Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antioxidant Treatment with N-acetyl Cysteine Prevents the Development of Cognitive and Social Behavioral Deficits that Result from Perinatal Ketamine Treatment

Alterations of the normal redox state can be found in all stages of schizophrenia, suggesting a key role for oxidative stress in the etiology and maintenance of the disease. Pharmacological blockade of N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptors can disrupt natural antioxidant defense systems and induce schizophrenia-like behaviors in animals and healthy human subjects. Perinatal administration of the NMDA receptor (NMDAR) antagonist ketamine produces persistent behavioral deficits in adult mice which mimic a range of positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms that characterize schizophrenia. Here we tested whether antioxidant treatment with the glutathione (GSH) precursor N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC) can prevent the development of these behavioral deficits. On postnatal days (PND) 7, 9 and 11, we treated mice with subanesthetic doses (30 mg/kg) of ketamine or saline. Two groups (either ketamine or saline treated) also received NAC throughout development. In adult animals (PND 70–120) we then assessed behavioral alterations in a battery of cognitive and psychomotor tasks. Ketamine-treated animals showed deficits in a task of cognitive flexibility, abnormal patterns of spontaneous alternation, deficits in novel-object recognition, as well as social interaction. Developmental ketamine treatment also induced behavioral stereotypy in response to an acute amphetamine challenge, and it impaired sensorimotor gating, measured as reduced prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the startle response. All of these behavioral abnormalities were either prevented or strongly ameliorated by NAC co-treatment. These results suggest that oxidative stress is a major factor for the development of the ketamine-induced behavioral dysfunctions, and that restoring oxidative balance during the prodromal stage of schizophrenia might be able to ameliorate the development of several major symptoms of the disease.
CASOS: a subspace method for anomaly detection in high dimensional astronomical databases

We develop a novel algorithm for detecting anomalies. Our method has been developed to suit the challenging task of detecting anomalous sources in cross‐matched astronomical survey data. Our algorithm computes anomaly scores in lower‐dimensional subspaces of the data. By subspaces we mean, in this work, subsets of the original data variables. Our technique presents several advantages over existing methods: it can work directly on data with missing values; it addresses some of the problems posed by high‐dimensional data spaces; it is less susceptible to a masking effect from irrelevant features; it can be easily adapted to suit specific needs and it allows an easier interpretation of why a given object has a high combined anomaly score. One drawback of our method is that it cannot detect outliers that are only apparent in high‐dimensional spaces. Anomaly scores are computed using a nearest neighbor (NN) technique, but the algorithm works with any other method computing numerical anomaly scores. We demonstrate the properties of our algorithm and evaluate its performance on both simulated and real datasets. We show that it is capable of outperforming state‐of‐the‐art, full‐dimensional approaches in some situations. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Statistical Analysis and Data Mining 6: 53–72, 2013
Plant-Mediated Female Transcriptomic Changes Post-Mating in a Tephritid Fruit Fly, Bactrocera tryoni

Abstract Female post-mating behaviors are regulated by complex factors involving males, females, and the environment. In insects, plant secondary compounds that males actively forage for, may indirectly modify female behaviors by altering male behavior and physiology. In the tephritid fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni, females mated with males previously fed on plant-derived phenylpropanoids (=“lures” based on usage in tephritid literature), have longer mating refractoriness, greater fecundity, and reduced longevity than females mated with non-lure fed males. This system thus provides a model for studying transcriptional changes associated with those post-mating behaviors, as the genes regulating the phenotypic changes are likely to be expressed at a greater magnitude than in control females. We performed comparative transcriptome analyses using virgin B. tryoni females, females mated with control males (control-mated), and females mated with lure-fed males (lure-mated). We found 331 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in control-mated females and 80 additional DEGs in lure-mated females. Although DEGs in control-mated females are mostly immune response genes and chorion proteins, as reported in Drosophila species, DEGs in lure-mated females are titin-like muscle proteins, histones, sperm, and testis expressed proteins which have not been previously reported. While transcripts regulating mating (e.g., lingerer) did not show differential expression in either of the mated female classes, the odorant binding protein Obp56a was down-regulated. The exclusively enriched or suppressed genes in lure-mated females, novel transcripts such as titin and histones, and several taxa-specific transcripts reported here can shed more light on post-mating transcriptional changes, and this can help understand factors possibly regulating female post-mating behaviors.
Ion Absorption by Shoot Tissue: Kinetics of Potassium and Rubidium Absorption by Corn Leaf Tissue.

The relative impermeability of the surfaces of leaves to water and mi-neral ions in solution is a condition upon which the life of terrestrial higher plants depends. However, for the investigator this feature imposes difficulties on attempts to make quantitative studies of the process of ion absorption by leaf tissue. The importance of this absorption process in the physiology of leaf cells has recently been discu,ssed, and a technique has been described for experiments on ion absorption by excised leaf tissue (6). As demonstrated there, this technique avoids pass-age of the ions through the epidermis as a rate-limiting step in the absorption process, by exposing the mesophyll cells directly to the solution from which absorption takes place. This method has now been used in the experiments described here. These experiments deal with -the absorption of potassium and *rubidium by excised leaf tissue of corn.
A review of factors influencing user satisfaction in information retrieval

The authors investigate factors influencing user satisfaction in information retrieval. It is evident from this study that user satisfaction is a subjective variable, which can be influenced by several factors such as system effectiveness, user effectiveness, user effort, and user characteristics and expectations. Therefore, information retrieval evaluators should consider all these factors in obtaining user satisfaction and in using it as a criterion of system effectiveness. Previous studies have conflicting conclusions on the relationship between user satisfaction and system effectiveness; this study has substantiated these findings and supports using user satisfaction as a criterion of system effectiveness.
An ensemble approach to space–time interpolation

The availability of spatial data on an unprecedented scale as well as advancements in analytical and visualization techniques gives researchers the opportunity to study complex problems over large urban and regional areas. Nevertheless, few individual data sets exist that provide both the requisite spatial and/or temporal observational frequency to truly facilitate detailed investigations. Some data are collected frequently over time but only at a few geographic locations (e.g., weather stations). Similarly, other data are collected with a high level of spatial resolution but not at regular or frequent time intervals (e.g., satellite data). The purpose of this article is to present an interpolation approach that leverages the relative temporal richness of one data set with the relative spatial richness of another to fill in the gaps. Because different interpolation techniques are more appropriate than others for specific types of data, we propose a space–time interpolation approach whereby two interpolation methods – one for the temporal and one for the spatial dimension – are used in tandem to increase the accuracy results. We call our ensemble approach the space–time interpolation environment (STIE). The primary steps within this environment include a spatial interpolation processor, a temporal interpolation processor, and a calibration processor, which enforces phenomenon-related behavioral constraints. The specific interpolation techniques used within the STIE can be chosen on the basis of suitability for the data and application at hand. In this article, we first describe STIE conceptually including the data input requirements, output structure, details of the primary steps, and the mechanism for coordinating the data within those steps. We then describe a case study focusing on urban land cover in Phoenix, Arizona, using our working implementation. Our empirical results show that our approach increased the accuracy for estimating urban land cover better than a single interpolation technique.
Shiga toxin binding to globotriaosyl ceramide induces intracellular signals that mediate cytoskeleton remodeling in human renal carcinoma-derived cells

Shiga toxin is a bacterial toxin consisting of A and B subunits. Generally, the essential cytotoxicity of the toxin is thought to be mediated by the A subunit, which possesses RNA cleavage activity and thus induces protein synthesis inhibition. We previously reported, however, that the binding of the Shiga toxin 1-B subunit to globotriaosyl ceramide, a functional receptor for Shiga toxin, induces intracellular signals in a manner that is dependent on glycolipid-enriched membrane domains, or lipid rafts. Although the precise role of this signaling mechanism is not known, here we report that Shiga-toxin-mediated intracellular signals induce cytoskeleton remodeling in ACHN cells derived from renal tubular epithelial carcinoma. Using confocal laser scanning microscopy, we observed that Shiga toxin 1-B treatment induces morphological changes in ACHN cells in a time-dependent manner. In addition, the morphological changes were accompanied by the redistribution of a number of proteins, including actin, ezrin, CD44, vimentin, cytokeratin, paxillin, FAK, and α- and γ-tubulins, all of which are involved in cytoskeletal organization. The transient phosphorylation of ezrin and paxillin was also observed during the course of protein redistribution. Experiments using inhibitors for a variety of kinases suggested the involvement of lipid rafts, Src family protein kinase, PI 3-kinase, and RHO-associated kinase in Shiga toxin 1-B-induced ezrin phosphorylation. Shiga toxin 1-B-induced cytoskeletal remodeling should provide an in vitro model that can be used to increase our understanding of the pathogenesis of Shiga-toxin-mediated cell injury and the role of lipid-raft-mediated cell signaling in cytoskeletal remodeling.
Paneth cells directly sense gut commensals and maintain homeostasis at the intestinal host-microbial interface

The intestinal epithelium is in direct contact with a vast microbiota, yet little is known about how epithelial cells defend the host against the heavy bacterial load. To address this question we studied Paneth cells, a key small intestinal epithelial lineage. We found that Paneth cells directly sense enteric bacteria through cell-autonomous MyD88-dependent toll-like receptor (TLR) activation, triggering expression of multiple antimicrobial factors. Paneth cells were essential for controlling intestinal barrier penetration by commensal and pathogenic bacteria. Furthermore, Paneth cell-intrinsic MyD88 signaling limited bacterial penetration of host tissues, revealing a role for epithelial MyD88 in maintaining intestinal homeostasis. Our findings establish that gut epithelia actively sense enteric bacteria and play an essential role in maintaining host-microbial homeostasis at the mucosal interface.
Effect of age on muscle functions investigated with surface electromyography

The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in the surface electromyographic (EMG) signal as a means of defining age‐related central and peripheral mechanisms affecting muscle fatigue. Spectral and temporal variables of the surface EMG signal were studied during voluntary isometric contractions of the dominant biceps brachii muscle in a group of 8 healthy elderly men (age range 67–86 years) and a group of 10 healthy young men (age range 23–34 years). The maximal torque developed and the rate of decrease (slope) of spectral variables and conduction velocity (CV) were statistically higher in the young subjects than in the elderly subjects. Motor unit (MU) CV distribution was also estimated from the surface EMG signal and no statistical difference was observed in its variance between the two groups. These results confirm previous findings from the tibialis anterior muscle. Thus, changes in fiber type distribution and decrease in MU firing rate with aging may be factors determining the decrease in maximal voluntary contraction torque and in myoelectric manifestations of muscle fatigue. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Muscle Nerve 25: 65–76, 2002
Towards an Optimal Sink Placement in Wireless Sensor Networks

Recently, sink deployment, in the form of deploying the sink among different sites so as to leverage traffic burden, is shown to be a promising scheme to save energy and prolong network lifetime in wireless sensor networks. For this paradigm, the choice of sink sites plays a critical role in the overall system performance. In this paper, we address the optimal deployment problem for the sink in wireless sensor networks, where routing issues are naturally involved. The major contribution of this paper is the development of an efficient grid-based algorithm to solve this problem. By dividing the continuous search space into a limited number of so-called communication intersections, computational complexity has been significantly reduced. A formal proof of optimality for this algorithm is given and several interesting properties have been revealed by theoretic analysis as well as experimental results.
Estrogens, Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators, and Dementia: What Is the Evidence?

Abstract: At least 10% of people aged 65 or older have some form of cognitive impairment, increasing to around 50% by age 85. Several studies have suggested that estrogen may improve cognitive function or prevent the development of dementia, but other studies have not shown a benefit, and results from large randomized trials are lacking. Fortunately, further trials are currently being conducted. With the recognition that selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) have differential tissue‐dependent effects on estrogen receptor function, there is recent interest in the effects of raloxifene, tamoxifen, and other SERMs on cognition. In this paper, the current state of knowledge of the role of estrogen for preventing dementia in postmenopausal women will be reviewed. In addition, the status of ongoing and recently completed trials of estrogen and SERMs on cognitive function or on Alzheimer's disease severity will be summarized.
Tensegrity I. Cell structure and hierarchical systems biology

In 1993, a Commentary in this journal described how a simple mechanical model of cell structure based on tensegrity architecture can help to explain how cell shape, movement and cytoskeletal mechanics are controlled, as well as how cells sense and respond to mechanical forces (J. Cell Sci. 104, 613-627). The cellular tensegrity model can now be revisited and placed in context of new advances in our understanding of cell structure, biological networks and mechanoregulation that have been made over the past decade. Recent work provides strong evidence to support the use of tensegrity by cells, and mathematical formulations of the model predict many aspects of cell behavior. In addition, development of the tensegrity theory and its translation into mathematical terms are beginning to allow us to define the relationship between mechanics and biochemistry at the molecular level and to attack the larger problem of biological complexity. Part I of this two-part article covers the evidence for cellular tensegrity at the molecular level and describes how this building system may provide a structural basis for the hierarchical organization of living systems — from molecule to organism. Part II, which focuses on how these structural networks influence information processing networks, appears in the next issue.
Chiefly Symmetric: Results on the Scalability of Probabilistic Model Checking for Operating-System Code

Reliability in terms of functional properties from the safety-liveness spectrum is an indispensable requirement of low-level operating-system (OS) code. However, with evermore complex and thus less predictable hardware, quantitative and probabilistic guarantees become more and more important. Probabilistic model checking is one technique to automatically obtain these guarantees. First experiences with the automated quantitative analysis of low-level operating-system code confirm the expectation that the naive probabilistic model checking approach rapidly reaches its limits when increasing the numbers of processes. This paper reports on our work-in-progress to tackle the state explosion problem for low-level OS-code caused by the exponential blow-up of the model size when the number of processes grows. We studied the symmetry reduction approach and carried out our experiments with a simple test-and-test-and-set lock case study as a representative example for a wide range of protocols with natural inter-process dependencies and long-run properties. We quickly see a state-space explosion for scenarios where inter-process dependencies are insignificant. However, once inter-process dependencies dominate the picture models with hundred and more processes can be constructed and analysed.
Worsening of Health and a Cessation or Reduction in Alcohol Consumption to Special Occasion Drinking Across Three Decades of the Life Course

Background Ex-drinkers suffer from worse health than drinkers; however, whether a worsening of health is associated with a change in drinking status from early adulthood has not been previously investigated. We assess whether a worsening of health is associated with a cessation in consumption or reduction to special occasion drinking from early adulthood to middle age. Methods Multinomial logistic regression assessing whether a change in self-reported limiting longstanding illness (LLI) was associated with ceasing alcohol consumption, or a reduction to special occasion drinking compared with being a persistent drinker from age 23 in separate models at ages 33, 42, and 50. All models adjusted for sex, poor psychosocial health, education, marital status, and children in the household. Sample included participants from Great Britain followed longitudinally in the National Child Development Study from ages 23 to 33 (N = 5,529), 42 (N = 4,787), and 50 (N = 4,476). Results Developing an LLI from the previous wave was associated with ceasing alcohol consumption at ages 33 (odds ratio [ORs] = 2.71, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.16–4.93), 42 (OR = 2.44, 95%CI = 1.24–4.81), and 50 (OR = 3.33, 95%CI = 1.56–7.12) and a reduction to special occasion drinking at ages 42 (OR = 2.04, 95%CI = 1.40–2.99) and 50 (OR = 2.04, 95%CI = 1.18–3.53). Having a persistent LLI across 2 waves increased the odds of ceasing consumption at ages 42 (OR = 3.22, 95%CI = 1.06–9.77) and 50 (OR = 4.03, 95%CI = 1.72–9.44) and reducing consumption to special occasion drinking at ages 33 (OR = 3.27, 95%CI = 1.34–8.01) and 42 (OR = 2.25, 95%CI = 1.23–4.50). Persistent drinkers at older ages had the best overall health suffering less from previous poor health compared with those who reduced or ceased consumption at an earlier time point. Conclusions Developing an LLI was associated with a cessation in alcohol consumption and a reduction in consumption to special occasion drinking from early adulthood. Persistent drinkers who drank at least till 50 were the healthiest overall. Health selection is likely to influence nondrinking across the life course.
A study of the gait control of a quadruped walking vehicle

Some of the fundamental problems of the gait control of a quadruped walking vehicle are addressed. It is shown that the product of the duty factor and the stride length is equal to the length of the boundary of the reachable area of the leg. Furthermore, the mathematical expression representing the relationship between the stability margin, the stride length and duty factor are also formulated. These equations are expressed in terms of quantities that specify the configuration of the quadruped walking vehicle. Based on the derived results, a graphical approach to determine the required stride length and the duty factor that corresponding to a regular gait with a prescribed static stability margin is presented. This graphical approach is then adopted to determine the regular gait of a quadruped walking vehicle, and the results agree with the analytic approach.
Periadventitial Adipose Tissue Plays a Critical Role in Vascular Remodeling

Rationale: Obesity is associated with a high incidence of cardiovascular complications. However, the molecular link between obesity and vascular disease is not fully understood. Most previous studies have focused on the association between cardiovascular disease and accumulation of visceral fat. Periadventitial fat is distributed ubiquitously around arteries throughout the body. Objective: Here, we investigated the impact of obesity on inflammation in the periadventitial adipose tissue and on lesion formation after vascular injury. Methods and Results: High-fat, high-sucrose feeding induced inflammatory changes and decreased adiponectin expression in the periadventitial adipose tissue, which was associated with enhanced neointima formation after endovascular injury. Removal of periadventitial fat markedly enhanced neointima formation after injury, which was attenuated by transplantation of subcutaneous adipose tissue from mice fed on regular chow. Adiponectin-deficient mice showed markedly enhanced lesion formation, which was reversed by local delivery, but not systemic administration, of recombinant adiponectin to the periadventitial area. The conditioned medium from subcutaneous fat attenuated increased cell number of smooth muscle cells in response to platelet derived growth factor-BB. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that periadventitial fat may protect against neointimal formation after angioplasty under physiological conditions and that inflammatory changes in the periadventitial fat may have a direct role in the pathogenesis of vascular disease accelerated by obesity.
Coding Partitions of Regular Sets

A coding partition of a set of words partitions this set into classes such that whenever a sequence, of minimal length, has two distinct factorizations, the words of these factorizations belong to the same class. The canonical coding partition is the finest coding partition that partitions the set of words in at most one unambiguous class and other classes that localize the ambiguities in the factorizations of finite sequences. We prove that the canonical coding partition of a regular set contains a finite number of regular classes and we give an algorithm for computing this partition. From this we derive a canonical decomposition of a regular monoid into a free product of finitely many regular monoids.