Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Critical Role for DP5/Harakiri, a Bcl-2 Homology Domain 3-Only Bcl-2 Family Member, in Axotomy-Induced Neuronal Cell Death

The survival of neurons is maintained primarily by neurotrophic factors that suppress the apoptotic program. Axotomy or removal of peripheral targets causes neuronal cell death, but the mechanisms involved in the induction of this type of cell death remain poorly understood. Here, we show that DP5/Harakiri, a Bcl-2 homology domain 3-only member of the Bcl-2 family, is induced in motoneurons after transection of the hypoglossal nerve in mice and in sympathetic neurons after nerve growth factor (NGF) withdrawal. To assess the role of DP5 in neuronal cell death, mutant mice deficient in DP5 were generated by gene targeting. DP5–/– mice were viable and exhibited normal postnatal development. Notably, motoneurons from DP5–/– mice were highly protected from cell death induced by resection of the hypoglossal nerve compared with motoneurons from DP5+/+ littermate mice. In addition, deficiency of DP5 in superior cervical ganglia (SCG) neurons resulted in delayed neuronal cell death triggered by NGF withdrawal. Analysis of SCG neurons from DP5–/– mice revealed increased preservation of mitochondrial membrane potential and reduced activation of caspase-3 compared with neurons from wild-type mice. These results indicate that DP5 plays an important role in neuronal cell death induced by axotomy and NGF deprivation through the regulation of mitochondrial function and caspase-3 activation.
Performance analysis of wireless sensor network with virtual MIMO

In this work, ray based simulation approach has been used for estimating the performance of WSN with MIMO and SISO techniques. The ray based simulation should produce more accurate results than model based simulation approach because it is more close to real life environment. In addition to simulation, Markov model based analytical approach has also been adopted. The transition probabilities among various states of the Markov model has been evaluated using the data produced by the ray trace simulator. It is also giving better performance as compared to Rayleigh fading channel based Markov models approach. LEACH clustering protocol has been used with a slight modification in terms of selecting secondary cluster head. Alamouti space-time code has been used with V-MIMO and significant improvement in the overall life time has been observed as compared to SISO WSN.
Redefining Diagnostic Symptoms of Depression Using Rasch Analysis: Testing an Item Bank Suitable for DSM-V and Computer Adaptive Testing

Objective: We aimed to redefine the optimal self-report symptoms of depression suitable for creation of an item bank that could be used in computer adaptive testing or to develop a simplified screening tool for DSM-V. Method: Four hundred subjects (200 patients with primary depression and 200 non-depressed subjects), living in Iraqi Kurdistan were interviewed. The Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) was used to define the presence of major depression (DSM-IV criteria). We examined symptoms of depression using four well-known scales delivered in Kurdish. The Partial Credit Model was applied to each instrument. Common-item equating was subsequently used to create an item bank and differential item functioning (DIF) explored for known subgroups. Results: A symptom level Rasch analysis reduced the original 45 items to 24 items of the original after the exclusion of 21 misfitting items. A further six items (CESD13 and CESD17, HADS-D4, HADS-D5 and HADS-D7, and CDSS3 and CDSS4) were removed due to misfit as the items were added together to form the item bank, and two items were subsequently removed following the DIF analysis by diagnosis (CESD20 and CDSS9, both of which were harder to endorse for women). Therefore the remaining optimal item bank consisted of 17 items and produced an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.987. Using a bank restricted to the optimal nine items revealed only minor loss of accuracy (AUC = 0.989, sensitivity 96%, specificity 95%). Finally, when restricted to only four items accuracy was still high (AUC was still 0.976; sensitivity 93%, specificity 96%). Conclusions: An item bank of 17 items may be useful in computer adaptive testing and nine or even four items may be used to develop a simplified screening tool for DSM-V major depressive disorder (MDD). Further examination of this item bank should be conducted in different cultural settings.
Managers’ Double Fiduciary Duty: to Stakeholders and to Freedom

Abstract: In providing an ethical guide for managers, the Clarkson Principles offer one part of a possible professional code, namely, that managers have a fiduciary duty—a duty of loyalty of the corporation’s stakeholders. However, the Clarkson Principles contain little advise for managers when they act politically to fashion the regulatory framework in which stakeholders negotiate. When managers participate in these arenas, I argue that they ought to assume a second fiduciary duty—a duty of loyalty to fair bargaining. Where the first duty of loyalty pertains to the firm’s “constituents,” the second refers to the firm’s “constitution”—to the rules by which the firm’s stakeholders bargain and to the background conditions that distribute advantages. Together, these two fiduciary duties establish the large good—development as freedom—from which a managerial profession can mature.
The cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p57kip2 is a negative regulator of Schwann cell differentiation and in vitro myelination

The p57kip2 gene encodes a member of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor family, proteins known to block G1/S transition during the mammalian cell cycle. We observed that expression of p57kip2 in Schwann cells of the developing and injured adult peripheral nervous system is dynamically regulated. Using gene knockdown by means of vector-based RNA interference in cultured primary Schwann cells we found that reduced levels of p57kip2 lead to cell cycle exit, actin filament stabilization, altered cell morphology and growth, and down-regulation of promyelinating markers as well as induction of myelin genes and proteins. In addition, we could demonstrate that in vitro myelination is enhanced by p57kip2-suppressed Schwann cells. Using microarray technology we found that these cellular reactions are specific to lowered p57kip2 expression levels and detected a shift of the transcriptional expression program toward the pattern known from Schwann cells in developing peripheral nerves. Because in the absence of axons primary Schwann cells normally do not display differentiation-associated reactions, we conclude that we have identified a mechanism and an important intrinsic negative regulator of myelinating glia differentiation.
Distributed computation of classic and exponential closeness on tree graphs

Closeness centrality is a basic centrality measure that characterizes how centrally located a node is, within a network, based on its distances to all other nodes. In this paper, we address the distributed computation of two variants of this measure, known as classic closeness and exponential closeness, which differ in how the distances are taken into account. For each variant, we construct continuous- and discrete-time distributed algorithms, with which nodes in an undirected and unweighted tree graph can cooperatively determine their own closeness by talking only to neighbors, executing simple homogeneous update rules, and consuming minimal physical memories. We show that each algorithm is a networked dynamical system whose affine state equation has a unique equilibrium point that is always exponentially or finite-time stable, and whose output equation at the equilibrium point always yields the unknown closeness, thereby solving the problem.
Alpha-Lock Paramodulation for Lattice-Valued Propositional Logic

Aiming to improve the efficiency of alpha-paramodulation in lattice-valued logic with equality, this paper focuses on alpha-lock paramodulation for lattice-valued logic, which can more efficiently handle the lattice-valued logical formula with equality. The definition of alpha-lock paramodulation is given firstly, which is a refinement of alpha-paramodulation, and then its soundness and completeness are established. Finally an algorithm of alpha-lock paramodulation is given.
Facial landmark detection via cascade multi-channel convolutional neural network

This paper presents a novel cascade multi-channel convolutional neural networks(CMC-CNN) approach for face alignment. Several CNN are jointly used for the finally output. In our method, each stage CNN takes the local region around the landmarks as input, and each local patches does convolution separately, which can lead network to learn local high-level features. Then a fully connected layer is put to learn global information from these local features. Our methods has achieves the state-of-the-art results when tested on the 300 Face in-the-Wild(300-W) dataset.
Sexual Ethics in College Textbooks: A Suggestion

This paper responds to a survey of 10 sexuality textbooks that revealed pervasive uncertainty about the nature of sexual ethics and inconsistency about the role of social scientists vis-à-vis ethics. To help bring more consistency to the textbook offerings and to argue the legitimacy of including scientifically based ethical judgments in sexuality textbooks, this paper invokes the long-standing Western tradition of natural law theory, which holds that adherence to, or violations of, the inherent requirements of healthy and wholesome collective human functioning are the essential meaning of right and wrong, good and evil. Proposing an empirically grounded tripartite model of the human (organism, psyche, and spirit), this approach clarifies the nature of human sexuality and specifies the interpersonal as the determinative consideration. The overall suggestion is that, on such a philosophical basis and in cases where research findings approach a consensus, not only can sexologists qua sexologists responsibly say what ought or ought not to be done sexually—that is, they can make ethical judgments—but also, as a matter of professional responsibility, they are ethically bound to do so and to report such judgments in the sexuality textbooks.
Graphics Image Compression Using JPEG2000

The unified framework of the JPEG2000 architecture makes practical high quality real-time compression possible even in video mode. The part 3 of the JPEG2000 standard, motion JPEG2000, uses an intra-frame style for video compression which compresses video sequence frame by frame using the JPEG2000 core coding system. However, the compression performance of the JPEG2000 behaves poorly when compressing an image with low color depth such as graphics images. In this paper, we propose a technique to distinguish the true color images from graphics images and to compress graphics images using a simplified JPEG2000 compression method that will improve the compression performance. The proposed method can be easily adapted in motion JPEG2000 framework for video sequence compression without the need for compressed bit-stream syntax modification.
Berberine via suppression of transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 channel improves vascular stiffness in mice

Berberine, as an alkaloid found in many Chinese herbs, improves vascular functions in patients with cardiovascular diseases. We determined the effects of berberine in hypertension and vascular ageing, and elucidated the underlying mechanisms. In isolated aortas, berberine dose‐dependently elicited aortic relaxation. In cultured cells, berberine induced the relaxation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Overexpression of transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4) channel by genetic approaches abolished the berberine‐induced reduction in intracellular Ca2+ concentration in VSMCs and attenuated berberine‐elicited vessel dilation in mice aortas. In deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)‐induced hypertensive model, treatment of mice with berberine or RN‐1734, a pharmacological inhibitor of TRPV4, significantly decreased systemic blood pressure (BP) in control mice or mice infected with an adenovirus vector. However, berberine‐induced effects of lowering BP were reversed by overexpressing TRPV4 in mice by infecting with adenovirus. Furthermore, long‐term administration of berberine decreased mean BP and pulse BP, increased artery response to vasodilator and reduced vascular collagen content in aged mice deficient in apolipoprotein E (Apoe‐KO), but not in Apoe‐KO old mice with lentivirus‐mediated overexpression of TRPV4 channel. In conclusion, berberine induces direct vasorelaxation to lower BP and reduces vascular stiffness in aged mice through suppression of TRPV4.
Effect of Ischemia Duration on Autoantibody Response in Rats Undergoing Retinal Ischemia-Reperfusion

Both the innate and the adaptive immune systems are involved in the pathogenic processes following ischemia-reperfusion injury. We analyzed the possible correlation between the duration of ischemia and autoantibody diversification in a model of ocular ischemia. Rats were subjected to 30, 45, or 90 min of ischemia, and retinal ganglion cell (RGC) density and antibody reactivity were analyzed via customized protein microarray slides. After ocular ischemia, significant alterations in antibody response were observed, while increasing exposure caused more severe RGC damage. Distinct antibody responses after ischemia were detected; these alterations comprised decreased reactivities against cyclophilin A and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, possibly due to increased binding of circulating antibodies to debris material. Other antibodies, like those against α5β1-integrin or β2-adrenergic receptor, were upregulated after ischemia.
Reduced-Intensity Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation for a Patient with Myelodysplastic Syndrome and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (SCT) following high-dose chemotherapy and total body irradiation (TBI) has improved the prognosis of advanced hematological diseases. In order to assess a patient’s suitability for SCT, a thorough pretransplantation survey is performed. However, patient eligibility has expanded because of the progress of supportive care, so it is difficult to define SCT eligibility limitations due to organ dysfunction. Moreover, recent progress in reduced-intensity stem cell transplantation (RIST) has facilitated the use of SCT in older patients and patients with various underlying diseases [1,2]. This article describes the case of a 65-year-old man with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), refractory anemia, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (emphysema) who underwent SCT. The patient had a history of smoking for more than 40 years and had suffered from Burger’s disease since the age of 40 years. He occasionally complained of lower limb pain and was treated with prostaglandin. In 1998, he presented with anemia, and MDS (refractory anemia) was diagnosed. Two years prior to this report he required frequent red cell transfusions, the frequency of which gradually increased. In June 2004, he was admitted to our hospital for allogeneic hematopoietic SCT. Laboratory examinations confirmed bicytopenia: hemoglobin concentration, 5.7 g/dL; red blood cell count, 2010 109/L; white blood cell count, 3.3 109/L; platelet count, 183 109/L. The bone marrow survey demonstrated normocellular bone marrow with mild dysplasia and a small amount of blasts (<5%). The karyotype analysis showed 3 populations; 4 of 20 analyzed cells were 46XY, del(7)(q20); 3 of 20 analyzed cells were 46XY, +13; the remaining cells were 46XY. Prior to SCT the patient had received a total of 46 transfusions of 2 units of red cells. The pretransplantation Reduced-Intensity Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation for a Patient with Myelodysplastic Syndrome and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
The infrared to X-ray correlation spectra of unobscured type 1 active galactic nuclei

We use new X-ray data obtained with the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), near-infrared (NIR) fluxes and mid-infrared (MIR) spectra of a sample of 24 unobscured type 1 active galactic nuclei (AGN) to study the correlation between various hard X-ray bands between 3 and 80 keV and the infrared (IR) emission. The IR to X-ray correlation spectrum (IRXCS) shows a maximum at ∼15–20 μm, coincident with the peak of the AGN contribution to the MIR spectra of the majority of the sample. There is also an NIR correlation peak at ∼2 μm, which we associate with the NIR bump observed in some type 1 AGN at ∼1–5 μm and is likely produced by nuclear hot dust emission. The IRXCS shows practically the same behaviour in all the X-ray bands considered, indicating a common origin for all of them. We finally evaluated correlations between the X-ray luminosities and various MIR emission lines. All the lines show a good correlation with the hard X-rays (ρ ≥ 0.7), but we do not find the expected correlation between their ionization potentials and the strength of the IRXCS.
Efficient 3-D Positioning Using Time-Delay and AOA Measurements in MIMO Radar Systems

This letter investigates the problem of 3-D target localization in multiple-input multiple-output radars with distributed antennas, using hybrid time-delay and angle of arrival measurements. We propose a closed-form positioning method based on weighted least squares estimation. The proposed estimator is shown theoretically to achieve the Cramer-Rao lower bound under mild noise conditions. Numerical simulations also verify the theoretical developments.
No Evidence of Reproductive Character Displacement between Two Sister Fungal Species Causing Anther Smut Disease in Silene

Reproductive isolating mechanisms that are stronger for sympatric populations than for allopatric populations of a given species pair are indicative of reproductive character displacement, that is, selection for increased barriers to avoid the costly production of hybrid offspring. Evidence of reproductive character displacement in nature remains equivocal and requires further experimental studies. The genus Microbotryum includes species of anther‐smut fungi, which castrate pathogens specialized on different plants in the Caryophyllaceae and which serve as excellent models for studying mechanisms of speciation. Microbotryum lychnidis‐dioicae and Microbotryum silenes‐dioicae are sister species that show no assortative mating and relatively high hybrid viability and, yet, display a lack of gene flow in natural populations. We wanted to test whether these apparently contradictory results could be explained by reproductive character displacement. We first confirmed the absence of detectable gene flow between the two species in two sympatric populations. Then, using experimental crosses and inoculations of host plants (Silene latifolia and Silene dioica), we compared intrinsic reproductive barriers between M. lychnidis‐dioicae and M. silenes‐dioicae for sympatric versus allopatric populations. We found no evidence for strong reproductive character displacement at any of the following stages: selfing propensity, assortative mating, or hybrid infectivity. Altogether, our results suggest that ecological differences and a tendency for high selfing rates constitute barriers that are strong enough to effectively prevent interspecific gene flow.
Antiplatelet agents in stroke prevention

Summary In primary prevention, aspirin reduces the risk of stroke but not of myocardial infarction in women while in men only the risk of myocardial infarction but not stroke could be significantly reduced. Only aspirin has been shown to be safe and effective in large randomized trials in the first 48 hours after ischemic stroke. Aspirin/dipyridamole and clopidogrel both reduce the risk of a combined cardiovascular outcome in long-term secondary prevention compared to aspirin alone. More potent antiplatelet drugs or combination of aspirin and clopidogrel prevent more ischemic events, but also lead to more bleeding complications. No benefit of oral anticoagulants could be shown in patients with non-cardioembolic stroke. In patients with atrial fibrillation oral anticoagulation is more effective than aspirin in stroke prevention. The choice between oral anticoagulants and aspirin in these patients depends on age and the individual risk factor profile. Patients with symptomatic intracranial stenosis have a higher risk of intracerebral bleeding with oral anticoagulation compared to high dose aspirin. Aspirin is the recommended treatment in stroke patients with a patent foramen ovale.
Improvement of Salt Tolerance in Saudi Arabian Wheat by Seed Priming or Foliar Spray with Salicylic Acid

The effect of exogenous application; seed priming or foliar spraying of salicylic acid (SA) on Yecora Rojo and Paragon wheat cv. under NaCl-salinity. Gas exchange parameters, growth parameters, yield and yield components were reduced in both cultivars under salinity stress with foliar spray and soaking seeds. Exogenous application of SA through foliar spraying or seed soaking showed a slight increases or decreases with the application method or between cultivars. SA foliar spraying exhibited a slight improvement over SA seed soaking in most parameters, particularly in Paragon. Although, seed soaking was less effective than foliar spraying, it was a slightly better with Yecora Rojo in some parameters. However, the low SA concentration; 0.5mM tended to improve most parameters in both cultivars. From data of the experiment, it has been concluded that the effect of SA depends on cultivar genotype and SA concentration. Keywords—Salinity, Salicylic acid, Growth parameters, yield components, Wheat cultivars.
Morphological Changes of the Retrobulbar Optic Nerve and Its Meningeal Sheaths in Glaucoma

This work focuses on the possible remodeling of the intraorbital portion of the optic nerve and its meningeal sheaths in glaucoma. The bulbar segments of the orbital optic nerve portion from 25 donors with glaucoma (M:F = 8:17; mean age ± SD 85 ± 11 years) and 25 controls (M:F = 14:11; mean age ± SD 81 ± 8 years) were formalin fixed, paraffin embedded and sectioned in series. Sections were stained with PAS, Masson trichrome and CD68, and examined for the following parameters: (1) diameter of the optic nerve; (2) thickness of the pia mater; (3) distance between dura mater and pia mater; (4) occurrence and amount of meningothelial cell nests in the subarachnoid space, and (5) presence and number of corpora arenacea. The mean diameter of the optic nerve was decreased in the glaucoma group when compared to the controls (2.9 ± 0.5 vs. 3.3 ± 0.5 mm; p < 0.01). The thickness of the pia mater was increased in the glaucoma group (0.1 ± 0.04 vs. 0.09 ± 0.03 mm, p < 0.05). Presence and number of corpora arenacea did not differ between the groups. Occurrence and amount of meningo- thelial cell nests in the subarachnoid space were however significantly increased in glaucoma (p < 0.02). Whether this observation is glaucoma specific deserves further investigation.
A Novel Recommendation Framework for Micro-Blogging Based on Information Diffusion

Abstract. Micro-blogging is increasingly extending its role from a daily chatting tool into a critical platform for individuals and organizations to seek and share real-time news updates during emergencies. However, extracting useful information from micro-blogging sites poses significant challenges due to the volume of the traffic and the presence of extensive irrelevant personal messages and spams. In this paper, we propose a novel recommendation framework to overcome this problem. By analyzing information diffusion patterns among a large set of micro-blogs who play the role of news providers, our approach selects a small subset as recommended emergency news feeds for regular users. We have evaluated our diffusion-based recommendation framework on Twitter during the early outbreak of H1N1 Flu. The preliminary results show that our method leads to more balanced and comprehensive recommendations compared to benchmark approaches.