Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Complex Regulation of Mitochondrial Function During Cardiac Development

A bnormal heart development is a key feature contributing to the cardiac defects of congenital heart diseases, which are the most common birth defects in humans, occurring in 1% to 5% of newborns. Revealing the cellular, genetic, and molecular mechanisms that govern normal heart development will provide key information necessary for the development of effective clinical applications to prevent or treat congenital heart diseases. The heart is the first organ formed in mammals and is essential for embryo survival. Cardiogenesis involves a series of complicated and precisely controlled processes (Figure 1). During gastrulation in mice, the cardiac progenitor cells enter the primitive streak and assimilate to constitute the primary heart field in the anterior splanchnic mesoderm at embryonic day 6.5 (E6.5). Cardiogenic mesodermal cells then coalesce to form a cardiac crescent at E7.5. These cells move toward the ventral midline and form the linear heart tube at E8.0. At this stage, another group of cardiac precursor cells from the second heart field join the primitive heart tube from the pharyngeal mesoderm and dorsal mesocardium. Shortly thereafter, the linear heart undergoes rightward looping to bring the future inflow chambers (atria) to the top of the outflow chambers (ventricles). At E9.5, a heart with 4 primordial chambers is formed, and cardiac precursor cells from the second heart field continue to join the hearts from both arterial and venous poles until E11.5. Cells derived from the primary heart field give rise to the left ventricle and parts of the atria, whereas cells derived from the second heart field generate the right ventricle, outflow tract (OFT) and main parts of the atria. From E11.5 to E18.5, embryonic hearts undergo complicated maturation and remodeling processes including myocardial wall trabeculation and compaction, septation between chambers, septation of the OFT, valvulogenesis, formation of coronary vessels, and formation of the conduction system. In mice, nearly all cardiomyocytes withdraw from the cell cycle and undergo maturation during the first 2 weeks after birth. In contrast to the hyperplastic growth observed in embryos, postnatal cardiac growth primarily relies on hypertrophic growth. The major processes of cardiogenesis are highly conserved between rodent and human; therefore, mice and rats serve as power model systems to study human heart development. Accumulated evidence suggests that mitochondria are critical for embryonic heart development in mammals, in addition to their well-established roles in postnatal hearts. Impaired mitochondrial activities in embryonic hearts may lead to severe cardiomyopathy and embryonic/neonatal lethality in animal models and human patients. This review will summarize recent knowledge regarding the regulatory roles of mitochondria during embryonic and early postnatal heart development in mammals.
Hybrid MI-SSSEP Paradigm for classifying left and right movement toward BCI for exoskeleton control

The goal of this study was to compare decoding accuracy of left and right movement intention from electroencephalography (EEG) using three different types of paradigms: Motor Imagery (MI), Selective Attention (SA), and Hybrid task (HY)). Specifically, SA and HY are the Steady-State Somatosensory Evoked potential (SSSEP) paradigms which elicit brain responses to tactile stimulation. One subject participated in two sessions (Screening and Study session). In the screening session, resonance-like frequency of the subject was found at each hand while sitting on a chair. In the study session, the subject was asked to imagine either left of right hand open-close movement (MI task), to give selective attention to the vibrotactile stimulation (SA task), and to perform combined MI and SA task (HY) according to a randomly assigned directional cue. The accuracies of 3 paradigms were MI-left 65.8%, MI-right 69.2% (mean: 67.5%), SA-left 76.6%, SA-right 84.0% (mean: 80.3%) and HY-left 93.8%, HY-right 95.9% (mean: 94.9%). The method and results of the current study could be a basis for controlling the left and right movement direction of an exoskeleton robot using EEG.
Perception accuracy, biases and path dependency in longitudinal social networks

Most studies on perceptions of social structures in organizations rely on cross-sectional evidence and lack a longitudinal perspective. In order to address this gap, we collected whole network perception data at three time points from a cohort of MBA students. First, we asked whether or not individuals become more accurate in their perception of the network over time. We found no significant increase in accuracy. Second, we examined one’s perception of his or her own direct ties and found a consistent tendency to inflate incoming friendship ties, confirming existing studies. However, we find that individuals were quite capable of recognizing the broader dynamics of social hierarchy (i.e., whether they were becoming more or less popular) even as they became no more accurate in understanding either the overall networks or their own ego-net. Third, we explored possible explanations for the persistence of perception errors and showed that most of the errors at time point two and time point three were due to a failure to update previous perception decisions. Finally, we shifted the analysis from accuracy at a given time point and considered the narrative arc of dyadic relations. Our findings suggest that stable dyads across time are more likely to be accurately perceived whereas other types of dyads are poorly tracked. We conclude by presenting possible research questions for future studies to further our understanding of the temporal aspects of network perception.
APOB‐associated cholesterol deficiency in Holstein cattle is not a simple recessive disease

Summary In 2015, cholesterol deficiency (CD) was reported for the first time as a new recessive defect in Holstein cattle. After GWAS mapping and identification of a disease‐associated haplotype, a causative loss‐of‐function variant in APOB was identified. CD‐clinically affected APOB homozygotes showed poor development, intermittent diarrhea and hypocholesterolemia and, consequently, a limited life expectation. Herein, we present a collection of 18 cases clinically diagnosed as CD‐affected APOB heterozygotes. CD‐clinically affected heterozygotes show reduced cholesterol and triglyceride blood concentrations. The differences in total blood cholesterol and triglycerides between nine CD‐clinically affected and 36 non‐affected heterozygotes were significant. As only some APOB heterozygotes show the clinical CD phenotype, we assume that the penetrance is reduced in heterozygotes compared to the fully penetrant effect observed in homozygotes. We conclude that APOB‐associated CD represents most likely an incomplete dominant inherited metabolic disease with incomplete penetrance in heterozygotes.
Saving time and reducing network traffic with a graphical mobile agent inception system

The agent paradigm, in which autonomous software programs perform tedious, repetitive, or timesaving operations on behalf of the human user, is widely seen as a potentially useful alternative. This is especially true in Internet computing where desired information is often combined from distributed resources. Furthermore, the use of mobile agents in our prototype is both easy and practical because we provide a novel graphical agent inception system and mobile agents who send back only the data that matters most to the user.
Early mobilization protocols for critically ill pediatric patients: systematic review

Objective To describe the existing early mobilization protocols in pediatric intensive care units. Methods A systematic literature review was performed using the databases MEDLINE®, Embase, SciELO, LILACS and PeDRO, without restrictions of date and language. Observational and randomized and nonrandomized clinical trials that described an early mobilization program in patients aged between 29 days and 18 years admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit were included. The methodological quality of the studies was evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale, Methodological Index for Non-Randomized Studies and the Cochrane Collaboration. Results A total of 8,663 studies were identified, of which 6 were included in this review. Three studies described the implementation of an early mobilization program, including activities such as progressive passive mobilization, positioning, and discussion of mobilization goals with the team, in addition to contraindications and interruption criteria. Cycle ergometer and virtual reality games were also used as resources for mobilization. Four studies considered the importance of the participation of the multidisciplinary team in the implementation of early mobilization protocols. Conclusion In general, early mobilization protocols are based on individualized interventions, depending on the child's development. In addition, the use of a cycle ergometer may be feasible and safe in this population. The implementation of institutional and multidisciplinary protocols may contribute to the use of early mobilization in pediatric intensive care units; however, studies demonstrating the efficacy of such intervention are needed.
Towards Utilization of Error-Related Potentials for Brain-to-Vehicle Communication

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) rely on accurate classification of a user’s intent in order to perform the correct actions. However, when used in reality, devices controlled by BCIs may often react differently from what the user intended due to noise and other factors resulting in misclassification. In such cases, error-related potentials (ErrPs) may be evoked and can be captured from the user’s neural signals. Detection of these ErrPs can then be used to recognize and correct erroneous responses. In this research, we have created a graphical application in which the user drives a virtual car from a first-person perspective. Results of our experiments show that ErrPs can be captured from the user when the car moves differently from how the user intended to drive.
Optimal Retiming of Multi-Phase, Level-Clocked Circuits

Abstract : Using level-sensitive latches instead of edge-triggered registers for storage elements in a synchronous system can lead to faster and less expensive circuit implementations. This advantage derives from an increased flexibility in scheduling the computations performed by the circuit. In edge-clocked circuits the amount of time available for the computation between two registers is precisely the length of the clock cycle, while in circuits using level-sensitive latches a computation can borrow time across latches thus reducing the amount of dead time in the clock cycle. In either type of circuit, achieving maximum performance requires locating the storage elements in such a way as to spread the computation uniformly across a number of clock cycles. Retiming is the process of rearranging the storage elements in a circuit to reduce the cycle time or the number of storage elements without changing the interface behavior of the circuit as viewed by an outside host. Retiming in effect reschedules the circuit computations is time based on the length of those computations. In this paper, we extend the retiming techniques developed for edged-clocked circuits by Leiserson. Rose and Saxe to a general class of multi-phase, level-clocked circuits. We first describe this class of well-formed circuits and define what it means for a well-formed, level-clocked circuit to operate correctly. We then show that a set of constraints can then cbe used to retime a level-clocked circuit using efficient integer linear programming techniques similar to those used for edge-clocked circuits.
An Integrative Model to Predict the Continuance Use of Electronic Learning Systems: Hints for Teaching

There is an increased expectation about the useful ness of electronic learning (e-learning) to complement or substitute traditional face-to-face learning. However, the growth rate of the e-learning market has not properly reflected the high expectation. Researchers began to direct their attention to the assessment of e-learning effectiveness in order to solve the issue. However, little has been known about why some users stop adopting e-learning after their initial experience. Our work focuses on investigating the continuance usage problems in the field of information technology. A theoretical framework is proposed to address the continuance issue. This integrative framework makes three major contributions. First, it integrates the frameworks of computer self-efficacy (CSE) and the expectation-confirmation model (ECM). Second, it theorizes the causal relationship between the factors of perceived usefulness, confirmation, satisfaction , and information system (IS) continuance in the e-learning context. Finally, it explains users ' online learning behaviors through a field survey. The results indicate that, in the context of learning conceptual k nowledge in undergraduate education, there are significant relationships among the CSE of online learners, their perceived usefulness, confirmation, and satisfaction levels.
Si-Based Materials for Thermoelectric Applications

Si-based thermoelectric materials have attracted attention in recent decades with their advantages of low toxicity, low production costs, and high stability. Here, we report recent achievements on the synthesis and characterization of Si-based thermoelectric materials. In the first part, we show that bulk Si synthesized through a natural nanostructuring method exhibits an exceptionally high thermoelectric figure of merit zT value of 0.6 at 1050 K. In the second part, we show the synthesis and characterization of nanocomposites of Si and metal silicides including CrSi2, CoSi2, TiSi2, and VSi2. These are synthesized by the rapid-solidification melt-spinning (MS) technique. Through MS, we confirm that silicide precipitates are dispersed homogenously in the Si matrix with desired nanoscale sizes. In the final part, we show a promising new metal silicide of YbSi2 for thermoelectrics, which exhibits an exceptionally high power factor at room temperature.
Individualised screening for diabetic retinopathy: the ISDR study—rationale, design and methodology for a randomised controlled trial comparing annual and individualised risk-based variable-interval screening

Introduction Currently, all people with diabetes (PWD) aged 12 years and over in the UK are invited for screening for diabetic retinopathy (DR) annually. Resources are not increasing despite a 5% increase in the numbers of PWD nationwide each year. We describe the rationale, design and methodology for a randomised controlled trial (RCT) evaluating the safety, acceptability and cost-effectiveness of personalised variable-interval risk-based screening for DR. This is the first randomised trial of personalised screening for DR and the largest ophthalmic RCT in the UK. Methods and analysis PWD attending seven screening clinics in the Liverpool Diabetic Eye Screening Programme were recruited into a single site RCT with a 1:1 allocation to individualised risk-based variable-interval or annual screening intervals. A risk calculation engine developed for the trial estimates the probability that an individual will develop referable disease (screen positive DR) within the next 6, 12 or 24 months using demographic, retinopathy and systemic risk factor data from primary care and screening programme records. Dynamic, secure, real-time data connections have been developed. The primary outcome is attendance for follow-up screening. We will test for equivalence in attendance rates between the two arms. Secondary outcomes are rates and severity of DR, visual outcomes, cost-effectiveness and health-related quality of life. The required sample size was 4460 PWD. Recruitment is complete, and the trial is in follow-up. Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval was obtained from National Research Ethics Service Committee North West – Preston, reference 14/NW/0034. Results will be presented at international meetings and published in peer-reviewed journals. This pragmatic RCT will inform screening policy in the UK and elsewhere. Trial registration number ISRCTN87561257; Pre-results.
Insights from thrombi retrieved in stroke due to large vessel occlusion

The recent advances of endovascular procedures to treat stroke due to large cerebral vessel occlusion have made it possible to analyze the retrieved thrombus material. Analysis of cerebral thrombi is emerging as a relevant opportunity to complement the diagnostic workup of etiology, to develop new lytic approaches and to optimize the acute treatment of stroke due to large vessel occlusion. Nonetheless, retrieved thrombi are frequently discarded since their informative potential is often neglected and standards are missing. This review provides an overview of the current knowledge and expanding research relating to thrombus composition analysis in large vessel occlusions. We first discuss the heterogeneity of thrombogenic factors that underlie the thrombotic formation in stroke and its implications to identify stroke etiology and thrombus age. Further, we show that understanding structural characteristics of thrombus is pivotal for the development of new-targeted lytic therapies as well as to improve, through thrombus modeling, the development of thrombectomy devices. Finally, we discuss the on-going attempts to identify a signature of thrombus composition indirectly through imaging and peripheral blood biomarkers, which might in future assist treatment decision-making as well as secondary prevention. Thrombus analysis might contribute to the advancement and optimization of personalized stroke treatments.
Ultrasound-guided radial artery cannulation using dynamic needle tip positioning versus conventional long-axis in-plane techniques in cardiac surgery patients: a randomised, controlled trial.

BACKGROUND A novel ultrasound imaging technique, dynamic needle tip positioning (DNTP), enables continuous visualisation of the needle tip during ultrasound-guided cannulation. The purpose of this study was to compare the rate of successful first-attempt radial artery cannulations between DNTP and the conventional long-axis in-plane (LAX-IP) technique. METHODS Adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery requiring radial artery cannulation were included and randomly allocated into either a DNTP or LAX-IP group. Radial artery cannulation was performed by a single experienced practitioner. The primary outcome was the first-attempt success rate of radial artery cannulation. Secondary outcomes included the length of time needed for cannulation and overall incidence of complications. RESULTS A total of 136 patients were studied. The first-attempt success rate of cannulation was 94% in the DNTP group (n=70) and 68% in the LAX-IP group (n=66; OR 7.70, 95% CI 2.48-24.94, P <0.001). The total procedure time was also shorter in the DNTP group (median [IQR]; 87 [72-108] seconds) versus the LAX-IP group (118 [93-182] seconds; P <0.001). During cannulation, vasospasm occurred less often in the DNTP (4%) group compared to the LAX-IP group (17%; P =0.018). CONCLUSIONS The DNTP technique had a greater first-attempt success rate of radial artery cannulation compared to the conventional LAX-IP technique. Also, DNTP required significantly less time for cannulation and had fewer complications.
Bioinformatics Analysis for Circulating Cell-Free DNA in Cancer

Molecular analysis of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) that circulates in plasma and other body fluids represents a “liquid biopsy” approach for non-invasive cancer screening or monitoring. The rapid development of sequencing technologies has made cfDNA a promising source to study cancer development and progression. Specific genetic and epigenetic alterations have been found in plasma, serum, and urine cfDNA and could potentially be used as diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers in various cancer types. In this review, we will discuss the molecular characteristics of cancer cfDNA and major bioinformatics approaches involved in the analysis of cfDNA sequencing data for detecting genetic mutation, copy number alteration, methylation change, and nucleosome positioning variation. We highlight specific challenges in sensitivity to detect genetic aberrations and robustness of statistical analysis. Finally, we provide perspectives regarding the standard and continuing development of bioinformatics analysis to move this promising screening tool into clinical practice.
Giant intradural extramedullary spinal ependymoma, a rare arachnoiditis-mimicking condition: case report and literature review

Abstract Background and importance Ependymomas are tumours arising from the ependymal cells lining the ventricles and the central canal of the spinal cord. They represent the most common intramedullary spinal cord tumour in adults and are very rarely encountered in an extramedullary location. Only 40 cases of intradural extramedullary (IDEM) ependymomas have been reported, all of which were diagnosed pre-operatively as IDEM ependymomas on contrast-enhanced MRI. Clinical presentation We report a 23-year old male presenting with rapidly worsening signs and symptoms of spinal cord disease. A spinal MRI demonstrated a posterior multi-cystic dilatation extended between T1 and T12. Post-contrast sequences showed peri-medullar leptomeningeal enhancement and the diagnosis of spinal arachnoiditis was made. The patient underwent surgery and the spinal cord appeared circumferentially wrapped by an irregular soft tissue. The tissue was sub-totally removed and the pathological diagnosis was ependymoma WHO grade II. The patient experienced an excellent neurological recovery and no further treatments were administered. A small residue is now stable at 2.5 years follow-up. Conclusions Giant IDEM ependymomas are rare entities and pre-operative diagnosis can be challenging in some cases. Surgery represents the main treatment option being resolutive in most cases.
Steady-State Somatosensory Evoked Potential based Brain-Computer Interface for Sit-to-Stand Movement Intention

The purpose of this study was to develop sit-to-stand movement intention decoding algorithms based on brain responses to the vibrotactile stimulation. Specifically, we studied a simultaneous hybrid brain-computer interface (BCI) by combining steady-state somatosensory evoked potential (SSSEP) and a motor imagery (MI) task. In our BCI system, a user could generate two possible commands by concentrating on one of two vibration stimuli, which were attached to the left and right hand. The statistical method based on the mutual information between the spatial-temporal patterns was used to detect the user’s intention of sit or stand from the electroencephalography (EEG) signals. The results of our offline experiments demonstrated the feasibility of hybrid MI-SSSEP based BCI system for decoding sit-to-stand movement intention. It is expected that the proposed method and algorithms can be implanted in the future to control the lower limb exoskeleton robot.
The Assumptions of Direction Dependence Analysis

Abstract Direction dependence analysis attempts to discern the direction of a causal effect, using statistical features of the data, such as skew and kurtosis of variables, and their residuals in regression models. Wiedermann and Sebastian discuss the use of this analysis in the context of mediation, and introduce methods to distinguish three different causal structures. In this commentary, I highlight some connections to literature in computer science, review the assumptions of the proposed analysis critically, and provide an example in which I argue that the analysis of Wiedermann and Sebastian can yield incorrect conclusions.