Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mutations in STAP1 Are Associated With Autosomal Dominant Hypercholesterolemia

Rationale: Autosomal-dominant hypercholesterolemia (ADH) is characterized by elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels and increased risk for coronary vascular disease. ADH is caused by mutations in the low-density lipoprotein receptor, apolipoprotein B, or proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin 9. A number of patients, however, suffer from familial hypercholesterolemia 4 (FH4), defined as ADH in absence of mutations in these genes and thereafter use the abbreviation FH4. Objective: To identify a fourth locus associated with ADH. Methods and Results: Parametric linkage analysis combined with exome sequencing in a FH4 family resulted in the identification of the variant p.Glu97Asp in signal transducing adaptor family member 1 (STAP1), encoding signal transducing adaptor family member 1. Sanger sequencing of STAP1 in 400 additional unrelated FH4 probands identified a second p.Glu97Asp carrier and 3 additional missense variants, p.Leu69Ser, p.Ile71Thr, and p.Asp207Asn. STAP1 carriers (n=40) showed significantly higher plasma total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels compared with nonaffected relatives (n=91). Conclusions: We mapped a novel ADH locus at 4p13 and identified 4 variants in STAP1 that associate with ADH.
Minimum-Latency Broadcast Scheduling in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

A wide range of applications for wireless ad hoc networks are time-critical and impose stringent requirement on the communication latency. This paper studies the problem Minimum-Latency Broadcast Scheduling (MLBS) in wireless ad hoc networks represented by unit-disk graphs. This problem is NP-hard. A trivial lower bound on the minimum broadcast latency is the radius R of the network with respect to the source of the broadcast, which is the maximum distance of all the nodes from the source of the broadcast. The previously best-known approximation algorithm for MLBS produces a broadcast schedule with latency at most 648 R. In this paper, we present three progressively improved approximation algorithms for MLBS. They produce broadcast schedules with latency at most 24 R -23, 16 R -15, and R + O (log R) respectively.
Progression of carotid intima-media thickness in a contemporary human immunodeficiency virus cohort.

BACKGROUND Persons with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection are at risk for premature cardiovascular disease (CVD). Predictors of atherosclerotic disease progression in contemporary patients have not been well described. METHODS Using data from a prospective observational cohort of adults infected with HIV (Study to Understand the Natural History of HIV/AIDS in the Era of Effective Therapy), we assessed common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT) at baseline and year 2 by ultrasound. We examined HIV-associated predictors of CIMT progression after adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, body mass index, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level, and baseline CIMT using linear regression. RESULTS Among 389 participants (median age at baseline, 42 years; male sex, 77%; median CD4+ cell count at baseline, 485 cells/mm³; 78% receiving antiretroviral therapy), the median 2-year CIMT change was 0.016 mm (interquartile range, -0.003 to 0.033 mm; P < .001). Lesser CIMT progression was associated with a suppressed viral load at baseline (-0.009 mm change; P = .015) and remaining virologically suppressed throughout follow-up (-0.011 mm change; P < .001). After adjusting for additional risk factors and a suppressed viral load during follow-up, nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor versus protease inhibitor exposure was associated with lesser CIMT progression (-0.011 mm change; P = .02). CONCLUSIONS Suppressing HIV replication below clinical thresholds was associated with less progression of atherosclerosis. The proatherogenic mechanisms of HIV replication and the net CVD benefit of different antiretroviral drugs should be a focus of future research.
The risk of tuberculosis related to tumour necrosis factor antagonist therapies: a TBNET consensus statement

Anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) monoclonal antibodies or soluble TNF receptors have become an invaluable treatment against chronic inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and psoriasis. Individuals who are treated with TNF antagonists are at an increased risk of reactivating latent infections, especially tuberculosis (TB). Following TNF antagonist therapy, the relative risk for TB is increased up to 25 times, depending on the clinical setting and the TNF antagonist used. Interferon-&ggr; release assays or, as an alternative in individuals without a history of bacille Calmette–Guérin vaccination, tuberculin skin testing is recommended to screen all adult candidates for TNF antagonist treatment for the presence of latent infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Moreover, paediatric practice suggests concomitant use of both the tuberculin skin test and an interferon-&ggr; release assay, as there are insufficient data in children to recommend one test over the other. Consequently, targeted preventive chemotherapy is highly recommended for all individuals with persistent M. tuberculosis-specific immune responses undergoing TNF antagonist therapy as it significantly reduces the risk of progression to TB. This TBNET consensus statement summarises current knowledge and expert opinions and provides evidence-based recommendations to reduce the TB risk among candidates for TNF antagonist therapy.
Image compression in a multi-camera system based on a distributed source coding approach

This paper illustrates an algorithm specifically designed for encoding multiple views of the same scene taken from calibrated cameras. The assumption here is that these views are strongly correlated as they represent the same content viewed from different perspectives. In order to keep the encoding complexity low, the proposed algorithm builds on PRISM (Power-efficient, Robust, hIgh compression, Syndrome-based Multimedia coding), a video coding framework based on distributed source coding principles. The encoder is constrained to perform a very cheap coarse 3D reconstruction of the scene, whereas the decoder has access to the best 3D reconstruction to be used as side information. Preliminary results on synthetic objects demonstrate that it is possible to achieve a coding efficiency gain with respect to INTRA coding at a low encoding complexity.
A Study on the Retweeting Behaviour of Marketing Microblogs with High Retweets in Sina Weibo

This research studies marketing microblogs with high retweets in Sina Weibo. The content features of marketing microblogs, the structural and temporal characteristics of retweet networks, the major features of retweeters, the incentive mechanisms for retweeting, and the influential retweeters are investigated. A microblog dataset including 19,889 microblogs from 20 enterprise accounts and a retweet network dataset including 207,649 retweets and 113,755 retweeters are analysed. This analysis shows that the marketing microblogs with high retweets are normally the results of some incentive mechanisms, high percentage of their retweets are retweeted from the original microblog directly, the frequencies of retweets vary over the activity periods, incentive mechanisms can significantly affect the behaviour of retweeters, and influential retweeters have significant impact on arousing subsequent retweets. These results could be utilized by enterprises for improving their marketing activities.
Stable quasicrystals and approximants in Zn–Mg–Zr and Zn–Mg–Hf alloys

Stable icosahedral quasicrystals and an approximant crystal have been found in Zn–Mg–Zr and Zn–Mg–Hf alloys. The formation of primitive (P-type) icosahedral quasicrystals with compositions around Zn85Mg7Zr8 and Zn85Mg7Hf8 has been observed in both the as-cast and the annealed states. A face-centred (F-type) icosahedral phase with a composition around Zn76Mg17Hf7 and its corresponding approximant crystal having a composition around Zn75Mg19Hf6 with a space group of have been identified in a fully annealed Zn79Mg15Hf6 alloy. Chemical ordering between two distinctive icosahedral clusters, Zn54Mg12 and Zn54Hf12 (or Zn54Zr12) are proposed to explain the low content of Hf (or Zr) and the occurrence of superlattice diffraction peaks observed for the F-type icosahedral quasicrystal and its 1/1 approximant. The two icosahedral clusters are equivalent in number in order to satisfy the criterion of an electron-to-atom ratio e/a equal to 2.15. They are randomly arranged for the P-type icosahedral phase and regularly arranged respectively at even- and odd-parity twelvefold vertices in the three-dimensional Penrose tiling for the F-type icosahedral phase.
Editorial: “The cognitive, emotional and neural correlates of creativity”

Creativity is at the roots of extraordinary achievements in the arts and sciences, and enables individuals and their groups to adapt flexibly to changing circumstances, to manage complex social relations, and to survive and prosper through social, technological, and medical innovations. The ability to generate novel and potentially useful ideas and problem solutions (viz., creativity) is a key driver of human evolution, and among the most valued and sought after competencies in contemporary societies. Because creativity provides fitness functionality in both ancestral and contemporary societies, it stands to reason that (i) the human brain evolved to sustain and promote creative thinking and we should therefore be able to identify, (ii) the brain circuitries and neurohormonal modulators of the human capacity for creativity, and (iii) the core cognitive, motivational, and emotional processes underlying creative thought. In support of these propositions, in the past decade, creativity researchers have made great headway in identifying the neural, cognitive, motivational, and emotional correlates of creativity (e.g., Baas et al., 2008; Dietrich and Kanso, 2010; Nijstad et al., 2010; De Dreu et al., 2014). This Research Topic offers a collection of empirical work, and review and opinion papers about these and other stimulating endeavors.
Understanding coronary artery disease: tomographic imaging with intravascular ultrasound

In 1856 the pathologist Virchow published his now classic observations on atherothrombosis based on the examination of postmortem tomographic artery sections. The Virchow triad describes three components contributing to the atherothrombotic disease process: the vessel wall, the blood constituents, and blood flow. In vivo coronary imaging techniques became available more than 100 years later with the introduction of selective coronary angiography in 1958 by Mason Sones. Selective coronary angiography has allowed the identification of significantly stenotic, advanced coronary lesions and narrowed the clinical interest of cardiologists on luminal dimensions. This singular focus on angiographic stenosis has resulted in a proliferation of surgical and catheter based revascularisation techniques allowing mechanical treatment of focal coronary artery disease (CAD). Expressions like “fixing rusty pipes” and “plumbing”, used by cardiologist to describe atherosclerosis and its treatment, reflect a mechanistic view of CAD, based on the enormous success of these myocardial revascularisation techniques. However, Virschow's observations and more contemporary models of atherosclerotic disease have led to an understanding of CAD as a systemic disease of a complex organ system (the vessel wall) and its environment (the blood components and flow phenomena). Importantly, the complex atherosclerotic disease process is frequently not reflected in the luminal silhouette because most lesions have silently developed over a long time before they obstruct the lumen. Therefore direct imaging of the vessel wall has become a new goal in the assessment of CAD progression and prevention. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) represents the first clinical imaging technique enabling routine tomographic imaging of coronary arteries. Comprehensive technical and clinical reviews of IVUS have recently been published.1,2 In this article we will give a brief summary of IVUS techniques and then describe the role of tomographic coronary imaging for a contemporary understanding of CAD using examples from past and present experience with IVUS. …
Face Recognition: A Comparison of Appearance-Based Approaches

We investigate the effect of image processing techniques when applied as a pre-processing step to three methods of face recognition: the direct correlation method, the eigenface method and fisherface method. Effectiveness is evaluated by comparing false acceptance rates, false rejection rates and equal error rates calculated from over 250,000 verification operations on a large test set of facial images, which present typical difficulties when attempting recognition, such as strong variations in lighting conditions and changes in facial expression. We identify some key advantages and determine the best image processing technique for each face recognition method.
Endogenous opioids regulate the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase by splenocytes.

In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced expression of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) by splenocytes is modulated through the activation of endogenous opioids in the central nervous system. The initial studies determined the parameters of LPS-induced expression of iNOS by splenocytes. Rats were injected with LPS at doses of 0, 1, 10, 100, and 1000 microg/kg, and measures of both iNOS mRNA and protein showed a dose-dependent increase in expression. In a time course study, rats received 100 microg/kg LPS and were killed at 0, 2, 4, 8, and 16 h postinjection. Both iNOS mRNA and protein expression was detectable at the 2-h time point, with peak expression occurring at 8 h. To evaluate the involvement of endogenous opioids, the opioid receptor antagonist naltrexone was administered at 0, 0.1, 1, or 10 mg/kg s.c. in combination with LPS (100 microg/kg), with a second injection of naltrexone at the same dose 4 h after the injection of LPS. Naltrexone induced a pronounced dose-dependent reduction in iNOS mRNA and protein expression by splenocytes. The modulation of iNOS expression occurs via central opioid receptors as intracerebroventricular administration but not peripheral administration of N-methylnaltrexone, the quaternary form of naltrexone that does not readily cross the blood-brain barrier, reduced the expression of iNOS. For all of the manipulations, nitrite/nitrate levels in the plasma showed effects similar to those for iNOS mRNA and protein. Collectively, these findings indicate that central opioid receptors are involved in the in vivo regulation of splenic nitric oxide production.
Management of Displaced Ankle Fractures

Background Ankle fractures excluding pilon fractures, account for approximately 9% of all fractures with the majority being OTA type B injuries.1 Although surgeons generally treat undisplaced or minimally displaced injuries nonoperatively and displaced fractures operatively, opinions diverge regarding the management of those displaced fractures with acceptable closed reduction. There is also debate about the use of biodegradable implants in operatively managed ankle fractures, the type and technique of fixation for operatively treated syndesmotic injuries as well as the approach to postoperative rehabilitation. Objective We aimed to review the highest level of available evidence on the operative management of ankle fractures. We focused specifically on studies comparing (1) nonoperative versus operative management of displaced ankle fractures, (2) biodegradable versus metal implants, (3) syndesmotic fixation, and (4) postoperative rehabilitation protocols.
On the theory and design of a class of PR causal-stable IIR non-uniform recombination cosine modulated filter banks

This paper studies the theory and design of a class of perfect reconstruction (PR) causal-stable nonuniform recombination cosine modulated filter banks (RN CMFB) with IIR filters. It is based on the RN CMFB previously proposed by one of the authors. A PR FIR RN CMFB of similar specification is first designed. The prototype filters of the CMFB are then model reduced to obtain a nearly PR (NPR) IIR RN CMFB by modifying a model reduction technique proposed by Brandenstein and Unbehauen (1998). With these NPR IIR RN CMFB as initial guess, PR IIR RN CMFB with very good frequency characteristics can be obtained readily by solving a constrained nonlinear optimisation problem using for example the function fmincom from MATLAB. Design results show that the proposed method is very effective in designing PR RN IIR CMFB with good frequency characteristics and different system delays.
Antioxidant status & lipid peroxidation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a debilitating, chronic multisystem disease with an unknown etiology. Recent findings indicate that increased oxidative stress and/or defective antioxidant status contribute to the etiology of RA. The present study was undertaken to examine the oxidant and antioxidant systems in patients with RA and healthy controls. METHODS Twenty two patients with RA and 20 healthy volunteers were included in the study. Levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and antioxidant vitamins (A, E, C) in serum samples were determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Spectrophotometric methods were used to determine activity levels of antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), in erythrocytes. RESULTS MDA levels in patients with RA were found to be significantly (P<0.005) higher than controls whereas levels of vitamins A, E, C and activities of GSH-Px, SOD were lower in the patients compared to controls (P<0.005 for SOD and antioxidant vitamins; P<0.05 for GSH-Px). INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION There was an increased oxidative stress and a low antioxidant status in patients with RA. These changes are probably due to efforts for reducing lipid peroxidation and hence to lower tissue damage.
Experimentally modeling stochastic processes with less memory by the use of a quantum processor

We simulate a random process using a photonic quantum processor with less memory than an ordinary computer would require. Computer simulation of observable phenomena is an indispensable tool for engineering new technology, understanding the natural world, and studying human society. However, the most interesting systems are often so complex that simulating their future behavior demands storing immense amounts of information regarding how they have behaved in the past. For increasingly complex systems, simulation becomes increasingly difficult and is ultimately constrained by resources such as computer memory. Recent theoretical work shows that quantum theory can reduce this memory requirement beyond ultimate classical limits, as measured by a process’ statistical complexity, C. We experimentally demonstrate this quantum advantage in simulating stochastic processes. Our quantum implementation observes a memory requirement of Cq = 0.05 ± 0.01, far below the ultimate classical limit of C = 1. Scaling up this technique would substantially reduce the memory required in simulations of more complex systems.
Chronic toxicity of copper and ammonia to juvenile freshwater mussels (unionidae)

The objectives of the present study were to develop methods for conducting chronic toxicity tests with juvenile mussels under flow‐through conditions and to determine the chronic toxicity of copper and ammonia to juvenile mussels using these methods. In two feeding tests, two‐month‐old fatmucket (Lampsilis siliquoidea) and rainbow mussel (Villosa iris) were fed various live algae or nonviable algal mixture for 28 d. The algal mixture was the best food resulting in high survival (≥90%) and growth. Multiple copper and ammonia toxicity tests were conducted for 28 d starting with two‐month‐old mussels. Six toxicity tests using the algal mixture were successfully completed with a control survival of 88 to 100%. Among copper tests with rainbow mussel, fatmucket, and oyster mussel (Epioblasma capsaeformis), chronic value ([ChV], geometric mean of the no‐observed‐effect concentration and the lowest‐observed‐effect concentration) ranged from 8.5 to 9.8 μg Cu/L for survival and from 4.6 to 8.5 μg Cu/L for growth. Among ammonia tests with rainbow mussel, fatmucket, and wavy‐rayed lampmussel (L. fasciola), the ChV ranged from 0.37 to 1.2 mg total ammonia N/L for survival and from 0.37 to 0.67 mg N/L for growth. These ChVs were below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 1996 chronic water quality criterion (WQC) for copper (15 μg/L; hardness 170 mg/L) and 1999 WQC for total ammonia (1.26 mg N/L; pH 8.2 and 20°C). Results indicate that toxicity tests with two‐month‐old mussels can be conducted for 28 d with >80% control survival; growth was frequently a more sensitive endpoint compared to survival; and the 1996 chronic WQC for copper and the 1999 chronic WQC for total ammonia might not be adequately protective of the mussel species tested. However, a recently revised 2007 chronic WQC for copper based on the biotic ligand model may be more protective in the water tested.
Experiences implementing a high performance TCP in user-space

The advantages of user-space protocols are well-known, but implementations often exhibit poor performance. This paper describes a user-space TCP implementation that outperforms a 'normal' kernel TCP and that achieves 80% of the performance of a 'single-copy' TCP. Throughput of 160 Mbit/s has been measured. We describe some of the techniques we used and some of the problems we encountered.
High-performance brain-machine interface enabled by an adaptive optimal feedback-controlled point process decoder

Brain-machine interface (BMI) performance has been improved using Kalman filters (KF) combined with closed-loop decoder adaptation (CLDA). CLDA fits the decoder parameters during closed-loop BMI operation based on the neural activity and inferred user velocity intention. These advances have resulted in the recent ReFIT-KF and SmoothBatch-KF decoders. Here we demonstrate high-performance and robust BMI control using a novel closed-loop BMI architecture termed adaptive optimal feedback-controlled (OFC) point process filter (PPF). Adaptive OFC-PPF allows subjects to issue neural commands and receive feedback with every spike event and hence at a faster rate than the KF. Moreover, it adapts the decoder parameters with every spike event in contrast to current CLDA techniques that do so on the time-scale of minutes. Finally, unlike current methods that rotate the decoded velocity vector, adaptive OFC-PPF constructs an infinite-horizon OFC model of the brain to infer velocity intention during adaptation. Preliminary data collected in a monkey suggests that adaptive OFC-PPF improves BMI control. OFC-PPF outperformed SmoothBatch-KF in a self-paced center-out movement task with 8 targets. This improvement was due to both the PPF's increased rate of control and feedback compared with the KF, and to the OFC model suggesting that the OFC better approximates the user's strategy. Also, the spike-by-spike adaptation resulted in faster performance convergence compared to current techniques. Thus adaptive OFC-PPF enabled proficient BMI control in this monkey.