Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells Derived from Wharton’s Jelly in Spinal Cord Injury Treatment Is Dose-Dependent and Can Be Facilitated by Repeated Application

Human mesenchymal stem cells derived from Wharton’s jelly (WJ-MSCs) were used for the treatment of the ischemic-compression model of spinal cord injury in rats. To assess the effectivity of the treatment, different dosages (0.5 or 1.5 million cells) and repeated applications were compared. Cells or saline were applied intrathecally by lumbar puncture for one week only, or in three consecutive weeks after injury. Rats were assessed for locomotor skills (BBB, rotarod, flat beam) for 9 weeks. Spinal cord tissue was morphometrically analyzed for axonal sprouting, sparing of gray and white matter and astrogliosis. Endogenous gene expression (Gfap, Casp3, Irf5, Cd86, Mrc1, Cd163) was studied with quantitative Real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT PCR). Significant recovery of functional outcome was observed in all of the treated groups except for the single application of the lowest number of cells. Histochemical analyses revealed a gradually increasing effect of grafted cells, resulting in a significant increase in the number of GAP43+ fibers, a higher amount of spared gray matter and reduced astrogliosis. mRNA expression of macrophage markers and apoptosis was downregulated after the repeated application of 1.5 million cells. We conclude that the effect of hWJ-MSCs on spinal cord regeneration is dose-dependent and potentiated by repeated application.
Early Public Responses to the Zika-Virus on YouTube: Prevalence of and Differences Between Conspiracy Theory and Informational Videos

In this paper, we analyze the content of the most popular videos posted on YouTube in the first phase of the Zika-virus outbreak in 2016, and the user responses to those videos. More specifically, we examine the extent to which informational and conspiracy theory videos differ in terms of user activity (number of comments, shares, likes and dislikes), and the sentiment and content of the user responses. Our results show that 12 out of the 35 videos in our data set focused on conspiracy theories, but no statistical differences were found in the number of user activity and sentiment between the two types of videos. The content of the user responses shows that users respond differently to sub-topics related to Zika-virus. The implications of the results for future online health promotion campaigns are discussed.
Characterization of a Pyrethroid-Degrading Pseudomonas fulva Strain P31 and Biochemical Degradation Pathway of D-Phenothrin

D-phenothrin is one of the most popular pyrethroid insecticides for its broad spectrum and high insecticidal activity. However, continuous use of D-phenothrin has resulted in serious environmental contamination and raised public concern about its impact on human health. Biodegradation of D-phenothrin has never been investigated and its metabolic behaviors remain unknown. Here, a novel bacterial strain P31 was isolated from active sludge, which completely degraded (100%) D-phenothrin at 50 mg⋅L-1 in 72 h. Based on the morphology, 16S rRNA gene and Biolog tests, the strain was identified as Pseudomonas fulva. Biodegradation conditions were optimized as 29.5°C and pH 7.3 by utilizing response surface methodology. Strain P31 depicted high tolerance and strong D-phenothrin degradation ability through hydrolysis pathway. Strain P31 degraded D-phenothrin at inhibition constant (Ki) of 482.1673 mg⋅L-1 and maximum specific degradation constant (qmax) of 0.0455 h-1 whereas critical inhibitor concentration remained as 41.1189 mg⋅L-1. The 3-Phenoxybenzaldehyde and 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic butyl dacyl ester were identified as the major intermediate metabolites of D-phenothrin degradation pathway through high-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Bioaugmentation of D-phenothrin-contaminated soils with strain P31 dramatically enhanced its degradation, and over 75% of D-phenothrin was removed from soils within 10 days. Moreover, the strain illustrated a remarkable capacity to degrade other synthetic pyrethroids, including permethrin, cyhalothrin, β-cypermethrin, deltamethrin, fenpropathrin, and bifenthrin, exhibiting great potential in bioremediation of pyrethroid-contaminated environment.
Self-X Design of Wireless Networks: Exploiting Artificial Intelligence and Guided Learning

In this work, we develop a framework that jointly decides on the optimal location of wireless extenders and the channel configuration of extenders and access points (APs) in a Wireless Mesh Network (WMN). Typically, the rule-based approaches in the literature result in limited exploration while reinforcement learning based approaches result in slow convergence. Therefore, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is adopted to support network autonomy and to capture insights on system and environment evolution. We propose a Self-X (self-optimizing and self-learning) framework that encapsulates both environment and intelligent agent to reach optimal operation through sensing, perception, reasoning and learning in a truly autonomous fashion. The agent derives adequate knowledge from previous actions improving the quality of future decisions. Domain experience was provided to guide the agent while exploring and exploiting the set of possible actions in the environment. Thus, it guarantees a low-cost learning and achieves a near-optimal network configuration addressing the non-deterministic polynomial-time hardness (NP-hard) problem of joint channel assignment and location optimization in WMNs. Extensive simulations are run to validate its fast convergence, high throughput and resilience to dynamic interference conditions. We deploy the framework on off-the-shelf wireless devices to enable autonomous self-optimization and self-deployment, using APs and wireless extenders.
Identification and Mapping of the Clubroot Resistance Gene CRd in Chinese Cabbage (Brassica rapa ssp. pekinensis)

The rapid spread of clubroot disease, which is caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae, threatens Brassicaceae crop production worldwide. Breeding plants that have broad-spectrum disease resistance is one of the best ways to prevent clubroot. In the present study, eight Chinese cabbage germplasms were screened using published clubroot-resistant (CR) loci-/gene-linked markers. A CR gene Crr3 potential carrier “85-74” was detected which linked to marker BRSTS61; however, “85-74” shows different responses to local pathogens “LAB-19,” “LNND-2,” and “LAB-10” from “CR-73” which harbors Crr3. We used a next-generation sequencing-based bulked segregant analysis approach combined with genetic mapping to detect CR genes in an F2 segregant population generated from a cross between the Chinese cabbage inbred lines “85-74” (CR) and “BJN3-1” (clubroot susceptible). The “85-74” line showed resistance to a local pathogen “LAB-19” which was identified as race 4; a genetic analysis revealed that the resistance was conferred by a single dominant gene. The CR gene which we named CRd was mapped to a 60 kb (1 cM) region between markers yau389 and yau376 on chromosome A03. CRd is located upstream of Crr3 which was confirmed based on the physical positions of Crr3 linked markers. The identification of CRd linked markers can be applied to marker-assisted selection in the breeding of new CR cultivars of Chinese cabbage and other Brassica crops.
Accuracy of Bioelectrical Impedance Consumer Devices for Measurement of Body Composition in Comparison to Whole Body Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Dual X-Ray Absorptiometry

Objective: To compare body composition determined by bioelectrical impedance (BIA) consumer devices against criterion estimates determined by whole body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in healthy normal weight, overweight and obese adults. Methods: In 106 adults (54 females, 52 males, age 54.2 ± 16.1 years, BMI 25.8 ± 4.4 kg/m2) fat mass (FM), skeletal muscle mass (SM), total body bone-free lean mass (TBBLM), and level of visceral fat mass (VF) were estimated by 3 single-frequency bipedal (foot-to-foot) and one tretrapolar BIA device, and compared to body composition measured by MRI and DXA. Bland-Altman and simple linear regression analyses were used to determine agreement between methods. Results: %FMDXA, SMMRI or TBBLMDXA showed good relative and absolute agreement with two bipolar and one tetrapolar instrument (r2 = 0.92–0.96; all p < 0.001; mean bias <1.5 %FM and <1 kg SM or TBBLM) and less relative and absolute agreement for another bipolar device (r2 = 0.82 and 0.84, mean bias ∼3 %FM and ∼3 kg SM). The 95% limits of agreement (bias ± 2 SD) were narrowest for the tetrapolar device (–6.59 to 4.61 %FM and –4.62 to 4.74 kg SM) and widest for bipolar instruments (up to –14.54 to 8.58 %FM and –9.52 to 3.92 kg SM). Systematic biases for %FM were found for all bipedal devices, but not for the tetrapolar instrument. Conclusion: Because of the lower agreement between foot-to-foot BIA and DXA or MRI for the assessment of body composition in individuals, tetrapolar electrode arrangement should be preferred for individual or public use. Bipolar devices provide accurate results for field studies with group estimation.
The relative resistance of children to sepsis mortality: from pathways to drug candidates

Attempts to develop drugs that address sepsis based on leads developed in animal models have failed. We sought to identify leads based on human data by exploiting a natural experiment: the relative resistance of children to mortality from severe infections and sepsis. Using public datasets, we identified key differences in pathway activity (Pathprint) in blood transcriptome profiles of septic adults and children. To find drugs that could promote beneficial (child) pathways or inhibit harmful (adult) ones, we built an in silico pathway drug network (PDN) using expression correlation between drug, disease, and pathway gene signatures across 58,475 microarrays. Specific pathway clusters from children or adults were assessed for correlation with drug‐based signatures. Validation by literature curation and by direct testing in an endotoxemia model of murine sepsis of the most correlated drug candidates demonstrated that the Pathprint‐PDN methodology is more effective at generating positive drug leads than gene‐level methods (e.g., CMap). Pathway‐centric Pathprint‐PDN is a powerful new way to identify drug candidates for intervention against sepsis and provides direct insight into pathways that may determine survival.
The Effect of Organizational Citizenship Behavior on Subjective Well-Being

The adoption of the high degree of organizational citizenship behavior and subjective well-being of its employees is desirable from a business perspective. In this research, the effect of the employees’ organizational citizenship behavior dimensions on subjective well-being was examined. Data was collected from 2051 employees who work at 50 five stars hotel in the zone of Belek\Kadriye connected to the centre of Antalya Province and its district, Serik. Oxford Happiness Inventory (OHI) questionnaire and Organizational Citizenship Behavior Scale was used to collect data from employees. For the analysis of the data collected, the data about the demographic variables was analyzed by using frequencies and percent values. Besides, factor analysis, correlation and linear regression analysis were drawn upon. The findings indicated that; three dimensions of organizational citizenship behavior: altruism, sportsmanship and civic virtue had a significant positive effect, whereas conscientiousness dimension had a negative effect on the employees’ subjective well-being.
Dual PI3 K/mTOR inhibition reduces prostate cancer bone engraftment altering tumor-induced bone remodeling

Morbidity in advanced prostate cancer patients is largely associated with bone metastatic events. The development of novel therapeutic strategies is imperative in order to effectively treat this incurable stage of the malignancy. In this context, Akt signaling pathway represents a promising therapeutic target able to counteract biochemical recurrence and metastatic progression in prostate cancer. We explored the therapeutic potential of a novel dual PI3 K/mTOR inhibitor, X480, to inhibit tumor growth and bone colonization using different in vivo prostate cancer models including the subcutaneous injection of aggressive and bone metastatic (PC3) and non-bone metastatic (22rv1) cell lines and preclinical models known to generate bone lesions. We observed that X480 both inhibited the primary growth of subcutaneous tumors generated by PC3 and 22rv1 cells and reduced bone spreading of PCb2, a high osteotropic PC3 cell derivative. In metastatic bone, X480 inhibited significantly the growth and osteolytic activity of PC3 cells as observed by intratibial injection model. X480 also increased the bone disease-free survival compared to untreated animals. In vitro experiments demonstrated that X480 was effective in counteracting osteoclastogenesis whereas it stimulated osteoblast activity. Our report provides novel information on the potential activity of PI3 K/Akt inhibitors on the formation and progression of prostate cancer bone metastases and supports a biological rationale for the use of these inhibitors in castrate-resistant prostate cancer patients at high risk of developing clinically evident bone lesions.
Astrocytes follow ganglion cell axons to establish an angiogenic template during retinal development

Immature astrocytes and blood vessels enter the developing mammalian retina at the optic nerve head and migrate peripherally to colonize the entire retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL). Retinal vascularization is arrested in retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a major cause of bilateral blindness in children. Despite their importance in normal development and ROP, the factors that control vascularization of the retina remain poorly understood. Because astrocytes form a reticular network that appears to provide a substrate for migrating endothelial cells, they have long been proposed to guide angiogenesis. However, whether astrocytes do in fact impose a spatial pattern on developing vessels remains unclear, and how astrocytes themselves are guided is unknown. Here we explore the cellular mechanisms that ensure complete retinal coverage by astrocytes and blood vessels in mouse. We find that migrating astrocytes associate closely with the axons of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), their neighbors in the RNFL. Analysis of Robo1; Robo2 mutants, in which RGC axon guidance is disrupted, and Math5 (Atoh7) mutants, which lack RGCs, reveals that RGCs provide directional information to migrating astrocytes that sets them on a centrifugal trajectory. Without this guidance, astrocytes exhibit polarization defects, fail to colonize the peripheral retina, and display abnormal fine‐scale spatial patterning. Furthermore, using cell type‐specific chemical–genetic tools to selectively ablate astrocytes, we show that the astrocyte template is required for angiogenesis and vessel patterning. Our results are consistent with a model whereby RGC axons guide formation of an astrocytic network that subsequently directs vessel development.
Epidemiology of Elderly Patients Hospitalized in Intensive Care Unit for Severs Medical Illnesses

Objectives: This study was made to identify the epidemiological data of elderly patients (over 65 years of age) vs. younger patients (< 65 years) requiring admission to the intensive care unit for severs medical illnesses. Design and patients: We conducted an analysis of a prospective observational study of 106 adults admitted to the intensive care unit for severs medical illnesses, from January 2010 to January 2012. Patients admitted to the intensive care unit for surgical illnesses were excluded. Setting: A 6-bed polyvalent intensive care unit in a regional hospital. Results: The study group included 31(29%) elderly patients (≥65 years of age) and 75 (71%) young patients (<65 years of age) (n=106). Elderly patients tended to have a higher simplified acute physiology score version II in admission (36 vs 21, p<0,001). There were several epidemiological differences between the two groups: Chronic diseases were more frequent in elderly patients than in younger one (diabetes (55% vs 20%; p<0,001), high blood pressure (45% vs 13%; p<0,001) and heart diseases (48% vs 19%; p=0,002). Elderly patients were significantly more hospitalized for delirium comparing to younger one (87% vs 64%; p=0,017), but dyspnea was less percepted by elderly patients 29% vs 55% for younger patients, p=0,016. Acute respiratory distress syndrome, acute heart failure, acute kidney injury, were all more frequent in elderly patients respectively (p= 0,006, p=0,014, p=0,005). The incidence of death was 37% for all patients and it was similar between the two groups (p=0,251). Conclusion: The identification of epidemiology of older patients hospitalized in intensive care unit for severs medical illnesses will help to develop qualified practice. Further studies are needed to better characterize those elderly individuals who may be at the highest risk of complications.
Using a patterned microtexture to reduce polyethylene wear in metal-on-polyethylene prosthetic bearing couples

The longevity of metal-on-polyethylene prosthetic hip joint bearings, in which a CoCrMo femoral head articulates with a polyethylene liner, is often limited by polyethylene wear and osteolysis caused by polyethylene wear particles. Current approaches to reduce polyethylene wear include improving the mechanical properties of the polyethylene liner, and/or manufacturing ultra-smooth articulating surfaces. In contrast, this experimental work shows that adding a patterned microtexture of concave “dimples” to a polished CoCrMo surface significantly reduces polyethylene wear by promoting the formation of an elastohydrodynamic lubricant film, which reduces contact between the CoCrMo and polyethylene bearing surfaces. Using a gravimetric method to measure polyethylene pin wear during pin-on-disc experiments, it was demonstrated that microtextured CoCrMo caused reduced polyethylene wear compared to polished CoCrMo surfaces. Wear was quantified for different polyethylene materials currently used in commercial prosthetic hip joint bearings, and for several microtexture geometries. It was also documented by correlating polyethylene wear with surface topography measurements that the patterned microtexture reduced contact between the articulating bearing surfaces.
Sanaphor++: Combining Deep Neural Networks with Semantics for Coreference Resolution

Coreference resolution has always been a challenging task in Natural Language Processing. Machine learning and semantic techniques have improved the state of the art over the time, though since a few years, the biggest step forward has been made using deep neural networks. In this paper, we describe Sanaphor++, which is an improvement of a top-level deep neural network system for coreference resolution—namely Stanford deep-coref—through the addition of semantic features. The goal of Sanaphor++ is to improve the clustering part of the coreference resolution in order to know if two clusters have to be merged or not once the pairs of mentions have been identiﬁed. We evaluate our model over the CoNLL 2012 Shared Task dataset and compare it with the state-of-the-art system (Stanford deep-coref) where we demonstrated an average gain of 1.13% of the average F1 score.
A multi-agent system to simulate an apoptosis model of B-CD5 cells

The aim of immune simulations is to reproduce in machina, in vitro and in vivo experimentation. It is then possible to test the cell models and the consequences of their interactions. Thus, by comparing the simulation results with the experimentation results the validity of the model can be demonstrated. A distributed and cooperative system can advantageously be modeled by a multiagent system. With this approach, the abstraction needed to model these phenomena is reduced. The immune system is included in highly cooperative and distributed systems. Moreover, it is quite easy to add or remove entities in the model and to improve their behaviors. In this paper, we present a multiagent system that reproduces in machina a set of in-vitro experimentation on the apoptosis phenomena.
A Survey on Packet Retrieval for Three-hop Routing Protocol in Hybrid Wireless Networks

: Hybrid wireless networks is important solution, which allowing mobile clients to achieve service access in a seamless manner independent of their existence in Wireless LAN communication. The hybrid protocols are more flexible, reliable, and have better performance than the traditional wireless network protocols. However, most routing protocols for these networks simply combine the ad-hoc transmission mode with the cellular transmission mode, which inherits the drawbacks of ad-hoc transmission. This paper presents a Survey on Packet Retrieval for Three-hop Routing Protocol in Hybrid Wireless Networks. To take full advantage of the widespread base stations, we retrieve a packet which is going to loss. An efficient data routing protocol is important in such networks for high network capacity and scalability. However, most routing protocols for these networks simply combine the ad-hoc transmission mode with the cellular transmission mode, which inherits the drawbacks of ad-hoc transmission.
Empirical study of feature selection methods over classification algorithms

Feature selection methods are deployed in machine-learning algorithms for reducing the redundancy in the dataset and to increase the clarity in the system models without loss of much information. The objective of this paper is to investigate the performance of feature selection methods when they are exposed to different datasets and different classification algorithms. In this paper, we have investigated standard parameters such as accuracy, precision and recall over two feature selection algorithms namely Chi-Square feature selection and Boruta feature selection algorithms. Observations of the experiments conducted using R studio resulted around 5–6% increased performance in above said parameters when they were exposed to Boruta feature selection algorithm. The experiment was done on two different datasets with different set of features and we have used the following five standard classification algorithms – Naive Bayes, decision tree, support vector machines (SVM), random forest and gradient boosting.
A learned feature descriptor for efficient gender recognition using an RGB-D sensor

In this work, the problem of feature extraction and image recognition in the context of RGB images and depth information (RGB-D images) is addressed. The purpose of this paper is to study and compare some popular techniques for gender recognition in order to understand how much depth data improves the quality of recognition, and identify which combination between face descriptors and learning techniques is best suited to better exploit RGB-D images. The experimental results show that depth data improves the recognition accuracy for gender classification applications in many use cases.