Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Glycine Is Used as a Transmitter by Decrementing Expiratory Neurons of the Ventrolateral Medulla in the Rat

The medullary respiratory network involves various types of respiratory neurons. The present study focused on possible inhibitory neurons called decrementing expiratory (E-DEC) neurons and aimed to determine whether their transmitter is glycine or GABA. In Nembutal-anesthetized, neuromuscularly blocked, and artificially ventilated rats we labeled E-DEC neurons with Neurobiotin and processed the tissues for detection of mRNA encoding either glycine transporter 2 (GLYT2) as a marker for glycinergic neurons or glutamic acid decarboxylase isoform 67 (GAD67) as a marker for GABAergic neurons, using in situ hybridization. Of 38 E-DEC neurons that were labeled, cranial motoneurons (n = 14), which were labeled as control, were negative for either GLYT2 mRNA (n = 10) or GAD67 mRNA (n = 4). The other E-DEC neurons (n = 24) were non-motoneurons. Sixteen of them were examined for GLYT2 mRNA, and the majority (11 of 16) was GLYT2 mRNA-positive. The remaining E-DEC neurons (n = 8) were examined for GAD67 mRNA, and all of them were GAD67 mRNA-negative. The GLYT2 mRNA-positive E-DEC neurons were located in the ventrolateral medulla spanning the Bötzinger complex (BOT), the rostral ventral respiratory group (VRG), and the caudal VRG. We conclude that not only E-DEC neurons of the BOT but also many E-DEC neurons of the VRG are inhibitory and use glycine as a transmitter. Although the present negative data cannot rule out completely the release of GABA or co-release of glycine and GABA from E-DEC neurons, several lines of evidence suggest that the glycinergic process is primarily responsible for the phasic inhibition of the respiratory network during the expiratory phase.
Optimal power flow with grid scale battery storage

This paper proposes an optimal power flow (OPF) framework in presence of grid scale energy storage system(s) in electric grids. It evaluates the impact of centralized storage versus distributed storage in OPF framework. Proposed OPF formulation includes a detail storage model to asses it's loss of life and associated cost due to frequent charging and discharging. Storage devices are optimally used to minimize the overall cost of generation. A meta-heuristic optimization technique called Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is used to solve this nonlinear and non-convex optimization problem. Proposed method has been tested on a 30-bus IEEE benchmark system and the advantage of grid scale storage has been illustrated and validated.
A new target for caffeine in the developing lung: endoplasmic reticulum stress?

The utility of caffeine to manage apnea of prematurity is widely accepted, however, much controversy surrounds the potential for caffeine to drive post-natal lung maturation in settings of arrested lung development. Many studies have reported pathways relevant to lung injury and lung development are modulated by caffeine in vitro and in vivo , leading to the application of caffeine in experimental animal models of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). These studies have generated exciting, but at times confusing data. Particularly helpful in understanding the impact of caffeine would be to identify the target molecules or pathways in the developing lung that mediate the effects of caffeine. Here, we critically evaluate a recent report suggesting that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and the unfolded protein response (UPR) are targets of caffeine in a hyperoxia-based rat model of BPD. The authors documented ER stress and engagement of the UPR in the lungs of rats exposed to hyperoxia, where an axis of initiators, transducers, and effectors of the UPR was engaged. The concomitant administration of caffeine to affected rat pups dampened the activity of this axis, leading the authors to conclude that caffeine protects the developing rat lung from injurious stimuli by limiting ER stress and the UPR. The study highlights the need to now directly demonstrate that ER stress and the UPR, and not a plethora of other caffeine mediated physiological effects, are indeed the relevant targets of caffeine during arrested lung alveolarization.
Effectiveness of existential psychotherapy in increasing the resiliency of mentally retarded children's mothers

The research purpose is to assess the effectiveness of existential psychotherapy in increasing the resiliency of mentally-retarded children’s mothers. Therefore, this study employed an experimental design and the sample comprised 24 mothers having mentally retarded children who were assigned to control and experimental groups. The experimental group underwent 9 sessions of existential psychotherapy. The research tools included the Resiliency Scale Questionnaire designed and developed by Hamdel et al. Descriptive statistics, including the analysis of covariance was used to analyze the data. Findings indicated that existential psychotherapy has proved to be effective in increasing the resiliency of mentally retarded children’s mothers. The use of various treatment approaches such as existential approach can enhance and enrich the mental health of mothers of mentally retarded children.
Finding Subgraphs with Maximum Total Density and Limited Overlap

Finding dense subgraphs in large graphs is a key primitive in a variety of real-world application domains, encompassing social network analytics, event detection, biology, and finance. In most such applications, one typically aims at finding several (possibly overlapping) dense subgraphs which might correspond to communities in social networks or interesting events. While a large amount of work is devoted to finding a single densest subgraph, perhaps surprisingly, the problem of finding several dense subgraphs with limited overlap has not been studied in a principled way, to the best of our knowledge. In this work we define and study a natural generalization of the densest subgraph problem, where the main goal is to find at most $k$ subgraphs with maximum total aggregate density, while satisfying an upper bound on the pairwise Jaccard coefficient between the sets of nodes of the subgraphs. After showing that such a problem is NP-Hard, we devise an efficient algorithm that comes with provable guarantees in some cases of interest, as well as, an efficient practical heuristic. Our extensive evaluation on large real-world graphs confirms the efficiency and effectiveness of our algorithms.
Contributions of descending and ascending pathways to corticomuscular coherence in humans

Non‐technical summary Neural activity in parts of the cerebral cortex related to movement oscillates at frequencies around 20 Hz. These oscillations are correlated with similar rhythms in contracting muscles on the opposite side of the body. In this work, we used an analysis method called directed coherence to investigate the direction of oscillatory coupling. We find that oscillations travel not only from cortex to muscle (as expected for a motor command), but also back from muscle to cortex (reflecting sensory input). This oscillatory loop may allow the cortex to measure features of the limb state, integrating sensory inflow with the motor command.
Global stability with selection in integro-differential Lotka-Volterra systems modelling trait-structured populations

ABSTRACT We analyse the asymptotic behaviour of integro-differential equations modelling N populations in interaction, all structured by different traits. Interactions are modelled by non-local terms involving linear combinations of the total number of individuals in each population. These models have already been shown to be suitable for the modelling of drug resistance in cancer, and they generalize the usual Lotka-Volterra ordinary differential equations. Our aim is to give conditions under which there is persistence of all species. Through the analysis of a Lyapunov function, our first main result gives a simple and general condition on the matrix of interactions, together with a convergence rate. The second main result establishes another type of condition in the specific case of mutualistic interactions. When either of these conditions is met, we describe which traits are asymptotically selected.
Tuning pruning in sparse non-negative matrix factorization

Non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) has become a popular tool for exploratory analysis due to its part based easy interpretable representation. Sparseness is commonly invoked in NMF (SNMF) by regularizing by the l1 - norm both to alleviate the non-uniqueness of the NMF representation as well as promote sparse (i.e. part based) representations. While sparseness can prune excess components thereby potentially also establish the number of components it is an open problem what constitutes the adequate degree of sparseness, i.e. how to tune the pruning. In a hierarchical Bayesian framework SNMF corresponds to imposing an exponential prior while the regularization strength can be expressed in terms of the hyper-parameters of these priors. Thus, within the Bayesian modelling framework Automatic Relevance Determination (ARD) can learn these pruning strengths from data. We demonstrate on three benchmark NMF data how the proposed ARD framework can be used to tune the pruning thereby also estimate the NMF model order.
Optically reconfigurable metacheckerboard

This paper presents a new type of metasurface (MTS) particularly suited to the integration of optically controlled switches. It consists of a checkerboard-type layout, made of electrically small complementary metallic patches and apertures. The characteristics of the supported electromagnetic field depend on whether the patches' vertexes are interconnected or not. Specifically, in a structure containing both connected and disconnected patches, the field is confined in the region where patches are connected. This feature offers the possibility of designing arbitrary transmission line paths (and therefore beam forming networks) on the checkerboard MTS (CBMS) by dynamically changing the vertex connections with an optical control. Preliminary experimental results are presented.
Dynamic Self-Regulated Charge Pump With Improved Immunity to PVT Variations

A charge pump (CP) design that simultaneously reduces current mismatch and sensitivity to process, voltage, and temperature variations is presented. The self-biased and self-regulated circuit uses a dual-feedback mechanism with a replica CP to dynamically stabilize and equalize the currents over a wide output voltage range under varying operating conditions. The circuit is further analyzed and designed in 90-nm CMOS. Extensive corner and Monte Carlo runs are used to verify its current matching capabilities as well as its stability and response within a phase locked loop. The CP achieves near perfect current matching for a wide output voltage range and for temperatures ranging from -30 °C to 90 °C and a power supply between 1.08 and 1.32 V.
Integrated systems analysis reveals a molecular network underlying autism spectrum disorders

Autism is a complex disease whose etiology remains elusive. We integrated previously and newly generated data and developed a systems framework involving the interactome, gene expression and genome sequencing to identify a protein interaction module with members strongly enriched for autism candidate genes. Sequencing of 25 patients confirmed the involvement of this module in autism, which was subsequently validated using an independent cohort of over 500 patients. Expression of this module was dichotomized with a ubiquitously expressed subcomponent and another subcomponent preferentially expressed in the corpus callosum, which was significantly affected by our identified mutations in the network center. RNA‐sequencing of the corpus callosum from patients with autism exhibited extensive gene mis‐expression in this module, and our immunochemical analysis showed that the human corpus callosum is predominantly populated by oligodendrocyte cells. Analysis of functional genomic data further revealed a significant involvement of this module in the development of oligodendrocyte cells in mouse brain. Our analysis delineates a natural network involved in autism, helps uncover novel candidate genes for this disease and improves our understanding of its molecular pathology.
Reproducibility of Chronic Infarct Size Measurement by Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Background—The reproducibility of contrast-enhanced MRI has not been established. We compared MRI reproducibility for infarct size determination with that of 99mTc-sestamibi (MIBI) single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Methods and Results—Patients with chronic myocardial infarction defined by enzymes (peak creatine kinase-MB 173±119 U/L) were scanned twice by MRI (MRI I and MRI II, n=20) and twice by SPECT (SPECT I and SPECT II, n=15) on the same day. The MRI contrast agent was injected during MRI I but not MRI II to test the effect of imaging time after contrast. Resting Tc-MIBI SPECT images were acquired and infarct size was determined with commercial software. Infarct size in patients scanned by MRI and SPECT was 14±6% of left ventricular mass (%LV) by MRI (range 4%LV to 27%LV) and 14±7%LV by SPECT (range 4%LV to 26%LV). MRI I and II scans were performed 10±2 and 27±3 minutes after contrast, respectively. For MRI, the difference in infarct size between scans I and II (bias) was −0.1%LV, and the coefficient of repeatability was ±2.4%LV. For SPECT, bias was −1.3%LV, and the coefficient of repeatability was ±4.0%LV. Within individual patients, no systematic differences in infarct size were detected when the 2 MRI scans were compared, the 2 SPECT scans were compared, or MRI was compared to SPECT. Conclusion—The size of healed infarcts measured by contrast-enhanced MRI does not change between 10 and 30 minutes after contrast. The clinical reproducibility of contrast-enhanced MRI for infarct size determination compares favorably with that of routine clinical SPECT.
Synthetic mimics of antimicrobial peptides with immunomodulatory responses.

A new series of aryl-based synthetic mimics of antimicrobial peptides (SMAMPs) with antimicrobial activity and selectivity have been developed via systematic tuning of the aromatic groups and charge. The addition of a pendant aromatic group improved the antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative bacteria, while the addition of charge improved the selectivity. SMAMP 4 with six charges and a naphthalene central ring demonstrated a selectivity of 200 against both Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli , compared with a selectivity of 8 for the peptide MSI-78. In addition to the direct antimicrobial activity, SMAMP 4 exhibited specific immunomodulatory activities in macrophages both in the presence and in the absence of lipopolysaccharide, a TLR agonist. SMAMP 4 also induced the production of a neutrophil chemoattractant, murine KC, in mouse primary cells. This is the first nonpeptidic SMAMP demonstrating both good antimicrobial and immunomodulatory activities.
Levels of alpha1-proteinase inhibitor and alpha2-macroglobulin in the tear film of patients with keratoconus.

PURPOSE Levels of alpha1-proteinase inhibitor and alpha2-macroglobulin in the tear film of patients with keratoconus were measured to elucidate their possible roles in the pathogenesis of keratoconus. METHODS Tear samples were collected from 15 keratoconus patients and 14 age-similar human control subjects. Levels of alpha1-proteinase inhibitor and alpha2-macroglobulin in each tear sample were quantified and compared between the two groups. RESULTS Mean values for alpha1-proteinase inhibitor were 101.0+/-35.5 and 106.1+/-41.7 ng/microg protein for the keratoconus and control groups, respectively. The corresponding mean values for alpha2-macroglobulin were 13.5+/-6.8 and 14.8+/-7.5 ng/microg protein. Neither inhibitor showed a statistically significant difference between the keratoconus and control specimens. Subset analysis to evaluate the effects of contact lens wear and the presence of a graft in the fellow eye did not reveal a statistically significant difference. CONCLUSION The tear film of patients with keratoconus contains normal levels of protease inhibitors. Therefore, the tear film may not be a source of the reduced inhibitor levels shown in the corneas of patients with keratoconus.
A Cross-Cultural Investigation of the Perception of Emotion in Music: Psychophysical and Cultural Cues

Studies of the link between music and emotion have primarily focused on listeners' sensitivity to emotion in the music of their own culture. This sensitivity may reflect listeners' enculturation to the conventions of their culture's tonal system. However, it may also reflect responses to psychophysical dimensions of sound that are independent of musical experience. A model of listeners' perception of emotion in music is proposed in which emotion in music is communicated through a combination of universal and cultural cues. Listeners may rely on either of these cues, or both, to arrive at an understanding of musically expressed emotion. The current study addressed the hypotheses derived from this model using a cross-cultural approach. The following questions were investigated: Can people identify the intended emotion in music from an unfamiliar tonal system? If they can, is their sensitivity to intended emotions associated with perceived changes in psychophysical dimensions of music? Thirty Western listeners rated the degree of joy, sadness, anger, and peace in 12 Hindustani raga excerpts (field recordings obtained in North India). In accordance with the raga-rasa system, each excerpt was intended to convey one of the four moods or "rasas" that corresponded to the four emotions rated by listeners. Listeners also provided ratings of four psychophysical variables: tempo, rhythmic complexity, melodic complexity, and pitch range. Listeners were sensitive to the intended emotion in ragas when that emotion was joy, sadness, or anger. Judgments of emotion were significantly related to judgments of psychophysical dimensions, and, in some cases, to instrument timbre. The findings suggest that listeners are sensitive to musically expressed emotion in an unfamiliar tonal system, and that this sensitivity is facilitated by psychophysical cues.
Sensor-assisted wi-fi indoor location system for adapting to environmental dynamics

Wi-Fi based indoor location systems have been shown to be both cost-effective and accurate, since they can attain meter-level positioning accuracy by using existing Wi-Fi infrastructure in the environment. However, two major technical challenges persist for current Wi-Fi based location systems, instability in positioning accuracy due to changing environmental dynamics, and the need for manual offline calibration during site survey. To address these two challenges, three environmental factors (people, doors, and humidity) that can interfere with radio signals and cause positioning inaccuracy are identified. Then, we have proposed a sensor-assisted adaptation method that employs RFID sensors and environment sensors to adapt the location systems automatically to the changing environmental dynamics. The proposed adaptation method performs online calibration to build multiple context-aware radio maps under various environmental conditions. Experiments were performed on the sensor-assisted adaptation method. The experimental results show that the proposed adaptive method can avoid adverse reduction in positioning accuracy under changing environmental dynamics.
Forecasting the next day load profile using load profiling information and meteorological variables

The article proposes a new approach to support the process of forecasting the hourly electric load values for the following day. The adopted methodology based on neural networks is only supported by detailed information related with consumers' typical behavior and climatic information. The case study was tested in two real distribution substation outputs, demonstrating its effectiveness and practical applicability.
Implementing Multi-party Key Exchange by Linear Combination of Elliptic Curve Points

Efficient authenticated multi-party key agreement is both an open problem and one of the fundamental cryptographic primitives that has to be tackled for deploying secure e-commerce in the real world. In this paper, by taking one third of the order of a generator a basic version of a multi-party key agreement scheme is proposed based on the matrix-based ECC (Elliptic Curve Cryptog-raphy) by Climent et al. The basic security of the proposed scheme is based on the ECDLP (Elliptic Curve Discrete Logarithm Problem) and the DLP defined over a cyclic subgroup generated by a block matrix consisting of two matrices with entries in an optimal extension field and one matrix whose entries are points of an elliptic curve. Analysis indicates that besides several desirable security properties this system can get larger key spaces flexibly without having to increase the underlying elliptic curve and save the computational requirements inherent to the regeneration and revalidation of elliptic curves.
Influence of caecectomy and source of dietary fibre or starch on excretion of endogenous amino acids by laying hens

1. Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of caecectomy and source of dietary fibre and starch on excretion of amino acids by laying hens. In Expt 1, caecectomized hens excreted significantly higher levels of several amino acids than intact hens during a 24 h fasting period. These differences were greatest for threonine, proline and leucine. 2. In Expt 2, caecectomized and intact hens were given either a nitrogen-free diet containing 500 g cellulose/kg or one containing 400 g uncooked potato starch/kg and 100 g citrus pectin/kg. The potato starch-pectin (PSP) diet increased excretion of most amino acids by both caecectomized and intact hens compared with the cellulose diet, with this response being larger for intact hens. When compared across diets, caecectomized hens excreted more threonine and serine than intact hens. 3. Excreta voided by hens given PSP contained higher levels of alanine and valine and lower levels of aspartic acid, glutamic acid and methionine than excreta from the cellulose diet. When compared across diets, excreta from caecectomized hens contained more threonine, serine and isoleucine and less aspartic acid and alanine than excreta from intact hens. 4. Multiple regression analyses of excreta amino acid profiles on profiles of endogenous and microbial protein suggested that the intestinal microflora had greater influence on amino acids excreted by caecectomized hens than on those excreted by intact hens.