julilili42/papers huggingface dataset:
Forecasting tuberculosis using diabetes-related google trends data
2020-05-26

Online activity-based data can be used to aid infectious disease forecasting. Our aim was to exploit the converging nature of the tuberculosis (TB) and diabetes epidemics to forecast TB case numbers. Thus, we extended TB prediction models based on traditional data with diabetes-related Google searches. We obtained data on the weekly case numbers of TB in Germany from June 8<sup>th</sup>, 2014, to May 5<sup>th</sup>, 2019. Internet search data were obtained from a Google Trends (GTD) search for 'diabetes' to the corresponding interval. A seasonal autoregressive moving average (SARIMA) model (0,1,1) (1,0,0) [52] was selected to describe the weekly TB case numbers with and without GTD as an external regressor. We cross-validated the SARIMA models to obtain the root mean squared errors (RMSE). We repeated this procedure with autoregressive feed-forward neural network (NNAR) models using 5-fold cross-validation. To simulate a data-poor surveillance setting, we also tested traditional and GTD-extended models against a hold-out dataset using a decreased 52-week-long period with missing values for training. Cross-validation resulted in an RMSE of 20.83 for the traditional model and 18.56 for the GTD-extended model. Cross-validation of the NNAR models showed a mean RMSE of 19.49 for the traditional model and 18.99 for the GTD-extended model. When we tested the models trained on a decreased dataset with missing values, the GTD-extended models achieved significantly better prediction than the traditional models (p < 0.001). The GTD-extended models outperformed the traditional models in all assessed model evaluation parameters. Using online activity-based data regarding diabetes can improve TB forecasting, but further validation is warranted.
Sirtuin-1 Sensitive Lysine-136 Acetylation Drives Phase Separation and Pathological Aggregation of TDP-43
2020-05-26

Abstract The trans-activation response DNA-binding protein TDP-43 regulates RNA processing and forms neuropathological aggregates in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Investigating TDP-43 post-translational modifications, we discovered that K84 acetylation reduced nuclear import whereas K136 acetylation impaired RNA binding and splicing capabilities of TDP-43. Such failure of RNA interaction triggered TDP-43 phase separation mediated by the C-terminal low complexity domain, leading to the formation of insoluble aggregates with pathologically phosphorylated and ubiquitinated TDP-43. Confirming the results from site-directed mutagenesis, we succeeded to introduce authentic acetyl-lysine at the identified sites via amber suppression. [AcK84]TDP-43 showed cytoplasmic mislocalization and the aggregation propensity of [acK136]TDP-43 was confirmed. With newly developed antibodies, we found that the nuclear sirtuin SIRT1 can potently deacetylate [acK136]TDP-43. Moreover, SIRT1 reduced the aggregation propensity of [acK136]TDP-43. Thus, distinct lysine acetylations modulate nuclear import, RNA binding and phase separation of TDP-43, suggesting novel regulatory mechanisms for TDP-43 pathogenesis.
Sleep in disorders of consciousness: Behavioral and polysomnographic recording
2020-05-26

Abstract Background Sleep-wakefulness cycles are an essential diagnostic criterion for Disorders of Consciousness (DOC), differentiating prolonged DOC from coma. Specific sleep features, like the presence of sleep spindles, are an important marker for the prognosis of recovery from DOC. Based on increasing evidence for a link between sleep and neuronal plasticity, understanding sleep in DOC might facilitate the development of novel methods for rehabilitation. Yet, well-controlled studies of sleep in DOC are lacking. Here, we aimed to quantify, on a reliable evaluation basis, the distribution of behavioral and neurophysiological sleep patterns in DOC over a 24h period while controlling for environmental factors (by recruiting a group of conscious tetraplegic patients who resided in the same hospital). Methods We evaluated the distribution of sleep and wakefulness by means of polysomnography (EEG, EOG, EMG) and video recordings in 32 DOC patients (16 Unresponsive Wakefulness Syndrome [UWS], 16 Minimally Conscious State [MCS]) and 10 clinical control patients with severe tetraplegia. Three independent raters scored the patients’ polysomnographic recordings. Results All but one patient (UWS) showed behavioral and electrophysiological signs of sleep. Control and MCS patients spent significantly more time in sleep during the night than during daytime, a pattern that was not evident in UWS. DOC patients (particularly UWS) exhibited less REM sleep than control patients. 44% of UWS patients and 12% of MCS patients did not have any REM sleep, while all control patients (100%) showed signs of all sleep stages and sleep spindles. Furthermore, no sleep spindles were found in 62% of UWS patients and 21% of MCS patients. In the remaining DOC patients who had spindles, their number and amplitude were significantly lower than in controls. Conclusions The distribution of sleep signs in DOC over 24 hours differs significantly from the normal sleep-wakefulness pattern. These abnormalities of sleep in DOC are independent of external factors such as severe immobility and hospital environment.
›Writing on the Heart‹ in Jeremiah 31:31–34 in Light of Recent Insights into the Oral-Written Interface and Scribal Education in Ancient Israel
2020-05-26

Abstract The interpretation of the »new covenant« in Jer 31:31–34 hinges on how to understand Yhwh’s promise to write his Torah on the heart of the Israelites. According to a widely held view, the latter aims at abrogating the institutions of the book of the Torah and its handing down by means of teaching and learning. From this point of view, Jer 31:31–34 seems to exhibit a decidedly anti-Deuteronomistic outlook. In the present article, this view is confronted with more recent insights into the oral-written interface and its role in scribal education, the basic assumption being that such education is the lifeworld presupposition behind the promise of writing on the heart.
Floquet Prethermalization in a Bose-Hubbard System
2020-05-27

Periodic driving has emerged as a powerful tool in the quest to engineer new\\nand exotic quantum phases. While driven many-body systems are generically\\nexpected to absorb energy indefinitely and reach an infinite-temperature state,\\nthe rate of heating can be exponentially suppressed when the drive frequency is\\nlarge compared to the local energy scales of the system -- leading to\\nlong-lived 'prethermal' regimes. In this work, we experimentally study a\\nbosonic cloud of ultracold atoms in a driven optical lattice and identify such\\na prethermal regime in the Bose-Hubbard model. By measuring the energy\\nabsorption of the cloud as the driving frequency is increased, we observe an\\nexponential-in-frequency reduction of the heating rate persisting over more\\nthan 2 orders of magnitude. The tunability of the lattice potentials allows us\\nto explore one- and two-dimensional systems in a range of different interacting\\nregimes. Alongside the exponential decrease, the dependence of the heating rate\\non the frequency displays features characteristic of the phase diagram of the\\nBose-Hubbard model, whose understanding is additionally supported by numerical\\nsimulations in one dimension. Our results show experimental evidence of the\\nphenomenon of Floquet prethermalization, and provide insight into the\\ncharacterization of heating for driven bosonic systems.\\n
Consolidation of Reward Memory during Sleep Does Not Require Dopaminergic Activation
2020-05-27

Abstract Sleep enhances memories, especially if they are related to future rewards. Although dopamine has been shown to be a key determinant during reward learning, the role of dopaminergic neurotransmission for amplifying reward-related memories during sleep remains unclear. In this study, we scrutinize the idea that dopamine is needed for the preferential consolidation of rewarded information. We impaired dopaminergic neurotransmission, thereby aiming to wipe out preferential sleep-dependent consolidation of high- over low-rewarded memories during sleep. Following a double-blind, balanced, crossover design, 17 young healthy men received the dopamine d2-like receptor blocker sulpiride (800 mg) or placebo, after learning a motivated learning task. The task required participants to memorize 80 highly and 80 lowly rewarded pictures. Half of them were presented for a short (750 msec) and a long (1500 msec) duration, respectively, which permitted dissociation of the effects of reward on sleep-associated consolidation from those of mere encoding depth. Retrieval was tested after a retention interval of approximately 22 hr that included 8 hr of nocturnal sleep. As expected, at retrieval, highly rewarded memories were remembered better than lowly rewarded memories, under placebo. However, there was no evidence for an effect of reducing dopaminergic neurotransmission with sulpiride during sleep on this differential retention of rewarded information. This result indicates that dopaminergic activation likely is not required for the preferential consolidation of reward-associated memory. Rather, it appears that dopaminergic activation only tags such memories at encoding for intensified reprocessing during sleep.
Strong Hα emission and signs of accretion in a circumbinary planetary mass companion from MUSE
2020-05-27

Context. Intrinsic H α emission can be advantageously used to detect substellar companions because it improves contrasts in direct imaging. Characterising this emission from accreting exoplanets allows for the testing of planet formation theories. Aims. We characterise the young circumbinary planetary mass companion 2MASS J01033563-5515561 (AB)b (Delorme 1 (AB)b) through medium-resolution spectroscopy. Methods. We used the new narrow-field mode for the MUSE integral-field spectrograph, located on the ESO Very Large Telescope, during science verification time to obtain optical spectra of Delorme 1 (AB)b. Results. We report the discovery of very strong H α and H β emission, accompanied by He I emission. This is consistent with an active accretion scenario. We provide accretion rate estimates obtained from several independent methods and find a likely mass of 12−15 M Jup for Delorme 1 (AB)b. This is also consistent with previous estimates. Conclusions. Signs of active accretion in the Delorme 1 system might indicate a younger age than the ∼30−40 Myr expected from a likely membership in Tucana-Horologium (THA). Previous works have also shown the central binary to be overluminous, which gives further indication of a younger age. However, recent discoveries of active discs in relatively old (∼40 Myr), very low-mass systems suggests that ongoing accretion in Delorme 1 (AB)b might not require in and of itself that the system is younger than the age implied by its THA membership.
Association of A Novel Splice Site Mutation in P/Q-Type Calcium Channels with Childhood Epilepsy and Late-Onset Slowly Progressive Non-Episodic Cerebellar Ataxia
2020-05-27

Episodic ataxia type 2 (EA2) is characterized by paroxysmal attacks of ataxia with typical onset in childhood or early adolescence. The disease is associated with mutations in the voltage-gated calcium channel alpha 1A subunit (Cav2.1) that is encoded by the CACNA1A gene. However, previously unrecognized atypical symptoms and the genetic overlap existing between EA2, spinocerebellar ataxia type 6, familial hemiplegic migraine type 1, and other neurological diseases blur the genotype/phenotype correlations, making a differential diagnosis difficult to formulate correctly and delaying early therapeutic intervention. Here we report a new clinical phenotype of a CACNA1A-associated disease characterized by absence epilepsy occurring during childhood. However, much later in life the patient displayed non-episodic, slowly progressive gait ataxia. Gene panel sequencing for hereditary ataxias led to the identification of a novel heterozygous CACNA1A mutation (c.1913 + 2T &gt; G), altering the donor splice site of intron 14. This genetic defect was predicted to result in an in-frame deletion removing 44 amino acids from the voltage-gated calcium channel Cav2.1. An RT-PCR analysis of cDNA derived from patient skin fibroblasts confirmed the skipping of the entire exon 14. Furthermore, two-electrode voltage-clamp recordings performed from Xenopus laevis oocytes expressing a wild-type versus mutant channel showed that the genetic defect caused a complete loss of channel function. This represents the first description of distinct clinical manifestations that remarkably expand the genetic and phenotypic spectrum of CACNA1A-related diseases and should be considered for an early diagnosis and effective therapeutic intervention.
ICDP workshop on the Lake Tanganyika Scientific Drilling Project: a late Miocene–present record of climate, rifting, and ecosystem evolution from the world's oldest tropical lake
2020-05-27

Abstract. The Neogene and Quaternary are characterized by enormous changes in global climate and environments, including global cooling and the establishment of northern high-latitude glaciers. These changes reshaped global ecosystems, including the emergence of tropical dry forests and savannahs that are found in Africa today, which in turn may have influenced the evolution of humans and their ancestors. However, despite decades of research we lack long, continuous, well-resolved records of tropical climate, ecosystem changes, and surface processes necessary to understand their interactions and influences on evolutionary processes. Lake Tanganyika, Africa, contains the most continuous, long continental climate record from the mid-Miocene (∼10 Ma) to the present anywhere in the tropics and has long been recognized as a top-priority site for scientific drilling. The lake is surrounded by the Miombo woodlands, part of the largest dry tropical biome on Earth. Lake Tanganyika also harbors incredibly diverse endemic biota and an entirely unexplored deep microbial biosphere, and it provides textbook examples of rift segmentation, fault behavior, and associated surface processes. To evaluate the interdisciplinary scientific opportunities that an ICDP drilling program at Lake Tanganyika could offer, more than 70 scientists representing 12 countries and a variety of scientific disciplines met in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in June 2019. The team developed key research objectives in basin evolution, source-to-sink sedimentology, organismal evolution, geomicrobiology, paleoclimatology, paleolimnology, terrestrial paleoecology, paleoanthropology, and geochronology to be addressed through scientific drilling on Lake Tanganyika. They also identified drilling targets and strategies, logistical challenges, and education and capacity building programs to be carried out through the project. Participants concluded that a drilling program at Lake Tanganyika would produce the first continuous Miocene–present record from the tropics, transforming our understanding of global environmental change, the environmental context of human origins in Africa, and providing a detailed window into the dynamics, tempo and mode of biological diversification and adaptive radiations.
Big G
2020-05-27

“Big G” typically refers to aggregate government spending on a homogeneous good. In this paper, we open up this construct by analyzing the entire universe of procurement contracts of the US government and establish five facts. First, government spending is granular; that is, it is concentrated in relatively few firms and sectors. Second, relative to private expenditures its composition is biased. Third, procurement contracts are short-lived. Fourth, idiosyncratic variation dominates the fluctuation in spending. Last, government spending is concentrated in sectors with relatively sticky prices. Accounting for these facts within a stylized New Keynesian model offers new insights into the fiscal transmission mechanism: fiscal shocks hardly impact inflation, little crowding out of private expenditure exists, and the multiplier tends to be larger compared to a one-sector benchmark, aligning the model with the empirical evidence.
Low Power Scanned Laser Eye Tracking for Retinal Projection AR Glasses
2020-05-27

Next generation AR glasses require a highly integrated, high-resolution near-eye display technique such as focus-free retinal projection to enhance usability. Combined with low-power eye-tracking, such glasses enable better user experience and performance. This research work focuses on low power eye tracking sensor technology for integration into retinal projection systems. In our approach, a MEMS micro mirror scans an IR laser beam over the eye region and the scattered light is received by a photodiode. The advantages of our approach over typical VOG systems are its high integration capability and low-power consumption, which qualify our approach for next generation AR glasses.
Draft Genome Sequence of Ochrobactrum sp. Strain MC-1LL, a Bacterial Strain with Antimicrobial Properties, Isolated from Marine Sediments in Nigeria
2020-05-27

Here, we report a 4.3-Mb draft genome sequence of a potential new Ochrobactrum species, which clarified its taxonomic position and gave insight into the complete secondary metabolite production capacity of the strain.
Capital Market Equilibrium With Imperfect Competition: The Case of the ECB’s Asset Purchase Programme
2020-05-27

Abstract We set up a multiperiod, CAPM-type model with imperfect competition between investors in case of an additional price-insensitive market participant. The motivation for this additional actor comes from the ECB’s announcement to buy a substantial amount of securities “whatever it takes” which reflects the willingness to trade in a entirely price-inelastic way. Our model explains the effects on demand functions, equilibrium prices, portfolio holdings and investors’ expected utility. The interaction of price-inelastic additional demand by the ECB, on the one hand, and imperfect competition, on the other hand, causes differentiated results regarding timing strategies, development of prices over time, and utility implications.
Prediction of Socio-Economic Indicators for Urban Planning Using VHR Satellite Imagery and Spatial Analysis
2020-05-28

Ongoing urbanization leads to steady growth of urban areas. In the case of highly dynamic change of municipalities, due to the rates of change, responsible administrations often are challenged or struggle with capturing present states of urban sites or accurately planning future urban development. An interest for urban planning lies on socio-economic conditions, as consumption and production of disposable goods are related to economic possibilities. Therefore, we developed an approach to generate relevant parameters for infrastructure planning by means of remote sensing and spatial analysis. In this study, the single building defines the spatial unit for the parameters. In the case city Belmopan (Belize), based on WorldView-1 data we manually define a city covering building dataset. Residential buildings are classified to eight building types which are locally adapted to Belmopan. A random forest (RF) classifier is trained with locally collected training data. Through household interviews focusing on household assets, income and educational level, a socio-economic point (SEP) scaling is defined, which correlates very well with the defined building typology. In order to assign socio-economic parameters to the single building, five socio-economic classes (SEC) are established based on SEP statistics for the building types. The RF building type classification resulted in high accuracies. Focusing on the three categories to describe residential socio-economic states allowed high correlations between the defined building and socio-economic points. Based on the SEP we projected a citywide residential socio-economic building classification to support supply and disposal infrastructure planning.
Longitudinal Microperimetric Changes of Macular Sensitivity in Stargardt Disease After 12 Months
2020-05-28

This study showed that MS and the number of deep scotoma points had measurably changed after follow-up of approximately 1 year. Microperimetry may serve as a useful functional outcome parameter for clinical trials aimed at slowing the progression of STGD1.
Precursor-Directed Biosynthesis and Fluorescence Labeling of Clickable Microcystins
2020-05-28

Microcystins, cyclic nonribosomal heptapeptides, are the most well-known cyanobacterial toxins. They are exceptionally well studied, but open questions remain concerning their physiological role for the producing microorganism or their suitability as lead compounds for anticancer drug development. One means to study specialized metabolites in more detail is the introduction of functional groups that make a compound amenable for bioorthogonal, so-called click reactions. Although it was reported that microcystins cannot be derivatized by precursor-directed biosynthesis, we successfully used this approach to prepare clickable microcystins. Supplementing different azide- or terminal alkyne containing amino acid analogues into the cultivation medium of microcystin-producing cyanobacteria strains, we found that these strains differ strongly in their substrate acceptance. Exploiting this flexibility, we generated more than 40 different clickable microcystins. We conjugated one of these derivatives with a fluorogenic dye and showed that neither incorporation of the unnatural amino acid analogue nor attachment of the fluorescent label significantly affects the cytotoxicity against cell lines expressing the human organic anion transporting polypeptides 1B1 or 1B3. Using time-lapse microscopy, we observed that the fluorescent microcystin is rapidly taken up into eukaryotic cells expressing these transporters.
Bioisosteric Replacement of Arylamide-Linked Spine Residues with N-Acylhydrazones and Selenophenes as a Design Strategy to Novel Dibenzosuberone Derivatives as Type I 1/2 p38α MAP Kinase Inhibitors
2020-05-28

The recent disclosure of type I 1/2 inhibitors for p38α MAPK demonstrated how the stabilization of the R-spine can be used as a strategy to greatly increase the target residence time (TRT) of inhibitors. Herein, for the first time, we describe <i>N</i>-acylhydrazone and selenophene residues as spine motifs, yielding metabolically stable inhibitors with high potency on enzymatic, NanoBRET, and whole blood assays, improved metabolic stability, and prolonged TRT.
On the Performance of Bayesian Approaches in Small Samples: A Comment on Smid, McNeish, Miocevic, and van de Schoot (2020)
2020-05-29

This journal recently published a systematic review of simulation studies on the performance of Bayesian approaches for estimating latent variable models in small samples. The authors of this review highlighted that Bayesian approaches can perform poorly (i.e., by exhibiting bias) when the prior distributions are not thoughtfully constructed on the basis of previous knowledge. In this comment, we question whether the bias is the most important criterion when the sample size is small. We argue that the variability is more important and should therefore not be ignored. Moreover, because one of the most important selling points of Bayesian approaches was not addressed in the article, we argue that although somewhat biased, Bayesian approaches allow for more accurate estimates (i.e., a smaller mean squared error) than Maximum Likelihood (ML) in small samples, and we show one such approach that is more accurate than ML.