Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mixture toxicity in the marine environment: Model development and evidence for synergism at environmental concentrations

Little is known about the effect of metal mixtures on marine organisms, especially after exposure to environmentally realistic concentrations. This information is, however, required to evaluate the need to include mixtures in future environmental risk assessment procedures. We assessed the effect of copper (Cu)–Nickel (Ni) binary mixtures on Mytilus edulis larval development using a full factorial design that included environmentally relevant metal concentrations and ratios. The reproducibility of the results was assessed by repeating this experiment 5 times. The observed mixture effects were compared with the effects predicted with the concentration addition model. Deviations from the concentration addition model were estimated using a Markov chain Monte‐Carlo algorithm. This enabled the accurate estimation of the deviations and their uncertainty. The results demonstrated reproducibly that the type of interaction—synergism or antagonism—mainly depended on the Ni concentration. Antagonism was observed at high Ni concentrations, whereas synergism occurred at Ni concentrations as low as 4.9 μg Ni/L. This low (and realistic) Ni concentration was 1% of the median effective concentration (EC50) of Ni or 57% of the Ni predicted‐no‐effect concentration (PNEC) in the European Union environmental risk assessment. It is concluded that results from mixture studies should not be extrapolated to concentrations or ratios other than those investigated and that significant mixture interactions can occur at environmentally realistic concentrations. This should be accounted for in (marine) environmental risk assessment of metals. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:3471–3479. © 2017 SETAC.
Single RF Channel Digital Beamforming Array Antenna Based on Compressed Sensing for Large-Scale Antenna Applications

A single radio frequency (RF) channel digital beamforming (DBF) array antenna based on compressed sensing (CS) was proposed to reduce the hardware costs, power consumption, and the design complexity of large-scale DBF systems. For DBF antenna systems, the general way to obtain the signals received by each sensor is to connect each sensor to an independent RF receiver channel. When the array contains a large number of sensors, the multichannel signal sampling scheme makes the system power hungry and expensive. A time sequence phase weighting (TSPW) technology provides a solution to this problem. The TSPW antenna array can obtain the signals received by each sensor with only one RF receiver channel by sequentially sampling the specific single channel signals, which are produced by the TSPW array. However, the number of single channel samples scales linearly with the number of sensors. The sampling time will be so long as to be unacceptable when the array contains a large number of sensors. To overcome this problem, we introduced CS theory to the TSPW array. With the help of CS, the sampling frequency can be simultaneously reduced in both time and spatial domain, which correspond to the reduction of the number of both the samples and sensors. Theoretical analyses have been proposed to show the conditions that should be met for successful reconstruction. The simulation results from an X-band array with an aperture size of $80\lambda $ under the signal-to-noise ratio of 15 dB and the scenario of six targets showed that the proposed array could save above 63.1% of sensor numbers and above 84.4% in sampling time when compared with those of conventional TSPW arrays.
Continuous hindi speech recognition model based on Kaldi ASR toolkit

In this paper, continuous Hindi speech recognition model using Kaldi toolkit is presented. For recognition, MFCC and PLP features are extracted from 1000 phonetically balanced Hindi sentence from AMUAV corpus. Acoustic modeling was performed using GMM-HMM and decoding is performed on so called HCLG which is construted from Weight Finite State Transducers (WFSTs). Performance of both monophone and triphone model using N-gram language model is reported which is computed in term of word error rate (WER). A significant reduction in word error rate (WER) was observed using the triphone model. Further, it was found that MFCC feature provide higher recognition accuracy than PLP feature. Goal is to show the performance of Hindi language using present state-of-the-art (Kaldi) system.
Cervical or Thoracic Anastomosis after Esophagectomy for Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Cervical anastomosis and thoracic anastomosis are used for gastric tube reconstruction after esophagectomy for cancer. This systematic review was conducted in order to identify randomized trials that compare cervical with thoracic anastomosis. Methods: A literature search for randomized trials was performed in the following databases: Medline, Embase and the Cochrane Library. Results: A total of 4 trials were included. All studies had a small sample size and were of moderate quality. One trial was excluded from the meta-analysis. The following outcomes were significantly associated with a cervical anastomosis: recurrent laryngeal nerve trauma (OR: 7.14; 95% CI: 1.75–29.14; p = 0.006) and anastomotic leakage (OR: 3.43; 95% CI: 1.09–10.78; p = 0.03). None of the following outcomes were associated with the location of the anastomosis: pulmonary complications (OR: 0.86; 95% CI: 0.13–5.59; p = 0.87), perioperative mortality (OR: 1.24; 95% CI: 0.35–4.41; p = 0.74), benign stricture formation (OR: 0.79; 95% CI: 0.17–3.87; p = 0.79) or tumor recurrence (OR: 2.01; 95% CI: 0.68–5.91; p = 0.21). Conclusion: Cervical anastomosis could be associated with a higher leak rate and recurrent nerve trauma. However, the currently available randomized evidence is limited. Further randomized trials are needed to provide sufficient evidence for the preferred location of the anastomosis after esophagectomy.
Investigation into the Effect of Acoustic Radiation Force and Acoustic Streaming on Particle Patterning in Acoustic Standing Wave Fields

Acoustic standing waves have been widely used in trapping, patterning, and manipulating particles, whereas one barrier remains: the lack of understanding of force conditions on particles which mainly include acoustic radiation force (ARF) and acoustic streaming (AS). In this paper, force conditions on micrometer size polystyrene microspheres in acoustic standing wave fields were investigated. The COMSOL® Mutiphysics particle tracing module was used to numerically simulate force conditions on various particles as a function of time. The velocity of particle movement was experimentally measured using particle imaging velocimetry (PIV). Through experimental and numerical simulation, the functions of ARF and AS in trapping and patterning were analyzed. It is shown that ARF is dominant in trapping and patterning large particles while the impact of AS increases rapidly with decreasing particle size. The combination of using both ARF and AS for medium size particles can obtain different patterns with only using ARF. Findings of the present study will aid the design of acoustic-driven microfluidic devices to increase the diversity of particle patterning.
Sexual selection on spontaneous mutations strengthens the between‐sex genetic correlation for fitness

A proposed benefit to sexual selection is that it promotes purging of deleterious mutations from populations. For this benefit to be realized, sexual selection, which is usually stronger on males, must purge mutations deleterious to both sexes. Here, we experimentally test the hypothesis that sexual selection on males purges deleterious mutations that affect both male and female fitness. We measured male and female fitness in two panels of spontaneous mutation‐accumulation lines of the fly, Drosophila serrata, each established from a common ancestor. One panel of mutation accumulation lines limited both natural and sexual selection (LS lines), whereas the other panel limited natural selection, but allowed sexual selection to operate (SS lines). Although mutation accumulation caused a significant reduction in male and female fitness in both the LS and SS lines, sexual selection had no detectable effect on the extent of the fitness reduction. Similarly, despite evidence of mutational variance for fitness in males and females of both treatments, sexual selection had no significant impact on the amount of mutational genetic variance for fitness. However, sexual selection did reshape the between‐sex correlation for fitness: significantly strengthening it in the SS lines. After 25 generations, the between‐sex correlation for fitness was positive but considerably less than one in the LS lines, suggesting that, although most mutations had sexually concordant fitness effects, sex‐limited, and/or sex‐biased mutations contributed substantially to the mutational variance. In the SS lines this correlation was strong and could not be distinguished from unity. Individual‐based simulations that mimick the experimental setup reveal two conditions that may drive our results: (1) a modest‐to‐large fraction of mutations have sex‐limited (or highly sex‐biased) fitness effects, and (2) the average fitness effect of sex‐limited mutations is larger than the average fitness effect of mutations that affect both sexes similarly.
Pharmacogenomics of statin therapy: any new insights in efficacy or safety?

Purpose of review To examine the current evidence concerning the effects of genetic variation on statin-related low-density lipoprotein cholesterol reductions, clinical efficacy, and adverse events and the relevance for patient care. Recent findings Recent years have seen the emergence of large-scale genetic experiments, including genome-wide association studies and candidate gene studies, exploring the impact of common genetic variation on patient response to statins. These studies have built on previous smaller scale evidence, providing improved statistical power and enhanced ability to explore the genome. Current evidence suggests that common genetic variants do not alter low-density lipoprotein cholesterol response by more than a few percent, or materially alter the effect of statin on vascular risk reduction, and therefore that patients benefit from statins independent of common genetic variation. However, knowledge of SLCO1B1 genotypes is believed to have clinical utility for predicting myopathy risk and ensuring that statins are prescribed as safely as possible. Furthermore, new hypothesis-generating studies, such as those associating GATM with myopathy risk, offer potential insights for the future. Summary Common genetic variation does not appear to be an important determinant of statin response, with the exception of SLCO1B1 and risk of myopathy. Future studies will help to determine the impact of low-frequency and rare genetic variation on statin response.
A calpain unique to alveolates is essential in Plasmodium falciparum and its knockdown reveals an involvement in pre-S-phase development

Plasmodium falciparum encodes a single calpain that has a distinct domain composition restricted to alveolates. To evaluate the potential of this protein as a drug target, we assessed its essentiality. Both gene disruption by double cross-over and gene truncation by single cross-over recombination failed. We were also unable to achieve allelic replacement by using a missense mutation at the catalytic cysteine codon, although we could obtain synonymous allelic replacement parasites. These results suggested that the calpain gene and its proteolytic activity are important for optimal parasite growth. To gain further insight into its biological role, we used the FKBP degradation domain system to generate a fusion protein whose stability in transfected parasites could be modulated by a small FKBP ligand, Shield1 (Shld1). We made a calpain-GFP-FKBP fusion through single cross-over integration at the endogenous calpain locus. Calpain levels were knocked down and parasite growth was greatly impaired in the absence of Shld1. Parasites were delayed in their ability to transition out of the ring stage and in their ability to progress to the S phase. Calpain is required for cell cycle progression in Plasmodium parasites and appears to be an attractive drug target. We have shown that regulated knockdowns are possible in P. falciparum and can be useful for evaluating essentiality and function.
Assessing the risk of marijuana use disorder among adolescents and adults who use marijuana

ABSTRACT Background: The changing political and social climate surrounding marijuana use, coupled with the fact that available estimates of marijuana use disorder prevalence are outdated and do not adequately represent adolescents, underscore the need for up-to-date and comprehensive prevalence estimates of marijuana use disorder. Objectives: To provide recent national estimates of marijuana use disorder as a function of usage patterns, age, and other sociodemographic, substance use, and mental health variables. Methods: Analyses of data from the 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health examined the prevalence of marijuana use disorder among respondents (N = 55,271) with various sociodemographic, substance use, and mental health characteristics. Logistic and multinomial regression analyses examined the correlates of marijuana use disorder as a function of these variables, with a special focus on age. Results: In 2014, 3.49% of lifetime, 11.62% of past-year, and 15.32% of past-30-day marijuana users met DSM-IV criteria for a marijuana use disorder; rates among youth generally were at least double those of adults across reported time frame and intensity of use. Regression analyses indicated that young age, black race/ethnicity, greater intensity of use, current tobacco/nicotine use, and alcohol and other drug use disorders were associated with increased odds of a marijuana use disorder. Conclusions: A significant proportion of marijuana users, especially youth, are at risk for having a marijuana use disorder, even at relatively low levels of use.
Participation in Youth Running Events: The Role of Parental Involvement and Satisfaction

An increasing number of running events are being targeted to youth and are adding to the growing road racing industry. Offering running events for children along with a lineup of races ranging from 5K runs to marathons for adults is a way for race organizers to expand their businesses, increase economic impact in their communities and meet the needs of the entire family. In addition to economic benefits, there are other benefits associated with running events for youth. Community running events provide one potential intervention to counter rising childhood obesity rates by increasing the levels of physical activity for youth. Parents are seen as important agents in the socialization processes that shape and influence youth physical activity decisions. Most sport participation decisions for youth are ultimately made by parents and because parents play a crucial role in the consumer decisions and activity choices of their children, this study focused on an investigation of parental factors influencing participation of children in youth running events. The purpose of this study was to examine parental involvement, satisfaction and behavioral intentions associated with a youth running event. Specifically, this study sought to determine if the level of parental involvement and satisfaction with a youth running event predicted behavioral intentions for their child’s future participation in running events. Additionally, the effects of parent gender and parent running status were explored. A sample of 366 parents of children who participated in a prominent children’s community running event was used to investigate the influence of parental involvement and satisfaction on behavioral intentions for their child to participate in future running events. The measurement scale for involvement included both an affective and a cognitive subscale. Using multiple linear regression to analyze the data, the overall model was found to be significant (F(3, 326) = 41.733, p < . 001), explaining 28% of the variance in behavioral intentions. Results indicated positive relationships between all independent variables (i.e., affective involvement, cognitive involvement and satisfaction) and the dependent variable of behavioral intentions. When comparing the model by gender, parental involvement and satisfaction were significant for female respondents whereas only satisfaction was significant for male respondents. When comparing the model by runner status, parental involvement and satisfaction were significant for parents who were runners; however, satisfaction was the only variable significant for parents who were non-runners. In all of the models, satisfaction was the strongest predictor of behavioral intentions. Based on these results, it is recommended that road race organizers market youth events to parents, particularly mothers. Marketing efforts should focus on ensuring parental satisfaction and include elements to make the event seem relevant and exciting to increase parental involvement and subsequent participation of children in future running events.
The HLA‐G 14 bp insertion/deletion polymorphism and its association with soluble HLA‐G levels in women with recurrent miscarriages

HLA‐G, a nonclassical class‐Ib gene is mainly expressed on extravillous trophoblasts at the fetal‐maternal interface. HLA‐G molecule is considered to play an important role in maternal immune suppression during pregnancy. The 14 bp insertion/deletion polymorphism (rs66554220) in exon eight of the HLA‐G gene influences HLA‐G mRNA stability and isoform splicing patterns. In this study, 202 recurrent miscarriage (RM) women with two or more than two consecutive miscarriages, their 202 partners and 204 fertile control women with at least one live birth and no miscarriages were analyzed for 14 bp insertion/deletion polymorphism. Soluble HLA‐G (sHLA‐G) levels were also determined and compared between randomly selected 111 RM women and 111 control women using QAYEE‐Bio ELISA kits. Student’s t test and χ2 test were used to depict the statistical differences. The results showed no significant differences for 14 bp allele and genotype frequencies between the study groups. However, our study showed a significant difference (P = .0107) for sHLA‐G levels in RM women and control women. Furthermore, a significant difference (P = .0135) for sHLA‐G levels in relation to +/−14 bp heterozygous genotype was seen between the two groups. The 14 bp allele sharing between the partners did not show any significant association with the number of miscarriages in RM couples. The association of 14 bp polymorphism and recurrent miscarriages was not significant in our study.
Phase 2 trial of a multivalent WT1 peptide vaccine (galinpepimut-S) in acute myeloid leukemia.

A National Cancer Institute consensus study on prioritization of cancer antigens ranked the Wilms tumor 1 (WT1) protein as the top immunotherapy target in cancer. We previously reported a pilot study of a multivalent WT1 peptide vaccine (galinpepimut-S) in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. We have now conducted a phase 2 study investigating this vaccine in adults with AML in first complete remission (CR1). Patients received 6 vaccinations administered over 10 weeks with the potential to receive 6 additional monthly doses if they remained in CR1. Immune responses (IRs) were evaluated after the 6th and 12th vaccinations by CD4+ T-cell proliferation, CD8+ T-cell interferon-γ secretion (enzyme-linked immunospot), or the CD8-relevant WT1 peptide major histocompatibility complex tetramer assay (HLA-A*02 patients only). Twenty-two patients (7 males; median age, 64 years) were treated. Fourteen patients (64%) completed ≥6 vaccinations, and 9 (41%) received all 12 vaccine doses. Fifteen patients (68%) relapsed, and 10 (46%) died. The vaccine was well tolerated, with the most common toxicities being grade 1/2 injection site reactions (46%), fatigue (32%), and skin induration (32%). Median disease-free survival from CR1 was 16.9 months, whereas the overall survival from diagnosis has not yet been reached but is estimated to be ≥67.6 months. Nine of 14 tested patients (64%) had an IR in ≥1 assay (CD4 or CD8). These results indicated that the WT1 vaccine was well tolerated, stimulated a specific IR, and was associated with survival in excess of 5 years in this cohort of patients. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials. gov as #NCT01266083.
Sliding Mode Observer-Based Current Sensor Fault Reconstruction and Unknown Load Disturbance Estimation for PMSM Driven System

This paper proposes a new scheme of reconstructing current sensor faults and estimating unknown load disturbance for a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM)-driven system. First, the original PMSM system is transformed into two subsystems; the first subsystem has unknown system load disturbances, which are unrelated to sensor faults, and the second subsystem has sensor faults, but is free from unknown load disturbances. Introducing a new state variable, the augmented subsystem that has sensor faults can be transformed into having actuator faults. Second, two sliding mode observers (SMOs) are designed: the unknown load disturbance is estimated by the first SMO in the subsystem, which has unknown load disturbance, and the sensor faults can be reconstructed using the second SMO in the augmented subsystem, which has sensor faults. The gains of the proposed SMOs and their stability analysis are developed via the solution of linear matrix inequality (LMI). Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed scheme was verified by simulations and experiments. The results demonstrate that the proposed scheme can reconstruct current sensor faults and estimate unknown load disturbance for the PMSM-driven system.
Need of physical layer security in LTE: Analysis of vulnerabilities in LTE physical layer

In Wireless/mobile communication, the requirement of higher throughput and data rates are increasing day-by-day. For meeting this requirement, Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology has become the prime choice. Communication using wireless technology has vulnerabilities. LTE wireless technology has vulnerabilities associated with the processing technique as well as well-defined positioning of channels and signals of physical layer. This drawback is of concern, as it can completely or partially block the communication, due to intentional jamming or unintentional interference. To understand the jamming vulnerabilities in LTE, it is essential to understand various physical channels, signals, frame structure, decoding protocols and various types of jamming. This paper provides jamming vulnerability analysis of LTE physical layer, physical channels and signals. Practical lab test setup for measuring jamming margins along with the result is provided in this paper. Various mitigation techniques have been provided in this paper to reduce jamming vulnerabilities.
Sensorless terrain estimation for a wheeled mobile robot

Estimating the terrain for a wheeled mobile robot is challenging task when slip information is absent. Most of wheeled mobile robots are using different kinds of sensors to estimate the slip ratio and other surface condition measurements. This paper introduces a simple, yet novel method to estimate the terrain, using rolling resistance torque without using any additional sensors. Reaction torque observer is used to obtain the rolling resistance torque in different terrains. Proposed concept is practically verified by using a differential drive mobile robot.