Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A 28-GHz Low-Power Phased-Array Receiver Front-End With 360° RTPS Phase Shift Range

A low-power 28-GHz phased-array receiver (RX) front end is presented that incorporates a low-power low-noise amplifier (LNA) and a passive reflection-type phase shifter (RTPS) capable of 360° phase shift with 5-b phase resolution and low gain variation. Passive phase shifters are limited by tradeoffs between phase resolution, insertion loss, and phase shift range. The proposed RTPS load design and optimization approach leads to a 28-GHz RTPS achieving the state-of-the-art insertion loss with 360° phase shift range and low loss variation across the phase shift. The LNA adopts a transformer-coupled neutralization architecture that increases available gain, enabling lower power consumption. The phased-array front end is designed for Ka-band applications and has been implemented in 65-nm CMOS. The measured RTPS achieves 360° phase shift with 7.75 ± 0.3 dB insertion loss and an rms phase error of 0.3° at 28 GHz. The low-power phased-array RX front end has an overall gain of 9.5 ± 0.4 dB and noise figure <5.5 dB at 28 GHz. The RX front end consumes 10 mW from a 0.9-V supply with phase shifter and an LNA active area of 0.16 and 0.32 mm2, respectively, in 65-nm CMOS, demonstrating its suitability for low-power phased-array RX for emerging wireless links.
Toll-Like Receptor 2-Mediated Innate Immune Responses against Junín Virus in Mice Lead to Antiviral Adaptive Immune Responses during Systemic Infection and Do Not Affect Viral Replication in the Brain

ABSTRACT Successful adaptive immunity to virus infection often depends on the initial innate response. Previously, we demonstrated that Junín virus, the etiological agent responsible for Argentine hemorrhagic fever (AHF), activates an early innate immune response via an interaction between the viral glycoprotein and Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2). Here we show that TLR2/6 but not TLR1/2 heterodimers sense Junín virus glycoprotein and induce a cytokine response, which in turn upregulates the expression of the RNA helicases RIG-I and MDA5. NF-κB and Erk1/2 were important in the cytokine response, since both proteins were phosphorylated as a result of the interaction of virus with TLR2, and treatment with an Erk1/2-specific inhibitor blocked cytokine production. We show that the Junín virus glycoprotein activates cytokine production in a human macrophage cell line as well. Moreover, we show that TLR2-mediated immune response plays a role in viral clearance because wild-type mice cleared Candid 1 (JUNV C1), the vaccine strain of Junín virus, more rapidly than did TLR2 knockout mice. This clearance correlated with the generation of Junín virus-specific CD8+ T cells. However, infected wild-type and TLR2 knockout mice developed TLR2-independent blocking antibody responses with similar kinetics. We also show that microglia and astrocytes but not neurons are susceptible to infection with JUNV C1. Although JUNV C1 infection of the brain also triggered a TLR2-dependent cytokine response, virus levels were equivalent in wild-type and TLR2 knockout mice. IMPORTANCE Junín virus is transmitted by rodents native to Argentina and is associated with both systemic disease and, in some patients, neurological symptoms. Humans become infected when they inhale aerosolized Junín virus. AHF has a 15 to 30% mortality rate, and patients who clear the infection develop a strong antibody response to Junín virus. Here we investigated what factors determine the immune response to Junín virus. We show that a strong initial innate immune response to JUNV C1 determines how quickly mice can clear systemic infection and that this depended on the cellular immune response. In contrast, induction of an innate immune response in the brain had no effect on virus infection levels. These findings may explain how the initial immune response to Junín virus infection could determine different outcomes in humans.
Results of interleukin-2-based treatment in advanced melanoma: a case record-based analysis of 631 patients.

PURPOSE In patients with stage IV melanoma, durable responses have been reported with treatment regimens that involve high-dose interleukin-2 (IL-2). We analyze long-term results of 631 melanoma patients from 12 institutions who had received IL-2 alone, in combination with interferon alfa 2a or 2b (IFNalpha), or with cytotoxic drugs. METHODS Case records that contained pretreatment parameters, response data, and updated survival information were collected. After univariate analysis, the multivariate evaluation of the impact of pretreatment parameters on response and survival was performed by logistic regression and Cox's regression, respectively. RESULTS Patients were divided into four groups according to treatment: IL-2 alone (n=117), IL-2 and chemotherapy (n=49), IL-2 and IFNalpha (n=153), and IL-2, chemotherapy, and IFNalpha (n=312). The median survival of all patients was 10.5 months and the 2- and 5-year survival rates were 19.9% and 10.4%, respectively. Independent prognostic factors for response and survival were entirely different, treatment group being the only significant factor for response, and serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), metastatic site, and performance predicting survival. The addition of IFNalpha to IL-2 was associated with prolonged survival, but the effect of additional chemotherapy was less obvious. CONCLUSION Serum LDH, metastatic site, and performance status are useful stratification factors for randomized trials in metastatic melanoma. The improved long-term survival rates observed in melanoma patients treated with IL-2/IFNalpha-containing regimens are notable in contrast to the reported 5-year survival rates of 2% to 6% achieved with chemotherapy, but because selection bias cannot be ruled out, the impact of IL-2, as well as all other components of the treatment regimens, on survival needs to be confirmed in prospective randomized trials.
Effective activation method with A23187 and puromycin to produce haploid parthenogenones from freshly ovulated mouse oocytes

Freshly ovulated mouse oocytes exposed to 5 mM calcium ionophore A23187 for 5 min and controls (not exposed) were cultured in TYH medium with 10 μg/ml puromycin (the puromycin group) or 2 mM 6-dimethylaminopurine (DMAP; the DMAP group) for 4 h. Among the controls, few oocytes were activated even if they were treated with DMAP or puromycin. In the oocytes exposed to A23187, in contrast, the activation rate, i.e. the rate of oocytes showing at least one pronucleus (PN) after the treatment, was 46.2% (48/104) in the DMAP group and 90.0% (118/131) in the puromycin group. Activation rate in the puromycin group was significantly higher than in the DMAP and control groups (p < 0.0001, respectively). Furthermore, 82.4% (108/131) of the activated oocytes in the puromycin group showed one PN with extrusion of the second polar body (PB). In the puromycin group, the DNA content of the PN of parthenogenones with 1PN2PB was half that of a set of metaphase II chromosomes. Chromosomal analysis was possible in 14 parthenogenones with 1PN2PB in the puromycin group. The parthenogenones possessed a normal set (n = 20) of haploid chromosomes. The combination of A23187 and puromycin proved to be an effective method of producing haploid parthenogenones.
Measuring technology self efficacy: reliability and construct validity of a modified computer self efficacy scale in a clinical rehabilitation setting

Purpose: To describe a modification of the computer self efficacy scale for use in clinical settings and to report on the modified scale’s reliability and construct validity. Methods: The computer self efficacy scale was modified to make it applicable for clinical settings (for use with older people or people with disabilities using everyday technologies). The modified scale was piloted, then tested with patients in an Australian inpatient rehabilitation setting (n = 88) to determine the internal consistency using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Construct validity was assessed by correlation of the scale with age and technology use. Factor analysis using principal components analysis was undertaken to identify important constructs within the scale. Results: The modified computer self efficacy scale demonstrated high internal consistency with a standardised alpha coefficient of 0.94. Two constructs within the scale were apparent; using the technology alone, and using the technology with the support of others. Scores on the scale were correlated with age and frequency of use of some technologies thereby supporting construct validity. Conclusions: The modified computer self efficacy scale has demonstrated reliability and construct validity for measuring the self efficacy of older people or people with disabilities when using everyday technologies. This tool has the potential to assist clinicians in identifying older patients who may be more open to using new technologies to maintain independence. Implications for Rehabilitation Technology is playing an increasing role in supporting older people or people with disabilities to function safely and independently in their own home. Assessment tools that are able to predict those people that are more likely to successfully adopt new technologies will be useful to clinicians. A modified version of the computer self efficacy scale appears to be a promising way of measuring technology self efficacy in a clinical rehabilitation population.
Targeting Cyclooxygenase-2 in Recurrent Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Phase II Trial of Celecoxib and Docetaxel

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) catalyzes the rate-limiting step in prostaglandin (PG) synthesis and is overexpressed in 70% to 90% of non–small cell lung cancers (NSCLC). Preclinical studies suggest inhibition of COX-2 can enhance the cytotoxic effect of docetaxel. To test this concept clinically, we administered celecoxib (400 mg p.o. twice daily) plus docetaxel (75 mg/m2 every 3 weeks) to a cohort of patients with recurrent, previously treated NSCLC. Patients first received single agent celecoxib for 5 to 10 days to ascertain the effectiveness of COX-2 inhibition, which was determined by measuring pre- and post-celecoxib levels of urinary 11α-hydroxy-9,15-dioxo-2,3,4,5-tetranor-prostane-1,20-dioic acid (PGE-M), the major metabolite of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). We enrolled 56 patients (35 men, 21 women; median age, 61 years). All patients had received at least one prior chemotherapy regimen. The overall response rate was 11% and median survival was 6 months, similar to that observed with docetaxel alone. Pre-celecoxib urinary PGE-M decreased from a mean level of 27.2 to 12.2 ng/mg Cr after 5 to 10 days of celecoxib (P = 0.001). When grouped by quartile, patients with the greatest proportional decline in urinary PGE-M levels experienced a longer survival compared to those with no change or an increase in PGE-M (14.8 versus 6.3 versus 5.0 months). Our data suggest that combining celecoxib with docetaxel using the doses and schedule employed does not improve survival in unselected patients with recurrent, previously treated NSCLC. However, in light of the apparent survival prolongation in the subset with a marked decline in urinary PGE-M levels, further investigation of strategies designed to decrease PGE2 synthesis in NSCLC seems warranted.
Non-Invasive Methods to Predict Breast Muscle Weight in Slow-Growing Chickens

This experiment aims to compare in vivo breast morphometric and ultrasound measurements, as well as live body weight to predict breast meat weight in slow-growing chickens. Traits included Thoracic Circumference (TC), Chest Width (CW), Keel Length (KL) and angle (KA), Live Weight (LW), thickness of muscle determined by sonography (TM) and Breast Meat Weight (BMW). Birds were then slaughtered and total breast muscles (Pectoralis major and Pectoralis minor) were dissected and weighed. A linear model including sex effect and the different predictor measurements, as covariates, were adjusted to the data. Homogeneity test of slopes between sexes showed no difference. Means of the traits were 115.58g (±19.72) for BMW, 1031 g (±163.44) for LW, 68.65 (±6.89) for KA, 26.81 cm (±1.57) for TC, 10.40 cm (±0.62) for KL, o 4.67 cm (±0.47) for CW and 11.52 mm (±1.11) for TM. All traits were highly correlated to BMW: TC (0.85), LW (0.84), KL (0.81) and TM (0.79), except for KA (0.28) and CW (0.19). Finally, TC, LW, KL and TM appear to be valuable indicators for estimating BMW in slow-growing chickens but KA and CW remain poor predictors.
Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus Invades and Survives in Epithelial Cells

Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus (S. zooepidemicus) is an opportunistic pathogen of several species including humans. S. zooepidemicus is found on mucus membranes of healthy horses, but can cause acute and chronic endometritis. Recently S. zooepidemicus was found able to reside in the endometrium for prolonged periods of time. Thus, we hypothesized that an intracellular phase may be part of the S. zooepidemicus pathogenesis and investigated if S. zooepidemicus was able to invade and survive inside epithelial cells. HEp-2 and HeLa cell lines were co-cultured with two S. zooepidemicus strains (1-4a and S31A1) both originating from the uterus of mares suffering from endometritis. Cells were fixed at different time points during the 23 h infection assay and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) was used to characterize adhesion and invasion mechanisms. The FESEM images showed three morphologically different types of invasion for both bacterial strains. The main port of entry was through large invaginations in the epithelial cell membrane. Pili-like bacterial appendages were observed when the S. zooepidemicus cells were in close proximity to the epithelial cells indicating that attachment and invasion were active processes. Adherent and intracellular S. zooepidemicus, and bacteria in association with lysosomes was determined by immunofluorescence staining techniques and fluorescence microscopy. Quantification of intracellular bacteria was determined in penicillin protection assays. Both S. zooepidemicus strains investigated were able to invade epithelial cells although at different magnitudes. The immunofluorescence data showed significantly higher adhesion and invasion rates for strain 1-4a when compared to strain S31A1. S. zooepidemicus was able to survive intracellularly, but the survival rate decreased over time in the cell culture system. Phagosome-like compartments containing S. zooepidemicus at some stages fused with lysosomes to form a phagolysosome. The results indicate that an intracellular phase may be one way S. zooepidemicus survives in the host, and could in part explain how S. zooepidemicus can cause recurrent/persistent infections. Future studies should reveal the ability of S. zooepidemicus to internalize and survive in primary equine endometrial cells and during in vivo conditions.
Discriminatory Auctions with Seller Discretion: Evidence from German Treasury Auctions

This paper examines the results of 93 discriminatory German Treasury auctions between 1998 and 2002. It documents the seller's use of discretion and its influence on auction outcomes and bidding strategies. The evidence suggests that the seller uses its discretion frequently and substantially. It does not maximize revenues in a single-period game, but moves up in the competitive demand curve to set the auction price close to the market price. Bidders do not make profits in German auctions on average, while their bidding strategies reflect the uncertainty created by the seller's discretion. The paper extends and tests the multi-unit auction model by Lengwiler (1999). The empirical evidence is consistent with the implication that the market-clearing price depends on the seller's marginal cost rather than on the submitted demand.
Biosynthesis of prostaglandins by human spermatozoa in vitro and their role in acrosome reaction and fertilization

Five homogenates of human sperm cells were separately incubated with [14C]arachidonic acid in the presence of reduced glutathione, L‐tryptophan, and haematin as cofactors. The cyclooxygenase products of archidonic acid metabolism were extracted, separated, and measuréd for their radioactivity. The rate of formation of prostaglandin (PG)D2, PGE2, PGF2α, 6‐keto PGF1α, and thromboxane (TX)B2 were 18.0 ± 1.11, 10.9 ± 0.68, 5.8 ± 0.21, 3.9 ± 0.13 and 6.6 ± 0.52 pmol/106 cells/min, respectively. These results are discussed in relation to the hypothesis that cyclooxygenase metabolites of certain polyunsaturated fatty acids play an important part in the sperm acrosome reaction and fertilization. © 1992 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Ion movements in cell injury. Effects of inhibition of respiration and glycolysis on the ultrastructure and function of the epithelial cells of the toad bladder.

TExTr-G. 4. Proposed relationship between ion movement and ultrastructural altera- tions following inhibition of energy metabolism. While sufficient quantity of the energy-rich compound (X,-P) is available to drive the sodium pump, cell vohlme is maintaned by extrsion of inwardly diffusing sodium ions. After substantial decrease in quantity of X-Z.P, cell volume is maintained by alteration in permeability of plasma membrane to sodium and perhaps to other ions. Ultimately, after prolonged lack of XP, the plasma membrane be-comes leaky to sodium ions and water. Entrance of sodium and water into the cell is followed by expansion of endoplasmic reticulum, and expansion of first the outer and then the inner mitochondrial compartment.
Compressively sampling the plenacoustic function

Directly measuring the full set of acoustic impulse responses within a room would require an unreasonably large number of measurements. Considering that the acoustic wavefield is sparse in some dictionaries, Compressed Sensing allows the recovery of the full wavefield with a reduced set of measurements, but raises challenging computational and memory issues. Two practical algorithms are presented and compared: one that exploits the structured sparsity of the soundfield, with projections of the modes onto plane waves sharing the same wavenumber, and one that computes a sparse decomposition on a dictionary of independent plane waves with time/space variable separation.
Expression of a Novel, Sterol-Insensitive Form of Sterol Regulatory Element Binding Protein 2 (SREBP2) in Male Germ Cells Suggests Important Cell- and Stage-Specific Functions for SREBP Targets during Spermatogenesis

ABSTRACT Cholesterol biosynthesis in somatic cells is controlled at the transcriptional level by a homeostatic feedback pathway involving sterol regulatory element binding proteins (SREBPs). These basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH)-Zip proteins are synthesized as membrane-bound precursors, which are cleaved to form a soluble, transcriptionally active mature SREBP that regulates the promoters for genes involved in lipid synthesis. Homeostasis is conferred by sterol feedback inhibition of this maturation process. Previous work has demonstrated the expression of SREBP target genes in the male germ line, several of which are highly up-regulated during specific developmental stages. However, the role of SREBPs in the control of sterol regulatory element-containing promoters during spermatogenesis has been unclear. In particular, expression of several of these genes in male germ cells appears to be insensitive to sterols, contrary to SREBP-dependent gene regulation in somatic cells. Here, we have characterized a novel isoform of the transcription factor SREBP2, which is highly enriched in rat and mouse spermatogenic cells. This protein, SREBP2gc, is expressed in a stage-dependent fashion as a soluble, constitutively active transcription factor that is not subject to feedback control by sterols. These findings likely explain the apparent sterol-insensitive expression of lipid synthesis genes during spermatogenesis. Expression of a sterol-independent, constitutively active SREBP2gc in the male germ line may have arisen as a means to regulate SREBP target genes in specific developmental stages. This may reflect unique roles for cholesterol synthesis and other functional targets of SREBPs during spermatogenesis.
Development of novel algorithm and real-time monitoring ambulatory system using Bluetooth module for fall detection in the elderly

Novel algorithm and real-time ambulatory monitoring system for fall detection in elderly people is described. Our system is comprised of accelerometer, tilt sensor and gyroscope. For real-time monitoring, we used Bluetooth/spl trade/. Accelerometer measures kinetic force, tilt sensor and gyroscope estimates body posture. Also, we suggested algorithm using signals which obtained from the system attached to the chest for fall detection. To evaluate our system and algorithm, we experimented on three people aged over 26 years. The experiment of four cases such as forward fall, backward fall, side fall and sit-stand was repeated ten times and the experiment in daily life activity was performed one time to each subject. These experiments showed that our system and algorithm could distinguish between falling and daily life activity. Moreover, the accuracy of fall detection is 96.7%. Our system is especially adapted for long-time and real-time ambulatory monitoring of elderly people in emergency situation.
Vascular accidents to the brain stem associated with neck manipulation.

A woman, aged 31, had nausea, vomiting, slurred speech, and diplopia after vigorous manipulation of the neck during chiropractic treatment. There was weakness of the left arm and leg and decreased sensation for touch and pallesthesia over the left half of the body, including the face. The patient's underlying disease was believed to be multiple sclerosis, but the acute episode represented a brain-stem vascular accident secondary to manipulation of the neck. A man, aged 55, had a similar treatment twice. Signs and symptoms became worse with each manipulation. Examination revealed Horner's syndrome on the left side, paralysis of the left vocal cord, and diminished sensation of pain and temperature over the right half of the body. Manipulation of the neck can significantly narrow the lumen of the vertebral artery, and susceptibility to such accidents may depend on an abnormal vascular supply to the basilar arterial system.