Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cardiomyocyte Expression of a Polyglutamine Preamyloid Oligomer Causes Heart Failure

Background— To determine whether soluble preamyloid oligomers (PAOs) are toxic when expressed internally in the cardiomyocyte, we tested the hypothesis that cardiomyocyte-restricted expression and accumulation of a known PAO is cytotoxic and sufficient to cause heart failure. Methods and Results— Intracellular PAOs, the entities believed to cause toxicity in many neurodegenerative diseases, have been observed in cardiomyocytes derived from mouse and human heart failure samples. Long (>50) polyglutamine (PQ) repeats form PAOs and cause neurotoxicity in Huntington disease and other neurodegenerative diseases, whereas shorter PQ peptides are benign. We created transgenic mice in which cardiomyocyte-autonomous expression of an 83 residue–long PQ repeat (PQ83) or a non–amyloid-forming peptide of 19 PQ repeats (PQ19) as a nonpathological control was expressed. A PQ83 line with relatively low levels of expression was generated, along with a PQ19 line that expressed ≈9-fold the levels observed in the PQ83 line. Hearts expressing PQ83 exhibited reduced cardiac function and dilation by 5 months, and all mice died by 8 months, whereas PQ19 mice had normal cardiac function, morphology, and life span. PQ83 protein accumulated within aggresomes with PAO-specific staining. The PQ83 hearts showed increased autophagosomal and lysosomal content but also showed markers of necrotic death, including inflammatory cell infiltration and increased sarcolemmal permeability. Conclusions— The data confirm the hypothesis that expression of an exogenous PAO-forming peptide is toxic to cardiomyocytes and is sufficient to cause cardiomyocyte loss and heart failure in a murine model.
Moduli instability in warped compactifications of the type IIB supergravity

We show that the conifold and deformed-conifold warped compactifications of the ten-dimensional type-IIB supergravity, including the Klebanov-Strassler solution, are dynamically unstable in the moduli sector representing the scale of a Calabi-Yau space, although it can be practically stable for a quite long time in a region with a large warp factor. This instability is associated with complete supersymmetry breaking except for a special case and produces significant time-dependence in the structure of the four-dimensional base spacetime as well as of the internal space.
Population-Based Resequencing of LIPG and ZNF202 Genes in Subjects with Extreme HDL Levels

Endothelial lipase (LIPG) and zinc finger protein 202 (ZNF202) are two pivotal genes in high density lipoprotein (HDL metabolism). We sought to determine their genetic contribution to variation in HDL-cholesterol levels by comprehensive resequencing of both genes in 235 individuals with high or low HDL-C levels. The selected subjects were 141 Whites (High HDL Group: n = 68, x¯=76.90mg/dl; Low HDL Group: n = 73, x¯=32.55mg/dl) and 94 Hispanics (High HDL Group: n = 46, x¯=74.85mg/dl; Low HDL Group: n = 48, x¯=29.95mg/dl). We identified a total of 185 and 122 sequence variants in LIPG and ZNF202, respectively. We found only two missense variants in LIPG (T111I and N396S) and two in ZNF202 (A154V and K259E). In both genes, there were several variants unique to either the low or high HDL group. For LIPG, the proportion of unique variants differed between the high and low HDL groups in both Whites (p = 0.022) and Hispanics (p = 0.017), but for ZNF202 this difference was observed only in Hispanics (p = 0.021). We also identified a common haplotype in ZNF202 among Whites that was significantly associated with the high HDL group (p = 0.013). These findings provide insights into the genetics of LIPG and ZNF202, and suggest that sequence variants occurring with high frequency in non-exonic regions may play a prominent role in modulating HDL-C levels in the general population.
Moche ceremonial architecture as thirdspace: The politics of place-making in the ancient Andes

Ceremonial architecture at the site of Huaca Colorada in the Jequetepeque Valley, Peru, is analyzed as a ritually charged thirdspace, an interpretive move that illuminates both the creative power of place and the cultural particulars of Moche identity politics and ideological struggles. This perspective permits interpretation of how Moche monumental architecture was directly complicit in the construction of personhood, community, and power specific to the Jequetepeque Valley during the Late Moche Period (AD 600–850). Ultimately, the article demonstrates how the application of place-sensitive heuristics can improve archaeological investigations of the role of ritual performance in the creation of political subjectivities.
Monitory Democracy as Citizen-driven Participatory Planning: The Urban Politics of Redwatch in Sydney

Abstract This article analyses a case of citizen-driven participation in urban planning in Sydney, Australia. Drawing on a case study of the local resident action group REDWatch the analysis is undertaken within the context of the hybrid forms of technocratic, participatory and neoliberal planning that are operating in the New South Wales planning system. Framed by the concept of monitory democracy, the analysis explores the four key features of monitory forms of civic action: (1) monitoring powerful social actors; (2) encouraging difference, disagreement, debate and change; (3) making formal power structures more transparent and accountable; and (4) fostering new forms of informal political power. The findings demonstrate that analyses of formal community consultation events and participatory planning policies are far too narrow to determine the civic utility of citizen participation in planning. Expanding the analytical borderland beyond the formal structures of the planning system exposes important informal citizen participation practices that are operating from outside of planning systems. Unlike formal state-driven participatory planning events and policies, these informal citizen-driven participatory planning practices can deal with planning hybridity and conflict, which are increasingly central to many contemporary planning systems.
Distributional and Neural Models for Extracting Manipulation-Relevant Relations from Text Corpora

In this paper we present a novel approach based on neural network techniques to extract common sense knowledge from text corpora. We apply this approach to extract of common sense knowledge about everyday objects that can be used by intelligent machines, e.g. robots, to support planning of tasks that involve object manipulation. The knowledge we extract is constituted by relations that relate some object (type) to some other entity such as its typical location or typical use. Our approach builds on the paradigm of distributional semantics and frames the task of extracting such relations as a ranking problem. Given a certain object, the goal is to extract a ranked list of locations or uses ranked by ‘prototypicality’. This ranking is computed via a similarity score in the distributional space. We compare different techniques for constructing this semantic distributional space. On the one hand, we use the well known SkipGram model to embed words into a low-dimensional distributional space, using cosine similarity to rank the various candidates. We also consider an approach in the spirit of latent semantic indexing that relies on the NASARI approach to compute low-dimensional representations that are also ranked by cosine similarity. While both methods were already proposed in earlier work, as main contribution in this paper we present a neural network approach in which the ranking or scoring function is directly learned using a supervised approach. We compare all these approaches showing superiority of the neural network approach for some evaluation measures compared to the other two approaches described above for the construction of the distributional space.
Oriented Image Foresting Transform Segmentation: Connectivity Constraints with Adjustable Width

In this work, we extend a novel seed-based segmentation algorithm, which provides global optimum solutions according to a graph-cut measure, subject to high-level boundary constraints: The simultaneously handling of boundary polarity and connectivity constraints. The proposed method incorporates the connectivity constraint in the Oriented Image Foresting Transform (OIFT), ensuring the generation of connected objects, but such that the connection between its internal seeds is guaranteed to have a user-controllable minimum width. In other frameworks, such as the min-cut/max-flow algorithm, the connectivity constraint is known to lead to NP-hard problems. In contrast, our method conserves the low complexity of the OIFT algorithm. In the experiments, we show improved results for the segmentation of thin and elongated objects, for the same amount of user interaction. Our dataset of natural images with true segmentation is publicly available to the community.
TimeCleanser: a visual analytics approach for data cleansing of time-oriented data

Poor data quality leads to unreliable results of any kind of data processing and has profound economic impact. Although there are tools to help users with the task of data cleansing, support for dealing with the specifics of time-oriented data is rather poor. However, the time dimension has very specific characteristics which introduce quality problems, that are different from other kinds of data. We present TimeCleanser, an interactive Visual Analytics system to support the task of data cleansing of time-oriented data. In order to help the user to deal with these special characteristics and quality problems, TimeCleanser combines semi-automatic quality checks, visualizations, and directly editable data tables. The evaluation of the TimeCleanser system within a focus group (two target users, one developer, and two Human Computer Interaction experts) shows that (a) our proposed method is suited to detect hidden quality problems of time-oriented data and (b) that it facilitates the complex task of data cleansing.
Arabidopsis thaliana regulatory element analyzer

UNLABELLED In the Arabidopsis thaliana regulatory element analyzer (AtREA) server, we have integrated sequence data, genome-wide expression data and functional annotation data in three application modules which will be useful to identify major regulatory targets of a user-provided cis-regulatory element (CRE), study different features of CRE distribution and evaluate the role of a set of CREs in the regulation of gene expression--independently as well as in combination with other user-provided CREs. AVAILABILITY AtREA is freely available at http://www.bioinformatics. org/grn/atrea.html.
Suppression and qualitative interpretation of temperature change in an air spring

This paper deals with the temperature change in the air spring attached to an anti-vibration apparatus. Because in industrial scenes, effects of the temperature of the air spring have not been considered sufficiently, its inner/outer temperature is measured. To suppress the temperature change, the metal absorbing/exhausting the inner heat is used, and the input voltage to servo valve is adjusted. By using both methods simultaneously, the reduction of the temperature change can be further improved. The performance of the methods is evaluated by experiments. Moreover, the thermal equivalent circuit corresponding to the air spring is provided in order to analyze the heat change.
ATP driven structural changes of the bacterial Mre11:Rad50 catalytic head complex

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) threaten genome stability in all kingdoms of life and are linked to cancerogenic chromosome aberrations in humans. The Mre11:Rad50 (MR) complex is an evolutionarily conserved complex of two Rad50 ATPases and a dimer of the Mre11 nuclease that senses and processes DSBs and tethers DNA for repair. ATP binding and hydrolysis by Rad50 is functionally coupled to DNA-binding and tethering, but also regulates Mre11's nuclease in processing DNA ends. To understand how ATP controls the interaction between Mre11 and Rad50, we determined the crystal structure of Thermotoga maritima (Tm) MR trapped in an ATP/ADP state. ATP binding to Rad50 induces a large structural change from an open form with accessible Mre11 nuclease sites into a closed form. Remarkably, the NBD dimer binds in the Mre11 DNA-binding cleft blocking Mre11's dsDNA-binding sites. An accompanying large swivel of the Rad50 coiled coil domains appears to prepare the coiled coils for DNA tethering. DNA-binding studies show that within the complex, Rad50 likely forms a dsDNA-binding site in response to ATP, while the Mre11 nuclease module retains a ssDNA-binding site. Our results suggest a possible mechanism for ATP-dependent DNA tethering and DSB processing by MR.
Quantification de la perfusion rénale par échographie de contraste , une étude pilote

Background. Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) is a novel imaging technique that is safe and applicable on the bedside. Recent developments seem to enable CEUS to quantify organ perfusion. We performed an exploratory study to determine the ability of CEUS to detect changes in renal perfusion and to correlate them with effective renal plasma flow. Methods. CEUS with destruction-refilling sequences was studied in 10 healthy subjects, at baseline and during infusion of angiotensin II (AngII) at low (1 ng/kg/min) and high dose (3 ng/kg/min) and 1 h after oral captopril (50 mg). Perfusion index (PI) was obtained and compared with the effective renal plasma flow (ERPF) obtained by parallel para-aminohippurate (PAH) clearance. Results. Median PI decreased from 188.6 (baseline) to 100.4 with low-dose AngII ( 47%; P < 0.02) and to 66.1 with high-dose AngII ( 65%; P < 0.01) but increased to 254.7 with captopril (135%; P > 0.2). These changes parallelled those observed with ERPF, which changed from a median of 672.1 mL/min (baseline) to 572.3 (low-dose AngII, 15%, P < 0.05) and to 427.2 (high-dose AngII, 36%, P < 0.001) and finally 697.1 (captopril, 14%, P < 0.02). Conclusions. This study demonstrates that CEUS is able to detect changes in human renal cortical microcirculation as induced by AngII infusion and/or captopril administration. The changes in perfusion indices parallel those in ERPF as obtained by PAH clearance.
한국판 Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview 타당도 연구

【Objectives : In the psychiatry, structured interview is very important tool to be used in epidemiological or psychopharmacological studies. However, investigators often find that the administration of comprehensive diagnostic interviews is time-consuming and expensive to be used in clinical or research settings. Considering these points, Sheehan and his colleagues developed MINI (Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview) to meet the need for a brief, reliable, and valid structured diagnostic interview for psychiatric disorders. The MINI has been translated into many languages and used in many countries. Therefore, we translated the MINI into Korean and determined its validity in this study. Methods : Twohundred seventy patients and normal subjects participated in the validation of the MINI versus an expert's professional opinion. Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, mood disorders including major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders including panic and other phobic disorders, and alcohol dependence were included in this study. The validity was obtained by examination whether MINI based diagnoses were compatible with diagnoses by expert psychiatrists. Results : The range of Kappa values was 0.22 (somatoform disorder) to 0.93 (bipolar disorder - past). Overall agreement between MINI and expert's diagnoses were good. The Kappa values for anxiety disorders seemed to be higher than those for other disorders. Conclusion : The MINI Korean version has the good validity. It also has potential applications as a diagnostic tool for psychiatric disorders. 】
Release Retardation of Model Protein on Polyelectrolyte-Coated PLGA Nano- and Microparticles

PEM capsules have been proposed for vehicles of drug microencapsulation, with the release triggered by pH, salt, magnetic field, or light. When built on another carrier encapsulating drugs, such as nanoparticles, it could provide additional release barrier to the releasing drug, providing further control to drug release. Although liposomes have received considerable attention with PEM coating for sustained drug release, similar results employing PEM built on poly(lactic-co-lycolic acid) (PLGA) particles is scant. In this work, we demonstrate that the build-up pH and polyelectrolyte pairs of PEM affect the release retardation of BSA from PLGA particles. PAH/PSS pair, the most commonly used polyelectrolyte pair, was used in comparison with PLL/DES. In addition, we also demonstrate that the release retardation effect of PEM-coated PLGA particles diminishes as the particle size increases. We attribute this to the diminishing relative thickness of the PEM coating with respect to the size of the particle as the particle size increases, reducing the diffusional resistance of the PEM.
A compact pattern reconfigurable antenna design for handheld wireless devices

A new topology for designing a compact pattern reconfigurable antenna is proposed in this paper. The antenna consists of a right-angled slot, two diodes, two metal patches, control circuits and a feeding microstrip line. To reconfigure the slot, diodes are used to create short circuits across the slot. As one of the diodes is enabled, the antenna behaves like a quarter-wavelength slot antenna. Since the direction of working slot depends on the status of diodes, the antenna radiation patterns can be configured easily. To prove the concept, a 2.4 GHz antenna for WLAN applications is designed, whose size is comparable to a traditional WLAN antenna. The measured and simulated results agree well. Due to the compactness feature, such a design will be a promising solution for handheld wireless devices.
Appropriate myocardial revascularization: a joint viewpoint from an interventional cardiologist and a cardiac surgeon.

Two landmarks, contemporary trials on mechanical revascularization therapies in patients with multivessel coronary artery disease (CAD) have been presented, discussed and published recently.1–4 This common viewpoint explores the potential impact of these trials on clinical decision making and how this may affect the interaction between interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons. SYNTAX stands for SYNergy between percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with TAXus and cardiac surgery. The trial compared the outcome of surgical and catheter-based revascularization in 3075 patients with multivessel and/or left main CAD. At each of the 85 participating sites (62 in Europe, 23 in USA), a team involving cardiac surgeon(s) and interventional cardiologist(s) evaluated both the coronary lesions and the clinical data for treatment suitability either by PCI using drug-eluting stents (DES) or by coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). When both approaches were deemed feasible, a 1:1 randomization to either therapy was proposed (PCI = 903, CABG = 897). If not, two prospective registries of preferred PCI ( n = 198) or preferred CABG ( n = 1077) were constructed. Severity and extent of CAD were quantified prospectively by the newly designed SYNTAX score.5 At 1 year follow-up, the trial failed to confirm the non-inferiority hypothesis with respect to the composite endpoint of death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, cerebro-vascular accident, repeat revascularization by PCI or CABG. While the pre-specified margin of non-inferiority was 6.6%, the observed difference in major adverse cardiac and cerebro-vascular events (MACCE) rate was 5.7%, with a 95% confidence interval at 8.3% ( P = 0.0015 in favour of surgery). With respect to individual components of the primary endpoint, death and myocardial infarction were neutral ( P = 0.37 for all cause mortality, P = 0.11 for myocardial infarction), cerebro-vascular accident favoured PCI (0.06% after PCI, 2.2% after CABG, P = 0.003) while repeat revascularization was significantly …
Design, Fabrication, and Characterization of an Electrostatically Actuated Microfluidic Valve

Design, Fabrication, and Characterization of an Electrostatically Actuated Microfluidic Valve Ryan D. Rivers Microfluidic device construction uses certain critical structures throughout many different applications. The valve structure remains one of the primary structures that present a barrier to miniaturization and portability. The extensive support devices required to power common microfluidic valves remove a significant amount of freedom from microfluidic device design. Moving to electrostatic methods of actuation could reduce the overall footprint of the microfluidic valve. This thesis covers three concept prototypes. Concept I presents an attempt at inlaying gold electrodes into polydimethylsiloxane substrates. Concept II attempts to use liquid silver injected into channels as electrode materials. Concept III uses aluminum sputtering to fabricate valve electrodes. Each device encountered complications during fabrication which led to improved fabrication guidelines for future devices. Designing and fabricating these concept devices required the development of several new processes in the clean room, including RIE Plasma bonding, PDMS sputtering techniques, and multilayer PDMS thin film fabrication. The PDMS sputtering technique in particular allows profilometry measurement of PDMS surfaces without risk of damaging the profilometer tip, a development that could allow for much more control over PDMS film thicknesses in future projects.
Theoretical isochrones for the ∆ a photometric system

We have calculated theoretical isochrones for the photometric ∆ a system to derive astrophysical parameters such as the age, reddening and distance modulus for open clusters. The ∆ a system samples the ﬂux depression at 520 nm which is highly e ﬃ cient to detect chemically peculiar (CP) objects of the upper main sequence. The evolutionary status of CP stars is still a matter of debate and very important to test, for example, the dynamo and di ﬀ usion theories. In fact, the dynamo or fossil origin of the magnetic ﬁelds present in this kind of star is still not clear. Using the stellar evolutionary models by Claret (1995), a grid of isochrones with di ﬀ erent initial chemical compositions for the ∆ a system was generated. The published data of 23 open clusters were used to ﬁt these isochrones with astrophysical parameters (age, reddening and distance modulus) from the literature. As an additional test, isochrones with the same parameters for Johnson UBV data of these open clusters were also considered. The ﬁts show a good agreement between the observations and the theoretical grid. We ﬁnd that the accuracy of ﬁtting isochrones to ∆ a data without the knowledge of the cluster parameters is between 5 and 15%.
Triggered single-photon emission in the red spectral range from optically excited InP/(Al,Ga)InP quantum dots embedded in micropillars up to 100 K

Systematic excitation power and temperature-dependent measurements on the emission lines of single self-assembled InP/(Al0.20Ga0.80)0.51In0. 49P quantum dots embedded in micropillars have been performed. The quantum dots were excited optically via a pulsed laser and their luminescence was collected using a micro-photoluminescence setup. The exciton and biexciton intensity, linewidth, and spectral position was investigated in a temperature range from 4 K up to 130 K. Single-photon emission from the quantum dots is presented up to a temperature of 100 K, confirmed by photon-statistics measurements.