Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Grain Growth on Hot‐Pressed Optical Magnesium Fluoride Ceramics

An optical MgF2 ceramic was hot-pressed at 838 to 983 K with 241-MPa pressure. The maximum mechanical strength (>180 MPa) developed in the resulting ceramic within the grain-growth range μ/μ0= 7 to 10, where μ is the grain size of the hot-pressed article and μ0 that of the starting powder. In the early stages of grain growth (μ/μ0<7), however, mechanical strength was directly proportional to grain size, which appeared to contradict the expectations of the Petch and Knudsen relations. Optical transmission was inversely proportional to grain size, especially in the visible wavelength. This study thus demonstrates a particular case in which increasing grain size promotes higher mechanical strength but lower optical transmission.
The incidence of herpes zoster in a United States administrative database

BACKGROUND: Few recent studies have reported data on the incidence of herpes zoster (HZ) in U.S. general clinical practice.OBJECTIVE: To estimate the age- and sex-specific incidence of HZ among U.S. health plan enrollees.DESIGN: Data for the years 2000 to 2001 were obtained from the Medstat MarketScan database, containing health insurance enrollment and claims data from over 4 million U.S. individuals. Incident HZ cases were identified through HZ diagnosis codes on health care claims. The burden of HZ among high-risk individuals with recent care for cancer, HIV, or transplantation was examined in sub-analyses. Overall incidence rates were age- and sex-adjusted to the 2000 U.S. population.PARTICIPANTS: MarketScan U.S. health plan enrollees of all ages.MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We identified 9,152 incident cases of HZ (3.2 per 1,000 person-years) (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.1 to 3.2 per 1,000]. Annual HZ rates per 1,000 person-years were higher among females (3.8) than males (2.6) (P<.0001). HZ rates rose sharply with age, and were highest among individuals over age 80 (10.9 per 1,000 person-years) (95% CI, 10.2 to 11.6). The incidence of HZ per 1,000 person-years among patients with evidence of recent care for transplantation, HIV infection, or cancer (10.3) was greater than for individuals without recent care for these conditions (3.0) (P<.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The overall incidence of HZ reported in the present study was found to be similar to rates observed in U.S. analyses conducted 10 to 20 years earlier, after age- and sex-standardizing estimates from all studies to the 2000 U.S. population. The higher rate of HZ in females compared with males contrasts with prior U.S. studies.
Levetiracetam Therapeutic Monitoring in Patients with Epilepsy: Effect of Concomitant Antiepileptic Drugs

The authors assessed the effect of concomitant antiepileptic therapy on steady-state plasma concentrations of the new anti-epileptic drug (AED) levetiracetam in a cohort of 100 adult patients with epilepsy. On the basis of concomitant AEDs, patients were divided into two groups, otherwise comparable for age, gender, weight-adjusted daily dose of levetiracetam, and dosing frequency: group A (n = 65), receiving levetiracetam plus AED inducers of cytochrome P450 (CYP) metabolism, such as carbamazepine, phenobarbital, and phenytoin; group B (n=35), receiving levetiracetam plus AEDs without inducing properties of CYP metabolism, namely valproic acid and lamotrigine. Plasma levetiracetam concentrations were measured by HPLC with spectrophotometric detection. Median morning trough levetiracetam plasma concentrations were significantly lower in patients of group A than in patients of group B (10.4 μg/mL versus 14.7 μg/mL, P < 0.001). Median weight-normalized levetiracetam apparent oral clearance (CL/F) was 1.3-fold in patients receiving AED inducers compared with patients on AED noninducers (1.93 versus 1.45 mL · min−1 · kg−1, P < 0.001). No gender-related difference was observed in CL/F values. Levetiracetam plasma concentrations were linearly related to daily drug doses, regardless of concomitant AED therapy, over a dose range from 500 to 5000 mg/d, although at a given daily dose an appreciable interpatient variability was observed in matched plasma drug concentrations. Concomitant AED inducers can contribute to variability in levetiracetam disposition in patients with epilepsy. The observed differences were moderate and possibly of minor clinical significance.
Robust Vehicle Detection under Various Environmental Conditions Using an Infrared Thermal Camera and Its Application to Road Traffic Flow Monitoring

We have already proposed a method for detecting vehicle positions and their movements (henceforth referred to as “our previous method”) using thermal images taken with an infrared thermal camera. Our experiments have shown that our previous method detects vehicles robustly under four different environmental conditions which involve poor visibility conditions in snow and thick fog. Our previous method uses the windshield and its surroundings as the target of the Viola-Jones detector. Some experiments in winter show that the vehicle detection accuracy decreases because the temperatures of many windshields approximate those of the exterior of the windshields. In this paper, we propose a new vehicle detection method (henceforth referred to as “our new method”). Our new method detects vehicles based on tires' thermal energy reflection. We have done experiments using three series of thermal images for which the vehicle detection accuracies of our previous method are low. Our new method detects 1,417 vehicles (92.8%) out of 1,527 vehicles, and the number of false detection is 52 in total. Therefore, by combining our two methods, high vehicle detection accuracies are maintained under various environmental conditions. Finally, we apply the traffic information obtained by our two methods to traffic flow automatic monitoring, and show the effectiveness of our proposal.
A prospective randomized comparison of three blood conservation strategies for radical prostatectomy.

BACKGROUND Preoperative autologous blood donation is a standard of care for elective surgical procedures requiring transfusion. The authors evaluated the efficacy of alternative blood-conservation strategies including preoperative recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) therapy and acute normovolemic hemodilution (ANH) in radical retropubic prostatectomy patients. METHODS Seventy-nine patients were prospectively randomized to preoperative autologous donation (3 U autologous blood); rHuEPO plus ANH (preoperative subcutaneous administration of 600 U/kg rHuEPO at 21 and 14 days before surgery and 300 U/kg on day of surgery followed by ANH in the operating room); or ANH (blinded, placebo injections per the rHuEPO regimen listed previously). Transfusion outcomes, perioperative hematocrit levels, postoperative outcomes, and blood-conservation costs were compared among the three groups. RESULTS Baseline hematocrit levels were similar in all groups (43%+/-2%). On the day of surgery hematocrit decreased to 34% +/-4% in the preoperative autologous donation group (P < 0.001), increased to 47%+/-2% in the rHuEPO plus ANH group (P < 0.001), and remained unchanged at 43%+/-2% in the ANH group. Allogeneic blood exposure was similar in all groups. The rHuEPO plus ANH group had significantly higher hematocrit levels compared with the other groups throughout the hospitalization (P < 0.001). Average transfusion costs were significantly lower for ANH ($194+/-$192) compared with preoperative autologous donation ($690+/-$128; P < 0.001) or rHuEPO plus ANH ($1,393+/-$204, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS All three blood-conservation strategies resulted in similar allogeneic blood exposure rates, but ANH was the least costly technique. Preoperative rHuEPO plus ANH prevented postoperative anemia but resulted in the highest transfusion costs.
On the Development of Conductive Textile Antennas

UWB systems are becoming increasingly utilized due to their use in a variety of applications. Meanwhile, many advances have been achieved in the realm of conductive textiles. These textiles can be used as a sensing system or implemented wearable antennas. Combining these two applications is attractive for a number of reasons. First, wearable antennas constructed entirely from fabric offer a costeffective, flexible solution when compared to rigid antennas. Second UWB technology is also attractive for body area network applications due to the low power operation and the inherent low radiated power in its system design. In our implementation accurately defined textile antennas have been developed using a laser machine with high precision cutting capabilities. The textile antennas are comprised of a conductive fabric layer that is laser defined and can be easily incorporated into uniforms and garments using a simple iron-on process. We have developed and present a monopole antenna design geared towards UWB applications. We show that these UWB textile antennas can be applied to localization systems and can provide accurate estimation of wearers location. Wide-band textile slot antennas have been developed too. The antennas are composed of three textile layers: the top and bottom are conducting layers and are precisely defined by a laser cutting machine, while the third layer is a textile dielectric layer sandwiched between these two conducting layers. A single, two-element and four-element array slot antennas have been developed and successfully tested. The developed antennas offer flexible, light-weight and bendable
Phage Display of Combinatorial Peptide Libraries: Application to Antiviral Research

Given the growing number of diseases caused by emerging or endemic viruses, original strategies are urgently required: (1) for the identification of new drugs active against new viruses and (2) to deal with viral mutants in which resistance to existing antiviral molecules has been selected. In this context, antiviral peptides constitute a promising area for disease prevention and treatment. The identification and development of these inhibitory peptides require the high-throughput screening of combinatorial libraries. Phage-display is a powerful technique for selecting unique molecules with selective affinity for a specific target from highly diverse combinatorial libraries. In the last 15 years, the use of this technique for antiviral purposes and for the isolation of candidate inhibitory peptides in drug discovery has been explored. We present here a review of the use of phage display in antiviral research and drug discovery, with a discussion of optimized strategies combining the strong screening potential of this technique with complementary rational approaches for identification of the best target. By combining such approaches, it should be possible to maximize the selection of molecules with strong antiviral potential.
Critical Role for FoxO3a-Dependent Regulation of p21CIP1/WAF1 in Response to Statin Signaling in Cardiac Myocytes

Statins are widely used clinical drugs that exert beneficial growth-suppressive effects in patients with cardiac hypertrophy. We investigated the role of the cell cycle inhibitor p21CIP1/WAF1 (p21) in statin-dependent inhibition of hypertrophic growth in postmitotic cardiomyocytes. We demonstrate that lovastatin fails to inhibit cardiac hypertrophy to angiotensin II in p21−/− mice and that reconstitution of p21 function by TAT.p21 protein transduction can rescue statin action in these otherwise normally developed animals. Lovastatin specifically recruits the forkhead box FoxO3a transcription factor to the p21 promoter, mediating transcriptional transactivation of the p21 gene as analyzed in isolated primary cardiomyocytes. Lovastatin also stimulates protein kinase B/Akt kinase activity, and Akt-dependent phosphorylation forces p21 in the cytoplasm, where it inhibits Rho-kinases contributing to the suppression of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Loss of p21 or FoxO3a by RNA interference causes a general inhibition of lovastatin signal transduction. These results suggest that p21 functions as FoxO3a downstream target to mediate an statin-derived anti-hypertrophic response. Taken together, our genetic and biochemical data delineate an essential function of p21 for statin-dependent inhibition of cardiac myocyte hypertrophy.
The Evolutionary Value of Recombination Is Constrained by Genome Modularity

Genetic recombination is a fundamental evolutionary mechanism promoting biological adaptation. Using engineered recombinants of the small single-stranded DNA plant virus, Maize streak virus (MSV), we experimentally demonstrate that fragments of genetic material only function optimally if they reside within genomes similar to those in which they evolved. The degree of similarity necessary for optimal functionality is correlated with the complexity of intragenomic interaction networks within which genome fragments must function. There is a striking correlation between our experimental results and the types of MSV recombinants that are detectable in nature, indicating that obligatory maintenance of intragenome interaction networks strongly constrains the evolutionary value of recombination for this virus and probably for genomes in general.
Increased brain size in mammals is associated with size variations in gene families with cell signalling, chemotaxis and immune-related functions

Genomic determinants underlying increased encephalization across mammalian lineages are unknown. Whole genome comparisons have revealed large and frequent changes in the size of gene families, and it has been proposed that these variations could play a major role in shaping morphological and physiological differences among species. Using a genome-wide comparative approach, we examined changes in gene family size (GFS) and degree of encephalization in 39 fully sequenced mammalian species and found a significant over-representation of GFS variations in line with increased encephalization in mammals. We found that this relationship is not accounted for by known correlates of brain size such as maximum lifespan or body size and is not explained by phylogenetic relatedness. Genes involved in chemotaxis, immune regulation and cell signalling-related functions are significantly over-represented among those gene families most highly correlated with encephalization. Genes within these families are prominently expressed in the human brain, particularly the cortex, and organized in co-expression modules that display distinct temporal patterns of expression in the developing cortex. Our results suggest that changes in GFS associated with encephalization represent an evolutionary response to the specific functional requirements underlying increased brain size in mammals.
J . Genz role in osmoregulation absorption by the marine teleost fish intestine play a Ouabain-sensitive bicarbonate secretion and acid

role in osmoregulation absorption by the marine teleost fish intestine play a Ouabain-sensitive bicarbonate secretion and acid You might find this additional information useful. ranging from molecules to humans, including clinical investigations. It is published 12 times a year (monthly) by the American illuminate normal or abnormal regulation and integration of physiological mechanisms at all levels of biological organization, publishes original investigations that
Superposition and Synthetic Genetic Devices: Framework and Model System to Investigate Linearity in Escherichia coli

The ability to compose biological systems from smaller elements that act independently of the other upon assembly may help make the forward engineering of biological systems practical. Engineering biology in this manner is made difficult by the inherent nonlinear response of organisms to genetic devices. Devices are inevitably coupled to one another in the cell because they share the same gene expression machinery for expression. Thus, new properties can emerge when devices that had been characterized in isolation are expressed concurrently. We show in this report that, similar to physical systems, the Escherichia coli (E. coli) transcriptional system can exhibit linear behavior under small perturbation conditions. This, in turn, allows devices to be treated as independent modules. A framework and model system consisting of three devices was developed to investigate linear system behavior in E. coli. The framework employed the transfer curve concept to determine the amount of nonlinearity elicited by the E. coli transcriptional system in response to the devices. To this effect, the model system was quantitatively characterized using real-time quantitative PCR to produce device transfer curves (DTCs). Two of the devices encoded the bacterial neomycin phosphotransferase II (nptII) and chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (cat), while the third encoded the jellyfish-originating green fluorescent protein (gfp). The gfp device was the most nonlinear in our system, with nptII and cat devices eliciting linear responses. Superposition experiments verified these findings, with independence among the three devices having been lost when gfp was present at copy numbers above the lowest one used. Elucidation of the mechanism underlying the nonlinearity observed in gfp may lead to design rules that ensure linear system behavior, enabling the accurate prediction of the quantitative behavior of a system assembled from individually characterized devices. This research suggests that biological systems follow principles similar to physical ones, and that concepts borrowed from the latter (such as DTCs) may be of use in the characterization and design of biological systems.
Loss of Etv5 Decreases Proliferation and RET Levels in Neonatal Mouse Testicular Germ Cells and Causes an Abnormal First Wave of Spermatogenesis1

Abstract Mice that are ets variant gene 5 (ETV5) null (Etv5−/−) undergo the first wave of spermatogenesis but lose all spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) during this time. The SSC loss in Etv5−/− mice begins during the neonatal period, suggesting a role for ETV5 in SSC self-renewal during this period. Herein, we show that Etv5 mRNA was present in perinatal mouse testis and that ETV5 was expressed in fetal Sertoli cells and by germ cells and Sertoli cells during the neonatal period. Transplantation of Etv5−/− germ cells failed to establish spermatogenesis in W/Wv mice testes, indicating that germ cell ETV5 has a key role in establishment or self-renewal of transplanted SSCs. The SSC self-renewal is stimulated by glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) acting through the RET/GDNF family receptor alpha 1 (GFRA1) receptor complex in SSCs. Immunohistochemistry, quantitative PCR, and laser capture microdissection revealed decreased RET mRNA and protein expression in spermatogonia of neonatal Etv5−/− mice by Postnatal Days 4–8, indicating that disrupted GDNF/RET/GFRA1 signaling may occur before initial spermatogonial stem/progenitor cell decrease. Etv5−/− spermatogonia had reduced proliferation in vivo and in vitro. Decreased cell proliferation may cause the observed decreases in the number of type A spermatogonia (Postnatal Day 17) and daily sperm production (Postnatal Day 30) in Etv5−/− mice, indicating quantitative impairments in the first wave of spermatogenesis. In conclusion, ETV5 is expressed beginning in fetal Sertoli cells and can potentially have effects on neonatal Sertoli cells and germ cells. In addition, ETV5 has critical effects on neonatal spermatogonial proliferation, which may involve impaired signaling through the RET receptor.
Language Independent Sentence-Level Subjectivity Analysis with Feature Selection

Identifying and extracting subjective information from News, Blogs and other user generated content has lot of applications. Most of the earlier work concentrated on English data. But, recently subjectivity related research at sentence-level in other languages has increased. In this paper, we achieve sentence-level subjectivity classification using language independent feature weighing and selection methods which are consistent across languages. Experiments performed on 5 different languages including English and South Asian language Hindi show that Entropy based category coverage difference criterion (ECCD) feature selection method with language independent feature weighing methods outperforms other approaches for subjective classification.
Physical Activity and Brain Function in Older Adults at Increased Risk for Alzheimer’s Disease

Leisure-time physical activity (PA) and exercise training are known to help maintain cognitive function in healthy older adults. However, relatively little is known about the effects of PA on cognitive function or brain function in those at increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease through the presence of the apolipoproteinE epsilon4 (APOE-ε4) allele, diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or the presence of metabolic disease. Here, we examine the question of whether PA and exercise interventions may differentially impact cognitive trajectory, clinical outcomes, and brain structure and function among individuals at the greatest risk for AD. The literature suggests that the protective effects of PA on risk for future dementia appear to be larger in those at increased genetic risk for AD. Exercise training is also effective at helping to promote stable cognitive function in MCI patients, and greater cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with greater brain volume in early-stage AD patients. In APOE-ε4 allele carriers compared to non-carriers, greater levels of PA may be more effective in reducing amyloid burden and are associated with greater activation of semantic memory-related neural circuits. A greater research emphasis should be placed on randomized clinical trials for exercise, with clinical, behavioral, and neuroimaging outcomes in people at increased risk for AD.
The Cyclicality of Separation and Job Finding Rates

This paper uses CPS gross flow data, adjusted for margin error and time aggregation error, to analyze the business cycle dynamics of separation and job finding rates and to quantify their contributions to overall unemployment variability. Cyclical changes in the separation rate lead those of unemployment, while the job finding rate and unemployment move contemporaneously. Fluctuations in the separation rate explain between 40 and 50 percent of fluctuations in unemployment, depending on how the data are detrended. The authors results suggest an important role for the separation rate in explaining the cyclical behavior of unemployment.
Limited Feedback Multiuser Scheduling of Spatially Correlated Broadcast Channels

This paper investigates the transmission scheduling of users under spatially correlated multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) channels. By maximizing an upper bound of the sum capacity, we propose a scheduling scheme that requires only scalar feedback from each receiving user. To simplify user information feedback and better exploit the spatial channel correlation, we further develop a more efficient scheduling method that only requires a 1-bit indicator from each user and selects users based on the MIMO channel correlation information. Additionally, we then extend the proposed scheduling schemes for the system with imperfect (finite-rate) channel information feedback. Numerical results finally show that the proposed scheduling schemes can effectively improve the system sum capacity performance by exploiting the statistic channel-correlation information.