Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A neuropsychological study of older adult first-time sex offenders

ABSTRACT Background/Aims: The issue of whether sex offenders have cognitive deficits remains controversial. The objective of this study was to compare the neuropsychological function of older adult first time sex-offenders (FTSO), who had not previously been charged with a sexual offence prior to the age of 50, to historical long-term sex offenders (HSO) and non-sex offenders (NSO). The hypotheses were (a) that FTSO would demonstrate greater deficits in executive function, decision-making, and memory compared to non-sex offenders; and (b) the HSOs would present similar neuropsychological deficits to non-sex offenders. Method: A battery of neuropsychological measures was administered to 100 participants comprising 32 FTSOs, 36 HSOs, and 32 NSOs. Results: Both FTSOs and HSOs showed significant impairment on tests of executive function (including verbal fluency, trail-making, and the Hayling test of response inhibition) as well as on tests of verbal and verbal memory compared to NSOs; however, there was no difference between the two sex offender groups. Conclusions: Older adult sex offenders, overall, demonstrated poorer neuropsychological performance than older adult non-sex offenders did, although there was no difference between older first-time and historical offenders. Cognitive deficits may increase the risk of sexual offending due to impaired capacity in self-regulation, planning, judgment, and inhibition. A proportion of older adult sex offenders may be harboring acquired frontal lobe pathology.
Pattern Identification for State Prediction in Dynamic Data Streams

This work proposes a pattern identification and online prediction algorithm for processing Internet of Things (IoT) time-series data. This is achieved by first proposing a new data aggregation and data driven discretisation method that does not require data segment normalisation. We apply a dictionary based algorithm in order to identify patterns of interest along with prediction of the next pattern. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated using synthetic and real-world datasets. The evaluations results shows that our system is able to identify the patterns by up to 85% accuracy which is 16.5% higher than a baseline using the Symbolic Aggregation Approximation (SAX) method.
Confocal laser scanning, scanning electron, and transmission electron microscopy investigation of Enterococcus faecalis biofilm degradation using passive and active sodium hypochlorite irrigation within a simulated root canal model

Root canal irrigation is an important adjunct to control microbial infection. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of 2.5% (wt/vol) sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) agitation on the removal, killing, and degradation of Enterococcus faecalis biofilm. A total of 45 root canal models were manufactured using 3D printing with each model comprising an 18 mm length simulated root canal of apical size 30 and taper 0.06. E. faecalis biofilms were grown on the apical 3 mm of the models for 10 days. A total of 60 s of 9 ml of 2.5% NaOCl irrigation using syringe and needle was performed, the irrigant was either left stagnant in the canal or agitated using manual (Gutta‐percha), sonic, and ultrasonic methods for 30 s. Following irrigation, the residual biofilms were observed using confocal laser scanning, scanning electron, and transmission electron microscopy. The data were analyzed using one‐way ANOVA with Dunnett post hoc tests at a level of significance p ≤ . 05. Consequence of root canal irrigation indicate that the reduction in the amount of biofilm achieved with the active irrigation groups (manual, sonic, and ultrasonic) was significantly greater when compared with the passive and untreated groups (p < .05). Collectively, finding indicate that passive irrigation exhibited more residual biofilm on the model surface than irrigant agitated by manual or automated (sonic, ultrasonic) methods. Total biofilm degradation and nonviable cells were associated with the ultrasonic group.
Intracranial C6 Gliomas Suppression by Stereotactic Injection of BCNU-loaded Nanoparticles Targeting for C6 Glioma Cells

BCNU-loaded poly(lactic acid) nanoparticles coated with transferring(Tf) were prepared through nano-precipitation technology using Tf solution as external aqueous phase.The activity of Tf on the nanoparticles' surface and the target ability of resultant nanoparticles were evaluated by cell experiment in vitro,the nanoparticles showed high affinity to C6 glioma cells.The biodistribution of nanoparticles after stereotactic injection into brain was studied via SPECT,the nanoparticels were retained in the delivery site until stereotactic injection 14h.The growth inhibition against intracranial C6 gliomas in vivo was investigated by MRI,the prolongation of survival time is remarkable,and the C6 glioma in 2 rats model was eliminated in 60d,indicating the BCNU-loaded poly(lactic acid) nanoparticles coated with Tf have a good growth inhibition for C6 glioma in vivo.
TRIM9-dependent ubiquitination of DCC constrains kinase signaling, exocytosis, and axon branching

Extracellular netrin-1 and its receptor DCC promote axon branching in developing cortical neurons. Netrin-dependent morphogenesis is preceded by multimerization of DCC, activation of FAK and Src family kinases, and increases in exocytic vesicle fusion, yet how these occurrences are linked is unknown. Here we demonstrate that TRIM9-dependent ubiquitination of DCC blocks the interaction with and phosphorylation of FAK. Upon netrin-1 stimulation TRIM9 promotes DCC multimerization, but TRIM9-dependent ubiquitination of DCC is reduced, which promotes an interaction with FAK and subsequent FAK activation. We found that inhibition of FAK activity blocks elevated frequencies of exocytosis in vitro and elevated axon branching in vitro and in vivo. Although FAK inhibition decreased SNARE-mediated exocytosis, assembled SNARE complexes and vesicles adjacent to the plasma membrane were increased, suggesting a novel role for FAK in the progression from assembled SNARE complexes to vesicle fusion in developing murine neurons. Abbreviations used in this paper DCC Deleted in Colorectal Cancer TRIM Tripartite Motif SFK src family kinase DCCKR non ubiquitinatable DCC mutant VAMP vesicle associated membrane protein TRIM9ΔRING TRIM9 lacking the ubiquitin ligase RING domain TRIM9ΔSPRY TRIM9 variant lacking the DCC-binding SPRY domain TIRF Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence pY phosphotyrosine FAKi pharmacological FAK inhibitor 14 FRNK FAK related non-kinase STX-1A syntaxin 1A IP immunoprecipitate
Adjusting for treatment switching in randomised controlled trials – A simulation study and a simplified two-stage method

Estimates of the overall survival benefit of new cancer treatments are often confounded by treatment switching in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) – whereby patients randomised to the control group are permitted to switch onto the experimental treatment upon disease progression. In health technology assessment, estimates of the unconfounded overall survival benefit associated with the new treatment are needed. Several switching adjustment methods have been advocated in the literature, some of which have been used in health technology assessment. However, it is unclear which methods are likely to produce least bias in realistic RCT-based scenarios. We simulated RCTs in which switching, associated with patient prognosis, was permitted. Treatment effect size and time dependency, switching proportions and disease severity were varied across scenarios. We assessed the performance of alternative adjustment methods based upon bias, coverage and mean squared error, related to the estimation of true restricted mean survival in the absence of switching in the control group. We found that when the treatment effect was not time-dependent, rank preserving structural failure time models (RPSFTM) and iterative parameter estimation methods produced low levels of bias. However, in the presence of a time-dependent treatment effect, these methods produced higher levels of bias, similar to those produced by an inverse probability of censoring weights method. The inverse probability of censoring weights and structural nested models produced high levels of bias when switching proportions exceeded 85%. A simplified two-stage Weibull method produced low bias across all scenarios and provided the treatment switching mechanism is suitable, represents an appropriate adjustment method.
Expression Profiling Identifies the Noncoding Processed Transcript of HNRNPU with Proliferative Properties in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

A gene array was used to profile the expression of 22,875 long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and a large number of protein coding genes in 47 specimens of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), adjacent benign pancreas and the pancreas from patients without pancreatic disease. Of the lncRNAs profiled, the expression of 126 were significantly increased and 260 were decreased in the tumors (p < 0.05, 2-fold). The expression of one lncRNA in particular, heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein U (HNRNPU) processed transcript (also known as ncRNA00201) was among the most significantly deregulated (increased four-fold) in the tumors compared to normal/adjacent benign tissues. Increased expression of HNRNPU processed transcript was associated with poor prognosis for patients with PDAC. The expression of HNRNPU processed transcript was increased in PDAC cell lines compared to noncancerous pancreatic cell lines. LNATM gapmer mediated inhibition of HNRNPU processed transcript reduced cell proliferation in Patu-T and PL45 pancreatic cancer cell lines. Reduced invasion and migration was reported upon HNRNPU processed transcript knockdown in Patu-T cells. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) knockdown of the HNRNPU protein coding gene correlated with a 55% reduction in the HNRNPU processed transcript expression and a corresponding reduction in proliferation of Patu-T and PL45 cells. However, gapmer inhibition of HNRNPU processed transcript did not affect HNRNPU mRNA levels. The lncRNA HNRNPU processed transcript expression is increased in both PDAC tissues and cell lines; knockdown of this lncRNA further reduces proliferation and invasion/migration of pancreatic carcinoma cells.
Decentralized Joint Precoding With Pilot-Aided Beamformer Estimation

Downlink beamforming techniques with low beamformer training overhead are proposed for joint processing (JP) coordinated multipoint transmission (CoMP). The objective is to maximize the weighted sum rate within joint transmission clusters without centralized beamformer processing, while accounting for uncertainty in the underlying channels. The proposed methods use time-division duplexing and pilot-based training with, possibly, nonorthogonal pilot sequences. The beamformer training is done without the explicit channel state information estimation, which greatly improves the robustness to pilot contamination. Best response and gradient-based decentralized algorithms are proposed and provide a tradeoff between computational complexity and fast convergence rate. The impact of feedback/backhaul quantization is also considered. The results show that JP CoMP is feasible with slow fading conditions and limited backhaul capacity by employing decentralized beamformer processing.
Study of ideal strengths of metals and alloys by statistical moment method: Temperature dependence

The ideal strengths of metals and alloys at finite temperatures have been studied using the statistical moment method. The tensile and shear strengths of the body-centered cubic (bcc) transition metals like Mo and W (refractory metals), and ordered FeAl ( B 2) and Fe_3Al ( D O3) alloys are calculated as a function of the temperature. The orthogonal tight-binding method is used for bcc transition elements, while the universal binding-energy relation (UBER)-type of pairwise potentials, derived from ab initio density-functional theory, is used for the FeAl and Fe_3Al alloys. We discuss the temperature dependence of the tensile and shear strengths of the metals and alloys in conjunction with those of the second-order elastic constants.
Characterization of gold nanoparticle layer deposited on gold electrode by various techniques for improved sensing abilities

The deposition of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on the surface of gold electrode is believed to enhance the electrochemical characteristics of the surface. According to the existing literature, this could be performed in various ways. The purpose of the current study was to compare these results and report the most effective technique. In this regard, the layer-by-layer deposition, self-assembled monolayer technique and electro deposition method were investigated. Our results showed that cyclic voltammetry electrodeposition of AuNPs causes an observable increase in the peak current, causing improved electrode kinetics and a reduction in the oxidation potential (thermodynamically feasible reaction). These modified electrodes also showed several advantages with respect to stability and reproducibility.
Prenatal and Postnatal Exposure to Persistent Organic Pollutants and Infant Growth: A Pooled Analysis of Seven European Birth Cohorts

Background Infant exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) may contribute to obesity. However, many studies so far have been small, focused on transplacental exposure, used an inappropriate measure to assess postnatal exposure through breastfeeding if any, or did not discern between prenatal and postnatal effects. Objectives We investigated prenatal and postnatal exposure to POPs and infant growth (a predictor of obesity). Methods We pooled data from seven European birth cohorts with biomarker concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyl 153 (PCB-153) (n = 2,487), and p,p´-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p´-DDE) (n = 1,864), estimating prenatal and postnatal POPs exposure using a validated pharmacokinetic model. Growth was change in weight-for-age z-score between birth and 24 months. Per compound, multilevel models were fitted with either POPs total exposure from conception to 24 months or prenatal or postnatal exposure. Results We found a significant increase in growth associated with p,p´-DDE, seemingly due to prenatal exposure (per interquartile increase in exposure, adjusted β = 0.12; 95% CI: 0.03, 0.22). Due to heterogeneity across cohorts, this estimate cannot be considered precise, but does indicate that an association with infant growth is present on average. In contrast, a significant decrease in growth was associated with postnatal PCB-153 exposure (β = –0.10; 95% CI: –0.19, –0.01). Conclusion To our knowledge, this is the largest study to date of POPs exposure and infant growth, and it contains state-of-the-art exposure modeling. Prenatal p,p´-DDE was associated with increased infant growth, and postnatal PCB-153 with decreased growth at European exposure levels. Citation Iszatt N, Stigum H, Verner MA, White RA, Govarts E, Palkovicova Murinova L, Schoeters G, Trnovec T, Legler J, Pelé F, Botton J, Chevrier C, Wittsiepe J, Ranft U, Vandentorren S, Kasper-Sonnenberg M, Klümper C, Weisglas-Kuperus N, Polder A, Eggesbø M, OBELIX. 2015. Prenatal and postnatal exposure to persistent organic pollutants and infant growth: a pooled analysis of seven European birth cohorts. Environ Health Perspect 123:730–736; http://dx.doi. org/10.1289/ehp.1308005
Implementing a data management infrastructure for big healthcare data

The advancements in healthcare have brought to the fore the need for flexible access to health-related information and created an ever-growing demand for efficient data management infrastructures. To this direction, in this paper, we present an effective and efficient data management infrastructure implemented for the iManageCancer EU project. The architecture focuses on enabling data access to multiple, heterogeneous and diverse data source that are initially available in a data lake. Parts of these data are integrated and semantically uplifted using a modular ontology. This integration can be either at run-time or through an ETL process ensuring efficient access to the integrated information. A unique feature of out platform is that it allows the uninterrupted, continuous evolution of ontologies/terminologies. Finally, summarization tools enable the quick understanding of the available information, whereas APIs and anonymization services ensure the secure access to the requested information.
Intensified test research on the influence of polypropylene fiber & silica fume on recycled concrete

The recycled concrete has limited its' range of application because of the defects of the recycled aggregate: rich in impurity,high in porosity,large in water absorbability,low in strength.The intensified test research shows that the utilization of polypropylene fiber and silica fume can obviously improve the recycled concrete's mechanics performance and increase its strength.The influence of different content of polypropylene fiber and silica fume on the strength of the recycled concrete is also studied in the paper.It can offer the theoretical foundation for the actual project application.
Commandeering the Ribosome: Lessons Learned from Dicistroviruses about Translation

ABSTRACT To replicate, all viruses depend entirely on the enslavement of host cell ribosomes for their own advantage. To this end, viruses have evolved a multitude of translational strategies to usurp the ribosome. RNA-based structures known as internal ribosome entry sites (IRESs) are among the most notable mechanisms employed by viruses to seize host ribosomes. In this article, we spotlight the intergenic region IRES from the Dicistroviridae family of viruses and its importance as a model for IRES-dependent translation and in understanding fundamental properties of translation.
Quantification of Propionic Acid in the Bovine Spinal Disk After Infection of the Tissue With Propionibacteria acnes Bacteria

Study Design. Research. Objective. The goal of this study was to investigate whether Propionibacteria acnes infection of the intervertebral disc can be detected noninvasively by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Summary of Background Data. Microbiological studies of surgical samples suggest that a significant subpopulation of back pain patients may have occult disc infection with P. acnes bacteria. This hypothesis is further supported by a double-blind clinical trial showing that back pain patients with Modic type 1 changes may respond to antibiotic treatment. Because significant side effects are associated with antibiotic treatment, there is a need for a noninvasive method to detect whether specific discs in back pain patients are infected with P acnes bacteria. Methods. P. acnes bacteria were obtained from human patients. NMR detection of a propionic acid (PA) in the bacteria extracts was conducted on 500 MHz high-resolution spectrometer, whereas in vivo NMR spectroscopy of an isolated bovine disk tissue infected with P. acnes was conducted on 7 T magnetic resonance imaging scanner. Results. NMR spectra of P. acnes metabolites revealed a distinct NMR signal with identical chemical shits (1.05 and 2.18 ppm) as PA (a primary P. acne metabolite). The 1.05 ppm signal does not overlap with other bacteria metabolites, and its intensity increases linearly with P. acnes concentration. Bovine disks injected with P. acnes bacteria revealed a very distinct NMR signal at 1.05 ppm, which linearly increased with P. acnes concentration. Conclusion. The 1.05 ppm NMR signal from PA can be used as a marker of P. acnes infection of discs. This signal does not overlap with other disc metabolites and linearly depends on P. acnes concentration. Consequently, NMR spectroscopy may provide a noninvasive method to detect disc infection in the clinical setting. Level of Evidence: N/A
PMMA/SAN and SAN/PBT nanoblends obtained by blending extrusion using thermodynamics and microrheology basis

Styrene-Acrylonitrile (SAN) copolymer has been blended to poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and to poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) to obtain polymer nanoblends based on thermodynamics and microrheological aspects. PMMA/SAN and SAN/PBT blends show miscibility windows for a specific range of acrylonitrile (AN) content in the SAN copolymer. The phase diagram for both blends has been calculated using the interaction energy density parameter B as func- tion of AN content in the SAN. A critical interaction energy density parameter, Bcrit, was also calculated to find the misci- bility window for both SAN blends. For some of the used SAN in the blends it was possible to obtain nanoblends as the AN content would allow B values close to the Bcrit. For immiscible PMMA/SAN and SAN/PBT blends the disperse particle size was predicted using suitable equations and it was observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Acrylic copoly- mers were used as compatibilizer to modify the interfacial tension and reduce the disperse phase dimensions. The compat- ibilizer has shown strong effect by reducing the interfacial tension and by preventing the coalescence effect. The compati- bilized blends have shown disperse particle size within the nanoscale.
Discovering the elite hypervolume by leveraging interspecies correlation

Evolution has produced an astonishing diversity of species, each filling a different niche. Algorithms like MAP-Elites mimic this divergent evolutionary process to find a set of behaviorally diverse but high-performing solutions, called the elites. Our key insight is that species in nature often share a surprisingly large part of their genome, in spite of occupying very different niches; similarly the elites are likely to be concentrated in a specific "elite hypervolume" whose shape is defined by their common features. In this paper, we first introduce the elite hypervolume concept and propose two metrics to characterize it: the genotypic spread and the genotypic similarity. We then introduce a new variation operator, called "directional variation", that exploits interspecies (or inter-elites) correlations to accelerate the MAP-Elites algorithm. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this operator in three problems (a toy function, a redundant robotic arm, and a hexapod robot).
Anticipatory Association for Indoor Visible Light Communications: Light, Follow Me!

In this paper, a radically new anticipatory perspective is taken into account when designing the user-to-access point (AP) associations for indoor visible light communications (VLC) networks, in the presence of users’ mobility and wireless-traffic dynamics. In its simplest guise, by considering the users’ future locations and their predicted traffic dynamics, the novel anticipatory association prepares the APs for users in advance, resulting in an enhanced location- and delay-awareness. This is technically realized by our contrived design of an efficient approximate dynamic programming algorithm. More importantly, this paper is in contrast to most of the current research in the area of indoor VLC networks, where a static network environment was mainly considered. Hence, this paper is able to draw insights on the performance trade-off between delay and throughput in dynamic indoor VLC networks. It is shown that the novel anticipatory design is capable of significantly outperforming the conventional benchmarking designs, striking an attractive performance trade-off between delay and throughput. Quantitatively, the average system queue backlog is reduced from 15 to 8 [ms], when comparing the design advocated to the conventional benchmark at the per-user throughput of 100 [Mbps], in a <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$15\times 15\times 5$ </tex-math></inline-formula> [<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\text{m}^{3}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>] indoor environment associated with <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$ 8\times 8$ </tex-math></inline-formula> APs and 20 users walking at 1 [m/s].