Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pretest Score for Predicting Microbubble Contrast Agent Use in Stress Echocardiography: A Method to Increase Efficiency in the Echo Laboratory

Background. In stress echocardiography, contrast agents are used selectively to improve endocardial border definition. Early identification of candidates may facilitate use of these agents in small and medium volume laboratories where resources are limited. Methods. We studied 15232 patients who underwent stress echocardiography. Contrast agent was used if 2 or more ventricular segments were not adequately visualized without contrast. Logistic regression models were used to evaluate the association between individual characteristics and contrast use. An 11-point score was derived from the significant characteristics. Results. Variables associated with microbubble use were age, sex, smoking, presence of multiple risk factors, bodymass index (BMI), referral for dobutamine stress echocardiography, history of coronary artery disease, and abnormal baseline electrocardiogram. All variables except BMI were given a score of 1 if present and 0 if absent; BMI was given a score of 0 to 4 according to its value. An increased score was directly proportional to increased likelihood of contrast use. The score cutoff value to optimize sensitivity and specificity was 5. Conclusions. A pretest score can be computed from information available before imaging. It may facilitate contrast agent use through early identification of patients who are likely to benefit from improved endocardial border definition.
The Role of Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products (RAGE) in the Proliferation of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

The receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) is oncogenic and overexpressed in human cancers, but its role in hepatocellular carcinoma remains unclear. Here we demonstrated that RAGE is overexpressed in primary hepatocellular carcinoma (PHC) compared to adjacent para-neoplastic liver samples. Serum endogenous secretory RAGE levels were also increased in PHC patients (p < 0.01). Moreover, we demonstrated that RAGE regulates cellular proliferation in Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Knockdown of RAGE by specific siRNA inhibited cellular growth in the hepatocellular carcinoma cell line, Huh7, whereas the RAGE ligand, high mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1) increased cellular proliferation. In addition, knockdown of RAGE by siRNA arrested cells in the G1 phase and inhibited DNA synthesis (p < 0.01), while HMGB1 protein decreased the number of cells in the G1 phase and increased the number in the S phase (p < 0.05). Furthermore, quantitative real time RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) and Western Blot results demonstrated that RAGE and HMGB1 positively regulate NF-κB p65 expression in Huh7 cells. These studies suggest that RAGE and RAGE ligands are important targets for therapeutic intervention in hepatocellular carcinoma.
The Berlin Brain-Computer Interface: Report from the Feedback Sessions

Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) systems establish a direct communication channel from the brain to an output device. These systems use brain signals recorded from the scalp, the surface of the cortex, or from inside the brain to enable users to control a vari ety of applications. BCI systems that bypass conventional motor output pathways of nerves and muscles can provide novel control options for paralyzed patients. The classical approach to establis h EEG-based control is to set up a system that is controlled by a specific EEG feature which is known to b e susceptible to conditioning and to let the subjects learn the voluntary control of that feature. In contrast, the Berlin Brain-Computer Interface (BBCI) uses well established motor competences in control paradigms and a machine learning approach to extract subject-specific discriminability pat terns from high-dimensional features. Thus the long subject training is replaced by a short calibration measurement (20 minutes) and machine training (1 minute). We report results from a study with six s ubjects who had no or little experience with BCI feedback. The experiment encompassed three kinds of feedback that were all controlled by voluntary brain signals, independent from peripheral nerv ous system activity and without resorting to evoked potentials. Two of the feedback protocols were asynchronous and one was synchronous (i.e., commands can only be emitted synchronously with an external pace). The information transfer rate in the best session was above 35 bits per minute (bpm) for 3 subjects, above 24 and 15 bpm for further two subjects, while one subject could achieve no BCI control. Compared to other BCI systems which need longer subject training to achieve comparable results we believe that the key to success in the BBCI system is its flexibility due to complex fe atures and its adaptivity which respects the enormous inter-subject variability.
Expatriate Knowledge Transfer, Subsidiary Absorptive Capacity, and Subsidiary Performance

In this study, we theoretically identify three dimensions of expatriate competenciesability, motivation, and opportunity seeking—for knowledge transfer. Integrating the ability-motivation-opportunity framework and the absorptive capacity perspective, we propose that expatriate competencies in knowledge transfer influence a subsidiary's performance through the knowledge received by the subsidiary, but tbat this indirect enect is stronger when subsidiary absorptive capacity is greater. We collected multisource, time-lagged data from 162 British subsidiaries of Taiwanese multinational nrms. The results support our hypotheses. Overall, we contribute to expatriation theory and research by revealing specinc expatriate competencies as well as identifying boundary conditions for successful expatriate knowledge transfer.
Semiclassical L p Estimates of Quasimodes on Submanifolds

Let P = P(h) be a semiclassical pseudodifferential operator on a Riemannian manifold M. Suppose that u(h) is a localized, L 2 normalized family of functions such that P(h)u(h) is O(h) in L 2, as h → 0. Then, for any submanifold Y ⊂ M, we obtain estimates on the L p norm of u(h) restricted to Y, with exponents that are sharp for h → 0. These results generalize those of Burq et al. [4] on L p norms for restriction of Laplacian eigenfunctions. As part of the technical development we prove some extensions of the abstract Strichartz estimates of Keel and Tao [8].
Association study between corticotrophin-releasing hormone genomic region (8q13) and rheumatoid arthritis in the Spanish population.

OBJECTIVE To investigate whether the corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) genomic region confers genetic susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the Spanish population. METHODS DNA was obtained from 121 simplex RA families and 101 healthy controls, all from Spanish origin. Two microsatellites, CRHRA1 and CRHRA2, located 25 and 20 kb downstream respectively from the CRH gene were examined using a new multiplex design. Linkage disequilibrium (LD) between the markers was assessed and association studies were carried out using the transmission disequilibrium test (TDT) implemented in TRANSMIT. RESULTS Both markers are in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and there is significant LD between them in the Spanish population. Neither the polymorphic alleles of CRHRA1 and CRHRA2 markers nor their resulting haplotypes were significantly associated to RA. The associated haplotype in the UK population (CRHRA1*10; CRHRA2*14) was undertransmitted in RA patients (12 obs vs 17.43 exp), although the difference is not statistically significant (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS This is the first follow-up study of the association between the CRH genomic region and RA and suggests that the CRH gene may not be involved in the pathogenesis of RA in the Spanish population. Further studies in other populations will help untangle the real contribution of this genomic region to the susceptibility to RA.
Pseudocomplementary PNAs as selective modifiers of protein activity on duplex DNA: the case of type IIs restriction enzymes.

This study evaluates the potential of pseudocomplementary peptide nucleic acids (pcPNAs) for sequence-specific modification of enzyme activity towards double-stranded DNA (dsDNA). To this end, we analyze the ability of pcPNA-dsDNA complexes to site-selectively interfere with the action of four type IIs restriction enzymes. We have found that pcPNA-dsDNA complexes exhibit a different degree of DNA protection against cleaving/nicking activity of various isoschizomeric endonucleases under investigation (PleI, MlyI and N.BstNBI) depending on their type and mutual arrangement of PNA-binding and enzyme recognition/cleavage sites. We have also found that the pcPNA targeting to closely located PleI or BbsI recognition sites on dsDNA generates in some cases the nicking activity of these DNA cutters. At the same time, MlyI endonuclease, a PleI isoschizomer, does not exhibit any DNA nicking/cleavage activity, being completely blocked by the nearby pcPNA binding. Our results have general implications for effective pcPNA interference with the performance of DNA-processing proteins, thus being important for prospective applications of pcPNAs.
Regulation of Endogenous Glucose Production in Glucose Transporter 4 Over-Expressing Mice

Strategies to amplify whole-body glucose disposal are key therapies to treat type 2 diabetes. Mice that over-express glucose transporter 4 (Glut4) in skeletal muscle, heart, and adipose tissue (G4Tg) exhibit increased fasting glucose disposal and thus lowered blood glucose. Intriguingly, G4Tg mice also exhibit improved insulin-stimulated suppression of endogenous glucose production even though Glut4 is not present in the liver. It is unclear, however, if hepatic gluco-regulation is altered in G4Tg mice in the basal, non-insulin-stimulated state. The current studies were performed to examine fasting hepatic glucose metabolism in G4Tg mice and to determine whether gluco-regulatory adaptations exist in the non-insulin-stimulated condition. To test this question, phloridzin-glucose clamps were used to match blood glucose and pancreatic hormone levels while tracer dilution techniques were used to measure glucose flux. These techniques were performed in chronically-catheterized, conscious, and un-stressed 5h-fasted G4Tg and wild-type (WT) littermates. Results show reduced blood glucose, hepatic glycogen content, and hepatic glucokinase (GK) activity/expression as well as higher endogenous glucose production, glucose disposal, arterial glucagon, and hepatic glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase) activity/expression in G4Tg mice versus WT controls. Clamping blood glucose for 90 min at ∼115 mg/dLin G4Tg and WT mice normalized nearly all variables. Notably, however, net hepatic glycogen synthetic rates were disproportionately elevated compared to changes in blood glucose. In conclusion, these studies demonstrate that basal improvements in glucose tolerance due to increased uptake in extra-hepatic sites provoke important gluco-regulatory adaptations in the liver. Although changes in blood glucose underlie the majority of these adaptations, net hepatic glycogen synthesis is sensitized. These data emphasize that anti-diabetic therapies that target skeletal muscle, heart, and/or adipose tissue likely positively impact the liver.
Loaded Shortening, Power Output, and Rate of Force Redevelopment Are Increased With Knockout of Cardiac Myosin Binding Protein-C

Abstract— Myosin binding protein-C (MyBP-C) is localized to the thick filaments of striated muscle where it appears to have both structural and regulatory functions. Importantly, mutations in the cardiac MyBP-C gene are associated with familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The purpose of this study was to examine the role that MyBP-C plays in regulating force, power output, and force development rates in cardiac myocytes. Skinned cardiac myocytes from wild-type (WT) and MyBP-C knockout (MyBP-C−/−) mice were attached between a force transducer and position motor. Force, loaded shortening velocities, and rates of force redevelopment were measured during both maximal and half-maximal Ca2+ activations. Isometric force was not different between the two groups with force being 17.0±7.2 and 20.5±3.1 kN/m2 in wild-type and MyBP-C−/− myocytes, respectively. Peak normalized power output was significantly increased by 26% in MyBP-C−/− myocytes (0.15±0.01 versus 0.19±0.03 P/Po · ML/sec) during maximal Ca2+ activations. Interestingly, peak power output in MyBP-C−/− myocytes was increased to an even greater extent (46%, 0.09±0.03 versus 0.14±0.02 P/Po · ML/sec) during half-maximal Ca2+ activations. There was also an effect on the rate constant of force redevelopment (ktr) during half-maximal Ca2+ activations, with ktr being significantly greater in MyBP-C−/− myocytes (WT=5.8±0.9 s−1 versus MyBP-C−/−=7.7±1.7 s−1). These results suggest that cMyBP-C is an important regulator of myocardial work capacity whereby MyBP-C acts to limit power output.
Universal behaviour and the two-component character of magnetically underdoped cuprate superconductors

We present a detailed review of scaling behaviour in the magnetically underdoped cuprate superconductors (hole dopings less than 0.20) and show that it reflects the presence of two coupled components throughout this doping regime: a non-Landau Fermi liquid and a spin liquid whose behaviour maps onto the theoretical Monte Carlo calculations of the two-dimensional Heisenberg model of localized Cu spins for most of its temperature domain. We use this mapping to extract the doping dependence of the strength, f(x) of the spin liquid component and the effective interaction, J eff(x) between the remnant localized spins that compose it; we find that both decrease linearly with x as the doping level increases. We discuss the physical origin of pseudogap behaviour and conclude that it is consistent with scenarios in which the both the large energy gaps found in the normal state and their subsequent superconductivity are brought about by the coupling between the Fermi liquid quasiparticles and the spin liquid excitations, and that differences in this coupling between the 1–2–3 and 2–1–4 materials can explain the measured differences in their superconducting transition temperatures and other properties.
Predicting the Success of Online Petitions Leveraging Multidimensional Time-Series

Applying classical time-series analysis techniques to online content is challenging, as web data tends to have data quality issues and is often incomplete, noisy, or poorly aligned. In this paper, we tackle the problem of predicting the evolution of a time series of user activity on the web in a manner that is both accurate and interpretable, using related time series to produce a more accurate prediction. We test our methods in the context of predicting signatures for online petitions using data from thousands of petitions posted on The Petition Site - one of the largest platforms of its kind. We observe that the success of these petitions is driven by a number of factors, including promotion through social media channels and on the front page of the petitions platform. We propose an interpretable model that incorporates seasonality, aging effects, self-excitation, and external effects. The interpretability of the model is important for understanding the elements that drives the activity of an online content. We show through an extensive empirical evaluation that our model is significantly better at predicting the outcome of a petition than state-of-the-art techniques.
Star formation in Perseus - Clusters, filaments and the conditions for star formation

We present a complete survey of current star formation in the Perseus molecular cloud, made at 850 and 450 µm with SCUBA at the JCMT. Covering 3 deg 2 , this submillimetre continuum survey for protostellar act ivity is second in size only to that ofOphiuchus (Johnstone et al. 2004). Complete above 0.4 M⊙ (5� detection in a 14 '' beam), we detect a total of 91 protostars and prestellar cores. Of these, 80% lie in cluste rs, representative of star formation across the Galaxy. Two of the groups of cores are associated with the young stellar clusters IC348 and NGC1333, and are consistent with a steady or reduced star formation rate in the last 0.5 Myr, but not an increasing one. In Perseus, 40-60% of cores are in small clusters (< 50 M⊙) and isolated objects, much more than the 10% suggested from infrared studies. Complementing the dust continuum, we present a C 18 O map of the whole cloud at 1 ' resolution. The gas and dust show filamentary structure of th e dense gas on large and small scales, with the high column density filaments breaking up in to clusters of cores. The filament mass per unit length is 5-11 M⊙ per 0.1 pc. Given these filament masses, there is no requireme nt for substantial large scale flows along or onto the filament s in order to gather suffi cient material for star formation. We find that the probabili ty of finding a submillimetre core is a strongly increasing function of column density, as measured by C 18 O integrated intensity, P(core)∝ I 3.0 . This power law relation holds down to low column density, suggesting that there is no Av threshold for star formation in Perseus, unless all the low- Av submm cores can be demonstrated to be older protostars which have begun to lose their natal molecular cloud.
The Conductor’s parodies. A multimodal strategy for error management in music rehearsals.

A parody is a distorted imitation of a trait or behavior, aimed at highlighting its flaws and possibly making fun of them, generally with a satirical aim, but sometimes with pedagogical ends. The paper presents a study of the parodies performed by choir and orchestra conductors viewed as a peculiar strategy for error management during rehearsals. To investigate how parodies are exploited to correct the singers’ or players errors, rehearsals of orchestra and choir conductors were collected and the types of errors they stigmatize, as well as their parodies of them, were analysed by means of an annotation scheme that describes their parodies and classifies the pointed errors in terms of the musical parameters with respect to which they are errors. The paper points out that the use of parody as an error management device is widespread across conductors, but especially when the relationship between conductor and musicians is characterized by an informal and friendly climate.
Slow soliton interaction with delta impurities

We study the Gross--Pitaevskii equation with a delta function potential, $ q \delta_0 $, where $ |q| $ is small and analyze the solutions for which the initial condition is a soliton with initial velocity $ v_0 $. We show that up to time $ (|q| + v_0^2 )^{-1/2} \log$($1$ / $|q|$) the bulk of the solution is a soliton evolving according to the classical dynamics of a natural effective Hamiltonian, $ (\xi^2 + q \, \sech^2 ( x ) )$ / $2$.
Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) leaf disks: evaluation of the co-cultivation conditions to increase beta-glucuronidase gene activity

vii Chapter 1. Introduction . 1 Chapter 2. Review of Literature . 3 2.1 Molecular Mechanism of Agrobacterium-mediated DNA Transfer . 3 2.2 Adoption for Plant Molecular Biology . 10 2.3 Agrobacterium-mediated Plant Transformation Protocol Development . 12 Chapter 3. Materials and Methods . 20 3.1 Materials . 20 3.2 Methods . 22 Chapter 4. Results . 27 4.1 Effect of Temperature During the Co-cultivation . 27 4.2 Comparison of Two β-glucuronidase Genes . 28 4.3 Effect of Surfactant, Vacuum Pressure Strength and Duration . 32 4.4 Effect of Co-cultivation Durations and Bacteria Concentrations . 39 4.5 Effect of Bacterial Pre-culture Conditions and Acetosyringone Concentrations . 39 4.6 Effect of Wounding and Bacterial Removal . 44 4.7 Timecourse Experiment . 46 4.8 Evaluation of Antibiotic Selection Agents . 46 Chapter 5. Discussion . 49 References . 52 Appendix. Phaseolin Promoter and Terminator Construction Scheme . 60 Vita . 67
Probabilistic seismic hazard maps from seismicity patterns analysis: the Iberian Peninsula case

Abstract. Earthquake prediction is a main topic in Seismology. Here, the goal is to know the correlation between the seismicity at a certain place at a given time with the seismicity at the same place, but at a following interval of time. There are no ways for exact predictions, but one can wonder about the causality relations between the seismic characteristics at a given time interval and another in a region. In this paper, a new approach to this kind of studies is presented. Tools which include cellular automata theory and Shannon's entropy are used. First, the catalogue is divided into time intervals, and the region into cells. The activity or inactivity of each cell at a certain time is described using an energy criterion; thus a pattern which evolves over time is given. The aim is to find the rules of the stochastic cellular automaton which best fits the evolution of the pattern. The neighborhood utilized is the cross template (CT). A grid search is made to choose the best model, being the mutual information between the different times the function to be maximized. This function depends on the size of the cells β on and the interval of time τ which is considered for studying the activity of a cell. With these β and τ, a set of probabilities which characterizes the evolution rules is calculated, giving a probabilistic approach to the spatiotemporal evolution of the region. The sample catalogue for the Iberian Peninsula covers since 1970 till 2001. The results point out that the seismic activity must be deduced not only from the past activity at the same region but also from its surrounding activity. The time and spatial highest interaction for the catalogue used are of around 3.3 years and 290x165 km2, respectively; if a cell is inactive, it will continue inactive with a high probability; an active cell has around the 60% probability of continuing active in the future. The Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Map obtained marks the main seismic active areas (northwestern Africa) were the real seismicity has been occurred after the date of the data set studied. Also, the Hurst exponent has been studied. The value calculated is 0.48±0.02, which means that the process is inherently unpredictable. This result can be related to the incapacity of the cellular automaton obtained of predicting sudden changes.
Hierarchical Phrase-Based Translation Grammars Extracted from Alignment Posterior Probabilities

We report on investigations into hierarchical phrase-based translation grammars based on rules extracted from posterior distributions over alignments of the parallel text. Rather than restrict rule extraction to a single alignment, such as Viterbi, we instead extract rules based on posterior distributions provided by the HMM word-to-word alignment model. We define translation grammars progressively by adding classes of rules to a basic phrase-based system. We assess these grammars in terms of their expressive power, measured by their ability to align the parallel text from which their rules are extracted, and the quality of the translations they yield. In Chinese-to-English translation, we find that rule extraction from posteriors gives translation improvements. We also find that grammars with rules with only one nonterminal, when extracted from posteriors, can outperform more complex grammars extracted from Viterbi alignments. Finally, we show that the best way to exploit source-to-target and target-to-source alignment models is to build two separate systems and combine their output translation lattices.