Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A NEW APPROACH TO DESIGN DIGITALLY TUNABLE OPTICAL FILTER SYSTEM FOR DWDM OPTICAL NETWORKS

A new approach to design digitally tunable optical fllter system for DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexed) optical networks is presented. This digitally tunable optical fllter system uses semiconductor optical ampliflers (SOAs) and DWDM thin fllm fllter based wavelength selection elements. The design is very easy to conflgure, expand and reduce. This digitally tunable optical fllter system is smaller in size, lesser in weight, cheaper in cost, consumes low power and has better timing performance as compared to digitally tunable optical fllter suggested by researchers recently.
Neural Coreference Resolution

Much work on coreference resolution has gone towards hand crafting complicated features that are predictive of coreference. However, systems relying on these can become unwieldy and may generalize poorly to new data. In this work, I present a new coreference system based on neural networks that automatically learns dense vector representations for mention pairs. These representations are built almost entirely from distributed representations of the words in the mentions and surrounding context, and can capture semantic similarity important for coreference. I use these representations to train an incremental coreference system that can exploit entity-level information. Despite using a minimal number of handengineered features, the neural coreference system is competitive with the current state of the art on the OntoNotes dataset.
Three‐dimensional high‐resolution imaging of cardiac proteins to construct models of intracellular Ca2+ signalling in rat ventricular myocytes

Quantitative understanding of the Ca2+ handling in cardiac ventricular myocytes requires accurate knowledge of cardiac ultrastructure and protein distribution. We have therefore developed high‐resolution imaging and analysis approaches to measure the three‐dimensional distribution of immunolabelled proteins with confocal microscopy. Labelling of single rat cardiac myocytes with an antibody to the Z‐line marker α‐actinin revealed a complex architecture of sarcomere misalignment across single cells. Double immunolabelling was used to relate the Z‐line structure to the distribution of ryanodine receptors (RyRs, the intracellular Ca2+ release channels) and the transverse tubular system. Both RyR and transverse tubular system distributions exhibited frequent dislocations from the simple planar geometry generally assumed in existing mathematical models. To investigate potential effects of these irregularities on Ca2+ dynamics, we determined the three‐dimensional distribution of RyR clusters within an extended section of a single rat ventricular myocyte to construct a model of stochastic Ca2+ dynamics with a measured Ca2+ release unit (CRU) distribution. Calculations with this model were compared with a second model in which all CRUs were placed on flat planes. The model with a realistic CRU distribution supported Ca2+ waves that spread axially along the cell at velocities of ∼50 μm s−1. By contrast, in the model with planar CRU distribution the axial wave spread was slowed roughly twofold and wave propagation often nearly faltered. These results demonstrate that spatial features of the CRU distribution on multiple length scales may significantly affect intracellular Ca2+ dynamics and must be captured in detailed mechanistic models to achieve quantitative as well as qualitative insight.
Prenatal Exposure to Maternal Depressed Mood and the MTHFR C677T Variant Affect SLC6A4 Methylation in Infants at Birth

Background Prenatal and early postnatal exposure to maternal depression may “program” childhood behavior via epigenetic processes such as DNA methylation. Methylenetetrahydro-folate reductase (MTHFR) is an important enzyme in the generation of methyl groups for DNA methylation. The common MTHFR C677T variant is associated with depression in men and non-pregnant women, and with global changes in DNA methylation. This study investigated the effect of maternal MTHFR C677T genotype on antenatal maternal mood, and their impact on the gene-specific methylation in pregnant women and their newborn infants. The methylation status of SLC6A4, which encodes the transmembrane serotonin transporter, and BDNF, which encodes brain derived neurotrophic factor, were assessed because of their potential role in behaviour. Methods/Principal Findings Depressed mood was assessed by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D) in women (n = 82, all taking folate) during the 2nd and 3rd trimesters of pregnancy. The methylation status of SLC6A4 and BDNF were assessed in 3rd trimester maternal peripheral leukocytes and in umbilical cord leukocytes collected from their infants at birth. Women with the MTHFR 677TT genotype had greater 2nd trimester depressed mood (p<0.05). Increased 2nd trimester maternal depressed mood (EPDS scores) was associated with decreased maternal and infant SLC6A4 promoter methylation (p<0.05), but had no effect on BDNF promoter methylation. Conclusions These findings show that the MTHFR C677T variant is associated with greater depressed mood during pregnancy. We further showed that prenatal exposure to maternal depressed mood affects gene-specific DNA methylation patterns. These findings support the concept that alterations in epigenetic processes may contribute to developmental programming of behaviour by maternal depression.
A novel indocyanine green nanoparticle probe for non invasive fluorescence imaging in vivo

Fluorescence imaging (FLI) allows the in vivo monitoring of biological events associated with disease and represents a new promising tool for drug discovery. In particular, it speeds up the development and assessment of new therapies in oncology, helps in diagnosis, and improves surgery by fluorescence-guided tumor resection. This technique is highly sensitive, non-ionizing, easy to use and relatively inexpensive. Nevertheless, the main limitation of FLI lies in the optical properties of biological tissues. Mainly because of haemoglobin and water absorption, only near-infrared (NIR) light is adapted to image tissues in depth. Using a contrasting agent absorbing and emitting in the NIR region is therefore necessary to improve the background signal ratio, and thus the image contrast. Among many commercially available NIR optical contrast agents, only indocyanine green (ICG), has been approved by the United State Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for various medical applications. However, its instability (photo-degradation, thermal-degradation and low aqueous solubility) limits its applications as a fluorescent probe for imaging purposes. In order to improve the effectiveness of ICG, we engineered ICG-doped lipid nanoparticles (LNP). In this communication, we will report the design of these novel fluorescent nanoparticle probes. These low cost nanocarriers have numerous advantages, including their high chemical stability and biocompatibility. The characterization of the optical properties of the nanoparticles entrapping ICG will also be discussed. Finally, the biodistribution in mice of ICG when delivered through nanoparticles in comparison to free ICG in solution is presented. It demonstrates the efficient accumulation of ICG-doped nanoparticles in the tumor site.
Spectral asymptotics of the Dirichlet Laplacian in a conical layer

The spectrum of the Dirichlet Laplacian on conical layers is analysed through two aspects: the infiniteness of the discrete eigenvalues and their expansions in the small aperture limit. On the one hand, we prove that, for any aperture, the eigenvalues accumulate below the thresh-old of the essential spectrum: For a small distance from the essential spectrum, the number of eigenvalues farther from the threshold than this distance behaves like the logarithm of the distance. On the other hand, in the small aperture regime, we provide a two-term asymptotics of the first eigenvalues thanks to a priori localization estimates for the associated eigenfunctions. We prove that these eigenfunctions are localized in the conical cap at a scale of order the cubic root of the aperture angle and that they get into the other part of the layer at a scale involving the logarithm of the aperture angle.
Racial-Ethnic Disparities in Opioid Prescriptions at Emergency Department Visits for Conditions Commonly Associated with Prescription Drug Abuse

Prescription drug abuse is a growing problem nationally. In an effort to curb this problem, emergency physicians might rely on subjective cues such as race-ethnicity, often unknowingly, when prescribing opioids for pain-related complaints, especially for conditions that are often associated with drug-seeking behavior. Previous studies that examined racial-ethnic disparities in opioid dispensing at emergency departments (EDs) did not differentiate between prescriptions at discharge and drug administration in the ED. We examined racial-ethnic disparities in opioid prescription at ED visits for pain-related complaints often associated with drug-seeking behavior and contrasted them with conditions objectively associated with pain. We hypothesized a priori that racial-ethnic disparities will be present among opioid prescriptions for conditions associated with non-medical use, but not for objective pain-related conditions. Using data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey for 5 years (2007–2011), the odds of opioid prescription during ED visits made by non-elderly adults aged 18–65 for ‘non-definitive’ conditions (toothache, back pain and abdominal pain) or ‘definitive’ conditions (long-bone fracture and kidney stones) were modeled. Opioid prescription at discharge and opioid administration at the ED were the primary outcomes. We found significant racial-ethnic disparities, with non-Hispanic Blacks being less likely (adjusted odds ratio ranging from 0.56–0.67, p-value < 0.05) to receive opioid prescription at discharge during ED visits for back pain and abdominal pain, but not for toothache, fractures and kidney stones, compared to non-Hispanic whites after adjusting for other covariates. Differential prescription of opioids by race-ethnicity could lead to widening of existing disparities in health, and may have implications for disproportionate burden of opioid abuse among whites. The findings have important implications for medical provider education to include sensitization exercises towards their inherent biases, to enable them to consciously avoid these biases from defining their practice behavior.
Reduction of cardiovascular events by simvastatin in nondiabetic coronary heart disease patients with and without the metabolic syndrome: subgroup analyses of the Scandinavian Simvastatin Survival Study (4S).

OBJECTIVE To assess the effect of simvastatin treatment on the risk of cardiovascular events in nondiabetic patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) with and without the metabolic syndrome, as defined by the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP-III). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Subgroup analyses were performed on data from 3933 nondiabetic patients with clinically established CHD, serum total cholesterol level 5.5-8.0 mmol/l, and serum triglyceride level <or=2.5 mmol/l who were participating in the Scandinavian Simvastatin Survival Study (4S), a randomized, placebo-controlled trial. End points were total mortality, coronary mortality, major CHD event, myocardial revascularization, any CHD event, stroke, and any atherosclerotic event. RESULTS Over the 5.4-year median follow-up period, simvastatin produced similar changes in serum lipid levels in 893 patients with the metabolic syndrome and in 3040 patients without the metabolic syndrome. The relative risks of main end points in simvastatin-treated patients compared with placebo-treated patients with the metabolic syndrome were as follows: total mortality 0.54 (95% CI 0.36-0.82), coronary mortality 0.39 (0.23-0.65), major CHD event 0.59 (0.45-0.77), and any atherosclerotic event 0.69 (0.56-0.84). The corresponding RRs in patients without the metabolic syndrome were 0.72 (0.56-0.91), 0.62 (0.45-0.84), 0.71 (0.61-0.82), and 0.76 (0.68-0.85). CONCLUSIONS Nondiabetic CHD patients with or without the metabolic syndrome realize from simvastatin treatment a similar, substantial relative reduction in the risk of cardiovascular events. The absolute benefit may be greater in patients with the metabolic syndrome because they are at a higher absolute risk.
Implications of User Characteristics in Information Seeking on the World Wide Web

The study described in this article investigated how differences in cognitive style and online search experience influence the search performance and navigational pattern of individuals utilizing a university World Wide Web (WWW) site. Forty-eight undergraduate students with diverse academic backgrounds participated in the study. On the basis of cognitive style and prior experience with online database search, the participants were assigned to 1 of the following groups: (a) field-dependent (FD) with little or no online search experience, (b) FD with substantial online search experience, (c) field-independent (FI) with little or no online search experience, and (d) FI with substantial online search experience. It was found that cognitive style influenced search time, whereas online search experience affected navigational style, such as jumps and layer traversal. Cognitive style and online search experience also interacted to influence search performance and navigational style. FDs with little or no online search experience navigated the WWW in a fairly linear mode, using embedded links frequently. They also tended to visit more nodes and used "Home" more frequently than the rest. The results imply that as FD searchers gain more online search experience, their navigational style and search performance change and become comparable to that of FDs. Based on these findings, some suggestions are made to improve the WWW interface and WWW user training programs.
Labor-Associated Gene Expression in the Human Uterine Fundus, Lower Segment, and Cervix

Background Preterm labor, failure to progress, and postpartum hemorrhage are the common causes of maternal and neonatal mortality or morbidity. All result from defects in the complex mechanisms controlling labor, which coordinate changes in the uterine fundus, lower segment, and cervix. We aimed to assess labor-associated gene expression profiles in these functionally distinct areas of the human uterus by using microarrays. Methods and Findings Samples of uterine fundus, lower segment, and cervix were obtained from patients at term (mean ± SD = 39.1 ± 0.5 wk) prior to the onset of labor ( n = 6), or in active phase of labor with spontaneous onset ( n = 7). Expression of 12,626 genes was evaluated using microarrays (Human Genome U95A; Affymetrix) and compared between labor and non-labor samples. Genes with the largest labor-associated change and the lowest variability in expression are likely to be fundamental for parturition, so gene expression was ranked accordingly. From 500 genes with the highest rank we identified genes with similar expression profiles using two independent clustering techniques. Sets of genes with a probability of chance grouping by both techniques less than 0.01 represented 71.2%, 81.8%, and 79.8% of the 500 genes in the fundus, lower segment, and cervix, respectively. We identified 14, 14, and 12 those sets of genes in the fundus, lower segment, and cervix, respectively. This enabled networks of co-regulated and co-expressed genes to be discovered. Many genes within the same cluster shared similar functions or had functions pertinent to the process of labor. Conclusions Our results provide support for many of the established processes of parturition and also describe novel-to-labor genes not previously associated with this process. The elucidation of these mechanisms likely to be fundamental for controlling labor is an important prerequisite to the development of effective treatments for major obstetric problems—including prematurity, with its long-term consequences to the health of mother and offspring.
Phrase reordering for statistical machine translation based on predicate-argument structure

In this paper, we describe a novel phrase reordering model based on predicate-argument structure. Our phrase reordering method utilizes a general predicate-argument structure analyzer to reorder source language chunks based on predicate-argument structure. We explicitly model longdistance phrase alignments by reordering arguments and predicates. The reordering approach is applied as a preprocessing step in training phase of a phrase-based statistical MT system. We report experimental results in the evaluation campaign of IWSLT 2006.
The essence of monotonic state

We extend a static type-and-capability system with new mechanisms for expressing the promise that a certain abstract value evolves monotonically with time; for enforcing this promise; and for taking advantage of this promise to establish non-trivial properties of programs. These mechanisms are independent of the treatment of mutable state, but combine with it to offer a flexible account of "monotonic state". We apply these mechanisms to solve two reasoning challenges that involve mutable state. First, we show how an implementation of thunks in terms of references can be assigned types that reflect time complexity properties, in the style of Danielsson (2008). Second, we show how an implementation of hash-consing can be assigned a specification that conceals the existence of an internal state yet guarantees that two pieces of input data receive the same hash code if and only if they are equal.
Randomized controlled trial using vitamins E and D supplementation in atopic dermatitis

Abstract Background: Atopic dermatitis is a chronically relapsing, highly pruritic and inflammatory skin disease. This study was done to assess the effects of vitamins D and E supplementation on the clinical manifestation of atopic dermatitis. Methods: Forty-five atopic dermatitis patients were included in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. They were randomly divided into four groups and treated for 60 days: group P (n = 11), vitamins D and E placebos; group D (n = 12), 1600 IU vitamin D3 plus vitamin E placebo; group E (n = 11), 600 IU synthetic all-rac-α-tocopherol plus vitamin D placebo; and group DE (n = 11), 1600 IU vitamin D3 plus 600 IU synthetic all-rac-α-tocopherol. Serum 25(OH) vitamin D and plasma α-tocopherol were determined before and after the trial. The clinical improvement was evaluated with SCORing Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD). Data were analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Results: SCORAD was reduced after 60 days in groups D, E and DE by 34.8%, 35.7% and 64.3%, respectively (p = 0.004). Objective SCORAD also showed significant improvement. There was a positive correlation between SCORAD and intensity, objective, subjective and extent (p < 0.001). We found a significant negative association between plasma α-tocopherol and SCORAD, intensity, objective and extent (p = 0.02). Conclusion: This study supports the contributing and beneficial effects of vitamins D and E in the treatment of atopic dermatitis.
Two Classes of Drift Parameter Estimators via In nitesimal Operator Based Characterization

This article proposes two classes of GMM type estimators for the drift parameters in multivariate continuous-time models. The rst class is applicable to di¤usion models while the second works for a general instantaneous conditional mean model in continuous time, including stochastic volatility and jump di¤usion models as special cases. Both estimators are based on a conditional moment restriction, which is obtained by the in nitesimal operator directly and indirectly for the two classes respectivley. The rst class is constructed by integrating out the di¤usion function via the quadratic variation/covariation, which is estimated by the realized volatility/covariance using high frequency data. The second class utilizes the fact the drift term can be separately identi ed in the in nitesimal operator based conditional moment restriction. Since the in nitesimal operator enjoys the nice property of being a closed-form expression, our proposed estimators are very convenient to implement in practice although they are not e¢ cient. To attain the e¢ ciency, we also suggest an alternative local-GMM type approach to construct both classes of estimators based on Gospodinov and Otsu (2009). Simulation studies show that both classes of estimators possess fairly good nite sample performances and do not result in large e¢ ciency losses compared to the e¢ cient local-GMM estimator. Keywords: Di¤usion; Markov; Martingale; Drift; In nitesimal operator
Recursive coding of spectrum parameters

Estimates of optimal performance in terms of spectral distortion (SD) for first order time-recursive spectrum coders are presented. Extensions of high rate theory provides us with the formulas to calculate estimates and also tells us how to design coders with optimal VQ point density. For this purpose, the PDF of the current spectrum parameter vector, given the previous, is needed. This conditional PDF is obtained analytically from a model PDF for pairs of consecutive parameter vectors, based on Gaussian mixtures. The theory gives a lower bound of 16 bits to achieve 1 dB SD. Practical coders must base the adaptive codebook design on quantized previous vectors and experiments suggest that another 2-3 bits is needed to achieve 1 dB SD. Informal subjective tests indicate that transparent quality may be maintained at even lower rates.
Investigation of Cluster Formation in MR Fluid under Compression Using Ultrasonic Measurement

This paper reports measurement results of ultrasonic propagation velocity in MR fluid under compression. Experiments were conducted by applying different pressures in MR fluid at constant magnetic flux density. At low magnetic flux densities (100 and 200 mT), the ultrasonic propagation velocity in MR fluids changes when subjected to pressure. This change is related to cluster formation in MR fluid. The ultrasonic propagation velocity change is smaller when higher pressures are applied, indicating that cluster size in MR fluid becomes thinner under higher pressures. However, at higher magnetic flux densities (300 and 400 mT), ultrasonic propagation velocities under different pressures are nearly similar. These results indicate that at higher magnetic flux densities, pressures do not affect cluster formation in MR fluids.
Activation of the plasma membrane H+-ATPase by acid stress

Tight regulation of the plasma membrane proton pump ATPase (H+-ATPase) is necessary for controlling the membrane potential that energizes secondary transporters. This regulation relies on the phosphorylation of the H+-ATPase penultimate residue, a theonine, and the subsequent binding of regulatory 14-3-3 proteins, which results in enzyme activation. Using phospho-specific antibodies directed against the phosphorylable Thr of either PMA2 (Plasma membrane H+-ATPase from N. plumbaginifolia) or PMA4, we showed that the kinetics and extent of phosphorylation differ between both isoforms according to the growth or environmental conditions like cold stress.1 Here, we used phospho-specific antibodies to follow PMA2 Thr phosphorylation upon acidification of the cytosol by incubating N. tabacum BY2 cells with four different weak organic acids. Increased PMA2 phosphorylation was observed for three of them, thus highlighting the role of the H+-ATPase in cell pH homeostasis.