Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Electrocardiographic Localization of Coronary Artery Narrowings: Studies During Myocardial Ischemia and Infarction in Patients with One‐vessel Disease

To investigate the accuracy of the 12‐lead ECG in localizing the site of coronary artery narrowings, we reviewed abnormal ECGs obtained during myocardial infarction, spontaneous angina or exercise stress testing in 134 patients with angiographically documented one‐vessel disease. The presence of Q waves, ST‐segment elevation and T‐wave inversion in leads I, aVL and V1‐V4 were all highly correlated with the presence of left anterior descending coronary artery disease (p < 0.001), and the same ECG findings in leads II, III and aVF were associated with right (RCA) or circumflex coronary artery (LCx) narrowings (p < 0.001). In contrast, ST depression alone was not useful in predicting the site of coronary artery narrowing. Q waves correctly identified the location of the coronary disease in 98% of cases, ST elevation in 91%, T-wave inversion in 84%, and ST depression in 60%. No electrocardiographic criteria distinguished RCA from LCx disease, even in patients with a right-dominant circulation. These findings should lead to a better understanding of the value and limitations of the 12-lead ECG in localizing coronary artery disease.
Genetic determinants of age-related macular degeneration in diverse populations from the PAGE study.

PURPOSE Substantial progress has been made in identifying susceptibility variants for AMD in European populations; however, few studies have been conducted to understand the role these variants play in AMD risk in diverse populations. The present study aims to examine AMD risk across diverse populations in known and suspected AMD complement factor and lipid-related loci. METHODS Targeted genotyping was performed across study sites for AMD and lipid trait-associated single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs). Genetic association tests were performed at individual sites and then meta-analyzed using logistic regression assuming an additive genetic model stratified by self-described race/ethnicity. Participants included cases with early or late AMD and controls with no signs of AMD as determined by fundus photography. Populations included in this study were European Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, and Singaporeans from the Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) study. RESULTS Index variants of AMD, rs1061170 (CFH) and rs10490924 (ARMS2), were associated with AMD at P=3.05×10(-8) and P=6.36×10(-6), respectively, in European Americans. In general, none of the major AMD index variants generalized to our non-European populations with the exception of rs10490924 in Mexican Americans at an uncorrected P value<0.05. Four lipid-associated SNPS (LPL rs328, TRIB1 rs6987702, CETP rs1800775, and KCTD10/MVK rs2338104) were associated with AMD in African Americans and Mexican Americans (P<0.05), but these associations did not survive strict corrections for multiple testing. CONCLUSIONS While most associations did not generalize in the non-European populations, variants within lipid-related genes were found to be associated with AMD. This study highlights the need for larger well-powered studies in non-European populations.
Unmixed and prime decomposition of radicals of polynomial ideals

A method is presented for decomposing the radical of any finitely generated polynomial ideal into unmixed radical ideals or prime ideals. It proceeds by first computing simple systems of irreducible triangular systems using algorithms based on subresultant regular subchains and then computing the generating sets for the unmixed or prime ideals from the corresponding triangular sets using ideal saturation. The method method has been implemented in Maple V.
Topological Structure of the Space of Phenotypes: The Case of RNA Neutral Networks

The evolution and adaptation of molecular populations is constrained by the diversity accessible through mutational processes. RNA is a paradigmatic example of biopolymer where genotype (sequence) and phenotype (approximated by the secondary structure fold) are identified in a single molecule. The extreme redundancy of the genotype-phenotype map leads to large ensembles of RNA sequences that fold into the same secondary structure and can be connected through single-point mutations. These ensembles define neutral networks of phenotypes in sequence space. Here we analyze the topological properties of neutral networks formed by 12-nucleotides RNA sequences, obtained through the exhaustive folding of sequence space. A total of 412 sequences fragments into 645 subnetworks that correspond to 57 different secondary structures. The topological analysis reveals that each subnetwork is far from being random: it has a degree distribution with a well-defined average and a small dispersion, a high clustering coefficient, and an average shortest path between nodes close to its minimum possible value, i.e. the Hamming distance between sequences. RNA neutral networks are assortative due to the correlation in the composition of neighboring sequences, a feature that together with the symmetries inherent to the folding process explains the existence of communities. Several topological relationships can be analytically derived attending to structural restrictions and generic properties of the folding process. The average degree of these phenotypic networks grows logarithmically with their size, such that abundant phenotypes have the additional advantage of being more robust to mutations. This property prevents fragmentation of neutral networks and thus enhances the navigability of sequence space. In summary, RNA neutral networks show unique topological properties, unknown to other networks previously described.
Generalized Mosaicing : High Dynamic Range in a Wide Field of View 247

We present an approach that significantly enhances the capabilities of traditional image mosaicking. The key observation is that as a camera moves, it senses each scene point multiple times. We rigidly attach to the camera an optical filter with spatially varying properties, so that multiple measurements are obtained for each scene point under different optical settings. Fusing the data captured in the multiple images yields an image mosaic that includes additional information about the scene. We refer to this approach as generalized mosaicing. In this paper we show that this approach can significantly extend the optical dynamic range of any given imaging system by exploiting vignetting effects. We derive the optimal vignetting configuration and implement it using an external filter with spatially varying transmittance. We also derive efficient scene sampling conditions as well as ways to self calibrate the vignetting effects. Maximum likelihood is used for image registration and fusion. In an experiment we mounted such a filter on a standard 8-bit video camera, to obtain an image panorama with dynamic range comparable to imaging with a 16-bit camera.
Microscopic Observations of Pulsating Aurora Associated With Chorus Element Structures: Coordinated Arase Satellite‐PWING Observations

Rapid (<1 s) intensity modulation of pulsating auroras is caused by successive chorus elements as a response to wave‐particle interactions in the magnetosphere. Here we found that a pulsating auroral patch responds to the time spacing for successive chorus elements and possibly to chorus subpacket structures with a time scale of tens of milliseconds. These responses were identified from coordinated Arase satellite and ground (Gakona, Alaska) observations with a high‐speed auroral imager (100 Hz). The temporal variations of auroral intensity in a few‐hertz frequency range exhibited a spatial concentration at the lower‐latitude edge of the auroral patch. The spatial evolution of the auroral patch showed repeated expansion/contraction with tens of kilometer scales in the ionosphere, which could be spatial behaviors in the wave‐particle interactions. These observations indicate that chorus elements evolve coherently within the auroral patch, which is approximately 900 km in the radial and longitudinal directions at the magnetic equator.
Accelerometry-Based Classification of Human Activities Using Markov Modeling

Accelerometers are a popular choice as body-motion sensors: the reason is partly in their capability of extracting information that is useful for automatically inferring the physical activity in which the human subject is involved, beside their role in feeding biomechanical parameters estimators. Automatic classification of human physical activities is highly attractive for pervasive computing systems, whereas contextual awareness may ease the human-machine interaction, and in biomedicine, whereas wearable sensor systems are proposed for long-term monitoring. This paper is concerned with the machine learning algorithms needed to perform the classification task. Hidden Markov Model (HMM) classifiers are studied by contrasting them with Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) classifiers. HMMs incorporate the statistical information available on movement dynamics into the classification process, without discarding the time history of previous outcomes as GMMs do. An example of the benefits of the obtained statistical leverage is illustrated and discussed by analyzing two datasets of accelerometer time series.
Factors Secreted by Endothelial Progenitor Cells Enhance Neurorepair Responses after Cerebral Ischemia in Mice

Cell therapy with endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) has emerged as a promising strategy to regenerate the brain after stroke. Here, we aimed to investigate if treatment with EPCs or their secreted factors could potentiate angiogenesis and neurogenesis after permanent focal cerebral ischemia in a mouse model of ischemic stroke. BALB/C male mice were subjected to distal occlusion of the middle cerebral artery, and EPCs, cell-free conditioned media (CM) obtained from EPCs, or vehicle media were administered one day after ischemia. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed at baseline to confirm that the lesions were similar between groups. Immunohistochemical and histological evaluation of the brain was performed to evaluate angio-neurogenesis and neurological outcome at two weeks. CM contained growth factors, such as VEGF, FGF-b and PDGF-bb. A significant increase in capillary density was noted in the peri-infarct areas of EPC- and CM-treated animals. Bielschowsky’s staining revealed a significant increase in axonal rewiring in EPC-treated animals compared with shams, but not in CM-treated mice, in close proximity with DCX-positive migrating neuroblasts. At the functional level, post-ischemia forelimb strength was significantly improved in animals receiving EPCs or CM, but not in those receiving vehicle media. In conclusion, we demonstrate for the first time that the administration of EPC-secreted factors could become a safe and effective cell-free option to be considered in future therapeutic strategies for stroke.
DNA fragmentation status in patients with necrozoospermia

The aim of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between the levels of sperm DNA fragmentation and necrospermia in infertile men. Semen samples obtained from 70 men consulting for infertility evaluation were analyzed according to World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. Patients were subdivided into three groups according to the percentage of necrotic spermatozoa: normozoospermia (<30%; n = 20), moderate necrozoospermia (50-80%; n = 30), and severe necrozoospermia (>80%; n = 20). DNA fragmentation was detected by the terminal desoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate biotin nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assay. The sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI) was 9.28 ± 2.98% in patients with a normal level of necrotic spermatozoa, 20.25 ± 3.21% in patients with moderate necrozoospermia, and 35.31 ± 5.25% in patients with severe necrozoospermia. There was a statistically significant increase of DNA fragmentation in the necrozoospermic group (P < 0.01). A strong correlation was found between the degree of necrozoospermia and sperm DNA fragmentation. We concluded that patients with necrozoospermia showed a high level of DNA fragmentation compared to normozoospermic men. Severe necrozoospermia (>80%) is a predictive factor for increased sperm DNA damage.
Wearable motion sensor based phasic analysis of tennis serve for performance feedback

Recent trends show that wearable devices embedded with high-range sensors play a significant role in tracking health and fitness, including sports activities. For crucial analysis of tennis as a sport, this paper describes a serve analytics engine that provides feedback to players for enhancing their serve performance while preventing potential injuries. By utilizing the information of inertial sensors from the wrist of a player and using serve kinetics, the engine segregates sensor signals into various serve keypoints: start, trophy pose, cocking position, impact and finish. Motion between these keypoints constitutes serve phases like backswing, pronation, follow-through, which are compared against corresponding phases of professionals or related statistics in biomechanical studies. Such comparisons using machine learning techniques enable us to provide players with insights into their playing styles and corrective feedback.
Specific assembly pathway of sarcoglycans is dependent on beta‐ and delta‐sarcoglycan

Mutations in sarcoglycans (SG) have been reported to cause autosomal‐recessive limb‐girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) and dilated cardiomyopathy. In skeletal and cardiac muscle, sarcoglycans exist as a complex of four transmembrane proteins (α‐, β‐, γ‐, and δ‐SG). In this study, the assembly of the sarcoglycan complex was examined in a heterologous expression system. Our results demonstrated that the assembly process occurs as a discrete stepwise process. We found that β‐SG appears to play an initiating role and its association with δ‐SG is essential for the proper localization of the sarcoglycan complex to the cell membrane. The incorporation of α‐SG into the sarcoglycan complex occurs at the final stage by interaction with γ‐SG. These findings were supported by chemical cross‐linking of endogenous sarcoglycans in cultured myotubes. We have also provided evidence that glycosylation‐defective mutations in β‐SG and a common mutation in γ‐SG (C283Y) disrupt sarcoglycan‐complex formation. Our proposed model for the assembly and structure of sarcoglycans should generate important insight into their function in muscle as well as their role in muscular dystrophies and cardiomyopathies. Muscle Nerve 29: 409–419, 2004
Effects of matrix cracking on the estimation of operational limits of FRP laminates

Probabilistic failure analyses of structures are performed in order to determine the loading operational limits with respect to different degrees of safety. To guarantee an accurate prediction by numerical simulation, it is necessary to account for all the major sources of uncertainty and natural variation. Most probabilistic analyses disregard the degradation of the laminate’s properties caused by matrix cracking. The objective of this investigation is to determine the effects that matrix cracks have on the estimation of operational limits through probabilistic analyses. The analyses compare the predictions of different models that consider some of the effects of the development of matrix cracks during loading. The importance of the methodology for taking into account matrix cracking in probabilistic failure analyses is discussed.
Semantic QoS Metric Matching

As the Web service paradigm gains popularity for its promise to transform the way business is conducted, the number of deployed Web services grows with a fast rate. While sophisticated semantic discovery mechanisms have been invented to overcome the UDDI's syntactic discovery solution in order to provide more recallable and precise results, the amount of functionally equivalent Web services returned is still large. The solution to this problem is the description of the QoS non-functional aspect of Web services. QoS encompasses the performance of Web services and can be used as a discriminator factor for refining Web service advertisement result lists. However, most scientific efforts presented so far are purely syntactic and are not capturing all aspects of QoS-based Web service description leading to imprecise syntactic discovery mechanisms. This paper presents a novel, rich and extensible ontology-based approach for describing QoS of Web services that complements OWL-S. It is shown that, by using this approach and by introducing the concept of semantic QoS metric matching, QoS-based syntactic matchmaking and selection algorithms are transformed to semantic ones leading to better results
Application of Natural Sorbents in Crude Oil Adsorption

In last decades, oil spill pollution has become an important issue of concern due to its serious environmental impacts; therefore, necessary actions should be taken to prevent or reduce these types of pollution and their environmental consequences. Natural organic sorbents are emerging as proper choices for oil spill cleanup due to their availability, eco-friendliness, and low cost. In this study, phragmites australis, sugarcane leaves straw, and sugarcane bagasse were used for crude oil sorption in dry (only oil) systems. The results indicated that sugarcane bagasse had a higher oil sorption capacity compared to the others. Therefore, sugarcane bagasse was selected as the preferred sorbent and the effects of sorbent contact time and its particle size on oil adsorption capacity were evaluated for the systems of dry and crude oil layer on water. The results showed that the maximum adsorption capacity of raw sugarcane bagasse for dry system and crude oil layer system was about 8 and 6.6 gram crude oil per gram sorbent respectively.
Diverse societies are more productive: a lesson from ants

The fitness consequences of animal personalities (also known as behavioural syndromes) have recently been studied in several solitary species. However, the adaptive significance of collective personalities in social insects and especially of behavioural variation among group members remains largely unexplored. Although intracolonial behavioural variation is an important component of division of labour, and as such a key feature for the success of societies, empirical links between behavioural variation and fitness are scarce. We investigated aggression, exploration and brood care behaviour in Temnothorax longispinosus ant colonies. We focused on two distinct aspects: intercolonial variability and its consistency across time and contexts, and intracolonial variability and its influence on productivity. Aggressiveness was consistent over four to five months with a new generation of workers emerging in between trial series. Other behaviours were not consistent over time. Exploration of novel environments responded to the sequence of assays: colonies were faster in discovering when workers previously encountered opponents in aggression experiments. Suites of correlated behaviours (e.g. aggression–exploration syndrome) present in the first series did not persist over time. Finally, colonies with more intracolonial behavioural variation in brood care and exploration of novel objects were more productive under standardized conditions than colonies with less variation.
Spectrum and frequencies of mutations in MSH2 and MLH1 identified in 1,721 German families suspected of hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer

Mutations in DNA MMR genes, mainly MSH2 and MLH1, account for the majority of HNPCC, an autosomal dominant predisposition to colorectal cancer and other malignancies. The evaluation of many questions regarding HNPCC requires clinically and genetically well‐characterized HNPCC patient cohorts of reasonable size. One main focus of this multicenter study is the evaluation of the mutation spectrum and mutation frequencies in a large HNPCC cohort in Germany; 1,721 unrelated patients, mainly of German descent, who met the Bethesda criteria were included in the study. In tumor samples of 1,377 patients, microsatellite analysis was successfully performed and the results were applied to select patients eligible for mutation analysis. In the patients meeting the strict Amsterdam criteria (AC) for HNPCC, 72% of the tumors exhibited high microsatellite instability (MSI‐H) while only 37% of the tumors from patients fulfilling the less stringent criteria showed MSI‐H; 454 index patients (406 MSI‐H and 48 meeting the AC of whom no tumor samples were available) were screened for small mutations. In 134 index patients, a pathogenic MSH2 mutation, and in 118 patients, a pathogenic MLH1 mutation was identified (overall detection rate for pathogenic mutations 56%). One hundred sixty distinct mutations were detected, of which 86 are novel mutations. Noteworthy is that 2 mutations were over‐represented in our patient series: MSH2,c.942+3A>T and MLH1,c. 1489_1490insC, which account for 11% and 18% of the MSH2 and MLH1 mutations, respectively. A subset of 238 patients was screened for large genomic deletions. In 24 (10%) patients, a deletion was found. In 72 patients, only unspecified variants were found. Our findings demonstrate that preselection by microsatellite analysis substantially raises mutation detection rates in patients not meeting the AC. As a mutation detection strategy for German HNPCC patients, we recommend to start with screening for large genomic deletions and to continue by screening for common mutations in exon 5 of MSH2 and exon 13 of MLH1 before searching for small mutations in the remaining exons. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Impact of Emotions on Probabilistic Decision Making A Research Proposal

A variable displacement compressor includes a bleed passage for releasing gas from a crank chamber to a suction chamber and a supply passage for supplying gas from a discharge chamber to the crank chamber. A control valve includes an outlet valve mechanism located in the bleed passage and an inlet valve mechanism located in the supply passage. When the inlet valve mechanism is in the open state, the outlet valve mechanism is in the closed state. An outlet valve body of the outlet valve mechanism has a communication passage. When the outlet valve mechanism is in the closed state, the communication passage is opened to communicate the crank chamber with the suction chamber. Therefore, when the compressor is operating at the minimum displacement, a gas circuit is positively formed within the compressor, and atomized lubricant in refrigerant gas positively lubricates the moving parts of the compressor.
Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience Integrative Neuroscience

It is believed that enduring neuronal plasticity underlies long-term memory storage (mnemonic plasticity; Kim and Linden, 2007). The neocortical CaMKII expression related to synaptic plasticity is critical for remote spatial memory formation (Frankland et al., 2001; Tanaka et al., 2008). However the exact nature of enduring functional and structural neuronal correlates for remote WM memories remains undetermined. Sparse information representation in the brain (Laughlin and Sejnowski, 2003; Waydo et al., 2006) and lack of detailed knowledge of cortical circuitries underlying remote memory make it diffi cult to detect sparsely distributed enduring memory correlates (Xu et al., 2009; Yang et al., 2009). On the other hand, neurons active during memory recall might highlight stor-ages sites that express mnemonic plasticity. Thus, the stereotypi-cal or well-ordered organization of memory-related activity could facilitate detection of enduring storage correlates because it could point to the most common storage sites across the entire cortex. Microcircuits across the entire neocortex are characterized by a number of common types of neurons connected in similar pat