Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Use of lanthanides to alleviate the effects of metal ion-deficiency in Desmodesmus quadricauda (Sphaeropleales, Chlorophyta)

Lanthanides are biologically non-essential elements with wide applications in technology and industry. Their concentration as environmental contaminants is, therefore, increasing. Although non-essential, lanthanides have been proposed (and even used) to produce beneficial effects in plants, even though their mechanisms of action are unclear. Recently, it was suggested that they may replace essential elements. We tested the effect of low concentrations of lanthanides on the common freshwater microalga Desmodesmus quadricauda, grown under conditions of metal ion-deficiency (lower calcium or manganese concentrations). Our goal was to test if lanthanides can replace essential metals in their functions. Physiological stress was recorded by studying growth and photosynthetic activity using a pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) fluorimeter. We found that nutrient stress reduced parameters of growth and photosynthesis, such as maximal quantum yield, relative electron transport rate, photon capturing efficiency and light saturation irradiance. After adding low concentrations of five lanthanides, we confirmed that they can produce a stimulatory effect on microalgae, depending on the nutrient (metal) deprivation. In the case of a calcium deficit, the addition of lanthanides partly alleviated the adverse effects, probably by a partial substitution of the element. In contrast, with manganese deprivation (and at even lower concentrations), lanthanides enhanced the deleterious effect on cellular growth and photosynthetic competence. These results show that lanthanides can replace essential elements, but their effects on microalgae depend on stress and the nutritional state of the microalgae, raising the possibility of environmental impacts at even low concentrations.
X chromosome gene methylation in peripheral lymphocytes from monozygotic twins discordant for scleroderma

Scleroderma (SSc) is a rare connective tissue disease characterized by fibrosis, microvasculopathy and autoimmune features. The role of genetics is limited in SSc, as suggested by similar concordance rates in monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs, while environmental factors may act through epigenetic changes, as demonstrated for specific genes. Further, sex chromosome changes have been reported in SSc and may explain the female preponderance. In the present study we compared the methylation profile of all X chromosome genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from monozygotic twins discordant (n = 7) and concordant (n = 1) for SSc. Methylated DNA immunoprecipitations from each discordant twin pair were hybridized to a custom‐designed array included 998 sites encompassing promoters of all X chromosome genes and randomly chosen autosomal genes. Biostatistical tools identified sites with an elevated probability to be consistently hypermethylated (n = 18) or hypomethylated (n = 25) in affected twins. Identified genes include transcription factors (ARX, HSFX1, ZBED1, ZNF41) and surface antigens (IL1RAPL2, PGRMC1), and pathway analysis suggests their involvement in cell proliferation (PGK1, SMS, UTP14A, SSR4), apoptosis (MTM1), inflammation (ARAF) and oxidative stress (ENOX2). In conclusion, we propose that X chromosome genes with different methylation profiles in monozygotic twin pairs may constitute candidates for SSc susceptibility.
The Cytotoxicity of Bupivacaine, Ropivacaine, and Mepivacaine on Human Chondrocytes and Cartilage

BACKGROUND: Intraarticular injections of local anesthetics are frequently used as part of multimodal pain regimens. However, recent data suggest that local anesthetics affect chondrocyte viability. In this study, we assessed the chondrotoxic effects of mepivacaine, ropivacaine, and bupivacaine. We hypothesized that specific cytotoxic potencies directly correlate with analgesic potencies, and that cytotoxic effects in intact cartilage are different than in osteoarthritic tissue. METHODS: Human articular chondrocytes were exposed to equal and equipotent concentrations of bupivacaine, ropivacaine, and mepivacaine for 1 hour. Cell viability, apoptosis, and necrosis were determined at predefined time points using flow cytometry, live–dead staining, and caspase detection. Intact and osteoarthritic human cartilage explants were treated with equipotent concentrations of named drugs to determine cell viability applying fluorescence microscopy. RESULTS: Chondrotoxic effects increased from ropivacaine to mepivacaine to bupivacaine in a time-dependent and concentration-dependent manner. Compared with control, bupivacaine 0.5% decreased chondrocyte viability to 78% ± 9% (P = 0.0183) 1 hour and 16% ± 10% (P < 0.0001) 24 hours later, as determined by live–dead staining in monolayer cultures. Viability rates were reduced to 80% ± 7% (P = 0.0475) 1 hour and 80% ± 10% (P = 0.0095) 24 hours after treatment with ropivacaine 0.75%. After exposure to mepivacaine 2%, viable cells were scored 36% ± 6% (P < 0.0001) after 1 hour and 30% ± 11% (P < 0.0001) after 24 hours. Ropivacaine treatment was less chondrotoxic than bupivacaine (P = 0.0006) and mepivacaine exposure (P = 0.0059). Exposure to concentrations up to 0.25% of bupivacaine, 0.5% of ropivacaine, and 0.5% of mepivacaine did not reveal significant chondrotoxicity in flow cytometry. However, chondrotoxicity did not correlate with potency of local anesthetics. Immediate cell death was mainly due to necrosis followed by apoptosis. Cellular death rates were clearly higher in osteoarthritic compared with intact cartilage after bupivacaine, mepivacaine, and ropivacaine treatment in a decreasing order. CONCLUSION: Bupivacaine, ropivacaine, and mepivacaine are chondrotoxic in a time-dependent, concentration-dependent, and drug-dependent manner. Chondrotoxic and analgesic potencies do not directly correlate. Cellular death rates were higher in osteoarthritic compared with intact cartilage after local anesthetic treatment.
Ontology-based Distance Measure for Text Clustering

Recent work has shown that ontologies are useful to improve the performance of text clustering. In this paper, we present a new clustering scheme on the basis of ontologies-based distance measure. Before implementing clustering process, term mutual information matrix is calculated with the aid of Wordnet and some methods of learning ontologies from textual data. Combining this mutual information matrix and the traditional vector space model, we design a new data model (considering the correlation between terms) on which the Euclidean distance measure can be used, and then run two k-means type clustering algorithms on the real-world text data. Our results show that ontologies-based distance measure makes text clustering approaches perform better.
GTF2I hemizygosity implicated in mental retardation in Williams syndrome: Genotype–phenotype analysis of five families with deletions in the Williams syndrome region

Most individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) have a 1.6 Mb deletion in chromosome 7q11.23 that encompasses the elastin (ELN) gene, while most families with autosomal dominant supravalvar aortic stenosis (SVAS) have point mutations in ELN. The overlap of the clinical phenotypes of the two conditions (cardiovascular disease and connective tissue abnormalities such as hernias) is due to the effect of haploinsufficiency of ELN. SVAS families often have affected individuals with some WS facial features, most commonly in infancy, suggesting that ELN plays a role in WS facial gestalt as well. To find other genes contributing to the WS phenotype, we studied five families with SVAS who have small deletions in the WS region. None of the families had mental retardation, but affected family members had the Williams Syndrome Cognitive Profile (WSCP). All families shared a deletion of LIMK1, which encodes a protein strongly expressed in the brain, supporting the hypothesis that LIMK1 hemizygosity contributes to impairment in visuospatial constructive cognition. While the deletions from the families nearly spanned the WS region, none had a deletion of FKBP6 or GTF2I, suggesting that the mental retardation seen in WS is associated with deletion of either the centromeric and/or telomeric portions of the region. Comparison of these five families with reports of other individuals with partial deletions of the WS region most strongly implicates GTF2I in the mental retardation of WS. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A Randomized Clinical Trial of Auricular Point Acupressure for Chronic Low Back Pain: A Feasibility Study

Objectives. This prospective, randomized clinical trial (RCT) was designed to investigate the feasibility and effects of a 4-week auricular point acupressure (APA) for chronic low back pain (CLBP). Methods. Participants were randomized to either true APA (true acupoints with taped seeds on the designated ear points for CLBP) or sham APA (sham acupoints with taped seeds but on different locations than those designated for CLBP). The duration of treatment was four weeks. Participants were assessed before treatment, weekly during treatment, and 1 month following treatment. Results. Participants in the true APA group who completed the 4-week APA treatment had a 70% reduction in worst pain intensity, a 75% reduction in overall pain intensity, and a 42% improvement in disability due to back pain from baseline assessment. The reductions of worst pain and overall pain intensity in the true APA group were statistically greater than participants in the sham group (P < 0.01) at the completion of a 4-week APA and 1 month followup. Discussion. The preliminary findings of this feasibility study showed a reduction in pain intensity and improvement in physical function suggesting that APA may be a promising treatment for patients with CLBP.
Word Segmenter for Chinese Micro-blogging Text Segmentation – Report for CIPS-SIGHAN’2014 Bakeoff

This paper presents our system for the CIPSSIGHAN-2014 bakeoff task of Chinese word segmentation. This system adopts a characterbased joint approach, which combines a character-based generative model and a character-based discriminative model. To further improve the performance in cross-domain, an external dictionary is employed. In addition, pre-processing and post-processing rules are utilized to further improve the performance. The final performance on the test corpus shows that our system achieves comparable results with other state-of-the-art systems.
Design of compact tri-band filter based on SIR-loaded resonator with 0° feed

In this paper, a novel compact tri-band filter based on SIR loaded is presented. By adding λ/4 resonators and loading SIR stub, the features of compact size and tri-band response are obtained. Three passbands are designed to operate at 1.85GHz, 2.575GHz and 3.05GHz, respectively. The first and second passbands are obtained using resonator loaded with SIR, which is smaller in size than UIR, the λ/4 resonators is used to generate the third passband. The three passbands can be adjusted to designed values. The skew-symmetric (0-degree) feed structure was used to get a pair of transmission zeros so the frequency selectivity was greatly improved. Due to λ /4 resonators embedded in the resonator loaded with SIR, compact size for filter can be realized. A practical filter is fabricated and the measured results show good agreement with the design requirement.
Correlates of major depressive disorder with and without comorbid alcohol use disorder nationally in the veterans health administration.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES This study assesses medical and psychiatric comorbidities, service utilization, and psychotropic medication prescriptions in veterans with comorbid major depressive disorder (MDD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) relative to veterans with MDD alone. METHODS Using cross-sectional administrative data (fiscal year [FY]2012: October 1, 2011-September 30, 2012) from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), we identified veterans with a diagnosis of current (12-month) MDD nationally (N = 309,374), 18.8% of whom were also diagnosed with current (12-month) AUD. Veterans with both MDD and AUD were compared to those with MDD alone on sociodemographic characteristics, current (12-month) medical and psychiatric disorders, service utilization, and psychotropic prescriptions. We then used logistic regression analyses to calculate odds ratio and 95% confidence interval of characteristics that were independently different between the groups. RESULTS Dually diagnosed veterans with MDD and AUD, relative to veterans with MDD alone, had a greater number of comorbid health conditions, such as liver disease, drug use disorders, and bipolar disorder as well as greater likelihood of homelessness and higher service utilization. CONCLUSIONS AND SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE Dually diagnosed veterans with MDD and AUD had more frequent medical and psychiatric comorbidities and more frequently had been homeless. These data suggest the importance of assessing the presence of comorbid medical/psychiatric disorders and potential homelessness in order to provide appropriately comprehensive treatment to dually diagnosed veterans with MDD and AUD and indicate a need to develop more effective treatments for combined disorders.
Non-parametric policy gradients: a unified treatment of propositional and relational domains

Policy gradient approaches are a powerful instrument for learning how to interact with the environment. Existing approaches have focused on propositional and continuous domains only. Without extensive feature engineering, it is difficult - if not impossible - to apply them within structured domains, in which e.g. there is a varying number of objects and relations among them. In this paper, we describe a non-parametric policy gradient approach - called NPPG - that overcomes this limitation. The key idea is to apply Friedmann's gradient boosting: policies are represented as a weighted sum of regression models grown in an stage-wise optimization. Employing off-the-shelf regression learners, NPPG can deal with propositional, continuous, and relational domains in a unified way. Our experimental results show that it can even improve on established results.
Active video games and children with cerebral palsy: the future of rehabilitation?

The aim of this study was to compare the aerobic solicitation and the postural movements induced by an active video game console in children with cerebral palsy, and in typically developing children. Results showed that the response varied greatly between games, emphasizing the importance of choosing the adequate game in order to solicit specific motor functions. Also, children with CP demonstrated strong interest and usually showed similar responses than their healthy counterpart, suggesting that active video game playing might be appropriate for motor rehabilitation.
AMULET3: a 100 MIPS asynchronous embedded processor

AMULET3 is a 32-bit asynchronous processor core that is fully instruction set compatible with the clocked ARM cores. It represents the culmination of ten years of research and development into asynchronous processor design at the University of Manchester, and is the first step into commercial use for this technology. AMULET3 shows that asynchronous technology is commercially viable, and is competitive in terms of performance, area and power-efficiency with clocked design. In addition, asynchronous design offers significant advantages in terms of reduced electromagnetic interference and unique power management capabilities.
Atorvastatin and the ability of clopidogrel to inhibit platelet aggregation.

Inhibit Platelet Aggregation To the Editor: Lau et al1 recently reported that coadministration of CYP3A4metabolized statins (atorvastatin, simvastatin, and lovastatin) but not pravastatin (fluvastatin and rosuvastatin) inhibited the “antiplatelet activity of clopidogrel in a dose-dependent manner,” using an in vitro point-of-care MICROS cell counter (ABX Diagnostics) and the Plateletworks test platform (Helena Laboratories). Platelet activity is measured by the combination of the following three tests: (a) platelet aggregation by adenosine diphosphate (ADP) or collagen-induced whole blood (or platelet-rich plasma) platelet aggregometry, (b) platelet adhesion by ex-vivo perfusion (Badimon) chamber,2 and (c) platelet activation by flow-cytometry measurement of the surface membrane expression of CD62p (p-selectin, GMP140) in the whole blood.3–5 All three tests are needed to test platelet function. Clopidogrel, an ADP receptor antagonist, selectively and irreversibly inhibits ADP-induced platelet activation and aggregation, thereby preventing atherothrombosis. In their interesting and provocative article, Lau et al1 found that atorvastatin, and not pravastatin, blunted the in vitro antiaggregation effect of clopidogrel in patients after stent deployment. However, the authors measured only the platelet antiaggregation pathway and left the other two pathways (platelet adhesion and platelet activation) unexplored. Blocking only one pathway does not necessarily predict stent restenosis (and/or in-stent thrombosis) and/or a worse clinical outcome. I suggest, therefore, that the authors assess the impact of clopidogrel alone and its administration with atorvastatin or pravastatin on platelet adhesion and activation before concluding that CYP3A4-metabolized statins, and not pravastatin, inhibit the “antiplatelet activity of clopidogrel. ”
A Concerted Action of Engrailed and Gooseberry-Neuro in Neuroblast 6-4 Is Triggering the Formation of Embryonic Posterior Commissure Bundles

One challenging question in neurogenesis concerns the identification of cues that trigger axonal growth and pathfinding to form stereotypic neuronal networks during the construction of a nervous system. Here, we show that in Drosophila, Engrailed (EN) and Gooseberry-Neuro (GsbN) act together as cofactors to build the posterior commissures (PCs), which shapes the ventral nerve cord. Indeed, we show that these two proteins are acting together in axon growth and midline crossing, and that this concerted action occurs at early development, in neuroblasts. More precisely, we identified that their expressions in NB 6-4 are necessary and sufficient to trigger the formation of the PCs, demonstrating that segmentation genes such as EN and GsbN play a crucial role in the determination of NB 6-4 in a way that will later influence growth and guidance of all the axons that form the PCs. We also demonstrate a more specific function of GsbN in differentiated neurons, leading to fasciculations between axons, which might be required to obtain PC mature axon bundles.
The costs of implementing the 1999 Canadian Asthma Consensus Guidelines recommendation of asthma education and spirometry for the family physician.

BACKGROUND National and international asthma guidelines recommend that patients with asthma be provided with asthma education and spirometry as a component of enhanced asthma care. The cost of implementing these interventions in family physician practices is not known. OBJECTIVE The objective of the present study was to determine the cost of providing recommended asthma care to adult patients in the family practice setting. METHODS The present study was conducted using three scenarios of care in family practice. Small, medium and large asthmatic patient populations were used. The incremental costs of implementing enhanced asthma care based on the Canadian Asthma Consensus Guidelines, including the provision of spirometry and asthma education in both group and individual sessions, and the resources required for these interventions were calculated for each scenario. RESULTS For a physician with 50 asthmatic patients, the cost of providing enhanced asthma care with spirometry and group education sessions was approximately 78 dollars per patient in the first year of implementation. For individual sessions, the cost increased to 100 dollars per patient for the first year. If the physician had 100 asthmatic patients, the per patient cost would decrease; however, the overall cost of the program would be 7,000 dollars. CONCLUSIONS The costs of providing enhanced asthma care are significant. In most cases, physicians are inadequately reimbursed (or not reimbursed) for these interventions. In light of the evidence of the effectiveness of these interventions, health insurance plans should consider adding these services to fee schedules.
Measles Virus Infection: Mechanisms of Immune Suppression

Measles virus (MV) is a highly contagious respiratory pathogen that causes systemic disease; most individuals recover with lifelong immunity to MV. Enormous progress toward measles elimination has been made worldwide, in large part due to the availability of a safe and effective vaccine (CDC, 2000; WHO, 2005; 2009; 2010). However, measles infections still cause 500,000 deaths annually, mostly due to subsequent opportunistic infections associated with MV induced immune-suppression (Wild, 1999). Prior to the introduction of vaccines and a global eradication programme coordinated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) (Wild, 1999), global death rates were as high as 7–8 million children annually. The introduction of a live measles vaccine has significantly reduced the incidence of acute measles in industrialized countries. In developing countries however, measles is still an important health problem and the major viral killer of children.
Ship detection and recognitionin high-resolution satellite images

Nowadays, the availability of high-resolution images taken from satellites, like Quickbird, Orbview, and others, offers the remote sensing community the possibility of monitoring and surveying vast areas of the Earth for different purposes, e.g. monitoring forest regions for ecological reasons. A particular application is the use of satellite images to survey the bottom of the seas around the Iberian peninsula which is flooded with innumerable treasures that are being plundered by specialized ships. In this paper we present a GIS-based application aimed to catalog areas of the sea with archeological interest and to monitor the risk of plundering of ships that stay within such areas during a suspicious period of time.
Emergence of leadership in a robotic fish group under diverging individual personality traits

Variations of individual’s personality traits have been identified before as one of the possible mechanisms for the emergence of leadership in an interactive collective, which may lead to benefits for the group as a whole. Complementing the large number of existing literatures on using simulation models to study leadership, we use biomimetic robotic fish to gain insight into how the fish’s behaviours evolve under the influence of the physical hydrodynamics. In particular, we focus in this paper on understanding how robotic fish’s personality traits affect the emergence of an effective leading fish in repeated robotic foraging tasks when the robotic fish’s strategies, to push or not to push the obstacle in its foraging path, are updated over time following an evolutionary game set-up. We further show that the robotic fish’s personality traits diverge when the group carries out difficult foraging tasks in our experiments, and self-organization takes place to help the group to adapt to the level of difficulties of the tasks without inter-individual communication.