Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Implantable Cardioverter-De fi brillator Therapy in Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia / Cardiomyopathy : Predictors of Appropriate Therapy , Outcomes , and Complications

Methods and Results-—The cohort included 312 patients (163 men, age at presentation 33.6 13.9 years) with definite arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy who received an ICD. Over 8.8 7.33 years, 186 participants (60%) had appropriate ICD therapy and 58 (19%) had an intervention for ventricular fibrillation/flutter. Ventricular tachycardia at presentation (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.86; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.38–2.49; P<0.001), inducibility on electrophysiology study (HR: 3.14; 95% CI, 1.95–5.05; P<0.001), male sex (HR: 1.62; 95% CI, 1.20–2.19; P=0.001), inverted T waves in ≥3 precordial leads (HR: 1.66; 95% CI, 1.09–2.52; P=0.018), and premature ventricular contraction count ≥1000/24 hours (HR: 2.30; 95% CI, 1.32– 4.00; P=0.003) were predictors of any appropriate ICD therapy. Inducibility at electrophysiology study (HR: 2.28; 95% CI, 1.10– 4.70; P=0.025) remained as the only predictor after multivariable analysis. The predictors for ventricular fibrillation/flutter were premature ventricular contraction ≥1000/24 hours (HR: 4.39; 95% CI, 1.32–14.61; P=0.016), syncope (HR: 1.85; 95% CI, 1.10– 3.11; P=0.021), aged ≤30 years at presentation (HR: 1.76; 95% CI, 1.04–3.00; P<0.036), and male sex (HR: 1.73; 95% CI, 1.01– 2.97; P=0.046). Younger age at presentation (HR: 3.14; 95% CI, 1.32–7.48; P=0.010) and high premature ventricular contraction burden (HR: 4.43; 95% CI, 1.35–14.57; P<0.014) remained as independent predictors of ventricular fibrillation/flutter. Complications occurred in 66 participants (21%), and 64 (21%) had inappropriate ICD interventions. Overall mortality was low at 2%, and 4% underwent heart transplantation.
Active damping of automotive powertrain oscillations by a partial torque compensator

This paper deals with the problem of active damping of driveline oscillations in order to improve driveability and passenger comfort. Precisely, longitudinal vibrations occur during transient changes in driver demand, and they affect the driveability in a negative way. A robust and efficient controller is proposed, driving the engine in order to actively damp the driveline oscillations. The methodology considered is based on the prediction and compensation of the shaft torque at relevant frequencies. The main advantage and originality of the proposed approach consists in the simplicity of the design and the possibility to adjust the controller, directly on the vehicle, without redesign. This is made possible because the controller parameterization has a "physical" meaning. Three post-design tuning parameters are then available to manage the compromise between performance and robustness. The resulting controller is evaluated on a test car with a SI engine.
Hereditary amyloid neuropathy by transthyretin Val107 mutation in a patient of African origin

Auteur Cassereau, Julien [1], Lavigne, Christian [2], Letournel, Franck [3], Ghali, Alaa [4], Verny, Christophe [5], Dubas, Frédéric [6], Devière, Franck [7], Nicolas, Guillaume [8] Pays Etats-Unis Editeur Wiley Ville Malden Type Article scientifique dans une revue à comité de lecture Année 2008 Langue Anglais Date Septembre 2008 Numéro 3 Pagination 251-4 Volume 13 Titre de la revue Journal of the peripheral nervous system
Game theoretic analysis of electricity market auction mechanisms

We consider two prominent mechanisms for the electricity market; the pay-as-bid mechanism, currently applied in certain control reserve markets, and the proposed Vickrey- Clarke-Groves mechanism, an established auction mechanism used in advertising and spectrum auctions, for example. Bringing in tools from game theory and auction theory, we compare the Nash equilibria of these two mechanisms in terms of social efficiency and strategic behavior of the players. Furthermore, by formulating a coalitional game corresponding to the electricity market, we propose alternative mechanisms that incentivize truthful bidding while ensuring shill bidding is not profitable. Finally, we analyze the proposed mechanisms in a case study based on electricity market data.
Regular Fat and Reduced Fat Dairy Products Show Similar Associations with Markers of Adolescent Cardiometabolic Health

Reduced fat dairy products are generally recommended for adults and children over the age of two years. However, emerging evidence suggests that dairy fat may not have detrimental health effects. We aimed to investigate prospective associations between consumption of regular versus reduced fat dairy products and cardiometabolic risk factors from early to late adolescence. In the West Australian Raine Study, dairy intake was assessed using semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaires in 860 adolescents at 14 and 17-year follow-ups; 582 of these also had blood biochemistry at both points. Using generalized estimating equations, we examined associations with cardiometabolic risk factors. Models incorporated reduced fat and regular fat dairy together (in serves/day) and were adjusted for a range of factors including overall dietary pattern. In boys, there was a mean reduction in diastolic blood pressure of 0.66 mmHg (95% CI 0.23–1.09) per serve of reduced fat dairy and an independent, additional reduction of 0.47 mmHg (95% CI 0.04–0.90) per serve of regular fat dairy. Each additional serve of reduced fat dairy was associated with a 2% reduction in HDL-cholesterol (95% CI 0.97–0.995) and a 2% increase in total: HDL-cholesterol ratio (95% CI 1.002–1.03); these associations were not observed with regular fat products. In girls, there were no significant independent associations observed in fully adjusted models. Although regular fat dairy was associated with a slightly better cholesterol profile in boys, overall, intakes of both regular fat and reduced fat dairy products were associated with similar cardiometabolic associations in adolescents.
How Amino Acids and Peptides Shaped the RNA World

The “RNA world” hypothesis is seen as one of the main contenders for a viable theory on the origin of life. Relatively small RNAs have catalytic power, RNA is everywhere in present-day life, the ribosome is seen as a ribozyme, and rRNA and tRNA are crucial for modern protein synthesis. However, this view is incomplete at best. The modern protein-RNA ribosome most probably is not a distorted form of a “pure RNA ribosome” evolution started out with. Though the oldest center of the ribosome seems “RNA only”, we cannot conclude from this that it ever functioned in an environment without amino acids and/or peptides. Very small RNAs (versatile and stable due to basepairing) and amino acids, as well as dipeptides, coevolved. Remember, it is the amino group of aminoacylated tRNA that attacks peptidyl-tRNA, destroying the bond between peptide and tRNA. This activity of the amino acid part of aminoacyl-tRNA illustrates the centrality of amino acids in life. With the rise of the “RNA world” view of early life, the pendulum seems to have swung too much towards the ribozymatic part of early biochemistry. The necessary presence and activity of amino acids and peptides is in need of highlighting. In this article, we try to bring the role of the peptide component of early life back into focus. We argue that an RNA world completely independent of amino acids never existed.
Cluster analysis for the cloud: Parallel competitive fitness and parallel K-means++ for large dataset analysis

The amount of resources needed to provision Virtual Machines (VM) in a cloud computing systems to support virtual HPC clusters can be predicted from the analysis of historic use data. In previous work, Hacker et al. found that cluster analysis is a useful tool to understand the underlying spatio-temporal dependencies present in system fault and use logs. However, the cluster analysis used for reducing spatio-temporal dependences should be fast and accurate to understand the underlying stochastic properties of these systems. K-means is a fast cluster analysis method, in which accuracy depends on the use of initialization algorithms that are usually serial and slow. In this paper we present two new parallel strategies for fast seeding K-means cluster analysis. Both strategies were tested on a real problem where the aim was to reduce spatial and temporal dependencies of failures on large supercomputer systems. The performance of both strategies were compared with five existing serial implementations: K-means implementations of 1) Lloyd (L); 2) McQueen (M); and 3) Hartigan - Wong (HW), all of them using Forgy seeding; 4) K-means++; and 5) Neural Gas clustering (NG), a more recent and sophisticated method. Our results show that our new Parallel Competitive Fitness approach reduces the Within Sum of Squares (WSQQ) measure, thus increasing cluster quality of the three K-means implementations: L; M; HW, and is 200 times faster than the existing serial K-means++. The existing serial and our new Parallel K-means++ have the lowest WSQQ. Our new Parallel K-means++ is twice as fast as the existing serial K-means++ method, and is 4 times faster than the NG method. Moreover, our new methods did not generate empty clusters, while NG did. As a result of our new techniques, predicting the amount of resources needed to provision VMs processing historic system fault and use data can now be done faster and with more accuracy.
A discontinuity in the low-mass IMF - the case of high multiplicity

ABSTRACT The empirical binary properties of brown dwarfs (BDs) diﬀer from those of normalstars suggesting BDs form a separate population. Recent work by Thies and Krouparevealed a discontinuity of the initial mass function (IMF) in the very-low-mass starregime under the assumption of a low multiplicity of BDs of about 15 per cent. How-ever, previous observations had suggested that the multiplicity of BDs may be sig-niﬁcantly higher, up to 45 per cent. This contribution investigates the implication ofa high BD multiplicity on the appearance of the IMF for the Orion Nebula Cluster,Taurus-Auriga, IC 348 and the Pleiades. We show that the discontinuity remains pro-nounced even if the observed MF appears to be continuous, even for a BD binaryfraction as high as 60%. We ﬁnd no evidence for a variation of the BD IMF withstar-forming conditions. The BD IMF has a power-law index α BD ≈ +0.3 and about2 BDs form per 10 low-mass stars assuming equal-mass pairing of BDs.Key words: binaries: general — open clusters and associations: general — stars:low-mass, brown dwarfs — stars: luminosity function, mass function
Cloning and Characterization of Maize miRNAs Involved in Responses to Nitrogen Deficiency

Although recent studies indicated that miRNAs regulate plant adaptive responses to nutrient deprivation, the functional significance of miRNAs in adaptive responses to nitrogen (N) limitation remains to be explored. To elucidate the molecular biology underlying N sensing/signaling in maize, we constructed four small RNA libraries and one degradome from maize seedlings exposed to N deficiency. We discovered a total of 99 absolutely new loci belonging to 47 miRNA families by small RNA deep sequencing and degradome sequencing, as well as 9 new loci were the paralogs of previously reported miR169, miR171, and miR398, significantly expanding the reported 150 high confidence genes within 26 miRNA families in maize. Bioinformatic and subsequent small RNA northern blot analysis identified eight miRNA families (five conserved and three newly identified) differentially expressed under the N-deficient condition. Predicted and degradome-validated targets of the newly identified miRNAs suggest their involvement in a broad range of cellular responses and metabolic processes. Because maize is not only an important crop but is also a genetic model for basic biological research, our research contributes to the understanding of the regulatory roles of miRNAs in plant adaption to N-deficiency stress.
Junctional versus Extrajunctional Glycine and GABAAReceptor-Mediated IPSCs in Identified Lamina I Neurons of the Adult Rat Spinal Cord

Colocalization of GABA and glycine in synaptic terminals of the superficial dorsal horn raises the question of their relative contribution to inhibition of different classes of neurons in this area. To address this issue, miniature IPSCs (mIPSCs) mediated via GABAA receptors (GABAARs) and glycine receptors (GlyRs) were recorded from identified laminae I-II neurons in adult rat spinal cord slices. GABAAR-mediated mIPSCs had similar amplitude and rise times, but significantly slower decay kinetics than GlyR-mediated mIPSCs. Lamina I neurons appeared to receive almost exclusively GlyR-mediated mIPSCs, even after application of hypertonic solutions. Yet, all neurons responded to exogenous applications of both GABA and glycine, indicating that they expressed both GABAARs and GlyRs. Given that virtually all glycinergic interneurons also contain GABA, the possibility was examined that GABAARs may be located extrasynaptically in lamina I neurons. A slow GABAAR-mediated component was revealed in large, but not minimally evoked monosynaptic IPSCs. Administration of the benzodiazepine flunitrazepam unmasked a GABAAR component to most mIPSCs , suggesting that both transmitters were released from the same vesicle. The isolated GABAAR component of these mIPSCs had rising kinetics 10 times slower than that of the GlyR component (or of GABAAR mIPSCs in lamina II). The slow GABAAR components were prolonged by GABA uptake blockers. It is concluded that, whereas GABA and glycine are likely released from the same vesicle of transmitter in lamina I, GABAARs appear to be located extrasynaptically. Thus, glycine mediates most of the tonic inhibition at these synapses. This differential distribution of GABAARs and GlyRs confers distinct functional properties to inhibition mediated by these two transmitters in lamina I.
An Adaptive Fault-Tolerant Component Model

This paper presents a component model for building distributed applications with fault-tolerance requirements. The AFT-CCM model selects the configuration of replicated services during execution time based on QoS requirements specified by the user. The configuration is managed using a set of components that deal with the non-functional aspects of the application. The characteristics of this model and the results obtained with its implementation are described along this paper.
Unraveling the Tapestry of Networks Involving Reactive Oxygen Species in Plants

The Plant Physiology Special Issue on Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) published in June 2006 marked the early efforts to resolve the tapestry of mechanisms influenced by ephemeral singlet oxygen, superoxide (O2.−), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), hydroxyl radical (OH.), peroxynitrite (ONOO−), and nitric
West Nile Virus Evades Activation of Interferon Regulatory Factor 3 through RIG-I-Dependent and -Independent Pathways without Antagonizing Host Defense Signaling

ABSTRACT The ability of viruses to control and/or evade the host antiviral response is critical to the establishment of a productive infection. We have previously shown that West Nile virus NY (WNV-NY) delays activation of interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF-3), a transcription factor critical to the initiation of the antiviral response. Here we demonstrate that the delayed activation of IRF-3 is essential for WNV-NY to achieve maximum virus production. Furthermore, WNV-NY utilizes a unique mechanism to control activation of IRF-3. In contrast to many other viruses that impose a nonspecific block to the IRF-3 pathway, WNV-NY eludes detection by the host cell at early times postinfection. To better understand this process, we assessed the role of the pathogen recognition receptor (PRR) retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I) in sensing WNV-NY infection. RIG-I null mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEFs) retained the ability to respond to WNV-NY infection; however, the onset of the host response was delayed compared to wild-type (WT) MEFs. This suggests that RIG-I is involved in initially sensing WNV-NY infection, while other PRRs sustain and/or amplify the host response later in infection. The delayed initiation of the host response correlated with an increase in WNV-NY replication in RIG-I null MEFs compared to WT MEFs. Our data suggest that activation of the host response by RIG-I early in infection is important for controlling replication of WNV-NY. Furthermore, pathogenic strains of WNV may have evolved to circumvent stimulation of the host response until after replication is well under way.
A benchmark for comparison of cell tracking algorithms

Motivation: Automatic tracking of cells in multidimensional time-lapse fluorescence microscopy is an important task in many biomedical applications. A novel framework for objective evaluation of cell tracking algorithms has been established under the auspices of the IEEE International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging 2013 Cell Tracking Challenge. In this article, we present the logistics, datasets, methods and results of the challenge and lay down the principles for future uses of this benchmark. Results: The main contributions of the challenge include the creation of a comprehensive video dataset repository and the definition of objective measures for comparison and ranking of the algorithms. With this benchmark, six algorithms covering a variety of segmentation and tracking paradigms have been compared and ranked based on their performance on both synthetic and real datasets. Given the diversity of the datasets, we do not declare a single winner of the challenge. Instead, we present and discuss the results for each individual dataset separately. Availability and implementation: The challenge Web site (http://www.codesolorzano.com/celltrackingchallenge) provides access to the training and competition datasets, along with the ground truth of the training videos. It also provides access to Windows and Linux executable files of the evaluation software and most of the algorithms that competed in the challenge. Contact: codesolorzano@unav.es Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Learning-based configuration estimation of a multi-segment continuum robot

In this paper, we present a visual learning algorithm for estimating the configuration of a multisegment continuum robot designed for surgery. Our algorithm interpolates a stereo visual feature descriptor manifold using Radial Basis Functions (RBFs) to estimate configuration pose angles. Results are shown on a 3-segment snake robot, where rotational accuracy in the range of 1° -2° is achieved.
Comparative Study of a Real-Time PCR Assay Targeting senX3-regX3 versus Other Molecular Strategies Commonly Used in the Diagnosis of Tuberculosis

Background Nucleic acid amplification tests are increasingly used for the rapid diagnosis of tuberculosis. We undertook a comparative study of the efficiency and diagnostic yield of a real-time PCR senX3-regX3 based assay versus the classical IS6110 target and the new commercial methods. Methods This single-blind prospective comparative study included 145 consecutive samples: 76 from patients with culture-confirmed tuberculosis (86.8% pulmonary and 13.2% extrapulmonary tuberculosis: 48.7% smear-positive and 51.3% smear-negative) and 69 control samples (24 from patients diagnosed with non-tuberculous mycobacteria infections and 45 from patients with suspected tuberculosis which was eventually ruled out). All samples were tested by two CE-marked assays (Xpert®MTB/RIF and AnyplexTM plus MTB/NTM) and two in-house assays targeting senX3-regX3 and the IS6110 gene. Results The detection limit ranged from 1.00E+01 fg for Anyplex, senX3-regX3 and IS6110 to 1.00E+04 fg for Xpert. All three Xpert, senX3-regX3 and IS6110 assays detected all 37 smear-positive cases. Conversely, Anyplex was positive in 34 (91.9%) smear-positive cases. In patients with smear-negative tuberculosis, differences were observed between the assays; Xpert detected 22 (56.41%) of the 39 smear-negative samples, Anyplex 24 (61.53%), senX3-regX3 28 (71.79%) and IS6110 35 (89.74%). Xpert and senX3-regX3 were negative in all control samples; however, the false positive rate was 8.7% and 13% for Anyplex and IS6110, respectively. The overall sensitivity was 77.6%, 85.7%, 77.3% and 94.7% and the specificity was 100%, 100%, 90.8% and 87.0% for the Xpert, senX3-regX3, Anyplex and IS6110 assays, respectively. Conclusion Real-time PCR assays targeting IS6110 lack the desired specificity. The Xpert MTB/RIF and in-house senX3-regX3 assays are both sensitive and specific for the detection of MTBC in both pulmonary and extrapulmonary samples. Therefore, the real time PCR senX3-regX3 based assay could be a useful and complementary tool in the diagnosis of tuberculosis.
Effects of Calcium Supplementation on Biomarkers of Inflammation and Oxidative Stress in Colorectal Adenoma Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Inflammation and oxidative stress play important roles in colorectal carcinogenesis. There is strong evidence that calcium reduces risk for colorectal neoplasms, possibly through its ability to bind bile acids and prevent their colonic toxicity (which occurs via an oxidative mechanism and results in an inflammatory response). In a previously reported pilot, randomized, controlled trial among sporadic colorectal adenoma patients we found that those on 2.0 g/day of calcium, relative to those on placebo, had an estimated drop in a combined cytokine z-score of 48% (P = 0.18) over 6 months. To follow-up these promising preliminary findings, we tested the efficacy of two doses of supplemental calcium (1.0 or 2.0 g/day) relative to placebo on modulating circulating biomarkers of inflammation [C-reactive protein (CRP) and 10 cytokines] and oxidative stress (F2-isoprostanes) over a 4-month treatment period among 193 patients with previous sporadic, colorectal adenoma in a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial. The inflammation markers were measured in plasma using electrochemiluminescence detection-based immunoassays, and F2-isoprostanes were measured in plasma using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Over a 4-month treatment period, we found no appreciable effects of calcium on CRP, cytokines, or F2-isoprostanes (P > 0.4), overall or within strata of several major risk factors for colorectal carcinogenesis, such as body mass index and regular use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Overall, our results provide no evidence that calcium supplementation favorably modulates concentrations of circulating biomarkers of inflammation or oxidative stress over 4 months among patients with a previous colorectal adenoma. Cancer Prev Res; 8(11); 1069–75. ©2015 AACR.
PicoSAR trials results

This paper summarises recent trials results obtained using PicoSAR, the lightweight high performance radar developed by Selex ES. Data collected using the PicoSAR radar have been used to improve the performance of the existing ground-moving target indication (GMTI) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) modes. Timely access to trials data has proven invaluable in the development of signal processing algorithms at Selex ES. Early testing of algorithms with real-data, exhibiting all the imperfect properties of the real-world, allows rapid iteration of software to provide robust capabilities in real-world operation.
OCLh: A Sound and Supportive Planning Domain Modelling Language

In this paper we postulate OCLh as a prototype for future planning domain modelling languages which are foundationally sound, but offer features that are attractive and supportive to knowledge engineers. The novel contributions of this paper is that it (a) describes a truth criterion for OCLh and details a proof that the criterion is sufficient for ensuring necessary truth in a partial plan structure (b) evaluates OCLh, illustrating its pragmatic benefits by comparing it with O-Plan’s TF. We show using a real example how OCLh’s structuring devices aid the knowledge engineer in building a model. Finally, the example and comparison with TF identifies further development work to advance OCLh as potential high level research language for modelling operator based planning domains.