Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neutralization serotypes of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 field isolates are not predicted by genetic subtype. The WHO Network for HIV Isolation and Characterization

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) primary isolates from four geographical locations in Thailand, Brazil, Rwanda, and Uganda, representing genetic subtypes A, B, C, D, and E, were examined for autologous and heterologous neutralization by panels of human HIV+ polyclonal plasma. In independent linked experiments in three laboratories using diverse methodologies and common reagents, no defined pattern of genetic subtype-specific neutralization was observed. Most plasma tested were broadly cross-neutralizing across two or more genetic subtypes, although the titer of neutralization varied across a wide range. We conclude that the genetic subtypes of HIV-1 are not classical neutralization serotypes.
Radiofrequency ablation vs antiarrhythmic drugs as first-line treatment of symptomatic atrial fibrillation: a randomized trial.

CONTEXT Treatment with antiarrhythmic drugs and anticoagulation is considered first-line therapy in patients with symptomatic atrial fibrillation (AF). Pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) with radiofrequency ablation may cure AF, obviating the need for antiarrhythmic drugs and anticoagulation. OBJECTIVE To determine whether PVI is feasible as first-line therapy for treating patients with symptomatic AF. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS A multicenter prospective randomized study conducted from December 31, 2001, to July 1, 2002, of 70 patients aged 18 to 75 years who experienced monthly symptomatic AF episodes for at least 3 months and had not been treated with antiarrhythmic drugs. INTERVENTION Patients were randomized to receive either PVI using radiofrequency ablation (n=33) or antiarrhythmic drug treatment (n=37), with a 1-year follow-up. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Recurrence of AF, hospitalization, and quality of life assessment. RESULTS Two patients in the antiarrhythmic drug treatment group and 1 patient in the PVI group were lost to follow-up. At the end of 1-year follow-up, 22 (63%) of 35 patients who received antiarrhythmic drugs had at least 1 recurrence of symptomatic AF compared with 4 (13%) of 32 patients who received PVI (P<.001). Hospitalization during 1-year follow-up occurred in 19 (54%) of 35 patients in the antiarrhythmic drug group compared with 3 (9%) of 32 in the PVI group (P<.001). In the antiarrhythmic drug group, the mean (SD) number of AF episodes decreased from 12 (7) to 6 (4), after initiating therapy (P = .01). At 6-month follow-up, the improvement in quality of life of patients in the PVI group was significantly better than the improvement in the antiarrhythmic drug group in 5 subclasses of the Short-Form 36 health survey. There were no thromboembolic events in either group. Asymptomatic mild or moderate pulmonary vein stenosis was documented in 2 (6%) of 32 patients in the PVI group. CONCLUSION Pulmonary vein isolation appears to be a feasible first-line approach for treating patients with symptomatic AF. Larger studies are needed to confirm its safety and efficacy.
Linkers and Loaders

This is a tutorial paper on the linking and loading stages of the language transformation process First, loaders are classffied and discussed Next, the hnking process is treated in terms of the various times at whmh it may occur (i e , binding to logical space). Finally, the hnking and loading functmns are explained m detail through a careful examination of their implementation m the IBM System/360 Examples are presented, and a number of possible system trade-offs are pointed out.
Identification of an enveloped phage, mycoplasma virus L172, that contains a 14-kilobase single-stranded DNA genome

We have found that mycoplasma virus L172 is an enveloped globular virion containing circular, single-stranded DNA of 14.0 kilobases. L172 has been reported by other workers to have a double-stranded DNA genome of 13 to 17 kilobase pairs and has been classified as a plasmavirus, a group for which mycoplasma virus L2 is the type member. Mycoplasma viruses L172 and L2 differ in genome size and structure, DNA base composition, and protein composition, and they have no detectable DNA homology. As the only reported enveloped virion containing single-stranded DNA, L172 represents a new group of viruses.
Multiple Modes of Interaction between the Methylated DNA Binding Protein MeCP2 and Chromatin

ABSTRACT Mutations of the methylated DNA binding protein MeCP2, a multifunctional protein that is thought to transmit epigenetic information encoded as methylated CpG dinucleotides to the transcriptional machinery, give rise to the debilitating neurodevelopmental disease Rett syndrome (RTT). In this in vitro study, the methylation-dependent and -independent interactions of wild-type and mutant human MeCP2 with defined DNA and chromatin substrates were investigated. A combination of electrophoretic mobility shift assays and visualization by electron microscopy made it possible to understand the different conformational changes underlying the gel shifts. MeCP2 is shown to have, in addition to its well-established methylated DNA binding domain, a methylation-independent DNA binding site (or sites) in the first 294 residues, while the C-terminal portion of MeCP2 (residues 295 to 486) contains one or more essential chromatin interaction regions. All of the RTT-inducing mutants tested were quantitatively bound to chromatin under our conditions, but those that tend to be associated with the more severe RTT symptoms failed to induce the extensive compaction observed with wild-type MeCP2. Two modes of MeCP2-driven compaction were observed, one promoting nucleosome clustering and the other forming DNA-MeCP2-DNA complexes. MeCP2 binding to DNA and chromatin involves a number of different molecular interactions, some of which result in compaction and oligomerization. The multifunctional roles of MeCP2 may be reflected in these different interactions.
Micromanufacturing of composite materials: a review

Composite materials exhibit advantages from the combination of multiple properties, which cannot be achieved by a monolithic material. At present, the use of composite materials in miniaturized scale is receiving much attention in the fields of medicine, electronics, aerospace, and microtooling. A common method for producing miniaturized composite parts is micromanufacturing. There has been, however, no comprehensive literature published that reviews, compares, and discusses the ongoing micromanufacturing methods for producing miniaturized composite components. This study identifies the major micromanufacturing methods used with composite materials, categorizes their subclasses, and highlights the latest developments, new trends, and effects of key factors on the productivity, quality, and cost of manufacturing composite materials. A comparative study is presented that shows the potential and versatility associated with producing composite materials along with possible future applications. This review will be helpful in promoting micromanufacturing technology for fabricating miniaturized products made of composite materials to meet the growing industrial demand.
An optimal parallel algorithm for integer sorting

We assume a parallel RAM model which allows both concurrent writes and concurrent reads of global memory. Our algorithms are randomized: each processor is allowed an independent random number generator. However our stated resource bounds hold for worst case input with overwhelming likelihood as the input size grows. We give a new parallel algorithm for integer sorting where the integer keys are restricted to at most polynomial magnitude. Our algorithm costs only logarithmic time and is the first known where the product of the time and processor bounds are bounded by a linear function of the input size. These simultaneous resource bounds are asymptotically optimal. All previous known parallel sorting algorithms required at least a linear number of processors to achieve logarithmic time bounds, and hence were nonoptimal by at least a logarithmic factor.
Inhalation of Ultrafine Particles Alters Blood Leukocyte Expression of Adhesion Molecules in Humans

Ultrafine particles (UFPs; aerodynamic diameter < 100 nm) may contribute to the respiratory and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality associated with particulate air pollution. We tested the hypothesis that inhalation of carbon UFPs has vascular effects in healthy and asthmatic subjects, detectable as alterations in blood leukocyte expression of adhesion molecules. Healthy subjects inhaled filtered air and freshly generated elemental carbon particles (count median diameter ~ 25 nm, geometric standard deviation ~ 1.6), for 2 hr, in three separate protocols: 10 μg/m3 at rest, 10 and 25 μg/m3 with exercise, and 50 μg/m3 with exercise. In a fourth protocol, subjects with asthma inhaled air and 10 μg/m3 UFPs with exercise. Peripheral venous blood was obtained before and at intervals after exposure, and leukocyte expression of surface markers was quantitated using multiparameter flow cytometry. In healthy subjects, particle exposure with exercise reduced expression of adhesion molecules CD54 and CD18 on monocytes and CD18 and CD49d on granulocytes. There were also concentration-related reductions in blood monocytes, basophils, and eosinophils and increased lymphocyte expression of the activation marker CD25. In subjects with asthma, exposure with exercise to 10 μg/m3 UFPs reduced expression of CD11b on monocytes and eosinophils and CD54 on granulocytes. Particle exposure also reduced the percentage of CD4+ T cells, basophils, and eosinophils. Inhalation of elemental carbon UFPs alters peripheral blood leukocyte distribution and expression of adhesion molecules, in a pattern consistent with increased retention of leukocytes in the pulmonary vascular bed.
To Use a Treebank or Not - Which Is Better for Hypernym Extraction?

We compare two processing methods for a single natural language processing task. One uses a treebank created with a full parser while the other restricts itself to lexical and part-of-speech information. We show that for the task under investigation, automatic extraction of hypernym-hyponym pairs from text, the former does not outperform the latter. We compare the output of the two approaches and look for an explanation for this unexpected result.
Heavy Ion radiation assessment of a 100G/200G commercial optical coherent DSP ASIC

We assess the viability of a state-of-the-art 100G/200G commercial optical coherent DSP ASIC (16 nm FinFET CMOS technology) for space applications through heavy ion testing to (1) screen for destructive SELs and (2) observe for nondestructive heavy ion SEEs on the ASIC. The ASIC was exposed to heavy ion radiation while operating both optically noise-loaded uplink and downlink to an optical “ground” modem. There were no destructive SEEs, such as SELs, observed from the heavy ion radiation test campaign.
Training Quality and Earnings: The Effects of Competition on the Provision of Public-Sponsored Training Programs

This paper evaluates the effectiveness of market-based approaches in the provision of public-sponsored training programs. In particular, we study the link between training quality and labor earnings using a Peruvian program that targets disadvantaged youths. Multiple proxies for training quality are identified from bidding processes in which public and private training institutions that operate for profit compete for limited public funding. Using difference-in-differences kernel matching and standard regression-based approaches, we find that beneficiaries attending high-quality training courses have higher average and marginal treatment impacts. These earnings differentials are larger for females rather than males, and are larger in the medium term rather than in the short run. External validity was assessed by using five different cohorts of individuals over an eight-year period.
Affective content analysis of music video clips

Nowadays, the amount of multimedia contents is explosively increasing and it is often a challenging problem to find a content that will be appealing or matches users' current mood or affective state. In order to achieve this goal, an effcient indexing technique should be developed to annotate multi-media contents such that these annotations can be used in a retrieval process using an appropriate query. One approach to such indexing techniques is to determine the affect(type and intensity), which can be induced in a user while consuming multimedia. In this paper, affective content analysis of music video clips is performed to determine the emotion they can induce in people. To this end, a subjective test was developed, where 32 participants watched different music video clips and assessed their induced emotions. These self assessments were used as ground-truth and the results of classification using audio, visual and audiovisual features extracted from music video clips are presented and compared.
Insulin Signaling in Human Skeletal Muscle: Time Course and Effect of Exercise

Activation of early steps in the insulin signaling cascade in human skeletal muscle was investigated using a one-step euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic (∼100 μU/ml) clamp in seven healthy young men 3 h after one-legged exercise. Concomitant insulin stimulation (three- to six-fold [P < 0.05]) of thigh glucose clearance, muscle insulin receptor tyrosine kinase (IRTK), insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1) tyrosine phosphorylation, and IRS-1-associated phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) was observed in the rested leg. Twenty minutes after cessation of insulin infusion, the level of these parameters returned toward basal. A twofold higher insulin-stimulated glucose clearance in the exercised compared with the rested thigh was accompanied by unaltered maximal IRTK activation and IRS-1 tyrosine phosphorylation, and by a decreased (∼50%, P < 0.05) maximal IRS-1 associated PI 3-kinase activation. Prior exercise caused significantly faster insulin-stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation of IRS-1, PI 3-kinase activity, and glucose clearance compared with those in the rested thigh. In conclusion, physiological hyperin-sulinemia activates IRTK, IRS-1 tyrosine phosphorylation, and PI 3-kinase in human skeletal muscle. However, increased insulin action after exercise is not caused by potentiation of these steps in the insulin signaling cascade. In contrast, at steady state, paradoxically decreased insulin-stimulated IRS-1-associated PI 3-kinase activity was observed in exercised muscle. Thus, the activity of IRS-1-associated PI 3-kinase and glucose uptake may not always be tightly coupled during insulin stimulation in human muscle.
White matter abnormalities in veterans with mild traumatic brain injury.

OBJECTIVE It has been estimated that 10%-20% of U.S. veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan experienced mild traumatic brain injury (TBI), mostly secondary to blast exposure. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) may detect subtle white matter changes in both the acute and chronic stages of mild TBI and thus has the potential to detect white matter damage in patients with TBI. The authors used DTI to examine white matter integrity in a relatively large group of veterans with a history of mild TBI. METHOD DTI images from 72 veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who had mild TBI were compared with DTI images from 21 veterans with no exposure to TBI during deployment. Conventional voxel-based analysis as well as a method of identifying spatially heterogeneous areas of decreased fractional anisotropy ("potholes") were used. Veterans also underwent psychiatric and neuropsychological assessments. RESULTS Voxel-based analysis did not reveal differences in DTI parameters between the veterans with mild TBI and those with no TBI. However, the veterans with mild TBI had a significantly higher number of potholes than those without TBI. The difference in the number of potholes was not influenced by age, time since trauma, a history of mild TBI unrelated to deployment, or coexisting psychopathology. The number of potholes was correlated with the severity of TBI and with performance in executive functioning tasks. CONCLUSIONS Veterans who had blast-related mild TBI showed evidence of multifocal white matter abnormalities that were associated with severity of the injury and with relevant functional measures. Overall, white matter potholes may constitute a sensitive biomarker of axonal injury that can be identified in mild TBI at acute and chronic stages of its clinical course.
Size-to-depth: A New Perspective for Single Image Depth Estimation

In this paper we consider the problem of single monocular image depth estimation. It is a challenging problem due to its ill-posedness nature and has found wide application in industry. Previous efforts belongs roughly to two families: learning-based method and interactive method. Learning-based method, in which deep convolutional neural network (CNN) is widely used, can achieve good result. But they suffer low generalization ability and typically perform poorly for unfamiliar scenes. Besides, data-hungry nature for such method makes data aquisition expensive and time-consuming. Interactive method requires human annotation of depth which, however, is errorneous and of large variance. To overcome these problems, we propose a new perspective for single monocular image depth estimation problem: size to depth. Our method require sparse label for real-world size of object rather than raw depth. A Coarse depth map is then inferred following geometric relationships according to size labels. Then we refine the depth map by doing energy function optimization on conditional random field(CRF). We experimentally demonstrate that our method outperforms traditional depth-labeling methods and can produce satisfactory depth maps.
A miniature frequency domain diffuse optical optode for quantitative wearable oximetry

Current wearable optical technologies generally utilize superficial tissue continuous-wave measurements for biological metrics such as heart rate monitoring. There has been limited prior work in wearables that extract quantitative information including tissue optical properties and hemoglobin concentrations. These parameters may assist in tracking physiological status for cardio-pulmonary conditions and cancer. Next-generation optical wearables must meet substantial technical requirements, including small footprint, high sensitivity, and thermal stability. Here we investigate the use of a new multi-wavelength optical laser and compact avalanche photodiode for use in a miniaturized diffuse optical frequency-domain optode (miniOptode). These components represent the most compact fiberless optode for frequency-domain measurements to date. The miniOptode had high SNR (53.5dB at 50 MHz), and achieved high accuracy and precision in optical property extractions (accuracy: μa 0.0018 mm-1 and μs′ 0.0547 mm-1; precision: μa 0.00008mm-1 and μs′ 0.0015 mm-1). It provided high SNR for test measurements taken on nine different anatomic locations and was capable of tracking hemodynamics during a cuff occlusion test. Active thermoelectric cooling was required for thermal stability during longer tissue measurements. This work demonstrates that frequency domain diffuse optical measurements can be achieved in a highly portable format, providing new opportunities for long-term monitoring with quantitative oximetry.
The Neural Basis of Event Simulation: An fMRI Study

Event simulation (ES) is the situational inference process in which perceived event features such as objects, agents, and actions are associated in the brain to represent the whole situation. ES provides a common basis for various cognitive processes, such as perceptual prediction, situational understanding/prediction, and social cognition (such as mentalizing/trait inference). Here, functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to elucidate the neural substrates underlying important subdivisions within ES. First, the study investigated whether ES depends on different neural substrates when it is conducted explicitly and implicitly. Second, the existence of neural substrates specific to the future-prediction component of ES was assessed. Subjects were shown contextually related object pictures implying a situation and performed several picture–word-matching tasks. By varying task goals, subjects were made to infer the implied situation implicitly/explicitly or predict the future consequence of that situation. The results indicate that, whereas implicit ES activated the lateral prefrontal cortex and medial/lateral parietal cortex, explicit ES activated the medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, and medial/lateral temporal cortex. Additionally, the left temporoparietal junction plays an important role in the future-prediction component of ES. These findings enrich our understanding of the neural substrates of the implicit/explicit/predictive aspects of ES-related cognitive processes.
Consistent Testing for Stochastic Dominance: A Subsampling Approach

We study a very general setting, and propose a procedure for estimating the critical values of the extended Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests of First and Second Order Stochastic Dominance due to McFadden (1989) in the general k-prospect case. We allow for the observations to be generally serially dependent and, for the first time, we can accommodate general dependence amongst the prospects which are to be ranked. Also, the prospects may be the residuals from certain conditional models, opening the way for conditional ranking. We also propose a test of Prospect Stochastic Dominance. Our method is based on subsampling and we show that the resulting data tests are consistent.
Chat Room Computer-Mediated Support on Health Issues for Aboriginal Women

Within contemporary health care, increases in chronic disease have necessitated a disease management focus. Given that chronic disease is managed, more so than cured, there are increased demands for greater participation by health care consumers and they are expectated to take on increased responsibility for self-care. The emphasis on consumer responsibility has increased the significance of health-promoting behavior change in contending with contemporary health care concerns. In Canada, the reported inequity in health status between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians further emphasizes the need for innovative health strategies. For Aboriginal women isolated by geography, changing societal norms (e.g., women working outside of the home, single parent families), and cultural distinction, online chat participation serves as a novel medium for the provision of health knowledge, support, and motivation within a virtual “neighborhood. ” Recognizing the significance of social support in the promotion of positive health behavior change, we investigated the theme of social support within health conversations among Aboriginal women participating in an online chat room. Content analysis was the primary methodological focus within a mixed methods approach. Of 101 health-based online conversations, the majority reflected one of three forms of social support: (1) emotional support, (2) informational support, or (3) instrumental support. The value of social support and social cohesion within health has been well documented. The current investigation suggests that “community” need not be physically constructed; virtual communities offer great potential for social cohesion around the issues of health and health care.