Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cognition is not modified by large but temporary changes in sex hormones in men.

CONTEXT Little is known about the role of testosterone and estradiol on cognition in healthy older men. OBJECTIVE The cognitive effects of increasing or lowering testosterone or estradiol were examined. DESIGN Cognition was assessed before and after 6 wk of double-blind placebo-controlled hormone modification. SETTING The study was conducted at an academic medical center. PARTICIPANTS Healthy older (ages 60-80 yr) and younger men (ages 25-35 yr) were recruited from the community. INTERVENTION Men were randomized to one of four treatments: 1) maintain testosterone and estradiol at eugonadal levels for young men (GnRH agonist + testosterone gel); 2) block testosterone's conversion to estradiol (GnRH agonist + testosterone gel + aromatase inhibitor); 3) induce hypogonadism (GnRH agonist alone); and 4) all placebo. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Measures of executive function, memory, and spatial cognition were obtained before and after treatment. Hormone levels were obtained 10 times over the course of the study. RESULTS Counter to expectations, hormone treatment did not affect cognition (P > 0.10). Free testosterone was positively related to spatial cognition in older men after treatment and controlling for age and estradiol level or exclusion of the hypogonadal men (P = 0.02). Estradiol was negatively associated with working memory controlling for the same variables (P = 0.01). Blinding to treatment assignment was maintained, with the exception of the hypogonadal group. CONCLUSIONS A significant change in sex hormone status, including complete hypogonadism, does not modify cognition in men. These findings, along with studies that show a risk for neurodegenerative disease in those with low testosterone, suggest that sex hormone status may be important for neuroprotection in aging but not modulation of normal day-to-day cognitive function.
The “Dark Side” of Food Stuff Proteomics: The CPLL-Marshals Investigate

The present review deals with analysis of the proteome of animal and plant-derived food stuff, as well as of non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages. The survey is limited to those systems investigated with the help of combinatorial peptide ligand libraries, a most powerful technique allowing access to low- to very-low-abundance proteins, i.e., to those proteins that might characterize univocally a given biological system and, in the case of commercial food preparations, attest their genuineness or adulteration. Among animal foods the analysis of cow’s and donkey’s milk is reported, together with the proteomic composition of egg white and yolk, as well as of honey, considered as a hybrid between floral and animal origin. In terms of plant and fruits, a survey is offered of spinach, artichoke, banana, avocado, mango and lemon proteomics, considered as recalcitrant tissues in that small amounts of proteins are dispersed into a large body of plant polymers and metabolites. As examples of non-alcoholic beverages, ginger ale, coconut milk, a cola drink, almond milk and orgeat syrup are analyzed. Finally, the trace proteome of white and red wines, beer and aperitifs is reported, with the aim of tracing the industrial manipulations and herbal usage prior to their commercialization.
Towards an Empirical Exploration of Design Space

In this paper we propose an empirical method for the comparison of architectures designed to produce similar behaviour from an intelligent system. The approach is based on the exploration of design space using similar designs that all satisfy the same requirements in niche space. An example of a possible application of this method is given using a robotic system that has been implemented using a software toolkit that has been designed to support architectural experimentation.
Verrucarin A Inhibition of MAP Kinase Activation in a PMA-stimulated Promyelocytic Leukemia Cell Line

Verrucarin A is an inhibitor of protein synthesis. In this study, we examined the inhibitory action of verrucarin A on signal molecules. Verrucarin A partially inhibited the IL-8 production of a PMA-stimulated promyelocytic leukemia cell line (HL-60 cells), and the effect was related to the inhibition of NF-κB activation at non-cytotoxic concentrations. Moreover, the inhibition of mitogen activated protein (MAP) kinase by verrucarin A was especially strong with p38- and JNK-phosphorylation. The findings show a new action of verrucarin A, and it is expected that this action relaxes the signal activation in response to stress.
Emicizumab Prophylaxis in Hemophilia A with Inhibitors

Background Emicizumab (ACE910) bridges activated factor IX and factor X to restore the function of activated factor VIII, which is deficient in persons with hemophilia A. This phase 3, multicenter trial assessed once‐weekly subcutaneous emicizumab prophylaxis in persons with hemophilia A with factor VIII inhibitors. Methods We enrolled participants who were 12 years of age or older. Those who had previously received episodic treatment with bypassing agents were randomly assigned in a 2:1 ratio to emicizumab prophylaxis (group A) or no prophylaxis (group B). The primary end point was the difference in bleeding rates between group A and group B. Participants who had previously received prophylactic treatment with bypassing agents received emicizumab prophylaxis in group C. Results A total of 109 male participants with hemophilia A with inhibitors were enrolled. The annualized bleeding rate was 2.9 events (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.7 to 5.0) among participants who were randomly assigned to emicizumab prophylaxis (group A, 35 participants) versus 23.3 events (95% CI, 12.3 to 43.9) among those assigned to no prophylaxis (group B, 18 participants), representing a significant difference of 87% in favor of emicizumab prophylaxis (P<0.001). A total of 22 participants in group A (63%) had zero bleeding events, as compared with 1 participant (6%) in group B. Among 24 participants in group C who had participated in a noninterventional study, emicizumab prophylaxis resulted in a bleeding rate that was significantly lower by 79% than the rate with previous bypassing‐agent prophylaxis (P<0.001). Overall, 198 adverse events were reported in 103 participants receiving emicizumab prophylaxis; the most frequent events were injection‐site reactions (in 15% of participants). Thrombotic microangiopathy and thrombosis were reported in 2 participants each (in the primary analysis) who had received multiple infusions of activated prothrombin complex concentrate for breakthrough bleeding. No antidrug antibodies were detected. Conclusions Emicizumab prophylaxis was associated with a significantly lower rate of bleeding events than no prophylaxis among participants with hemophilia A with inhibitors. (Funded by F. Hoffmann–La Roche and Chugai Pharmaceutical; HAVEN 1 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02622321.)
An architecture of a matrix-vector multiplier dedicated to video decoding and three-dimensional computer graphics

An architecture of a matrix-vector multiplier (MVM) is devised, which is dedicated to MPEG-4 natural/synthetic video decoding. The MVM can perform the matrix-vector multiplication both in the inverse discrete cosine transform (IDCT) and in the geometrical transformation of three-dimensional computer graphics (3-D CG); or, specifically, it can achieve the multiplication of a 4/spl times/4 matrix by a four-tuple vector necessary in the one-dimensional IDCT for eight pixels and in the geometrical transformation for a point in a 3-D space. This paper describes a new architecture of this MVM and also shows the implementation result of a functional module composed of four MVMs with the use of 440-k transistors, which can operate at 20 MHz or less.
Self-Tuning Wireless Network Power Management

Current wireless network power management often substantially degrades performance and may even increase overall energy usage when used with latency-sensitive applications. We propose self-tuning power management (STPM) that adapts its behavior to the access patterns and intent of applications, the characteristics of the network interface, and the energy usage of the platform. We have implemented STPM as a Linux kernel module—our results show substantial benefits for distributed file systems, streaming audio, and thin-client applications. Compared to default 802.11b power management, STPM reduces the total energy usage of an iPAQ running the Coda distributed file system by 21% while also reducing interactive file system delay by 80%. Further, STPM adapts to diverse operating conditions: it yields good results on both laptops and handhelds, supports 802.11b network interfaces with substantially different characteristics, and performs well across a range of application network access patterns.
Detectability of Rare Earth Elements in Explosive Post Blast Residues by Neutron Activation Analysis for use as Identification Taggants

Current identification techniques can only identify the type of explosive used from traces in the post-blast residue. An identification taggant is a material added to an explosive that can provide identifying information about the explosive such as manufacturer, type, or date the explosive was produced. A novel identification taggant named the Nuclear Barcode is proposed, where specific elements in various concentrations allow up to 6.56 trillion different variations of the barcode. Holmium, samarium, and europium were chosen as taggant elements for initial testing purposes, the results of which are presented herein. Aqueous solutions and explosive post-blast residue where one or more taggant elements were added to the undetonated explosive were analyzed. Neutron activation analysis (NAA) was utilized to identify the elements present in each sample. A series of tests were completed in order to answer the question “can the Nuclear Barcode survive the explosion process and be adequately detected? ” An identification taggant with this property is called a “survivable” taggant, this property is necessary for any identification taggant to be used as designed. Qualitatively, the results of the test series are successful, where taggant elements have been detected as much as 100% of tests performed. In tests where less than a 100% success rate occurred, it is theorized that it can be attributed to the delay between irradiating and counting being greater than the half-life of the element used. This method of tagging could prove useful for manufacturers of other products, since it has been proven to survive the high pressure and temperature detonation environment.
Isolation and characterization of lipid rafts in Emiliania huxleyi: a role for membrane microdomains in host-virus interactions.

Coccolithoviruses employ a suite of glycosphingolipids (GSLs) to successfully infect the globally important coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi. Lipid rafts, chemically distinct membrane lipid microdomains that are enriched in GSLs and are involved in sensing extracellular stimuli and activating signalling cascades through protein-protein interactions, likely play a fundamental role in host-virus interactions. Using combined lipidomics, proteomics and bioinformatics, we isolated and characterized the lipid and protein content of lipid rafts from control E. huxleyi cells and those infected with EhV86, the type strain for Coccolithovirus. Lipid raft-enriched fractions were isolated and purified as buoyant, detergent-resistant membranes (DRMs) in OptiPrep density gradients. Transmission electron microscopy of vesicle morphology, polymerase chain reaction amplification of the EhV major capsid protein gene and immunoreactivity to flotillin antisera served as respective physical, molecular and biochemical markers. Subsequent lipid characterization of DRMs via high performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrapole mass spectrometry revealed four distinct GSL classes. Parallel proteomic analysis confirmed flotillin as a major lipid raft protein, along with a variety of proteins affiliated with host defence, programmed cell death and innate immunity pathways. The detection of an EhV86-encoded C-type lectin-containing protein confirmed that infection occurs at the interface between lipid rafts and cellular stress/death pathways via specific GSLs and raft-associated proteins.
On the Symmetry of a Zig-Zag and an Armchair Polyhex Carbon Nanotorus

Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, University of Kashan, Kashan, I. R. Iran * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: E-mail: Ashrafi@kashanu.ac. ir Received: 17 July 2009; in revised form: 13 September 2009 / Accepted: 14 September 2009 / Published: 8 October 2009 Abstract: A Euclidean graph associated with a molecule is defined by a weighted graph with adjacency matrix M = [d
Glucose Control in Severely Thermally Injured Pediatric Patients: What Glucose Range Should Be the Target?

Objective:To determine which glucose levels are associated with improved morbidity and mortality in thermally injured patients. Summary background data:Tight euglycemic control was rapidly implemented in intensive care units around the world, but there is increasing evidence that tight euglycemic control is associated with detrimental outcomes. Currently, no study exists that indicates which glucose range should be targeted. Methods:Two-hundred and eight severely burned pediatric patients with burns over 30% of their total body surface area were included in this trial. Several statistical models were used to determine the daily average and 6 am glucose target that were associated with improved morbidity and mortality. Patients were then divided into good glucose controlled and poor glucose controlled patients and demographics, clinical outcomes, infection, sepsis, inflammatory, and hypermetabolic responses were determined. Results:Statistical modeling showed that hyperglycemia is a strong predictor of adverse hospital outcome and that daily 6 am glucose level of 130 mg/dL and daily average glucose levels of 140 mg/dL are associated with improved morbidity and mortality postburn. When patients were divided into good glucose control and poor glucose control, we found that patients with glucose levels of 130 mg/dL exert attenuated hypermetabolic and inflammatory responses, as well as significantly lower incidence of infections, sepsis, and mortality compared with patients with poor glucose control, P < 0.05. Conclusions:Given the controversy over glucose range, glucose target, and risks and detrimental outcomes associated with hypoglycemia we suggest that in severely burned patient's blood glucose of 130 mg/dL should be targeted.
Exploring Symbiodinium diversity and host specificity in Acropora corals from geographical extremes of Western Australia with 454 amplicon pyrosequencing

Scleractinian corals have demonstrated the ability to shuffle their endosymbiotic dinoflagellate communities (genus Symbiodinium) during periods of acute environmental stress. This has been proposed as a mechanism of acclimation, which would be increased by a diverse and flexible association with Symbiodinium. Conventional molecular techniques used to evaluate Symbiodinium diversity are unable to identify genetic lineages present at background levels below 10%. Next generation sequencing (NGS) offers a solution to this problem and can resolve microorganism diversity at much finer scales. Here we apply NGS to evaluate Symbiodinium diversity and host specificity in Acropora corals from contrasting regions of Western Australia. The application of 454 pyrosequencing allowed for detection of Symbiodinium operational taxonomic units (OTUs) occurring at frequencies as low as 0.001%, offering a 10 000‐fold increase in sensitivity compared to traditional methods. All coral species from both regions were overwhelmingly dominated by a single clade C OTU (accounting for 98% of all recovered sequences). Only 8.5% of colonies associated with multiple clades (clades C and D, or C and G), suggesting a high level of symbiont specificity in Acropora assemblages in Western Australia. While only 40% of the OTUs were shared between regions, the dominance of a single OTU resulted in no significant difference in Symbiodinium community structure, demonstrating that the coral‐algal symbiosis can remain stable across more than 15° of latitude and a range of sea surface temperature profiles. This study validates the use of NGS platforms as tools for providing fine‐scale estimates of Symbiodinium diversity and can offer critical insight into the flexibility of the coral‐algal symbiosis.
Hepatitis C virus in healthy blood donors in Sri Lanka

Introduction: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the etiological agent for the majority of cases of non-A, non-B hepatitis. As a blood-borne virus, HCV is widely recognized as a major causative agent of post-transfusion non-A, non-B hepatitis. The prevalence of HCV and the distribution of HCV genotypes in Sri Lanka in comparison with the rest of Asia are not well known. Materials and Methods: The blood samples collected from healthy blood donors at the National Blood Transfusion Centre of Sri Lanka were screened to determine the prevalence and the genotypes of HCV among blood donors in Sri Lanka. Results: HCV antibodies were found in 53 of 4980 blood donors. However, of the 53 only 8 positive results were confirmed by Reverse Transcription-PCR, which suggests frequent false-positive results or viral clearance. The PCR positive samples were genotyped by DNA sequencing of the Core/E1 regions of HCV genome, and all the HCV viruses belonged to genotype 3, of which 7 were 3a and 1 was 3b. Conclusion: HCV is relatively rare among blood donors in Sri Lanka and only genotype 3 was detected in the studied group.
The analysis of an all multimode fiber electric current sensor with fiber Fabry-Perot interferometer

In this paper, an all multimode fiber electric current sensor with fiber Fabry-perot interferometer is presented. As shown in Fig. 1, our system mainly consists of a laser diode, a multimode gradient input fiber, a multimode gradient Fabry-Perot interferometer, a multimode output fiber and a detector as well as a processing unit. The interferometer is wrapped and fastened on a magnetostrictive amorph metal ring, the cable of electric current to be measured goes through the ring. The magnetic field of electric current changes the radius of the ring therefore the cavity length of the fiber Fabry-Perot interferometer. The output of the interferometer that is the number of interference fringes in one period of AC current depends on the strength of the magnetic field produced by the electric current to be measured. So, by counting the number of fringes, the electric current can be determined. The fiber Fabry-Perot interferometer is mostly made of single mode fiber in order to keep the coherence of light. R. Kist et al. [ 1] made the Fabry-Perot interferometer with multimode gradient fiber and used the single mode fiber as the input fiber, and got good results. But we also get good results with all of the fibers used in our system which are multimode gradient. There are two reasons to enable the system to work well: one is, in Fabry-Perot interferometer, the multimode fiber is bent, because of larger bend loss of high mode, the high modes are filtered, there are only several low modes; the other is because of energy distribution in modes, the output of interferometer is mainly determined by the interference of several modes. Additionally, the coherence of light source and the coupling efficiency have effect on the output of the interferometer.
Controlling NBTI degradation during static burn-in testing

Negative Bias Temperature Instability (NBTI) has emerged as the dominant PMOS device failure mechanism in the nanometer VLSI era. The extent of NBTI degradation of a PMOS device increases dramatically at elevated operating temperature and supply voltage. Unfortunately, both these conditions are concurrently experienced by a VLSI chip during the process of burn-in testing. Our analysis shows that even with a short burn-in duration of 10 hours, the degradation accumulated can be as much as 60% of the NBTI degradation experienced over 10 years of use at nominal conditions. Static burn-in testing in particular is observed to cause most NBTI degradation due to absence of relaxation phase unlike the case for dynamic burn-in testing. The delay of benchmark circuits is observed to increase by over 10% due to static burn-in testing. We propose the first technique to reduce the NBTI degradation during static burn-in test by finding the minimum NBTI induced delay degradation vector (MDDV) based on timing criticality and threshold voltage change (ΔVTH) sensitivity of the cells. Further, only a subset of the input pins need to be controlled for NBTI reduction, thus our technique allows other objectives (such as leakage reduction) to be considered simultaneously. Experimental results show that the NBTI induced critical path delay degradation can be reduced by more than 50% using our proposed technique.
Examining the interrelatedness between ontologies and Linked Data

Purpose Ontology and Linked Data (LD) are the two prominent web technologies that have emerged in the recent past. Both of them are at the center of Semantic Web and its applications. Researchers and developers from both academia and business are actively working in these areas. The increasing interest in these technologies promoted the growth of LD sets and ontologies on the web. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the possible relationships between them. The effort is to investigate the possible roles that ontologies may play in further empowering the LD. In a similar fashion, the author also studies the possible roles that LD may play to empower ontologies. Design/methodology/approach The work is mainly carried out by exploring the ontology- and LD-based real-world systems, and by reviewing the existing literature. Findings The current work reveals, in general, that both the technologies are interdependent and have lots to offer to each other for their faster growth and meaningful development. Specifically, anything that we can do with LD, we can do more by adding an ontology to it. Practical implications The author envisions that the current work, in the one hand, will help in boosting the successful implementation and the delivery of semantic applications; on the other hand, it will also become a food for the future researchers in further investigating the relationships between the ontologies and LD. Originality/value So far, as per the author’s knowledge, there are very little works that have attempted in exploring the relationships between the ontologies and LD. In this work, the author illustrates the real-world systems that are based on ontology and LD, discusses the issues and challenges and finally illustrates their interdependency discussing some of the ongoing research works.
Wireless charging with textiles through harvesting and storing energy from body movement

This paper presents a wireless charging method based on textiles through harvesting and storing energy from human movement. The proposed method uses resonant coils made of a conductive yarn and a flexible printed circuit board. The conductive yarn consists of polyurethane-coated copper and polyester filaments. The transmission characteristics of the resonant coils, which were worn on the arm of a human body, were evaluated using simulation and measurement tools. It was determined that the change in the resonant frequency of the conductive-yarn resonant coils can be obtained from the coil length, stitch intervals, and fabric thickness using equations. The measured resonant frequencies of the sending and receiving coils were designed to achieve a resonant frequency of 13.56 MHz when the coils are worn. The resonant coils were worn on the arm of a subject, who moved at various speeds, and the transmission efficiency was measured using an alternating current–direct current converter. The measurement results showed a maximum transmission efficiency of 55.1%, even though the resonant coils were worn around the arm and not the leg, and an average transmission efficiency of 52.1% when the subject was moving at a speed of 6 km/h.