Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Carotid plaque assessment using fast 3D isotropic resolution black‐blood MRI

Black‐blood MRI is a promising tool for carotid atherosclerotic plaque burden assessment and compositional analysis. However, current sequences are limited by large slice thickness. Accuracy of measurement can be improved by moving to isotropic imaging but can be challenging for patient compliance due to long scan times. We present a fast isotropic high spatial resolution (0.7 × 0.7 × 0.7 mm3) three‐dimensional black‐blood sequence (3D‐MERGE) covering the entire cervical carotid arteries within 2 min thus ensuring patient compliance and diagnostic image quality. The sequence is optimized for vessel wall imaging of the carotid bifurcation based on its signal properties. The optimized sequence is validated on patients with significant carotid plaque. Quantitative plaque morphology measurements and signal‐to‐noise ratio measures show that 3D‐MERGE provides good blood suppression and comparable plaque burden measurements to existing MRI protocols. 3D‐MERGE is a promising new tool for fast and accurate plaque burden assessment in patients with atherosclerotic plaque. Magn Reson Med, 2011. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Antithrombotic Activity of Kininogen is Mediated by Inhibitory Effects of Domain 3 During Arterial Injury In Vivo

High molecular weight kininogen (HK) and its domain 3 (D3) exhibit anticoagulant properties and inhibit platelet activation at low thrombin concentration in vitro. We hypothesized that the rapid occlusive thrombosis in HK-deficient (HKd) rats, following endothelial injury of the aorta, results from enhanced platelet aggregation by thrombin. The effects of D3 (G235-M357) or D3-derived peptides on thrombosis in vivo were tested. D3 and its exon 7C terminal peptide (E7CP, K270-Q292), expressed as glutathione-S-transferase fusion proteins (GST-D3, GST-E7CP) or GST alone, as well as cleaved HK (HKa) or synthetic peptide E7CP, were infused intravenously 10 minutes before endothelial injury. The blood flow was reduced down to 10% of baseline flow within 28 ± 5.2 minutes by a platelet-fibrin thrombus in GST-treated HKd rats compared with >240 minutes in GST-treated HK-normal rats (wild type). GST-D3, GST-E7CP, HKa or E7CP infusion prolonged the flow time to 233, >240, 223 and >240 minutes respectively in HKd rats. When GST-E7CP was infused 10 minutes after the injury, the blood flow was maintained for >240 minutes. Thrombinantithrombin concentrations were elevated by injury in HKd rats receiving GST, from 35 to 55 μg/L and decreased with GST-E7CP, HKa or E7CP reconstitution to 40, 15 and 9 μg/L respectively. We conclude that HKd rats are prothrombotic and HKa, kininogen D3, and its fragment E7CP, modulate arterial thrombosis after endothelial injury.
Classical strong metal–support interactions between gold nanoparticles and titanium dioxide

The classical strong metal–support interaction between TiO2 and IB metals was demonstrated. Supported metal catalysts play a central role in the modern chemical industry but often exhibit poor on-stream stability. The strong metal–support interaction (SMSI) offers a route to control the structural properties of supported metals and, hence, their reactivity and stability. Conventional wisdom holds that supported Au cannot manifest a classical SMSI, which is characterized by reversible metal encapsulation by the support upon high-temperature redox treatments. We demonstrate a classical SMSI for Au/TiO2, evidenced by suppression of CO adsorption, electron transfer from TiO2 to Au nanoparticles, and gold encapsulation by a TiOx overlayer following high-temperature reduction (reversed by subsequent oxidation), akin to that observed for titania-supported platinum group metals. In the SMSI state, Au/TiO2 exhibits markedly improved stability toward CO oxidation. The SMSI extends to Au supported over other reducible oxides (Fe3O4 and CeO2) and other group IB metals (Cu and Ag) over titania. This discovery highlights the general nature of the classical SMSI and unlocks the development of thermochemically stable IB metal catalysts.
Evaluation of Biocompatibility of an Etch-and-Rinse Adhesive System Based in Tertiary Butanol Applied in Deep Cavity

The aim of this study was to evaluate biocompatibility of an etch-and-rinse adhesive system based in tertiary butanol applied in deep cavity human teeth with approximately 1 mm of remaining dentin by observing histological changes of the pulp tissue of humans at intervals of 01, 07, 14 and 21 days. Twenty third molars with indication for xtraction from patients of both sexes, presenting no systemic alterations were used. Class I cavity was made deeper and then, XP BOND adhesive system and resin Filtek Z250 were applied. The sample was divided into four groups according to the time intervals between the application of adhesive system and extraction. Morphologic criteria analysed considered the presence of hyperemia, type of inflammatory cell response, organization of odontoblast cells layer, organization of pulp tissue and the presence or absence of bacteria. Data were submitted to Fisher Exact Test p> 0.05. We observed mild inflammatory infiltrate, preserved pulp tissue morphology, disorganization of the odontoblast layer in most specimens, as well as absence of bacteria at the intervals of 01, 07, 14 and 21 days. In some cases there was pulp hyperemia. The etchand- rinse adhesive system based in tertiary butanol showed satisfactory behavior in the conditions studied.
Visualizing Presynaptic Calcium Dynamics and Vesicle Fusion with a Single Genetically Encoded Reporter at Individual Synapses

Synaptic transmission depends on the influx of calcium into the presynaptic compartment, which drives neurotransmitter release. Genetically encoded reporters are widely used tools to understand these processes, particularly pHluorin-based reporters that report vesicle exocytosis and endocytosis through pH dependent changes in fluorescence, and genetically encoded calcium indicators (GECIs) that exhibit changes in fluorescence upon binding to calcium. The recent expansion of the color palette of available indicators has made it possible to image multiple probes simultaneously within a cell. We have constructed a single molecule reporter capable of concurrent imaging of both presynaptic calcium influx and exocytosis, by fusion of sypHy, the vesicle associated protein synaptophysin containing a GFP-based pHluorin sensor, with the red-shifted GECI R-GECO1. Due to the fixed stoichiometry of the two probes, the ratio of the two responses can also be measured, providing an all optical correlate of the calcium dependence of release. Here, we have characterized stimulus-evoked sypHy-RGECO responses of hippocampal synapses in vitro, exploring the effects of different stimulus strengths and frequencies as well as variations in external calcium concentrations. By combining live sypHy-RGECO imaging with post hoc fixation and immunofluorescence, we have also investigated correlations between structural and functional properties of synapses.
Ductile fracture in metals

Abstract Cup-and-cone fracture in single-phase ductile metals appears to originate at holes formed by drawing away of material from non-metallic inclusions, as suggested by Tipper. In copper, the holes expand under the triaxial stresses in the neck and coalesce in a macroscopic fissure; in α iron fine cracks are formed by the stress concentrated at the holes. In coarsegrained material shear cracks are formed on the surface of the neck. Pure polycrystalline aluminium separates at the neck of a tensile specimen by slipping-off along a plane of shear. This is thought to be the usual mode of failure in materials in which work-hardening has been exhausted.
Effect of Work Piece Dimensions on Cost Effective Hybrid Rapid Casting Solution for Aluminium Alloy

The purpose of the present experimental investigations is to study the effect of work piece dimensions on reducing the shell wall thickness of mould cavity for cost effective, hybrid rapid casting solution of aluminum alloy. Starting from the identification of component/benchmark, technological prototypes with three different work piece dimensions (volume/ weight) were produced, at different shell wall thickness of mould cavity using hybrid rapid prototyping technique (combination of three dimensional printing and conventional sand casting). Measurements on the coordinate measuring machine helped in calculating the dimensional tolerances of the castings produced. Some important mechanical properties were also compared to verify the suitability of the castings. The study suggested that the shell wall thickness, having value less than the recommended one is more suitable from dimensional accuracy and economic point of view, for all three work piece dimensions (volume/ weight). Further best shell wall thickness of the mould cavity for different work piece dimensions of the selected benchmark has been highlighted for rapid casting solution of aluminum alloy.
Leishmaniasis: Current Status of Vaccine Development

SUMMARY Leishmaniae are obligatory intracellular protozoa in mononuclear phagocytes. They cause a spectrum of diseases, ranging in severity from spontaneously healing skin lesions to fatal visceral disease. Worldwide, there are 2 million new cases each year and 1/10 of the world's population is at risk of infection. To date, there are no vaccines against leishmaniasis and control measures rely on chemotherapy to alleviate disease and on vector control to reduce transmission. However, a major vaccine development program aimed initially at cutaneous leishmaniasis is under way. Studies in animal models and humans are evaluating the potential of genetically modified live attenuated vaccines, as well as a variety of recombinant antigens or the DNA encoding them. The program also focuses on new adjuvants, including cytokines, and delivery systems to target the T helper type 1 immune responses required for the elimination of this intracellular organism. The availability, in the near future, of the DNA sequences of the human and Leishmania genomes will extend the vaccine program. New vaccine candidates such as parasite virulence factors will be identified. Host susceptibility genes will be mapped to allow the vaccine to be targeted to the population most in need of protection.
In Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems

The Bayesian analysis of neural networks is diicult because a simple prior over weights implies a complex prior distribution over functions. In this paper we investigate the use of Gaussian process priors over functions, which permit the predictive Bayesian analysis for xed values of hyperparameters to be carried out exactly using matrix operations. Two methods, using optimization and averaging (via Hybrid Monte Carlo) over hyperparameters have been tested on a number of challenging problems and have produced excellent results.
Bootstrap Prediction Intervals for Autoregressive Models Based on Asymptotically Mean-Unbiased Parameter Estimators

The use of asymptotically mean-unbiased estimation is considered as a means of biascorrection, when bootstrap prediction interval is constructed for autoregressive (AR) models with unknown lag order. Its computational efficiency enables application of the endogenous lag order bootstrap algorithm to prediction intervals. Extensive Monte Carlo experiments are conducted using a number of stationary and near unit-root AR models. It is found that bias-correction based on asymptotically mean-unbiased estimation substantially improves small sample properties of bootstrap prediction intervals. In particular, the endogenous lag order bootstrap interval shows highly desirable performances. These features are evident, especially when the sample size is small, the model is near unit-root non-stationary, and the range of order estimation is wide.
Effects of smoking opportunity on attentional bias in smokers.

The emotional Stroop task was used to examine the influence of opportunity to smoke on attentional bias to smoking-related stimuli. At the outset of the study, 92 nicotine-deprived smokers were told that they (a) would, (b) would not, or (c) might be able to smoke during the experiment. Next, participants completed an emotional Stroop task, in which they were presented with smoking-related or -unrelated words in an unblocked format. Smokers demonstrated interference to the smoking words, relative to matched neutral words, F(1, 87) = 18.0, p < . 0001. Moreover, smoking opportunity affected the degree of interference, F(2, 87) = 4.35, p < . 02, with participants who had been told they would be able to smoke during the study showing the most interference. The results suggest that smoking opportunity affects the salience of smoking-related stimuli among nicotine-deprived smokers.
The Geometry of Musical Chords

A musical chord can be represented as a point in a geometrical space called an orbifold. Line segments represent mappings from the notes of one chord to those of another. Composers in a wide range of styles have exploited the non-Euclidean geometry of these spaces, typically by using short line segments between structurally similar chords. Such line segments exist only when chords are nearly symmetrical under translation, reflection, or permutation. Paradigmatically consonant and dissonant chords possess different near-symmetries and suggest different musical uses.
Effect of Seed Addition on SnO2‐Based Varistors for Low Voltage Application

The effect of seed addition on the microstructure and non-ohmic properties of the SnO2 + 1%CoO + 0.05%Nb2O5 ceramic-based system was analyzed. Two classes of seeds were prepared: 99% SnO2 + 1%CuO and 99% SnO2 + 1%CoO (mol%); both classes were added to the ceramic-based system in the amount of 1%, 5%, and 10%. The two systems containing 1% of seeds resulted in a larger grain size and a lower breakdown voltage. The addition of 1% copper seeds produces a breakdown voltage (Vb) of ~ 37 V and a leakage current (fic) of 29 μA. On the other hand, the addition of 1% cobalt seeds produced a breakdown voltage of 57 V and a leakage current of 70 μA. Both systems are of great technological interest for low voltage varistor applications, by means of appropriate strategies to reduce the leakage current. Using larger amounts of seeds was not effective since the values of breakdown voltage in both cases are close to a system without seeds. To our knowledge, there are no reports in the literature regarding the use of seeds in the SnO2 system for low voltage applications. A potential barrier model which illustrates the formation of oxygen species (O′2(ads), O′ads, and O″ads) at the expense of clusters near the interface between grains is proposed.
Modelling hysteretic behaviour in magnetorheological fluids and dampers using phase-transition theory

A dynamical mathematical model is proposed to model the hysteretic behaviour of magnetorheological fluids and dampers using phase-transition theory. To construct the model involving hysteresis, the magnetorheological fluids are assumed to be switchable between different phases upon the application of a shear strain rate, with one solid-like phase and two fluid-like phases. The Landau theory for phase transition is employed to model the dynamics of the phase transition in the fluids. The proposed model is able to capture hysteresis loops, and is rate dependent (frequency dependent). A comparison between predicted and experimental behaviour of the damper is presented, and perfect agreement is obtained.
Decimal fraction representations are not distinct from natural number representations – evidence from a combined eye-tracking and computational modeling approach

Decimal fractions comply with the base-10 notational system of natural Arabic numbers. Nevertheless, recent research suggested that decimal fractions may be represented differently than natural numbers because two number processing effects (i.e., semantic interference and compatibility effects) differed in their size between decimal fractions and natural numbers. In the present study, we examined whether these differences indeed indicate that decimal fractions are represented differently from natural numbers. Therefore, we provided an alternative explanation for the semantic congruity effect, namely a string length congruity effect. Moreover, we suggest that the smaller compatibility effect for decimal fractions compared to natural numbers was driven by differences in processing strategy (sequential vs. parallel). To evaluate this claim, we manipulated the tenth and hundredth digits in a magnitude comparison task with participants’ eye movements recorded, while the unit digits remained identical. In addition, we evaluated whether our empirical findings could be simulated by an extended version of our computational model originally developed to simulate magnitude comparisons of two-digit natural numbers. In the eye-tracking study, we found evidence that participants processed decimal fractions more sequentially than natural numbers because of the identical leading digit. Importantly, our model was able to account for the smaller compatibility effect found for decimal fractions. Moreover, string length congruity was an alternative account for the prolonged reaction times for incongruent decimal pairs. Consequently, we suggest that representations of natural numbers and decimal fractions do not differ.
Investigation of the Antioxidant and Hepatoprotective Potential of Hypericum mysorense

Background: Hypericum is a well-known plant genus in herbal medicine. Hypericum mysorense (Family: Hypericaceae), a plant belonging to the same genus, is well known in folklore medicine for its varied therapeutic potential. Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the different parts of the plant for antioxidant and hepatoprotective properties. Materials and Methods: The methanol extracts of Hypericum mysorense prepared from various parts of the plant were tested in vitro for their free radical scavenging activity against ABTS• (diammonium salt), DPPH• (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl), NO•, O2•− and •OH radicals, using standard systems of assays. The total antioxidant capacity, total phenolic and total flavonoid content of the extracts were analyzed. Further, the leaf and flowering top extracts were tested for their in vivo antioxidant and hepatoprotective activities on Wistar rats using a carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatic injury model. Results: The leaf and flowering top extract showed potent antioxidant activity and also possessed highest total phenolic and flavonoid content. The antioxidant activity and the total phenolic and flavonoid content present in these extracts showed a good correlation. The leaf and flowering top extracts at 200 mg/kg restored aspartate amino transferase (ASAT), alanine amino transferase (ALAT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total bilirubin and protein levels significantly in CCl4-intoxicated rats. The tested extracts also showed a significant (p < 0.001) reduction in 2-thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) levels with an increase in SOD and CAT levels. The histopathology of liver did not show any toxicity after the treatment with the extracts. The active extracts were standardized using two marker compounds, hyperoside and rutin, which were isolated from the plant by HPLC. HPLC studies revealed that the maximum concentration of hyperoside and rutin is present in the flowering top extract.
Do Climate Models Underestimate the Sensitivity of Northern Hemisphere Sea Ice Cover

AbstractThe sensitivity of Northern Hemisphere sea ice cover to global temperature change is examined in a group of climate models and in the satellite-era observations. The models are found to have well-defined, distinguishable sensitivities in climate change experiments. The satellite-era observations show a larger sensitivity—a larger decline per degree of warming—than any of the models. To evaluate the role of natural variability in this discrepancy, the sensitivity probability density function is constructed based upon the observed trends and natural variability of multidecadal ice cover and global temperature trends in a long control run of the GFDL Climate Model, version 2.1 (CM2.1). This comparison shows that the model sensitivities range from about 1 to more than 2 pseudostandard deviations of the variability smaller than observations indicate. The impact of natural Atlantic multidecadal temperature trends (as simulated by the GFDL model) on the sensitivity distribution is examined and found to b.
Prediction of Lysine Ubiquitylation with Ensemble Classifier and Feature Selection

Ubiquitylation is an important process of post-translational modification. Correct identification of protein lysine ubiquitylation sites is of fundamental importance to understand the molecular mechanism of lysine ubiquitylation in biological systems. This paper develops a novel computational method to effectively identify the lysine ubiquitylation sites based on the ensemble approach. In the proposed method, 468 ubiquitylation sites from 323 proteins retrieved from the Swiss-Prot database were encoded into feature vectors by using four kinds of protein sequences information. An effective feature selection method was then applied to extract informative feature subsets. After different feature subsets were obtained by setting different starting points in the search procedure, they were used to train multiple random forests classifiers and then aggregated into a consensus classifier by majority voting. Evaluated by jackknife tests and independent tests respectively, the accuracy of the proposed predictor reached 76.82% for the training dataset and 79.16% for the test dataset, indicating that this predictor is a useful tool to predict lysine ubiquitylation sites. Furthermore, site-specific feature analysis was performed and it was shown that ubiquitylation is intimately correlated with the features of its surrounding sites in addition to features derived from the lysine site itself. The feature selection method is available upon request.