Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spatial analyses of two color polymorphisms in an alpine grasshopper reveal a role of small‐scale heterogeneity

Abstract Discrete color polymorphisms represent a fascinating aspect of intraspecific diversity. Color morph ratios often vary clinally, but in some cases, there are no marked clines and mixes of different morphs occur at appreciable frequencies in most populations. This poses the questions of how polymorphisms are maintained. We here study the spatial and temporal distribution of a very conspicuous color polymorphism in the club‐legged grasshopper Gomphocerus sibiricus. The species occurs in a green and a nongreen (predominately brown) morph, a green–brown polymorphism that is common among Orthopteran insects. We sampled color morph ratios at 42 sites across the alpine range of the species and related color morph ratios to local habitat parameters and climatic conditions. Green morphs occurred in both sexes, and their morph ratios were highly correlated among sites, suggesting shared control of the polymorphism in females and males. We found that in at least 40 of 42 sites green and brown morphs co‐occurred with proportions of green ranging from 0% to 70% with significant spatial heterogeneity. The proportion of green individuals tended to increase with decreasing summer and winter precipitations. Nongreen individuals can be further distinguished into brown and pied individuals, and again, this polymorphism is shared with other grasshopper species. We found pied individuals at all sites with proportions ranging from 3% to 75%, with slight, but significant variation between years. Pied morphs show a clinal increase in frequency from east to west and decreased with altitude and lower temperatures and were more common on grazed sites. The results suggest that both small‐scale and large‐scale spatial heterogeneity affects color morph ratios. The almost universal co‐occurrence of all three color morphs argues against strong effects of genetic drift. Instead, the data suggest that small‐scale migration–selection balance and/or local balancing selection maintain populations polymorphic.
GATO: predicting human performance with multistroke and multitouch gesture input

We introduce GATO, a human performance analysis technique grounded in the Kinematic Theory that delivers accurate predictions for the expected user production time of stroke gestures of all kinds: unistrokes, multistrokes, multitouch, or combinations thereof. Our experimental results obtained on several public datasets (82 distinct gesture types, 123 participants, ≈36k gesture samples) show that GATO predicts user-independent gesture production times that correlate rs > . 9 with groundtruth, while delivering an average relative error of less than 10% with respect to actual measured times. With its accurate estimations of users' a priori time performance with stroke gesture input, GATO will help researchers to understand better users' gesture articulation patterns on touchscreen devices of all kinds. GATO will also benefit practitioners to inform highly effective gesture set designs.
An Alternative TAGE-like Conditional Branch Predictor

TAGE is one of the most accurate conditional branch predictors known today. However, TAGE does not exploit its input information perfectly, as it is possible to obtain significant prediction accuracy improvements by complementing TAGE with a statistical corrector using the same input information. This article proposes an alternative TAGE-like predictor making statistical correction practically superfluous.
Chinese Propolis Exerts Anti-Proliferation Effects in Human Melanoma Cells by Targeting NLRP1 Inflammatory Pathway, Inducing Apoptosis, Cell Cycle Arrest, and Autophagy

Melanoma is a malignant tumor that begins in the melanocyte and has the highest mortality rate among all cutaneous tumors. Chinese propolis (CP) has been shown to have a potent antitumor effect against various cancers. In this study, we uncovered the combined effects of antiproliferation and anti-inflammation of CP on suppressing the progression of human melanoma cell line A375. We evaluated the alterations of protein expression after CP treatment by Western blot. After CP treatment, A375 cells underwent intrinsic apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. Furthermore, we found that CP suppressed inflammation in A375 cells. NLRP1 (NLR family pyrin domain containing 1), confirmed as a proinflammatory protein in melanoma progression, was downregulated significantly by CP, as were the NLRP1-related caspase activation and recruitment domains (CARD) proteins, including caspase-1 and caspase-4. Additionally, decreasing mRNA levels of IL-1α, IL-1β, and IL-18 further proved the negative regulation of CP on the melanoma inflammatory environment. We also discovered that CP induced autophagy in A375 cells. Interestingly, inhibiting autophagy in CP-treated cells diminished its antitumor effect, suggesting that the autophagy was attributed to CP-induced apoptosis. Collectively, CP is a promising candidate for drug development for melanoma therapy.
Functionally significant, novel GATA4 variants are frequently associated with Tetralogy of Fallot

Transcription factor GATA4 is known to play crucial role during heart development, regulating expression of several other key cardiogenic factors. Various GATA4 mutations are reported in familial as well as sporadic cases of congenital heart defects (CHDs). To estimate the prevalence and pathogenic potential of GATA4 variants in our CHD cohort, we have screened 285 CHD cases along with 200 controls by Sanger sequencing and identified 9 genetic variants (c.23C>A; p.Ala8Asp, c.25G>A; p.Ala9Thr, c.223G>T; p.Ala75Ser, c.383A>T; p.Glu128Val, c.397A>T; p.Ser133Cys, c.682T>A; p.Trp228Arg, c.1064C>G; p.Thr355Ser, c.1073G>C; p.Ser358Thr, and c.1220C>A; p.Pro407Gln) in 22 unrelated CHD probands (frequency:7.72%). Five of these are novel and located in the N‐terminal transactivation domain (TAD) and first zinc finger domain. Majority C‐terminal domain variants are polymorphic. Two of the TAD variants p.Glu128Val, p.Ser133Cys, and a first zinc finger variant p.Trp228Arg, impair combinatorial synergy of NKX2‐5, SRF, and TBX5, suggesting potential role of these domains in GATA4 interactions with these factors. Decreased DNA‐binding affinity with EMSA also supports this observation. Homology modeling and tertiary structure comparison show conformational changes in these variants. Interestingly, GATA4 variants are more frequently associated with ToF (45%; P = 0.0046) and PS (22.7%; P < 0.0001) in spite of abundance of septal defects in our study cohort.
In Vivo genotoxicity of a commercial C.I. Disperse Red 1 dye

Color Index (C.I.) Disperse Red 1 (DR1) is a widely used textile azo dye found in rivers. As it may not be completely removed by conventional treatments, humans can be exposed through drinking water. Studies have supported in vitro toxicity and mutagenicity of commercial DR1. This study aimed to investigate the mutagenic and toxicogenomic effects of commercial DR1 in multiple tissues/organs of Swiss male mice. For that, animals were orally exposed to the dye (by gavage), at single doses of 0.0005, 0.005, 0.5, 50, or 500 mg/kg bw. The two lowest doses were equivalent to the ones found in two Brazilian rivers receiving influx of textile discharges. Cytotoxicity, micronucleated cell frequencies (for all doses tested), primary DNA damage (comet assay), and gene expression profiling of (0.0005 and 0.005 mg/kg of bw) were investigated 24 hr after animal exposure to commercial DR1. Data showed increased frequencies of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes in bone marrow cells after treatment with 0.5 and 50 mg/kg bw. At 0.005 mg/kg bw, commercial DR1 induced an increase of primary DNA damage in liver, but not in kidney cells. Additionally, upregulation of genes involved in the inflammatory process (IL1B) (0.0005 and 0.005 mg/kg bw) and cell‐cycle control (CDKN1A) in liver cells, and apoptosis (BCL2 and BAX) in leukocytes (0.005 mg/kg bw) were also detected. In conclusion, the commercial DR1 was genotoxic (chromosome aberrations and primary DNA damage) and modulated gene expression in mice, and such effects were dependent on the doses and tissues analyzed. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 59:822–828, 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Effect of Medicaid Expansion on Health Insurance Coverage and Access to Care Among Adults With Depression.

OBJECTIVE Multiple studies have detailed the relationship between Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act and various health and financial outcomes. However, fewer studies have examined Medicaid expansion's effects on individuals with psychiatric diagnoses. This study sought to determine the relationship between Medicaid expansion and various health and financial outcomes among low-income adults with depression. METHODS This quasi-experimental study used a random-digit-dial survey of U.S. citizens ages 19-64 with incomes below 138% of the federal poverty level. Surveys were conducted in three southern states (two expansion states, Arkansas and Kentucky, and one nonexpansion state, Texas) between 2013 and 2016. The study sample consisted of those with a positive screen for depression-score of ≥2 on the two-item Patient Health Questionnaire (N=4,853). Survey-weighted difference-in-differences regressions were conducted with insurance status, health care access and utilization, and affordability of care as outcomes of interest. Subgroup analyses stratified the sample on the basis of the respondent's residence in a health professional shortage area (HPSA) in mental health and severity of depression. RESULTS Medicaid expansion was associated with a significant reduction in the proportion of adults with depression who lacked health insurance (-23 percentage points, 95% confidence interval=-32 to -14, p<.001). Medicaid expansion was also associated with significant reductions in delaying care and medications because of cost. These changes were similar regardless of residence in a mental health HPSA and severity of depression. CONCLUSIONS Medicaid expansion was associated with improved access to care and medication among persons with depression, even in areas with relative shortages of mental health professionals.
Trajectories of Physiological Brain Aging and Related Factors in People Aged from 20 to over-80.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE In this study, we investigated a long-term trajectory of brain aging (from the 20 s to over-80) in cognitively normal (CN) individuals. We further determined whether differences in sex, education years, and apolipoprotein E ε 4 status affect age-related cortical thinning. METHODS A total of 2,944 CN individuals who underwent high-resolution (3.0-Tesla) magnetic resonance imaging were included in this study. Cortical thickness was measured using a surface-based method. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to evaluate age-related cortical thinning and related factors. RESULTS Compared to those in their 20 s/30 s, participants in their 40 s showed thinning primarily in the medial and lateral frontal and inferior parietal regions, and cortical thinning occurred across most of the cortices with increasing age. Notably, the precuneus, inferior temporal and lateral occipital regions were relatively spared until later in life. Male and lower education years were associated with greater cortical thinning with distinct regional specificity. CONCLUSION Our findings provide an important clue to understanding the mechanism of age-related cognitive decline and new strategies for preventing the acceleration of pathological brain aging.
Developing a real-time PCR assay based on multiplex high-resolution melt-curve analysis: a pilot study in detection and discrimination of soil-transmitted helminth and schistosome species

Abstract With the push towards control and elimination of soil-transmitted helminthiasis and schistosomiasis in low- and middle-income countries, there is a need to develop alternative diagnostic assays that complement the current in-country resources, preferably at a lower cost. Here, we describe a novel high-resolution melt (HRM) curve assay with six PCR primer pairs, designed to sub-regions of the nuclear ribosomal locus. Used within a single reaction and dye detection channel, they are able to discriminate Ancylostoma duodenale, Necator americanus, Strongyloides stercoralis, Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiuria and Schistosoma spp. by HRM curve analysis. Here we describe the primers and the results of a pilot assessment whereby the HRM assay was tested against a selection of archived fecal samples from Ghanaian children as characterized by Kato–Katz and real-time PCR analysis with species-specific TaqMan hydrolysis probes. The resulting sensitivity and specificity of the HRM was 80 and 98.6% respectively. We judge the assay to be appropriate in modestly equipped and resourced laboratories. This method provides a potentially cheaper alternative to the TaqMan method for laboratories in lower resource settings. However, the assay requires a more extensive assessment as the samples used were not representative of all target organisms.
Deoxyschizandrin Loaded Liposomes on the Suppression Lipid Accumulation in 3T3-L1 Adipocytes

Deoxyschizandrin (DS) is a bioactive benzocyclooctadiene lignan found in the fruit of Schisandra chinensis. However, poor bioavailability and non-specificity of DS frequently caused low therapeutic efficacy. In the present study, DS-liposome (DS-lipo) was implemented to enhance the hepatic targeting and inhibition effects on adipocyte differentiation in 3T3-L1 cells. The formulations enabled encapsulation of as much as 24.14% DS. The DS-lipo prepared was about 73.08 nm, as measured by laser light scattering (LLS) morphology. In the visual field of a scanning electron microscope (SEM), the liposomes were spherical with similar size and uniform dispersion. Fluorescence live imaging study exhibited hepatic targeting of liposomes in vivo. Furthermore, High-Content Analysis (HCS) imaging microassay analyses revealed DS-lipo and DS reduced cytoplasmic lipid droplet in 3T3-L1 adipocytes, with the IC50 value of 8.68 μM and 31.08 μM, respectively. The lipid droplet accumulation inhibition rate of 10 μM DS-lipo was above 90%, which was even superior to the effect of 30 μM DS solution. The current findings suggest that DS-lipo was a therapeutic strategy for alleviating lipid-associated diseases and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
Scope of physiological and behavioural pain assessment techniques in children – a review

Pain is an unpleasant subjective experience. At present, clinicians are using self-report or pain scales to recognise and monitor pain in children. However, these techniques are not efficient to observe the pain in children having cognitive disorder and also require highly skilled observers to measure pain. Using these techniques it is also difficult to choose the analgesic drug dosages to the patients after surgery. Thus, this conceptual work explains the demand for automatic coding techniques to evaluate pain and also it documents some evidence of techniques that act as an alternative approach for objectively determining pain in children. In this review, some good indicators of pain in children are explained in detail; they are facial expressions from an RGB image, thermal image and also feature from well proven physiological signals such as electrocardiogram, skin conductance, body temperature, surgical pleth index, pupillary reflex dilation, analgesia nociception index, photoplethysmography, perfusion index etc.
Evolution and Sequence Diversity of FhuA in Salmonella and Escherichia

The fhuACDB operon, present in a number of Enterobacteriaceae, encodes components essential for the uptake of ferric hydroxamate type siderophores. FhuA acts not only as a transporter for physiologically important chelated ferric iron but also as a receptor for various bacteriophages, toxins, and antibiotics, which are pathogenic to bacterial cells. ABSTRACT The fhuACDB operon, present in a number of Enterobacteriaceae, encodes components essential for the uptake of ferric hydroxamate type siderophores. FhuA acts not only as a transporter for physiologically important chelated ferric iron but also as a receptor for various bacteriophages, toxins, and antibiotics, which are pathogenic to bacterial cells. In this research, fhuA gene distribution and sequence diversity were investigated in Enterobacteriaceae, especially Salmonella and Escherichia. Comparative sequence analysis resulted in a fhuA phylogenetic tree that did not match the expected phylogeny of species or trees of the fhuCDB genes. The fhuA sequences showed a unique mosaic clustering pattern. On the other hand, the gene sequences showed high conservation for strains from the same serovar or serotype. In total, six clusters were identified from FhuA proteins in Salmonella and Escherichia, among which typical peptide fragment variations could be defined. Six fragmental insertions/deletions and two substitution fragments were discovered, for which the combination of polymorphism patterns could well classify the different clusters. Structural modeling demonstrated that all the six featured insertions/deletions and one substitution fragment are located at the apexes of the long loops present as part of the FhuA external pocket. These frequently mutated regions are likely under high selection pressure, with bacterial strains balancing escape from phage infection or toxin/antibiotics attack via fhuA gene mutations while maintaining the siderophore uptake activity essential for bacterial survival. The unusual fhuA clustering suggests that high-frequency exchange of fhuA genes has occurred between enterobacterial strains after distinctive species were established.
Semantic visual features in content-based video retrieval

A new semantic visual features (e.g., car, mountain, and fire) navigation technology is proposed to improve the effectiveness of video retrieval. Traditional temporal neighbor browsing technology allows users to navigate temporal neighbors of a selected sample frame to find additional matches, while semantic visual feature browsing enables users to navigate keyframes that have similar features to the selected sample frame. A pilot evaluation was conducted to compare the effectiveness of three video retrieval designs that support 1) temporal neighbor browsing; 2) semantic visual feature browsing; and 3) fused browsing which is a combination of both temporal neighbor and semantic visual feature browsing. Two types of searching tasks: visual centric and non-visual centric tasks were applied. Initial results indicated that the semantic visual feature browsing system was more efficient for non-visual centric tasks.
The integrase of the Macrococcus caseolyticus resistance island mecD (McRImecD) inserts DNA site‐specifically into Staphylococcus and Bacillus chromosomes

The methicillin resistance gene mecD has been recently identified on chromosomal islands in Macrococcus caseolyticus (McRImecD). The 5′ end of McRImecD carries an integrase (int) of the tyrosine recombinase family and two genes (intR and xis) encoding putative DNA‐binding proteins. The islands are integrated site‐specifically at the 3′ end of the rpsI gene, a highly conserved locus in Gram‐positive bacteria. Moreover, the rpsI gene of some Staphylococcus and Bacillus strains was found to be followed by a related integrase, raising the question of whether McRImecD could be transferred to these species. We used circular model elements carrying 5′ end fragments of McRImecD‐1 to demonstrate that the int enzyme and the attachment (att) site were sufficient to mediate site‐specific DNA integration into the rpsI locus of Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus pseudintermedius and Bacillus thuringiensis in vivo. Including xis in the model element stimulated both integrative and excisive recombination reactions and influenced the Int enzyme in att site selection. The intR gene functions as a negative regulator of int and xis. The int‐xis genes of McRImecD‐1 encode a site‐specific recombination function that enables the acquisition of McRImecD in new hosts and the potential dissemination of broad‐spectrum β‐lactam resistance across genus barriers.
Robust Stability of Fractional-Order Linear Time-Invariant Systems: Parametric versus Unstructured Uncertainty Models

The main aim of this paper is to present and compare three approaches to uncertainty modeling and robust stability analysis for fractional-order (FO) linear time-invariant (LTI) single-input single-output (SISO) uncertain systems. The investigated objects are described either via FO models with parametric uncertainty, by means of FO unstructured multiplicative uncertainty models, or through FO unstructured additive uncertainty models, while the unstructured models are constructed on the basis of appropriate selection of a nominal plant and a weight function. Robust stability investigation for systems with parametric uncertainty uses the combination of plotting the value sets and application of the zero exclusion condition. For the case of systems with unstructured uncertainty, the graphical interpretation of the utilized robust stability test is based mainly on the envelopes of the Nyquist diagrams. The theoretical foundations are followed by two extensive, illustrative examples where the plant models are created; the robust stability of feedback control loops is analyzed, and obtained results are discussed.
A Six‐Crossing Doubly Interlocked [2]Catenane with Twisted Rings, and a Molecular Granny Knot

Abstract A molecular 623 link (a six crossing, doubly interlocked, [2]catenane with twisted rings) and a 31#31 granny knot (a composite knot made up of two trefoil tangles of the same handedness) were constructed by ring‐closing olefin metathesis of an iron(II)‐coordinated 2×2 interwoven grid. The connections were directed by pendant phenyl groups to be between proximal ligand ends on the same faces of the grid. The 623 link was separated from the topoisomeric granny knot by recycling size‐exclusion chromatography. The identity of each topoisomer was determined by tandem mass spectrometry and the structure of the 623 link confirmed by X‐ray crystallography, which revealed two 82‐membered macrocycles, each in figure‐of‐eight conformations, linked through both pairs of loops.
Improving Stock Closing Price Prediction Using Recurrent Neural Network and Technical Indicators

Abstract This study focuses on predicting stock closing prices by using recurrent neural networks (RNNs). A long short-term memory (LSTM) model, a type of RNN coupled with stock basic trading data and technical indicators, is introduced as a novel method to predict the closing price of the stock market. We realize dimension reduction for the technical indicators by conducting principal component analysis (PCA). To train the model, some optimization strategies are followed, including adaptive moment estimation (Adam) and Glorot uniform initialization. Case studies are conducted on Standard & Poor's 500, NASDAQ, and Apple (AAPL). Plenty of comparison experiments are performed using a series of evaluation criteria to evaluate this model. Accurate prediction of stock market is considered an extremely challenging task because of the noisy environment and high volatility associated with the external factors. We hope the methodology we propose advances the research for analyzing and predicting stock time series. As the results of experiments suggest, the proposed model achieves a good level of fitness.