Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitor treatment stimulates β-cell survival and islet neogenesis in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

Recent studies into the physiology of the incretins glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) have added stimulation of β-cell growth, differentiation, and cell survival to well-documented, potent insulinotropic effects. Unfortunately, the therapeutic potential of these hormones is limited by their rapid enzymatic inactivation in vivo by dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DP IV). Inhibition of DP IV, so as to enhance circulating incretin levels, has proved effective in the treatment of type 2 diabetes both in humans and in animal models, stimulating improvements in glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, and β-cell function. We hypothesized that enhancement of the cytoprotective and β-cell regenerative effects of GIP and GLP-1 might extend the therapeutic potential of DP IV inhibitors to include type 1 diabetes. For testing this hypothesis, male Wistar rats, exposed to a single dose of streptozotocin (STZ; 50 mg/kg), were treated twice daily with the DP IV inhibitor P32/98 for 7 weeks. Relative to STZ-injected controls, P32/98-treated animals displayed increased weight gain (230%) and nutrient intake, decreased fed blood glucose (∼26 vs. ∼20 mmol/l, respectively), and a return of plasma insulin values toward normal (0.07 vs. 0.12 nmol/l, respectively). Marked improvements in oral glucose tolerance, suggesting enhanced insulin secretory capacity, were corroborated by pancreas perfusion and insulin content measurements that revealed two- to eightfold increases in both secretory function and insulin content after 7 weeks of treatment. Immunohistochemical analyses of pancreatic sections showed marked increases in the number of small islets (+35%) and total β-cells (+120%) and in the islet β-cell fraction (12% control vs. 24% treated) in the treated animals, suggesting that DP IV inhibitor treatment enhanced islet neogenesis, β-cell survival, and insulin biosynthesis. In vitro studies using a β-(INS-1) cell line showed a dose-dependent prevention of STZ-induced apoptotic cell-death by both GIP and GLP-1, supporting a role for the incretins in eliciting the in vivo results. These novel findings provide evidence to support the potential utility of DP IV inhibitors in the treatment of type 1 and possibly late-stage type 2 diabetes.
Monitoring available bandwidth in overlay networks using local information exchange

Available bandwidth, along with latency and packet loss ratio, is an essential metric for efficient operation of overlay network applications. However, the measurement of available bandwidth requires a larger amount of probe traffic than other metrics. Furthermore, measurement conflict between paths with overlapping routes can seriously degrade measurement accuracy and cause a non-negligible increase in the network load. In this paper, we propose a distributed method for measuring available bandwidth in overlay networks that can reduce measurement conflicts while maintaining high measurement accuracy at low cost. The main idea is that neighboring overlay nodes exchange route information to detect overlapping paths and share the measurement results of overlapping paths to configure parameter settings for measuring available bandwidth. Simulation results indicate that the relative errors from measurements using the proposed method are only approximately 65% those of an existing method.
Treatment-resistant bipolar depression: a STEP-BD equipoise randomized effectiveness trial of antidepressant augmentation with lamotrigine, inositol, or risperidone.

OBJECTIVE Clinicians have few evidence-based options for the management of treatment-resistant bipolar depression. This study represents the first randomized trial of competing options for treatment-resistant bipolar depression and assesses the effectiveness and safety of antidepressant augmentation with lamotrigine, inositol, and risperidone. METHOD Participants (N=66) were patients with bipolar I or bipolar II disorder enrolled in the NIMH Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for Bipolar Disorder (STEP-BD). All patients were in a current major depressive episode that was nonresponsive to a combination of adequate doses of established mood stabilizers plus at least one antidepressant. Patients were randomly assigned to open-label adjunctive treatment with lamotrigine, inositol, or risperidone for up to 16 weeks. The primary outcome measure was the rate of recovery, defined as no more than two symptoms meeting DSM-IV threshold criteria for a mood episode and no significant symptoms present for 8 weeks. RESULTS No significant between-group differences were seen when any pair of treatments were compared on the primary outcome measure. However, the recovery rate with lamotrigine was 23.8%, whereas the recovery rates with inositol and risperidone were 17.4% and 4.6%, respectively. Patients receiving lamotrigine had lower depression ratings and Clinical Global Impression severity scores as well as greater Global Assessment of Functioning scores compared with those receiving inositol and risperidone. CONCLUSIONS No differences were found in primary pairwise comparison analyses of open-label augmentation with lamotrigine, inositol, or risperidone. Post hoc secondary analyses suggest that lamotrigine may be superior to inositol and risperidone in improving treatment-resistant bipolar depression.
Routing internal traffic in multiple gateway Wireless Mesh Networks

Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) are primarily viewed as access networks, with traffic flowing in and out of the mesh via gateways. However, in many scenarios, point-to-point (P2P) traffic within the WMN is also important, with the approach used to handle this traffic affecting the performance of not only the P2P flows, but all other traffic as well. This work studies the handling of P2P traffic in the presence of multiple gateways and gateway-centric traffic. Through extensive simulations, the relationships between the two traffic types are studied. The need to route P2P traffic appropriately is illustrated, motivating the creation of the Peer-to-Peer Aware Wireless Mesh Protocol (PAWMP), an extension of existing mesh routing, that determines the strategy to be used.
Eigenvalue solution of thermoelastic instability problems using Fourier reduction

A finite–element method is developed for determining the critical sliding speed for thermoelastic instability of an axisymmetric clutch or brake. Linear perturbations on the constant–speed solution are sought that vary sinusoidally in the circumferential direction and grow exponentially in time. These factors cancel in the governing thermoelastic and heat–conduction equations, leading to a linear eigenvalue problem on the two–dimensional cross–sectional domain for the exponential growth rate for each Fourier wavenumber. The imaginary part of this growth rate corresponds to a migration of the perturbation in the circumferential direction. The algorithm is tested against an analytical solution for a layer sliding between two half–planes and gives excellent agreement, for both the critical speed and the migration speed. Criteria are developed to determine the mesh refinement required to give an adequate discrete description of the thermal boundary layer adjacent to the sliding interface. The method is then used to determine the unstable mode and critical speed in geometries approximating current multi–disc clutch practice.
A trinucleotide repeat-associated increase in the level of Alu RNA-binding protein occurred during the same period as the major Alu amplification that accompanied anthropoid evolution

Nearly 1 million Alu elements in human DNA were inserted by an RNA-mediated retroposition-amplification process that clearly decelerated about 30 million years ago. Since then, Alu sequences have proliferated at a lower rate, including within the human genome, in which Alu mobility continues to generate genetic variability. Initially derived from 7SL RNA of the signal recognition particle (SRP), Alu became a dominant retroposon while retaining secondary structures found in 7SL RNA. We previously identified a human Alu RNA-binding protein as a homolog of the 14-kDa Alu-specific protein of SRP and have shown that its expression is associated with accumulation of 3'-processed Alu RNA. Here, we show that in early anthropoids, the gene encoding SRP14 Alu RNA-binding protein was duplicated and that SRP14-homologous sequences currently reside on different human chromosomes. In anthropoids, the active SRP14 gene acquired a GCA trinucleotide repeat in its 3'-coding region that produces SRP14 polypeptides with extended C-terminal tails. A C-->G substitution in this region converted the mouse sequence CCA GCA to GCA GCA in prosimians, which presumably predisposed this locus to GCA expansion in anthropoids and provides a model for other triplet expansions. Moreover, the presence of the trinucleotide repeat in SRP14 DNA and the corresponding C-terminal tail in SRP14 are associated with a significant increase in SRP14 polypeptide and Alu RNA-binding activity. These genetic events occurred during the period in which an acceleration in Alu retroposition was followed by a sharp deceleration, suggesting that Alu repeats coevolved with C-terminal variants of SRP14 in higher primates.
Position Paper We Don ’ t Need No Stinkin ’ Calibration

Early work in augmented reality grew out of virtual reality research domains. These initial augmented reality systems applied the same methods and technology to solve what at first appeared to be a similar problem: correctly render a scene of virtual objects as the user changes viewpoint in the world. This is indeed similar for augmented and virtual reality systems. In virtual reality systems our sense of presence is primarily controlled by the degree to which the visual stimulus presented corresponds to our kinesthetic senses. Augmented reality systems have an additional performance constraint, that being, the correct registration between the user’s view of the real scene and the virtual objects augmenting it. It is a more difficult task to maintain a compelling sense of presence when there are discrepancies between these two visual stimuli.
BIOTECHNOLOGICALLY RELEVANT ENZYMES AND PROTEINS Reactive blue 19 decolouration by laccase immobilized on silica beads

Laccase (31.5 U of activity/g or 4.39 μg of protein/m) from Trametes versicolor was immobilized on controlled-porosity-carrier silica beads and evaluated for the decolouration of Reactive blue 19, an anthraquinone dye. Although there was an initial, rapid adsorption of the dye to the packed bed in a recirculating reactor, about 97.5% of Reactive blue 19 removal was due to enzymatic degradation. The free enzyme lost 52% of its activity in 48 h. However, the activity of the immobilized laccase was unchanged after 4 months of storage in phosphate buffer under ambient conditions followed by three successive decolourations over 120 h. Treating the laccase immobilized beads with ethanolamine reduced dye adsorption by 40%.
SpecVAT: Enhanced Visual Cluster Analysis

Given a pairwise dissimilarity matrix D of a set of objects, visual methods such as the VAT algorithm (for visual analysis of cluster tendency) represent (D macr )as an image (D macr ) where the objects are reordered to highlight cluster structure as dark blocks along the diagonal of the image. A major limitation of such visual methods is their inability to highlight cluster structure in 1(D macr ) when D contains clusters with highly complex structure. In this paper, we address this limitation by proposing a Spectral VAT (SpecVAT) algorithm, where D is mapped to D' in an embedding space by spectral decomposition of the Laplacian matrix, and then reordered to D' using the VAT algorithm. We also propose a strategy to automatically determine the number of clusters in (D macr '), as well as a method for cluster formation from (D macr ') based on the difference between diagonal blocks and off-diagonal blocks. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our algorithms on several synthetic and real-world data sets that are not amenable to analysis via traditional VAT.
Multidimensional characterization of fibrillatory wave amplitude on surface ECG to describe catheter ablation impact on persistent atrial fibrillation

Radiofrequency catheter ablation (CA) is increasingly employed to treat persistent atrial fibrillation (AF). Nevertheless, its success is not always guaranteed, as selection of patients who could positively respond to this therapy does not rely on systematic criteria and still remains an open issue. Moreover, very little is known about the quantitative effects of this treatment over AF electrophysiology, so their quantitative evaluation is not a trivial task. In this contribution, ablation impact is quantified by a descriptor of fibrillatory wave (f-wave) amplitude, so far regarded as a predictor of short-term CA outcome. By means of principal component analysis (PCA), surface electrocardiogram (ECG) spatial diversity is exploited and contributions from all leads are combined to describe average f-wave peak-to-peak amplitude, whose value is automatically computed by an algorithm based on cubic spline interpolation. Our work demonstrates how CA influences f-wave amplitude during the procedure as quantified by ECG inter-lead spatial variability. In addition, we show how such variations depend on procedural outcome and the duration of the postoperative blanking period.
armadillo, bazooka, and stardust are critical for early stages in formation of the zonula adherens and maintenance of the polarized blastoderm epithelium in Drosophila

Cellularization of the Drosophila embryo results in the formation of a cell monolayer with many characteristics of a polarized epithelium. We have used antibodies specific to cellular junctions and nascent plasma membranes to study the formation of the zonula adherens (ZA) in relation to the establishment of basolateral membrane polarity. The same approach was then used as a test system to identify X-linked zygotically active genes required for ZA formation. We show that ZA formation begins during cellularization and that the basolateral membrane domain is established at mid-gastrulation. By creating deficiencies for defined regions of the X chromosome, we have identified genes that are required for the formation of the ZA and the generation of basolateral membrane polarity. We show that embryos mutant for both stardust (sdt) and bazooka (baz) fail to form a ZA. In addition to the failure to establish the ZA, the formation of the monolayered epithelium is disrupted after cellularization, resulting in formation of a multilayered cell sheet by mid-gastrulation. SEM analysis of mutant embryos revealed a conversion of cells exhibiting epithelial characteristics into cells exhibiting mesenchymal characteristics. To investigate how mutations that affect an integral component of the ZA itself influence ZA formation, we examined embryos with reduced maternal and zygotic supply of wild-type Arm protein. These embryos, like embryos mutant for both sdt and baz, exhibit an early disruption of ZA formation. These results suggest that early stages in the assembly of the ZA are critical for the stability of the polarized blastoderm epithelium.
The Fate of Old Memories after Medial Temporal Lobe Damage

Damage to the hippocampal region and related medial temporal lobe structures (perirhinal, entorhinal, and parahippocampal cortices) impairs new learning (anterograde amnesia) as well as memory for information that was acquired before the damage occurred (retrograde amnesia). We assessed retrograde amnesia with the Autobiographical Memory Interview (AMI) and with a news events test in six patients with damage limited primarily to the hippocampal region (H group) and two patients with large medial temporal lobe lesions (MTL group). On the news event test, the H group exhibited temporally limited retrograde amnesia covering ∼5 years. On the same test, the MTL group exhibited an extensive retrograde amnesia covering decades. Nevertheless, performance was relatively spared for very remote time periods. On the AMI, all patients had intact remote autobiographical memory. Because our patients with hippocampal lesions, as well as our patients with large MTL lesions, performed normally on the AMI, patients who perform poorly on the same test presumably have damage beyond the hippocampus and related structures in the medial temporal lobe. The findings emphasize the difference in the extent of retrograde amnesia associated with hippocampal lesions and large MTL lesions.
Childhood maltreatment as a risk factor for adult cardiovascular disease and depression.

BACKGROUND Traumatic experiences in childhood are linked to adult depression and cardiovascular disease. Depression is twice as common in women than men, and depression after cardiovascular events is more common in women than men. However, sex differences in these relationships have not been comprehensively investigated using a nationally representative sample in which demographic factors related to these illnesses can be controlled. METHOD Data come from the Part 2 sample of the U.S. National Comorbidity Survey, a nationally representative sample containing over 5000 adults. Relationships between childhood maltreatment (sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect), adult depression (DSM-III-R), and cardiovascular disease were examined using multiple logistic regression models with a specific emphasis on the evaluation of sex differences. RESULTS Childhood maltreatment was associated with a significant increase in cardiovascular disease for women only and with a significant increase in lifetime depression for both genders. A history of childhood maltreatment removed the natural protection against cardiovascular disease for women and depression for men. Although depression and cardiovascular disease were correlated, depression did not contribute to the prediction of cardiovascular disease in women when controlling for history of childhood maltreatment. CONCLUSIONS Gender is important in evaluating potential psychiatric and physical correlates of childhood maltreatment. Maltreatment is a potent risk factor for cardiovascular disease in women and for depression in both women and men. Effective clinical assessment should recognize the role of childhood abuse or neglect in adult health and disease. Research on the consequences of childhood maltreatment should focus on both psychiatric and physical outcomes.
Rothamsted Repository Download

In any metabolomics experiment, robustness and reproducibility of data collection is of vital importance. These become more important in collaborative studies where data is to be collected on multiple instruments. With minimisation of variance in sample preparation and instrument performance it is possible to elucidate even subtle differences in metabolite ﬁngerprints due to geno-type or biological treatment. In this paper we report on an inter laboratory comparison of plant derived samples by [ 1 H]-NMR spectroscopy across ﬁve different sites and within those sites utilising instruments with different probes and magnetic ﬁeld strengths of 9.4 T (400 MHz), 11.7 T (500 MHz) and 14.1 T (600 MHz). Whilst the focus of the study is on consistent data collection across laboratories, aspects of sample stability and the require-ment for sample rotation within the NMR magnet are also discussed. Comparability of the datasets from participating laboratories was exceptionally good and the data were amenable to comparative analysis by multivariate statistics. Field strength differences can be adjusted for in the data pre-processing and multivariate analysis demonstrating that [ 1 H]-NMR ﬁngerprinting is the ideal technique for large scale plant metabolomics data collection requiring the participation of multiple laboratories.
Resting Heart Rate Pattern During Follow-Up and Mortality in Hypertensive Patients

There is a linear relationship between resting heart rate (HR) and mortality in normotensive and untreated hypertensive individuals. However, it is not clear whether HR is a marker of increased risk in hypertensive patients on treatment. We investigated the relationship between HR and mortality in patients with hypertension. We analyzed baseline HR, final HR, and HR change during follow-up in patients attending the Glasgow Blood Pressure Clinic. Using a threshold of 80 bpm, we classified patients into those who had a consistently high (high-high) or low (low-low) HR or patients whose HR increased (low-high) or decreased (high-low) over time. Survival analysis was carried out using Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, smoking, rate-limiting therapy, systolic blood pressure, and serum cholesterol. For each beat of HR change there was a 1% change in mortality risk. The highest risk of an all-cause event was associated with patients who had increased their HR by ≥5 bpm at the end of follow-up (1.51 [95% CI: 1.03 to 2.20]; P=0.035). Compared with low-low patients, high-high patients had a 78% increase in the risk of all-cause mortality (HR: 1.78 [95% CI: 1.31 to 2.41]; P<0.001). Cardiovascular mortality showed a similar pattern of results. Rate-limiting therapy did not have an independent effect on outcomes in this analysis. Change in HR achieved during follow-up of hypertensive patients is a better predictor of risk than baseline or final HR. After correction for rate-limiting therapy, HR remained a significant independent risk factor.
A low power encoder for a 5-GS/s 5-bit flash ADC

A low power high speed encoder is proposed for a 5-GS/s 5-bit flash analogue-to-digital converter (ADC). The designing of a thermometer code to binary code is one of the bottlenecks in achieving high speed. The modus operandi involved in this process is that an encoder circuit translates the thermometer code into the gray code to reduce the effect of meta-stability and reduction of bubble errors. And also that low power and high speed encoder is designed by deploying a new logic design style to implement conversion of the thermometer code to binary code through differential cascade voltage switch logic (DCVSL). However the encoder proposed is designed by using Cadence 180 nm CMOS technology with a supply rail voltage typically ±0.5 V. The simulating results thus obtained is shown for sampling frequency of 5-GS/s and the average power dissipation of 23.29 μW.
Dynamic Graph Cuts for Efficient Inference in Markov Random Fields

In this paper, we present a fast new fully dynamic algorithm for the st-mincut/max-flow problem. We show how this algorithm can be used to efficiently compute MAP solutions for certain dynamically changing MRF models in computer vision such as image segmentation. Specifically, given the solution of the max-flow problem on a graph, the dynamic algorithm efficiently computes the maximum flow in a modified version of the graph. The time taken by it is roughly proportional to the total amount of change in the edge weights of the graph. Our experiments show that, when the number of changes in the graph is small, the dynamic algorithm is significantly faster than the best known static graph cut algorithm. We test the performance of our algorithm on one particular problem: the object-background segmentation problem for video. It should be noted that the application of our algorithm is not limited to the above problem, the algorithm is generic and can be used to yield similar improvements in many other cases that involve dynamic change.