Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dual-Microphone Speech Reinforcement System With Howling-Control for In-Car Speech Communication

In this paper, we address the problem of dual-microphone speech reinforcement for improving in-car speech communication via howling control. A speech reinforcement system acquires speech from a speaker’s microphone and delivers it to the other listeners in the car cabin through loudspeakers. A car cabin’s small space makes it vulnerable to acoustic feedback, resulting in the appearance of howling noises. The proposed system aims to maintain a desired high amplification gain over time while not compromising the output speech quality. The dual-microphone system consists of a microphone for speech acquisition and another microphone that monitors the environment for howling detection, where its location depends on its howling detection sensitivity. The proposed algorithm contains a gain-control segment based on the magnitude-slope-deviation measure, which reduces the amplification-gain in the case of howling detection. To find the optimal locations of the howling-detection microphone in the cabin, for a devised set of scenarios, a Pareto optimization method is applied. The Pareto optimization considers the bi-objective nature of the problem, i.e., minimizing both the relative gain-reduction and the overall speech distortion. It is shown that the proposed dual-microphone system outperforms a single-microphone-based system. The performance improvement is demonstrated by showing the higher howling detection sensitivity of the dual-microphone system. Additionally, a microphone constellation design process, for optimal howling detection, is provided through the utilization of the Pareto fronts and anti-fronts approach.
Photostimulation of Ventral Tegmental Area-Insular Cortex Dopaminergic Inputs Enhances the Salience to Consolidate Aversive Taste Recognition Memory via D1-Like Receptors

Taste memory involves storing information through plasticity changes in the neural network of taste, including the insular cortex (IC) and ventral tegmental area (VTA), a critical provider of dopamine. Although a VTA-IC dopaminergic pathway has been demonstrated, its role to consolidate taste recognition memory remains poorly understood. We found that photostimulation of dopaminergic neurons in the VTA or VTA-IC dopaminergic terminals of TH-Cre mice improves the salience to consolidate a subthreshold novel taste stimulus regardless of its hedonic value, without altering their taste palatability. Importantly, the inhibition of the D1-like receptor into the IC impairs the salience to facilitate consolidation of an aversive taste recognition memory. Finally, our results showed that VTA photostimulation improves the salience to consolidate a conditioned taste aversion memory through the D1-like receptor into the IC. It is concluded that the dopamine activity from the VTA into IC is required to increase the salience enabling the consolidation of a taste recognition memory. Notably, the D1-like receptor activity into the IC is required to consolidate both innate and learned aversive taste memories but not appetitive taste memory.
Tormentic Acid Ameliorates Hepatic Fibrosis in vivo by Inhibiting Glycerophospholipids Metabolism and PI3K/Akt/mTOR and NF-κB Pathways: Based on Transcriptomics and Metabolomics

This study aimed to investigate the effects and underlying mechanisms of tormentic acid (TA) on carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced liver fibrosis in rats. The rats were intragastrically administered with 50% CCl4 for 9 weeks to induce hepatic fibrosis, followed by various agents for 6 weeks. Transcriptomic analysis was carried out to predict the potential targets, and then multiple examinations were performed to verify the prediction. The results showed that TA significantly alleviated liver injury and fibrosis, as evidenced by the ameliorative pathological tissue, low transaminase activity, and decreased collagen accumulation. Besides, TA markedly reduced hepatocyte apoptosis by regulating the expression of caspase-3 and Bcl-2 families. The transcriptomic analysis revealed 2,173 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the TA and model groups, which could be enriched in the metabolic pathways and the PI3K/Akt and NF-κB signaling pathways. The metabolomics analysis showed that TA could regulate the glycerophospholipid metabolism pathway by regulating the synthesis of phosphatidylserines, phosphatidylethanolamines and phosphatidylcholines. Moreover, the integrative analysis of the transcriptomics and metabolomics data indicated that TA inhibited the glycerophospholipid metabolism pathway by inhibiting the expression of LPCAT4, PTDSS2, PLA2G2A and CEPT1. In addition, the relevant signaling pathways analysis confirmed that TA inhibited HSCs activation by blocking the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway and ameliorated inflammatory injury by inhibiting the NF-κB pathway. In conclusion, TA significantly alleviates liver fibrosis in vivo by inhibiting the glycerophospholipid metabolism pathway and the PI3K/Akt/mTOR and NF-κB signaling pathways.
C-Reactive Protein and TGF-α Predict Psychological Distress at Two Years of Follow-Up in Healthy Adolescent Boys: The Fit Futures Study

Objective The scarcity of research on associations between inflammatory markers and symptoms of depression and anxiety during adolescence has yielded inconsistent results. Further, not all studies have controlled for potential confounders. We explored the associations between baseline inflammatory markers and psychological distress including moderators at follow-up in a Norwegian adolescent population sample. Methods Data was derived from 373 girls and 294 boys aged 15–18 years at baseline, in the Fit Futures Study, a large-scale 2-year follow-up study on adolescent health. Baseline data was gathered from 2010 to 2011 and follow-up data from 2012 to 2013. Psychological distress was measured with Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL-10). Serum levels of the following inflammatory markers were measured: C-reactive protein (CRP), Interleukin 6 (IL-6), Transforming growth factor alpha (TGF-α), Tumor necrosis factor alpha variant 1 (TRANCE), and variant 2 (TWEAK). Independent associations between baseline inflammatory markers and HSCL-10 at follow-up were explored by linear regressions, in sex-stratified analyses. Results In girls, analyses showed positive associations between all inflammatory markers and HSCL-10, except for TRANCE. However, all associations were non-significant in crude as well as in adjusted analyses. In boys, CRP (p = 0.03) and TGF-α (p < 0.01) showed significant associations with HSCL-10, that remained significant after adjustment. Additionally, moderators were found. In boys, CRP was associated with HSCL-10 in those with high body fat and those being physical inactive, and the association between TWEAK and HSCL-10 was dependent upon sleep duration. Conclusion There were significant prospective associations between CRP, TFG-α, and HSCL-10 in boys aged 15–18 years at baseline.
RNA Virus Gene Signatures Detected in Patients With Cardiomyopathy After Chemotherapy; A Pilot Study

Background Viral infections are pervasive and leading causes of myocarditis. Immune-suppression after chemotherapy increases opportunistic infections, but the incidence of virus-induced myocarditis is unknown. Objective An unbiased, blinded screening for RNA viruses was performed after chemotherapy with correlation to cardiac function. Methods High-throughput sequencing of RNA isolated from blood samples was analyzed following chemotherapy for hematological malignancies (N = 28) and compared with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Results On initial rigorous analysis, low levels of influenza orthomyxovirus and avian paramyxovirus sequences were detectable, but without significant correlation to LVEF (r = 0.208). A secondary broad data mining analysis for virus sequences, without filtering human sequences, detected significant correlations for paramyxovirus with LVEF after chemotherapy (r = 0.592, P < 0.0096). Correlations were similar for LVEF pre- and post- chemotherapy for orthomyxovirus (R = 0.483, P < 0.0421). Retrovirus detection also correlated with LVEF post (r = 0.453, p < 0.0591), but not pre-chemotherapy, but is suspect due to potential host contamination. Detectable phage and anellovirus had no correlation. Combined sequence reads (all viruses) demonstrated significant correlation (r = 0.621, P < 0.0078). Reduced LVEF was not associated with chemotherapy (P = NS). Conclusions This is the first report of RNA virus screening in circulating blood and association with changes in cardiac function among patients post chemotherapy, using unbiased, blinded, high-throughput sequencing. Influenza orthomyxovirus, avian paramyxovirus and retrovirus sequences were detectable in patients with reduced LVEF. Further analysis for RNA virus infections in patients with cardiomyopathy after chemotherapy is warranted.
Hybrid Broussonetia papyrifera Fermented Feed Can Play a Role Through Flavonoid Extracts to Increase Milk Production and Milk Fatty Acid Synthesis in Dairy Goats

In order to explore the effect of hybrid Broussonetia papyrifera fermented feed on milk production and milk quality of dairy goats, and to compare with alfalfa hay, three dairy goat diets were designed based on the principle of equal energy and equal protein. The goats in the control group were fed a basic TMR diet (CG group), and the other two groups were supplemented with 10% alfalfa hay (AH group) and 10% hybrid B. papyrifera fermented feed (BP group). The results showed that the dry matter intake and milk production of BP group increased significantly. The total amount of amino acids and the content of each amino acid in the milk of AH group and BP group were lower than those of CG group. The content of saturated fatty acids in the milk of BP group decreased while the content of unsaturated fatty acids increased. The contents of prolactin, estrogen and progesterone in BP goat serum were generally higher than those of AH goat and CG goat. Subsequently, this study separated and cultured mammary epithelial cells from breast tissue, and added flavone extracted from the leaves of hybrid B. papyrifera and alfalfa to their culture medium for comparison, which is one of their important bioactive components. The results showed that low-dose alfalfa flavone (AH) and hybrid B. papyrifera flavone (BP) can increase cell viability. They also can increase the accumulation of intracellular triglyceride and the formation of lipid droplets. Both AH flavone and BP flavone significantly up-regulated the expression of genes related to milk fat synthesis, including genes related to fatty acid de novo synthesis (ACACA, FASN, and SCD1), long-chain fatty acid activation and transport related genes (ACSL1), and genes related to transcription regulation (SREBP1). The three genes related to triglyceride synthesis (DGAT1, DGAT2, and GPAM) were all significantly increased by BP flavone. Both AH flavone and BP flavone significantly increased the protein expression of progesterone receptor and estrogen receptor in mammary epithelial cells but had no effect on prolactin receptor.
Genome-Wide Identification, Evolution and Expression Analysis of the Glutathione S-Transferase Supergene Family in Euphorbiaceae

Euphorbiaceae, a family of plants mainly grown in the tropics and subtropics, is also widely distributed all over the world and is well known for being rich in rubber, oil, medicinal materials, starch, wood and other economically important plant products. Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) constitute a family of proteins encoded by a large supergene family and are widely expressed in animals, bacteria, fungi and plants, but with few reports of them in Euphorbiaceae plants. These proteins participate in and regulate the detoxification and oxidative stress response of heterogeneous organisms, resistance to stress, growth and development, signal transduction and other related processes. In this study, we identified and analyzed the whole genomes of four species of Euphorbiaceae, namely Ricinus communis, Jatropha curcas, Hevea brasiliensis, and Manihot esculenta, which have high economic and practical value. A total of 244 GST genes were identified. Based on their sequence characteristics and conserved domain types, the GST supergene family in Euphorbiaceae was classified into 10 subfamilies. The GST supergene families of Euphorbiaceae and Arabidopsis have been found to be highly conserved in evolution, and tandem repeats and translocations in these genes have made the greatest contributions to gene amplification here and have experienced strong purification selection. An evolutionary analysis showed that Euphorbiaceae GST genes have also evolved into new subtribes (GSTO, EF1BG, MAPEG), which may play a specific role in Euphorbiaceae. An analysis of expression patterns of the GST supergene family in Euphorbiaceae revealed the functions of these GSTs in different tissues, including resistance to stress and participation in herbicide detoxification. In addition, an interaction analysis was performed to determine the GST gene regulatory mechanism. The results of this study have laid a foundation for further analysis of the functions of the GST supergene family in Euphorbiaceae, especially in stress and herbicide detoxification. The results have also provided new ideas for the study of the regulatory mechanism of the GST supergene family, and have provided a reference for follow-up genetics and breeding work.
Metabolic Surgery on Patients With Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a complicated reproductive endocrine disease that is closely related to obesity. Metabolic surgery ameliorates a series of clinical manifestations and related comorbidities of PCOS. However, the overall efficacy of metabolic surgery on PCOS remains uncertain. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the therapeutic effects of metabolic surgery on obese patients with PCOS. A systematic literature search for relevant studies was conducted on PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library from inception to June 2021. Data extraction and quality evaluation were performed by three researchers, and RevMan 5.4 software was used to conduct the meta-analysis. A total of 14 studies involving 501 obese patients with PCOS were included. Incidence of PCOS in obese women ranged from 5.5% to 63.5% among the included studies. The results showed the incidence of abnormal menstruation decreased from 81% to 15% (OR=0.03, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.01–0.08), while the incidence of hirsutism dropped from 71% to 38% (OR=0.21, 95% CI: 0.06–0.74). Serum total testosterone and free testosterone levels decreased by 25.92 ng/dL (MD = -25.92, 95% CI: -28.90– -22.93) and 2.28 ng/dL (SMD = -2.28, 95% CI: -3.67– -0.89), respectively. Sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) levels increased by 26.46 nmol/L (MD = 26.46, 95% CI: 12.97–39.95). Serum anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) levels decreased by 1.29 ng/mL (MD = -1.29, 95% CI: -1.92– -0.66). Small sample size studies revealed that pregnancy rates ranged from 95.2% to 100% postoperatively. Metabolic surgery contributed to marked improvement of abnormal menstruation, hirsutism, and levels of free testosterone, total testosterone, SHBG, and AMH in patients with PCOS. Our findings indicate that patients with PCOS are expected to benefit from metabolic surgery, and could help potentially improve their reproductive outcomes. Metabolic surgery could thus be a new viable option for the clinical treatment of PCOS. Systematic Review Registration PROSPERO https://www.crd. york.ac. uk/PROSPERO/, identifier CRD42021251524.
Identification of Differentially Expressed Hub Genes Associated With Immune Cell Recruitment in Claudin-Low Breast Cancer

Breast cancer (BCa) is the most common malignancy in women and claudin-low breast cancer (CL-BCa) is a newly identified BCa subtype characterized by low expression of claudin 3&4&7. However, the hub genes associated with the recruitment of immune cells into CL-BCa were rarely described. This study aimed at exploring the differentially expressed hub genes associated with tumor-infiltrating immune cells in CL-BCa by a multi-approach bioinformatics analysis. The top 200 genes associated with CL-BCa were screened in the METABRIC dataset; the PPI network was constructed using STRING and Cytoscape; tumor-infiltrating immune cells were analyzed by TIMER 2.0; and the correlation of feature cytokines and claudins on survival was examined in METABRIC and TCGA datasets. Consequently, we found that the fraction of tumor-infiltrating immune cells, especially CD8+T cells and macrophages, increased in the CL-BCa. Differentially expressed cytokines (CCL5, CCL19, CXCL9 and CXCL10) and claudins (CLDN8, CLDN11 and CLDN19) were related to the overall survival, and their expression levels were also examined both in tumor tissues of CL-BCa patients by IHC and in typical CL-BCa cell lines by qPCR. Finally, the BCa patients with high expression of these DEGs (CCL5, CCL19, CXCL9, CLDN8 and CLDN11) showed a better overall survival. This study sheds light on molecular features of CL-BCa on immune microenvironments and contributes to identification of prognosis biomarkers for the CL-BCa patients.
A Novel Trimethylamine Oxide-Induced Model Implicates Gut Microbiota-Related Mechanisms in Frailty

Frailty is a complicated syndrome that occurs at various ages, with highest incidence in aged populations, suggesting associations between the pathogenesis of frailty and age-related changes. Gut microbiota (GM) diversity and abundance change with age, accompanied by increased levels of trimethylamine oxide (TMAO), a systemic inflammation-inducing GM metabolite. Thus, we hypothesized that TMAO may be involved in the development of frailty. We successfully established and verified a novel model of frailty in adult mice based on a 4-week intraperitoneal injection regime of TMAO followed by LPS challenge. The frailty index significantly increased in TMAO-treated mice after LPS challenge. TMAO also decreased claudin-1 immunofluorescent staining intensity in the jejunum, ileum, and colon, indicating that the destruction of intestinal wall integrity may increase vulnerability to exogenous pathogens and invoke frailty. 16S sequencing showed that TMAO significantly reduced the GM Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes (F/B) ratio, but not α-diversity. Interestingly, after LPS challenge, more genera of bacterial taxa were differently altered in the control mice than in the TMAO-treated mice. We infer that a variety of GM participate in the maintenance of homeostasis, whereas TMAO could blunt the GM and impair the ability to recover from pathogens, which may explain the continuous increase in the frailty index in TMAO-treated mice after LPS challenge. TMAO also significantly increased serum imidazole metabolites, and led to different patterns of change in serum peptide and phenylpropanoid metabolites after LPS stimulation. These changes indicate that glucose metabolism may be one mechanism by which GM inactivation causes frailty. In conclusion, TMAO leads to frailty by destroying intestinal barrier integrity and blunting the GM response.
Factors Contributing to Malnutrition in Parkinson's Disease Patients With Freezing of Gait

Background and Purpose Little is known about the nutritional status and clinical characteristics of patients with Parkinson's disease with freezing of gait (PDFOG). The purpose of this study was to describe the relationship between nutritional status and characteristics of patients with PDFOG. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 178 PDFOG patients were recruited and classified as nutritionally normal or at risk of malnutrition/already malnourished based on their Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) scores. Each participant underwent a structured questionnaire, physical examination and routine serum biochemical tests. Results We found that 44.4 and 37.1% of PDFOG patients were malnourished [mini nutritional assessment (MNA) score <17] and at risk of malnutrition (17 ≤ MNA score ≤ 23.5), respectively. Compared to patients with normal nutrition, PDFOG patients with malnutrition and at risk of malnutrition had longer duration of Parkinson's disease (PD) and freezing of gait (FOG), more levodopa equivalent daily doses (LEDD), lower body mass index (BMI), more motor symptoms according to the Unified PD Rating Scale-III (UPDRS-III) and non-motor symptoms according to the PD Non-motor Symptoms Questionnaire (PD-NMS) (P < 0.05). Uric acid, albumin, prealbumin, and total cholesterol (TC) differed between the two groups (P < 0.05). High Hoehn and Yahr (H-Y) stage, high Freezing of Gait Questionnaire (FOGQ) scores, low TC and low uric acid were risk factors for malnutrition in patients with PDFOG. Conclusion Our results showed disease severity, motor symptoms, TC levels and uric acid levels were all associated with nutritional status in patients with PDFOG. This study suggest early discovery of the nutritional status of PDFOG patients is important.
A Knowledge-Aided Robust Ensemble Kalman Filter Algorithm for Non-Linear and Non-Gaussian Large Systems

This work proposes a robust and non-Gaussian version of the shrinkage-based knowledge-aided EnKF implementation called Ensemble Time Local H∞ Filter Knowledge-Aided (EnTLHF-KA). The EnTLHF-KA requires a target covariance matrix to integrate previously obtained information and knowledge directly into the data assimilation (DA). The proposed method is based on the robust H∞ filter and on its ensemble time-local version the EnTLHF, using an adaptive inflation factor depending on the shrinkage covariance estimated matrix. This implies a theoretical and solid background to construct robust filters from the well-known covariance inflation technique. The proposed technique is implemented in a synthetic assimilation experiment, and in an air quality application using the LOTOS-EUROS model over the Aburrá Valley to evaluate its potential for non-linear and non-Gaussian large systems. In the spatial distribution of the PM2.5 concentrations along the valley, the method outperforms the well-known Local Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter (LETKF), and the non-robust knowledge-aided Ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF-KA). In contrast to the other simulations, the ability to issue warnings for high concentration events is also increased. Finally, the simulation using EnTLHF-KA has lower error values than using EnKF-KA, indicating the advantages of robust approaches in high uncertainty systems.