Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Acetylcholine Release in Prefrontal Cortex Promotes Gamma Oscillations and Theta–Gamma Coupling during Cue Detection

The capacity for using external cues to guide behavior (“cue detection”) constitutes an essential aspect of attention and goal-directed behavior. The cortical cholinergic input system, via phasic increases in prefrontal acetylcholine release, plays an essential role in attention by mediating such cue detection. However, the relationship between cholinergic signaling during cue detection and neural activity dynamics in prefrontal networks remains unclear. Here we combined subsecond measures of cholinergic signaling, neurophysiological recordings, and cholinergic receptor blockade to delineate the cholinergic contributions to prefrontal oscillations during cue detection in rats. We first confirmed that detected cues evoke phasic acetylcholine release. These cholinergic signals were coincident with increased neuronal synchrony across several frequency bands and the emergence of theta–gamma coupling. Muscarinic and nicotinic cholinergic receptors both contributed specifically to gamma synchrony evoked by detected cues, but the effects of blocking the two receptor subtypes were dissociable. Blocking nicotinic receptors primarily attenuated high-gamma oscillations occurring during the earliest phases of the cue detection process, while muscarinic (M1) receptor activity was preferentially involved in the transition from high to low gamma power that followed and corresponded to the mobilization of networks involved in cue-guided decision making. Detected cues also promoted coupling between gamma and theta oscillations, and both nicotinic and muscarinic receptor activity contributed to this process. These results indicate that acetylcholine release coordinates neural oscillations during the process of cue detection. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The capacity of learned cues to direct attention and guide responding (“cue detection”) is a key component of goal-directed behavior. Rhythmic neural activity and increases in acetylcholine release in the prefrontal cortex contribute to this process; however, the relationship between these neuronal mechanisms is not well understood. Using a combination of in vivo neurochemistry, neurophysiology, and pharmacological methods, we demonstrate that cue-evoked acetylcholine release, through distinct actions at both nicotinic and muscarinic receptors, triggers a procession of neural oscillations that map onto the multiple stages of cue detection. Our data offer new insights into cholinergic function by revealing the temporally orchestrated changes in prefrontal network synchrony modulated by acetylcholine release during cue detection.
A common nonsense mutation in the repetitive Kringle IV‐2 domain of human apolipoprotein(a) results in a truncated protein and low plasma Lp(a)

LPA, the gene coding for apolipoprotein(a) [apo(a)], is the major determinant of lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] plasma levels, which are associated with risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke. It is not completely understood how variation in LPA relates to Lp(a) concentrations. One type of variation related to Lp(a) levels is the number of Kringle (K) IV‐2 (g.61C>T; GenBank L14005.1) repeats in LPA, but sequence variation may also contribute. Human apo(a) contains from two to >40 nearly identical K IV‐2 repeats of genomic size 5.5 kb, which makes it difficult to detect mutations. To elucidate the genetic variation of the apo(a) K IV‐2 domain, we isolated a single “nonexpressing” apo(a) allele with 26 K IV‐2 repeats, followed by PCR, cloning and sequencing of 96 clones, resulting in an average coverage of each K IV‐2 repeat of approximately four‐fold. The previously described K IV types 2A and 2B (K IV‐2A and K IV‐2B) were detected in 74% of the clones. In addition, a new type designated 2C (K IV‐2C) was present. A nonsense mutation in the first exon of K IV‐2 (g.61C>T) predicted to result in a truncated protein (p.R21X) was found in nine clones on a K IV‐2A background. The presence of this mutation was confirmed by analysis of genomic DNA and was shown to represent the rare allele (frequency 0.02) of a SNP. Immunoblot analysis of apo(a) from plasma confirmed the presence of a truncated apo(a) isoform in the index individual and family members. Our data show that SNPs affecting Lp(a) plasma concentrations also exist in the apo(a) K IV‐2 domain. Hum Mutat 24:474–480, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
RVLBPNN: A Workload Forecasting Model for Smart Cloud Computing

Given the increasing deployments of Cloud datacentres and the excessive usage of server resources, their associated energy and environmental implications are also increasing at an alarming rate. Cloud service providers are under immense pressure to significantly reduce both such implications for promoting green computing. Maintaining the desired level of Quality of Service (QoS) without violating the Service Level Agreement (SLA), whilst attempting to reduce the usage of the datacentre resources is an obvious challenge for the Cloud service providers. Scaling the level of active server resources in accordance with the predicted incoming workloads is one possible way of reducing the undesirable energy consumption of the active resources without affecting the performance quality. To this end, this paper analyzes the dynamic characteristics of the Cloud workloads and defines a hierarchy for the latency sensitivity levels of the Cloud workloads. Further, a novel workload prediction model for energy efficient Cloud Computing is proposed, named RVLBPNN (Rand Variable Learning Rate Backpropagation Neural Network) based on BPNN (Backpropagation Neural Network) algorithm. Experiments evaluating the prediction accuracy of the proposed prediction model demonstrate that RVLBPNN achieves an improved prediction accuracy compared to the HMM and Naive Bayes Classifier models by a considerable margin.
Satisfaction with Food Services

Abstract College students' food service needs is an important area that needs more research. While the importance of offering quality education is paramount, for many colleges that are embattled in their quest to retain students, attention to food services can be important. Administrators must, therefore, consider the total offering which includes food services. This study examines college students' satisfaction with their food service establishments. A model was built from available information and tested using data from a survey conducted at a college in northwestern Pennsylvania. The results suggest that the three most important variables that explain student satisfaction include staff behavior, food quality, and price. Other significant variables include atmosphere, responsiveness, and cleanliness. Attention to these variables could enable those in charge of food services to deliver greater value and satisfaction to enhance students' overall educational experience.
Kidney dysfunction as a risk factor for first symptomatic stroke events in a general Japanese population--the Ohasama study.

BACKGROUND Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) has been shown to be a risk factor for mortality as well as for morbidity such as cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the general population. However, in the context of CVD events, there is a difference in the incidence of cardiac and stroke events between Western and Asian populations. Although a high prevalence of stroke is a characteristic feature in Japanese populations, it is unclear whether CKD constitutes a risk for stroke events. METHODS To clarify this issue, we estimated creatinine clearance and obtained dipstick tests from spot-urine samples in 1977 subjects (mean 62.9-years-old, men/women: 731/1246) from a general Japanese population. First symptomatic stroke events and all-cause mortality were analysed according to stratification of kidney function and by positive tests for macroalbuminuria using a Cox proportional hazards regression model adjusted for possible confounding factors. RESULTS During the observation period (mean 7.76 years), we recorded 112 events of first symptomatic stroke and 187 deaths (58 cases due to CVD). After adjustment for all variables, we found that increases in relative hazard (RH) for the first symptomatic stroke events were associated with decreasing kidney function (RH, 3.1; 95% CI, 1.24-7.84 in Ccr<40 ml/min, 1.9; 95% CI, 1.06-3.75 in Ccr 40-70 ml/min, ref in Ccr>70 ml/min) and with the presence of macroalbuminuria (RH, 1.4; 95% CI, 0.80-2.41). CONCLUSION Decreased kidney function increased the risk of first symptomatic stroke events in a general Japanese population. The high prevalence of stroke in this population prompts the need for greater public awareness about risks for CKD.
Challenging EMC problems on two-dimensional communication systems

While “Two-dimensional communication” (2DC) is expected as a new sensor network technology, there are concerns of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) issues. Although the transmission mode along the 2DC sheet has an evanescent property normal to the sheet surface, several discontinuous parts along the sheet can produce the radiation modes, which are emitted to surrounding environment resulting in electromagnetic interference (EMI) problems. This paper describes a preliminary investigation of radiation from a 2DC system. In particular, the radiation mechanisms from the discontinuous parts of a coupler-sheet system are explained using the plane wave theory of electromagnetics and verified by numerical simulations. Furthermore, promising countermeasures are proposed to reduce the radiated emissions from two main discontinuous parts of the system: the sheet edges and the coupler-covered regions. The proposed countermeasures are shown to be effective by analyzing elementary configurations.
Two Proline-Rich Nuclear Localization Signals in the Amino- and Carboxyl-Terminal Regions of the Borna Disease Virus Phosphoprotein

ABSTRACT Borna disease virus (BDV) uses a unique strategy of replication and transcription which takes place in the nucleus, unlike other known, nonsegmented, negative-stranded RNA viruses of animal origin. In this process, viral constituents necessary for replication must be transported to the nucleus from the cytoplasm. We report here the evidence that BDV P protein, which may play an important role in viral replication and transcription, is transported into the nucleus in the absence of other viral constituents. This transportation is accomplished by its own nuclear localization signals (NLSs), which are present in both N-terminal (29PRPRKIPR36) and C-terminal (181PPRIYPQLPSAPT193) regions of the protein. These two NLSs can function independently and both have several Pro residues as key amino acids.
Mortality and readmission following hip fracture surgery: a retrospective study comparing conventional and fast-track care

Objective To compare the efficacies of two pathways—conventional and fast-track care—in patients with hip fracture. Design Retrospective single-centre study. Setting University hospital in middle Norway. Participants 1820 patients aged ≥65 years with hip fracture (intracapsular, intertrochanteric or subtrochanteric). Interventions 788 patients were treated according to conventional care from April 2008 to September 2011, and 1032 patients were treated according to fast-track care from October 2011 to December 2013. Primary and secondary outcome Primary: mortality and readmission to hospital, within 365 days follow-up. Secondary: length of stay. Results We found no statistically significant differences in mortality and readmission rate between patients in the fast-track and conventional care models within 365 days after the initial hospital admission. The conventional care group had a higher, no statistical significant mortality HR of 1.10 (95% CI 0.91 to 1.31, p=0.326) without and 1.16 (95% CI 0.96 to 1.40, p=0.118) with covariate adjustment. Regarding the readmission, the conventional care group sub-HR was 1.02 (95% CI 0.88 to 1.18, p=0.822) without and 0.97 (95% CI 0.83 to 1.12, p=0.644) with adjusting for covariates. Length of stay and time to surgery was statistically significant shorter for patients who received fast-track care, a mean difference of 3.4 days and 6 hours, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in sex, type of fracture, age or Charlson Comorbidity Index score at baseline between patients in the two pathways. Conclusions There was insufficient evidence to show an impact of fast-track care on mortality and readmission. Length of stay and time to surgery were decreased. Trial registration number NCT00667914; results
The application of intelligent modelling system in temperature compensation of SLD light source

The super luminescent diode light source (SLD) is an important component in fiber-optic gyroscope. And wavelength temperature stability is one of its key parameters. Effective temperature compensation system has been designed in previous works to stabilize its wavelength stability, which consists of driver module and thermal control module. For the driver module, temperature compensation model should be used to obtain stabilized current output. And for thermal control module, optical power change model is needed to obtain stabilized mean wavelength. Both models need to be well-established. In this work, intelligent modelling systems have been designed and realized for driver module and thermal control module. And fuzzy control algorithm is used for fine adjustment during modelling process. The intelligent modelling systems consequently improved the modelling efficiency and accuracy, and further improved the mean wavelength stability of SLD light source. Compared with traditional methods of mean wavelength drift suppression, after using the final model established by intelligent modelling systems, a wavelength stability improvement of one order of magnitude has been finally demonstrated.
Rationalization and prediction of in vivo metabolite exposures: the role of metabolite kinetics, clearance predictions and in vitro parameters

Importance of the field: Due to growing concerns over toxic or active metabolites, significant efforts have been focused on qualitative identification of potential in vivo metabolites from in vitro data. However, limited tools are available to quantitatively predict their human exposures. Areas covered in this review: Theory of clearance predictions and metabolite kinetics is reviewed together with supporting experimental data. In vitro and in vivo data of known circulating metabolites and their parent drugs were collected and the predictions of in vivo exposures of the metabolites were evaluated. What the reader will gain: The theory and data reviewed will be useful in early identification of human metabolites that will circulate at significant levels in vivo and help in designing in vivo studies that focus on characterization of metabolites. It will also assist in rationalization of metabolite-to-parent ratios used as markers of specific enzyme activity. Take home message: The relative importance of a metabolite in comparison to the parent compound as well as other metabolites in vivo can only be predicted using the metabolite's in vitro formation and elimination clearances, and the in vivo disposition of a metabolite can only be rationalized when the elimination pathways of that metabolite are known.
Barnehage for de minste og tidlige lese- og regneferdigheter

Early child care and cognitive development In this article summing up findings from work by Drange and Havnes (2015), we use child care assignment lotteries to estimate the effect of child care starting age on early cognitive achievement in Norway. Receiving a lottery offer lowers starting age by about four months from a mean of about 19 months in the control group. Lottery estimates reflect significant score gains for children at age seven in both language and numeracy.
GAB2 Amplification in Squamous Cell Lung Cancer of Non-Smokers

Lung squamous cell cancer (SCC) is typically found in smokers and has a very low incidence in non-smokers, indicating differences in the tumor biology of lung SCC in smokers and non-smokers. However, the specific mutations that drive tumor growth in non-smokers have not been identified. To identify mutations in lung SCC of non-smokers, we performed a genetic analysis using arrays comparative genomic hybridization (ArrayCGH). We analyzed 19 patients with lung SCC who underwent surgical treatment between April 2005 and April 2015. Clinical characteristics were reviewed, and DNA was extracted from fresh frozen lung cancer specimens. All of copy number alterations from ArrayCGH were validated using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) copy number variation (CNV) data of lung SCC. We examined the frequency of copy number changes according to the smoking status (non-smoker [n = 8] or smoker [n = 11]). We identified 16 significantly altered regions from ArrayCGH data, three gain and four loss regions overlapped with the TCGA lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) patients. Within these overlapped significant regions, we detected 15 genes that have been reported in the Cancer Gene census. We also found that the proto-oncogene GAB2 (11q14.1) was significantly amplified in non-smokers patients and vice versa in both ArrayCGH and TCGA data. Immunohistochemical analyses showed that GAB2 protein was relatively upregulated in non-smoker than smoker tissues (37.5% vs. 9.0%, P = 0.007). GAB2 amplification may have an important role in the development of lung SCC in non-smokers. GAB2 may represent a potential biomarker for lung SCC in non-smokers.
Phase I/II Study of 24-Hour Infusion of Irinotecan Combined with Oral UFT for Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

Background: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of irinotecan combined with UFT for untreated and pretreated metastatic colorectal cancer. Methods: Escalating doses of irinotecan (80–110 mg/m2) were administered by 24-hour infusion on day 1. UFT was administered orally at 400 mg/m2/day on days 3–7 and 10–14. The treatment cycles were repeated every 2 weeks. Results: In the phase I study, the maximum tolerated dose of irinotecan was 110 mg/m2 and the recommended dose for the phase II study was determined to be 100 mg/m2. Thirty-five patients including 3 patients at the recommended dose in the phase I study were evaluated in the phase II study. The grade 3/4 toxicities observed were leukopenia, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia and anemia. No grade 3 or more severe nonhematological toxicities were noted. The response rate was 62.9% and the median overall survival 16.7 months. Conclusions: A 24-hour infusion of irinotecan combined with UFT is feasible and active for metastatic colorectal cancer.
While working around security

The title of this paper describes our work at two levels. First of all the paper discusses how users of IT deal with issues of IT security in their everyday life. Secondly, we discuss how the kind of understanding of IT security that comes out of careful analyses of use confronts the ways in which usable IT security is established in the literature. Recent literature has called for better conceptual models as starting point for improving IT security. In contrast to such models we propose to dress up designers by helping them understand better the work that goes into everyday security. The result is a methodological toolbox that helps address and design for usable and useful IT security. We deploy examples of analyses and design, carried out by ourselves and by others to fine-tune our design perspective; in particular we use examples from three current research projects.
Rule discovery from swarm systems

Rules govern many of the operations carried out within real world systems, both man-made and natural. Man-made systems, such as air traffic control, employ known rules to control its operations. Known rules can be used to predict patterns, or used as a method of control. Natural systems, such insect ecologies, implement unknown rules. Unknown rules could provide much insight into how a system works, or alternatively how to further understand the interactions within a system. Swarm systems are a form of biological grouping within the natural world, these include bee and ants, but can be expanded as far as human groups. Discovery of rules from a swarm could provide a means to understanding the interactions and rules within the group. This would provide great value with respect to providing the rules employed and the roles within the group. This paper presents a framework for this task, with the presentation of the issues surrounding it, and some of the early results gathered from the mining process.
Role of Nitric Oxide in Cerebral Blood Flow Abnormalities after Traumatic Brain Injury

Nitric oxide (NO) has important regulatory functions within the central nervous system. NO is oxidized in vivo to nitrate and nitrite (NOx). Measurement of these products gives an index of NO production. The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between the brain extracellular concentration of NO metabolites and cerebral blood flow (CBF) after severe traumatic brain injury. Using a chemiluminescence method, NOx concentrations were measured in 6,701 microdialysate samples obtained from 60 patients during the first 5 d after severe head injury. Regional and global values of CBF obtained by xenon-enhanced computed tomography were used for analyses. Dialysate NOx values were the highest within the first 24 h after brain trauma and gradually decreased over the 5 postinjury d (time effect, P < 0.001). Mean dialysate concentration of NOx was 15.5 ± 17.6 μmol/L (minimum 0.3, maximum 461 μmol/L) and 65% of samples were between 5 and 20 μmol/L. There was a significant relation between regional CBF and dialysate NOx levels (r2 = 0.316, P < 0.001). Dialysate NOx levels (9.5 ± 2.2 μmol/L) in patients with critical reduction of regional CBF (<18 mL · 100 g−1 · min−1) were significantly lower than in patients with normal CBF (18.6 ± 8.1 μmol/L; P < 0.001). This relation between the dialysate concentration of NOx and regional CBF suggests some role for NO in the abnormalities of CBF that occur after traumatic brain injury.
Research on Dynamical Security Risk Assessment for the Internet of Things inspired by immunology

The Internet of Things (IoT) confronts a complicated and changeful attack environment. It is necessary to evaluate the security risk of IoT dynamically to judge the situation of IoT. To resolve the above problem, a dynamical risk assessment method for IoT inspired by Artificial Immune System is proposed in this paper. The proposed method is made up of Detection Agent of Attack and Sub-system of Dynamical Risk Assessment. Furthermore, it adopts the technology of detector distribution. The simulation of immune principles and mechanisms in the real IoT environment is deduced by set theory in math. The attack detector evolves dynamically in the IoT immune environment. Its change forms the dynamical security risk value of IoT.