Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Shift-driven modulations of spin-echo signals

Since the pioneering works of Carr-Purcell and Meiboom-Gill [Carr HY, Purcell EM (1954) Phys Rev 94:630; Meiboom S, Gill D (1985) Rev Sci Instrum 29:688], trains of π-pulses have featured amongst the main tools of quantum control. Echo trains find widespread use in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and imaging (MRI), thanks to their ability to free the evolution of a spin-1/2 from several sources of decoherence. Spin echoes have also been researched in dynamic decoupling scenarios, for prolonging the lifetimes of quantum states or coherences. Inspired by this search we introduce a family of spin-echo sequences, which can still detect site-specific interactions like the chemical shift. This is achieved thanks to the presence of weak environmental fluctuations of common occurrence in high-field NMR—such as homonuclear spin-spin couplings or chemical/biochemical exchanges. Both intuitive and rigorous derivations of the resulting “selective dynamical recoupling” sequences are provided. Applications of these novel experiments are given for a variety of NMR scenarios including determinations of shift effects under inhomogeneities overwhelming individual chemical identities, and model-free characterizations of chemically exchanging partners.
Back-Tests of the Dividend Discount Model Using Time-Varying Cost of Equity

This paper examines prediction errors in the general dividend discount model using a back-test method. The prediction errors are based on realized dividends, terminal stock prices, and estimates of time-varying discount rates. Models of varying lengths are examined in our tests. We include firms with a continuous record of dividend payments over the 20 years in our sample. We find that prediction errors vary from a high of approximately 55% to a low of 2% depending on the length of period used to calculate the estimated model. Reducing the number of dividends and the horizon date in the model reduces prediction error. Prediction error is also reduced by using time-varying equity discount rates when market volatility increases.
Practice of POA-based Translation-driven College English Teaching

Production-Oriented Approach (POA) is an innovative theory put forward by Wen Qiufang to improve the effect of college English teaching in China. Aiming to find out how to integrate POA into practice and how to make translation a driving force to stimulate students’ learning enthusiasm, the research group applied POA theory to college English teaching, with translation as a motivating productive task, listening and reading as the enabling means. This paper presents the design and basic teaching process of a unit of teaching practice, and students’ feedback and teacher’s reflection as well, through which the POA-based translation-driven teaching proves to be feasible and effective.
Intermolecular Interactions of Sprouty Proteins and Their Implications in Development and Disease

Receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) signaling is spatially and temporally regulated by a number of positive and negative regulatory mechanisms. These regulatory mechanisms control the amplitude and duration of the signals initiated at the cell surface to have a normal or aberrant biological outcome in development and disease, respectively. In the past decade, the Sprouty (Spry) family of proteins has been identified as modulators of RTK signaling in normal development and disease. This review summarizes recent advances concerning the biological activities modulated by Spry family proteins, their interactions with signaling proteins, and their involvement in cardiovascular diseases and cancer. The diversity of mechanisms in the regulation of Spry expression and activity in cell systems emphasizes the crucial role of Spry proteins in development and growth across the animal kingdom.
A holistic comparison of static VC allocation versus dynamic VC allocation based NoC routers

Router architectures advocating the use of static as well as dynamic virtual channel allocation have been proposed in the literature. However, the comparisons between the two have primarily focused on simulation set-up, largely using synthetic benchmarks. In this work, we present an apple-to-apple comparison of the dynamic and static VC allocation based routers for network performance. We compare the static VC allocation and dynamic VC allocation based routers for real and synthetic benchmarks as well as their implementations. The performance of the two routers has been compared for different routing algorithms, topologies, packet sizes and input port configurations. We observe that for all synthetic traffic patterns, except uniform traffic, static VC allocation based router outperforms the dynamic VC allocation based router. We also observe that in almost all PARSEC benchmark applications, except Blackscholes and Bodytrack with DOR routing, the simplified EVA router outperforms the dynamic VC allocating router. In our ASIC implementation, we observe a clock frequency improvement of 20.2% and power reduction of 19.6% for the static VC allocation based router over the dynamic VC allocation based router.
Real-time subtitle synchronization in live television programs

The number of live programs in broadcast and IPTV Digital Television is increasing as the offer of pre-recorded multimedia in Internet television and video on-demand grows. For many people, subtitles are the only way to access the audio of television programs and in live subtitling environments the audio transcription process will deliver the corresponding subtitles several seconds after the speech fragment has been received. The disturbing effect of the resulting lack of synchronism is still a challenging issue in the accessibility to live-multimedia. This paper presents the application of an Automatic Speech Recognition and synchronizing system, tailored for three different live television environments (i.e. news programs, sports, magazine). Individual subtitle delays are measured and used to synchronize video/audio and subtitles before delivering the TV program in a dedicated IPTV channel.
Molecular skins: A new concept for quantitative shape matching of a protein with its small molecule mimics

A novel analytical method for comparing molecular shapes by optimizing the intersection of molecular “SKINS” has been developed. This method provides a quantitative measure of the shape similarity by maximizing the intersection volume of molecular surfaces with a finite thickness; a molecular skin. We report shape matching of a small tripeptide inhibitor (DFKi) of elastase class proteins with the 56 residue turkey ovomucoid inhibitor (TOMI). To match a large elastase inhibitor such as TOMI with a small inhibitor or drug, we found that it is necessary to use a skin match rather than molecular volume. Skin based comparisons of TOMI protein with DFKi successfully found the alignment expected from comparison of their respective crystallographic complexes with elastase (i.e. HLE/TOMI complex and PPE/tripeptide complex). In the skin comparison of the tripeptide with the TOMI protein, blind searching for skin matches involved optimization of the skin intersection from 172 starting positions randomly selected from a set of 500 points on the TOMI van der Waals surface [within 9.5 Å of the Leu‐18 on the TOMI binding loop (1 point/Å2)]. The tripeptide center of mass was placed at these points and its orientation was randomized before optimization was initiated. The best skin intersection, 86.4 Å3, was found thre times and corresponds to the experimental alignment. The next best skin intersection was 78.1 Å3 giving a discrimination factor in this case of 10%. Searches over the entire surface of the TOMI protein did not identify any new matches with skin intersection greater than 78.1 Å3. Matching the DFKi with a TOMI structure relaxed from its crystal conformation by molecular dynamics gives similar results. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Targeting combinations of liposomal drugs to both tumor vasculature cells and tumor cells for the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer

Purpose: We used two ligand-modified liposomal drugs to selectively deliver two different chemotherapeutics to tumor cells (TC) and tumor vasculature endothelial (TV) cells, and examined the therapeutic effect of altering the order of treatment administration, and the effect of the temporal spacing of the treatments on the accumulation of a second dose of liposomes and therapeutic activity. Methods: Studies were completed in an orthotopic mouse model of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer, utilizing liposomal doxorubicin, targeted to TC via αHER2 Fab′ fragments, and liposomal vincristine, targeted to CD13 on TV cells via NGR peptides. Results and discussion: Combination treatment with TV-targeted plus TC-targeted therapies was therapeutically superior to either single agent; switching the order of administration of the combination did not alter treatment efficacy. The tumor accumulation of a second dose of liposomes was increased if administered at 4 days after pre-treatment with TV-targeted therapy. Using a treatment schedule exploiting this increase, the dose of simultaneously administered combination therapy was halved without compromising therapeutic effect. Conclusion: Proof-of-concept studies revealed the therapeutic potential of a dual-targeted two drug approach against HER2-positive breast cancer, and may be applicable to the treatment of other solid tumors.
Positive Selection Acting on a Surface Membrane Protein of the Plant-Pathogenic Phytoplasmas

ABSTRACT Phytoplasmas are plant-pathogenic bacteria that cause numerous diseases. This study shows a strong positive selection on the phytoplasma antigenic membrane protein (Amp). The ratio of nonsynonymous to synonymous substitutions was >1 with all the methods we tested. The clear positive selections imply an important biological role for Amp in host-bacterium interactions.
How Big is the Toolbox of a Central Banker? Managing Expectations with Policy-Rate Forecasts: Evidence from Sweden

Some central banks have decided to publish forecasts of their policy rates. Can such forecasts manage market expectations of future policy rates? I use regression analysis on Swedish data to conclude that the answer is yes. The published Riksbank forecasts affect expectations of the future repo rate up to a horizon of approximately a year and a half. However, the response of market expectations to a surprise in the announced repo-rate path is not one-to-one, but is estimated to be less than half of the surprise and decreasing with the forecast horizon.
Assembly and disassembly of the nucleolus during the cell cycle

The nucleolus is a large nuclear domain in which transcription, maturation and assembly of ribosomes take place. In higher eukaryotes, nucleolar organization in three sub-domains reflects the compartmentation of the machineries related to active or inactive transcription of the ribosomal DNA, ribosomal RNA processing and assembly with ribosomal proteins of the two (40S and 60S) ribosomal subunits. The assembly of the nucleoli during telophase/early G1 depends on pre-existing machineries inactivated during prophase (the transcription machinery and RNP processing complexes) and on partially processed 45S rRNAs inherited throughout mitosis. In telophase, the 45S rRNAs nucleate the prenucleolar bodies and order the dynamics of nucleolar assembly. The assembly/disassembly processes of the nucleolus depend on the equilibrium between phosphorylation/dephosphorylation of the transcription machinery and on the RNP processing complexes under the control of the CDK1-cyclin B kinase and PP1 phosphatases. The dynamics of assembly/disassembly of the nucleolus is time and space regulated.
Circadian rhythmicity in substance use disorder male patients with and without comorbid depression under ambulatory and therapeutic community treatment

ABSTRACT Although there have been described alterations of circadian rhythmicity both in patients with substance use disorder (SUD) and patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), the circadian characteristics of SUD patients with comorbid MDD (SUD-MDD) are unknown. Likewise, the possible influence of the different modalities of treatments (ambulatory or therapeutic community) upon the circadian rhythmicity of SUD patients has not been characterized. Therefore, this study analyzes the circadian rhythmic profiles of SUD and SUD-MDD patients under ambulatory and therapeutic community treatment. The sample was composed of 40 SUD and 40 SUD-MDD men, aged 22–55 yrs, under treatment and with abstinence for at least three months (including each group 20 ambulatory and 20 from therapeutic community). Patients completed a sociodemographic, clinical and sleep-wake schedules interview, the Composite Scale of Morningness, and wore on the wrist an ambulatory device known as iButton® Thermochron DS1921H, which registered their distal skin temperature every two minutes for 48 hours. All the groups showed a tendency to morningness without differences among them in concordance with their sleep-wake schedules. With regard to distal skin temperature circadian rhythm, SUD patients showed higher values than SUD-MDD in amplitude, relative amplitude, percentage rhythm, and first harmonic power, and lower minimum temperature in 10 consecutive hours (p < .043, in all cases). Therapeutic community group values were lower in minimum temperature and higher in amplitude, relative amplitude, and 12 harmonic accumulated power (p < .028, in all cases) as compared to ambulatory ones. Moreover, all groups showed higher Rayleigh vector and rhythm stability as compared to normative population (p < .043, in both cases). The circadian rhythmic differences observed for diagnosis and type of treatment are indicative of a higher circadian rhythmicity robustness in SUD and therapeutic community patients as compared to SUD-MDD and ambulatory ones, respectively. Although drug consumption exerts a negative effect on the circadian rhythmicity, our results (high amplitude and rhythm stability) are indicative of an adequate circadian functioning as well as of an adjustment to the light-dark cycle in both diagnosis and type of treatment which may constitute a marker of the adherence to treatment and recovery status.
A family with X‐linked optic atrophy linked to the OPA2 locus Xp11.4‐Xp11.2

Autosomal dominant optic atrophy (ADOA) is the most common inherited optic atrophy. Clinical features of ADOA include a slowly progressive bilateral loss of visual acuity, constriction of peripheral visual fields, central scotomas, and color vision abnormalities. Although ADOA is the most commonly inherited optic atrophy, autosomal recessive, X‐linked, mitochondrial, and sporadic forms have also been reported. Four families with X‐linked optic atrophy (XLOA) were previously described. One family was subsequently linked to Xp11.4–Xp11.2 (OPA2). This investigation studied one multi‐generation family with an apparently X‐linked form of optic atrophy and compared their clinical characteristics with those of the previously described families, and determined whether this family was linked to the same genetic locus. Fifteen individuals in a three‐generation Idaho family underwent complete eye examination, color vision testing, automated perimetry, and fundus photography. Polymorphic markers were used to genotype each individual and to determine linkage. Visual acuities ranged from 20/30 to 20/100. All affected subjects had significant optic nerve pallor. Obligate female carriers were clinically unaffected. Preliminary linkage analysis (LOD score = 1.8) revealed that the disease gene localized to the OPA2 locus on Xp11.4–Xp11.2. Four forms of inherited optic neuropathy, ADOA, autosomal recessive optic atrophy (Costeff Syndrome), Leber hereditary optic neuropathy, and Charcot‐Marie‐Tooth disease with optic atrophy, are associated with mitochondrial dysfunction. Future identification of the XLOA gene will reveal whether this form of optic atrophy is also associated with a mitochondrial defect. Identification of the XLOA gene will advance our understanding of the inherited optic neuropathies and perhaps suggest treatments for these diseases. An improved understanding of inherited optic neuropathies may in turn advance our understanding of acquired optic nerve diseases, such as glaucoma and ischemic optic neuropathy. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Network Deployment for Maximal Energy Efficiency in Uplink With Multislope Path Loss

This work aims to design the uplink (UL) of a cellular network for maximal energy efficiency (EE). Each base station (BS) is randomly deployed within a given area and is equipped with ${M}$ antennas to serve ${K}$ user equipments (UEs). A multislope (distance-dependent) path loss model is considered and linear processing is used, under the assumption that channel state information is acquired by using pilot sequences (reused across the network). Within this setting, a lower bound on the UL spectral efficiency and a realistic circuit power consumption model are used to evaluate the network EE. Numerical results are first used to compute the optimal BS density and pilot reuse factor for a Massive MIMO network with three different detection schemes, namely, maximum ratio combining, zero-forcing (ZF) and multicell minimum mean-squared error. The numerical analysis shows that the EE is a unimodal function of BS density and achieves its maximum for a relatively small density of BS, irrespective of the employed detection scheme. This is in contrast to the single-slope (distance-independent) path loss model, for which the EE is a monotonic non-decreasing function of BS density. Then, we concentrate on ZF and use stochastic geometry to compute a new lower bound on the spectral efficiency, which is then used to optimize, for a given BS density, the pilot reuse factor, number of BS antennas and UEs. Closed-form expressions are computed from which valuable insights into the interplay between optimization variables, hardware characteristics, and propagation environment are obtained.
An improved superpixel-based saliency detection method

In this paper, an improved saliency detection method based on superpixel is proposed. First, the original image is segmented into a number of superpixels by simple linear iterative clustering, each of which has the consistent color and texture characteristics. Second, two different methods, namely, the sparse representation-based method as well as a center-surrounding idea-based approach, are applied to these superpixels to compute the initial saliency map and a center-surrounding map, respectively. Then these two maps are integrated in an additive way to obtain a modified saliency map. Compared to the initial saliency map, the modified one is more precise. Third, for the segmented superpixels, a normalized cut-based clustering method is used to cluster them into several clustering areas, and then the salient values in the same clustering area are averaged. Consequently, we can get a much more uniform saliency map. Experimental results show that, compared with the classical algorithms, the proposed method achieves a better performance since it can highlight the salient objects evenly and restrain the background clutters effectively.
New developments in the treatment of ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer accounts for about 4% of all cancers in women in the United States, with over 23,000 cases diagnosed annually. Since patients often present with non-specific symptoms, diagnosis is generally made when disease has spread to the peritoneal cavity. Multi-modality therapy is established as the standard approach to treatment. Surgery remains a cornerstone of therapy for diagnosis, staging and treatment. Almost all patients receive some form of chemotherapy, either in the adjuvant setting or for locally advanced or advanced disease. The treatment of ovarian cancer has rapidly evolved in the past decade. Starting with the initial observation that alkylating agents were active in the treatment of this disease, new classes of agents have been rapidly incorporated in the therapeutic armamentarium. This has included the platinum compounds, taxanes and most recently, camptothecin derivatives, inhibitors of topoisomerase I. Much of the recent clinical research has revolved around how to incorporate these agents with surgery.
Formulation, characterization, and geno/cytotoxicity studies of galbanic acid-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles

Abstract Context: Galbanic acid (GBA) is a sesquiterpene coumarin with different medicinal properties and anticancer effects. Objective: To improve the anticancer activities of GBA, in the current study, we aimed to fabricate GBA-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles (GBA-SLNs) and study their biological activities in vitro. Materials and methods: Hot homogenization was used for preparation of GBA-SLNs. The encapsulation efficiency (EE) and drug loading (DL) and in vitro release were determined. MTT, DAPI, DNA fragmentation, comet, and Anexin V apoptosis assays were used to compare the anti-cell proliferation and genotoxicity properties of GBA and GBA-SLNs against A549 cells and HUVEC to detect apoptosis and DNA damage in the final concentration of 100 µM after 48 h treatment. Results: Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and particle size analysis showed spherical SLNs (92 nm), monodispersed distribution, and zeta potential of −23.39 mV. High EE (>98%) and long-term in vitro release were achieved. The stability of GBA-SLNs in aqueous medium was approved after 3 months in terms of size and polydispersity index. GBA was able to inhibit A549 growth with an IC50 value of 62 µM at 48 h. Although GBA-SLNs could also inhibit the growth rate of A549 cells, the effect is perceived after 48 h, as approved by the quantitative expression of Bcl-xL and Casp 9 genes, and also genotoxicity assays. Conclusion: Long-term apoptotic effect of GBA-SLNs compared with GBA may be due to the accumulation of GBA-SLNs in the tumor site because of deviant tumor pathology. Our data confirmed that SLNs could be exploited for sustained lipophilic GBA delivery.
Induced pluripotent stem cells generated without viral integration

Pluripotent stem cells have been generated from mouse and human somatic cells by viral expression of the transcription factors Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc. A major limitation of this technology is the use of potentially harmful genome-integrating viruses. Here, we generate mouse induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from ﬁbroblasts and liver cells by using non-integrating adenoviruses transiently expressing Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc. These adenoviral iPS (adeno-iPS) cells show DNA demethylation char-acteristic of reprogrammed cells, express endogenous pluripotency genes, form teratomas, and contribute to multiple tissues, includ-ing the germline, in chimeric mice. Our results provide strong evidence that insertional mutagenesis is not required for in vitro reprogramming. Adenoviral reprogramming may provide an improved method for generating and studying patient-speciﬁc stem cells and for comparing embryonic stem cells and iPS cells.