Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cod Residual Protein Prevented Blood Pressure Increase in Zucker fa/fa Rats, Possibly by Inhibiting Activities of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme and Renin

Hypertension is the leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and prevention of high blood pressure through diet and lifestyle should be a preferred approach. High intake of fish is associated with lower blood pressure, possibly mediated through the proteins since peptides with angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibiting capacities have been identified in fish skin, backbone, and fillet. The effects of cod meals made from residual materials and fillet on blood pressure were investigated in obese Zucker fa/fa rats which spontaneously develop high blood pressure. Rats were fed diets containing water-soluble (stickwater) or water-insoluble (presscake) fractions of protein-rich meals from cod residual materials (head, gut, backbone with muscle residuals, skin, trimmings) or fillet. Rats were fed diets containing 25% of total protein from cod meal and 75% of protein from casein, or casein as the sole protein source (control group) for four weeks. Results show that a diet containing residual presscake meal with high gut content prevented blood pressure increase, and this cod residual meal also showed the strongest in vitro inhibitions of ACE and renin activities. In conclusion, a diet containing water-insoluble proteins (presscake meal) with high gut content prevented increase in blood pressure in obese Zucker fa/fa rats.
Multiplexing Gain and Processing Savings of 5G Radio-Access-Network Functional Splits

Centralized radio access network (C-RAN) is a promising mobile network architecture designed to support the requirements of future 5G mobile networks. In C-RAN, the “centralization” of baseband units enables substantial savings of computational resources (what we call “multiplexing gain” in this paper) and significant power savings. On the other hand, the deployment of C-RAN requires high capacity and imposes strict latency requirements on the fronthaul transport-network. To address these issues, various alternative architectures, known as “RAN functional splits,” have been introduced to relax these strict fronthaul requirements. In this paper, we perform a quantitative analysis of the computational savings and the resulting power savings enabled by C-RAN, considering different RAN functional splits. To this end, we analytically model RAN computational resources to evaluate the multiplexing gain for different RAN functional splits. This model allows to calculate the processing reduction occurring in each RAN functional split. We then use this model to estimate the power savings of the various functional splits, considering different assumptions in terms of geographical areas, users distribution and number of aggregated cell sites. We find that up to 28% computational resources savings and 24% power savings can be achieved through functional splits in comparison to distributed RAN.
Ferromagnetism in magnesium chloride monolayer with an unusually large spin-up gap.

The primary research target of the rapidly evolving spintronic industry is to design highly efficient novel materials that consume very low power and operate with high speed. Main group based ferromagnetic half-metallic materials are very promising due to their long spin-relaxation time. In recent years, the discovery of superconducting state with high critical temperature in a magnesium based system (MgB2) invigorated researchers due to its simple crystal structure and intriguing results, leading to its use as a good material for large scale application in electronic devices. Here, we report ferromagnetism and strong half-metallicity in another Mg-based system, which can be a promising material for spintronics based devices rather than for electronic devices (such as MgB2). Based on the first principle calculations, we report here a series of magnetic half-metallic magnesium chloride based monolayers [Mg0. 89δ0. 11Cl2, Mg0. 78δ0. 22Cl2, and Mg0. 67δ0. 33Cl2 (MgCl3)]. This MgCl3 phase has a similar pattern as that in CrI3, which has drawn remarkable attention worldwide as the first intrinsic 2D magnet. These magnesium chloride monolayer based systems are 100% spin-polarized, and promising for scattering-less transport due to strong half-metallicity and large spin-up gap (∼6.135-6.431 eV). The unusually large spin-up gap in our proposed system may shield spin current leakage even in nanoscale device. Further investigation explores a ferromagnetic ordering in Mg0. 89δ0. 11Cl2 with a Curie temperature of 250 K, which makes the system viable for operation at temperatures slightly lower than the room temperature. High magnetic anisotropy energy (MAE) in Mg0. 89δ0. 11Cl2 (452.84 μeV) indicates that the energy required to flip the spin is high, and therefore inhibits spin fluctuation. These results suggest a promising way to discover MgCl2-based 2D spin valves, GMR, TMR and other spintronics devices.
A Beamforming based Wireless Energy Transmitter and Energy Harvester for IoT/M2M Applications

This paper presents a beamforming-based Korea LoRa band (i.e. 920 - 925MHz) wireless power transmitter and receiver chain for IoT/M2M applications. To complete wireless power harvesting, major key elements are: First one is a 6-bit active phase shifter to improve directivity between sensor-node and master-node using beamforming. The other one is an RF to DC converter to rectify RF and achieve the battery charging voltage. To reduce a phase error of active phase shifter because an IQ phase imbalance, an IQ phase calibration technique that maintaining the 1 of Q-factor is used. In addition, to improve the RF power harvesting distance, the rectifier is designed with a resonating single to differential (S2D) matching network for getting higher DC voltage than the RF input peak voltage. As the Q-factor of active phase shifter maintains 0.98 - 1.03, the maximum phase error is approximately 1.5deg for -10 to 100 temperature. The minimum input power that can be harvested is about -13dBm from EIRP 26dBm, 915MHz. The minimum output voltage of the boosted rectifier is 0.8V from -13dBm input. The RF to DC converter output voltage range is 3.0 to 5.5V. The maximum RF to DC power conversion efficiency is about 55% from 4 to 6dBm input.
Monitoring Candida parapsilosis and Staphylococcus epidermidis Biofilms by a Combination of Scanning Electron Microscopy and Raman Spectroscopy

The biofilm-forming microbial species Candida parapsilosis and Staphylococcus epidermidis have been recently linked to serious infections associated with implanted medical devices. We studied microbial biofilms by high resolution scanning electron microscopy (SEM), which allowed us to visualize the biofilm structure, including the distribution of cells inside the extracellular matrix and the areas of surface adhesion. We compared classical SEM (chemically fixed samples) with cryogenic SEM, which employs physical sample preparation based on plunging the sample into various liquid cryogens, as well as high-pressure freezing (HPF). For imaging the biofilm interior, we applied the freeze-fracture technique. In this study, we show that the different means of sample preparation have a fundamental influence on the observed biofilm structure. We complemented the SEM observations with Raman spectroscopic analysis, which allowed us to assess the time-dependent chemical composition changes of the biofilm in vivo. We identified the individual spectral peaks of the biomolecules present in the biofilm and we employed principal component analysis (PCA) to follow the temporal development of the chemical composition.
Project Star Catcher

Modern immersive virtual reality experiences have the unique potential to motivate patients undergoing physical therapy for performing intensive repetitive task-based treatment and can be utilized to collect real-time user data to track adherence and compliance rates. This article reports the design and evaluation of an immersive virtual reality game using the HTC Vive for upper limb rehabilitation, titled “Project Star Catcher” (PSC), aimed at users with hemiparesis. The game mechanics were adapted from modified Constraint Induced Therapy (mCIT), an established therapy method where users are asked to use the weaker arm by physically binding the stronger arm. Our adaptation changes the physical to psychological binding by providing various types of immersive stimulation to influence the use of the weaker arm. PSC was evaluated by users with combined developmental and physical impairments as well as stroke survivors. The results suggest that we were successful in providing a motivating experience for performing mCIT as well as a cost-effective solution for real-time data capture during therapy. We conclude the article with a set of considerations for immersive virtual reality therapy game design.
Map-based System-level Performance of Full-duplex in Small Cell Networks

Although small cell base stations (BSs) have been considered to increase network capacity in dense user scenario, it may cause some problems when density of the small cell becomes too much. And then applying full-duplex to a small cell system would be able to provide users with a more consistent quality than just increasing the number of small cell BSs. Conventional system-level evaluation of full-duplex was obtained from average of 1000 runs under randomly dropping small cells. However, in a practical small cell environment, the coverage of each BS vary according to surrounding environment. Therefore, performance analysis based on digital map in realistic scenario is required for accurate evaluation. In this paper, we propose map-based system-level simulation (SLS) methodology for evaluating the performance of full-duplex communications. we used 3D ray-tracing tool (wireless insite) for map-design/network-setup. For realistic simulation, we reflected real-time wireless traffic scenario. Finally, the performance of full-duplex system is compared against of half-duplex system by using proposed map-based SLS.
Security and Privacy in Extensible Distributed Coordination

Mechanisms for coordination and synchronization, like shared counters and distributed queues, are used in the development of many distributed systems. These mechanisms are implemented on top of coordination infrastructures, such as tuple spaces. A recent study showed that extensibility is fundamental for performance: the main idea is to allow the servers supporting the coordination infrastructure to access and process coordination information, consequently, it is not necessary to transfer information to clients or to reprocess requests due to concurrency. Unfortunately, existing proposals for extensible distributed coordination do not provide security and privacy once servers must access data in plaintext. This work proposes the use of robust cryptographic schemes, recently integrated into DEPSPACE, to develop secure protocols for extensible coordination. Experiments show that the proposed solutions significantly improve system performance.
Position paper: Towards End-to-end Privacy for Publish/Subscribe Architectures in the Internet of Things

The Internet of Things paradigm lacks end-to-end privacy solutions to consider its full adoption in real life scenarios in the near future. The recent enactment of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) indeed emphasises the need for stronger security and privacy measures for personal data processing and free movement, including consent management and accountability by the data controller and processor. In this paper, we suggest an architecture to enforce end-to-end data usage control in Distributed Event-Based Systems (DEBS), from data producers to consumer services, taking into account some of the GDPR requirements concerning consent management and data processing transparency. Our architecture proposal is based on UCONABC usage control models, which we overlap with a distributed hash table overlay for scalability and fault-tolerance concerns, and across and within systems data usage control. Our proposal highlights the benefits of combining both DEBS and end-user usage control architectures. To complete our approach, we quickly survey existing encryption models that ensure data confidentiality in topic-based Publish/Subscribe systems and highlight the remaining obstacles to transpose them to content-based DEBS with an overlay of brokers.
The zinc-finger transcription factor GLI3 is a regulator of precerebellar neuronal migration

ABSTRACT Hindbrain precerebellar neurons arise from progenitor pools at the dorsal edge of the embryonic hindbrain: the caudal rhombic lip. These neurons follow distinct migratory routes to establish nuclei that provide climbing or mossy fiber inputs to the cerebellum. Gli3, a zinc-finger transcription factor in the Sonic hedgehog signaling pathway, is an important regulator of dorsal brain development. We demonstrate that in Gli3-null mutant mice, disrupted neuronal migratory streams lead to a disorganization of precerebellar nuclei. Precerebellar progenitors are properly established in Gli3-null embryos and, using conditional gene inactivation, we provide evidence that Gli3 does not play a cell-autonomous role in migrating precerebellar neurons. Thus, GLI3 likely regulates the development of other hindbrain structures, such as non-precerebellar nuclei or cranial ganglia and their respective projections, which may in turn influence precerebellar migration. Although the organization of non-precerebellar hindbrain nuclei appears to be largely unaffected in absence of Gli3, trigeminal ganglia and their central descending tracts are disrupted. We show that rostrally migrating precerebellar neurons are normally in close contact with these tracts, but are detached in Gli3-null embryos. Summary: GLI3 plays an important, non-cell-autonomous role in maintaining the organization of the precerebellar migratory streams and the final positioning of precerebellar neurons.
Cognitive Indicators of Preclinical Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia in MAPT Carriers

Abstract Objectives: The cognitive indicators of preclinical behavioral variant Frontotemporal Dementia (bvFTD) have not been identified. To investigate these indicators, we compared cross-sectional performance on a range of cognitive measures in 12 carriers of pathogenic MAPT mutations not meeting diagnostic criteria for bvFTD (i.e., preclinical) versus 32 demographically-matched familial non-carriers (n = 44). Studying preclinical carriers offers a rare glimpse into emergent disease, environmentally and genetically contextualized through comparison to familial controls. Methods: Evaluating personnel blinded to carrier status administered a standardized neuropsychological battery assessing attention, speed, executive function, language, memory, spatial ability, and social cognition. Results from mixed effect modeling were corrected for multiplicity of comparison by the false discovery rate method, and results were considered significant at p < . 05. To control for potential interfamilial variation arising from enrollment of six families, family was treated as a random effect, while carrier status, age, gender, and education were treated as fixed effects. Results: Group differences were detected in 17 of 31 cognitive scores and spanned all domains except spatial ability. As hypothesized, carriers performed worse on specific measures of executive function, and social cognition, but also on measures of attention, speed, semantic processing, and memory storage and retrieval. Conclusions: Most notably, group differences arose on measures of memory storage, challenging long-standing ideas about the absence of amnestic features on neuropsychological testing in early bvFTD. Current findings provide important and clinically relevant information about specific measures that may be sensitive to early bvFTD, and advance understanding of neurocognitive changes that occur early in the disease. (JINS, 2019, 25, 184–194)
Neuron-specific inactivation of Wt1 alters locomotion in mice and changes interneuron composition in the spinal cord

This work demonstrates a role for the Wilms tumor protein Wt1 in the specification of neurons that are involved in the control of locomotion. Locomotion is coordinated by neuronal circuits of the spinal cord. Recently, dI6 neurons were shown to participate in the control of locomotion. A subpopulation of dI6 neurons expresses the Wilms tumor suppressor gene Wt1. However, the function of Wt1 in these cells is not understood. Here, we aimed to identify behavioral changes and cellular alterations in the spinal cord associated with Wt1 deletion. Locomotion analyses of mice with neuron-specific Wt1 deletion revealed a slower walk with a decreased stride frequency and an increased stride length. These mice showed changes in their fore-/hindlimb coordination, which were accompanied by a loss of contralateral projections in the spinal cord. Neonates with Wt1 deletion displayed an increase in uncoordinated hindlimb movements and their motor neuron output was arrhythmic with a decreased frequency. The population size of dI6, V0, and V2a neurons in the developing spinal cord of conditional Wt1 mutants was significantly altered. These results show that the development of particular dI6 neurons depends on Wt1 expression and that loss of Wt1 is associated with alterations in locomotion.
Six New Phragmalin Limonoids from the Stems of Chukrasia tabularis A. Juss

Six new phragmalin limonoids, named moluccensin Z1 (1), moluccensin Z2 (2), carapanolide Y (3), tabulalin N (4), chukvelutilide A1 (5), and velutinasin J (6), as well as two known compounds, chukvelutilide A (7) and velutinasin D (8) were isolated from the stems of Chukrasia tabularis A. Juss. The structures of the new compounds 1–6 were confirmed by spectroscopic methods, including IR and HRESIMS, as well as 1D and 2D NMR, and by comparisons with the data of known analogues. All compounds were tested for α-glucosidase and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activities. However, none of the compounds was active against α-glucosidase and acetylcholinesterase in vitro.
Social engagement and survival in people aged 50 years and over living with HIV and without HIV in Uganda: a prospective cohort study

This study examined the association between social engagement and survival in people with or without HIV aged 50 years and over in Uganda. We analysed two waves of a survey from two sites in Uganda to assess predictors of mortality between waves. The first wave was conducted between 2009 and 2010 while the second wave was conducted between 2012 and 2013. A standardised questionnaire adapted from the World Health Organization study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) was administered through face-to-face interviews at both survey waves. Cox proportional hazards models and Nelson–Aalen cumulative hazards functions were used to investigate associations between the strength of participants’ social ties, using distance and intimacy metrics, and their social engagement with mortality between waves. Of the original 510 participants, 63 (12.3%) died between waves. Being more socially engaged and able to provide in-kind or financial contributions to family or friends were protective. After adjusting for covariates neither social tie measure was predictive of mortality. There were no significant differences in social engagement and survival by HIV status. Further research is needed in African settings on the relationship between social relationships and subsequent mortality in older adults to assess if improved social relationships could moderate mortality.
On Training Recurrent Neural Networks for Lifelong Learning

Catastrophic forgetting and capacity saturation are the central challenges of any parametric lifelong learning system. In this work, we study these challenges in the context of sequential supervised learning with emphasis on recurrent neural networks. To evaluate the models in the lifelong learning setting, we propose a curriculum-based, simple, and intuitive benchmark where the models are trained on tasks with increasing levels of difficulty. To measure the impact of catastrophic forgetting, the model is tested on all the previous tasks as it completes any task. As a step towards developing true lifelong learning systems, we unify Gradient Episodic Memory (a catastrophic forgetting alleviation approach) and Net2Net(a capacity expansion approach). Both these models are proposed in the context of feedforward networks and we evaluate the feasibility of using them for recurrent networks. Evaluation on the proposed benchmark shows that the unified model is more suitable than the constituent models for lifelong learning setting.
Query Recommendation Using Topic Modeling and Word Embeddings

Query recommendation plays an important role in improving users' search experience. Traditional ways most mine recommended words from log information. However, in user logs, sessions are difficult to divide. At the same time, click results are with bias and noise, and many queries lack clicks, it will make useful information be sparse. In this paper, we present a novel method based on local documents. Different from the traditional query recommendation, this method recommends related terminology according to the meaning of the query. We extract terminology documents from the pseudo-related feedback documents, then model topics of the terminology documents and use the inference strategies to infer the topic of the query to solve the problem of theme drift. In addition, to bring better recommendation results, we fuse supervised and unsupervised methods to mine semantic concept relations between query words and recommended words. Finally, the words with semantic concepts relation are recommended to the user. Experimental results show that our method can meet the user's search needs better. Compared with traditional query recommendation, users prefer the query recommendation way that we propose.