Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Incidence and prevalence of Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) in Poland - differences between rural and urban regions.

[b] Abstract Introduction. [/b] Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a rare and potentially severe connective tissue disease, characterized by skin fibrosis and involvement of internal organs. Because of its rarity and heterogeneous clinical presentation, reliable epidemiological studies on SSc have been particularly difficult to carry out. [b]Objectives[/b]. The purpose of this study was to present SSc epidemiology among hospitalized patients in Poland. MATERIALS AND METHOD The analysis was based on population-based administrative data, taken from a Polish hospital morbidity study carried out by the National Institute of Public Health between January 2008 - December 2012. [b]Results[/b]. Analyzed data covered 9,049 hospitalization records. The final sample comprised 3,653 patients with first-time hospitalizations for SSc. The average age of the sample was 53 years (SD 16.2; range 0-91 years); 84% of patients were female and 16% male. Based on hospitalization registers, the average SSc incidence was estimated to be 1.9/100,000 per year and peak age of incidence was 55 years. The point prevalence was estimated to be 9.4/100,000 at the end of 2012. SSc was more common in females, with F:M ratio ranging from 6.2:1-4.6:1 depending on the year. Analysis of hospitalization trends revealed that overall numbers of SSc hospitalizations increased, while first-time hospitalizations decreased between 2008-2012. Clusters of higher incidence were observed in more rural regions vs. urban regions. [b]Conclusion[/b]. Estimated incidence of SSc in Poland was comparable to reported incidence in other European countries. Analysis of demographic factors and reports of clusters of higher incidence may suggest the existence of environmental risk factors for the development of SSc. These observations may require further research.
CFD study of leakage flows in shroud cavities of a compressor impeller

The flow character in a gap between shroud disc of an impeller and a stator surface (shroud cavity) influences disc friction loss, labyrinth seal loss (parasitic losses) and thrust force. Flow calculations inside the shroud cavity of a model of centrifugal compressor stage and its labyrinth seal in a range of flow rates and axial width and radial gap are presented. The results are presented in terms of non-dimensional coefficients of flow, disc friction and seal leakage losses coefficients and pressure coefficient. The distributions meridional and tangential flow velocities correspond to the continuity and equilibrium equations – flow radial circulation exists in wide cavity and is absent in narrow cavities. The radial pressure distributions as measured and calculated are not fully comparable. The possible reason is that CFD-calculated leakage coefficient is less than calculated by A.Stodola formula. The influence of a cavity width on the losses and the thrust force requires a balanced design.
Identification of Quantitative Trait Loci Conditioning the Main Biomass Yield Components and Resistance to Melampsora spp. in Salix viminalis × Salix schwerinii Hybrids

The biomass of Salix viminalis is the most highly valued source of green energy, followed by S. schwerinii, S. dasyclados and other species. Significant variability in productivity and leaf rust resistance are noted both within and among willow species, which creates new opportunities for improving willow yield parameters through selection of desirable recombinants supported with molecular markers. The aim of this study was to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) linked with biomass yield-related traits and the resistance/susceptibility of Salix mapping population to leaf rust. The experimental material comprised a mapping population developed based on S. viminalis × S. schwerinii hybrids. Phenotyping was performed on plants grown in a field experiment that had a balanced incomplete block design with 10 replications. Based on a genetic map, 11 QTLs were identified for plant height, 9 for shoot diameter, 3 for number of shoots and 11 for resistance/susceptibility to leaf rust. The QTLs identified in our study explained 3%–16% of variability in the analyzed traits. Our findings make significant contributions to the development of willow breeding programs and research into shrubby willow crops grown for energy.
Prediction of PLL frequency discriminator non-linear distortion using the Volterra Series approach

The nonlinear distortion of a PLL frequency discriminator is addressed using the Volterra Series approach. The analysis, made entirely in the frequency domain, allows distortion calculations for periodic and non-periodic sets of discrete excitation frequencies and random inputs. It also includes, simultaneously, the two major sources of nonlinearity: Phase Detector and VCO.
Impact of online transesophageal echocardiographic simulation on learning to navigate the 20 standard views.

OBJECTIVE To overcome a challenge in transesophageal echocardiographic (TEE) training, an online virtual TEE simulation was developed that allows the user to navigate among the 20 standard views. The TEE probe position and ultrasound plane movements on a 3-dimensional heart model were displayed with the corresponding TEE video recording as the probe was moved among the views. DESIGN This study evaluated the educational benefit of the virtual TEE application using a pretest/post-test design. SETTING Single academic teaching hospital. PARTICIPANTS Ten postgraduate physician volunteers who were novice echocardiographers. INTERVENTIONS In a controlled environment, 10 study subjects completed a 20 multiple-choice question pretest, used the simulation for 1 hour, and then completed a 20 multiple-choice question post-test. Percentages of correct answers for each test were recorded for each subject. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS The hypothesis that the median improvement in the number of questions correctly answered was different from 0 was tested with a related-samples Wilcoxon signed-rank test. A p value <0.05 was considered significant. A 1-hour exposure to the virtual TEE simulation produced a significant improvement (p = 0.005) in the post-test score (median 80%) compared with the pretest score (median 20%). CONCLUSIONS Using the virtual TEE simulation for 1 hour significantly improves the trainees' knowledge of navigation among the 20 standard TEE views. This application freely is available on the Internet and will be a useful adjunct to TEE training programs.
An Intelligent System Based On Adaptive CTBN For Uncertainty Reasoning In Sensor Networks

Abstract ;onsisting of various sensing and computing devices deployed in a changing environrnent, a sensor network’s raw sensed data have many uncertainties. A natural way to deal with them is generating belief messages. Sensing objects continuously change with time, so are their beliefs. Therefore, dynamic models are required to monitor distributed states in the system. This paper presents a CTBN based intelligent system for modeling dynamics and processing uncertainties in sensor networks. Algorithms for message passing and parameter updating for adapting the model to the changing environrnent are provided. The effectiveness of the system is shown in experiments.
HETEROZYGOSITY AND GROWTH IN MARINE BIVALVES: COMMENTS ON THE PAPER BY ZOUROS, ROMERO‐DOREY, AND MALLET (1988)

relationship between heterozygosity and growth rate in the coot clam, Mulinia lateralis. Genetics 118: 121-130. LERNER, I. M. 1954. Genetic Homeostasis. Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh, U.K. MITTON, J. B. , AND M. C. GRANT. 1984. Associations among protein heterozygosity, growth rate, and developmental homeostasis. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 15: 479-499. NEI,M. 1987. Molecular Evolutionary Genetics. Columbia Univ. Press, N.Y. PEMBERTON, J. M. , S. D. ALBON, F. E. GUINNESS, T. H. CLurrON-BROCK, AND R. J. BERRY. 1988. Genetic variation and juvenile survival in red deer. Evolution 42:921-934. RICE, W. R. 1989. Analyzing tables ofstatistical tests. Evolution 43:223-225. SCHULTZ, B. 1983. On Levene's test and other statistics of variation. Evol. Theor. 6:197-203. SMOUSE, P. E. 1986. The fitness consequences ofmultiple-Iocus heterozygosity under the multiplicative overdominance and inbreeding depression models. Evolution 40:946-957. WOODRUFF, D. S. 1978. Evolution and adaptive ra-
Energy harvesting ASIC for autonomous sensors

In this paper, we present a blackout and brownout insensitive energy harvesting ASIC for ultra-low power autonomous sensor applications. It utilizes both RF or DC power inputs to deliver a regulated voltage for on-chip and off-chip devices. A voltage limiter has been integrated for overvoltage protection. As the ASIC utilizes two regulators alternately, a kick-start method has been used for switching the operation mode. The ASIC is implemented in a 0.18 μm CMOS process. It is able to use a wide range of input DC voltages (0.8.2 V at -40.85 °C) or input AC powers down to -14 dBm.
Memory-Efficient Analysis of Dense Functional Connectomes

The functioning of the human brain relies on the interplay and integration of numerous individual units within a complex network. To identify network configurations characteristic of specific cognitive tasks or mental illnesses, functional connectomes can be constructed based on the assessment of synchronous fMRI activity at separate brain sites, and then analyzed using graph-theoretical concepts. In most previous studies, relatively coarse parcellations of the brain were used to define regions as graphical nodes. Such parcellated connectomes are highly dependent on parcellation quality because regional and functional boundaries need to be relatively consistent for the results to be interpretable. In contrast, dense connectomes are not subject to this limitation, since the parcellation inherent to the data is used to define graphical nodes, also allowing for a more detailed spatial mapping of connectivity patterns. However, dense connectomes are associated with considerable computational demands in terms of both time and memory requirements. The memory required to explicitly store dense connectomes in main memory can render their analysis infeasible, especially when considering high-resolution data or analyses across multiple subjects or conditions. Here, we present an object-based matrix representation that achieves a very low memory footprint by computing matrix elements on demand instead of explicitly storing them. In doing so, memory required for a dense connectome is reduced to the amount needed to store the underlying time series data. Based on theoretical considerations and benchmarks, different matrix object implementations and additional programs (based on available Matlab functions and Matlab-based third-party software) are compared with regard to their computational efficiency. The matrix implementation based on on-demand computations has very low memory requirements, thus enabling analyses that would be otherwise infeasible to conduct due to insufficient memory. An open source software package containing the created programs is available for download.
Kinetics of tetramolecular quadruplexes

The melting of tetramolecular DNA or RNA quadruplexes is kinetically irreversible. However, rather than being a hindrance, this kinetic inertia allows us to study association and dissociation processes independently. From a kinetic point of view, the association reaction is fourth order in monomer and the dissociation first order in quadruplex. The association rate constant kon, expressed in M−3·s−1 decreases with increasing temperature, reflecting a negative activation energy (Eon) for the sequences presented here. Association is favored by an increase in monocation concentration. The first-order dissociation process is temperature dependent, with a very positive activation energy Eoff, but nearly ionic strength independent. General rules may be drawn up for various DNA and RNA sequence motifs, involving 3–6 consecutive guanines and 0–5 protruding bases. RNA quadruplexes are more stable than their DNA counterparts as a result of both faster association and slower dissociation. In most cases, no dissociation is found for G-tracts of 5 guanines or more in sodium, 4 guanines or more in potassium. The data collected here allow us to predict the amount of time required for 50% (or 90%) quadruplex formation as a function of strand sequence and concentration, temperature and ionic strength.
Variance Reduced Stochastic Gradient Descent with Sufficient Decrease

The sufficient decrease technique has been widely used in deterministic optimization, even for non-convex optimization problems, such as line-search techniques. Motivated by those successes, we propose a novel sufficient decrease framework for a class of variance reduced stochastic gradient descent (VR-SGD) methods such as SVRG and SAGA. In order to make sufficient decrease for stochastic optimization, we design a new sufficient decrease criterion. We then introduce a coefficient \theta to satisfy the sufficient decrease property, which takes the decisions to shrink, expand or move in the opposite direction (i.e., \theta x for the variable x), and give two specific update rules for Lasso and ridge regression. Moreover, we analyze the convergence properties of our algorithms for strongly convex problems, which show that both of our algorithms attain linear convergence rates. We also provide the convergence guarantees of both of our algorithms for non-strongly convex problems. Our experimental results further verify that our algorithms achieve better performance than their counterparts.
Increased Neutralizing Antibody Response after Simultaneous Immunization with Leucogen and the Feline Leukemia Virus Transmembrane Protein

To develop improved vaccination strategies against feline leukemia virus (FeLV), rats were immunized with the transmembrane envelope protein p15E of FeLV alone or in combination with the commercial vaccine Leucogen® comprising the nonglycosylated FeLV surface envelope protein. Binding and neutralizing antibodies were induced in both groups and in the group immunized with Leucogen alone. Higher titers of antibodies neutralizing FeLV were induced by simultaneous immunization with Leucogen and p15E compared to the responses using Leucogen or p15E alone, suggesting that combination vaccines should be used in the future. Epitope mapping of p15E-specific antibodies induced by simultaneous immunization with Leucogen and p15E revealed the same pattern of response as obtained after immunization with p15E alone: one epitope was localized in the membrane-proximal external region (MPER) and the other in the fusion peptide-proximal region, and they are related to the epitopes detected after immunization with p15E of the porcine endogenous retrovirus and the koala retrovirus. The data indicate that these epitopes in the MPER are an effective target for neutralization and that antigens containing them may therefore prove to be a useful component of vaccines against retroviruses, including HIV-1.
The role of minor mergers in the recent star formation history of early-type galaxies

We demonstrate that the large scatter in the ultra-violet (UV) colours of intermediate- mass early-type galaxies in the local Universe and the inferred low-level recent star formation in these objects can be reproduced by minor mergers in the standardCDM cosmology. Numerical simulations of mergers with mass ratios � 1:4, with reasonable assumptions for the ages, metallicities and dust properties of the merger progenitors, produce good agreement to the observed UV colours of the early-type population, if the infalling satellites are assumed to have (cold) gas fractions � 20%. Early-types that sat- isfy (NUV r) . 3.8 are likely to have experienced mergers with mass ratios between 1:4 and 1:6 within the last � 1.5 Gyrs, while those that satisfy 3.8 < (NUV r) < 5.5 are consistent with either recent mergers with mass ratios � 1:6 or mergers with higher mass ratios that occurred more than � 1.5 Gyrs in the past. We demonstrate that the early-type colour-magnitude relations and colour distributions in both the UV and optical spectral ranges are consistent with the expected frequency of minor merging activity in the standardCDM cosmology at low redshift. We present a strong plausi- bility argument for minor mergers to be the principal mechanism behind the large UV scatter and associated low-level recent star formation observed in early-type galaxies in the nearby Universe.
The RPG gene of Medicago truncatula controls Rhizobium-directed polar growth during infection

Rhizobia can infect roots of host legume plants and induce new organs called nodules, in which they fix atmospheric nitrogen. Infection generally starts with root hair curling, then proceeds inside newly formed, intracellular tubular structures called infection threads. A successful symbiotic interaction relies on infection threads advancing rapidly at their tips by polar growth through successive cell layers of the root toward developing nodule primordia. To identify a plant component that controls this tip growth process, we characterized a symbiotic mutant of Medicago truncatula, called rpg for rhizobium-directed polar growth. In this mutant, nitrogen-fixing nodules were rarely formed due to abnormally thick and slowly progressing infection threads. Root hair curling was also abnormal, indicating that the RPG gene fulfils an essential function in the process whereby rhizobia manage to dominate the process of induced tip growth for root hair infection. Map-based cloning of RPG revealed a member of a previously unknown plant-specific gene family encoding putative long coiled-coil proteins we have called RRPs (RPG-related proteins) and characterized by an “RRP domain” specific to this family. RPG expression was strongly associated with rhizobial infection, and the RPG protein showed a nuclear localization, indicating that this symbiotic gene constitutes an important component of symbiotic signaling.
Relationship between FKBP5 polymorphisms and depression symptoms among kidney transplant recipients

Background: Several polymorphisms in FK506 Binding Protein gene (FKBP5) and a history of child abuse have been shown to be associated with an increased risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It has also been demonstrated that the same polymorphisms of FKBP5 are associated with increased recurrence of depressive episodes and rapid response to antidepressant treatment. However, there are only limited numbers of studies replicating the polymorphisms as vulnerability factors for the development of mental illnesses, such as PTSD and depression after stressful life event, especially with a specific incidence, such as kidney transplant surgery. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted using the electronic medical records of 131 adult kidney transplant recipients. Depression severity after kidney transplantation was measured by PHQ‐9, and stored blood was genotyped for variants in the Serotonin Transporter (SLC6A4), Brain‐Derived Neurotrophic Factor, Catecholamine‐O‐Methyltransferase, Corticotropin‐Releasing Hormone Receptor, and FKBP5 genes. Spearman correlations were used to test for association between genetic variants and depression severity. Results: The rare alleles at three out of four SNPs in FKBP5 (rs1360780, rs9296158, and rs9470080) were associated with increased PHQ‐9 scores (P<.05), whereas the last FKBP5 SNP (rs3800373) showed a trend of association (P<.10). All four FKBP5 SNPs are in strong linkage disequilibrium. Although in a subgroup of Caucasian non‐Hispanic subjects the association was not statistically significant, the direction of association was consistent with that observed in the entire sample as well as in previous studies. Polymorphisms in genes other than FKBP5 were not associated with PHQ‐9 scores. Conclusions: Polymorphisms in FKBP5 may be associated with higher depression scores in kidney transplant recipients. Depression and Anxiety, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Superconformal Chern-Simons Theories and AdS(4)/CFT(3) Correspondence

We discuss the N = 2 superspace formulation of the N = 8 superconformal Bagger-Lambert-Gustavsson theory, and of the N = 6 superconformal Aharony-Bergman-Jafferis-Maldacena U(N) x U(N) Chern-Simons theory. In particular, we prove the full SU(4)R-symmetry of the ABJM theory. We then consider orbifold projections of this theory that give non-chiral and chiral (U( N) x U(N))(n) superconformal quiver gauge theories. We argue that these theories are dual to certain AdS(4) x S-7/(Z(n) x Z (k$) over tilde) backgrounds of M-theory. We also study a SU(3) invariant mass term in the superpotential that makes the N = 8 theory flow to a N = 2 superconformal gauge theory with a sextic superpotential. We conjecture that this gauge theory is dual to the U(1)(R) x SU(3) invariant extremum of the N = 8 gauged supergravity, which was discovered by N. Warner 25 years ago and whose uplifting to 11 dimensions was found more recently.
Glycerol-3-Phosphate Levels Are Associated with Basal Resistance to the Hemibiotrophic Fungus Colletotrichum higginsianum in Arabidopsis1[W][OA]

Glycerol-3-phosphate (G3P) is an important component of carbohydrate and lipid metabolic processes. In this article, we provide evidence that G3P levels in plants are associated with defense to a hemibiotrophic fungal pathogen Colletotrichum higginsianum. Inoculation of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) with C. higginsianum was correlated with an increase in G3P levels and a concomitant decrease in glycerol levels in the host. Plants impaired in utilization of plastidial G3P (act1) accumulated elevated levels of pathogen-induced G3P and displayed enhanced resistance. Furthermore, overexpression of the host GLY1 gene, which encodes a G3P dehydrogenase (G3Pdh), conferred enhanced resistance. In contrast, the gly1 mutant accumulated reduced levels of G3P after pathogen inoculation and showed enhanced susceptibility to C. higginsianum. Unlike gly1, a mutation in a cytosolic isoform of G3Pdh did not alter basal resistance to C. higginsianum. Furthermore, act1 gly1 double-mutant plants were as susceptible as the gly1 plants. Increased resistance or susceptibility of act1 and gly1 plants to C. higginsianum, respectively, was not due to effects of these mutations on salicylic acid- or ethylene-mediated defense pathways. The act1 mutation restored a wild-type-like response in camalexin-deficient pad3 plants, which were hypersusceptible to C. higginsianum. These data suggest that G3P-associated resistance to C. higginsianum occurs independently or downstream of the camalexin pathway. Together, these results suggest a novel and specific link between G3P metabolism and plant defense.