Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Dopamine D5 Receptor Is Involved in Working Memory

Pharmacological studies indicate that dopamine D1-like receptors (D1 and D5) are critically involved in cognitive function. However, the lack of pharmacological ligands selective for either the D1 or D5 receptors has made it difficult to determine the unique contributions of the D1-like family members. To circumvent these pharmacological limitations, we used D5 receptor homozygous (-/-) and heterozygous (+/-) knockout mice, to identify the specific role of this receptor in higher order cognitive functions. We identified a novel role for D5 receptors in the regulation of spatial working memory and temporal order memory function. The D5 mutant mice acquired a discrete paired-trial variable-delay T-maze task at normal rates. However, both D5+/- and D5-/- mice exhibited impaired performance compared to D5+/+ littermates when a higher burden on working memory faculties was imposed. In a temporal order object recognition task, D5+/- exhibited significant memory deficits. No D5-dependent differences in locomotor functions and interest in exploring objects were evident. Molecular biomarkers of dopaminergic functions within the prefrontal cortex (PFC) revealed a selective gene-dose effect on Akt phosphorylation at Ser473 with increased levels in D5-/- knockout mice. A trend toward reduced levels in CaMKKbeta brain-specific band (64 kDa) in D5-/- compared to D5+/+ was also evident. These findings highlight a previously unidentified role for D5 receptors in working memory function and associated molecular signatures within the PFC.
Induction of oxidative stress and cell apoptosis by selenium: the cure against oral carcinoma

Oral carcinoma (OC) remains one of the most difficult malignancies to cure. selenium (Se) is an essential trace mineral for human and animals, but high concentrations of Se induce apoptosis and oxidative effects. Although cell apoptosis has been evidenced as a critical mechanism mediating the anticancer activity of Se, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain elusive. To explore the role of Se in rat OC, we examined the weather the oxidative stress-mediated apoptotic pathway induced by Se was involved in the development of OC. In this study, we successfully constructed the OC rat model by 4-Nitroquinoline-1-oxide (4-NQO) exposure which reflected from histopathological observations. Se-induced the productions of methane dicarboxylic aldehyde (MDA) and reactive oxygen species (ROS), which was accompanied by the inhibition of superoxide dismutase (SOD) both in vivo and vitro. The anti-apoptotic gene (Bcl-2) was down-regulated and pro-apoptosis members (Bax, Bak, Cyt-c, caspase9 and caspase3) were up-regulated by Se in OC cells. Meanwhile, we also found that Se could strongly inhibited the cell proliferation of OC lines in vitro. These results suggested that excessive Se could effectively cause oxidative stress and induce apoptosis in OC cells, as a result the OC was also inhibited to some extent. Therefore, the information presented in this study is believed to be helpful in supplementing data for further therapy of OC.
Coupling photoisomerization of retinal to directional transport in bacteriorhodopsin.

In order to understand how isomerization of the retinal drives unidirectional transmembrane ion transport in bacteriorhodopsin, we determined the atomic structures of the BR state and M photointermediate of the E204Q mutant, to 1.7 and 1.8 A resolution, respectively. Comparison of this M, in which proton release to the extracellular surface is blocked, with the previously determined M in the D96N mutant indicates that the changes in the extracellular region are initiated by changes in the electrostatic interactions of the retinal Schiff base with Asp85 and Asp212, but those on the cytoplasmic side originate from steric conflict of the 13-methyl retinal group with Trp182 and distortion of the pi-bulge of helix G. The structural changes suggest that protonation of Asp85 initiates a cascade of atomic displacements in the extracellular region that cause release of a proton to the surface. The progressive relaxation of the strained 13-cis retinal chain with deprotonated Schiff base, in turn, initiates atomic displacements in the cytoplasmic region that cause the intercalation of a hydrogen-bonded water molecule between Thr46 and Asp96. This accounts for the lowering of the pK(a) of Asp96, which then reprotonates the Schiff base via a newly formed chain of water molecules that is extending toward the Schiff base.
Sampling from Diffusion Networks

The diffusion phenomenon has a remarkable impact on Online Social Networks (OSNs). Gathering diffusion data over these large networks encounters many challenges which can be alleviated by adopting a suitable sampling approach. The contributions of this paper is twofold. First we study the sampling approaches over diffusion networks, and for the first time, classify these approaches into two categories, (1) Structure-based Sampling (SBS), and (2) Diffusion-based Sampling (DBS). The dependency of the former approach to topological features of the network, and unavailability of real diffusion paths in the latter, converts the problem of choosing an appropriate sampling approach to a trade-off. Second, we formally define the diffusion network sampling problem and propose a number of new diffusion-based characteristics to evaluate introduced sampling approaches. Our experiments on large scale synthetic and real datasets show that although DBS performs much better than SBS in higher sampling rates (16% ~ 29% on average), their performances differ about 7% in lower sampling rates. Therefore, in real large scale systems with low sampling rate requirements, SBS would be a better choice according to its lower time complexity in gathering data compared to DBS. Moreover, we show that the introduced sampling approaches (SBS and DBS) play a more important role than the graph exploration techniques such as Breadth-First Search (BFS) and Random Walk (RW) in the analysis of diffusion processes.
Probabilistic design in spintronic memory and logic circuit

Spin-transfer torque random access memory (STT-RAM) is a promising candidate for next-generation non-volatile memory technologies. It combines many attractive attributes such as nanosecond access time, high integration density, non-volatility, and good CMOS process compatibility. However, process variation continues to be a critical issue in the designs of STT-RAM and the derived spintronic logic. Besides the process-variation-induced persistent operation error, the non-persistent error that is incurred by the intrinsic thermal fluctuations of Magnetic Tunneling Junction (MTJ) devices significantly influences the spintronic circuit reliability. In this paper, we analyzed these two types of STT-RAM operation errors at both single cell and array levels. On the top of that, we quantitatively investigate the impacts of these errors on a nonvolatile spintronic flip-flop design. Some possible design techniques to reduce the operation error rate are also discussed. Our experimental results show that a statistical design technique must be adopted in spintronic memory and logic designs to achieve the desired operation reliability. We refer this technique as “probabilistic design”.
The contribution of preterm birth and intrauterine growth restriction to childhood undernutrition in Tanzania.

Objectives were to examine the growth patterns of preterm and growth-restricted infants and to evaluate the associations of prematurity and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) with risk of stunting, wasting and underweight. Data from a cohort of HIV-negative pregnant women-infant pairs were collected prospectively in Tanzania. Small for gestational age [SGA, birthweight (BW) <10th percentile] was used as proxy for IUGR. Anthropometry was measured monthly until 18 months. Length-for-age (LAZ), weight-for-length (WLZ), and weight-for-age (WAZ) z-scores were calculated using the 2006 World Health Organization (WHO) Child Growth Standards. Stunting, wasting and underweight were defined as binary outcomes using a cut-off of <-2 SD of the respective z-scores. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard models were used to assess the associations between preterm and SGA to time to stunting, wasting and underweight. The study included 6664 singletons. Preterm and appropriate for gestational age (AGA) infants had slightly better nutritional status than term-SGA infants and despite some catch-up growth, preterm-SGA infants had the poorest nutritional status. The gap in LAZ and WAZ z-scores among the groups remained similar throughout the follow-up. Compared with term-AGA babies, relative risk (RR) of stunting among preterm-AGA babies was 2.13 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.93-2.36), RR among term-SGA was 2.21 (95% CI 2.02-2.41) and the highest risk was among the babies who were both preterm and SGA (RR = 7.58, 95% CI 5.41-10.64). Similar magnitude of RR of underweight was observed among the three groups. Preterm and SGA infants should be closely monitored for growth failure. Intervention to reduce preterm and SGA birth may lower risk of undernutrition in resource-limited settings.
Component-Interaction Automata Modelling Language

Clanek představuje modelovaci jazyk Component-Interaction automatů, který byl navržen pro modelovani interakci mezi komponentami v hierarchických komponentových softwarových systemech. Jazyk podporuje modelovani důležitých atributů interakce v komponentových systemech, a tim poskytuje silný zaklad pro naslednou aplikaci formalnich metod.
Transforming Growth Factor (cid:2) -Induced Smad1/5 Phosphorylation in Epithelial Cells Is Mediated by Novel Receptor Complexes and Is Essential for Anchorage-Independent Growth (cid:1) †

Transforming growth factor (cid:1) (TGF- (cid:1) ) signals predominantly through a receptor complex comprising ALK5 and T (cid:1) RII to activate receptor-regulated Smads (R-Smads) Smad2 and Smad3. In endothelial cells, however, TGF- (cid:1) can additionally activate Smad1 and Smad5. Here, we report that TGF- (cid:1) also strongly induces phosphorylation of Smad1/5 in many different normal epithelial cells, epithelium-derived tumor cells, and ﬁbroblasts. We demonstrate that T (cid:1) RII and ALK5, as well as ALK2 and/or ALK3, are required for TGF- (cid:1) induced Smad1/5 phosphorylation. We show that the simultaneous activation of the R-Smads Smad2/3 and Smad1/5 by TGF- (cid:1) results in the formation of mixed R-Smad complexes, containing, for example, phosphorylated Smad1 and Smad2. The prevalence of these mixed R-Smad complexes explains why TGF- (cid:1) -induced Smad1/5 phosphorylation does not result in transcriptional activation via bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)- responsive elements, Smad1/5-Smad4 BMP Thus, TGF- (cid:1) induces two parallel pathways: one signaling via Smad2-Smad4 or Smad3-Smad4 complexes and the other signaling via mixed R-Smad complexes. Finally, we assess the function of the novel arm of TGF- (cid:1) signaling and show that TGF- (cid:1) -induced Smad1/5 activation is not required for the growth-inhibitory effects of TGF- (cid:1) but is speciﬁcally required for TGF- (cid:1) -induced anchorage-independent growth.
A research on combination methods for ensembles of multilayer feedforward

As shown in the bibliography, training an ensemble of networks is an interesting way to improve the performance with respect to a single network. The two key factors to design an ensemble are how to train the individual networks and how to combine the different outputs of the networks to give a single output class. In this paper, we focus on the combination methods. We study the performance of fourteen different combination methods for ensembles of the type "simple ensemble" and "decorrelated". In the case of the "simple ensemble" and low number of networks in the ensemble, the method Zimmermann gets the best performance. When the number of networks is in the range of 9 and 20 the weighted average is the best alternative. Finally, in the case of the ensemble "decorrelated" the best performing method is averaging over a wide spectrum of the number of networks in the ensemble.
Robust Supervised Learning

Supervised machine learning techniques developed in the Probably Approximately Correct, Maximum A Posteriori, and Structural Risk Minimiziation frameworks typically make the assumption that the test data a learner is applied to is drawn from the same distribution as the training data. In various prominent applications of learning techniques, from robotics to medical diagnosis to process control, this assumption is violated. We consider a novel framework where a learner may influence the test distribution in a bounded way. From this framework, we derive an efficient algorithm that acts as a wrapper around a broad class of existing supervised learning algorithms while guarranteeing more robust behavior under changes in the input distribution.
Biotransformation of a Novel Antimitotic Agent, I-387, by Mouse, Rat, Dog, Monkey, and Human Liver Microsomes and In Vivo Pharmacokinetics in Mice

3-(1H-Indol-2-yl)phenyl)(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)methanone (I-387) is a novel indole compound with antitubulin action and potent antitumor activity in various preclinical models. I-387 avoids drug resistance mediated by P-glycoprotein and showed less neurotoxicity than vinca alkaloids during in vivo studies. We examined the pharmacokinetics and metabolism of I-387 in mice as a component of our preclinical development of this compound and continued interest in structure-activity relationships for antitubulin agents. After a 1 mg/kg intravenous dose, noncompartmental pharmacokinetic analysis in plasma showed that clearance (CL), volume of distribution at steady state (Vdss), and terminal half-life (t1/2) of I-387 were 27 ml per min/kg, 5.3 l/kg, and 7 h, respectively. In the in vitro metabolic stability study, half-lives of I-387 were between 10 and 54 min by mouse, rat, dog, monkey, and human liver microsomes in the presence of NADPH, demonstrating interspecies variability. I-387 was most stable in rat liver microsomes and degraded quickly in monkey liver microsomes. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was used to identify phase I metabolites. Hydroxylation, reduction of a ketone group, and O-demethylation were the major metabolites formed by the liver microsomes of the five species. The carbonyl group of I-387 was reduced and identified as the most labile site in human liver microsomes. The results of these drug metabolism and pharmacokinetic studies provide the foundation for future structural modification of this pharmacophore to improve stability of drugs with potent anticancer effects in cancer patients.
Accelerated Evaluation of Automated Vehicles based on Importance Sampling Techniques

Automated vehicles (AVs) must be evaluated thoroughly before their release and deployment. A widely-used evaluation approach is the Naturalistic-Field Operational Test (N-FOT), which tests prototype vehicles directly on the public roads. Due to the low exposure to safety-critical scenarios, N-FOTs are time-consuming and expensive to conduct. In this paper, we propose an accelerated evaluation approach for AVs. The results can be used to generate motions of the primary other vehicles to accelerate the verification of AVs in simulations and controlled experiments. Frontal collision due to unsafe cut-ins is the target crash type of this paper. Human-controlled vehicles making unsafe lane changes are modeled as the primary disturbance to AVs based on data collected by the University of Michigan Safety Pilot Model Deployment Program. The cut-in scenarios are generated based on skewed statistics of collected human driver behaviors, which generate risky testing scenarios while preserving the statistical information so that the safety benefits of AVs in non-accelerated cases can be accurately estimated. The Cross Entropy method is used to recursively search for the optimal skewing parameters. The frequencies of occurrence of conflicts, crashes and injuries are estimated for a modeled automated vehicle, and the achieved accelerated rate is around 2,000 to 20,000. In other words, in the accelerated simulations, driving for 1,000 miles will expose the AV with challenging scenarios that will take about 2 to 20 million miles of real-world driving to encounter. This technique thus has the potential to reduce greatly the development and validation time for AVs.
Context-aware ubiquitous learning: Literature systematic mapping on ubiquitous learning environments

Context-aware ubiquitous learning (u-learning) environments are systems applied in the field of education, characterized by the ability to collect information from the student's context and modify your behavior, adapting to the characteristics and student's learning needs. In addition, another important feature of u-learning is to provide access to computing learning resources anywhere, anytime, regardless of the user's device type. Faced with this new scenario, still unknown to most of the academic community, this paper proposes to investigate the context-aware u-learning environments, proposed in the literature of the area, to know the educational services and the types of context used in these environments, through a systematic mapping of the literature.
Serum Leptin as a Predictor of Fatty Liver in 7-Year-Old Korean Children

Aim: This study investigated the usefulness of serum leptin as a predictor of fatty liver disease in Korean children. Methods: One hundred and twenty-four children were recruited from urban areas in Korea. Anthropometrical parameters and clinical variables, such as the levels of serum lipids, insulin and leptin, were measured. Fatty liver disease was detected via hepatic sonogram. We also collected dietary intake data using a 24-hour dietary recall for 3 days. Overweight children were identified using the standards established by the International Obesity Task Force. Results: The prevalence of fatty liver disease was 12.1% among all children and was significantly higher in overweight than in normal children (22.5 vs. 7.1%, respectively; p < 0.05). Within normal weight children, children with fatty livers showed a 2-fold increase in serum leptin levels compared with children with healthy livers (6.2 vs. 2.9 ng/ml, respectively; p < 0.05). Within overweight children, elevated serum leptin levels were observed in children with fatty livers. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that serum leptin was strongly associated with fatty liver disease, independent of the body mass index. Energy and fat intake, the frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption, and the frequency of physical activity did not differ among children with or without fatty livers. Conclusion: Elevated serum leptin may be a useful parameter when screening for early fatty liver disease among children.
Practical Dynamic Thermal Management of multi-core microprocessors

Here we present an implementation of thermally-aware DVFS governor in a form of Linux 3.2 module. Our thermal governor operates by reading digital thermal sensors placed in CPU cores and pro-actively adjusting operating frequency of individual cores to maintain temperatures below given threshold. We evaluate our method using state-of-the-art parallel benchmarks from PARSEC suite. Apart from evaluation of our thermally-aware DVFS governor, we present insights into operation of a modern high-performance CPU with 6 cores and 2 hardware threads per core.
Remedies for noise degradation due to active Q-Enhancement Circuit

Noise cancelation characteristic of Capacitive Cross-Coupling (CCC) and Cross-Coupled Transistor Pair (CCTP) circuit configurations to remedy noise degradation caused by active Q-Enhancement Circuit is analyzed theoretically and demonstrated via simulation. Differential common-gate low-noise amplifier (LNA) has been utilized as the reference circuit for this work. The simulation has been carried out using 0. 12µm CMOS process. Compared to prior publications, the proposed LNA demonstrated superior noise performance with good linearity and low power consumption.
Independent Histogram Pursuit for Segmentation of Skin Lesions

In this paper, an unsupervised algorithm, called the Independent Histogram Pursuit (IHP), for segmenting dermatological lesions is proposed. The algorithm estimates a set of linear combinations of image bands that enhance different structures embedded in the image. In particular, the first estimated combination enhances the contrast of the lesion to facilitate its segmentation. Given an N-band image, this first combination corresponds to a line in N dimensions, such that the separation between the two main modes of the histogram obtained by projecting the pixels onto this line, is maximized. The remaining combinations are estimated in a similar way under the constraint of being orthogonal to those already computed. The performance of the algorithm is tested on five different dermatological datasets. The results obtained on these datasets indicate the robustness of the algorithm and its suitability to deal with different types of dermatological lesions. The boundary detection precision using k-means segmentation was close to 97%. The proposed algorithm can be easily combined with the majority of classification algorithms.
Evaluation of Pulmonary Arterial End‐Diastolic Pressure as an Estimate of Left Ventricular End‐Diastolic Pressure in Patients with Normal and Abnormal Left Ventricular Performance

It has been suggested that the pulmonary arterial end-diastolic pressure (EDP) may accurately reflect the level of left ventricular EDP, and therefore be useful in the continuous monitoring of left ventricular EDP in acutely ill patients. Accordingly, pulmonary arterial pressure was recorded simultaneously with left ventricular pressure in 24 patients with normal left ventricular function and in 26 patients with left ventricular myocardial disease and elevated EDP (range 13 to 38 mm Hg; average 22 mm Hg). In patients with normal left ventricular function, the EDPs in the left ventricle and pulmonary artery were equal (range 5 to 12 mm Hg; average 8 mm Hg; maximum difference ± 4 mm Hg). In contrast, in 20 of the patients with impaired left ventricular function, left ventricular EDP was consistently higher than pulmonary arterial EDP, exceeding the pulmonary arterial EDP by 2 to 21 mm Hg (average 8 mm Hg); in 12 of these 20 patients, the pulmonary arterial EDP was 12 mm Hg or less, the upper limit of normal for left ventricular EDP. The left ventricular diastolic pressure prior to atrial contraction correlated more closely with pulmonary arterial EDP. In six patients in whom increases in systemic arterial pressure were induced by methoxamine, and in two patients in whom spontaneous increases in systemic arterial pressure occurred, left ventricular EDP increased by 2 to 11 mm Hg (average 6 mm Hg); pulmonary arterial EDP remained unchanged or increased only slightly (less than 3 mm Hg) in six of the patients, and increased by 4 and 5 mm Hg in the two remaining patients. During increases in heart rate induced by atrial pacing, left ventricular EDP declined in 12 of 14 patients, while pulmonary arterial EDP increased, resulting in a consistent disparity in these pressures (average 11 mm Hg) at heart rates in excess of 124 beats/min.These data indicate that pulmonary arterial EDP does not provide an accurate estimate of left ventricular EDP in patients with chronic left ventricular disease, and in addition it often fails to reflect acute alterations in left ventricular EDP.