Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Models of Neurological Disease (Substance Abuse): Self‐Administration in Monkeys

Drug self‐administration is a procedure in which a subject performs a response, called an operant, that results in the delivery of a drug injection. This procedure is viewed as a relevant model for the study of human drug‐taking behavior. Drug self‐administration in primates has several characteristics that resemble drug‐taking behavior in humans, and drugs that are commonly abused by humans also typically maintain self‐administration behavior in monkeys. Drug self‐administration procedures allow for the study of a variety of drug properties. For instance, they are used to investigate the abuse potential of new compounds and to study the effects of candidate medications for the treatment of drug addiction. These procedures also can be used to study the process of drug reinforcement. This unit describes intravenous drug self‐administration in large primates, such as rhesus macaques, and smaller primates, such as squirrel monkeys.
Infrared small target detection with compressive measurements

A novel scheme for infrared small target detection in compressive domain is presented. First, the original image is separated into two components, i.e., the target and the background. Next, we compress them individually. Finally, the compressed target image is utilized to construct the corresponding compressive detector to perform detection in compressive domain. Compared to conventional detection methods based on compressive sensing (CS), it not only can detect infrared small target images under diverse backgrounds in compressive domain without any reconstruction of original signal, but also possess faster detection speed and favorable detection performance, and require much less storage and computation. Experiment results indicate the scheme is effective.
Distribution and storage of soil organic carbon in China

Surface soils hold the largest terrestrial organic carbon pool, although estimates of the world's soil organic carbon storage remain controversial, largely due to spatial data gaps or insufficient data density. In this study, spatial distribution and storage of soil organic carbon in China are estimated using the published data from 34,411 soil profiles investigated during China's second national soil survey. Results show that organic carbon density in soils varies from 0.73 to 70.79 kg C/m2 with the majority ranging between 4.00 and 11.00 kg C/m2. Carbon density decreases from east to west. A general southward increase is obvious for western China, while carbon density decreases from north to south in eastern China. Highest values are observed in forest soils in northeast China and in subalpine soils in the southeastern part of the Tibetan Plateau. The average density of ∼8.01 kg C/m2 in China is lower than the world's mean organic carbon density in soil (∼10.60 kg C/m2), mainly due to the extended arid and semi‐arid regions. Total organic carbon storage in soils in China is estimated to be ∼70.31 Pg C, representing ∼4.7% of the world storage. Carbon storage in the surface organic horizons which is most sensitive to interactions with the atmosphere and environmental change is ∼32.54 Pg C.
Defining the Intercommissural Plane and Stereotactic Coordinates for the Basal Ganglia in the Göttingen Minipig Brain

The intercommissural line joining the anterior and posterior commissures defines stereotactic coordinate systems used in functional neurosurgical procedures. Such coordinate systems are generally accepted in humans and nonhuman primate experimental settings and provide high stereotactic precision and reproducibility. The ethical concern surrounding the use of nonhuman primates has motivated and helped popularize the use of the Göttingen minipig as an alternative experimental model for experimental functional neurosurgery. We investigated the position and variability of the intercommissural line in the minipig brain using in vivo MRI. From these data, standard coordinates for the minipig basal ganglia were estimated. We found the variability of the intercommissural line to be small in the Göttingen minipig and the variability of the basal ganglia structures to the mid-commissural point to be minor.
DEMOGRAPHY, POLLINATION, AND BAKER'S LAW

Baker's Law states that selfing should commonly be selected during dispersal because bottlenecks during colonization limit the availability of mates. Although this truism has broad intuitive appeal, a recent body of theory ( Cheptou and Massol 2009 ; Massol and Cheptou 2011 ) casts doubt on whether adaptation favors both selfing and dispersal when both parameters are free to evolve. In these models, the joint evolution of dispersal and the selfing rate are considered in a metapopulation, with a spatially and temporally variable pollination environment. Under these conditions, adaptation favors one of two strategies: the “dispersal/outcrosser” syndrome and the “no dispersal/selfing” syndrome. These results appear to contradict the prediction of Baker's Law. These models clarify how variation in the pollination environment per se cannot generate an association between selfing and dispersal. That being said, demographic factors during dispersal episodes are likely to be important in generating patterns consistent with Baker's law. Determining whether Baker's law maintains its predictive utility requires determining whether seed banks, the perennial habit, multiple introductions, or the simultaneous arrival of many founders weaken selection for selfing during the bottleneck associated with a dispersal event. These issues highlight the many assumptions that are necessary for Baker's law to hold.
Validation of the French version of SCOFF questionnaire for screening of eating disorders among adults

Abstract Objective. The aim of this study was to translate and validate a French version of the English SCOFF questionnaire for the screening of eating disorders (ED) in a student population. Methods. The translation and back-translation method were employed for adaptation of the French version of SCOFF (SCOFF-F). SCOFF-F paper questionnaire was given to female students attending yearly evaluation in the University Preventive Medicine Department. After completing the SCOFF-F, each student was evaluated by one ED specialist blinded to SCOFF-F results. The validated French version of Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) and DSM-IV criteria for ED were employed as diagnostic references. Results. A total of 400 women were evaluated. ED were diagnosed in 37 (9.3%) of students: eight (2%) cases of anorexia nervosa (AN) and 29 (7.3%) of bulimia nervosa (BN). Diagnostic threshold was fixed at two positive answers with a sensitivity of 94.6%, a specificity of 94.8% and an area under the curve of 96.2%. Positive and negative predictive values for ED were 65 and 99%. Similar figures were obtained separately for AN and BN. Conclusion. This study demonstrates that the French version of SCOFF questionnaire is accurate and reliable for the detection of women with EDs in this high-risk student population.
Vehicle speed control through fuzzy logic

Fuzzy logic can be used to construct a nonlinear controllers by heuristic information which can replace the human intelligence working in a chain to complete a process. So it is a smart option to use the fuzzy logic to construct a controller to control a vehicle. Different DC motors like the shunt motors are prominent and flexible for electric vehicles. To control the vehicle dynamics like acceleration, braking, gear and terrain need to control the motor speed in proper way. So this paper advocates a novel approach to design and analyze a controller using fuzzy logic to control the speed of the vehicle. Traditional control sometimes take long time to determine optimum control parameters. But the designed fuzzy logic controller has the self tuning algorithm which can adjust the control parameters to gain the optimum control characteristic automatically.
Secure Transformation for Multiparty Linear Programming

With the rapid increase in computing, storage and networking resources, data is not only collected and stored, but also collaboratively analyzed. This creates a serious privacy problem which often inhibits the use of the distributed data. In this paper, we focus on the problem of linear programming, which is the most important sub-class of optimization problems. Specifically, distributed linear programming problems allow different companies (even competitors) to collaboratively seek the maximum profit or minimum cost by better utilizing the combination of their limited resources (constraints). However, the constraints and the objective are typically distributed across different companies. Since the constraints generally refer to internal limitations or capacities, and the objective specifies internal costs or value, serious privacy and security problems arise if these are completely disclosed to other companies. The main contribution of this paper is to introduce privacy-preserving distributed linear programming techniques to resolve the above issue for several real-world distributed linear programming problems. We present a transformation based approach that works for arbitrarily partitioned data distributed between multiple parties, and experimentally evaluate our solution.
A larger spectrum of severe HIV-1--related disease in intravenous drug users in New York City

Increasing mortality in intravenous (IV) drug users not reported to surveillance as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) has occurred in New York City coincident with the AIDS epidemic. From 1981 to 1986, narcotics-related deaths increased on average 32% per year from 492 in 1981 to 1996 in 1986. This increase included deaths from AIDS increasing from 0 to 905 and deaths from other causes, many of which were infectious diseases, increasing from 492 to 1091. Investigations of these deaths suggest a causal association with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. These deaths may represent a spectrum of HIV-related disease that has not been identified through AIDS surveillance and has resulted in a large underestimation of the impact of AIDS on IV drug users and blacks and Hispanics.
SR-BII, an Isoform of the Scavenger Receptor BI Containing an Alternate Cytoplasmic Tail, Mediates Lipid Transfer between High Density Lipoprotein and Cells*

The scavenger receptor class B, type I (SR-BI), binds high density lipoprotein (HDL) and mediates selective uptake of cholesteryl ester from HDL and HDL-dependent cholesterol efflux from cells. We recently identified a new mRNA variant that differs from the previously characterized form in that the encoded C-terminal cytoplasmic domain is almost completely different. In the present study, we demonstrate that the mRNAs for mouse SR-BI and SR-BII (previously termed SR-BI.2) are the alternatively spliced products of a single gene. The translation products predicted from human, bovine, mouse, hamster, and rat cDNAs exhibit a high degree of sequence similarity within the SR-BII C-terminal domain (62–67% identity when compared with the human sequence), suggesting that this variant is biologically important. SR-BII protein represents approximately 12% of the total immunodetectable SR-BI/II protein in mouse liver. Subcellular fractionation of transfected Chinese hamster ovary cells showed that SR-BII, like SR-BI, is enriched in caveolae, indicating that the altered cytoplasmic tail does not affect targeting of the receptor. SR-BII mediated both selective cellular uptake of cholesteryl ether from HDL as well as HDL-dependent cholesterol efflux from cells, although with approximately 4-fold lower efficiency than SR-BI. In vivo studies using adenoviral vectors showed that SR-BII was relatively less efficient than SR-BI in reducing plasma HDL cholesterol. These studies show that SR-BII, an HDL receptor isoform containing a distinctly different cytoplasmic tail, mediates selective lipid transfer between HDL and cells, but with a lower efficiency than the previously characterized variant.
Sphingolipids as Bioactive Regulators of Thrombin Generation*

Sphingolipids contribute to modulation of two opposing cell processes, cell growth and apoptotic cell death; ceramide and sphingosine promote the latter and sphingosine-1-phosphate triggers the former. Thrombin, a pro-inflammatory protease that is regulated by the blood coagulation cascade, exerts similar effects depending on cell type. Here we report a new mechanism for cross-talk between sphingolipid metabolism and thrombin generation. Sphingosine and sphinganine, but not ceramide or sphingosine-1-phosphate, down-regulated thrombin generation on platelet surfaces (IC50 = 2.4 and 1.4 μm for sphingosine and sphinganine, respectively) as well as in whole plasma clotting assays. Thrombin generation was also inhibited by glucosylsphingosine, lysosphingomyelin, phytosphingosine, and primary alkylamines with >10 carbons. Acylation of the amino group ablated anticoagulant activities. Factor Va was required for the anticoagulant property of sphingosine because prothrombin activation was inhibited by sphingosine, sphinganine, and stearylamine in the presence but not in the absence of factor Va. Sphingosine did not inhibit thrombin generation when Gla-domainless factor Xa was used in prothrombinase assays, whereas sphingosine inhibited activation of Gla-domainless prothrombin by factor Xa/factor Va in the absence of phospholipids (IC50 = 0.49 μm). Fluorescence spectroscopy studies showed that sphingosine binds to fluorescein-labeled factor Xa and that this interaction required the Gla domain. These results imply that sphingosine disrupts interactions between factor Va and the Gla domain of factor Xa in the prothrombinase complex. Thus, certain sphingolipids may be bioactive lipid mediators of thrombin generation such that certain sphingolipid metabolites may modulate proteases that affect cell growth and death, blood coagulation, and inflammation.
Terahertz heterodyne detection with silicon CMOS transistors

We report on heterodyne detection of 0.65-THz radiation with silicon CMOS transistors. With a fairly low local-oscillator power of −27 dBm delivered to the detector, we measure a noise power of −111 dBm/Hz. The 3-dB sensitivity roll-off of the intermediate frequency (IF) is as high as 750 kHz. The detectors exhibit an almost frequency-independent signal-to-noise ratio of 45 dB over the whole measured IF frequency range (70 kHz–24 MHz).
16 Needle Biopsy in Children With Liver

The diagnosis of most liver diseases in children requires histological confirmation, thus liver biopsies are routine procedures in specialist centre. Although sensitive and relatively accurate blood tests used to detect and diagnose liver disease have now become widely available, percutaneous needle biopsy provides the histopathological examination and assessment of liver disease and remains the cornerstone in the evaluation and management of parenchymal liver diseases [1–5]. Paul Ehrlich is credited with performing the first percutaneous liver biopsy in 1883 in Germany. However, the technique required up to a 15minute intrahepatic phase, making it impractical and probably unsafe. In 1958, Menghini reported a new technique, which became more widely used [5, 6]. Historically liver biopsy was used exclusively for adult patients, just in the last 50 years, following the developing knowledge in pediatric hepatology, it has taken on an important role in the clinical practice. In the past and even today many authors, discuss about when liver biopsy is recommended, regarding indications and timing.
MTRR A66G, RFC1 G80A, and MTHFR C677T and A1298C Polymorphisms and Disease Activity in Mexicans with Rheumatoid Arthritis Treated with Methotrexate

Aim: To investigate the relationships of polymorphisms in genes whose protein products are related in the metabolic pathway of folic acid, particularly MTRR A66G, RFC1 G80A, and MTHFR C677T and A1298C, and disease activity in Mexican patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treated with methotrexate (MTX). Materials and Methods: Sixty-eight patients with RA were included in the study who were being treated with MTX, either with or without other drugs. In addition to general data, disease activity was measured by the disease activity score 28 (DAS28). Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) genotyping was performed by allelic discrimination using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results: Differences in genotype (homozygotic or heterozygotic for each allele), allele distributions, and phenotype were not statistically different between the RA group and control populations. We did not find any association between the studied polymorphisms and disease activity nor with the intragroup variables (e.g., clinical activity, body mass index, and single- or combined-drug treatment) or between genetic markers; we also did not find any association within the RA group or between the RA group and control populations. Conclusion: Additional studies of more polymorphisms related to this or other metabolic pathways are required to determine the influence of genetics on disease activity in RA.
TENDED COMPLEX HUMAN MOTION SYNTHESIS

We present a real-time method for synthesizing highly complex human motions using a novel LSTM network training regime we call the auto-conditioned LSTM (acLSTM). Recently, researchers have attempted to synthesize new motion by using autoregressive techniques, but existing methods tend to freeze or diverge after a couple of seconds due to an accumulation of errors that are fed back into the network. Furthermore, such methods have only been shown to be reliable for relatively simple human motions, such as walking or running. In contrast, our approach can synthesize arbitrary motions with highly complex styles, including dances or martial arts in addition to locomotion. The acLSTM is able to accomplish this by explicitly accommodating for autoregressive noise accumulation during training. Furthermore, the structure of the acLSTM is modular and compatible with any other recurrent network architecture, and is usable for tasks other than motion. Our work is the first to our knowledge that demonstrates the ability to generate over 18,000 continuous frames (300 seconds) of new complex human motion w.r. t. different styles.
InHome : A Local Area Peer-to-peer Caching System

Demand for wide-area bandwidth is explosively increasing as the use of bandwidth-hungry applications like Bittorrent rises and websites compete to offer a richer browsing experience. ISPs are finding it increasingly difficult to keep up with demand, making wide-area bandwidth an expensive commodity. On the other hand, the capacity of local-area bandwidth has been growing rapidly; capacity that, for the most part, remains unused. This paper presents InHome, a system that trades cheap local-area bandwidth for expensive wide-area bandwidth. InHome is motivated by the observation that many people inside an organization access common data, allowing one to trade wide-area bandwidth for local area bandwidth by fetching commonly accessed data from local peers.
An Improved O ( R log log n + n ) Time Algorithm for Computing the Longest Common Subsequence

In this paper, we revisit the much studied LCS problem for two given sequences. Based on the algorithm of Iliopoulos and Rahman for solving the LCS problem, we have suggested 3 new improved algorithms. We first reformulate the problem in a very succinct form. The problem LCS is abstracted to an abstract data type DS on an ordered positive integer set with a special operation Update(S, x). For the two input sequences X and Y of equal length n, the first improved algorithm uses a van Emde Boas tree for DS and its time and space complexities are O(R log logn+ n) and O(R), where R is the number of matched pairs of the two input sequences. The second algorithm uses a balanced binary search tree for DS and its time and space complexities are O(R logL+n) and O(R), where L is the length of the longest common subsequence of X and Y . The third algorithm uses an ordered vector for DS and its time and space complexities are O(nL) and O(R).
Targeting B-cell neoplasia with T-cell receptors recognizing a CD20-derived peptide on patient-specific HLA

ABSTRACT T cells engineered to express chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) targeted to CD19 are effective in treatment of B-lymphoid malignancies. However, CARs recognize all CD19 positive (pos) cells, and durable responses are linked to profound depletion of normal B cells. Here, we designed a strategy to specifically target patient B cells by utilizing the fact that T-cell receptors (TCRs), in contrast to CARs, are restricted by HLA. Two TCRs recognizing a peptide from CD20 (SLFLGILSV) in the context of foreign HLA-A*02:01 (CD20p/HLA-A2) were expressed as 2A-bicistronic constructs. T cells re-directed with the A23 and A94 TCR constructs efficiently recognized malignant HLA-A2pos B cells endogenously expressing CD20, including patient-derived follicular lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells. In contrast, a wide range of HLA-A2posCD20neg cells representing different tissue origins, and HLA-A2negCD20pos cells, were not recognized. Cytotoxic T cells re-directed with CD20p/HLA-A2-specific TCRs or CD19 CARs responded with similar potencies to cells endogenously expressing comparable levels of CD20 and CD19. The CD20p/HLA-A2-specific TCRs recognized CD20p bound to HLA-A2 with high functional avidity. The results show that T cells expressing CD20p/HLA-A2-specific TCRs efficiently and specifically target B cells. When used in context of an HLA-haploidentical allogeneic stem cell transplantation where the donor is HLA-A2neg and the patient HLA-A2pos, these T cells would selectively kill patient-derived B cells and allow reconstitution of the B-cell compartment with HLA-A2neg donor cells. These results should pave the way for clinical testing of T cells genetically engineered to target malignant B cells without permanent depletion of normal B cells.
A new mouse embryonic stem cell line with good germ line contribution and gene targeting frequency.

The use of gene targeting in embryonic stem (ES) cells provides an attractive method for the introduction of genetic alterations into the mammalian germ line (for review see 1). For this ES cell system to operate efficiently the cell lines used should ideally show a high frequency of gene targeting and should contribute readily to the germ line of chimaeric animals. Our early gene targeting experiments were carried out in the hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT) deficient ES cell line, El4TG2a (2). This line was isolated as a spontaneous HPRT-deficient derivative of the wild-type E14 line, which was obtained from strain 129 blastocysts. The HPRT deficiency in El4TG2a resulted from a deletion which removed the 5' end of the gene and upstream sequences (3). We used a gene targeting vector to correct the deficiency and obtained a low frequency of transmission of the corrected allele in chimaeric mice produced by injecting HPRT-corrected ES cells into host blastocysts (3). Because of the origin of the El4TG2a line from wild-type ES cells and the culturing required to generate and identify corrected cells, our blastocyst injections had been inevitably carried out with late passage cells (pass. 36). It has been argued that prolonged in vitro culture is undesirable because it increases the probability that genetic and epigenetic alterations may accumulate in the ES cell population and reduce the capacity to populate the germ line (4). For alternative gene targeting strategies and improved germ line transmission frequencies, we isolated a new ES cell line, HM-1 (5), directly from HPRT-deficient strain 129 mice that had been produced by blastocyst injection of E14TG2a cells (2).