Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neuroprotective Effect of Combined Treatment with Epigallocatechin 3-Gallate and Melatonin on Familial Alzheimer's Disease PSEN1 E280A Cerebral Spheroids Derived from Menstrual Mesenchymal Stromal Cells.

BACKGROUND Familial Alzheimer's disease (FAD) is caused by mutations in one or more of 3 genes known as A β PP, PSEN1, and PSEN2. There are currently no effective therapies for FAD. Hence, novel therapeutics are needed. OBJECTIVE To analyze the effect of treatment with a combination of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) and Melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine, aMT) in a cerebral spheroid (CS) 3D in vitro model of PSEN 1 E280A FAD. METHODS We developed a CS in vitro model based on menstrual stromal cells derived from wild-type (WT) and mutant PSEN1 E280A menstrual blood cultured in Fast-N-Spheres V2 medium. RESULTS Beta-tubulin III, choline acetyltransferase, and GFAP in both WT and mutant CSs spontaneously expressed neuronal and astroglia markers when grown in Fast-N-Spheres V2 medium for 4 or 11 days. Mutant PSEN1 CSs had significantly increased levels of intracellular AβPP fragment peptides and concomitant appearance of oxidized DJ-1 as early as 4 days, and phosphorylated tau, decreased ΔΨm, and increased caspase-3 activity were observed on Day 11. Moreover, mutant CSs were unresponsive to acetylcholine. Treatment with a combination of EGCG and aMT decreased the levels of all typical pathological markers of FAD more efficiently than did EGCG or aMT alone, but aMT failed to restore Ca2 + influx in mutant CSs and decreased the beneficial effect of EGCG on Ca2 + influx in mutant CSs. CONCLUSION Treatment with a combination of EGCG and aMT can be of high therapeutic value due to the high antioxidant capacity and anti-amyloidogenic effect of both compounds.
Magnetoresistance in Mn ion-implanted GaAs:Zn nanowires

We have investigated the magnetoresistance (MR) in a series of Zn doped (p-type) GaAs nanowires implanted with different Mn concentrations. The nanowires with the lowest Mn concentration (∼0.0001%) exhibit a low resistance of a few kΩ at 300 K and a 4% positive MR at 1.6 K, which can be well described by invoking a spin-split subband model. In contrast, nanowires with the highest Mn concentration (4%) display a large resistance of several MΩ at 300 K and a large negative MR of 85% at 1.6 K. The large negative MR is interpreted in terms of spin-dependent hopping in a complex magnetic nanowire landscape of magnetic polarons, separated by intermediate regions of Mn impurity spins. Sweeping the magnetic field back and forth for the 4% sample reveals a hysteresis that indicates the presence of a weak ferromagnetic phase. We propose co-doping with Zn to be a promising way to reach the goal of realizing ferromagnetic Ga1−xMnxAs nanowires for future nanospintronics.
Mitochondrial Alterations in Prostate Cancer: Roles in Pathobiology and Racial Disparities

Prostate cancer (PCa) affects millions of men worldwide and is a major cause of cancer-related mortality. Race-associated PCa health disparities are also common and are of both social and clinical concern. Most PCa is diagnosed early due to PSA-based screening, but it fails to discern between indolent and aggressive PCa. Androgen or androgen receptor-targeted therapies are standard care of treatment for locally advanced and metastatic disease, but therapy resistance is common. Mitochondria, the powerhouse of cells, are unique subcellular organelles that have their own genome. A large majority of mitochondrial proteins are, however, nuclear-encoded and imported after cytoplasmic translation. Mitochondrial alterations are common in cancer, including PCa, leading to their altered functions. Aberrant mitochondrial function affects nuclear gene expression in retrograde signaling and promotes tumor-supportive stromal remodeling. In this article, we discuss mitochondrial alterations that have been reported in PCa and review the literature related to their roles in PCa pathobiology, therapy resistance, and racial disparities. We also discuss the translational potential of mitochondrial alterations as prognostic biomarkers and as effective targets for PCa therapy.
Fast wavelet-based algorithms for multiresolutional decomposition and feature extraction of hyperspectral signatures

Spectral features are often extracted from multispectral/hyperspectral data using a multiresolutional decomposition known as the spectral fingerprint. While the spectral fingerprint method has proven to be quite powerful, it has also shown several shortcomings: (1) its implementation requires multiple convolutions with Laplacian-of-Gaussian filters which are computationally expensive, (2) it requires a truncation of the filter impulse response which can cause spurious errors, and (3) it provides information about the sizes and areas of radiance features but not the shapes. It is proposed that a wavelet- based spectral fingerprint can overcome these shortcomings while maintaining the advantages of the traditional method. In this study, we investigate the use of the wavelet transform modulus-maximus method to generate a wavelet-based spectral fingerprint. The computation of the wavelet-based fingerprint is based on recent fast wavelet algorithms. The analyses consists of two parts: (1) the computational expense of the new method is compared with the computational costs of current methods, and (2) the outputs of the wavelet-based methods are compared with those of current methods to determine any practical differences in the resulting spectral fingerprints.
The Minimal Entropy Martingale Measure and the Valuation Problem in Incomplete Markets

Let χ be a family of stochastic processes on a given filtered probability space (Ω, F, (Ft)t∈T, P) with T⊆R+. Under the assumption that the set Me of equivalent martingale measures for χ is not empty, we give sufficient conditions for the existence of a unique equivalent martingale measure that minimizes the relative entropy, with respect to P, in the class of martingale measures. We then provide the characterization of the density of the minimal entropy martingale measure, which suggests the equivalence between the maximization of expected exponential utility and the minimization of the relative entropy.
Seed Size, Seed Dispersal Traits, and Plant Dispersion Patterns for Native and Introduced Grassland Plants

Most terrestrial plants disperse by seeds, yet the relationship between seed mass, seed dispersal traits, and plant dispersion is poorly understood. We quantified seed traits for 48 species of native and introduced plants from the grasslands of western Montana, USA, to investigate the relationships between seed traits and plant dispersion patterns. Additionally, because the linkage between dispersal traits and dispersion patterns might be stronger for actively dispersing species, we compared these patterns between native and introduced plants. Finally, we evaluated the efficacy of trait databases versus locally collected data for examining these questions. We found that seed mass correlated positively with the presence of dispersal adaptations such as pappi and awns, but only for introduced plants, for which larger-seeded species were four times as likely to exhibit dispersal adaptations as smaller-seeded species. This finding suggests that introduced plants with larger seeds may require dispersal adaptations to overcome seed mass limitations and invasion barriers. Notably, larger-seeded exotics also tended to be more widely distributed than their smaller-seeded counterparts, again a pattern that was not apparent for native taxa. These results suggest that the effects of seed traits on plant distribution patterns for expanding populations may be obscured for long-established species by other ecological filters (e.g., competition). Finally, seed masses from databases differed from locally collected data for 77% of the study species. Yet, database seed masses correlated with local estimates and generated similar results. Nonetheless, average seed masses differed up to 500-fold between data sources, suggesting that local data provides more valid results for community-level questions.
Characterization of the intrinsic density profiles for liquid surfaces

This paper presents recent advances in the characterization of the intrinsic structures in computer simulations of liquid surfaces. The use of operational definitions for the intrinsic surface, associated with each molecular configuration of a liquid slab, gives direct access to the intrinsic profile and to the wavevector dependent surface tension. However, the characteristics of these functions depend on the definition used for the intrinsic surface. We discuss the pathologies associated with a local Gibbs dividing surface definition, and consider the alternative definition of a minimal area surface, going though a set of surface pivots, self-consistently chosen to represent the first liquid layer.
In-situ measurements of nanoscale phenomena using diffraction phase microscopy

In this work, we present recent results on several novel applications including optically monitoring the dissolution of biodegradable materials proposed for use in biological electronic implants, the self-assembly of microtubes during semiconductor etching, and the expansion and deformation of palladium structures for use in hydrogen sensing applications. The measurements are done using diffraction phase microscopy (DPM), a quantitative phase imaging (QPI) technique, which uses the phase of the imaging field to reconstruct a map of the sample’s surface. It combines off-axis and common-path geometries allowing for single-shot, high-speed dynamics with sub-nanometer noise levels.
Measurement and Calculation of Turbine Cascade Endwall Pressure and Shear Stress

The complex three-dimensional fluid flow on the endwall in an axial flow turbine blade or vane passage has been extensively investigated and reported on in turbomachinery literature. The aerodynamic loss producing mechanisms associated with the endwall flow are still not fully understood or quantitatively predictable. To better quantify wall friction contributions to endwall aerodynamic loss, low Mach number wind tunnel measurement of skin friction coefficients have been made on one endwall of a large scale cascade of high pressure turbine airfoils, at engine operating Reynolds numbers. Concurrently, predictive calculations of the endwall flow shear stress have been made using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code. Use of the oil film interferometry skin friction technique is described and applied to the endwall, to measure local skin friction coefficients and shear stress directions on the endwall. These are correlated with previously reported measured local endwall pressure gradients. The experimental results are discussed and compared to the CFD calculations, to answer questions concerning endwall aerodynamic loss predictive ability.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
Evolution of orbital angular momentum entangled bi-photon, propagating through a turbulent atmosphere

Orbital angular momentum (OAM) entangled bi-photons are a resource for the higher dimensional implementation of quantum cryptography, which allows secure communication over various channels. In the case where free-space is used as communication channel the initial OAM entangled bi-photon loses some or even all of its entanglement because of the scintillation that it experiences while propagating through the turbulence in the atmosphere. This decoherence of OAM entanglement has so far only been studied for the case of weak turbulence. Unfortunately, it is the more challenging strong turbulence scenario that is relevant for the practical implementation of free-space quantum communication through the atmosphere. Using an approach that differs from previous approaches, we derive a master equation for the evolution of an OAM entangled bi-photon during propagation through turbulence. However, in our approach the equation contains a derivative with respect to the propagation distance instead of time. The principle is to consider the propagation over an infinitesimal distance of OAM basis states through a random medium. This approach allows one to include, not only the effect of turbulence of arbitrary strength, but also the effect of the inner and outer scale of the turbulence, as represented by the Tartarskii and von Karman spectra. The resulting expression can predict the rates of decoherence for arbitrary initial OAM entangled states and can be used to calculate the concurrence, which measures the amount of entanglement, as a function of propagation distance for different initial entangled OAM states.
Machine Learning-Assisted Statistical Variation Analysis of Ferroelectric Transistor: From Experimental Metrology to Adaptive Modeling

A novel machine learning (ML)-assisted approach is proposed for investigating the variability of ferroelectric field-effect transistor (FeFET) to shorten the loop of technology pathfinding. To quantify the ferroelectric (FE) domain variation, the atomic intragranular misorientation of Si-doped HfO2 thin film is measured by transmission Kikuchi diffraction (TKD) and is transformed into a polarization map. With the metrology data, polarization variation (PV) of FE domains on the gate-stack is modeled in technology computer-aided design (TCAD) to assess the impact of PV on the FeFET performance and to obtain datasets for ML-assisted analysis. A neural network model is trained using the datasets (input: polarization maps; output: high/low threshold voltage, ON-state current, and subthreshold slope) for the 28-nm bulk FeFET analysis. Our trained network, if used for inference to obtain three-sigma statistics, shows >98% of accuracy of the device features and significantly faster simulation time than TCAD. In addition, we used the transfer learning technique to reduce the number of training datasets by 83% for the fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FDSOI) FeFET by applying the pretrained model from the bulk FeFET.
Analysis of Rotman lenses using a hybrid least squares FEM/transfinite element method

A hybrid procedure that combines the least squares finite element method (LSFEM) and the transfinite element method is applied to the analysis of multiport Rotman lenses. The LSFEM is employed to build a functional based on the L2-norm of the residuals of the full first-order Maxwell equations governing the electromagnetic fields in the structure. Because the full first-order Maxwell equations are solved, the method is free from spurious solutions. The transfinite element method is used to transfer the exterior conditions in the port regions to the interior region. The method is applied to a Rotman lens to determine the field distribution in the lens and the scattering parameters. Measured results for a microstrip Rotman lens with nine beam ports and eight array ports show good agreement with theoretical predictions.
The practice of consanguineous marriage and the risk of diabetes among offspring in the province of Tetouan (Morocco)

PurposeThe practice of consanguinity has been culturally preferred in most Arab countries, including Morocco. This behavior leads to an increase in genetic abnormalities, such as hypertension and diabetes. This paper examines the prevalence and determinants of first-cousin marriages and their impact on diabetes among offspring.Design/methodology/approachData on 882 couples were collected through face-to-face interview via a pre-established questionnaire based on the variables selected within the objectives of this study. The authors used the multiple logistic regression modeling procedure in this study.FindingsThe results of the study indicate that the prevalence of first-cousin marriages were 15% among students’ parents. From the multiple logistic regression modeling, the authors found a significant effect of paternal and maternal grandparents’ first-cousins marriage on that of parents (aOR = 3.27 and aOR = 3.36, respectively). However, an 11-fold higher risk of first relative marriages among parents once the paternal and maternal grandparents were first-cousins and the father was illiterate (aOR = 11.01). Moreover, the authors reported a diabetes risk of more than 14 times when the effects of first-cousin maternal grandparents and parents and the hypertension among mother or her sibling were combined (aOR = 14.48) or when the effects of first-cousins maternal grandparents, first-cousin parents and mother’s age at marriage between 21 and 29 years were combined (aOR = 14.56). Originality/valueFirst-cousin marriage depends on the father’s illiteracy and the consanguinity of grandparents’ factors. The cumulative effect of first-cousin marriage among grandparents, parents and a family history of hypertension among mother or her sibling increase the risk of diabetes among these mothers.
Solution-processed poly(3-hexylthiophene) vertical organic transistor

The fabrication and operation of a solution-processed vertical organic transistor are now demonstrated. The vertical structure provides a large cross section and a short channel length to counter the inherent limitations of the organic materials. The operation of a vertical organic transistor relies on a transition metal oxide layer, V2O5, to lower the carrier injection barrier at the organic/metal interface. The effect of the oxide thickness was examined to verify the role of transition metal oxide in device operation. By studying the device performance at different temperatures and in solvent environments, an operating mechanism that occurs via an ion drift and doping process was proposed. The drift direction of the dissolved Li+ ion can be controlled by altering the gate voltage bias in order to change the carrier injection barrier.
Broadband characteristics of cylindrical antennas with exponentially tapered capacitive loading

Experimental results are presented demonstrating the electrical characteristics of a cylindrical antenna loaded with capacitive elements whose reactance increases exponentially with the distance from the feed end. The results show that the antenna reported has good broadband characteristics. One of the antennas yielded radiation pattern constancy over a 3:1 bandwidth with VSWR varation of less than 3:1 with respect to 50 ohms. For impedance constancy only, a model has achieved greater than 10:1 bandwidth. Qualitative design considerations to achieve required broadband characteristics are included. Finally, the approximate current distribution along the antenna is obtained theoretically, and it is predicted that the current decays very rapidly toward the free end when the loading is sufficiently large. Experimental results are presented in order to confirm the theoretical prediction.
Exploiting Channel Similarity for Network Pruning

To address the limitations of existing pruning methods in practical applications, such as the necessity of training from scratch with sparsity regularization or complex data-driven optimization, we set out from a novel perspective to explore parameter redundancy and accelerate deep CNNs. Precisely, we argue that channels revealing similar feature information have functional overlap and that each such similarity group can be reduced to a few representatives with little impact on the representational power of the model. After deriving an effective metric for evaluating channel similarity via probabilistic modeling, we introduce a similarity-based pruning framework based on hierarchical clustering.In particular, the proposed algorithm can be directly applied to all kinds of pre-trained CNN models for better trade-offs between latency and accuracy. Moreover, rather than relying on a pre-defined target structure, it automatically discovers resource-efficient ones out of the original model under given budgets, which is in the same flavor as NAS. Extensive experiments on benchmark datasets well demonstrate the superior performance of our approach over prior arts. On ImageNet, our pruned ResNet-50 with 30% FLOPs reduced outperforms the original model. We further extend our algorithm to a GAN-based generative model and achieve $2\times $ acceleration, showing its remarkable generalization capability and flexibility.
Dietary Supplementation of Chestnut Tannins in Prepartum Dairy Cows Improves Antioxidant Defense Mechanisms Interacting with Thyroid Status

Cows in the peripartal period undergo changes in thyroid hormones and are susceptible to lipomobilization and/or oxidative stress. The addition of chestnut tannins as polyphenolic compounds in the diet may improve feed efficiency and prevent oxidative stress-related health disorders in transition cows. However, the relationship between chestnut tannin supplementation and thyroid function, which plays an important role in metabolic regulation, has not been investigated in dairy cows. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of chestnut tannin supplementation during the close-up period on thyroid status and to evaluate the interaction between thyroid hormones and oxidative stress biomarkers in prepartum dairy cows. Forty multiparous Holstein cows were fed either a diet containing chestnut tannins (CNTs, n = 20, 1.96 g chestnut tannins/kg feed, dry matter) or a non-supplemented diet (CON, n = 20) during the last 25 ± 2 days of gestation. Blood samples were collected on the first day of study (before chestnut tannin supplementation) and d 5 before parturition to measure hormonal and oxidative stress indices. Serum concentrations of T3 (p = 0.04) and T4 (p = 0.05) were higher in CNT cows than in the CON group on day 5 before parturition. Thyroid status of CNT cows was associated with higher serum total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC, p < 0.01), activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD, p = 0.03) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx, p = 0.01), and reduced glutathione concentration (GSH, p = 0.05). Serum thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) were lower (p = 0.04) which was associated with lower aspartate aminotransferase (AST, p = 0.02), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH, p = 0.01) activities in the CNT than in the CON group. Estradiol and progesterone did not differ between CNT and CON cows. Chestnut tannin supplementation improves antioxidant protection, prevents oxidation-reduction processes, reduces the degree of liver cell membrane damage, and protects thyroid tissue from damage, allowing higher T3 and T4 synthesis. Considering the importance of the thyroid hormone status before parturition, mechanisms of thyroid hormone regulation in CNT-supplemented dairy cows require more detailed investigations.
Observational constraints on phantom-like braneworld cosmologies

We study a simple braneworld model in which the universe is filled solely with cold dark matter and a cosmological constant, although the effective dark energy is phantom-like due extra-dimensional gravity effects. Theoretically the cosmological constant Λ is screened by modified gravity, so that a larger Λ can be accommodated, but actually observations do not seem to favour any screening significantly. Using supernova data, the cosmic microwave background shift parameter, and the baryon oscillation peak in the galaxy distribution we set constrains to the model. We find the mean value of Ωm with 68% confidence limits, and an upper limit on ΩΛ at the 68% confidence level. We conclude the best-fit model is very close to a standard LCDM model, but the LCDM model represents a better fit since it has one less parameter.
Broadband electro-optic polymer modulators with high electro-optic activity and low poling induced optical loss

A screening method is reported for electro-optic (EO) polymers with an emphasis on broadband device suitability. The method is based on comparing the signal from second harmonic generation (SHG) and the leak through current (LTC) during poling. Plots of the SHG and LTC are used to define high EO activity-low current poling windows that are critical for low driving voltage, broadband devices with relatively low optical loss. The screening procedure was used to select an EO polymer core that resulted in a 40Gbits∕s broadband modulator with a driving voltage of 1.3V and an insertion loss of <8dB.