Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reduced insula habituation associated with amplification of trigeminal brainstem input in migraine

Background Impaired sensory processing in migraine can reflect diminished habituation, increased activation, or even increased gain or amplification of activity from the primary synapse in the brainstem to higher cortical/subcortical brain regions. Methods We scanned 16 episodic migraine (interictal) and 16 healthy controls (cross-sectional study), and evaluated brain response to innocuous air-puff stimulation over the right forehead in the ophthalmic nerve (V1) trigeminal territory. We further evaluated habituation, and cortical/subcortical amplification relative to spinal trigeminal nucleus (Sp5) activation. Results Migraine subjects showed greater amplification from Sp5 to the posterior insula and hypothalamus. In addition, while controls showed habituation to repetitive sensory stimulation in all activated cortical regions (e.g. the bilateral posterior insula and secondary somatosensory cortices), for migraine subjects, habituation was not found in the posterior insula. Moreover, in migraine, the habituation slope was correlated with the amplification ratio in the posterior insula and secondary somatosensory cortex, i.e. greater amplification was associated with reduced habituation in these regions. Conclusions These findings suggest that in episodic migraine, amplified information processing from spinal trigeminal relay nuclei is linked to an impaired habituation response. This phenomenon was localized in the posterior insula, highlighting the important role of this structure in mechanisms supporting altered sensory processing in episodic migraine.
Duration of Lactation and Maternal Adipokines at 3 Years Postpartum

OBJECTIVE Lactation has been associated with reduced maternal risk of type 2 diabetes, the metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease. We examined the relationship between breastfeeding duration and maternal adipokines at 3 years postpartum. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We used linear regression to relate the duration of lactation to maternal leptin, adiponectin, ghrelin, and peptide YY (PYY) at 3 years postpartum among 570 participants with 3-year postpartum blood samples (178 fasting), prospectively collected lactation history, and no intervening pregnancy in Project Viva, a cohort study of mothers and children. RESULTS A total of 88% of mothers had initiated breastfeeding, 26% had breastfed ≥12 months, and 42% had exclusively breastfed for ≥3 months. In multivariate analyses, we found that duration of total breastfeeding was directly related to PYY and ghrelin, and exclusive breastfeeding duration was directly related to ghrelin (predicted mean for never exclusively breastfeeding: 790.6 pg/mL vs. ≥6 months of exclusive breastfeeding: 1,008.1 pg/mL; P < 0.01) at 3 years postpartum, adjusting for pregravid BMI, gestational weight gain, family history of diabetes, parity, smoking status, and age. We found a nonlinear pattern of association between exclusive breastfeeding duration and adiponectin in multivariate-adjusted models. CONCLUSIONS In this prospective cohort study, we found a direct relationship between the duration of lactation and both ghrelin and PYY at 3 years postpartum.
The American Male and Female 35 Years Later: Bem Sex Role Inventory Revisited

This study reassessed the profiles of traits associated with stereotypic males and females in 20092010 35 years after the Bern (1974) Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) was introduced. Qualitative changes could have.resu! ted fr0m other cultural trends toward occ_upa ·on(\l and educati.o. oal equality or gr0wing publio awareness of the nattrre of ·ender roie . T e adjective$ appearing: l'n the BSRI which produce! ; a measure of androgyny, were rakd as stereotypically male, female, or neull'a'l by 1075 undergradua.tes. Chi-square te-sts, whio assigned adject' ves to ge dcr~, indicated that most o£the trai ts form rly ~sociated v~db males ate now considered neutral. The characteristic ' 'childJike," which formerly characterized women, now characterizes men. The female's S1lereot,ype was mostly unchang~d althoqgh "thea:trical'' appea. ;rs l:o be added to their repertoire. There w11s little disagreement between ilie gendets n'the assignment of adjectives to stereotypes. Implications for the identity of American males are discussed.
CHEMICAL REACTION EFFECTS ON UNSTEADY MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC FREE CONVECTIVE FLOW IN A ROTATING POROUS MEDIUM WITH MASS TRANSFER

An investigation of unsteady magnetohydrodynamic free convective flow and mass transfer during the motion of a viscous incompressible fluid through a porous medium, bounded by an infinite vertical porous surface, in a rotating system is presented. The porous plane surface and the porous medium are assumed to rotate in a solid body rotation. The vertical surface is subjected to uniform constant suction perpendicular to it and the temperature at this surface fluctuates in time about a non-zero constant mean. Analytical expressions for the velocity, temperature and concentration fields are obtained using the perturbation technique. The effects of rotation parameter, permeability parameter, Hartmann number, and frequency parameter on the flow characteristics are discussed. It is observed that the primary velocity component decreases with the increase in either of the rotation parameter, the permeability parameter, or the Hartmann number. It is also noted that the primary skin friction increases whenever there is an increase in the Grashof number or the modified Grashof number. It is clear that the heat transfer coefficient in terms of the Nusselt number decreases in the case of both air and water when there is an increase in the Hartmann number. It is observed that the magnitude of the secondary velocity profiles increases whenever there is an increase in either of the Grashof number or the modified Grashof number for mass transfer or the permeability of the porous media. Concentration profiles decreases with an increase in the Schmidt number.
Normal values of echocardiographic parameters in relation to age in a healthy Japanese population: the JAMP study.

BACKGROUND Normal values for echocardiographic measurements and the relationship between these parameters and age in a large Japanese population are still unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS A total of 700 healthy Japanese aged 20-79 years underwent 2-dimensional and Doppler echocardiography at collaborating institutions. The respective mean values obtained in men and women were as follows: septal wall thickness, 0.9+/-0.1 and 0.8+/-0.1 cm; posterior wall thickness, 0.9+/-0.1 and 0.8+/-0.1 cm; left ventricular (LV) diastolic diameter, 4.8+/-0.4 and 4.4+/-0.3 cm; LV systolic diameter, 3.0+/-0.4 and 2.8+/-0.3 cm; LV diastolic volume, 93+/-20 and 74+/-17 ml; LV systolic volume, 33+/-20 and 25+/-7 ml; LV ejection fraction, 64+/-5 and 66+/-5%; maximum left atrial (LA) volume, 42+/-14 and 38+/-12 ml. Aortic root diameter, LV wall thickness, and LV mass slightly increased with age, whereas indexed LA volume did not vary with age. Diastolic parameters assessed by mitral inflow and mitral annular velocities declined with age, as previously reported. CONCLUSIONS Normal values of echocardiographic measurements in a large Japanese population are reported for the first time; several systolic and diastolic parameters varied with age. These results provide important reference values that should be useful in routine clinical practice as well as in clinical trials.
Improvement of robot accuracy by calibrating kinematic model using a laser tracking system-compensation of non-geometric errors using neural networks and selection of optimal measuring points using genetic algorithm-

A laser tracking system is employed for measuring robot arm's tip with high accuracy. Geometric parameters in a robot kinematic model are calibrated by minimizing errors between measured positions and predicted ones based on the model. Residual errors caused by non-geometric parameters are further reduced by using neural networks, realizing high positioning accuracy of sub-millimeter order. To speed up the calibration process, the smaller number of measuring points is preferable. Optimal measuring points, which realize high positioning accuracy with small point number, are selected using genetic algorithm (GA).
The simultaneous evolution of growth and inequality

Research on inequality and growth can be divided into two strands. One, deriving from Kuznets and Lewis, has tried to identify a mechanistic relationship between growth, or level, of income and inequality. The other has tried to find causal explanations of growth and inequality, treating each independently. In this paper, we draw from both strands to test whether growth and inequality are the joint outcomes of other variables and processes. We find that simultaneous examination of growth and inequality yields significantly different results and has different consequences for policy from previous independent studies. Copyright 2003 Royal Economic Society.
Interactive Genotypic Influence of Durum Wheat and Aegilops tauschii on their Crossability and Fertility of Synthetic Amphiploids

Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L., AABBDD) is an allohexaploid (AABBDD, 2n=6x=42) originated from hybridization which occurred about 8000 years BC between a cultivated tetraploid wheat (T. turgidum L.; AABB, 2n=4x=28) and the wild goat grass Aegilops tauschii (DD, 2n=2x=14). In order to synthesize bread wheat, crosses were carried out between seven genotypes of durum wheat and 13 ecotypes of A. tauschii of various origins. The production of synthetic hybrids was made with and without the implementation of embryo rescue technique. Four genotypes of durum wheat, carrying genes for the production of unreduced gametes, produced partially fertile hybrids after their cross with the ecotypes of A. tauschii. The percentage of grain germination harvested from these hybrids varied between 22.2 and 65.2%. Growth abnormalities were observed on hybrid plants. The barriers of incompatibility between the two species were manifested by leaf chlorosis and lethal necrosis on hybrid plants. © 2018 Friends Science Publishers
Effect of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on washout time of sevoflurane anesthesia : a placebo controlled randomized trial

Background: Respiratory functions and gas exchange deteriorates in patients with COPD. In our study, we aimed to investigate if there is any relationship between the washout time of sevoflurane and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Method: Sixty patients, American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) 1-3 status; aged between 18-60 years old who underwent general anesthesia for an operation were enrolled in our study. Patients were divided into two groups: Group N (non-COPD n = 33), group COPD (patients with COPD, n = 33). Two patients were excluded from the study, a total of 31 patients in Group COPD. Pre-operative respiratory function tests were performed and standard monitoring was provided in the operation room. Both groups received propofol 2 mg/kg, fentanyl 1.5-2 mcg/kg and rocuronium 0.6 mg/kg intravenously, and an oxygen-air mixture of 50%/50% with a tidal volume of 6 ml/kg (ideal body weight) and sevoflurane of 1 MAC. Remifentanil was administered at 0.05-0.1 mcg/ kg/min intravenously in the maintenance of anesthesia. All patients were monitored by an anesthesia machine until extubation. A sevoflurane vaporizer was closed at the end of the operation and the measurement time was started. FiO2, Fiins, Fiexp of sevorain, End-tidal CO2 were recorded during the operation and Fins (Sevo)/Fexp (Sevo) ratio, MAC1, MAC2, MAC3, MAC4, extubation times were recorded. Fiins1: percentage of sevorain filiation in inspirium before closing 1 MAC vaporizer. Fiexp1: percentage of sevorain filiation in expirium before closing 1 MAC vaporizer. Fiins2: percentage of sevorain filiation in inspirium after closing 0.1 MAC vaporizer. Fiexp2: percentage of sevorain filiation in expirium after closing 0.1 MAC vaporizer. Results: There was no significant relationship between the respiratory function tests of individuals with or without COPD and MAC1, MAC2, MAC3, MAC4 and extubation time (P > 0.05). The cut-off criterion for MAC4 was determined to be 210 seconds. Conclusion: Although there was no difference between the washout and extubation times of both groups, increased BMI and decreased intraoperative hemoglobin values should be carefully considered during anesthetic management in the COPD group.
Relationships of Polychlorinated Biphenyls and Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p’-DDE) with Testosterone Levels in Adolescent Males

Background: Concern persists over endocrine-disrupting effects of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) on human growth and sexual maturation. Potential effects of toxicant exposures on testosterone levels during puberty are not well characterized. Objectives: In this study we evaluated the relationship between toxicants [polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p´-DDE), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), and lead] and testosterone levels among 127 Akwesasne Mohawk males 10 to < 17 years of age with documented toxicant exposures. Methods: Data were collected between February 1996 and January 2000. Fasting blood specimens were collected before breakfast by trained Akwesasne Mohawk staff. Multivariable regression models were used to estimates associations between toxicants and serum testosterone, adjusted for other toxicants, Tanner stage, and potential confounders. Results: The sum of 16 PCB congeners (Σ16PCBs) that were detected in ≥ 50% of the population was significantly and negatively associated with serum testosterone levels, such that a 10% change in exposure was associated with a 5.6% decrease in testosterone (95% CI: –10.8, –0.5%). Of the 16 congeners, the more persistent ones (Σ8PerPCBs) were related to testosterone, whereas the less persistent ones, possibly reflecting more recent exposure, were not. When PCB congeners were subgrouped, the association was significant for the sum of eight more persistent PCBs (5.7% decrease; 95% CI: –11, –0.4%), and stronger than the sum of six less persistent congeners (3.1% decrease; 95% CI: –7.2, 0.9%). p,p´-DDE was positively but not significantly associated with serum testosterone (5.2% increase with a 10% increase in exposure; 95% CI: –0.5, 10.9%). Neither lead nor HCB was significantly associated with testosterone levels. Conclusions: Exposure to PCBs, particularly the more highly persistent congeners, may negatively influence testosterone levels among adolescent males. The positive relationship between p,p´-DDE and testosterone indicates that not all POPs act similarly. Citation: Schell LM, Gallo MV, Deane GD, Nelder KR, DeCaprio AP, Jacobs A; Akwesasne Task Force on the Environment. 2014. Relationships of polychlorinated biphenyls and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p´-DDE) with testosterone levels in adolescent males. Environ Health Perspect 122:304–309; http://dx.doi. org/10.1289/ehp.1205984
Age progression in Human Faces : A Survey

Facial aging, a new dimension that has recently been added to the problem of face recognition, poses interesting theoretical and practical challenges to the research community. The problem which originally generated interest in the psychophysics and human perception community, has recently found enhanced interest in the computer vision community. How do humans perceive age ? What constitutes an age-invariant signature that can be derived from faces ? How compactly can the facial growth event be described ? How does facial aging impact recognition performance ? In this paper, we give a thorough analysis on the problem of facial aging and further provide a complete account of the many interesting studies that have been performed on this topic from different fields. We offer a comparative analysis of various approaches that have been proposed for problems such as age estimation, appearance prediction, face verification etc. and offer insights into future research on this topic. 1
Intestinal alkaline phosphatase activity as a molecular marker of enterotoxicity induced by single dose of 5-fluorouracil and protective role of orally administered glutamine

Background. One of the critical limitations for the administration of the chemotherapy is the toxicity affecting normal tissue. The main target organs for 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) toxicity in humans and experimental animals are the gastrointestinal tract, bone marrow, and skin. The cytotoxic effects of antimetabolite chemotherapy are based on their role as substrates for the same transport processes and enzymes involved in anabolism and catabolism as the natural substrates. The main goal of our study was to analyze the dose-dependent antiproliferative effects of 5-FU on intestinal mucosa, enterotoxic potential of 5-FU in experimental animals and to test possible protective role of glutamine. Methods. In our study, we used Sprague Dawley rats. The control group of rats included 50 animals, while the groups where either 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) alone or 5-FU and glutamine were administered included 200 animals. All experimental animals were further stratified according to the experimental model (25 animals in each of 8 experimental subgroups of animals). The 5-FU was administered by intraperitoneal application in single dose of 0, 100, 200, 300, and 400 mg of 5-FU per kg of body weight. Water solution of 1% glutamine was prepared daily and administered orally, in volume of 200 ml, for 7 days continuously, after the 7th day of 5-FU administration. Experimental animals were sacrificed 7 days after the administration of 5-FU. The isolation of enterocytes was performed according to the method of Kralovansky et al. In cell homogenate obtained by described method, we determined the protein content using the Biuret method and the DNA content using the Burton reagent. The activities of enzymes alkaline phosphatase (ALP), glutathione S-transferase (GST), glutathione reductase (GR), and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) were determined by kinetic method. All paraffin samples of the small intestine were stained by haematoxiline and eosine(HE method). All the experiments were done in duplicate and analyzed by standard statistical methods. All the experiments were done in duplicate and analyzed by standard statistical methods. Results: Our results of enterotoxicity induced by intraperitonealy administered 5-FU showed statistically significant decrease of DNA content in small intestine samples of experimental animals, decrease in activity of intestinal alkaline phosphatase enzyme and the increase in glutathione-dependent enzymes. The glutamine supplementation reduced 5-FU intestinal toxicity. Conclusion: Intestinal alkaline phosphatase is a good marker of the dose-dependent enterotoxicity induced by 5-fluorouracil.
PDSM: Pregel-Based Distributed Subgraph Matching on Large Scale RDF Graphs

This paper presents a novel Pregel-based Distributed Subgraph Matching method PDSM to answer subgraph matching queries on big RDF graphs. In our method, the query graph is transformed to a spanning tree based on the breadth-first search (BFS). Two optimization techniques are proposed to filter out part of the unpromising intermediate results and postpone the Cartesian product operations in the Pregel iterative computation. The extensive experiments on both synthetic and real-world datasets show that PDSM outperforms the state-of-the-art methods by an order of magnitude.
ASTX660, a Novel Non-peptidomimetic Antagonist of cIAP1/2 and XIAP, Potently Induces TNFα-Dependent Apoptosis in Cancer Cell Lines and Inhibits Tumor Growth

Because of their roles in the evasion of apoptosis, inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAP) are considered attractive targets for anticancer therapy. Antagonists of these proteins have the potential to switch prosurvival signaling pathways in cancer cells toward cell death. Various SMAC-peptidomimetics with inherent cIAP selectivity have been tested clinically and demonstrated minimal single-agent efficacy. ASTX660 is a potent, non-peptidomimetic antagonist of cIAP1/2 and XIAP, discovered using fragment-based drug design. The antagonism of XIAP and cIAP1 by ASTX660 was demonstrated on purified proteins, cells, and in vivo in xenograft models. The compound binds to the isolated BIR3 domains of both XIAP and cIAP1 with nanomolar potencies. In cells and xenograft tissue, direct antagonism of XIAP was demonstrated by measuring its displacement from caspase-9 or SMAC. Compound-induced proteasomal degradation of cIAP1 and 2, resulting in downstream effects of NIK stabilization and activation of noncanonical NF-κB signaling, demonstrated cIAP1/2 antagonism. Treatment with ASTX660 led to TNFα-dependent induction of apoptosis in various cancer cell lines in vitro, whereas dosing in mice bearing breast and melanoma tumor xenografts inhibited tumor growth. ASTX660 is currently being tested in a phase I–II clinical trial (NCT02503423), and we propose that its antagonism of cIAP1/2 and XIAP may offer improved efficacy over first-generation antagonists that are more cIAP1/2 selective. Mol Cancer Ther; 17(7); 1381–91. ©2018 AACR.
Generation of germ cells from pluripotent stem cells in mammals

The germ cell lineage transmits genetic and epigenetic information to the next generation. Primordial germ cells (PGCs), the early embryonic precursors of sperm or eggs, have been studied extensively. Recently, in vitro models of PGC induction have been established in the mouse. Many attempts are reported to enhance our understanding of PGC development in other mammals, including human.
MMM: May I Mine Your Mind

Consider the following set-up for the plot of a possible future episode of the TV series Black Mirror: human brains can be connected directly to the net and MiningMind Inc. has developed a technology that merges a reward system with a cryptojacking engine that uses the human brain to mine cryptocurrency (or to carry out some other mining activity). Part of our brain will be committed to cryptographic calculations (mining), leaving the remaining part untouched for everyday operations, i.e., for our brain's normal daily activity. In this short paper, we briefly argue why this set-up might not be so far fetched after all, and explore the impact that such a technology could have on our lives and our society.
Communication-aware allocation and scheduling framework for stream-oriented multi-processor systems-on-chip

This paper proposes a complete allocation and scheduling framework, where an MPSoC virtual platform is used to accurately derive input parameters, validate abstract models of system components and assess constraint satisfaction and objective function optimization. The optimizer implements an efficient and exact approach to allocation and scheduling based on problem decomposition. The allocation subproblem is solved through integer programming while the scheduling one through constraint programming. The two solvers can interact by means of no-good generation, thus building an iterative procedure which has been proven to converge to the optimal solution. Experimental results show significant speedups w.r. t. pure IP and CP exact solution strategies as well as high accuracy with respect to cycle accurate functional simulation. A case study further demonstrates the practical viability of our framework for real-life systems and applications