Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Variability of microcirculatory resistance index and its relationship with fractional flow reserve in patients with intermediate coronary artery lesions.

BACKGROUND The relationship between the functional significance of epicardial coronary artery stenosis and microvascular resistance remains to be determined. Furthermore, little is known regarding the determinants of microvascular resistance in patients with intermediate coronary lesions. METHODS AND RESULTS Using a pressure-temperature sensor-tipped guidewire, thermodilution-derived index of microcirculatory resistance (IMR) was measured, along with fractional flow reserve (FFR), in 131 coronary arteries of 104 patients with intermediate stenosis, in order to determine the relationship between IMR and clinical data. IMR varied widely (median, 20.8; range, 6.3-65.2), and no significant relationship was observed between IMR and FFR after IMR was corrected for coronary wedge pressure in the territories with functionally significant stenoses. There was no significant relationship between IMR and Framingham risk score, systematic coronary risk evaluation (SCORE), ACC/AHA lesion classification, or SYNTAX score. Right coronary artery (RCA) lesion location and history of hypertension were significantly associated with increased IMR. Multivariate analysis showed that RCA lesion location (odds ratio [OR], 4.52; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.84-11.11, P=0.001) and hypertension (OR, 3.03; 95% CI: 1.15-7.96, P=0.025) were independent predictors of increased IMR. CONCLUSIONS Functional significance of intermediate coronary stenosis was not correlated with microvascular resistance of the perfusion territory. Intermediate coronary lesions may result in increased microcirculatory resistance irrespective of functional significance of the stenosis, with significant regional difference in microvascular resistance.
Time-Correlated Vortex Tunneling in Layered Superconductors

The nucleation and dynamics of Josephson and Abrikosov vortices determine the critical currents of layered high-Tc superconducting (HTS) thin films, grain boundaries, and coated conductors, so understanding their mechanisms is of crucial importance. Here, we treat pair creation of Josephson and Abrikosov vortices in layered superconductors as a secondary Josephson effect. Each full vortex is viewed as a composite fluid of micro-vortices, such as pancake vortices, which tunnel coherently via a tunneling matrix element. We introduce a two-terminal magnetic (Weber) blockade effect that blocks tunneling when the applied current is below a threshold value. We simulate vortex tunneling as a dynamic, time-correlated process when the current is above threshold. The model shows nearly precise agreement with voltage-current (V-I) characteristics of HTS cuprate grain boundary junctions, which become more concave rounded as temperature decreases, and also explains the piecewise linear V-I behavior observed in iron-pnictide bicrystal junctions and other HTS devices. When applied to either Abrikosov or Josephson pair creation, the model explains a plateau seen in plots of critical current vs. thickness of HTS-coated conductors. The observed correlation between theory and experiment strongly supports the proposed quantum picture of vortex nucleation and dynamics in layered superconductors.
Correlating hydrographic events and divergence times of speckled dace (Rhinichthys: Teleostei: Cyprinidae) in the Colorado River drainage

We estimated the timing of paleodrainage connections in the Colorado River Basin using mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequence divergences among populations of the speckled dace, Rhinichthys osculus. Cytochrome b and ND4L sequences were analyzed by maximum likelihood methods to estimate phylogenetic branch lengths, which were calibrated to geological time with a fossil age estimate. We assume that heterogeneity in rate of evolution of mitochondrial DNA is caused in part by differences in body size, temperature, and correlated life-history traits; therefore, branch lengths are used directly to calculate rates of nucleotide substitution and ages of nodes on the phylogenetic tree. Rhinichthys osculus is estimated (by the corrected age of the oldest fossil) to have diverged from its sister species at 6.3 Ma. We estimate that speckled dace have been in the Colorado drainage for 3.6 m.y. , and they have dispersed through the drainage and to former connectives, such as the Los Angeles Basin, in the past 1.9 m.y. Divergence among lineages of the upper and lower Colorado River drainages (above and below Grand Canyon) is estimated to have occurred ca. 1.9–1.3 Ma. Genetic divergence of allopatric lineages in the lower Colorado River drainage was accompanied by morphological adaptations to different stream gradients, but small genetic distances among these forms indicate recent gene flow and lack of reproductive isolation.
Brain activity measured with fNIRS for the prediction of cognitive workload

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a versatile imagining modality whose popularity is increasing exponentially in the neuroimaging society. Our research attempts to quantify workload in a natural driving scenario with multiple parallel tasks using fNIRS. Nine young adults participated in this study where they drove in a driving simulator for a period of 100 minutes while we continuously recorded fNIRS data. We used an n-back task to induce different workload levels forcing the participants to remember the previous one, two, three or four speed signs and adjust their speed accordingly while they interact with traffic in the virtual reality driving simulator scenario. Our results indicate that measuring the hemodynamic responses from the bilateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) can be used reliably to quantify cognitive workload levels even in more complex naturalistic tasks.
Biochemical Basis of the Interaction between Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator and Immunoglobulin-like Repeats of Filamin*

Mutations in the chloride channel cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) cause cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder characterized by defects in CFTR biosynthesis, localization to the cell surface, or activation by regulatory factors. It was discovered recently that surface localization of CFTR is stabilized by an interaction between the CFTR N terminus and the multidomain cytoskeletal protein filamin. The details of the CFTR-filamin interaction, however, are unclear. Using x-ray crystallography, we show how the CFTR N terminus binds to immunoglobulin-like repeat 21 of filamin A (FlnA-Ig21). CFTR binds to β-strands C and D of FlnA-Ig21 using backbone-backbone hydrogen bonds, a linchpin serine residue, and hydrophobic side-chain packing. We use NMR to determine that the CFTR N terminus also binds to several other immunoglobulin-like repeats from filamin A in vitro. Our structural data explain why the cystic fibrosis-causing S13F mutation disrupts CFTR-filamin interaction. We show that FlnA-Ig repeats transfected into cultured Calu-3 cells disrupt CFTR-filamin interaction and reduce surface levels of CFTR. Our findings suggest that filamin A stabilizes surface CFTR by anchoring it to the actin cytoskeleton through interactions with multiple filamin Ig repeats. Such an interaction mode may allow filamins to cluster multiple CFTR molecules and to promote colocalization of CFTR and other filamin-binding proteins in the apical plasma membrane of epithelial cells.
Perceived Self-Efficacy in Problem Solving and Scientific Communication in University Students. A Gender Study

The purpose of the present study was to compare the profiles of perceived self-efficacy in problem solving and scientific communication between men and women university students. A total sample of 2089 participants, 902 women and 1187 men, aged 17 - 20 years participated in this study. The sample was constituted by all the freshmen university students from each degree offered by the Autonomous University of Chihuahua (Mexico). A quantitative approach with a descriptive and transversal survey design was used. All the participants completed the Self-Efficacy Problem Solving and Communication Scale. The results of the one-way multivariate analysis of variance, followed by the one-way univariate analyses of variance, showed that the men reported statistically significant better perceived self-efficacy in problem solving than the women (p p p p > .05). Because of the differences between men and women in their perception of self-efficacy found, these findings suggest that in order to design any intervention for improving the perceived self-efficacy of the students, the variable gender should be taken into account.
TRANSGENIC PLUMS EXPRESSING PLUM POX VIRUS COAT PROTEIN GENE DO NOT ASSIST THE DEVELOPMENT OF VIRUS RECOMBINANTS UNDER FIELD CONDITIONS

SUMMARY The serological and genetic variability of Plum pox virus (PPV) isolates from transgenic plum trees expressing the PPV coat protein gene and conventional plums was analyzed. PPV isolates were characterized serologically by TAS-ELISA using PPV-D and PPV-M specific monoclonal antibodies and by molecular typing across three genomic regions as well as RFLP analysis of the 3’ terminus of the CP gene. PCR products spanning the (Cter)CP and (Cter)NIb-(Nter)CP regions were sequenced. Sequence information revealed no significant difference between serological and molecular features of PPV isolates from transgenic and conventional plums that were growing together in experimental orchards for 6-8 years. These results show that transgenic plums do not promote the emergence of new PPV variants under field conditions.
Microbial degradation and physico-chemical alteration of polyhydroxyalkanoates by a thermophilic Streptomyces sp.

A thermophilic Streptomyces sp. capable of degrading various aliphatic polyesters was isolated from a landfill site. The isolate, Streptomyces sp. BCC23167, demonstrated rapid aerobic degradation of several polyesters, including polyhydroxyalkanoate copolymers, poly(ɛ-caprolactone) and polybutylene succinate at 50°C and neutral pH. The degrading activity was repressed by glucose and cellobiose, but tolerant to repression by other carbon substrates. Degradation of a commercial poly[(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate] (PHBHx) by Streptomyces sp. BCC23167 progressed from surface to bulk as suggested by the slight decrease in polymer molecular weight. Differential scanning calorimetry analysis of PHBHx film degradation by Streptomyces sp. BCC23167 showed that relative crystallinity of the film increased slightly in the early stage of degradation, followed by a marked decrease later on. The surface morphology of degraded films was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, which showed altered surface structure consistent with the changes in crystallinity. The isolate is thus of potential for application in composting technology for bio-plastic degradation.
Sodium butyrate delays neutrophil apoptosis: role of protein biosynthesis in neutrophil survival

Sodium butyrate, which directly affects chromatin structure and function in many cells, is as effective as granulocyte‐macrophage colony‐stimulating factor (GM‐CSF) in delaying apoptosis in human neutrophils. Both butyrate and GM‐CSF preserved the ability of neutrophils cultured for 22 h in vitro to generate reactive oxidants and express receptors such as CD16. They also delayed apoptotic morphology and DNA fragmentation, and stimulated de novo biosynthesis: newly‐labelled polypeptides detected by 2D‐polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis after treatment with GM‐CSF and butyrate were very similar. Cycloheximide abrogated the effects of both GM‐CSF and butyrate. Exposure to butyrate for 1 h did not prime oxidant production and did not up‐regulate expression of CD11b. Hence, unlike GM‐CSF, butyrate does not stimulate translocation of granules to the plasma membrane. These data suggest that active gene expression is involved in the regulation of neutrophil apoptosis and changes in chromatin structure and function may control apoptosis in these cells.
Voices from the community--experiences from the dental office: initiating oral cancer screening.

An important objective of the British Columbia Oral Cancer Prevention Program (BC OCPP) is to promote dialogue among community dental professionals about their experiences with oral cancer screening. To begin this effort in British Columbia, we conducted 2 focus groups in February 2007 involving 12 dental professionals (dentists, dental hygienists and dental assistants) from well-established dental offices in the Greater Vancouver area. The staff in these offices had previously participated in a 1-day oral cancer screening workshop in September 2006 that included a review of risk factors, procedures for conducting screening examinations and a hands-on clinical session with volunteer patients presenting with highgrade dysplasia or squamous cell carcinoma. The purpose of the follow-up focus groups was to learn about the team’s experiences with oral cancer screening since attending the workshop. In this article, we share the views of these dental professionals about integrating screening into their practice, summarize their concerns and solutions, and establish what efforts are required to support this initiative.
IL-17 Signaling Accelerates the Progression of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Mice

Inflammation plays a central pathogenic role in the pernicious metabolic and end‐organ sequelae of obesity. Among these sequelae, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become the most common chronic liver disease in the developed world. The twinned observations that obesity is associated with increased activation of the interleukin (IL)‐17 axis and that this axis can regulate liver damage in diverse contexts prompted us to address the role of IL‐17RA signaling in the progression of NAFLD. We further examined whether microbe‐driven IL‐17A regulated NAFLD development and progression. We show here that IL‐17RA−/− mice respond to high‐fat diet stress with significantly greater weight gain, visceral adiposity, and hepatic steatosis than wild‐type controls. However, obesity‐driven lipid accumulation was uncoupled from its end‐organ consequences in IL‐17RA−/− mice, which exhibited decreased steatohepatitis, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH)‐oxidase enzyme expression, and hepatocellular damage. Neutralization of IL‐17A significantly reduced obesity‐driven hepatocellular damage in wild‐type mice. Further, colonization of mice with segmented filamentous bacteria (SFB), a commensal that induces IL‐17A production, exacerbated obesity‐induced hepatocellular damage. In contrast, SFB depletion protected from obesity‐induced hepatocellular damage. Conclusion: These data indicate that obesity‐driven activation of the IL‐17 axis is central to the development and progression of NAFLD to steatohepatitis and identify the IL‐17 pathway as a novel therapeutic target in this condition. (Hepatology 2014;59:1830–1839)
Measures of Independent Variables and Mediators Are Useful in Social Psychology Experiments: But Are They Necessary?

A study of experiments in major social psychology journals shows that measures of independent variables have become increasingly common. The role in experiments of measures of independent variables and proposed mediating variables is examined. In the causal sequence assumed in interpreting an experimental result, the independent variable and proposed mediating variable are presumed to mediate the effect of the experimental treatment on the dependent measure. Measures of independent variables and mediators provide checks on the assumptions that the experimental treatment successfully manipulated those variables and are unquestionably useful. A separate, controversial issue is whether such measures are necessary in experiments. If no plausible alternative explanations exist, data from such measures are not needed. Plausible alternative explanations are not eliminated by data from such measures. Alternative explanations, criticalfor assessing construct validity (Cook & Campbell, 1979), are distinguished from different general theoretical accounts of a finding.
BreathRNNet: Breathing Based Authentication on Resource-Constrained IoT Devices using RNNs

Recurrent neural networks (RNNs) have shown promising results in audio and speech processing applications due to their strong capabilities in modelling sequential data. In many applications, RNNs tend to outperform conventional models based on GMM/UBMs and i-vectors. Increasing popularity of IoT devices makes a strong case for implementing RNN based inferences for applications such as acoustics based authentication, voice commands, and edge analytics for smart homes. Nonetheless, the feasibility and performance of RNN based inferences on resources-constrained IoT devices remain largely unexplored. In this paper, we investigate the feasibility of using RNNs for an end-to-end authentication system based on breathing acoustics. We evaluate the performance of RNN models on three types of devices; smartphone, smartwatch, and Raspberry Pi and show that unlike CNN models, RNN models can be easily ported onto resource-constrained devices without a significant loss in accuracy.
Randomized Rumour Spreading: The Effect of the Network Topology

We consider the popular and well-studied push model, which is used to spread information in a given network with n vertices. Initially, some vertex owns a rumour and passes it to one of its neighbours, which is chosen randomly. In each of the succeeding rounds, every vertex that knows the rumour informs a random neighbour. It has been shown on various network topologies that this algorithm succeeds in spreading the rumour within O(log n) rounds. However, many studies are quite coarse and involve huge constants that do not allow for a direct comparison between different network topologies. In this paper, we analyse the push model on several important families of graphs, and obtain tight runtime estimates. We first show that, for any almost-regular graph on n vertices with small spectral expansion, rumour spreading completes after log2n + log n+o(log n) rounds with high probability. This is the first result that exhibits a general graph class for which rumour spreading is essentially as fast as on complete graphs. Moreover, for the random graph G(n,p) with p=c log n/n, where c > 1, we determine the runtime of rumour spreading to be log2n + γ (c)log n with high probability, where γ(c) = clog(c/(c−1)). In particular, this shows that the assumption of almost regularity in our first result is necessary. Finally, for a hypercube on n=2d vertices, the runtime is with high probability at least (1+β) ⋅ (log2n + log n), where β > 0. This reveals that the push model on hypercubes is slower than on complete graphs, and thus shows that the assumption of small spectral expansion in our first result is also necessary. In addition, our results combined with the upper bound of O(log n) for the hypercube (see [11]) imply that the push model is faster on hypercubes than on a random graph G(n, clog n/n), where c is sufficiently close to 1.
A prospective observational study comparing cardiac function of small for gestational age with appropriate for gestational age babies using serial echocardiographic studies

Abstract Background: Approximately 30% of babies born in India are low birth weight (LBW) and about 70% of LBW babies are small for gestational age (SGA). Though there are several trials that have evaluated cardiac function of intrauterine growth restricted (IUGR) babies in utero, there is limited data about postnatal cardiac function in SGA babies during early neonatal period. This study was conducted to evaluate the cardiac functions of SGA babies by serial echocardiographic measurements and compare this with appropriate for gestational age (AGA) babies during the early postnatal period. Material and methods: Seventy babies were enrolled in this prospective observational study with 35 each in the SGA and AGA groups. Echocardiography was performed for all babies on days 1, 2, and 3 of life. Myocardial performance index (MPI) was used as the primary measure to compare cardiac function. MPI was calculated for both ventricles using pulse wave Doppler and tissue Doppler. Results: MPI of the left ventricle was significantly higher in the SGA group as compared to AGA babies during all the three measurement periods with SGA babies having significantly higher MPI of right ventricle on day 1 and day 2 but not on day 3. Left ventricular internal diameter index during diastole and systole (LVIDD index and LVIDS index), left atrium: aortic root ratio (LA:AO ratio) were significantly increased in SGA babies on all the occasions. Fractional shortening, ejection fraction, and area shortening were similar in two groups. Conclusions: Myocardial performance index of left and right ventricle, which evaluates both systolic and diastolic function of ventricles, was significantly increased in SGA babies in comparison to AGA babies during the first 3 days of life except MPI of the right ventricle on day 3. Thus, SGA babies have compromised cardiac function through all phases of the cardiac cycle with the performance improving spontaneously over time.
Userspace RDMA Verbs on Commodity Hardware Using DPDK

RDMA (Remote Direct Memory Access) is a technology that enables user applications to perform direct data transfer between the virtual memory of processes on remote endpoints, without operating system involvement or intermediate data copies. Achieving zero intermediate data copies using RDMA requires specialized network interface hardware. Software RDMA drivers emulate RDMA semantics in software to allow the use of RDMA without investing in such hardware, although they cannot perform zero-copy transfers. Nonetheless, software RDMA drivers are useful for research, application development, testing, debugging, or as a less expensive desktopclient for a centralized RDMA server application running on RDMA-capable hardware.Existing software RDMA drivers perform data transfer in the kernel. Data Plane Development Kit (DPDK) provides a framework for mapping Ethernet interface cards into userspace and performing bulk packet transfers. This in turn allows a software RDMA driver to perform data transfer in userspace. We present our software RDMA driver, urdma, that performs data transfer in userspace, discuss its design and implementation, and demonstrate that it can achieve lower small message latency than existing kernel-based implementations while maintaining high bandwidth utilization for large messages.