Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Comparative, Developmental, and Clinical Perspective of Neurobehavioral Sexual Dimorphisms

Women and men differ in a wide variety of behavioral traits and in their vulnerability to developing certain mental disorders. This review endeavors to explore how recent preclinical and clinical research findings have enhanced our understanding of the factors that underlie these disparities. We start with a brief overview of some of the important genetic, molecular, and hormonal determinants that contribute to the process of sexual differentiation. We then discuss the importance of animal models in studying the mechanisms responsible for sex differences in neuropsychiatric disorders (e.g., drug dependence) – with a special emphasis on experimental models based on the neurodevelopmental and “three hits” hypotheses. Next, we describe the most common brain phenotypes observed in vivo with magnetic resonance imaging. We discuss the challenges in interpreting these phenotypes vis-à-vis the underlying neurobiology and revisit the known sex differences in brain structure from birth, through adolescence, and into adulthood. This is followed by a presentation of pertinent clinical and epidemiological data that point to important sex differences in the prevalence, course, and expression of psychopathologies such as schizophrenia, and mood disorders including major depression and posttraumatic stress disorder. Recent evidence implies that mood disorders and psychosis share some common genetic predispositions and neurobiological bases. Therefore, modern research is emphasizing dimensional representation of mental disorders and conceptualization of schizophrenia and major depression as a continuum of cognitive deficits and neurobiological abnormalities. Herein, we examine available evidence on cerebral sexual dimorphism to verify if sex differences vary quantitatively and/or qualitatively along the psychoses-depression continuum. Finally, sex differences in the prevalence of posttraumatic disorder and drug abuse have been described, and we consider the genomic and molecular data supporting these differences.
The Impact of Chemical Additives and Chemical Transformations on Water Quality in Hydraulic Fracturing

The objective of this study was to understand the adsorption ability of a surfactant and a non-surfactant chemical additive used in hydraulic fracturing onto shale and GAC. Experiments were performed at varying temperatures and sodium chloride concentrations to establish these impacts on the adsorption of the furfural (a nonsurfactant) and 2-Butoxyethanol (2-BE) (a surfactant). Experiments were carried out in continuously mixed batch experiments with Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm modeling. The results of the experiments showed that adsorption of these compounds onto shale does not occur, which may allow these compounds to return to the surface in flowback and produced waters. The adsorption potential for these chemicals onto GAC follows the assumptions of the Langmuir model more strongly than those of the Freundlich model. The results show uptake of furfural and 2-BE occurs within 23 h in the presence of DI water, 0.1 mol L sodium chloride, and in lab synthesized hydraulic fracturing brine. Based on the data, 83% of the furfural and 62% of the 2-BE was adsorbed using GAC.
Exploring Region Correlation and Context Expansion for Image Retrieval

ABSTRACT We explore the statistical correlations between homogeneous regions after image segmentation for improving image retrieval performance. Our proposed approach, called Context Expansion , is analogous to query expansion in text retrieval where the statistical correlations between words are used to expand query for improving search precision and recall. In our approach, regions in images are classified into two types: key region representing the main semantic content and environmental region representing the context. We perform context expansion for the key region in the query example using highly correlated environmental regions. In our experiments, we found that this method is able to filter irrelevant images (i.e. improving precision) as well as retrieve relevant images whose context may be varied (i.e. improving recall). We also study several major factors which have impact on the performance of context expansion. Categories and Subject Descriptors H.3. 3 [ Information Search and Retrieval
Simulation analysis of QoS enabled Internet pricing strategies: flat rate vs. two-part tariff

In this paper, we study the influence of QoS pricing strategy in the future QoS Internet market. We create a Bertrand duopoly game model with different pricing schemes: one ISP with flat rate pricing for its QoS service and the other ISP with two part tariff, a combined pricing scheme with flat rate and usage-sensitive pricing. Based on industry survey data, we conduct a simulation of a random number generation method for consumer demand and Internet access hours. Then, we find an equilibrium point of pricing strategy where an ISP with flat rate pricing has higher profit than an ISP with a two-part tariff. Finally, we present an analytical framework for the future QoS Internet pricing strategy.
Reduced α-defensin expression is associated with inflammation and not NOD2 mutation status in ileal Crohn’s disease

Background and aims: Reduced ileal Paneth cell α-defensin expression has been reported to be associated with Crohn’s disease, especially in patients carrying NOD2 mutations. The aim of this study was to independently assess whether NOD2, α-defensins and Crohn’s disease are linked. Methods: Using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), we measured the mRNA expression levels of key Paneth cell antimicrobial peptides (DEFA5, DEFA6, LYZ, PLA2G2A), inflammatory cytokines [interkelukin 6 (IL6) and IL8], and a marker of epithelial cell content, villin (VIL1) in 106 samples from both affected ileum (inflamed Crohn’s disease cases, n = 44) and unaffected ileum (non-inflamed; Crohn’s disease cases, n = 51 and controls, n = 11). Anti-human defensin 5 (HD-5) and haematoxylin/eosin immunohistochemical staining was performed on parallel sections from NOD2 wild-type and NOD2 mutant ileal Crohn’s disease tissue. Results: In Crohn’s disease patients, DEFA5 and DEFA6 mRNA expression levels were 1.9- and 2.2-fold lower, respectively, in histologically confirmed inflamed ileal mucosa after adjustment for confounders (DEFA5, p<0.001; DEFA6, p = 0.001). In contrast to previous studies, we found no significant association between α-defensin expression and NOD2 genotype. HD-5 protein data supports these RNA findings. The reduction in HD-5 protein expression appears due to surface epithelial cell loss and reduced Paneth cell numbers as a consequence of tissue damage. Conclusions: Reduction in α-defensin expression is independent of NOD2 status and is due to loss of surface epithelium as a consequence of inflammatory changes rather than being the inciting event prior to inflammation in ileal Crohn’s disease.
PTK787/ZK 222584 inhibits tumor growth promoting mesenchymal stem cells: Kinase activity profiling as powerful tool in functional studies

Bone marrow (BM)-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been shown to favour tumor growth, suggesting the relevance of pharmaceutical inhibition of MSCs for the treatment of malignancies. We tested the effect of PTK787/ZK 222584 (PTK) on the outgrowth of MSCs from human bone marrow-derived mononuclear cells (MNCs) and the migration and tube formation capacity of MSCs in vitro. PTK dose- dependently inhibited the outgrowth of BM-MSCs from BM-MNCs (LC50 1.12 μM PTK), while hematopoietic colony formation (HCF) was only slightly hampered (13 ± 19% at 1 μM PTK, and stable at ~50% at higher concentrations of PTK). Addition of 10 μM PTK inhibited proliferation of MSCs by 74 ± 6.6% compared to control (p
Empathy: Neuroscientific Background, Clinical Implications, and Open Questions

Summary Empathy as therapist variable has been an important focus of psychotherapy research. However, empathy as a patient variable might also influence the treatment outcome. Altered empathetic experience as part of clinical symptomatology has rarely been in the focus of clinical psychological research. Concepts such as perspective taking / theory of mind, regulation of emotion, and alexithymia are typically examined, but not empathy by itself. This review aims to summarize findings from neuroscience regarding empathy and to illustrate disorderspecific alterations in experiencing/perceiving empathy. It will be discussed how these findings can be used in psychotherapeutic settings in order to generate new approaches in interventions.
A Review of "Upper Peace River: An Analysis of Minimum Flows and Levels"

This is a summary of the Scientific Peer Review Panel's evaluation of the scientific and technical data, assumptions, and methodologies used by the Southwest Florida Water Management District in the development of its proposed minimum flows and minimum levels (MLFs) for the Upper Peace River. To the best of its abilities, the Peer Review Panel has not only attempted to provide a critical review of the methods, data, and conclusions of the District, but has suggested a number of improvements and guidelines for future decisions on the restoration or rehabilitation of the Upper Peace River. We consider the proposed MLFs to be a good first step in the management process but can not be the only step. The resource management goals for the Upper Peace River are to: • Maintain minimum depths for fish passage and canoeing in the upper river • Maintain depths above inflection point in the wetted perimeter of the stream bottom • Inundate woody habitats in the stream channel • Meet the hydrologic requirements of floodplain biological communities. These goals represent a reasonable subset of potential goals for an improved biotic community in the degraded upper basin. The rationale for choosing these goals is clearly presented and scientifically justified. In general, the wetted perimeter approach does an adequate job to predict levels that will address the management goals, as described. As an initial step, maintaining fish passage, that is, the connectivity of the system, is a necessary goal. The assumption of a desired elevation of the channel at its deepest point being 0.6 feet above minimum elevation for fish passage is reasonable. The application of the HEC-RAS model to generate a wetted perimeter versus flow plot for each transect also is a justifiable scientific approach. In order to complete an effective program of rehabilitation of the upper Peace River, we suggest that the current management goals may not adequately address the linkages between instream flow-related (hydraulic) habitat requirements of resident biota and discharge conditions over the range of life-stages and functions of various species within the community. Future efforts to enhance the integrity of the upper Peace River may require that these linkages be established. We understand the constraints placed upon the current study and our comments are provided to encourage the District to frequently revisit this study and to view the establishment of MLFs and rehabilitation goals as a dynamic process that results in improved …
Coagulation activity is increased in the left atria of patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation during the non-paroxysmal period. Comparison with chronic atrial fibrillation.

BACKGROUND Evaluation of plasma markers of thrombin activity (thrombin-antithrombin III complex: TAT), active fibrinolysis (plasmin-alpha 2-plasmin inhibitor complex: PIC), and platelet activity (platelet factor 4: PF4) is useful for identifying patients with various cardiovascular disorders who are at high risk of thromboembolism. In this study, these markers were investigated in the left atria (LA) of patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (pAF) in the non-paroxysmal period. METHODS AND RESULTS Patients with pAF (n=10) and chronic AF (cAF) (n=10) were enrolled. TAT, PIC, and PF4 levels were determined in blood samples obtained from the LA of AF patients before radiofrequency catheter ablation. TAT levels were high in both pAF and cAF patients. PF4 levels were slightly elevated in both groups, but there was no significant difference between the groups. On the other hand, PIC levels in both groups were almost within normal limits, again with no significant difference between groups. CONCLUSIONS Coagulation activity is elevated in the LA of patients with pAF, even in the non-paroxysmal period, so these patients are at high risk of thromboembolism and anticoagulant therapy is indicated.
Frequency of Multi-dimensional COPD Indices and Relation  with Disease Activity Markers

Abstract Our aim was to describe the population-based distribution of several COPD multi-dimensional indices and to evaluate their relationship with daily physical activity, co-morbidity, health status and systemic inflammatory biomarkers. From a population-based sample of 3,802 subjects aged 40–80 from the EPI-SCAN study, 382 subjects (10.2%) with a post-bronchodilator FEV1/FVC<0.7 were identified as COPD. Smoking habits, respiratory symptoms, quality of life, co-morbidities, lung function and inflammatory biomarkers were recorded. Health status and daily physical activity were assessed using the EQ-5D and LCADL questionnaires, respectively. The new GOLD grading and the BODE, ADO, DOSE, modified DOSE, e-BODE, BODEx, CPI, SAFE and HRS indices were determined. A notable dispersion in the total scores was observed, although 83–88% of the COPD patients were classified into the mildest level and 1–3% in the most severe. The SAFE index was the best independent determinant of daily physical activity; the SAFE and ADO indices were associated with presence of co-morbidity; and the SAFE and modified DOSE indices were independently related to health status. The systemic biomarkers showed a less consistent relation with several indices. In a population-based sample of COPD patients, the SAFE index reaches the highest relation with physical activity, co-morbidity and health status.
Patterns of Local and Systemic Cytokines in Bacterial Meningitis and its Relation with Severity and Long-Term Sequelae

Bacterial meningitis (BM) is a pyogenic infection present in the subarachnoid space, potentially fatal and frequently associated with neurological sequelae. During BM, cytokines (CTs) are locally produced. We sought to determine the CTs’ clinical role as disease severity predictors in adults, which is not completely clear. Using a bead-based flow cytometric assay, levels of six CTs were determined in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma from 18 adult BM patients and 19 uninfected controls. Long-term neurological sequelae were evaluated using the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS). All evaluated CTs were higher in CSF than in plasma, and the levels of CSF interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-1β, and tumor necrosis factor-α and plasma IL-10 and IL-12p70 were significantly higher in patients with severe sepsis than with sepsis, suggesting an association with clinical severity. There was a strong negative correlation between CSF IL-6 and plasma IL-12p70 with GOS score, supporting the possible role of these CTs in the development of neurological long-term sequelae. These findings could be helpful to identify candidates to receive neuroprotective treatments and early physiotherapy schemes.
Communication and Randomness Lower Bounds for Secure Computation

In secure multiparty computation (MPC), mutually distrusting users collaborate to compute a function of their private data without revealing any additional information about their data to the other users. While it is known that information theoretically secure MPC is possible among n users having access to private randomness and are pairwise connected by secure, noiseless, and bidirectional links against the collusion of less than n/2 users (in the honest-but-curious model; the threshold is n/3 in the malicious model), relatively little is known about the communication and randomness complexity of secure computation, i.e., the amount of communication and randomness required to compute securely. In this paper, we employ information theoretic techniques to obtain lower bounds on communication and randomness complexity of secure MPC. We restrict ourselves to a concrete interactive setting involving three users under which all functions are securely computable against corruption of individual users in the honest-but-curious model. We derive lower bounds for both the perfect security case (i.e., zero-error and no leakage of information) and asymptotic security (where the probability of error and information leakage vanish as block-length goes to ∞). Our techniques include the use of a data processing inequality for residual information (i.e., the gap between mutual information and Gács-Körner common information), a new information inequality for three-user protocols, and the idea of distribution switching by which lower bounds computed under certain worst case scenarios can be shown to apply for the general case. Our lower bounds are shown to be tight for various functions of interest. In particular, we show concrete functions which have communication-ideal protocols, i.e., which achieve the minimum communication simultaneously on all links in the network. Also, we obtain the first explicit example of a function that incurs a higher communication cost than the input length, in the secure computation model of Feige et al. (26th Annual ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing, 1994), who had shown that such functions exist. We also show that our communication bounds imply tight lower bounds on the amount of randomness required by MPC protocols for many interesting functions.
Endometrial Stromal Sarcomas: A Review of Potential Prognostic Factors

Endometrial stromal tumors are uncommon mesenchymal tumors of the uterus. The classification of these tumors has evolved and the most current World Health Organization classification (2003) divides these neoplasms into: endometrial stromal nodule, low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma, and undifferentiated endometrial sarcoma. The salient clinicopathologic features of these tumors are described, and a comprehensive review of literature pertaining to potential prognostic factors in endometrial stromal sarcomas is provided. Clinical factors, including age, race, parity and menopausal status, and pathologic factors, including tumor size, tumor stage, nuclear atypia, mitotic activity, tumor necrosis, lymphovascular space invasion, DNA ploidy and proliferative activity, and expression of hormone receptors, have been explored with varying outcomes. Surgicopathologic stage seems to be the most important prognostic factor in low-grade endometrial stromal sarcomas. The impact of other prognostic factors on survival is unclear or controversial, especially in patients with stage I tumors.
The Brisbane Systems Genetics Study: Genetical Genomics Meets Complex Trait Genetics

There is growing evidence that genetic risk factors for common disease are caused by hereditary changes of gene regulation acting in complex pathways. Clearly understanding the molecular genetic relationships between genetic control of gene expression and its effect on complex diseases is essential. Here we describe the Brisbane Systems Genetics Study (BSGS), a family-based study that will be used to elucidate the genetic factors affecting gene expression and the role of gene regulation in mediating endophenotypes and complex diseases. BSGS comprises of a total of 962 individuals from 314 families, for which we have high-density genotype, gene expression and phenotypic data. Families consist of combinations of both monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs, their siblings, and, for 72 families, both parents. A significant advantage of the inclusion of parents is improved power to disentangle environmental, additive genetic and non-additive genetic effects of gene expression and measured phenotypes. Furthermore, it allows for the estimation of parent-of-origin effects, something that has not previously been systematically investigated in human genetical genomics studies. Measured phenotypes available within the BSGS include blood phenotypes and biochemical traits measured from components of the tissue sample in which transcription levels are determined, providing an ideal test case for systems genetics approaches. We report results from an expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) analysis using 862 individuals from BSGS to test for associations between expression levels of 17,926 probes and 528,509 SNP genotypes. At a study wide significance level approximately 15,000 associations were observed between expression levels and SNP genotypes. These associations corresponded to a total of 2,081 expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) involving 1,503 probes. The majority of identified eQTL (87%) were located within cis-regions.
Current and emerging treatment options in the management of Friedreich ataxia

Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) is the most common autosomal recessive ataxia. Oxidative damage within the mitochondria seems to have a key role in the disease phenotype. Therefore, FRDA treatment options have been mostly directed at antioxidant protection against mitochondrial damage. Available evidence seems to suggest that patients with FRDA should be treated with idebenone, because it is well tolerated and may reduce cardiac hypertrophy and, at higher doses, also improve neurological function, but large controlled clinical trials are still needed. Alternatively, gene-based strategies for the treatment of FRDA may involve the development of small-molecules increasing frataxin gene transcription. Animal and human studies are strongly needed to assess whether any of the potential new treatment strategies, such as iron-chelating therapies or treatment with erythropoietin or histone deacetylase inhibitors and other gene-based strategies, may translate into an effective therapy for this devastating disorder. In this review, we try to provide an answer to some questions related to current and emerging treatment options in the management of FRDA.
Cross-layer dynamic prefetching allocation strategies for high-performance multicores

For the last decade, there have been varying techniques for hardware prefetchers to improve the system performance. However, due to limited space and bandwidth in a multicore system, the prefetching data fetched by prefetcher may pollute L1 cache even though the data is useful, thus resulting into significant performance degradation. Most contemporary multicore systems simply disable prefetching to avoid unexpected contention. This paper proposes a cross-layer and dynamic Prefetch Allocation Management (PAM) to provide better caching strategies in a parallel environment. Our approach has two main mechanisms, targeting at the different prefetch degree and location choices to minimize the cache pollution and contention. Across a variety of SPLASH2 and PARSEC benchmark, our PAM approach can contribute up to 12% of performance improvement on a 4-core multicore system compared to the static prefetcher configuration and also saves 9.1% of the memory bandwidth consumption of memory system.