Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Everybody hurts (sometimes): The role of victim category accessibility in prosocial responses towards victimized outgroups

Abstract Collective victimization can lead to competitiveness and reduced willingness to act on behalf of other victimized groups, but in some cases increases prosocial responses. We propose the concept of victim category accessibility (VCA) as one explanation for different reactions to victimization. Assuming that ‘victims’ is one among many categories into which individuals classify themselves and others, high VCA should increase the common categorization of ingroup and outgroup members as victims and increase prosocial responses towards victimized outgroups. Conversely, low VCA should increase the difficulty of identifying commonalities between ingroup and outgroup victims and reduce prosocial responses. In three studies, we develop a novel measure of VCA based on the Indirect Category Accessibility Task and demonstrate its association with willingness to act on behalf of victimized outgroups, but not ingroup members, beyond self‐reported beliefs about victimization. The findings suggest a key role for VCA in understanding prosocial responses towards victimized outgroups.
Retention of functional mitochondria in mature red blood cells from patients with sickle cell disease

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an inherited blood disorder characterized by sickled red blood cells (RBCs), which are more sensitive to haemolysis and can contribute to disease pathophysiology. Although treatment of SCD can include RBC transfusion, patients with SCD have high rates of alloimmunization. We hypothesized that RBCs from patients with SCD have functionally active mitochondria and can elicit a type 1 interferon response. We evaluated blood samples from more than 100 patients with SCD and found elevated frequencies of mitochondria in reticulocytes and mature RBCs, as compared to healthy blood donors. The presence of mitochondria in mature RBCs was confirmed by flow cytometry, electron microscopy, and proteomic analysis. The mitochondria in mature RBCs were metabolically competent, as determined by enzymatic activities and elevated levels of mitochondria‐derived metabolites. Metabolically‐active mitochondria in RBCs may increase oxidative stress, which could facilitate and/or exacerbate SCD complications. Coculture of mitochondria‐positive RBCs with neutrophils induced production of type 1 interferons, which are known to increase RBC alloimmunization rates. These data demonstrate that mitochondria retained in mature RBCs are functional and can elicit immune responses, suggesting that inappropriate retention of mitochondria in RBCs may play an underappreciated role in SCD complications and be an RBC alloimmunization risk factor.
Multistructure Contrastive Learning for Pretraining Event Representation

Event representation aims to transform individual events from a narrative event chain into a set of low-dimensional vectors to help support a series of downstream applications, e.g., similarity differentiation and missing event prediction. Traditional event representation models tend to focus on single modeling perspectives and thus are incapable of capturing physically disconnected yet semantically connected event segments. We, therefore, propose a heterogeneous event graph model (HeterEvent) to explicitly represent such event segments. Furthermore, another challenge in traditional event representation models is inherited from the datasets themselves. Data sparsity and insufficient labeled data are commonly encountered in event chains, easily leading to overfitting and undertraining. Therefore, we extend HeterEvent with a multistructure contrastive learning framework (MulCL) to alleviate the training risks from two structural perspectives. From the sequential perspective, a sequential-view contrastive learning component (SeqCL) is designed to facilitate the acquisition of sequential characteristics. From the graph perspective, a graph-view contrastive learning component (GraCL) is proposed to enhance the robustness of graph training by comparing different corrupted graphs. Experimental results confirm that our proposed MulCL<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{[W+E]}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> model outperforms state-of-the-art baselines. Specifically, compared with the previously proposed supervised model HeterEvent<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{[W+E]}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> [Zheng <italic>et al.</italic> (2020)], MulCL<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{[W+E]}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> shows an average improvement of 5.3% in terms of accuracy for the inference-ability-based tasks. For the representation-ability-based tasks, MulCL<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{[W+E]}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> achieves an average improvement of 2.7% in terms of accuracy for the hard similarity tasks and an improvement of 4.1% in terms of the Spearman’s correlation for the transitive sentence similarity task, respectively.
Glia Imaging Shows Clinical Utility in Differentiating Parkinson's Disease from Multiple System Atrophy

We recently presented a multicenter positron emission tomography (PET) study on the glia biomarker translocator protein (TSPO) in patients with multiple system atrophy (MSA) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). We found a distinct TSPO pattern for MSA with an elevated signal in the striatum (lentiform nucleus in particular) and cerebellar white matter (with 96% sensitivity and 100% specificity against a clinical MSA diagnosis). However, in the imaging data analysis, we observed a single patient with MSA who deviated in glia pattern across both visual and machine-learning assessment approaches. Following this observation, we now review this case in detail. The patient is a 50-year-old woman (Fig. 1B, patient 9) diagnosed with possible MSA based on clinical symptoms of bradykinesia, stiffness, dysautonomia (segmental left-sided hyperhidrosis), and collapse attacks (thought to be attributed to orthostatism). At that time, single-photon emission computed tomography showed reduced dopamine transporter in the right striatum, especially in the posterior putamen. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) did not show any remarkable findings. Levodopa treatment was started, and she has had good and sustained response and the dysautonomic features have diminished. She has had no cerebellar or pyramidal signs. At 8 years after the diagnosis, she was included in a clinical trial as a patient with MSA. A two-level diagnostic procedure was undertaken: MSA diagnosis was established by an investigator at a specialized movement disorders clinic, and the assurance of diagnostic accuracy was performed by blinded independent expert review. The patient is a mixedaffinity binder by TSPO genotype. However, at the baseline PET examination, the glia pattern (Fig. 1A) did not resemble that of other patients in the MSA group (Fig. 1C), and she was the only patient identified as misclassified compared with the clinical diagnosis. At follow-up 11 years after the initial diagnosis, the patient was rediagnosed with PD. Based on the clinical course, that is, good levodopa response 15 years after the diagnosis, ability to walk well, diminished dysautonomic features, no pyramidal or cerebellar signs, no antecollis or stridor, and life longevity, this patient with MSA is now confirmed as PD.
Multi‐phase multi‐layer mechanistic dermal absorption (MPML MechDermA) model to predict local and systemic exposure of drug products applied on skin

Physiologically‐based pharmacokinetic models combine knowledge about physiology, drug product properties, such as physicochemical parameters, absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion characteristics, formulation attributes, and trial design or dosing regimen to mechanistically simulate drug pharmacokinetics (PK). The current work describes the development of a multiphase, multilayer mechanistic dermal absorption (MPML MechDermA) model within the Simcyp Simulator capable of simulating uptake and permeation of drugs through human skin following application of drug products to the skin. The model was designed to account for formulation characteristics as well as body site‐ and sex‐ population variability to predict local and systemic bioavailability. The present report outlines the structure and assumptions of the MPML MechDermA model and includes results from simulations comparing absorption at multiple body sites for two compounds, caffeine and benzoic acid, formulated as solutions. Finally, a model of the Feldene (piroxicam) topical gel, 0.5% was developed and assessed for its ability to predict both plasma and local skin concentrations when compared to in vivo PK data.
Celecoxib, Beyond Anti-inflammation, Alleviates Tendon-Derived Stem Cell Senescence in Degenerative Rotator Cuff Tendinopathy

Background: Degenerative rotator cuff tendinopathy (RCT) is associated with the senescence of tendon-derived stem cells (TDSCs). Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs have been demonstrated to alleviate age-associated inflammation (inflamm-aging)–induced cellular senescence of skeletal stem/progenitor cells. However, whether they can alleviate degenerative RCT through reducing inflamm-aging–related TDSC senescence is still unknown. Purpose: To assess whether celecoxib can prevent the inflamm-aging–related cellular senescence of TDSCs. Study Design: Controlled laboratory study. Methods: TDSCs were isolated from degenerative RCT tendons (S-TDSCs) and healthy hamstring tendons (Y-TDSCs), and the cellular senescence of TDSCs was evaluated. Thereafter, the senescent TDSC-conditioned medium (SEN-CM) was collected to culture Y-TDSCs with or without celecoxib. The effects of celecoxib on TDSC senescence were examined by assaying the expression of aging-related markers. Furthermore, the level of the NF-κB pathway was determined by Western blot analysis to explore the underlying mechanism. Its effects on preventing dysfunction of inflamm-aging–induced senescent TDSCs were also determined using multilineage differentiation assay. Results: S-TDSCs showed increased senescence-associated β-galactosidase activity and enhanced expression of γ-H2AX, p21CIP1A, p16INK4A, and senescence-associated secretory phenotype factors. SEN-CM accelerated the senescence progress of Y-TDSCs, resulting in an increase in senescence markers. To some extent, celecoxib treatment could prevent the detrimental effects of inflamm-aging on Y-TDSCs. The level of the NF-κB pathway was increased in the SEN-CM group but decreased with the use of celecoxib. Moreover, the reduced senescence of TDSCs resulted in preservation of the TDSC tenogenic potential. Conclusion: Celecoxib treatment can prevent inflamm-aging–induced TDSC senescence, which holds potential for alleviating the development of degenerative RCT. Clinical Relevance: In addition to relieving the symptoms of patients with RCT, treatment with celecoxib, a common nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, may defer the development of RCT and prevent rotator cuff tears by delaying TDSC senescence.
Toward Efficient Direct Dynamics Studies of Chemical Reactions: A Novel Matrix Completion Algorithm.

This paper describes the development and testing of a polynomial variety-based matrix completion (PVMC) algorithm. Our goal is to reduce computational effort associated with reaction rate coefficient calculations using variational transition state theory with multidimensional tunneling (VTST-MT). The algorithm recovers eigenvalues of quantum mechanical Hessians constituting the minimum energy path (MEP) of a reaction using only a small sample of the information, by leveraging underlying properties of these eigenvalues. In addition to the low-rank property that constitutes the basis for most matrix completion (MC) algorithms, this work introduces a polynomial constraint in the objective function. This enables us to sample matrix columns unlike most conventional MC methods that can only sample elements, which makes PVMC readily compatible with quantum chemistry calculations as sampling a single column requires one Hessian calculation. For various types of reactions─SN2, hydrogen atom transfer, metal-ligand cooperative catalysis, and enzyme chemistry─we demonstrate that PVMC on average requires only six to seven Hessian calculations to accurately predict both quantum and variational effects.
575-599 A cross-disciplinary study of verb boosters in research articles from Engineering, Medicine and Linguistics: Frequency and co-text

10.4067/S0718-09342021000200575 Abstract The present study looks into the variations in the frequencies and pragmatic functions of the metadiscourse markers known as boosters, and in particular, with regard to their verb forms. Three corpora have been compiled to this end, covering the fields of Engineering, Medicine and Linguistics. The corpora were manually annotated for metadiscourse markers, boosters included, by a group of annotators. A predetermined list was used for annotation, but throughout the annotation process, the list was modified to better reflect the use of metadiscourse in the corpora. The raw count of the occurrences of verb boosters shows clear differences between the corpora, which in turn confirms previous studies of this type. However, the range of verbs identified was very similar, pointing to a large overlap among the three. The three top frequency verb boosters also showed a clear overlap for Engineering and Medicine, but revealed considerable differences with Linguistics. This study has been conducted within a research project financed by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness
Combined 5 2 cv F Test for Comparing Supervised Classification Learning Algorithms

Dietterich (1998) reviews five statistical tests and proposes the 5 2 cvt test for determining whether there is a significant difference between the error rates of two classifiers. In our experiments, we noticed that the 5 2 cvt test result may vary depending on factors that should not affect the test, and we propose a variant, the combined 5 2 cv F test, that combines multiple statistics to get a more robust test. Simulation results show that this combined version of the test has lower type I error and higher power than 5 2 cv proper.
The longest mitochondrial protein in metazoans is encoded by the male-transmitted mitogenome of the bivalve Scrobicularia plana

Cytochrome c oxidase subunit II (COX2) is one of the three mitochondrially encoded proteins of the complex IV of the respiratory chain that catalyses the reduction of oxygen to water. The cox2 gene spans about 690 base pairs in most animal species and produces a protein composed of approximately 230 amino acids. We discovered an extreme departure from this pattern in the male-transmitted mitogenome of the bivalve Scrobicularia plana with doubly uniparental inheritance (DUI) of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which possesses an important in-frame insertion of approximately 4.8 kb in its cox2 gene. This feature—an enlarged male cox2 gene—is found in many species with DUI; the COX2 protein can be up to 420 amino acids long. Through RT-PCRs, immunoassays and comparative genetics, the evolution and functionality of this insertion in S. plana were characterized. The in-frame insertion is conserved among individuals from different populations and bears the signature of purifying selection seemingly indicating maintenance of functionality. Its transcription and translation were confirmed: this gene produces a polypeptide of 1892 amino acids, making it the largest metazoan COX2 protein known to date. We hypothesize that these extreme modifications in the COX2 protein affect the metabolism of mitochondria containing the male-transmitted mtDNA in Scrobicularia plana.
First definitive record of Abelisauridae (Theropoda: Ceratosauria) from the Cretaceous Bahariya Formation, Bahariya Oasis, Western Desert of Egypt

Numerous non-avian theropod dinosaur fossils have been reported from the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian) Bahariya Formation, Bahariya Oasis, Western Desert of Egypt, but unambiguous materials of Abelisauridae have yet to be documented. Here we report Mansoura University Vertebrate Paleontology Center (MUVP) specimen 477, an isolated, well-preserved tenth cervical vertebra of a medium-sized abelisaurid from the Bahariya Formation. The new vertebra shows affinities with those of other Upper Cretaceous abelisaurids from Madagascar and South America, such as Majungasaurus crenatissimus, Carnotaurus sastrei, Viavenator exxoni and a generically indeterminate Patagonian specimen (Museo Padre Molina specimen 99). Phylogenetic analysis recovers the Bahariya form within Abelisauridae, either in a polytomy of all included abelisaurids (strict consensus tree) or as an early branching member of the otherwise South American clade Brachyrostra (50% majority rule consensus tree). MUVP 477, therefore, represents the first confirmed abelisaurid fossil from the Bahariya Formation and the oldest definitive record of the clade from Egypt and northeastern Africa more generally. The new vertebra demonstrates the wide geographical distribution of Abelisauridae across North Africa during the middle Cretaceous and augments the already extraordinarily diverse large-bodied theropod assemblage of the Bahariya Formation, a record that also includes representatives of Spinosauridae, Carcharodontosauridae and Bahariasauridae.
Effects of environment and genotype on dispersal differ across departure, transfer and settlement in a butterfly metapopulation

Active dispersal is driven by extrinsic and intrinsic factors at the three stages of departure, transfer and settlement. Most empirical studies capture only one stage of this complex process, and knowledge of how much can be generalized from one stage to another remains unknown. Here we use genetic assignment tests to reconstruct dispersal across 5 years and 232 habitat patches of a Glanville fritillary butterfly (Melitaea cinxia) metapopulation. We link individual dispersal events to weather, landscape structure, size and quality of habitat patches, and individual genotype to identify the factors that influence the three stages of dispersal and post-settlement survival. We found that nearly all tested factors strongly affected departure probabilities, but that the same factors explained very little variation in realized dispersal distances. Surprisingly, we found no effect of dispersal distance on post-settlement survival. Rather, survival was influenced by weather conditions, quality of the natal habitat patch, and a strong interaction between genotype and occupancy status of the settled habitat patch, with more mobile genotypes having higher survival as colonists rather than as immigrants. Our work highlights the multi-causality of dispersal and that some dispersal costs can only be understood by considering extrinsic and intrinsic factors and their interaction across the entire dispersal process.
A sampling-based approach for information-theoretic inspection management

A partially supervised approach to Structural Health Monitoring is proposed, to manage the cost associated with expert inspections and maximize the value of monitoring regimes. Unlike conventional data-driven procedures, the monitoring classifier is learnt online while making predictions—negating the requirement for complete data before a system is in operation (which are rarely available). Most critically, periodic inspections are replaced (or enhanced) by an automatic inspection regime, which only queries measurements that appear informative to the evolving model of the damage-sensitive features. The result is a partially supervised Dirichlet process clustering that manages expert inspections online given incremental data. The method is verified on a simulated example and demonstrated on in situ bridge monitoring data.
Biodiversity underpins fisheries resilience to exploitation in the Amazon river basin

Inland fisheries feed greater than 150 million people globally, yet their status is rarely assessed due to their socio-ecological complexity and pervasive lack of data. Here, we leverage an unprecedented landings time series from the Amazon, Earth's largest river basin, together with theoretical food web models to examine (i) taxonomic and trait-based signatures of exploitation in inland fish landings and (ii) implications of changing biodiversity for fisheries resilience. In both landings time series and theory, we find that multi-species exploitation of diverse inland fisheries results in a hump-shaped landings evenness curve. Along this trajectory, abundant and large species are sequentially replaced with faster growing and smaller species. Further theoretical analysis indicates that harvests can be maintained for a period of time but that continued biodiversity depletion reduces the pool of compensating species and consequently diminishes fisheries resilience. Critically, higher fisheries biodiversity can delay fishery collapse. Although existing landings data provide an incomplete snapshot of long-term dynamics, our results suggest that multi-species exploitation is affecting freshwater biodiversity and eroding fisheries resilience in the Amazon. More broadly, we conclude that trends in landings evenness could characterize multi-species fisheries development and aid in assessing their sustainability.
Utilization of serial tendering to reduce the value project

Abstract Serial tendering is better than other types of tendering when it comes to cost reduction, where civil infrastructure projects need a significant increase in the amount of tough planning, financial expenditures, engineering work, and resources of a different character than other types of construction projects. The effects of a lack of funding cause decrease in the completion speed of the project on time. The need to reduce the cost of bidding on recurrent civil infrastructure projects is critical. To achieve the desired goals of this research, this article will provide an overview of the type of bids used in the construction of schools implemented in the current financial perspective in Iraq, the extent of benefit, and the amount of possible reduction if continuous and serial tendering are used.
Agiles Produktionssystem mittels lernender Roboter bei ungewissen Produktzuständen am Beispiel der Anlasser-Demontage

Zusammenfassung Agile Produktionssysteme vereinen ein hohes Maß an Flexibilität und Wandlungsfähigkeit. Diese Qualitäten sind insbesondere in einer Umgebung mit hoher Unsicherheit entscheidend, beispielsweise im Kontext von Remanufacturing. Remanufacturing beschreibt den industriellen Prozess der Aufbereitung von Gebrauchtteilen, sodass diese vergleichbare technische Eigenschaften wie Neuteile zurückerlangen. Aufgrund der Ressourcenknappheit und regulatorischer Vorgaben nimmt die Bedeutung von Remanufacturing zu. Bedingt durch die unvorhersehbaren Bauteileigenschaften spielt Automatisierung im Remanufacturing eine untergeordnete Rolle. Die Autoren präsentieren ein Konzept, wie eine automatisiere Demontage auch bei Bauteilen ungewisser Spezifikationen durch den Einsatz von künstlicher Intelligenz erreicht werden kann. Zum autonomen Aufbau der Demontagefähigkeiten werden zum einen gezielt digitale Zwillinge als Lernumgebungen eingesetzt. Zum anderen werden aus der Beobachtung des Menschen Fähigkeiten und Problemlösungsstrategien identifiziert und abstrahiert. Um ein effizientes, vernetztes Demontagesystem zu erreichen, findet ein modulares Stationskonzept Anwendung, sowohl auf technischer als auch auf informationstechnischer Ebene.