Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
TinyLink

Rapid development is essential for IoT (Internet of Things) application developers to obtain first-mover advantages and reduce the development cost. In this article, we present TinyLink, a holistic system for rapid development of IoT applications. The key idea of TinyLink is to use a top-down approach for designing both the hardware and the software of IoT applications. Developers write the application code in a C-like language to specify the key logic of their applications, without dealing with the details of the specific hardware components. Taking the application code as input, TinyLink automatically generates the hardware configuration as well as the binary program executable on the target hardware platform. TinyLink provides unified APIs for applications to interact with the underlying hardware components. We implement TinyLink and evaluate its performance using real-world IoT applications. Results show that (1) TinyLink achieves rapid development of IoT applications, reducing 52.58% of lines of code on average compared with traditional approaches; (2) TinyLink searches a much larger design space and thus can generate a superior solution for the hardware configuration, compared with the state-of-the-art approach; (3) TinyLink incurs acceptable overhead in terms of execution time and program memory.
Maggy: Scalable Asynchronous Parallel Hyperparameter Search

Running extensive experiments is essential for building Machine Learning (ML) models. Such experiments usually require iterative execution of many trials with varying run times. In recent years, Apache Spark has become the de-facto standard for parallel data processing in the industry, in which iterative processes are implemented within the bulk-synchronous parallel (BSP) execution model. The BSP approach is also being used to parallelize ML trials in Spark. However, the BSP task synchronization barriers prevent asynchronous execution of trials, which leads to a reduced number of trials that can be run on a given computational budget. In this paper, we introduce Maggy, an open-source framework based on Spark, to execute ML trials asynchronously in parallel, with the ability to early stop poorly performing trials. In the experiments, we compare Maggy with the BSP execution of parallel trials in Spark and show that on random hyperparameter search on a convolutional neural network for the Fashion-MNIST dataset Maggy reduces the required time to execute a fixed number of trials by 33% to 58%, without any loss in the final model accuracy.
Graph Theoretic Analysis Reveals Intranasal Oxytocin Induced Network Changes Over Frontal Regions

In this study, we aim to elucidate how intranasal oxytocin modulates brain network characteristics, especially over the frontal network. As an essential brain hub of social cognition and emotion regulation, we will also explore the association between graphic properties of the frontal network and individual personality traits under oxytocin (OT) administration. 59 male participants administered intranasal OT or placebo were followed by restingstate fMRI scanning. The Correlation-based network model was applied to study OT modulation effects. We performed community detection algorithms and conducted further network analyses, including clustering coefficient, average shortest path and eigenvector centrality. In addition, we conducted a correlation analysis between clustering coefficients and the self-assessed psychological scales. Modular organizations in the OT group reveal integrations of the frontoparietal network (FPN) and the default mode network (DMN) over frontal regions. Results show that frontal nodes within the FPN are characterized by lower clustering coefficients and higher average shortest path values compared to the placebo group. Notably, these modulation effects on frontal network property are associated with Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) fantasy value. Our results suggest that OT elevates integrations between FPN, DMN and limbic system as well as reduces small-worldness within the FPN. Our results support graph theoretic analysis as a potential tool to assess OT induced effects on the information integration in the frontal network.
Ranking Nodes in Temporal Networks: Eigen Value and Node Degree Growth based

Compared with the traditional static network, the temporal networks can describe the events in the network in more detail and comprehensively. The static network only considers the connection between nodes and ignores the process of network development, while the temporal network lacks the process of finding important nodes in the network. In real life, many networks can be described as temporal networks, such as communication networks, infectious disease transmission networks, and the activation of neurons inside the brain. An important node of a temporal network is that it can affect the structure and function of the network to a greater extent than other nodes of the network. This paper conducts research and analysis on the ranking of important nodes in temporal networks. This article summarizes several prioritization methods of node importance in temporal networks and compares them with the importance ranking of nodes in static networks. Finally, this paper proposes two methods for ranking the importance of nodes in the time network: eigenvalue centrality and growth-based centrality. The experiment is conducted on two real datasets, one is social networking college message and another one is based on real human contact network.
Caenorhabditis Elegans Junctophilin has Tissue-Specific Functions and Regulates Neurotransmission with Extended-Synaptotagmin

The junctophilin family of proteins tether together plasma membrane (PM) and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membranes, and couple PM- and ER-localized calcium channels. Understanding in vivo functions of junctophilins is of great interest for dissecting the physiological roles of ER-PM contact sites. Here, we show that the sole C. elegans junctophilin JPH-1 localizes to discrete membrane contact sites in neurons and muscles and has important tissue-specific functions. jph-1 null mutants display slow growth and development due to weaker contraction of pharyngeal muscles, leading to reduced feeding. In the body wall muscle, JPH-1 co-localizes with the PM-localized EGL-19 voltage-gated calcium channel and ER-localized UNC-68/RyR calcium channel, and is required for animal movement. We also find an unexpected cell non-autonomous effect of jph-1 in axon regrowth after injury. In neurons, JPH-1 co-localizes with the membrane contact site protein Extended-SYnaptoTagmin 2 (ESYT-2) and modulates neurotransmission. Interestingly, jph-1 and esyt-2 null mutants display mutual suppression in their response to aldicarb, suggesting that JPH-1 and ESYT-1 have antagonistic roles in neuromuscular synaptic transmission. Our genetic double mutant analysis also reveals that jph-1 functions in overlapping pathways with two PM-localized voltage-gated calcium channels, egl-19 and unc-2, and unc-68/RyR for animal health and development. Finally, we show that unc-68/RyR is required for JPH-1 localization to ER-PM puncta. Our data demonstrate important roles for junctophilin in cellular physiology, and also provide insights into how junctophilin functions together with other calcium channels in vivo.
A Survey of Lipreading Methods Based on Deep Learning

Visual speech recognition, also known as lipreading, is to recognize speech content by decoding the visual information of the speaker's lip movement on the basis of no speech signal. The effect of lipreading based on traditional manual features in complex scenes is not very good. With the great success of deep learning in image classification, the application of deep learning to lipreading has become a new development trend, but there are still some challenges and problems. Lipreading model based on deep learning is mainly divided into front-end and back-end. The front-end are mainly used to extract the lip movement features, and then decode the long-term information through the back-end. In this paper, the convolution neural network structure in the front-end and the sequence processing model of the back-end are discussed and analyzed. In addition, it introduces the current lipreading datasets and the comparison of the methods used in these datasets.
Involvement of a Membrane-Bound Amphiphilic Helix in Substrate Discrimination and Binding by an Escherichia coli S2P Peptidase RseP

Intramembrane proteases (IMPs) are a unique class of proteases that catalyze the proteolysis within the membrane and regulate diverse cellular processes in various organisms. RseP, an Escherichia coli site-2 protease (S2P) family IMP, is involved in the regulation of an extracytoplasmic stress response through the cleavage of membrane-spanning anti-stress-response transcription factor (anti-σE) protein RseA. Extracytoplasmic stresses trigger a sequential cleavage of RseA, in which first DegS cleaves off its periplasmic domain, and RseP catalyzes the second cleavage of RseA. The two tandem-arranged periplasmic PDZ (PDZ tandem) domains of RseP serve as a size-exclusion filter which prevents the access of an intact RseA into the active site of RseP IMP domain. However, RseP’s substrate recognition mechanism is not fully understood. Here, we found that a periplasmic region of RseP, located downstream of the PDZ tandem, contains a segment (named H1) predicted to form an amphiphilic helix. Bacterial S2P homologs with various numbers of PDZ domains have a similar amphiphilic helix in the corresponding region. We demonstrated that the H1 segment forms a partially membrane-embedded amphiphilic helix on the periplasmic surface of the membrane. Systematic and random mutagenesis analyses revealed that the H1 helix is important for the stability and proteolytic function of RseP and that mutations in the H1 segment can affect the PDZ-mediated substrate discrimination. Cross-linking experiments suggested that H1 directly interacts with the DegS-cleaved form of RseA. We propose that H1 acts as an adaptor required for proper arrangement of the PDZ tandem domain to perform its filter function and for substrate positioning for its efficient cleavage.
Repeatability of Neural and Autonomic Responses to Acute Psychosocial Stress

FMRI Montreal Imaging Stress Tasks (MIST) have been shown to activate endocrine and autonomic stress responses that are mediated by a prefrontal cortex (PFC)-hippocampus-amygdala circuit. However, the stability of the neurobehavioral responses over time and the ability to monitor response to clinical interventions has yet to be validated. The objective of this study was to compare the fMRI and physiologic responses to acute psychosocial stress in healthy volunteers during initial and follow-up visits approximately 13 weeks later, simulating a typical duration of clinical intervention. We hypothesized that responses to stress would remain highly conserved across the 2 visits in the absence of an intervention. 15 healthy volunteers completed a variant of control math task (CMT) and stress math task (SMT) conditions based on MIST. Neural responses were modeled using an event-related design with estimates for math performance and auditory feedback for each task condition. For each visit, measures of stress reactivity included differential fMRI and heart rate (SMT-CMT), as well as salivary alpha-amylase before and after scanning sessions. The results revealed that differential fMRI, as well as increased heart rate and salivary alpha-amylase from before and after scanning remained similar between visits. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) values revealed areas of reliable task-dependent BOLD fMRI signal response across visits for peaks of clusters for the main effect of condition (SMT vs CMT) within dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), insula, and hippocampus regions during math performance and within subgenual ACC, posterior cingulate cortex, dorsolateral PFC regions during auditory feedback. Given that the neurobehavioral response to acute stress remained highly conserved across visits in the absence of an intervention, this study confirms the utility for MIST for assessing longitudinal changes in controlled trials that can identify underlying neurobiological mechanisms involved in mediating the efficacy of stress-reduction interventions.
Unraveling the Molecular Evolution of Blood Coagulation Genes in Fishes and Cetaceans

Among the many physiological changes that occurred during the transition from an aquatic to a terrestrial lifestyle by early vertebrates, blood coagulation has an interesting history. Blood coagulation genes, originally composed of a single pathway in fishes, have expanded to include a second pathway in the evolution of terrestrial vertebrates. However, genes of this second pathway have been secondarily lost in many lineages, as is the case for cetaceans, which returned to the aquatic environment during their evolution. Herein, we investigated the selective pressures on blood coagulation genes in a phylogenetic framework, focusing on fishes and cetaceans. Taking advantage of the availability of the genetic sequences of many vertebrate lineages and using a combination of bioinformatic tools, our results showed a diverse history of gene losses and gains, with different selective pressures acting on different genes of the blood coagulation functional pathway. In addition, there was no evidence of a clear convergent molecular evolution between cetaceans and fishes, highlighting that there are many possible evolutionary mechanisms with regard to a functional pathway that involves many genes.
The Influence of Si3N4w Volume Fraction on the Microstructure and Properties of Si3N4w/Si3N4 Composites via CVI Technique

Wave-transparent ceramic composites with excellent comprehensive performances are of particular significance for the development of space vehicles. In this study, Si3N4w was prepared by the gel-casting process and then combined with chemical vapor infiltration (CVI)-obtained Si3N4 to yield Si3N4w/Si3N4 composites with five Si3N4w volume fractions. The influence of the Si3N4w volume fraction on the microstructures, mechanical properties, and dielectric characteristics of the Si3N4w/Si3N4 composites were all studied. The results showed that Si3N4w/Si3N4 composites possess A sandwich structures. Higher Si3N4w volume fractions led to less incorporated amounts of the Si3N4 matrix at the same depth. The 25 vol% Si3N4w/Si3N4 composites integrated relatively higher Si3N4w volume fraction and load transfer ability of the matrix, leading to better flexural strengths reaching up to 41.37 MPa. The dielectric constants of the five prepared Si3N4w/Si3N4 composites ranged from 2.25 to 4.0. The dielectric losses were all lower than 0.005, demonstrating the good dielectric properties of the Si3N4w/Si3N4 composites.
Comparable Intestinal and Hepatic First-Pass Effect of YL-IPA08 on the Bioavailability and Effective Brain Exposure, a Rapid Anti-PTSD and Anti-Depression Compound

YL-IPA08, exerting rapid antidepressant-like and anxiolytic-like effects on behaviors by translocator protein (TSPO) mediation, is a novel compound that has been discovered and developed at our institute. Fit-for-purpose pharmacokinetic properties is urgently needed to be discovered as early as possible for a new compound. YL-IPA08 exhibited low bioavailability (∼6%) during the preliminary pharmacokinetics study in rats after oral administration. Our aim was to determine how metabolic disposition by microsomal P450 enzymes in liver and intestine limited YL-IPA08’s bioavailability and further affected brain penetration to the target. Studies of in vitro metabolic stability and permeability combined with in vivo oral bioavailability, panel CYP inhibitor co-administration via different routes, and double cannulation rats were conducted to elucidate the intestinal and hepatic first-pass effect of YL-IPA08 on bioavailability. Unbound brain-to-plasma ratio (K p,uu ) in rats was determined at steady state. Results indicated that P450-mediated elimination appeared to be important for its extensive first-pass effect with comparative contribution of gut (35%) and liver (17%), and no significant species difference was observed. The unbound concentration of YL-IPA08 in rat brain (6.5 pg/ml) was estimated based on K p,uu (0.18) and was slightly higher than in vitro TSPO-binding activity (4.9 pg/ml). Based on the onset efficacy of YL-IPA08 toward TPSO in brain and K p,uu , therapeutic human plasma concentration was predicted to be ∼27.2 ng/ml would easily be reached even with unfavorable bioavailability.
Antioxidant Activity and Phenolic Content of Marine Dissolved Organic Matter and Their Relation to Molecular Composition

The potential of marine dissolved organic matter (DOM) for free radical scavenging has been extensively evaluated, however, the quantitative assessment of the antioxidant potential has been recently measured for the first time. The linkage of the DOM antioxidant potential to its molecular composition has not yet been examined. Following this line, this article takes a step forward by assessing, throughout a polarity-mediated fractionation, (1) the antioxidant capacity and phenolic content and (2) the molecular characterization of DOM in a more exhaustive manner. (3) The DOM antioxidant potential and phenolic content was linked to the molecular composition of DOM, which was molecularly characterized using ultrahigh resolution Fourier transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS). Antioxidant activity and phenolic content were quantified by the free radical 2,2’-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS⋅) and the Folin-Ciocalteu methods, respectively. We considered three types of different natural DOM samples: the deep North Pacific Ocean, the oligotrophic surface of the North Pacific Ocean and porewater from the sulfidic tidal flats of the Wadden Sea. Bulk porewater and its individual polarity fractions presented the highest antioxidant activity and phenolic content. DOM from the water column samples had lower antioxidant activity and phenolic content than porewater, but exceeded what it is commonly found in macroalgae, microalgae, fruits and vegetables with cosmeceutical purposes. Our values were similar to published values for terrestrial DOM. The variations in bioactivity were dependent on polarity and molecular composition. The high resolution and high mass accuracy used to determine the molecular composition of marine DOM and the chemometric and multistatistical analyses employed have allowed to distinguish molecular categories that are related to the bioactive potential. As a future perspective, we performed cytotoxicity tests with human cells and propose marine DOM as a natural ingredient for the development of cosmeceutical products.
Environment dependence of rhizobial relative fitness in the legume-rhizobia symbiosis

Spatial and temporal variation in resource availability, population density, and composition likely affect the ecology and evolution of symbiotic interactions. We examined how host genotype, Nitrogen addition, rhizobial density, and community complexity affected a legume-rhizobia (Medicago truncatula - Ensifer meliloti) mutualism. Host genotype had the strongest effect on the size, number, and rhizobial composition of root nodules (the symbiotic organ). By contrast, the effect of small changes in N-availability and the complexity of the inoculum community (2, 3, 8, or 68 strains) were minor. Higher inoculum density resulted in a nodule community that was less diverse and more beneficial but only in the more selective host. With the less selective host, higher density resulted in more diverse and less beneficial nodule communities. Density effects on strain composition deserve additional scrutiny as they can create eco-evolutionary feedback and have translational relevance for overcoming establishment barriers in bio-inoculants.The environmental context of the nitrogen-fixing mutualism between leguminous plants and rhizobial bacteria varies over space and time. The understudied environmental variable of rhizobial density had a larger effect on the relative fitness of 68 rhizobia (Ensifer meliloti) strains in nodules than the addition of low-levels of nitrogen or community complexity.
Feasibility of a Lifestyle Intervention Program for Prevention of Diabetes Among Women With Prior Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (LIVING Study) in South Asia: A Formative Research Study

Aim: To refine and contextually adapt a postpartum lifestyle intervention for prevention of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in women with prior gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka. Materials and Methods: In-depth interviews (IDIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with women with current diagnosis of GDM, and health care professionals involved in their management, to understand relevant local contextual factors for intervention optimization and implementation. This paper describes facilitators and barriers as well as feedback from participants on how to improve the proposed intervention. These factors were grouped and interpreted along the axes of the three main determinants of behavior–capability, opportunity, and motivation. IDIs and FGDs were digitally recorded, transcribed, and translated. Data-driven inductive thematic analysis was undertaken to identify and analyze patterns and themes. Results: Two interrelated themes emerged from the IDIs and FGDs: (i) The lifestyle intervention was acceptable and considered to have the potential to improve the existing model of care for women with GDM; and (ii) Certain barriers such as reduced priority of self-care, and adverse societal influences postpartum need to be addressed for the improvement of GDM care. Based on the feedback, the intervention was optimized by including messages for family members in the content of the intervention, providing options for both text and voice messages as reminders, and finalizing the format of the intervention session delivery. Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of contextual factors in influencing postpartum care and support for women diagnosed with GDM in three South Asian countries. It indicates that although provision of postpartum care is complex, a group lifestyle intervention program is highly acceptable to women with GDM, as well as to health care professionals, at urban hospitals.