Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quantification of Engineering Disciplinary Discourse in Résumés: A Novel Genre Analysis With Teaching Implications

<roman><bold>Background:</bold></roman> <italic>Undergraduate engineering students often receive insufficient support when crafting résumés. Most notably, there is often a lack of disciplinary-specific instruction and a lack of emphasis on the persuasive function of résumés. Ultimately seeking to strengthen instructional materials, this study investigates a way to quantify the quality of engineering résumés, focusing specifically on the use of disciplinary discourse. </italic> <roman><bold>Research questions:</bold></roman> <italic>How do engineering résumés exhibit disciplinary discourse? How can disciplinary discourse be quantified as a way of promoting strong engineering résumé writing and professional development skills? </italic> <roman><bold>Literature review:</bold></roman> <italic>This project builds on research exploring the qualities of effective résumés. It extends on work establishing disciplinary differences in desired résumé qualities, as well as work characterizing résumé writing as an opportunity for professional identity development. Grounded in activity theory, this project seeks to elucidate the “rules” of effective engineering résumés at the lexical level. </italic> <roman><bold>Methodology:</bold></roman> <italic>This project analyzed a corpus of 31 engineering résumés through both qualitative and quantitative means. Résumés were initially ranked via a rubric, then coded for disciplinary discourse according to the American Association of Engineering Societies’ Engineering Competency Model. Disciplinary discourse scores were then analyzed through descriptive statistics. </italic> <roman><bold>Results and conclusion:</bold></roman> <italic>Significant differences in the use of disciplinary discourse were found among strong, moderate, and weak résumés. Though these results are not generalizable due to the small corpus size, they indicate that disciplinary discourse may be a fruitful area for future research on résumés and the development of pedagogical materials. </italic>
New biosourced AA and AB monomers from 1,4:3,6-dianhydrohexitols, Isosorbide, Isomannide, and Isoidide

Abstract In the present work, we propose the synthesis of a new family of sugar derived 1,4:3,6-dianhydrohexitol based AA/AB-type monomers. Unprecedented diacids based on Isomannide and Isoidide were elaborated with high yields and showed interestingly high melting point ranges (240–375 °C). Optimization of reaction conditions (temperature, time of reaction, and reactant ratios) has been investigated to synthesize the key intermediate of a set of AB monomers with acid, ester, and acid chloride functionalities. Isosorbide based ether benzoic acid AB monomer was polymerized and characterized by NMR and DSC techniques. The results show a semicrystalline behavior of the obtained polymer thanks to the controlled stereoregular arrangement of the AB starting monomer.
Differential gene expression in primary fibroblasts induced by proton and cobalt-60 beam irradiation

Abstract Introduction: Proton beam therapy delivers a more conformal dose distribution than conventional radiotherapy, thus improving normal tissue sparring. Increasing linear energy transfer (LET) along the proton track increases the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) near the distal edge of the Spread-out Bragg peak (SOBP). The severity of normal tissue side effects following photon beam radiotherapy vary considerably between patients. Aim: The dual study aim was to identify gene expression patterns specific to radiation type and proton beam position, and to assess whether individual radiation sensitivity influences gene expression levels in fibroblast cultures irradiated in vitro. Methods: The study includes 30 primary fibroblast cell cultures from patients previously classified as either radiosensitive or radioresistant. Cells were irradiated at three different positions in the proton beam profile: entrance, mid-SOBP and at the SOBP distal edge. Dose was delivered in three fractions × 3.5 Gy(RBE) (RBE 1.1). Cobalt-60 (Co-60) irradiation was used as reference. Real-time qPCR was performed to determine gene expression levels for 17 genes associated with inflammation response, fibrosis and angiogenesis. Results: Differences in median gene expression levels were observed for multiple genes such as IL6, IL8 and CXCL12. Median IL6 expression was 30%, 24% and 47% lower in entrance, mid-SOBP and SOBP distal edge groups than in Co-60 irradiated cells. No genes were found to be oppositely regulated by different radiation qualities. Radiosensitive patient samples had the strongest regulation of gene expression; irrespective of radiation type. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that the increased LET at the SOBP distal edge position did not generally lead to increased transcriptive response in primary fibroblast cultures. Inflammatory factors were generally less extensively upregulated by proton irradiation compared with Co-60 photon irradiation. These effects may possibly influence the development of normal tissue damage in patients treated with proton beam therapy.
Oxygen Consumption While Standing with Unstable Shoe Design

This study explored the effects of unstable shoe design on oxygen consumption. Methods. Oxygen consumption (VO2) and heart rate (HR) were measured in 16 individuals while barefoot, wearing unstable shoes (Masai Barefoot Technology) and wearing conventional sport shoes while standing and walking on a treadmill and for 5 individuals while walking around a 400 m track. Results. When wearing the MBT shoes, a significant (p < 0.01) increase of 9.3 ± 5.2% in VO2 was measured while standing quietly for 6 min. No differences in VO2 and HR were observed between the MBT shoes or weight-adjusted conventional shoes (to match the weight of the MBT shoes) while walking on a treadmill. However, significant increases (p < 0.01) in VO2 (4.4 ± 8.2%) and HR (3.6 ± 7.3%) were observed for the MBT shoes compared with being barefoot. No significant differences in VO2 and HR were recorded while walking around a 400 m track either with MBT shoes, weight-adjusted conventional shoes or barefoot. Nonetheless, a comparison of the MBT shoes with barefoot revealed a tendency for VO2 to be higher when wearing the MBT shoes (7.1 ± 6.5%, p < 0.1) although HR was not significantly affected. Conclusions. The unstable shoe design predominantly effects oxygen consumption while standing, most likely due to increased muscle activity of the lower extremities.
A multistandard, triple band wireless transceiver in a 130 nm CMOS technology with integrated PAs for IoT applications

This work presents a fully integrated multistandard, triple band wireless transceiver with integrated PAs. The narrowband transceiver is suitable for LoRaWAN, IEEE 802.15. 4 (ZigBee), 802.15. 4g (SUN) and Bluetooth to promote interoperability in future internet-of-things applications. With the presented architecture the unlicensed 2.4 GHz band and the ISM bands at 780–960 MHz and 390–510 MHz are supported with a single 1.5–2.0 GHz frequency synthesizer leading to an area efficient design. The output power for the low band is 20.0 dBm at 55% drain efficiency, for the mid band 24.3 dBm at 44 % drain efficiency and for the 2.4 GHz band 15.3 dBm at 43 % drain efficiency to allow high range applications without need of external PAs. The chip has been fabricated in a 130 nm CMOS technology.
Understanding treatment decision making: Contexts, commonalities, complexities, and challenges

Background: The diagnosis of cancer sets off a cascade of complex decisions at a time when patients feel vulnerable and distressed. Although clinical decisions used to follow one standard, many guidelines now outline several options and include explicit recognition of the need to incorporate patients’ preferences to determine the most appropriate treatment.Purpose: The purpose of this article is to provide a brief overview of empirical studies about cancer patients’treatment-related decision making, to highlight the areas of congruence and divergence in that empirical literature, and then to generate a framework that points to future interventions and research.Methods: Through a group discussion with a range of experts in the field, we generated a framework for the critical treatment decisions and key issues within those decisions. Then, we reviewed the literature describing the experiences of cancer patients and evaluating interventions designed to improve the quality of treatment decisions.Results: We identified four major differences that influence decision making across cancers and across individuals with the same diagnosis.We also identified four common themes across situations and people. There is considerable evidence that decision aids can improve the quality of decisions across a range of diseases, although the data for cancer treatment decision making are limited. Other interventions such as navigation-skill training are promising but have little evidence of benefit for cancer decisions.Conclusions: There are many opportunities for behavioral research to extend and contribute to the understanding and improvement of cancer treatment decision making. Some key areas in need of research include developing taxonomies of disease and patient characteristics and increasing understanding of the lived experiences of cancer survivors, of the influence of time and timing, of the relationship of information and preferences, and of participation in randomized clinical trials.
Asymptomatic Hyperamylasemia and Hyperlipasemia in Pediatric Patients With Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis

Although pancreatitis is rare in pediatric burn patients, elevated pancreatic enzymes have been recently observed among toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) patients. This clinical phenomenon has implications particularly for the nutritional management of patients involved. The objective of this study was to assess the frequency of sustained, elevated amylase, and lipase enzymes among children with TEN or Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) and to evaluate the utilization of enteral nutrition support in this population. Medical records of 24 patients admitted to our hospital between January 1994 and October 2008 with TEN or SJS were retrospectively reviewed. Only patients with ≥4 consecutive measures for both amylase and lipase were included in this study (n = 10). Serial laboratory values were collected during the first 30 days of disease. Four patients (40%) had elevated amylase and lipase values, whereas six patients had values within normal limits. Patients with elevated pancreatic enzymes were significantly younger in age (4.7 ± 1.7 years) than patients without elevated enzymes (11 ± 5.9 years) and also had a higher incidence of sepsis. All other characteristics were similar between the groups. Enteral nutrition support was initiated within 4 days of admission in all 10 patients and did not correlate with elevated enzymes. Our findings suggest that hyperlipasemia and hyperamylasemia can occur in the pediatric population with TEN or SJS. Although the sample size in this study makes it difficult to determine the cause, sepsis may have been a contributing factor. In the absence of symptomatic pancreatitis, patients with TEN can safely meet nutritional goals orally or with standard enteral nutrition support.
The Long Pentraxin 3 Plays a Role in Bone Turnover and Repair

Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) is an inflammatory mediator acting as a fluid-phase pattern recognition molecule and playing an essential role in innate immunity and matrix remodeling. Inflammatory mediators also contribute to skeletal homeostasis, operating at multiple levels in physiological and pathological conditions. This study was designed to investigate the role of PTX3 in physiological skeletal remodeling and bone healing. Micro-computed tomography (μCT) and bone histomorphometry of distal femur showed that PTX3 gene-targeted female and male mice (ptx3−/−) had lower trabecular bone volume than their wild-type (ptx3+/+) littermates (BV/TV by μCT: 3.50 ± 1.31 vs 6.09 ± 1.17 for females, p < 0.0001; BV/TV 9.06 ± 1.89 vs 10.47 ± 1.97 for males, p = 0.0435). In addition, μCT revealed lower trabecular bone volume in second lumbar vertebra of ptx3−/− mice. PTX3 was increasingly expressed during osteoblast maturation in vitro and was able to reverse the negative effect of fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) on osteoblast differentiation. This effect was specific for the N-terminal domain of PTX3 that contains the FGF2-binding site. By using the closed transversal tibial fracture model, we found that ptx3−/− female mice formed significantly less mineralized callus during the anabolic phase following fracture injury compared to ptx3+/+ mice (BV/TV 17.05 ± 4.59 vs 20.47 ± 3.32, p = 0.0195). Non-hematopoietic periosteal cells highly upregulated PTX3 expression during the initial phase of fracture healing, particularly CD51+ and αSma+ osteoprogenitor subsets, and callus tissue exhibited concomitant expression of PTX3 and FGF2 around the fracture site. Thus, PTX3 supports maintenance of the bone mass possibly by inhibiting FGF2 and its negative impact on bone formation. Moreover, PTX3 enables timely occurring sequence of callus mineralization after bone fracture injury. These results indicate that PTX3 plays an important role in bone homeostasis and in proper matrix mineralization during fracture repair, a reflection of the function of this molecule in tissue homeostasis and repair.
I/Q imbalance of two-path ladder filters

The frequency-(in)dependent I/Q imbalance of analog filters is significant contributor to the tight noise budget of high-performance wireless applications, such as 802.11a wireless LANs. This paper proposes a "frequency-dependent" statistical I/Q-imbalance analysis method for two-path filters, which can be configured for both low-IF and zero-IF architectures. A 7-pole complex band-pass ladder filter is analyzed, and it shows large image rejection ratio (rms IMR > 43.7dB for 3/spl sigma/). The same filter, but reconfigured as a pair of real-low-pass filters, achieved about 13dB less IMR. These results suggest a low-IF architectural choice to combat the I/Q imbalance of two-path filters.
Differences in Colorectal Cancer Outcomes by Race and Insurance

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most common cancer among African American women and the third most common cancer for African American men. The mortality rate from CRC is highest among African Americans compared to any other racial or ethnic group. Much of the disparity in mortality is likely due to diagnosis at later stages of the disease, which could result from unequal access to screening. The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of race and insurance status on CRC outcomes among CRC patients. Data were drawn from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Logistic regressions models were used to examine the odds of receiving treatment after adjusting for insurance, race, and other variables. Cox proportional hazard models were used to measure the risk of CRC death after adjusting for sociodemographic and tumor characteristics when associating race and insurance with CRC-related death. Blacks were diagnosed at more advanced stages of disease than whites and had an increased risk of death from both colon and rectal cancers. Lacking insurance was associated with an increase in CRC related-deaths. Findings from this study could help profile and target patients with the greatest disparities in CRC health outcomes.
Resistant Atherosclerosis: The Need for Monitoring of Plaque Burden

Background and Purpose— Recent studies indicate that patients with lower levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) have greater regression of coronary plaque. In 2002, we found that carotid plaque progression doubled cardiovascular risk. In 2003, we therefore implemented a new approach, treating arteries instead of risk factors. Since then, we have seen many patients with carotid plaque progression despite very low levels of LDL-C, suggesting other causes of atherosclerosis. We studied the relationship of achieved LDL-C and change in LDL-C to progression/regression of atherosclerosis, before and after 2003. Methods— All 4512 patients in our clinic database with at least 2 measurements of LDL-C and carotid total plaque area approximately a year apart and complete data for analyses (n=2025 before and 2487 after December 31, 2003) were included in the study. Results— Baseline total plaque area was significantly higher after 2003 (129.56±134.32 versus 113.33±121.52 mm2; P<0.0001), and plaque progression was significantly less after 2003 (2.94±37.11 versus 12.62±43.24 mm2; P<0.0001). Many patients with LDL-C <1.8 mm had plaque progression (47.5%), and change in LDL-C was not correlated with plaque progression/regression. Increasing age and serum creatinine contributed to resistant atherosclerosis. Conclusions— Many patients have Resistant Atherosclerosis, failing to achieve regression of atherosclerosis despite low levels of LDL-C. Instead of relying on LDL-C, measuring plaque burden may be a more useful way of assessing individual response to therapy, particularly in resistant atherosclerosis.
Universal Onset Detection with Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory Neural Networks

Many different onset detection methods have been proposed in recent years. However those that perform well tend to be highly specialised for certain types of music, while those that are more widely applicable give only moderate performance. In this paper we present a new onset detector with superior performance and temporal precision for all kinds of music, including complex music mixes. It is based on auditory spectral features and relative spectral differences processed by a bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory recurrent neural network, which acts as reduction function. The network is trained with a large database of onset data covering various genres and onset types. Due to the data driven nature, our approach does not require the onset detection method and its parameters to be tuned to a particular type of music. We compare results on the Bello onset data set and can conclude that our approach is on par with related results on the same set and outperforms them in most cases in terms of F1-measure. For complex music with mixed onset types, an absolute improvement of 3.6% is reported.
Osteoblast‐Derived Extracellular Vesicles Are Biological Tools for the Delivery of Active Molecules to Bone

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are newly appreciated regulators of tissue homeostasis and a means of intercellular communication. Reports have investigated the role of EVs and their cargoes in cellular regulation and have tried to fine‐tune their biotechnological use, but to date very little is known on their function in bone biology. To investigate the relevance of EV‐mediated communication between bone cells, we isolated EVs from primary mouse osteoblasts and assessed membrane integrity, size, and structure by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and fluorescence‐activated cell sorting (FACS). EVs actively shuttled loaded fluorochromes to osteoblasts, monocytes, and endothelial cells. Moreover, osteoblast EVs contained mRNAs shared with donor cells. Osteoblasts are known to regulate osteoclastogenesis, osteoclast survival, and osteoclast function by the pro‐osteoclastic cytokine, receptor activator of nuclear factor κ‐B ligand (Rankl). Osteoblast EVs were enriched in Rankl, which increased after PTH treatment. These EVs were biologically active, supporting osteoclast survival. EVs isolated from rankl–/– osteoblasts lost this pro‐osteoclastic function, indicating its Rankl‐dependence. They integrated ex vivo into murine calvariae, and EV‐shuttled fluorochromes were quickly taken up by the bone upon in vivo EV systemic administration. Rankl–/– mice lack the osteoclast lineage and are negative for its specific marker tartrate‐resistant acid phosphatase (TRAcP). Treatment of rankl–/– mice with wild‐type osteoblast EVs induced the appearance of TRAcP‐positive cells in an EV density‐dependent manner. Finally, osteoblast EVs internalized and shuttled anti‐osteoclast drugs (zoledronate and dasatinib), inhibiting osteoclast activity in vitro and in vivo. We conclude that osteoblast EVs are involved in intercellular communication between bone cells, contribute to the Rankl pro‐osteoclastic effect, and shuttle anti‐osteoclast drugs, representing a potential means of targeted therapeutic delivery. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research Published by Wiley Periodicals Inc.
Context-dependent regulation of pectoralis myostatin and lipid transporters by temperature and photoperiod in dark-eyed juncos

Abstract A prominent example of seasonal phenotypic flexibility is the winter increase in thermogenic capacity (=summit metabolism, M˙sum) in small birds, which is often accompanied by increases in pectoralis muscle mass and lipid catabolic capacity. Temperature or photoperiod may be drivers of the winter phenotype, but their relative impacts on muscle remodeling or lipid transport pathways are little known. We examined photoperiod and temperature effects on pectoralis muscle expression of myostatin, a muscle growth inhibitor, and its tolloid-like protein activators (TLL-1 and TLL-2), and sarcolemmal and intracellular lipid transporters in dark-eyed juncos Junco hyemalis. We acclimated winter juncos to four temperature (3 °C or 24 °C) and photoperiod [short-day (SD) = 8L:16D; long-day (LD) = 16L:8D] treatments. We found that myostatin, TLL-1, TLL-2, and lipid transporter mRNA expression and myostatin protein expression did not differ among treatments, but treatments interacted to influence lipid transporter protein expression. Fatty acid translocase (FAT/CD36) levels were higher for cold SD than for other treatments. Membrane-bound fatty acid binding protein (FABPpm) levels, however, were higher for the cold LD treatment than for cold SD and warm LD treatments. Cytosolic fatty acid binding protein (FABPc) levels were higher on LD than on SD at 3 °C, but higher on SD than on LD at 24 °C. Cold temperature groups showed upregulation of these lipid transporters, which could contribute to elevated Msum compared to warm groups on the same photoperiod. However, interactions of temperature or photoperiod effects on muscle remodeling and lipid transport pathways suggest that these effects are context-dependent.
Polymorphs, Proteins, and Nucleation Theory: A Critical Analysis

Over the last eight years new theories regarding nucleation, crystal growth, and polymorphism have emerged. Many of these theories were developed in response to observations in nature, where classical nucleation theory failed to account for amorphous mineral precursors, phases, and particle assembly processes that are responsible for the formation of invertebrate mineralized skeletal elements, such as the mollusk shell nacre layer (aragonite polymorph) and the sea urchin spicule (calcite polymorph). Here, we summarize these existing nucleation theories and place them within the context of what we know about biomineralization proteins, which are likely participants in the management of mineral precursor formation, stabilization, and assembly into polymorphs. With few exceptions, much of the protein literature confirms that polymorph-specific proteins, such as those from mollusk shell nacre aragonite, can promote polymorph formation. However, past studies fail to provide important mechanistic insights into this process, owing to variations in techniques, methodologies, and the lack of standardization in mineral assay experimentation. We propose that the way forward past this roadblock is for the protein community to adopt standardized nucleation assays and approaches that are compatible with current and emerging nucleation precursor studies. This will allow cross-comparisons, kinetic observations, and hopefully provide the information that will explain how proteins manage polymorph formation and stabilization.