Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Persistent Pain Quality as a Novel Approach to Assessing Risk for Disability in Community-Dwelling Elders with Chronic Pain.

Background This study aims to test whether persistent pain quality is associated with incident or worsening disability in four domains: mobility, ADL and IADL difficulty and physical performance. Methods From the MOBILIZE Boston Study, a population-based cohort of adults aged ≥70 years, we studied participants with chronic pain who endorsed at least one pain quality descriptor (N=398) and completed baseline and 18-month assessments. Pain quality was assessed using an adapted short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire with 20 pain quality descriptors in 3 categories: sensory, cognitive/affective, neuropathic. Persistence was defined as endorsing the same category at baseline and 18 months. Self-reported outcomes included mobility, ADL, and IADL difficulty. Physical performance was assessed using the Short Physical Performance Battery. Results After adjusting for baseline pain severity and other covariates, individuals with 3 persistent categories had a greater risk of developing new or worsening IADL difficulty relative to those with 1 persistent category (RR 2.69, 95% CI 1.34, 7.79). Similar results were observed for ADL difficulty (RR 5.83, 95% CI 1.32, 25.85) but no differences were noted in risk for mobility difficulty. There was no significant linear trend in physical performance over 18 months according to number of persistent categories (p=0.68). Conclusion Elders with persistent pain quality experienced a higher risk of developing new or worsening IADL and ADL disability with each additional category but not mobility difficulty or poorer physical performance. Longitudinal assessment of pain quality could be useful in determining risk for global disability among elders with chronic pain.
Transitions in DNA polymerase β μs-ms dynamics related to substrate binding and catalysis

Abstract DNA polymerase β (pol β) plays a central role in the DNA base excision repair pathway and also serves as an important model polymerase. Dynamic characterization of pol β from methyl-TROSY 13C-1H multiple quantum CPMG relaxation dispersion experiments of Ile and Met sidechains and previous backbone relaxation dispersion measurements, reveals transitions in μs-ms dynamics in response to highly variable substrates. Recognition of a 1-nt-gapped DNA substrate is accompanied by significant backbone and sidechain motion in the lyase domain and the DNA binding subdomain of the polymerase domain, that may help to facilitate binding of the apoenzyme to the segments of the DNA upstream and downstream from the gap. Backbone μs-ms motion largely disappears after formation of the pol β–DNA complex, giving rise to an increase in uncoupled μs-ms sidechain motion throughout the enzyme. Formation of an abortive ternary complex using a non-hydrolyzable dNTP results in sidechain motions that fit to a single exchange process localized to the catalytic subdomain, suggesting that this motion may play a role in catalysis.
Metformin and JQ1 synergistically inhibit obesity-activated thyroid cancer.

Compelling epidemiological evidence shows a strong positive correlation of obesity with thyroid cancer. In vivo studies have provided molecular evidence that high-fat-diet-induced obesity promotes thyroid cancer progression by aberrantly activating leptin-JAK2-STAT3 signaling in a mouse model of thyroid cancer (ThrbPV/PVPten+/- mice). The ThrbPV/PVPten+/- mouse expresses a dominantly negative thyroid hormone receptor β (denoted as PV) and a deletion of one single allele of the Pten gene. The ThrbPV/PVPten+/- mouse spontaneously develops follicular thyroid cancer, which allows its use as a preclinical mouse model to test potential therapeutics. We recently showed that inhibition of STAT3 activity by a specific inhibitor markedly delays thyroid cancer progression in high-fat-diet-induced obese ThrbPV/PVPten+/- mice (HFD-ThrbPV/PVPten+/- mice). Further, metformin, a widely used antidiabetic drug, blocks invasion and metastasis, but not thyroid tumor growth in HFD-ThrbPV/PVPten+/- mice. To improve efficacy in reducing thyroid tumor growth, we treated HFD-ThrbPV/PVPten+/- with JQ1, a potent inhibitor of the activity of bromodomain and extraterminal domain (BET) and with metformin. We found that the combined treatment synergistically suppressed thyroid tumor growth by attenuating STAT3 and ERK signaling, resulting in decreased anti-apoptotic key regulators such as Mcl-1, Bcl-2 and survivin and increased pro-apoptotic regulators such as Bim, BAD and cleave caspase 3. Furthermore, combined treatment of JQ1 and metformin reduced cMyc protein levels to suppress vascular invasion, anaplasia and lung metastasis. These findings indicate that combined treatment is more effective than metformin alone and suggest a novel treatment modality for obesity-activated thyroid cancer.
Scheduled Policy Optimization for Natural Language Communication with Intelligent Agents

We investigate the task of learning to interpret natural language instructions by jointly reasoning with visual observations and language inputs. Unlike current methods which start with learning from demonstrations (LfD) and then use reinforcement learning (RL) to fine-tune the model parameters, we propose a novel policy optimization algorithm which can dynamically schedule demonstration learning and RL. The proposed training paradigm provides efficient exploration and generalization beyond existing methods. Comparing to existing ensemble models, the best single model based on our proposed method tremendously decreases the execution error by 55% on a block-world environment. To further illustrate the exploration strategy of our RL algorithm, our paper includes systematic studies on the evolution of policy entropy during training.
Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) in chromosome translocation 46, XX, t (9; X) (q22; q28) - a case report

This paper reports the case of a patient who sought assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatment and was referred to pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) on account of a chromosomal translocation presented with secondary infertility. The patient underwent a highly complex ART treatment and had 14 metaphase II oocytes collected on the day of follicular aspiration. The embryos were taken to extended culture and five were biopsied and vitrified. The embryo genetic report showed aneuploidy in four of the blastocysts, while the other resulted in 46, XX. In conclusion, chromosome translocations involving the X chromosome might result in the deregulation of gene expression and defective ovarian formation. Therefore, the genes present in the X chromosome are believed to be essential in normal ovarian function.
Mechanism of ATP hydrolysis by the Zika virus helicase

During its life cycle, Zika virus (ZIKV), an arthropod‐borne flavivirus that is associated with Guillain‐Barré syndrome and causes microencephaly in fetuses and newborn children, encodes a critical and indispensable helicase domain that has 5'‐triphosphatase activity and performs ATP hydrolysis to generate energy and thus, sustains unwinding of double‐stranded RNA during ZIKV genome replication. Of these processes, ATP hydrolysis represents the most basic event; however, its dynamic mechanisms remain largely unknown, impeding the further understanding of the function of ZIKV helicase and the ongoing anti‐ZIKV drug design. In this work, we determined the crystal structure of ZIKV helicase in complex with ADP‐AlF3‐Mn2+ and ADP‐Mn2+ separately. The structural analysis indicates that these structures represent the intermediate state and posthydrolysis state, respectively, of the ATP hydrolysis process of ZIKV helicase. These findings, together with our earlier work, which identified the prehydrolysis state of ZIKV helicase, lead to a proposal of the ATP hydrolysis cycle for ZIKV helicase. On this basis, we used site‐ directed mutagenesis combined with an enzymatic study to identify successfully residues that are critical for the ATPase activity of ZIKV helicase; this will provide new ideas to understand the function for the key enzyme of ZIKV. —Yang, X. , Chen, C. , Tian, H. , Chi, H. , Mu, Z. , Zhang, T. , Yang, K. , Zhao, Q. , Liu, X. , Wang, Z. , Ji, X. , Yang, H. Mechanism of ATP hydrolysis by the Zika virus helicase. FASEB J. 32, 5250–5257 (2018). www.fasebj. org
Life and Death of mRNA Molecules in Entamoeba histolytica

In eukaryotic cells, the life cycle of mRNA molecules is modulated in response to environmental signals and cell-cell communication in order to support cellular homeostasis. Capping, splicing and polyadenylation in the nucleus lead to the formation of transcripts that are suitable for translation in cytoplasm, until mRNA decay occurs in P-bodies. Although pre-mRNA processing and degradation mechanisms have usually been studied separately, they occur simultaneously and in a coordinated manner through protein-protein interactions, maintaining the integrity of gene expression. In the past few years, the availability of the genome sequence of Entamoeba histolytica, the protozoan parasite responsible for human amoebiasis, coupled to the development of the so-called “omics” technologies provided new opportunities for the study of mRNA processing and turnover in this pathogen. Here, we review the current knowledge about the molecular basis for splicing, 3′ end formation and mRNA degradation in amoeba, which suggest the conservation of events related to mRNA life throughout evolution. We also present the functional characterization of some key proteins and describe some interactions that indicate the relevance of cooperative regulatory events for gene expression in this human parasite.
Comparing ActiGraph equations for estimating energy expenditure in older adults

ABSTRACT Accurate estimation of energy expenditure (EE) from accelerometer outputs remains a challenge in older adults. The aim of this study was to validate different ActiGraph (AG) equations for predicting EE in older adults. Forty older adults (age = 77.4 ± 8.1 yrs) completed a set of household/gardening activities in their residence, while wearing an AG at the hip (GT3X+) and a portable calorimeter (MetaMax 3B – criterion). Predicted EEs from AG were calculated using five equations (Freedson, refined Crouter, Sasaki and Santos-Lozano (vertical-axis, vectormagnitude)). Accuracy of equations was assessed using root-mean-square error (RMSE) and mean bias. The Sasaki equation showed the lowest RMSE for all activities (0.47 METs) and across physical activity intensities (PAIs) (range 0.18–0.48 METs). The Freedson and Santos-Lozano equations tended to overestimate EE for sedentary activities (range: 0.48 to 0.97 METs), while EEs for moderate-to-vigorous activities (MVPA) were underestimated (range: −1.02 to −0.64 METs). The refined Crouter and Sasaki equations showed no systematic bias, but they respectively overestimated and underestimated EE across PAIs. In conclusion, none of the equations was completely accurate for predicting EE across the range of PAIs. However, the refined Crouter and Sasaki equations showed better overall accuracy and precision when compared with the other methods.
Factors Predicting Burnout Among Chaplains: Compassion Satisfaction, Organizational Factors, and the Mediators of Mindful Self-Care and Secondary Traumatic Stress

This study predicted Burnout from the self-care practices, compassion satisfaction, secondary traumatic stress, and organizational factors among chaplains who participated from all 50 states (N = 534). A hierarchical regression model indicated that the combined effect of compassion satisfaction, secondary traumatic stress, mindful self-care, demographic, and organizational factors explained 83.2% of the variance in Burnout. Chaplains serving in a hospital were slightly more at risk for Burnout than those in hospice or other settings. Organizational factors that most predicted Burnout were feeling bogged down by the “system” (25.7%) and an overwhelming caseload (19.9%). Each self-care category was a statistically significant protective factor against Burnout risk. The strongest protective factors against Burnout in order of strength were self-compassion and purpose, supportive structure, mindful self-awareness, mindful relaxation, supportive relationships, and physical care. For secondary traumatic stress, supportive structure, mindful self-awareness, and self-compassion and purpose were the strongest protective factors. Chaplains who engaged in multiple and frequent self-care strategies experienced higher professional quality of life and low Burnout risk. In the chaplain’s journey toward wellness, a reflective practice of feeling good about doing good and mindful self-care are vital. The significance, implications, and limitations of the study were discussed.
mmWave Measurement of RF Reflectors for 5G Green Communications

In recent years, with the energy consumption and environmental degradation, science and technology embarked on a path of sustainable development. In this situation, 5G green communication system has been widely used. This paper introduces the application of RF reflectors to 5G mmWave, where line-of-sight (LoS) blockage is a major hindrance for the coverage. In particular, we investigate the lab measurement of RF reflectors, which is a critical step from the theory to the practice. Furthermore, through the lab measurement, a 3D near-field range migration (RM) imaging algorithm for MIMO array configuration is proposed, and the sampling scheme is improved to save the computation time while providing high-quality images.
Design of Inkjet-Printed RFID-Based Sensor on Paper: Single- and Dual-Tag Sensor Topologies

The detailed design considerations for the printed RFID-based sensor system is presented in this paper. Starting from material selection and metallization method, this paper discusses types of RFID-based sensors (single- & dual-tag sensor topologies), design procedures, and performance evaluation methods for the wireless sensor system. The electrical properties of the paper substrates (cellulose-based and synthetic papers) and the silver nano-particle-based conductive film are thoroughly characterized for RF applications up to 8 GHz. The reported technology could potentially set the foundation for truly “green”, low-cost, scalable wireless topologies for autonomous Internet-of-Things (IoT), bio-monitoring, and “smart skin” applications.
Forecasting of Incoming Calls in a Commercial Bank Service Call Center

In this study, we develop forecast models for incoming calls at a call center of a commercial bank in Thailand. We found that incoming calls are non-stationary. Normally, the number of calls is low during holiday and high during the beginning and ending of each month. Various time series models are applied for monthly forecast and an algorithm based on seasonal pattern is proposed for daily forecast. MAPE (Mean Absolute Percentage Error) and RMSE (Root Mean Square Error) are used for comparing the proposed methodology and the current model that the bank uses. The results show that the proposed methodology is better than the current model. MAPE reduces from 9.79% to 8.12% and RMSE reduces from 960.37 to 861.88.
Decision Variants for the Automatic Determination of Optimal Feature Subset in RF-RFE

Feature selection, which identifies a set of most informative features from the original feature space, has been widely used to simplify the predictor. Recursive feature elimination (RFE), as one of the most popular feature selection approaches, is effective in data dimension reduction and efficiency increase. A ranking of features, as well as candidate subsets with the corresponding accuracy, is produced through RFE. The subset with highest accuracy (HA) or a preset number of features (PreNum) are often used as the final subset. However, this may lead to a large number of features being selected, or if there is no prior knowledge about this preset number, it is often ambiguous and subjective regarding final subset selection. A proper decision variant is in high demand to automatically determine the optimal subset. In this study, we conduct pioneering work to explore the decision variant after obtaining a list of candidate subsets from RFE. We provide a detailed analysis and comparison of several decision variants to automatically select the optimal feature subset. Random forest (RF)-recursive feature elimination (RF-RFE) algorithm and a voting strategy are introduced. We validated the variants on two totally different molecular biology datasets, one for a toxicogenomic study and the other one for protein sequence analysis. The study provides an automated way to determine the optimal feature subset when using RF-RFE.
Deficits in saccades and smooth-pursuit eye movements in adults with traumatic brain injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis

ABSTRACT Purpose: To conduct a review of literature and quantify the effect that traumatic brain injury (TBI) has on oculomotor functions (OM). Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted from papers that objectively measured saccades and smooth-pursuit eye movements in mild and severe TBI. Results: The overall impact of TBI on OM functions was moderate and significant with an effect size of 0.42 from 181 OM case-control comparisons. The heterogeneity, determined using the random effect model, was found to be significant (Q (180) = 367, p < 0.0001, I2 = 51) owing to the variety of OM functions (reflexive saccades, antisaccades, memory-guided saccades, self-paced saccades and pursuits) measured and varying post-injury periods.The overall effect on OM functions were similar in mild and severe TBI despite differences in combined effect size of various OM functions. OM functions involving complex cognitive skills such as antisaccades (in mild and severe TBI) and memory-guided saccades (in mild TBI) were the most adversely affected, suggesting that OM deficits may be associated with cognitive deficits in TBI. Conclusion: TBI often results in long-standing OM deficits. Experimental measures of OM assessment reflect neural integrity and may provide a sensitive and objective biomarker to detect OM deficits following TBI.
Exploring the Programmability for Deep Learning Processors: from Architecture to Tensorization

This paper presents an instruction and Fabric Programmable Neuron Array (iFPNA) architecture, its 28nm CMOS chip prototype, and a compiler for the acceleration of a variety of deep learning neural networks (DNNs) including convolutional neural networks (CNNs), recurrent neural networks (RNNs), and fully connected (FC) networks on chip. The iFPNA architecture combines instruction-level programmability as in an Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) with logic-level reconfigurability as in a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) in a sliced structure for scalability. Four data flow models, namely weight stationary, input stationary, row stationary and tunnel stationary, are described as the abstraction of various DNN data and computational dependence. The iFPNA compiler partitions a large-size DNN to smaller networks, each being mapped to, optimized and code generated for, the underlying iFPNA processor using one or a mixture of the four data-flow models. Experimental results have shown that state-of-art large-size CNNs, RNNs, and FC networks can be mapped to the iFPNA processor achieving the near ASIC performance.
The Body of Cognitive and Metacognitive Variables in Eating Disorders: Need of Control, Negative Beliefs about Worry Uncontrollability and Danger, Perfectionism, Self-esteem and Worry.

BACKGROUND Many studies have described perfectionism and low self-esteem as traits associated with eating disorders (ED). More recently, research has shown the role played by worry, rumination, control and metacognitive beliefs. This paper investigates the role played by cognitive and metacognitive variables in the psychopathological mechanism of eating disorders, assuming that not only perfectionism and low selfesteem but also metacognitive beliefs and processes can discriminate between controls and EDs. METHOD The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM, the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Anxiety Control Questionnaire, the Penn State Worry and the Metacognition Questionnaire were administered to the samples. RESULTS Results suggested that metacognitive factors like negative beliefs about worry, uncontrollability and danger, need for control, and worry should be added to the body of cognitive factors underlying ED composed by the classical couple of cognitive factors including perfectionism and low self-esteem. CONCLUSIONS It is possible that an individual with ED assumes that metacognitive processes like worry and rumination are a further proof of his or her lack of value, capacity to control, and self-control. Such appraisals may reinforce the painful sense of low self-esteem so typical in ED and, in turn, the perfectionistic striving for excellence.
Randomised controlled trial of adjunctive inspiratory muscle training for patients with COPD

Background This study aimed to investigate whether adjunctive inspiratory muscle training (IMT) can enhance the well-established benefits of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) in patients with COPD. Methods 219 patients with COPD (FEV1: 42%±16% predicted) with inspiratory muscle weakness (PImax: 51±15 cm H2O) were randomised into an intervention group (IMT+PR; n=110) or a control group (Sham-IMT+PR; n=109) in this double-blind, multicentre randomised controlled trial between February 2012 and October 2016 (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01397396). Improvement in 6 min walking distance (6MWD) was a priori defined as the primary outcome. Prespecified secondary outcomes included respiratory muscle function and endurance cycling time. Findings No significant differences between the intervention group (n=89) and the control group (n=85) in improvements in 6MWD were observed (0.3 m, 95% CI −13 to 14, p=0.967). Patients who completed assessments in the intervention group achieved larger gains in inspiratory muscle strength (effect size: 1.07, p<0.001) and endurance (effect size: 0.79, p<0.001) than patients in the control group. 75 s additional improvement in endurance cycling time (95% CI 1 to 149, p=0.048) and significant reductions in Borg dyspnoea score at isotime during the cycling test (95% CI −1.5 to −0.01, p=0.049) were observed in the intervention group. Interpretation Improvements in respiratory muscle function after adjunctive IMT did not translate into additional improvements in 6MWD (primary outcome). Additional gains in endurance time and reductions in symptoms of dyspnoea were observed during an endurance cycling test (secondary outcome) Trial registration number NCT01397396; Results.
Impact of Operational Risk Toward the Efficiency of Banking - Evidence from Taiwans Banking Industry

This study adopts a GARCH model to estimate the operational risk of Taiwan? s banking industry by the Top-Down method. Based on the approach of Battese and Coelli (1995) we estimate the Trans-log cost model and the inefficient model simultaneously by the Maximum likelihood method. Our empirical result shows that the operational risks have a significantly positive impact on cost inefficiency - that is, regardless of which methods we use for calculation, operational risk drives down economic efficiency. Comparing with the basic index method, the multi-factor model of the Top-Down method is better at analyzing the relationship of operational risk and efficiency.