Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Restoration of Heart Function Using Transplantation of Human Umbilical Cord Matrix-Derived Cardiomyocytes and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor

Objectives: In the previous study, although it has been shown that intramyocardial injection of human umbilical cord matrix stem cell (hUCM) improved cardiac function 4 weeks post MI, but angiogenesis has not been observed. Angiogenesis and replacing lost cardiomyocytes with new, live cardiomyocytes are considered as two key agents in cardiac repair. To achieve the above two factors we examined the effects of combination of stem cell and angiogenic therapy approaches by simultaneously injection of hUCM-derived cardiomyocytes with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in cardiac repair. Methods: MI-induced animals(by ligation of LAD) received 50 µl PBS, 5 × 10 6 differentiated hUCM cells (dhUCM), 5µg VEGF in normal saline and 5 × 10 6 dhUCM cells combined with 5µg VEGF in normal saline, intramyocardialy. MI group, with no other intervention, served as a control group. We were assessed survival, migration and integration of dhUCM cells, as well as angiogenesis eight weeks post MI induction. Results: Eight weeks post MI, although dhUCM and VEGF groups have shown that LVEF and LVFS improved significantly, but animals in dhUCM+VEGF group have the highest rise in LVEF and LVFS in comparison to the other MI-induced groups (p<0.05). Histological and morphological analysis have revealed that myocardium of animals in dhUCM+VEGF group have the highest vascular density and the lowest fibrosis tissue in comparison to the other MI- induced groups (p<0.05). Immunohistological assessments revealed that transplanted dhUCM cells have survived, migrated to infarcted area and integrated with recipient cardiac tissue. Conclusion: we have found that intramyocardial administration of dhUCM cells combined with VEGF improved cardiac function, enhanced angiogenesis and reduced fibrosis tissue formation after MI, eight weeks post MI.
Multi-purpose natural language understanding linked to sensorimotor experience in humanoid robots

Humans have an amazing ability to bootstrap new knowledge. The concept of structural bootstrapping refers to mechanisms relying on prior knowledge, sensorimotor experience, and inference that can be implemented in robotic systems and employed to speed up learning and problem solving in new environments. In this context, the interplay between the symbolic encoding of the sensorimotor information, prior knowledge, planning, and natural language understanding plays a significant role. In this paper, we show how the symbolic descriptions of the world can be generated on the fly from the continuous robot's memory. We also introduce a multi-purpose natural language understanding framework that processes human spoken utterances and generates planner goals as well as symbolic descriptions of the world and human actions. Both components were tested on the humanoid robot ARMAR-III in a scenario requiring planning and plan recognition based on human-robot communication.
An aubasidan-like -glucan produced by Aureobasidium pullulans in Thailand

The nutrient assimilation profile of two non-pullulan-producing strains of Aureobasidium pullulans (NRRL 58539 and NRRL 58543) isolated in Thailand was investigated. Similar nutrient assimilation was observed between both strains and the pullulan-producing A. pullulans NRRL 58560. All three strains weakly assimilated methyl- -D-glucoside and lactose. For the exopolysaccharide (EPS) production, NRRL 58539 and NRRL 58543 preferred NaNO3 as the sole nitrogen source. Enzyme sensitivity assays, infrared spectroscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance analyses of the EPSs revealed a broad structural similarity to aubasidan and not to pullulan. This is the first report of an aubasidan-like -glucan produced by A. pullulans in Thailand.
Quantum distinguisher between the 3-round Feistel cipher and the random permutation

No polynomial classical algorithms can distinguish between the 3-round Feistel cipher with internal permutations and a random permutation. It means that the 3-round Feistel cipher with internal permutations is secure against any chosen plaintext attack on the classical computer. This paper shows that there exists a polynomial quantum algorithm for distinguishing them. Hence, the 3-round Feistel cipher with internal permutations may be insecure against a chosen plaintext attack on a quantum computer. This distinguishing problem is an instance that can be efficiently solved by exploiting the quantum parallelism. The proposed algorithm is the first application of Simon's algorithm to cryptographic analysis.
Approximating LZ77 in Small Space

Given a positive \(\epsilon \leq 1\) and read-only access to a string \(S [1.n]\) whose LZ77 parse consists of $z$ phrases, with high probability we can build an LZ77-like parse of $S$ that consists of $\Oh{z / \epsilon}$ phrases using $\Oh{n^{1 + \epsilon}}$ time, $\Oh{n^{1 + \epsilon} / B}$ I/Os (where $B$ is the size of a disk block) and $\Oh{z / \epsilon}$ space.
Mesh Segmentation via Spectral Embedding and Contour Analysis

We propose a mesh segmentation algorithm via recursive bisection where at each step, a sub‐mesh embedded in 3D is first spectrally projected into the plane and then a contour is extracted from the planar embedding. We rely on two operators to compute the projection: the well‐known graph Laplacian and a geometric operator designed to emphasize concavity. The two embeddings reveal distinctive shape semantics of the 3D model and complement each other in capturing the structural or geometrical aspect of a segmentation. Transforming the shape analysis problem to the 2D domain also facilitates our segmentability analysis and sampling tasks. We propose a novel measure of the segmentability of a shape, which is used as the stopping criterionfor our segmentation. The measure is derived from simple area‐ and perimeter‐based convexity measures. We achieve invariance to shape bending through multi‐dimensional scaling (MDS) based on the notion of inner distance. We also utilize inner distances to develop a novel sampling scheme to extract two samples along a contour which correspond to two vertices residing on different parts of the sub‐mesh. The two samples are used to derive a spectral linear ordering of the mesh faces. We obtain a final cut via a linear search over the face sequence based on part salience, where a choice of weights for different factors of part salience is guided by the result from segmentability analysis.
Cholesterol efflux regulatory protein, Tangier disease and familial high-density lipoprotein deficiency

Cellular cholesterol efflux, by which cholesterol is transported from peripheral cells to HDL acceptor molecules for transport to the liver, is the first step of reverse cholesterol transport. Two genetic disorders, Tangier disease and some cases of familial HDL deficiency, have defects of cellular cholesterol efflux. The recent discovery of mutations in the ABC1 gene, which encodes the cholesterol efflux regulatory protein, in both these disorders establishes cholesterol efflux regulatory protein as a rate-limiting factor in reverse cholesterol transport.
Mobile Autonomous Sensing Unit (MASU): A Framework That Supports Distributed Pervasive Data Sensing

Pervasive data sensing is a major issue that transverses various research areas and application domains. It allows identifying people’s behaviour and patterns without overwhelming the monitored persons. Although there are many pervasive data sensing applications, they are typically focused on addressing specific problems in a single application domain, making them difficult to generalize or reuse. On the other hand, the platforms for supporting pervasive data sensing impose restrictions to the devices and operational environments that make them unsuitable for monitoring loosely-coupled or fully distributed work. In order to help address this challenge this paper present a framework that supports distributed pervasive data sensing in a generic way. Developers can use this framework to facilitate the implementations of their applications, thus reducing complexity and effort in such an activity. The framework was evaluated using simulations and also through an empirical test, and the obtained results indicate that it is useful to support such a sensing activity in loosely-coupled or fully distributed work scenarios.
COMPARISON OF ALAMOUTI AND DIFFERENTIAL SPACE-TIME CODES FOR AERONAUTICAL TELEMETRY DUAL-ANTENNA TRANSMIT DIVERSITY

The placement of two antennas on an air vehicle is one possible practice for overcoming signal obstruction created by vehicle maneuvering during air-to-ground transmission. Unfortunately, for vehicle attitudes where both antennas have a clear path to the receiving station, this practice also leads to self-interference nulls, resulting in dramatic degradation in the average signal integrity. This paper discusses application of unitary space-time codes such as the Alamouti transmit diversity scheme and unitary differential space-time codes to overcome the self-interference effect observed in such systems.
Online Lazy Updates for Portfolio Selection with Transaction Costs

A major challenge for stochastic optimization is the cost of updating model parameters especially when the number of parameters is large. Updating parameters frequently can prove to be computationally or monetarily expensive. In this paper, we introduce an efficient primal-dual based online algorithm that performs lazy updates to the parameter vector and show that its performance is competitive with reasonable strategies which have the benefit of hindsight. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our algorithm in the online portfolio selection domain where a trader has to pay proportional transaction costs every time his portfolio is updated. Our Online Lazy Updates (OLU) algorithm takes into account the transaction costs while computing an optimal portfolio which results in sparse updates to the portfolio vector. We successfully establish the robustness and scalability of our lazy portfolio selection algorithm with extensive theoretical and experimental results on two real-world datasets.
Estimating the prevalence and intensity of Schistosoma mansoni infection among rural communities in Western Tanzania: The influence of sampling strategy and statistical approach

Background Schistosoma mansoni is a parasite of major public health importance in developing countries, where it causes a neglected tropical disease known as intestinal schistosomiasis. However, the distribution of the parasite within many endemic regions is currently unknown, which hinders effective control. The purpose of this study was to characterize the prevalence and intensity of infection of S. mansoni in a remote area of western Tanzania. Methodology/Principal findings Stool samples were collected from 192 children and 147 adults residing in Gombe National Park and four nearby villages. Children were actively sampled in local schools, and adults were sampled passively by voluntary presentation at the local health clinics. The two datasets were therefore analysed separately. Faecal worm egg count (FWEC) data were analysed using negative binomial and zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) models with explanatory variables of site, sex, and age. The ZINB models indicated that a substantial proportion of the observed zero FWEC reflected a failure to detect eggs in truly infected individuals, meaning that the estimated true prevalence was much higher than the apparent prevalence as calculated based on the simple proportion of non-zero FWEC. For the passively sampled data from adults, the data were consistent with close to 100% true prevalence of infection. Both the prevalence and intensity of infection differed significantly between sites, but there were no significant associations with sex or age. Conclusions/Significance Overall, our data suggest a more widespread distribution of S. mansoni in this part of Tanzania than was previously thought. The apparent prevalence estimates substantially under-estimated the true prevalence as determined by the ZINB models, and the two types of sampling strategies also resulted in differing conclusions regarding prevalence of infection. We therefore recommend that future surveillance programmes designed to assess risk factors should use active sampling whenever possible, in order to avoid the self-selection bias associated with passive sampling.
ALTITUDINAL DIVERGENCE IN MATERNAL THERMOREGULATORY BEHAVIOUR MAY BE DRIVEN BY DIFFERENCES IN SELECTION ON OFFSPRING SURVIVAL IN A VIVIPAROUS LIZARD

Plastic responses to temperature during embryonic development are common in ectotherms, but their evolutionary relevance is poorly understood. Using a combination of field and laboratory approaches, we demonstrate altitudinal divergence in the strength of effects of maternal thermal opportunity on offspring birth date and body mass in a live‐bearing lizard (Niveoscincus ocellatus). Poor thermal opportunity decreased birth weight at low altitudes where selection on body mass was negligible. In contrast, there was no effect of maternal thermal opportunity on body mass at high altitudes where natural selection favored heavy offspring. The weaker effect of poor maternal thermal opportunity on offspring development at high altitude was accompanied by a more active thermoregulation and higher body temperature in highland females. This may suggest that passive effects of temperature on embryonic development have resulted in evolution of adaptive behavioral compensation for poor thermal opportunity at high altitudes, but that direct effects of maternal thermal environment are maintained at low altitudes because they are not selected against. More generally, we suggest that phenotypic effects of maternal thermal opportunity or incubation temperature in reptiles will most commonly reflect weak selection for canalization or selection on maternal strategies rather than adaptive plasticity to match postnatal environments.
A Global Perspective of the Genetic Basis for Carbonyl Stress Resistance

The accumulation of protein adducts caused by carbonyl stress (CS) is a hallmark of cellular aging and other diseases, yet the detailed cellular effects of this universal phenomena are poorly understood. An understanding of the global effects of CS will provide insight into disease mechanisms and can guide the development of therapeutics and lifestyle changes to ameliorate their effects. To identify cellular functions important for the response to carbonyl stress, multiple genome-wide genetic screens were performed using two known inducers of CS. We found that different cellular functions were required for resistance to stress induced by methylglyoxal (MG) and glyoxal (GLY). Specifically, we demonstrate the importance of macromolecule catabolism processes for resistance to MG, confirming and extending known mechanisms of MG toxicity, including modification of DNA, RNA, and proteins. Combining our results with related studies that examined the effects of ROS allowed a comprehensive view of the diverse range of cellular functions affected by both oxidative and carbonyl stress. To understand how these diverse cellular functions interact, we performed a quantitative epistasis analysis by creating multimutant strains from those individual genes required for glyoxal resistance. This analysis allowed us to define novel glyoxal-dependent genetic interactions. In summary, using multiple genome-wide approaches provides an effective approach to dissect the poorly understood effects of glyoxal in vivo. These data, observations, and comprehensive dataset provide 1) a comprehensive view of carbonyl stress, 2) a resource for future studies in other cell types, and 3) a demonstration of how inexpensive cell-based assays can identify complex gene-environment toxicities.
Phoenix dactylifera L. sap enhances wound healing in Wistar rats

: 16 The sap of the date palm “Lagmi” is a clear liquid, rich in sugars and minerals, with a pleasant flavour. Folk 17 remedies based on the use of “Lagmi” for wound healing are still practiced. However, no studies investigated the 18 relevance of “Lagmi” for wound healing. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify the in vivo healing 19 properties of “lagmi” on mechanically wounded wistar rats. Injured rats were divided into three groups: a first 20 group treated by “lagmi”, a second reference group processed by CICAFLORA® and a third untreated control 21 group. On the 12 th day of the experiment, total healing in the first group was reached, while healing was incomplete 22 in the other groups. The sap seems to accelerate cell proliferation and contribute to faster healing with a gain of 23 more than 30% as compared to CICAFLORA®. Chemical Analysis of “Lagmi” showed important radical 24 scavenging activity and high total antioxidant capacity. Features reported to help healing process and/or provides 25 a favourable environment for tissue healing in wound sites. Extensive characterization of “Lagmi” phenolic and 26 flavonoid compounds by High Resolution LC-MS (LC-HRESIMS) analysis indicates “Lagmi” is an important 27 source of known anti-inflammatory compounds as well as promising wound healing candidates.
Enzyme replacement therapy in late‐onset Pompe's disease: A three‐year follow‐up

Pompe's disease is an autosomal recessive myopathy. The characteristic lysosomal storage of glycogen is caused by acid α‐glucosidase deficiency. Patients with late‐onset Pompe's disease present with progressive muscle weakness also affecting pulmonary function. In search of a treatment, we investigated the feasibility of enzyme replacement therapy with recombinant human α‐glucosidase from rabbit milk. Three patients (aged 11, 16, and 32 years) were enrolled in the study. They were all wheelchair‐bound and two of them were ventilator dependent with a history of deteriorating pulmonary function. After 3 years of treatment with weekly infusions of α‐glucosidase, the patients had stabilized pulmonary function and reported less fatigue. The youngest and least affected patient showed an impressive improvement of skeletal muscle strength and function. After 72 weeks of treatment, he could walk without support and finally abandoned his wheelchair. Our findings demonstrate that recombinant human α‐glucosidase from rabbit milk has a therapeutic effect in late‐onset Pompe's disease. There is good reason to continue the development of enzyme replacement therapy for Pompe's disease and to explore further the production of human therapeutic proteins in the milk of mammals. Ann Neurol 2004;55:000–000
Telomere dynamics rather than age predict life expectancy in the wild

Despite accumulating evidence from in vitro studies that cellular senescence is linked to telomere dynamics, how this relates to whole-organism senescence and longevity is poorly understood and controversial. Using data on telomere length in red blood cells and long-term survival from wild Alpine swifts of a range of ages, we report that the telomere length and the rate of telomere loss are predictive of life expectancy, and that slow erosion of relatively long telomeres is associated with the highest survival probabilities. Importantly, because telomere dynamics, rather than chronological age, predict life expectancy, our study provides good evidence for a mechanistic link between telomere erosion and reduced organism longevity under natural conditions, chronological age itself possibly not becoming a significant predictor until very old ages beyond those in our sample.
Expression of cancer stem cell biomarkers as a tool for a correct therapeutic approach to hepatocellular carcinoma

Liver cancer is the fifth most commonly diagnosed malignancy and the second most frequent cause of cancer death in men worldwide. Amongst liver cancers, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents the major histological subtype and it is one of the most common malignant human tumors worldwide. Research into the molecular biology of hepatocarcinogenesis has identified several biomarkers, which could provide additional informations in order to better understand the biology of HCC. A large number of biomarkers have been shown to have potential predictive significance and a wide variety of molecular markers have been proven to be excellent diagnostic tools for HCC but it is difficult to characterize HCC with a single biomarker. Thus, signatures of a combination of biomarkers may be more valuable for the diagnosis, staging and prognosis of HCC. Specifically, a correlation of HCC-CSCs phenotype to specific hepatic cancer subtypes and to specific clinical and pathological features has not yet been reported in human liver tumors. In this view we will first discuss the possible sources of liver stem cells and their relation with liver cancer development and we will secondly focus on the prognostic significance of clinical and pathological features of HCC.
Purchasing Power Parity Tests in Cointegrated Panels

This paper employs recently developed techniques for testing hypotheses in cointegrated panels to test the strong version of purchasing power parity for a panel of post Bretton Woods data. We compare results using fully modified and dynamic OLS approaches, and strongly reject the hypothesis. We also introduce a new between-dimension dynamic OLS estimator and find that the between-dimension FMOLS and DOLS estimates of the long-run deviation from purchasing power parity are larger than the corresponding within-dimension estimates. Finally, we attempt to reconcile these rejections with the mixed findings that have been reported in panel unit root studies.
Automated detection of sleep spindles in the scalp EEG and estimation of their intracranial current sources: comments on techniques and on related experimental and clinical studies

SUMMARY This contribution provided comments onmethodological issues related to the auto-mated identiﬁcation and characterizationof sleep spindles and their intracranialsources, and to the understanding of theirfunctional signiﬁcance. Speciﬁc guide-lines were presented for the computer-based detection and analysis of spindlesand their intracranial sources, as wellas for related experimental and clinicalstudies. AUTHORCONTRIBUTIONS Periklis Y. Ktonas and Errikos-ChaimVentouras contributed to the conceptionanddesignofthework,aswellastodrafting and critically revising it, and toproviding ﬁnal approval of the versionto be published. They both agree to beaccountable for all aspects of the work. REFERENCES Caporro,M. ,Haneef,Z. ,Yeh,H.J.,Lenartowicz,A. , Buttinelli, C. , Parvizi, J., et al. (2012). Functional MRI of sleep spindles and K-complexes. Clin. Neurophysiol . 123, 303–309.doi: 10.1016/j.clinph. 2011.06. 018Carvalho, D. Z. , Gerhardt, G. J., Dellagustin, G. ,de Santa-Helena, E. L. , Lemke, N. , Segal, A.Z. , et al. (2014). Loss of sleep spindle fre-quency deceleration in Obstructive SleepApnea.
Antifungal properties of solanum alkaloids.

The antifungal activities of several solanum alkaloids and their derivatives were examined against a variety of fungal strains such as Candida albicans and Trichophyton spp. Solacongestidine (I) showed the strongest activity (minimum inhibitory concentration) against C. albicans (0.8 μg/ml), T. rubrum (0.4 μg/ml) and Cryptococcus albidus (0.78 μg/ml), and also showed lesser activities against a wide range of fungi. Solafloridine (II) and verazine (VII) showed activities against C. albicans (3.1 and 6.2 μg/ml, respectively) and T. rubrum (25 and 3.1 μg/ml, respectively), while other alkaloids such as solasodine (III), tomatidine (IV), tomatillidine (V) and solanocapsine (VI) and related compounds (VIII-XIX) showed much lower activities. Solacongestidine also prolonged the survival time of mice infected with C. albicans.