Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Performance of an Optimized Paper-Based Test for Rapid Visual Measurement of Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT) in Fingerstick and Venipuncture Samples

Background A paper-based, multiplexed, microfluidic assay has been developed to visually measure alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in a fingerstick sample, generating rapid, semi-quantitative results. Prior studies indicated a need for improved accuracy; the device was subsequently optimized using an FDA-approved automated platform (Abaxis Piccolo Xpress) as a comparator. Here, we evaluated the performance of the optimized paper test for measurement of ALT in fingerstick blood and serum, as compared to Abaxis and Roche/Hitachi platforms. To evaluate feasibility of remote results interpretation, we also compared reading cell phone camera images of completed tests to reading the device in real time. Methods 96 ambulatory patients with varied baseline ALT concentration underwent fingerstick testing using the paper device; cell phone images of completed devices were taken and texted to a blinded off-site reader. Venipuncture serum was obtained from 93/96 participants for routine clinical testing (Roche/Hitachi); subsequently, 88/93 serum samples were captured and applied to paper and Abaxis platforms. Paper test and reference standard results were compared by Bland-Altman analysis. Findings For serum, there was excellent agreement between paper test and Abaxis results, with negligible bias (+4.5 U/L). Abaxis results were systematically 8.6% lower than Roche/Hitachi results. ALT values in fingerstick samples tested on paper were systematically lower than values in paired serum tested on paper (bias -23.6 U/L) or Abaxis (bias -18.4 U/L); a correction factor was developed for the paper device to match fingerstick blood to serum. Visual reads of cell phone images closely matched reads made in real time (bias +5.5 U/L). Conclusions The paper ALT test is highly accurate for serum testing, matching the reference method against which it was optimized better than the reference methods matched each other. A systematic difference exists between ALT values in fingerstick and paired serum samples, and can be addressed by application of a correction factor to fingerstick values. Remote reading of this device is feasible.
Resolution of the Quinn–Rand–Strogatz Constant of Nonlinear Physics

Herein we develop connections between zeta functions and some recent "mysterious" constants of nonlinear physics. In an important analysis of coupled Winfree oscillators, Quinn, Rand, and Strogatz [Quinn et al. 07] developed a certain N-oscillator scenario whose bifurcation phase offset small ø is implicitly defined, with a conjectured asymptotic behavior sin ø ∼ 1−c 1/N, with experimental estimate c 1 = 0.605443657 . We are able to derive the exact theoretical value of this "QRS constant" c 1 as a real zero of a particular Hurwitz zeta function. This discovery enables, for example, the rapid resolution of c 1 to extreme precision. Results and conjectures are provided in regard to higher-order terms of the sin ø asymptotic, and to yet more physics constants emerging from the original QRS work.
A Phenomenological Study of the Occupational Choices of Individuals Who Self Identify as Adult Children of Alcoholics

The purpose of this smallscale qualitative study was to explore the meaning to participants of their occupational choices. The participants were six adult females, not currently enrolled in college courses, who self-identifed as an adult children of alcoholics. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews which were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Following transcription, data was analyzed following standard qualitative methods of coding and thematic analysis. Four themes were found: “Limitations in Occupational Choices,” “Creating Consistency in Adulthood,” “The Devil and God,” and “I Don't Think I'd Change It. ” Implications for understanding individuals' occupational choices, related to childhood occupational deprivation and assumption of parental roles, are identified.
Non–Geometric Sensitivities Using the Adjoint Method

The adjoint method has been used as a successful tool to obtain sensitivity gradients in aerodynamic design and optimisation for many years. This work presents an alternative approach to the continuous adjoint formulation that enables one to compute gradients of a given measure of merit with respect to control parameters other than those pertaining to geometry. The procedure is then applied to the steady 2–D compressible Euler and incompressible Navier–Stokes flow equations. Finally, the results are compared with sensitivities obtained by finite differences and theoretical values for validation. Keywords—Adjoint method, optimisation, non–geometric sensitivities, boundary conditions.
A Linear Algebra Framework for Automatic Determination of Optimal Data Layouts

This paper presents a data layout optimization technique for sequential and parallel programs based on the theory of hyperplanes from linear algebra. Given a program, our framework automatically determines suitable memory layouts that can be expressed by hyperplanes for each array that is referenced. We discuss the cases where data transformations are preferable to loop transformations and show that under certain conditions a loop nest can be optimized for perfect spatial locality by using data transformations. We argue that data transformations can also optimize spatial locality for some arrays without distorting temporal/spatial locality exhibited by others. We divide the problem of optimizing data layout into two independent subproblems: 1) determining optimal static data layouts, and 2) determining data transformation matrices to implement the optimal layouts. By postponing the determination of the transformation matrix to the last stage, our method can be adapted to compilers with different default layouts. We then present an algorithm that considers optimizing parallelism and spatial locality simultaneously. Our results on eight programs on two distributed shared-memory multiprocessors, the Convex Exemplar SPP-2000 and the SGI Origin 2000, show that the layout optimizations are effective in optimizing spatial locality and parallelism.
Tool Use Specific Adult Neurogenesis and Synaptogenesis in Rodent (Octodon degus) Hippocampus

We previously demonstrated that degus (Octodon degus), which are a species of small caviomorph rodents, could be trained to use a T-shaped rake as a hand tool to expand accessible spaces. To elucidate the neurobiological underpinnings of this higher brain function, we compared this tool use learning task with a simple spatial (radial maze) memory task and investigated the changes that were induced in the hippocampal neural circuits known to subserve spatial perception and learning. With the exposure to an enriched environment in home cage, adult neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus was augmented by tool use learning, but not radial maze learning, when compared to control conditions. Furthermore, the proportion of new synapses formed in the CA3 region of the hippocampus, the target area for projections of mossy fiber axons emanating from newborn neurons, was specifically increased by tool use learning. Thus, active tool use behavior by rodents, learned through multiple training sessions, requires the hippocampus to generate more novel neurons and synapses than spatial information processing in radial maze learning.
An Unusual Two-Step Control of CPEB Destruction by Pin1

ABSTRACT Cytoplasmic polyadenylation is a conserved mechanism that controls mRNA translation and stability. A key protein that promotes polyadenylation-induced translation of mRNAs in maturing Xenopus oocytes is the cytoplasmic polyadenylation element binding protein (CPEB). During this meiotic transition, CPEB is subjected to phosphorylation-dependent ubiquitination and partial destruction, which is necessary for successive waves of polyadenylation of distinct mRNAs. Here we identify the peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase Pin1 as an important factor mediating CPEB destruction. Pin1 interacts with CPEB in an unusual manner in which it occurs prior to CPEB phosphorylation and prior to Pin1 activation by serine 71 dephosphorylation. Upon induction of maturation, CPEB becomes phosphorylated, which occurs simultaneously with Pin1 dephosphorylation. At this time, the CPEB-Pin1 interaction requires cdk1-catalyzed CPEB phosphorylation on S/T-P motifs. Subsequent CPEB ubiquitination and destruction are mediated by a conformational change induced by Pin1 isomerization of CPEB. Similar to M phase progression in maturing Xenopus oocytes, the destruction of CPEB during the mammalian cell cycle requires Pin1 as well. These data identify Pin1 as a new and essential factor regulating CPEB degradation.
Comparison of the response to experimentally induced short-term inflammation in the temporomandibular and metacarpophalangeal joints of horses.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the relationship between inflammatory responses of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint in clinically normal horses. ANIMALS 7 mature horses. PROCEDURES In each horse, 1 TMJ and 1 MCP joint were injected with lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 0.0025 μg). The contralateral TMJ and MCP joint were injected with saline (0.9% NaCl) solution. Synovial fluid samples were collected from all 4 joints over 24 hours after injection. Concentrations of interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, transforming growth factor-β, and total protein were measured via immunoassay. Horses were assessed for clinical signs of joint inflammation at each time point. RESULTS Concentrations of interleukin-6 were not significantly different between LPS-injected MCP joints and TMJs at any time point. Transforming growth factor-β concentrations were significantly increased in MCP joints, compared with concentrations in TMJs, at 12 and 24 hours after injection. Tumor necrosis factor-α concentrations were significantly higher in LPS-injected TMJs than in LPS-injected MCP joints at 1 and 6 hours after injection. Total protein concentration did not differ significantly between LPS-injected MCP joints and TMJs. Injection of LPS induced clinical inflammation at all time points; additionally, 2 MCP joints (but no TMJs) had an inflammatory response to injection of saline solution. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE The inflammatory response to LPS appeared to be attenuated more quickly in TMJs than in MCP joints of horses. The difference in response suggested that a lack of clinical osteoarthritis in the TMJ of horses could be attributable to a difference in cytokine response.
Adaptively Regularized Compressive Spectrum Sensing from Real-Time Signals to Real-Time Processing

Wideband spectrum sensing is regarded as one of the key features in cognitive radio systems. Compressive sensing (CS) has recently become one of the promising techniques to deal with the Nyquist sampling rate bottleneck of wideband spectrum sensing. Theoretical analyses and simulation have shown that CS could achieve high detection probability and low false alarm for wideband spectrum sensing. However, implementation of CS on the real-time signals and real-time processing poses significant challenges due to the iterative nature of the CS algorithms. In this paper, we propose a novel adaptively regularized iterative reweighted least squares (AR-IRLS) algorithm to implement the real-time signal recovery on the CS based wideband spectrum sensing. The proposed algorithm moves estimated solutions along an exponential-linear path by regularizing weights with a series of non- increasing penalty terms, which significantly speeds up the convergence of reconstruction and provides high fidelity guarantee to cope with the varying bandwidths and power levels of occupied channels. The proposed algorithm presents robustness against different sparsity levels at low compressive ratio without degradation on the reconstruction performance, and is tested on the real-time signals over TV white space spectrum after having been validated on the simulated signals. Both the simulation and real-time experiments show that the proposed algorithm outperforms the conventional iterative reweighted least squares (IRLS) algorithms in terms of convergence speed, reconstruction accuracy, and compressive ratio requirement.
Lumbar Fusion in Achondroplasia: Does Fusion to the Sacrum Affect Function?

Background Stenosis and kyphosis are common in achondroplasia, often requiring lumbar fusion, sometimes to the sacrum. The purpose of this study was to determine the functional effect of lumbar fusion to the sacrum in patients with achondroplasia. Methods Functional and SF-36 questionnaires were sent to the 66 patients with achondroplasia who underwent instrumented lumbar fusion at our institution from 1991 to 2006. Of the 35 who returned questionnaires, 13 had fusions to the sacrum and 22 did not. Chi-square analysis and a t test were used to evaluate outcomes. Significance was set at P<0.05 or a 95% confidence interval that did not cross 1. Results There were no statistical differences in SF-36 scores. There was a trend toward more pain in the group fused to the sacrum (P=0.1). There were no statistically significant differences in difficulty with activities, but there was a trend toward increased difficulty with hygiene after toileting in the group with fusion to the sacrum (odds ratio: 3.76, confidence interval: 0.53-26.87, P=0.19). Conclusions Fusion to the sacrum did not significantly affect function in patients with achondroplasia, although there was a trend toward increased pain and greater difficulty with hygiene after toileting. Level of Evidence Level III therapeutic study.
A Novel GNR Interconnect Model to Reduce Crosstalk Delay

In this research article, we have proposed a reduced thickness graphene nanoribbon (GNR) interconnect model to reduce crosstalk effects. The 10× higher current capability of GNR than copper (Cu) makes it an attractive choice to alleviate electro migration problem. The lower resistance of GNR is also an important factor to reduce interconnect delay. We have shown that the thickness of GNR interconnect can be reduced to reduce the crosstalk effects significantly without compromising the other benefits. Our analysis shows that the reduced thickness GNR interconnect can achieve ~2-3× reduction in crosstalk induced delay compared with Cu interconnects.
High performance management: a literature review

In recent years there has been widespread discussion concerning the purported shift away from Taylorism towards a new production paradigm premised upon techniques of high performance management (HPM). This paper argues that in seeking to capture the essence of the phenomenon commentators typically privilege different aspects of the management function. For example, some emphasise the importance of task formulation while others focus heavily on the management of human resources. Drawing on recent work by Belanger et al. (2002) it is argued that any construct needs to be understood as a composite covering three discrete but related spheres: production management, work organisation and employee relations. The paper then moves on to consider the principal theoretical debates surrounding the emergent model; namely, the compatibility of HPM with neoliberal orthodoxy; the impact of HPM on productivity; and, finally, the implications of HPM vis-a-vis employees. The paper concludes that there is a need for the development of more refined analytical tools and similarly the excavation of data more sensitive to potential sectoral dynamics.
Steady-state characteristics analysis of hybrid-excited flux-switching machines with identical iron laminations

Since the air-gap field of flux-switching permanent magnet (FSPM) machines is difficult to regulate as it is produced by the stator-magnets alone, a type of hybrid-excited flux-switching (HEFS) machine is obtained by reducing the magnet length of an original FSPM machine and introducing a set of field windings into the saved space. In this paper, the steady-state characteristics, especially for the loaded performances of four prototyped HEFS machines, namely, PM-top, PM-middle-1, PM-middle-2, and PM-bottom, are comprehensively compared and evaluated based on both 2D and 3D finite element analysis. Also, the influences of PM materials including ferrite and NdFeB, respectively, on the characteristics of HEFS machines are covered. Particularly, the impacts of magnet movement in the corresponding slot on flux-regulating performances are studied in depth. The best overall performances employing NdFeB can be obtained when magnets are located near the air-gap. The FEA predictions are validated by experimental measurements on corresponding machine prototypes.
Stringent cessation criterion results in better durability of lamivudine treatment: a prospective clinical study in hepatitis B e antigen‐positive chronic hepatitis B patients

Summary. The cessation criteria for lamivudine treatment vary in published articles and their results are contradictory, especially factors predicting relapse. To clarify these contradictions, this long‐term follow‐up study of 125 Chinese hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)‐positive chronic hepatitis B patients was designed with stringent cessation criterion. All patients received lamivudine and achieved HBeAg seroconversion (group A, n = 82) or loss (group B, n = 43) with undetectable hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA by PCR assay during the treatment. Lamivudine was withdrawn ≥6 months after HBeAg seroconversion/loss occurred. The median treatment durations were 24 (12–54) months and 36 (18–89) months in group A and group B, respectively. Patients were followed up for median 24 (2–84) months. The cumulative relapse (defined as serum HBV DNA ≥104 copies/mL) rates in the two groups at months 12, 24, 36 and 48 were 23.4%vs 35.0%, 25.0%vs 37.7%, 25.0%vs 41.1% and 29.4%vs 41.1%, respectively (log‐rank test, P = 0.119). For patients whose total treatment duration ≥18 months in group A, the cumulative relapse rates at months 12, 24, 36 and 48 were 18.3%, 20.1%, 20.1% and 25.1%, which was significantly lower than those with a shorter duration (log‐rank test, P = 0.002). The mean age and median total duration were statistically different between relapsers and nonrelapsers in group A (33.9 ± 13.6 vs 23.1 ± 11.0 years, P < 0.001 and 24 vs 26 months, P = 0.003). Cox regression revealed that age was the only predictive factor for relapse (RR, 1.069; 95% CI, 1.032–1.106, P < 0.001). Patients aged <30 years relapsed less frequently in 5 years (12.3%vs 53.5%, P = 0.001). In conclusion, for patients who maintained HBeAg seroconversion for ≥6 months and total duration for ≥18 months, lamivudine withdrawal is a reasonable option. Prolonged treatment may be required for patients aged greater than 30 years to reduce relapse.
A Power Efficiency Improvement Technique for a Bidirectional Dual Active Bridge DC–DC Converter at Light Load

Bidirectional dc-dc converters, which make possible the bidirectional transmission of power, have become indispensable in recent years due to the diversification of the power supply network, including the use of batteries. Of these, the dual active bridge (DAB) dc-dc converter features a simple mechanism and symmetric circuit architecture, making possible the equal transmission of power in both directions. Because of these advantageous characteristics, DAB dc-dc converters are in wide use. However, this circuit has the intrinsic problems that, during light-load conditions, switching surges occur and power efficiency decreases. This paper proposes digitally controlled operation as a new method to resolve these problems and reports on an experiment that was carried out using a 1-kW system. In addition, for both buck and boost modes, output power characteristic equations were derived through application of the extended state-space averaging method, and a loss-included circuit analysis was carried out for the circuit used in the experiment. It was thereby demonstrated that circuit loss was smaller for the proposed operation than that for conventional operation. In the loss-included circuit analysis, for both proposed and conventional operations, equivalent circuits that approximated circuit loss as a single resistance were used. As a result, it was confirmed that, with the operation proposed in this paper, without the use of a snubber circuit, switching surges could be reduced significantly and also that, during light load, there was a power efficiency improvement of up to 16%. In addition, a loss-included circuit analysis with a single equivalent resistance has been done. The resistance value is assigned with the averaged circuit total resistance. By the analysis, a relation between phase difference and output power is obtained. The results were confirmed with the experiment.
Stigmergic optimization in dynamic binary landscapes

Hereafter we introduce a novel algorithm for optimization in dynamic binary landscapes. The Binary Ant Algorithm (BAA) mimics some aspects of real social insects' behavior. Like Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), BAA acts by building pheromone maps over a grid of possible trails that represent solutions to an optimization problem. Main differences rely on the way this search space is represented and provided to the colony in order to explore/exploit it. Then, by a process of pheromone reinforcement and evaporation the artificial insect trails converge to regions near the problem solution or extrema. The negative feedback granted by the evaporation mechanism provides the self-organized system with population diversity and self-adaptive characteristics, allowing BAA to be particularly suitable for hard Dynamic Optimization Problems (DOP), where extrema continuously changes at severe speeds.
Talking a “Blue” Streak: Context and Offensive Language in Prime Time Network Television Programs

This study examined the context of offensive language heard in prime-time programs aired on seven broadcast networks in 2001. Offensive words occurred more in the 9–10 p.m. hour. Situation comedies contained more instances of objectionable words than other program genres, but offensive language was more likely to be heard in a non-humorous setting. Most objectionable words were directed at another character, and lead characters were more likely to curse than secondary characters. Finally, vulgarities were typically met with either a neutral or positive reaction.
Synthesis of Ag-coated Cu nano powder applied to the silver paste on front of the solar cell

The copper surface coated with a layer of silver is synthesized as silver paste. This powder, which is highly cost-effective and environment-friendly, can reduce the use of precious metals[1]. Nano Ag-coated Cu powder has been successfully fabricated via glucose pre-reduction — direct replacement. The product was characterized by means of X-ray fluorescence (XRF), scanning electron microscopy(SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photo electron spectroscopy (XPS). The obtained nano Ag-coated Cu powder possesses a width of ca. 200 nm and a length of ca. 500 nm. The XRD and XPS patterns indicate that Cu is completely coated with Ag and the formation of Ag-coated Cu nanoparticles are in high quality. The formation mechanism of nano Ag-coated Cu powder is discussed. It can be therefore concluded that the obtained powder may lay the foundation for the silicon solar cells application.