus and shorten the calculation when such information is available. The first 20 predictions may be accessed individually, and a single file of all predicted orientations may be downloaded as a compressed multi-model PDB file. The server is publicly available and does not require any registration or identification by the user.
Checkpointing with Docker Containers in High Performance Computing

Lightweight container virtualization has gained widespread adoption in recent years after updates to namespace and cgroups features in the Linux kernel. At the same time the Industrial High Performance community suffers from expensive licensing costs that could be managed with virtualization. To demonstrate that Docker could be used for suspending distributed containers with parallel processes, experiments were designed to find out if the experimental checkpoint feature is ready for this community. We run the well-known NAS Parallel Benchmark (NPB) inside containers spread over two systems under test to prove this concept. Then, pausing containers and unpausing them in different sequence orders we were able resume the benchmark. After that, we further demonstrate that if you carefully consider the order in which you Checkpoint/Restore containers, then the checkpoint feature is also able to resume the benchmark successfully. Finally, the concept of restoring distributed containers, running the benchmark, on a different system from where it started was proven to be working with a high success rate. Our tests demonstrate the performance, possibilities and flexibilities of Dockers future in the industrial HPC community. This might very well tip the community over to running their simulations and virtual engineering-applications inside containers instead of running them on native hardware.
Retinal microvascular signs and incidence of abdominal aortic aneurysm: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study

ABSTRACT Purpose: To test the hypothesis that retinal microvascular abnormalities known to predict other cardiovascular diseases are associated prospectively with risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm. The rationale is that aortic aneurysm involves small vessel pathology that parallels, to some degree, retinal vasculopathy. Methods: In 1993–1995, the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study, a prospective population-based cohort, took retinal photographs of a randomly selected eye of 10,911 ARIC participants (initial mean age 60 years). Staff centrally graded the photographs using central retinal arteriolar equivalent (CRAE) and central retinal venular equivalent (CRVE) indices. We followed participants for incidence of abdominal aortic aneurysm (n = 378 events), measured via medical record linkage from 1993–1995 through 2011. Results: Wider venular diameters were associated with increased incidence of abdominal aortic aneurysm, with the hazard ratio (95% CI) being 1.61 (1.20, 2.16) for the highest versus lowest quartile of CRVE. However, adjustment for other abdominal aortic aneurysm risk factors, particularly smoking, eliminated the association of CRVE with abdominal aortic aneurysm. CRAE and frank retinopathy showed no association with abdominal aortic aneurysm incidence. Conclusion: This prospective study found that retinal vascular diameters and retinopathy are not associated with incidence of abdominal aortic aneurysm.
Simplifying Telerobotics: Wearability and Teleimpedance Improves Human-Robot Interactions in Teleoperation

In recent years, wearability has become a new fundamental requirement for an effective and lightweight design of human-robot interfaces. Among the different application fields, robotic teleoperation represents the ideal scenario that can largely benefit from wearability to reduce constraints to the human workspace (acting as a master) and enable an intuitive and simplified information exchange within the teleoperator system. This effective simplification is particularly important if we consider the interaction with synergy-inspired robotic devices, i.e., those that are endowed with a reduced number of control inputs and sensors, with the goal of simplifying control and communication among humans and robots. In this article, we present an integrated approach for augmented teleoperation where wearable hand/arm pose undersensing and haptic feedback devices are combined with teleimpedance (TI) techniques for the simplified yet effective position and stiffness control of a synergy-inspired robotic manipulator in real time. The slave robot consists of a KUKA lightweight robotic arm equipped with the Pisa/IIT SoftHand, both controlled in impedance to perform a drilling task-an illustrative example of a dynamic task with environmental constraints. The experimental results from ten healthy subjects suggest that the proposed integrated interface enables the master to appropriately regulate the stiffness and pose of the robotic hand-arm system through the perception of interaction forces and vision, contributing to successful and intuitive executions of the remote task. The achieved performance is presented in comparison to the reduced versions of the integrated system, in which either TI control or wearable feedback is excluded.
RUSSE'2018: A Shared Task on Word Sense Induction for the Russian Language

The paper describes the results of the first shared task on word sense induction (WSI) for the Russian language. While similar shared tasks were conducted in the past for some Romance and Germanic languages, we explore the performance of sense induction and disambiguation methods for a Slavic language that shares many features with other Slavic languages, such as rich morphology and virtually free word order. The participants were asked to group contexts of a given word in accordance with its senses that were not provided beforehand. For instance, given a word "bank" and a set of contexts for this word, e.g. "bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits" and "river bank is a slope beside a body of water", a participant was asked to cluster such contexts in the unknown in advance number of clusters corresponding to, in this case, the "company" and the "area" senses of the word "bank". For the purpose of this evaluation campaign, we developed three new evaluation datasets based on sense inventories that have different sense granularity. The contexts in these datasets were sampled from texts of Wikipedia, the academic corpus of Russian, and an explanatory dictionary of Russian. Overall, 18 teams participated in the competition submitting 383 models. Multiple teams managed to substantially outperform competitive state-of-the-art baselines from the previous years based on sense embeddings.
Fluorescence Fails: Analysis of UVA-Induced Visible Fluorescence and False-Color Reflected UVA Images of Tintype Varnishes Do Not Discriminate Between Varnish Materials

To determine if the commonly used technique of UVA-induced visible fluorescence could accurately identify varnish materials, a study collection of 221 tintypes with known varnish materials was digitally imaged. The CIE L*a*b* values of the fluorescence in the lightest light and darkest dark areas of the images obtained in Adobe Photoshop® showed no correlation between resins present and the color of the fluorescence, and fluorescence failed to differentiate between even quite disparate materials such as shellac and dammar. This commonly used examination technique should not be considered a reliable identification method for varnish materials: if identification of resins is critical, more accurate analytical techniques must be employed. False-color UVA images, a relatively recent addition to the digital imaging repertoire, also failed to differentiate between resins, indicating that the relative absorption/reflection of UVA light by the resins was also insufficiently characteristic to provide identification.
Circulating microRNA profiles in different arterial territories of stable atherosclerotic disease: a systematic review.

AIMS Atherosclerosis is associated with altered circulating microRNA profiles. It is yet unclear whether the expression of these potential biomarkers differs according to the location of atherosclerosis. We assessed whether atherosclerosis of different arterial territories, except the coronary, is associated with specific circulating microRNA profiles. METHODS A systematic search in PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane Library was carried out using a retrieval strategy including MESH and non-MSH terms. Eligible studies have compared circulating microRNA profiles between individuals with and without stable atherosclerotic disease of large or medium size arteries. The review protocol was registered in PROSPERO database (reference CRD42017073846). RESULTS Eighteen studies were selected for qualitative synthesis: ten focused on carotid, six on lower limbs, and two on renal arteries atherosclerosis, none reporting on other locations. A common microRNA profile to different atherosclerotic disease locations was identified, including deregulation of miR-21, miR-30, miR-126, and miR-221-3p. Specific microRNA profiles for each territory were also identified, with consistency across studies, such as deregulation of miR-21 and miR-29 in carotid atherosclerosis, and let 7e, miR-27b, miR-130a, and miR-210 in lower limbs atherosclerosis. The robustness of the results was very high for let 7e, miR-29, miR-30, considering both the adjustment of microRNA expression for baseline variables and the replication of results in different studies (miR-29 in carotid, let 7e in lower limbs, and miR-30 in carotid and lower limbs atherosclerosis). Globally, the deregulated microRNAs are associated with control of angiogenesis, endothelial cell function, inflammation, cholesterol metabolism, oxidative stress and extracellular matrix composition. CONCLUSIONS A common microRNA profile to different atherosclerotic disease locations and specific microRNA profiles for each territory were identified. These findings may provide insights into pathophysiology and be useful for selecting potential biomarkers for clinical practice. To the best of our knowledge, no systematic data on this subject has been reported.