Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Depression and Bone Metabolism

Background: There are data to suggest low bone mineral density is disproportionately prevalent among those with psychiatric disorders. This paper aims to review the current evidence on the relationship between depression and bone mineral density, and identify potential mechanisms. Methods: Relevant sources were identified from the Pubmed and Web of Science (ISI) databases from the first relevant publication in 1994 to the present, 2007, using a combination of key words and terms including depression, major depressive disorder, osteoporosis, bone mineral density, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, cortisol, cytokines, leptin, antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, smoking, alcohol, physical activity and diet. Reference lists of chosen articles were further reviewed for associated publications. Results: The possible association between psychiatric illness, in particular depression, and osteoporosis has been the subject of a growing body of research yielding various findings, although most identify some effect on bone. In addition to medication-related processes and/or modifiable lifestyle factors associated with mood disturbances, endocrine and immune alteration secondary to depression may play a pathogenetic role in bone metabolism. Conclusions: Additional longitudinal studies, with the advantage of temporal sequencing, remain to be conducted, as well as research into potential mechanisms surrounding the association. Nevertheless, the current findings are of clinical relevance, given the health burden of both depression and osteoporosis.
Antigenic sequences of poliovirus recognized by T cells: serotype-specific epitopes on VP1 and VP3 and cross-reactive epitopes on VP4 defined by using CD4+ T-cell clones

A panel of poliovirus-specific murine CD4+ T-cell clones has been established from both BALB/c (H-2d) and CBA (H-2k) mice immunized with Sabin vaccine strains of poliovirus serotype 1, 2, or 3. T-cell clones were found to be either serotype specific or cross-reactive between two or all three serotypes. Specificity analysis against purified poliovirus proteins demonstrated that T-cell clones recognized determinants on the surface capsid proteins VP1, VP2, and VP3 and the internal capsid protein VP4. Panels of overlapping synthetic peptides were used to identify eight distinct T-cell epitopes. One type 3-specific T-cell clone recognized an epitope within amino acids 257 and 264 of VP1. Three T-cell epitopes corresponding to residues 14 to 28, 189 to 203, and 196 to 210 were identified on VP3 of poliovirus type 2. The remaining four T-cell epitopes were mapped to an immunodominant region of VP4, encompassed within residues 6 and 35 and recognized by both H-2d and H-2k mice. The epitopes on VP4 were conserved between serotypes, and this may account for the predominantly cross-reactive poliovirus-specific T-cell response observed with polyclonal T-cell populations. In contrast, T-cell clones that recognize epitopes on VP1 or VP3 were largely serotype specific; single or multiple amino acid substitutions were found to be critical for T-cell recognition.
Accounting quantitatively for sensitivity to envelope-based interaural temporal disparities at high frequencies.

Bernstein and Trahiotis [(2009). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 125, 3234-3242] reported threshold interaural temporal disparities (ITDs) conveyed by the envelopes of 4-kHz-centered "raised-sine" stimuli. A raised-sine stimulus consists of a carrier modulated by a sinusoid raised to an exponent. Such stimuli permitted Bernstein and Trahiotis to vary, independently, stimulus modulation frequency, modulation depth, and "relative peakedness/deadtime. " An interaural correlation-based model that included stages mimicking peripheral auditory processing captured most of the data save for an overestimation of threshold ITDs obtained when the depth of modulation was 25% and the raised-sine exponent was 8.0. The purpose of the present study was: (1) to present a quantitative evaluation of how well other measures, including normalized envelope fourth moment, envelope peakwidth, and envelope "deadtime" might also account for the data reported by Bernstein and Trahiotis and (2) to present new threshold ITDs measured while varying, factorially, depth of modulation, raised-sine exponent, and modulation frequency. Quantitative analyses of both the prior and the new data showed that the normalized interaural correlation, computed subsequent to peripheral auditory processing, provided the most accurate predictions. Importantly, the overestimation of threshold ITDs did not occur when it was assumed that listeners can employ information within "off-frequency" auditory filters.
L'impact de l'internet des objets sur le futur de la logistique et du transport: cas du transport routier

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Influence of Temperature on Oviposition by Dermacentor andersoni (Acari: Ixodidae)

ABSTRACT The effects of temperature on oviposition by Dermacentor andersoni (Stiles) was examined using replete females ranging in weight from 30 to 1,198 mg. Survivorship was >96% during the preoviposition periods and declined during oviposition period. Egg production peaked earlier and at greater levels as temperature increased. Longevity, preoviposition period, and oviposition period declined as temperature increased. Replete weight had minor effects on measures of time, but smaller females tended to have greater longevity and preoviposition periods, and shorter oviposition periods. Temperature and replete weight both had large effects on measures of oviposition success such as the amount of eggs laid, the conversion efficiency index, and daily egg production. Lower temperatures and replete weight resulted in greater oviposition failure, and reduced egg production and conversion efficiency. Oviposition was greatly inhibited at 10°C, suggesting this is near the lower temperature limit for development. However, egg production was reduced at temperatures <20°C, suggesting that the northern edge of the distribution may be influenced by the effects of temperature on oviposition.
Delay in diagnosis and treatment among TB patients registered under RNTCP Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, India, 2010.

BACKGROUND Delay in TB diagnosis and treatment is associated with increased transmission, morbidity and mortality. Patient and provider factors are responsible for such delays. We conducted a study to estimate these delays and identify associated factors among new sputum positive (NSP) TB patients in Mandi district, Himachal Pradesh. METHODS We interviewed 234 NSP patients to collect information on their health seeking behaviour. We conducted univariate and multivariate analysis to identify factors associated with longer delays. RESULTS Median patient, health system and total delay were 15, 13 and 36 days respectively. Significant factors associated with total delay included patients' knowledge about TB, seeking care from non-specialized individuals as the first action, consulting > 2 health facilities before diagnosis and consulting private health facilities. Patients with low family income and those who had high expenditure on consultations before initial diagnosis were associated with patient and health system delay respectively. CONCLUSION It is necessary to increase community awareness about TB symptoms and availability of free treatment at public health facilities. Educating private physicians about the need for maintaining a high index of suspicion of tuberculosis and sensitizing drug-store owners to refer the chest symptomatics to government health facilities would also help in reducing these delays.
Multilabeled Classification Approach To Find a Plant Source for Terpenoids

Recently, we have built a classification model that is capable of assigning a given sesquiterpene lactone (STL) into exactly one tribe of the plant family Asteraceae from which the STL has been isolated. Although many plant species are able to biosynthesize a set of peculiar compounds, the occurrence of the same secondary metabolites in more than one tribe of Asteraceae is frequent. Building on our previous work, in this paper, we explore the possibility of assigning an STL to more than one tribe (class) simultaneously. When an object may belong to more than one class simultaneously, it is called multilabeled. In this work, we present a general overview of the techniques available to examine multilabeled data. The problem of evaluating the performance of a multilabeled classifier is discussed. Two particular multilabeled classification methods-cross-training with support vector machines (ct-SVM) and multilabeled k-nearest neighbors (ML-kNN)-were applied to the classification of the STLs into seven tribes from the plant family Asteraceae. The results are compared to a single-label classification and are analyzed from a chemotaxonomic point of view. The multilabeled approach allowed us to (1) model the reality as closely as possible, (2) improve our understanding of the relationship between the secondary metabolite profiles of different Asteraceae tribes, and (3) significantly decrease the number of plant sources to be considered for finding a certain STL. The presented classification models are useful for the targeted collection of plants with the objective of finding plant sources of natural compounds that are biologically active or possess other specific properties of interest.
Unpacking a crop diversity hotspot: farmer practice and preferences in Northern Malawi

ABSTRACT Crop diversity is a key principle of sustainable food production systems. Yet, inter and intra specific diversification is declining in many regions of the world. In Northern Malawi, a participatory action research project (Soils Food and Healthy Communities) has conducted agroecological co-learning with farmers for over a decade, providing an opportunity to explore farmer management, crop choice and variety selection practices. Farmers who participate receive seed for 0.10 ha of on-farm testing for one growing season and then decide whether to continue to grow the crop. Cropping system diversity, management practices and traits associated with crops grown and lost were assessed through interviews with 198 farm households (757 fields). We found an average of 1.3 species per field and 4.0 crops per farm. This is almost twice the level of diversity in other reports from Malawi smallholder farms. Farmers cited a wide range of preferred groundnut variety traits, as well as concerns (namely, high labour requirements). Both modern and local maize varieties are being grown and those retained were often associated with early maturity or preferred grain quality traits such as storability. Overall, farmers at this Northern Malawi agroecology education site are growing diverse crop mixtures that include traditional as well as modern varieties of maize and groundnut.
Novel role and regulation of HDAC4 in cocaine‐related behaviors

Epigenetic mechanisms have been proposed to contribute to persistent aspects of addiction‐related behaviors. One family of epigenetic molecules that may regulate maladaptive behavioral changes produced by cocaine use are the histone deacetylases (HDACs)—key regulators of chromatin and gene expression. In particular, the class IIa HDACs (HDAC4, HDAC5, HDAC7 and HDAC9) respond to changes in neuronal activity by modulating their distribution between the nucleus and cytoplasm—a process controlled in large part by changes in phosphorylation of conserved residues. Cocaine triggers a transient nuclear accumulation of HDAC5 that functions to limit the development of cocaine reward behavior. However, the role and regulation of the close family member, HDAC4, in cocaine behaviors remain largely unknown. In this study, we report that cocaine and cAMP signaling in striatum produced differential phosphorylation and subcellular localization of HDAC4 and HDAC5. Unlike HDAC5, cocaine exposure induced a modest hyperphosphorylation and nuclear export of HDAC4. Genetic deletion of HDAC4 in the nucleus accumbens reduced acute cocaine‐produced locomotion, maximum locomotor sensitization and cocaine reward‐related behavior. Interestingly, overexpression of an HDAC4 cytoplasm‐concentrated mutant (S266E) increased cocaine reward behavior in the cocaine conditioned place preference assay, suggesting that cocaine‐induced nuclear export of HDAC4 might function to facilitate the development of cocaine reward behaviors through a role in the cell cytoplasm. Together, our findings suggest that, despite high sequence homology, HDAC4 and HDAC5 are oppositely regulated by cocaine‐induced signaling in vivo and have distinct roles in regulating cocaine behaviors.
Strategic M&A announcement timing, information asymmetry and behavioral biases

Drawing on the day of the week pattern of mergers and acquisitions, I investigate whether managers engage in strategic announcement timing, and if so, whether such a decision pays off. The findings are consistent with managers timing M&A announcements as they seek to avoid the anticipated unfavorable market reaction. I document that this strategy is related to higher stock returns when managers attempt to avoid periods of low investor attention. However, the analysis reveals no evidence of significant gains when the managerial decisive factor is the possibility that the market might interpret the announcement as bad news. Furthermore, I find that strategic timing and negotiation complexity help explain the prevalence of merger announcements on Mondays (the Merger Monday phenomenon) and its flip side, a low percentage of M&A announcements on Friday. JEL Classification: G34, G39, G41
Polymorphisms in TSHR and IL1RN genes and the risk and prognosis of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis

Abstract Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) is a complex genetic autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD). Thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor (TSHR) is considered as candidate gene in AITD. IL1RN gene is involved in the pathogenesis of a number of autoimmune diseases. These findings prompted us to investigate the association of TSHR and IL1RN genes polymorphism with the risk and the prognosis of HT in Tunisia. A total of 249 healthy controls and 202 patients with HT were genotyped for TSHR D727E and IL1RNVNTR polymorphism. No significant difference was found for D727E polymorphism between HT patients and healthy controls. For IL1RN gene, we found an association between HT and IL1RNVNTR polymorphism. The A1A3 genotype was more prevalent in HT patients than in controls. However, the A1A4 genotype was associated with HT as a protective factor. Significant association of the TSHR polymorphism with lower plasma TSH level in HT patients has been detected. We found for the first time an association of IL1RNVNTR polymorphism with the production of anti-thyroid peroxidase antibody at the onset of disease. These preliminary results suggest that only the IL1RNVNTR polymorphism may be associated with HT susceptibility and that TSHR and IL1RNVNTR polymorphisms may represent prognostic factors for predicting the severity of HT.
Construction, Genotypic and Phenotypic Characterization, and Immunogenicity of Attenuated ΔguaBA Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhi Strain CVD 915

ABSTRACT A promising live attenuated typhoid vaccine candidate strain for mucosal immunization was developed by introducing a deletion in theguaBA locus of pathogenic Salmonella entericaserovar Typhi strain Ty2. The resultant ΔguaBA mutant, serovar Typhi CVD 915, has a gene encoding resistance to arsenite replacing the deleted sequence within guaBA, thereby providing a marker to readily identify the vaccine strain. CVD 915 was compared in in vitro and in vivo assays with wild-type strain Ty2, licensed live oral typhoid vaccine strain Ty21a, or attenuated serovar Typhi vaccine strain CVD 908-htrA (harboring mutations inaroC, aroD, and htrA). CVD 915 was less invasive than CVD 908-htrA in tissue culture and was more crippled in its ability to proliferate after invasion. In mice inoculated intraperitoneally with serovar Typhi and hog gastric mucin (to estimate the relative degree of attenuation), the 50% lethal dose of CVD 915 (7.7 × 107 CFU) was significantly higher than that of wild-type Ty2 (1.4 × 102 CFU) and was only slightly lower than that of Ty21a (1.9 × 108CFU). Strong serum O and H antibody responses were recorded in mice inoculated intranasally with CVD 915, which were higher than those elicited by Ty21a and similar to those stimulated by CVD 908-htrA. CVD 915 also elicited potent proliferative responses in splenocytes from immunized mice stimulated with serovar Typhi antigens. Used as a live vector, CVD 915(pTETlpp) elicited high titers of serum immunoglobulin G anti-fragment C. These encouraging preclinical data pave the way for phase 1 clinical trials with CVD 915.
Factor structure and individual patterns of DSM-IV conduct disorder criteria in adolescent psychiatric inpatients

We investigated the factor structure of the DSM-IV conduct disorder (CD) diagnostic criteria and typical individual patterns of CD subscales in an adolescent inpatient population using detailed hospital records of a Norwegian nationwide sample of 1087 adolescent psychiatric inpatients scored for the 15 DSM-IV CD criteria. Varimax rotated principal components and full-information factor analyses of 12 CD criteria were carried out separately for boys and girls employing two methods. Standardized values on three subscales of CD criteria were subjected to Ward's method of hierarchical cluster analyses followed by k-means relocation employing a double cross-replication design. Similar factor structures emerged regardless of factoring method and gender. With the exception of Criteria 8 (“Fire setting”) and 14 (“Run away from home”) the factor loadings for both genders were in accordance with Loeber's tripartite model, with Aggression, Delinquency, and Rule Breaking factors largely corresponding to Loeber's overt, covert and authority conflict pathways. A five-cluster solution proved highly replicable and interpretable. One cluster gathered adolescents without CD, and the remaining four described groups with different conceptually meaningful constellations of CD criteria, which were not equally prevalent in each gender. Delinquency appeared in all symptomatic clusters. The cluster analytic results highlighted typical forms of expressions of conduct problems, and the fact that these forms may not be equally prevalent in girls and boys even while the underlying structure of conduct problems may be similar across genders. Future research should address the prediction of specific outcomes from CD criteria subscales or constellations.
DU‐176b, a potent and orally active factor Xa inhibitor: in vitro and in vivo pharmacological profiles

Summary. Background: Factor Xa (FXa), a key serine protease that converts prothrombin to thrombin in the coagulation cascade, is a promising target enzyme for the prophylaxis and treatment of thromboembolic diseases. DU‐176b is a novel antithrombotic agent that directly inhibits FXa activity. Objective: To evaluate the in vitro pharmacological profiles and in vivo effects of DU‐176b in animal models of thrombosis and bleeding. Methods: In vitro, FXa inhibition, specificity and anticoagulant activities were examined. Oral absorption was studied in rats and cynomolgus monkeys. In vivo effects were studied in rat and rabbit models of venous thrombosis and tail bleeding. Results: DU‐176b inhibited FXa with Ki values of 0.561 nm for free FXa, 2.98 nm for prothrombinase, and exhibited >10 000‐fold selectivity for FXa. In human plasma, DU‐176b doubled prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time at concentrations of 0.256 and 0.508 μm, respectively. DU‐176b did not impair platelet aggregation by ADP, collagen or U46619. DU‐176b was highly absorbed in rats and monkeys, as demonstrated by more potent anti‐Xa activity and higher drug concentration in plasma following oral administration than a prototype FXa inhibitor, DX‐9065a. In vivo, DU‐176b dose‐dependently inhibited thrombus formation in rat and rabbit thrombosis models, although bleeding time in rats was not significantly prolonged at an antithrombotic dose. Conclusions: DU‐176b is a more potent and selective FXa inhibitor with high oral bioavailability compared with its prototype, DX‐9065a. DU‐176b represents a promising new anticoagulant for the prophylaxis and treatment of thromboembolic diseases.
Adaptive ripple-based constant on-time control with internal ramp compensations for buck converters

This paper presents adaptive ripple-based constant on-time control architecture for buck converter ICs with wide duty ratio applications. An internal ramp compensation with emulating inductor current ripple is implemented to solve the ripple oscillation instability issue when using low-ESR output capacitors in buck converters. Therefore, no external compensation is required to simplify the system applications and to achieve universal applications. However, in order to guarantee the stability margin and the jitter performance for wide duty-ratio applications with different switching frequencies, a large internal ramp is normally applied, but it may not be optimal for different applications. Besides, in order to avoid the voltage droop caused by the internal ramp compensation, a high-pass filter is usually utilized to cancel the DC offset. However, the DC cancellation network may cause phase margin issues when applying too large internal ramp. Hence, the internal ramp must be carefully designed to guarantee the stability margin while maintaining fast load transients and adequate phase margin for wide duty-ratio applications. In this paper, an adaptive ripple tuning algorithm is proposed to fine tune the internal ramp compensation automatically based on the duty ratios, output voltage, and the switching frequency. The small-signal model is derived to provide the design guide, and the simulation and experimental results are given to verify the effectiveness of the proposed adaptive ripple-based control.