Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Anatomically interpretable deep learning of brain age captures domain-specific cognitive impairment

Significance The phenotypic age of the human brain, as revealed via deep learning of anatomic magnetic resonance images, reflects patterns of structural change related to cognitive decline. Our interpretable deep learning estimates that the brain ages more accurately than any other approaches to date. Furthermore, compared to chronological age, our inferred brain ages are significantly more strongly associated with early signs of Alzheimer’s disease. Maps conveying the importance of each brain region for estimating brain age reveal differences in patterns of neurological aging between males and females and between persons with and without cognitive impairment. These findings provide insight into early identification of persons at high risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Vector spherical harmonics and their application to classical electrodynamics

A set of vector spherical harmonics which was earlier introduced and shown to be applicable to magnetostatics problems, is employed to decompose and solve Maxwell equations. Expressions for the radiation fields for the transverse electric and magnetic modes, the angular distribution of multipole radiation, and the total power radiated in terms of the set of vector spherical harmonics are also derived. The interesting and important Rayleigh scattering problem of electromagnetic plane waves scattering by a conducting sphere is discussed in some detail within the approach. Numerous other problems particularly well adapted for the vector spherical harmonic approach advocated in the paper are suggested.
Adherence to Guidelines Influenced the Mortality, Hospital Stay, and Health Care System Costs in Patients With Acute Pancreatitis

Objectives The primary end point was the compliance rate with guidelines. The secondaries were mortality, hospital stay, and costs. Methods This study included 1904 patients with acute pancreatitis (AP): group A, diagnosed before 2013, and group B, after 2013. Results The compliance rate was 0.6%. The compliance rates increased for fluid resuscitation (3.3% vs 13.7%, P < 0.001), for antibiotics use (21.9% vs 28.1%, P = 0.002), for oral feeding (55.0% vs 49.7%, P = 0.007), and for correct use of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) (83% vs 91.9%, P < 0.001). Compliance to severity assessment with computed tomography (odds ratio [OR], 0.4; P = 0.029), parenteral nutrition recommendations (OR, 0.3; P = 0.009), and early surgery (OR, 0.3; P = 0.010) reduced the mortality. Compliance to antibiotic therapy (OR, 0.6; P < 0.001), correct use of parenteral nutrition (OR, 0.3; P < 0.001), correct use of ERCP (OR, 0.5; P < 0.001), and early surgery (OR, 0.3; P = 0.010) reduced hospital stay. The compliance reduced the costs for parenteral nutrition (P < 0.001), correct use of ERCP (P = 0.011), and surgery (P = 0.010). Conclusions The adherence to guidelines for AP was low. Compliance could reduce mortality, prolonged hospital stay, and costs.
Simulations of reactive sputtering with constant voltage power supply

Reactive sputtering in an Al-O-2/Ar system equipped with a dc power supply in constant voltage mode was simulated using a kinetics model in this article. This work showed that reactive sputtering under reactive gas flow rate control and with a constant voltage power was much different from that with a constant current power both in time-dependent and parameter-dependent behaviors. Numerical analysis predicted the continuous, N-shaped V-I characteristics curves, which agreed with the experimental curves reported by other researchers in a system which was equipped with a dc constant current power but operated under voltage control [R. McMahon et al., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. 20 376 (1982); K. Steenbeck et al., Thin Solid Films 92, 371 (1982)] and in a system with a modulated power supply [H. Ohsaki et al., Thin Solid Films 281-282, 213 (1996)]. The continuous parameter-dependent functions indicated that there is no hysteresis effect in constant voltage reactive sputtering, which is a well-known feature of dc constant current magnetron sputtering of an Al-O-2/Ar system. According to the simulated kinetics curves using the same simulation parameters, the initial values of oxide coverage on the target surface had no influences on the final parameters at steady state in a constant voltage system, whereas different initial coverage may lead to different steady states (hysteresis behaviors) in a constant current system. This article showed that the films of any reactive gas contents, i.e., the M1-theta-(MOx)(theta) films (M=metal, MOx=compound of metal) with full range of 0 less than or equal to theta less than or equal to 1, could be produced in constant voltage reactive sputtering which is a system simpler than those under partial pressure control. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(98)03222-8].
Biochemical characteristics of point mutated Capra hircus lysosome α-mannosidase

Locoweeds, a type of poisonous weedare, are widely distributed throughout the world and have a significant impact on the development of herbivore animal husbandry. Swainsonine (SW), the main toxin in locoweeds, can competitively inhibit lysosomes α-mannosidase (LAM) in animal cells, resulting in α-mannosidosis. However, the specifics of the interaction between SW and LAM are still unclear. Here, we used molecular docking to predicte the interaction points between SW and LAM, built mutated lysosomes α-mannosidase (LAMM), and analyzed its biochemical properties changes in presumption points. The Trp at the 28th position and the Tyr at the 599th position of the LAM were interaction point candidates, and the above two amino acids in Capra hircus LAM (chLAM), were successfully mutated to glycine by constructing recombinant yeast GS115/PIC9K- LAMM. The results showed that the sensitivity of Capra hircus LAMM (chLAMM), to SW decreased significantly compared with wild-type LAM, the enzyme activity of LAM decreased approximately threefold, the optimum temperature of LAMM decreased from 55°C to 50°C, the optimum pH value increased from 4.5 to 5.0, and the effects of Mn2+, Fe3+, Al3+, Co2+, Cr3+, and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) on LAM enzyme activity before and after point mutation changed significantly. These findings help us better understanding the molecular mechanism of the interaction mechanism between SW and chLAM, and provide new reference for solving locoweeds poisoning.
ONIRICA: an infrared camera for OWL with MCAO low order partial correction

ONIRICA, standing for OWL Near InfraRed Imaging Camera, is a pre-Phase A, conceptual design study to assess the feasibility of an imaging camera for a 100m class telescope. In this paper the main scientific driven and the adopted preliminary choices for its optomechanical implementation are reviewed.
Reduced isometric knee extensor force following anodal transcranial direct current stimulation of the ipsilateral motor cortex

Background The goal of this study was to determine if 10-min of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (a-tDCS) to the motor cortex (M1) is capable of modulating quadriceps isometric maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) force or fatigue endurance contralateral or ipsilateral to the stimulation site. Methods In a randomized, cross-over design, 16 (8 females) individuals underwent two sessions of a-tDCS and two sham tDCS (s-tDCS) sessions targeting the left M1 (all participants were right limb dominant), with testing of either the left (ipsilateral) or right (contralateral) quadriceps. Knee extensor (KE) MVC force was recorded prior to and following the a-tDCS and s-tDCS protocols. Additionally, a repetitive MVC fatiguing protocol (12 MVCs with work-rest ratio of 5:10-s) was completed following each tDCS protocol. Results There was a significant interaction effect for stimulation condition x leg tested x time [F(1,60) = 7.156, p = 0.010, ηp2 = 0.11], which revealed a significant absolute KE MVC force reduction in the contralateral leg following s-tDCS (p < 0.001, d = 1.2) and in the ipsilateral leg following a-tDCS (p < 0.001, d = 1.09). A significant interaction effect for condition x leg tested [F(1,56) = 8.12, p = 0.006, ηp2 = 0.13], showed a significantly lower ipsilateral quadriceps (to tDCS) relative MVC force with a-tDCS, versus s-tDCS [t(15) = -3.07, p = 0.016, d = -0.77]. There was no significant difference between the relative contralateral quadriceps (to tDCS) MVC force for a-tDCS and s-tDCS. Although there was an overall significant [F(1,56) = 8.36, p < 0.001] 12.1% force decrease between the first and twelfth MVC repetitions, there were no significant main or interaction effects for fatigue index force. Conclusion a-tDCS may be ineffective at increasing maximal force or endurance and instead may be detrimental to quadriceps force production.
Solitary wave behavior of (2+1)-dimensional Chaffee-Infante equation

The behavior of gas diffusion in a homogeneous medium is described by the (2+1)-dimensional Chaffee-Infante equation. In this work, the solitary wave behavior of the (2+1)-dimensional Chaffee-Infante equation is studied with the help of extended sinh-Gordon equation expansion technique. Bright, dark, periodic, kink, anti-kink and singular traveling wave patterns are observed for suitable choice of parameters. The 3D graphs, 2D plots and contour plots are included to understand the dynamics of the obtained solutions. The obtained results depict that the extended sinh-Gordon equation expansion technique provides an efficient tool for solving other equations that occur in different branches of science and technology.
Alpha-Alfven local dispersion relation and solutions

The local dispersion relation for shear and kinetic Alfven waves is derived for arbitrary alpha particle distribution functions and analyzed for a set of representative distribution functions. Including both the velocity dependence of magnetic drift and temperature gradients is found to have the most striking effect on the partial growth rate associated with alpha particles for shear Alfven waves. Parallel electric field effects are included and found to make significant changes in the damping associated with electrons and ions. The formalism parallels that used in reduced magnetohydrodynamics, so that it can be readily extended to calculations incorporating more detailed and realistic equilibrium geometry.
Mechanistic analysis of endothelial lipase G promotion of the occurrence and development of cervical carcinoma by activating the phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase/protein kinase B/mechanistic target of rapamycin kinase signalling pathway

Abstract Lipase G, endothelial type (LIPG) is expressed abundantly in tissues with a high metabolic rate and vascularisation. Research on LIPG has focussed on metabolic syndromes. However, the role of LIPG in providing lipid precursors suggests that it might function in the metabolism of carcinoma cells. Analysis in The Cancer Genome Atlas indicated that patients with cervical carcinoma with high LIPG expression had a lower survival prognosis compared with patients with low LIPG expression. The mechanism underlying the effects of LIPG in cervical carcinoma is unclear. The present study aimed to determine the role of LIPG in cervical carcinoma and its mechanism. The results showed that the LIPG expression level was higher in cervical cancer. Downregulation of LIPG expression inhibited cell migration, invasion, proliferation, and the formation of cell colonies, but increased the rate of apoptosis. The Human papillomavirus E6 protein might reduce the expression of miR-148a-3p, relieve the inhibitory effect of miR-148a-3p on LIPG expression, and promote the progression of cervical cancer through the phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase/protein kinase B/mechanistic target of rapamycin kinase signalling pathway. IMPACT STATEMENT What is already known on this subject? LIPG provides lipid precursors, suggesting that it might function in the metabolism of carcinoma cells What do the results of this study add? LIPG might be regulated by HPV16 E6/miR-148a-3p and promote cervical carcinoma progression via the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signalling pathway. What are the implications of these finding for clinical practice and/or further research? The results indicated that novel treatment and diagnosis strategies for cervical carcinoma could be developed related to LIPG. However, the detailed relationship between LIPG and cervical carcinoma remains to be fully determined.
A double-switch pHLIP system enables selective enrichment of circulating tumor microenvironment-derived extracellular vesicles

Significance Circulating tumor environment-derived extracellular vesicles (cTME-EVs) are a small portion of EVs in blood co-existing with those derived from other tissues; the accurate identification of cTME-EVs could facilitate both fundamental research and clinical liquid biopsy of cancer. In this work, we report the double-switch pH-low insertion peptide (D-S pHLIP) system, which allows selective enrichment of cTME-EVs from blood serum for comprehensive transcriptomic analysis. Plentiful differentially expressed genes and hub genes were identified, demonstrating the high performance of this technology. This work contributes to the design of pHLIP variants for specific functions and the discovery of tumor diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets.
Pharmacokinetics of small hyperbranched polyglycerols as an osmotic agent for peritoneal dialysis: Plasma exposure, organ distribution and excretion in rats

Background: Small hyperbranched polyglycerol (HPG) has been recently of interest for peritoneal dialysis, but its pharmacokinetics is barely understood. This study investigated the absorption, distribution and excretion of 1 and 3 kDa HPG. Methods: Rats (naive, 5/6 nephrectomy (5/6 Nx) or bilateral nephrectomy (BNx)) received a single dose of 3H-labelled HPG-containing solutions intraperitoneally (IP) or intravenously (IV). Radioactivity in tissues, urine and faeces was counted using a scintillation counter. Pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated using WinNonlin software. Results: During 8-h dwell with IP injected therapeutic dose of HPG-based hypertonic solutions, the plasma levels of 1 kDa HPG reached the peak at 2 h, followed by a decrease to the end, whereas 3 kDa HPG increased for the duration of the 8 h. At the experimental endpoint, the distribution of both sizes of HPG in major organs was minimal, whereas most of 1 kDa HPG was excreted via urine, and of 3 kDa remained in peritoneal cavity. The elimination of both 1 and 3 kDa HPG after either IP or IV administration was significantly delayed by 5/6 Nx or BNx as compared to naive controls. Further, 24-h faecal excretion of HPG (3 kDa) was <5% of injected dose that was not different between healthy and BNx rats. Conclusion: Data suggest size-dependent peritoneal absorption of osmotic HPG that are not specifically absorbed by any of the organs tested. The clearance of small HPG mainly depends on kidney excretion, implying the risk of HPG accumulation in patients with end-stage kidney disease who receive maintenance dialysis with HPG.
A Unique Role for Protocadherin γC3 in Promoting Dendrite Arborization through an Axin1-Dependent Mechanism

The establishment of a functional cerebral cortex depends on the proper execution of multiple developmental steps, culminating in dendritic and axonal outgrowth and the formation and maturation of synaptic connections. Dysregulation of these processes can result in improper neuronal connectivity, including that associated with various neurodevelopmental disorders. The γ-Protocadherins (γ-Pcdhs), a family of 22 distinct cell adhesion molecules that share a C-terminal cytoplasmic domain, are involved in multiple aspects of neurodevelopment including neuronal survival, dendrite arborization, and synapse development. The extent to which individual γ-Pcdh family members play unique versus common roles remains unclear. We demonstrated previously that the γ-Pcdh-C3 isoform (γC3), via its unique “variable” cytoplasmic domain (VCD), interacts in cultured cells with Axin1, a Wnt-pathway scaffold protein that regulates the differentiation and morphology of neurons. Here, we confirm that γC3 and Axin1 interact in the cortex in vivo and show that both male and female mice specifically lacking γC3 exhibit disrupted Axin1 localization to synaptic fractions, without obvious changes in dendritic spine density or morphology. However, both male and female γC3 knock-out mice exhibit severely decreased dendritic complexity of cortical pyramidal neurons that is not observed in mouse lines lacking several other γ-Pcdh isoforms. Combining knock-out with rescue constructs in cultured cortical neurons pooled from both male and female mice, we show that γC3 promotes dendritic arborization through an Axin1-dependent mechanism mediated through its VCD. Together, these data identify a novel mechanism through which γC3 uniquely regulates the formation of cortical circuitry. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The complexity of a neuron's dendritic arbor is critical for its function. We showed previously that the γ-Protocadherin (γ-Pcdh) family of 22 cell adhesion molecules promotes arborization during development; it remained unclear whether individual family members played unique roles. Here, we show that one γ-Pcdh isoform, γC3, interacts in the brain with Axin1, a scaffolding protein known to influence dendrite development. A CRISPR/Cas9-generated mutant mouse line lacking γC3 (but not lines lacking other γ-Pcdhs) exhibits severely reduced dendritic complexity of cerebral cortex neurons. Using cultured γC3 knock-out neurons and a variety of rescue constructs, we confirm that the γC3 cytoplasmic domain promotes arborization through an Axin1-dependent mechanism. Thus, γ-Pcdh isoforms are not interchangeable, but rather can play unique neurodevelopmental roles.
Odor encoding by signals in the olfactory bulb.

To understand the operation of the olfactory system, it is essential to know how information is encoded in the olfactory bulb. We applied Shannon information theoretic methods to address this, with signals from up to 57 simultaneously optically imaged from pre-synaptic inputs in glomeruli in the mouse dorsal and lateral olfactory bulb, in response to six exemplar pure chemical odors. We discovered that, first, the tuning of these signals from glomeruli to a set of odors is remarkably broad with a mean sparseness of 0.83 and a mean signal correlation 0.64. Second, both of these factors contribute to the low information that is available from the responses of even populations of many tens of glomeruli, which was only 1.35 bits across 33 glomeruli on average, compared to the 2.58 bits required to perfectly encode these six odors. Third, although there is considerable interest in the possibility of temporal encoding of stimulus including odor identity, the amount of information in the temporal aspects of the pre-synaptic glomerular responses was low (mean 0.11 bits), and, importantly, was redundant with respect to the information available from the rates. Fourth, the information from simultaneously recorded glomeruli asymptotes very gradually and non-linearly, showing that glomeruli do not have independent responses. Fifth, the information from a population became available quite rapidly, within 100 ms of sniff onset, and the peak of the glomerular response was at 200 ms. Sixth, the information from the lateral olfactory bulb was not additive with that of the dorsal olfactory bulb.
Effectiveness of electrotherapy for the treatment of orofacial pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective Summarize the evidence from randomized controlled trials and controlled trials that examined the effectiveness of electrotherapy in the treatment of patients with orofacial pain. Data Source Medline, Embase, CINAHL PLUS with Full text, Cochrane Library Trials, Web of Science, and Scopus. Review Methods A data search (last update, July 1, 2022) and a manual search were performed (October 5, 2022). Trials involving adults with orofacial pain receiving electrotherapy compared with any other type of treatment were included. The main outcome was pain intensity; secondary outcomes were mouth opening and tenderness. The reporting was based on the new PRISMA Guidelines. Results From the electronics databases and manual search 43 studies were included. Although this study was open to including any type of orofacial pain, only studies that investigated temporomandibular disorders were found. The overall quality of the evidence for pain intensity was very low. Although the results should be carefully used, transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation therapy showed to be clinically superior to placebo for reducing pain after treatment (2.63 [−0.48; 5.74]) and at follow-up (0.96 [−0.02; 1.95]) and reduce tenderness after treatment (1.99 [−0.33; 4.32]) and at follow-up (2.43 [−0.24; 5.10]) in subjects with mixed temporomandibular disorders. Conclusion The results of this systematic review support the use of transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation therapy for patients with mixed temporomandibular disorders to improve pain intensity, and tenderness demonstrating that transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation is superior to placebo. There is inconsistent evidence supporting the superiority of transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation against other therapies.
Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm with Random Perturbation around Convergence Center

A new modified strategy is proposed based on the analysis of convergence of particle swarm optimization (PSO). Each particle is manipulated by its convergence center, and then randomly perturbed around it. Some mutation operators are used to retain diversity of population and avoid being plunged to local optimum. Moreover, theoretical analysis has been made to prove that it can more easily converge to the global optimum. Experiment results show that it is superior to basic particle swarm optimization in quality and efficiency.
Multilevel fast multipole method for large-surface and subsurface targets

The multi-level fast multipole algorithm (MLFMA) is applied to the problem of scattering from surface and subsurface targets. In this paper we demonstrate how the MLFMA is modified to handle the half-space problem, and present example results for several scattering problems of interest. In particular, we present results for scattering from buried unexploded ordnance.
Direct adaptive output-feedback fuzzy controller for a nonaffine nonlinear system

A direct adaptive output-feedback controller for highly nonlinear systems is proposed by considering uncertain or ill-defined nonaffine nonlinear systems and employing a static fuzzy logic system (FLS) with flexible structure, i.e. online variation of the number of fuzzy rules. A linear error observer whose dynamic order is the same as that of the controlled system is employed and the FLS approximates and adaptively cancels an unknown plant nonlinearity using the observed state variables. A control law and adaptive laws for unknown fuzzy parameters and bounding constant are established so that the whole closed-loop system is stable in the sense of Lyapunov. The state observation error and tracking error are guaranteed to be uniformly ultimately bounded. No a priori knowledge of an upper bound on a lumped uncertainty is required.