Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Link between Thyroid Function and Depression

The relation between thyroid function and depression has long been recognized. Patients with thyroid disorders are more prone to develop depressive symptoms and conversely depression may be accompanied by various subtle thyroid abnormalities. Traditionally, the most commonly documented abnormalities are elevated T4 levels, low T3, elevated rT3, a blunted TSH response to TRH, positive antithyroid antibodies, and elevated CSF TRH concentrations. In addition, thyroid hormone supplements appear to accelerate and enhance the clinical response to antidepressant drugs. However, the mechanisms underlying the interaction between thyroid function and depression remain to be further clarified. Recently, advances in biochemical, genetic, and neuroimaging fields have provided new insights into the thyroid-depression relationship.
Micro- and nanoscale electrical characterization of large-area graphene transferred to functional substrates

Summary Chemical vapour deposition (CVD) on catalytic metals is one of main approaches for high-quality graphene growth over large areas. However, a subsequent transfer step to an insulating substrate is required in order to use the graphene for electronic applications. This step can severely affect both the structural integrity and the electronic properties of the graphene membrane. In this paper, we investigated the morphological and electrical properties of CVD graphene transferred onto SiO2 and on a polymeric substrate (poly(ethylene-2,6-naphthalene dicarboxylate), briefly PEN), suitable for microelectronics and flexible electronics applications, respectively. The electrical properties (sheet resistance, mobility, carrier density) of the transferred graphene as well as the specific contact resistance of metal contacts onto graphene were investigated by using properly designed test patterns. While a sheet resistance R sh ≈ 1.7 kΩ/sq and a specific contact resistance ρc ≈ 15 kΩ·μm have been measured for graphene transferred onto SiO2, about 2.3× higher R sh and about 8× higher ρc values were obtained for graphene on PEN. High-resolution current mapping by torsion resonant conductive atomic force microscopy (TRCAFM) provided an insight into the nanoscale mechanisms responsible for the very high ρc in the case of graphene on PEN, showing a ca. 10× smaller “effective” area for current injection than in the case of graphene on SiO2.
Predominance of Clones Carrying Panton-Valentine Leukocidin Genes among Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Strains Isolated in Japanese Hospitals from 1979 to 1985

ABSTRACT We examined 97 strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolated between 1979 and 1985, the period of time when the appearance of MRSA strains increased, and we determined that these strains are distinct from the MRSA clones predominating in today's Japanese hospitals. Type IV staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) strains were the most frequent, comprising 53.6% of all strains, followed by type I (22.7%) and type II (21.6%) SCCmec strains. Among the type IV SCCmec strains, the frequencies of two new subtypes, type IV.3 (IVc) and type IV.4 (IVd), were very high, comprising 38.1 and 10.3% of all strains, respectively. Forty-four of the 97 strains (45.3%) were Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) positive. Among the PVL-positive strains, sequence type 30 (ST30)-SCCmec type IV strains producing type 4 coagulase were the most frequent. This is in striking contrast to the MRSA strains isolated in the 1990s, most of which were ST5-SCCmec type II strains producing type 2 coagulase and positive for the toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 gene. We also identified a new PVL-carrying prophage lysogenized in a type IV.3 SCCmec strain, 81/108. φ108PVL was distinct from the three extant PVL-carrying phages and was presumed to be carried by ST30-type IV.3 SCCmec strains isolated in Japan. These results provide genetic bases for the transition of MRSA clones in Japan that is commonly considered the transition from coagulase type 4 MRSA strains to coagulase type 2 MRSA strains. The results also suggested that MRSA strains that predominated between 1979 and 1985 were generated from PVL-positive methicillin-susceptible S. aureus strains through the integration of SCCmec elements.
AMP Kinase Activation Mitigates Dopaminergic Dysfunction and Mitochondrial Abnormalities in Drosophila Models of Parkinson's Disease

Mutations in parkin and LRRK2 together account for the majority of familial Parkinson's disease (PD) cases. Interestingly, recent evidence implicates the involvement of parkin and LRRK2 in mitochondrial homeostasis. Supporting this, we show here by means of the Drosophila model system that, like parkin, LRRK2 mutations induce mitochondrial pathology in flies when expressed in their flight muscles, the toxic effects of which can be rescued by parkin coexpression. When expressed specifically in fly dopaminergic neurons, mutant LRRK2 results in the appearance of significantly enlarged mitochondria, a phenotype that can also be rescued by parkin coexpression. Importantly, we also identified in this study that epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a green tea-derived catechin, acts as a potent suppressor of dopaminergic and mitochondrial dysfunction in both mutant LRRK2 and parkin-null flies. Notably, the protective effects of EGCG are abolished when AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is genetically inactivated, suggesting that EGCG-mediated neuroprotection requires AMPK. Consistent with this, direct pharmacological or genetic activation of AMPK reproduces EGCG's protective effects. Conversely, loss of AMPK activity exacerbates neuronal loss and associated phenotypes in parkin and LRRK mutant flies. Together, our results suggest the relevance of mitochondrial-associated pathway in LRRK2 and parkin-related pathogenesis, and that AMPK activation may represent a potential therapeutic strategy for these familial forms of PD.
Epidemiology of norovirus gastroenteritis in Germany 2001–2009: eight seasons of routine surveillance

SUMMARY We analysed data on laboratory or epidemiologically confirmed cases (n = 856 539) and on outbreaks (n = 31 644) notified during week 31 (2001) to week 30 (2009), and performed molecular typing of specimens from 665 outbreaks. We aimed at identifying demographic and molecular characteristics to inform on potential additional approaches to prevent disease spread in the population. The mean incidence by norovirus season (week 31 in one year to week 30 in the following year) was 130 (range 19–300) cases/100 000 population and was highest in persons aged <5 years (430/100 000) and ⩾75 years (593/100 000). The proportion hospitalized in community-acquired cases was 8–19% per season. The mean norovirus-associated mortality was 0·05/100 000 per season and 0·5/100 000 in the ⩾75 years age group. Most outbreaks with known setting (75%) occurred in hospitals (32%), nursing homes (28%), households (24%) and childcare facilities (10%). GII strains dominated in the outbreak specimens. GII.4 strains were found in 82% of nursing home outbreaks, 85% of hospital outbreaks, and 33% of childcare facility and school outbreaks. Cases in younger individuals were notified earlier during the season than adult cases, and outbreaks in childcare facilities and schools preceded those in nursing/residential homes, hospitals and private households. We suggest future studies to investigate more closely potential transmission patterns between children and adults.
The Arabidopsis PEX 12 Gene Is Required for Peroxisome Biogenesis and Is Essential for Development 1 [ w ]

Peroxisomes perform diverse and vital functions in eukaryotes, and abnormalities in peroxisomal function lead to severe developmental disorders in humans. Peroxisomes are also involved in a wide array of physiological and metabolic functions unique to plants, yet many aspects of this important organelle are poorly understood. In yeast and mammals, various steps in peroxisome biogenesis require the function of peroxin (PEX) proteins, among which PEX12 is a RING finger peroxisomal membrane protein involved in the import of matrix proteins. To investigate the role of PEX12 in plants, we identified a T-DNA knockout allele of PEX12 and generated partial loss-of-function pex12 mutants using RNA interference. We show that pex12 null mutants are developmentally arrested during early embryogenesis, and that the embryo-lethal phenotype can be rescued by overexpression of the PEX12-cyan fluorescent protein fusion protein, which targets to the peroxisome. Using virus-induced gene-silencing techniques, we demonstrate that peroxisomal number and fluorescence of the yellow fluorescent proteinperoxisome targeting signal type 1 protein are greatly reduced when PEX12 is silenced. RNA interference plants with partial reduction of the PEX12 transcript exhibit impaired peroxisome biogenesis and function, inhibition of plant growth, and reduced fertility. Our work provides evidence that the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) PEX12 protein is required for peroxisome biogenesis and plays an essential role throughout plant development.
Microfossils of the Early Archean Apex Chert: New Evidence of the Antiquity of Life

Eleven taxa (including eight heretofore undescribed species) of cellularly preserved filamentous microbes, among the oldest fossils known, have been discovered in a bedded chert unit of the Early Archean Apex Basalt of northwestern Western Australia. This prokaryotic assemblage establishes that trichomic cyanobacterium-like microorganisms were extant and morphologically diverse at least as early as ∼3465 million years ago and suggests that oxygen-producing photoautotrophy may have already evolved by this early stage in biotic history.
A PWM DPS with pixel-level reconfigurable 4/8-bit counter/SRAM

A pulse width modulation (PWM) digital pixel sensor (DPS) is presented. The pixel includes a novel pixel-level reconfigurable 4/8-bit counter/SRAM, which can operate as a 4-bit counter or as an 8-bit memory. In contrast to the conventional PWM DPS in which all the encoding data are provided by a global counter, in our DPS, for the 8-bit digital data encoding the photodiode current, 4 bits are obtained from this pixel-level counter and the other 4 bits are provided by a global counter. The number of global data buses is thus reduced which in turn reduces the global bus capacitance and eases the routing. Moreover, the pixel can operate in 8-bit or in 4-bit conversion mode. 8-bit conversion provides a normal high resolution imaging while 4-bit conversion provides a higher frame rate. The pixel sensor has been designed and fabricated in a 0.35 /spl mu/m CMOS technology and its operation is demonstrated through experimental results. Each pixel occupies an area of 46/spl times/48 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ with a fill-factor of 14%.
Tutorial: Making Better Use of the Crowd

Over the last decade, crowdsourcing has been used to harness the power of human computation to solve tasks that are notoriously difficult to solve with computers alone, such as determining whether or not an image contains a tree, rating the relevance of a website, or verifying the phone number of a business. The natural language processing community was early to embrace crowdsourcing as a tool for quickly and inexpensively obtaining annotated data to train NLP systems. Once this data is collected, it can be handed off to algorithms that learn to perform basic NLP tasks such as translation or parsing. Usually this handoff is where interaction with the crowd ends. The crowd provides the data, but the ultimate goal is to eventually take humans out of the loop. Are there better ways to make use of the crowd? In this tutorial, I will begin with a showcase of innovative uses of crowdsourcing that go beyond data collection and annotation. I will discuss applications to natural language processing and machine learning, hybrid intelligence or “human in the loop” AI systems that leverage the complementary strengths of humans and machines in order to achieve more than either could achieve alone, and large scale studies of human behavior online. I will then spend the majority of the tutorial diving into recent research aimed at understanding who crowdworkers are, how they behave, and what this should teach us about best practices for interacting with the crowd.
Pertussis Toxin Is Superior to TLR Ligands in Enhancing Pathogenic Autoimmunity, Targeted at a Neo-Self Antigen, by Triggering Robust Expansion of Th1 Cells and Their Cytokine Production1

Microbial products are assumed to play a major role in triggering pathogenic autoimmunity. Recently accumulated data have shown that these products stimulate the immune system by interacting with TLRs, expressed on APCs. To examine the capacity of various TLR ligands to trigger pathogenic autoimmunity, we used a system in which naive CD4 cells, specific against hen egg lysozyme (HEL), are injected into recipient mice expressing HEL in their eyes. Only when stimulated, the naive cells acquire pathogenic capacity and induce ocular inflammation. Seven TLR ligands were tested in this system: lipoteichoic acid/peptidoglycan, zymosan, poly (I:C), LPS, pertussis toxin (PTX), flagellin, and CpG oligodeoxynucleotide. Treatment of recipient mice with HEL alone stimulated proliferation of the transferred cells, but no disease, whereas ocular inflammation did develop in recipient mice coinjected with HEL and any one of the seven TLR ligands. Inflammation induced by PTX surpassed by its severity those induced by all other tested TLR ligands and was accompanied by a dramatic increase in number of the transferred cells that acquired features of effector Th1 lymphocytes. Ocular inflammation and number of transferred cells in recipients injected with PTX and HEL were substantially reduced by treatment with Abs against IFN-γ or IL-12, thus indicating the role of these cytokines in the PTX effect. Overall, our observations demonstrate that various TLR ligands are capable of triggering pathogenic autoimmunity and that PTX surpasses other microbial products in this activity, by stimulating excessive proliferation and polarization toward Th1 of naive T cells.
Integrated predicated and speculative execution in the IMPACT EPIC architecture

Explicitly Parallel Instruction Computing (EPIC) architectures require the compiler to express program instruction level parallelism directly to the hardware. EPIC techniques which enable the compiler to represent control speculation, data dependence speculation, and predication have individually been shown to be very effective. However these techniques have not been studied in combination with each other. This paper presents the IMPACT EPIC Architecture to address the issues involved in designing processors based on these EPIC concepts. In particular we focus on new execution and recovery models in which microarchitectural support for predicated execution is also used to enable efficient recovery from exceptions caused by speculatively executed instructions. This paper demonstrates that a coherent framework to integrate the three techniques can be elegantly designed to achieve much better performance than each individual technique could alone provide.
Computation on Stochastic Bit Streams Digital Image Processing Case Studies

Maintaining the reliability of integrated circuits as transistor sizes continue to shrink to nanoscale dimensions is a significant looming challenge for the industry. Computation on stochastic bit streams, which could replace conventional deterministic computation based on a binary radix, allows similar computation to be performed more reliably and often with less hardware area. Prior work discussed a variety of specific stochastic computational elements (SCEs) for applications such as artificial neural networks and control systems. Recently, very promising new SCEs have been developed based on finite-state machines (FSMs). In this paper, we introduce new SCEs based on FSMs for the task of digital image processing. We present five digital image processing algorithms as case studies of practical applications of the technique. We compare the error tolerance, hardware area, and latency of stochastic implementations to those of conventional deterministic implementations using binary radix encoding. We also provide a rigorous analysis of a particular function, namely the stochastic linear gain function, which had only been validated experimentally in prior work.
Neuromedins U and S involvement in the regulation of the hypothalamo–pituitary–adrenal axis

We reviewed neuromedin U (NMU) and neuromedin S (NMS) involvement in the regulation of the hypothalamo–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis function. NMU and NMS are structurally related and highly conserved neuropeptides. They exert biological effects via two GPCR receptors designated as NMUR1 and NMUR2 which show differential expression. NMUR1 is expressed predominantly at the periphery, while NMUR2 in the central nervous system. Elements of the NMU/NMS and their receptors network are also expressed in the HPA axis and progress in molecular biology techniques provided new information on their actions within this system. Several lines of evidence suggest that within the HPA axis NMU and NMS act at both hypothalamic and adrenal levels. Moreover, new data suggest that NMU and NMS are involved in central and peripheral control of the stress response.
Act-and-wait concept for continuous-time control systems with feedback delay

The act-and-wait control concept is introduced for continuous-time control systems with feedback delay associated with infinite poles. The point of the method is that the feedback is periodically switched on (act) and off (wait) during the control. It is shown that if the duration of waiting (when the control is switched off) is larger than the feedback delay, then the system can be represented by a finite dimensional monodromy matrix, and a finite number of eigenvalues describe stability. This way, the infinite dimensional pole placement problem is reduced to a finite dimensional one. The efficiency of the method is demonstrated on a case study
Differential evolution for power electronic circuit optimization

Power electronic circuit (PEC) design and optimization is a significant problem in both scientific and engineering communities. Due to the complex search space of the PEC optimization problem, lots of works have tried to use evolutionary computation (EC) algorithms to solve it, and have gained great progress. However, some existing EC based algorithms for PEC are still complex in algorithm design, or the solutions are still needed to be improved when considering the solution accuracy. Therefore, design a simpler yet powerful algorithm to solve the PEC problem efficiently is in great need. This paper makes the first attempt to proposing a novel differential evolution (DE), which is a kind of new, simple, yet efficient EC algorithm for the PEC design and optimization. The advantage of this paper is that the DE algorithm is the first time directly applied to PEC design and optimization, making the approach very simple for use. The results are compared with those obtained by using genetic algorithm (GA), particle swarm optimization (PSO), and brain storm optimization (BSO). Results show that the DE algorithm outperforms GA, PSO, and BSO in our PEC design and optimization study.
A mobicast routing protocol in underwater sensor networks

A mobicast, or called as mobile geocast, problem in three-dimensional (3D) underwater sensor networks (USNs) is investigated in this paper, which aims to overcome the hole problem and minimizes the energy consumption of the sensor nodes while maximizing the data collection. In this work, all underwater sensor nodes are randomly distributed in a 3D underwater environment in the sea to form a 3D USN. Considered a mobile sink or an AUV (autonomous underwater vehicle), all possible sensor nodes near to the AUV form a 3D geographic zone (called as 3D zone of reference or 3D ZOR). The AUV travels a user-defined route and continuously collects data form sensor nodes within a series of 3D ZORs at different time. The main problem is how to efficiently collect data from sensor nodes within a 3D ZOR while those sensor nodes are usually in sleep mode for a long period of time. The routing protocol relies on two phases; the first phase is to collect data form sensor nodes within a 3D ZOR, and the second phase is to wake up those sensor nodes in the next 3D ZOR to be queried while trying to avoid topology holes. To save power, only sensor nodes in a 3D ZOR are notified to enter the active mode in order to deliver sensed results to the AUV. To consider the characteristics of USNs, a new mobicast routing protocol is developed in 3D USNs. The key design challenge is to develop a power-saving mobicast protocol in 3D USNs to overcome the unpredictable 3D hole problem. An ”apple slice” technique is used to build multiple segments to surround a hole and to assure routing path continuity. Finally, performance analysis is derived and simulation results illustrate the performance improvement in successful delivery rate and power consumption.
Overcoming Online Booking Barriers with a Software Agent Approach

Through online self-booking travel sites on the Web, consumers are offered great opportunities for convenient and inexpensive travel bookings. Nevertheless, they face certain problems and limitations in this respect: The booking process tends to be time-consuming and complicated, and the retrieved fares are often expensive. This research suggests that the most significant barriers to online bookings can be eliminated or reduced with a software agent approach. The paper presents the structure, behavior and the operating environment of a multi-channel software agent application, FareTracer, which has been designed to assist consumers in making their own travel reservations on the Web. Based on a dynamic modular design, the FareTracer can scan any number of pre-defined and ill-structured data sources on the Web to pick out and retrieve only the essential information in a matter of seconds/minutes.
Subjective Memory Complaints and the Risk of Stroke

Background and Purpose— Persons with cognitive impairment, as assessed by cognitive tests, are at a higher risk of stroke. Subjective memory complaints might be an earlier marker for stroke, especially in persons with higher education. Their cognitive reserve might mask their cognitive impairment during cognitive testing. In a population-based setting, we investigated the association between subjective memory complaints and stroke. We simultaneously investigated the association between Mini-Mental State Examination and stroke. We also assessed whether these associations varied with educational level. Methods— 9152 participants from the Rotterdam Study (baseline 1990–1993 or 2000–2001) completed the subjective memory complaints questionnaire and underwent Mini-Mental State Examination assessment. Subsequently, the entire cohort was followed for incident stroke until 2012. We used Cox proportional hazard models to estimate the associations between subjective memory complaints and Mini-Mental State Examination, with stroke. Results— During a follow-up of 111 593 person years, 1134 strokes were identified, of which 663 were ischemic and 99 hemorrhagic. In the fully adjusted model, presence of subjective memory complaints was independently associated with a higher risk of stroke (hazard ratio, 1.20; 95% confidence interval, 1.04–1.39), but a higher Mini-Mental State Examination was not (hazard ratio per point increase, 0.99; 95% confidence interval, 0.95–1.02). The association between subjective memory complaints and risk of stroke was modified by educational level, with a higher risk of stroke in persons with a higher level of education (hazard ratio, 1.39; 95% confidence interval, 1.07–1.81). Conclusions— Subjective memory complaints might be an early indicator of stroke risk, especially in highly educated individuals.