Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Differentiation of histoplasma and cryptococcus in cytology smears: a diagnostic dilemma in severely necrotic cases

The correct identification of fungal organisms is important for the appropriate clinical management of patients. It becomes difficult in necrotic smears when the tissue response is not clearly discernible. It is difficult to distinguish between histoplasma and cryptococcus in severely necrotic cases, where both appear as variably sized clear refractile haloes.
New Prediction Interval and Band in the Nonlinear Regression Model: Application to Predictive Modeling in Foods

This article is concerned with the proposal of a new prediction interval and band for the nonlinear regression model. The construction principle of this interval and band is based on an exact (the meaning of the term “exact” will be given later) confidence region for parameters of the nonlinear regression model. This region, fully described in Vila and Gauchi (2007), provides a rigorous justification for the new prediction interval and band that we propose. This new band is then compared to the classical bands (which are asymptotic and thus approximate for small n), and also to the band based on the bootstrap resampling method. The comparison of these bands is undertaken with simulated and real data from predictive modeling in food science.
The Cryptosporidium “Mouse” Genotype Is Conserved across Geographic Areas

ABSTRACT A 298-bp region of the Cryptosporidium parvum 18S rRNA gene and a 390-bp region of the acetyl coenzyme A synthetase gene were sequenced for a range of Cryptosporidium isolates from wild house mice (Mus domesticus), a bat (Myotus adversus), and cattle from different geographical areas. Previous research has identified a distinct genotype, referred to as the “mouse”-derived Cryptosporidium genotype, common to isolates from Australian mice. Comparison of a wider range of Australian mouse isolates with United Kingdom and Spanish isolates from mice and cattle and also an Australian bat-derived Cryptosporidium isolate revealed that the “mouse” genotype is conserved across geographic areas. Mice are also susceptible to infection with the “cattle”Cryptosporidium genotype, which has important implications for their role as reservoirs of infection for humans and domestic animals.
Real-time 360° panoramic views using BiCa360, the fast rotating dynamic vision sensor to up to 10 rotations per Sec

This paper presents a novel smart camera BiCa360 for real-time 360° panoramic views using a rotating dynamic vision sensor at up to 10 rotations per sec. The system consists of (1) a dual-line dynamic vision sensor generating events at high temporal resolution, on-chip time stamping (1μs resolution), having a high dynamic range and the sparse visual coding of the information, (2) a high-speed mechanical device rotating at up to 10 revolutions per sec (rps) where the sensor is mounted and (3) a real-time embedded software for panoramic reconstruction of the 360° panoramic views. Within this work, we show the capabilities of the system in terms of data quality (scene reconstruction). We made several experiments to assess the angular resolution as well as the visual quality of the data for rotations ranging from 1 to 10 rps. All evaluations were performed on natural scene with ambient illuminations. Within the live demonstration, we will show BiCa360 providing 360° panoramic views of the natural scene in real-time and at different rotations.
Is Economic Transition One of the Proximate Determinants of Nutrition Transition in Nepal

Background: Historically, the process of nutrition transition begins with changes in economic structures which move away from agrarian economies to successful industrialisation, with high economic growth, urbanisation and increased real per capita income. Objective: The objective is to identify where Nepal is in economic transition and whether economic transition is considered as one of the proximate determinants of nutrition transition in Nepal. Results: Nepal’s position in the economic transition has been identified by using Popkin’s framework which is scaled from Pattern I to Pattern V. The time series trends indicated that new patterns of economic transition had been observed during 1995-2010, which was similar to the pattern IV of the Nutrition Transition as described by Popkin. The national income of Nepal increased over the past four decades. The GDP of Nepal has shown an annual increase at a rate of 3.92 per cent between 1970 and 2010. Conclusion: Economic growth and agricultural trade liberalization have induced plant fats supply in Nepal. Tourism has also transferred the taste and preferences of western foods to tourist destinations and urban centres, including potential negative health consequences related to excess consumption of fat, sugar and process foods.
Gene expression profiling of prolonged cold ischemia and reperfusion in murine heart transplants

Background. Heart transplantation causes complex changes in the biological homeostasis of the graft. Current knowledge is restricted to a few genes and regulation of certain factors involved in ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. Efficient strategies to prevent I/R injury, however, require a better understanding of its mechanisms. Using cDNA microarrays, we investigated gene expression profiles of murine cardiac isografts. Methods. For microarray hybridization experiments, chips with 8,734 individual target sequences were used. Messenger RNA was extracted from hearts subjected to warm ischemia and different time periods of reperfusion or to prolonged cold ischemia or warm ischemia and transplantation. Native hearts served as controls. Results. A set of 68 sequences was regulated in all hearts. In addition, grafts without cold ischemia showed differential expression of 65 sequences, which were not found in hearts transplanted after cold storage, and which in turn had 38 sequences regulated and not detected in grafts without cold ischemia. Overall, approximately 50% of regulated transcripts are expressed sequence tags (ESTs) with unknown function. Annotated genes encoded immune modulators (20% of sequences), receptor proteins, structural proteins, and proteins involved in metabolism. Conclusion. Our data demonstrate expression profiles of hearts subjected to prolonged cold ischemia or transplantation in an isogeneic setting. We have defined functional complexes and detected a substantial amount of ESTs encoding novel proteins. These studies may provide a molecular basis for further functional experiments and may help identify potential targets for modulation of postischemic inflammation.
A Novel Sterol 14α-Demethylase/Ferredoxin Fusion Protein (MCCYP51FX) from Methylococcus capsulatusRepresents a New Class of the Cytochrome P450 Superfamily*

Sterol 14α-demethylase encoded by CYP51 is a member of the cytochrome P450 (CYP) superfamily of enzymes and has been shown to have an essential role in sterol biosynthesis in eukaryotes, with orthologues recently being described in some bacteria. Examination of the genome sequence data for the proteobacterium Methylococcus capsulatus, a bacterial species known to produce sterol, revealed the presence of a single CYP with strong homology to CYP51, particularly to a form in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. ThisM. capsulatus CYP51 protein represents a new class of CYP consisting of the CYP domain naturally fused to a ferredoxin domain at the C terminus via an alanine-rich linker. Expression of the M. capsulatus MCCYP51FX fusion in Escherichia coliyielded a P450, which, when purified to homogeneity, had the predicted molecular mass ∼62 kDa on SDS/PAGE and bound lanosterol as a putative substrate. Sterol 14α-demethylase activity was shown (0.24 nmol of lanosterol metabolized per minute per nanomole of MCCYP51FX fusion) by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry with the activity dependent upon the presence of ferredoxin reductase and NADPH. Our unique findings describe a new class of naturally existing cytochrome P450, which will provide pivotal information for CYP structure/function in general.
Demonstration of improved heteroepitaxy, scaled gate stack and reduced interface states enabling heterojunction tunnel FETs with high drive current and high on-off ratio

Staggered tunnel junction (GaAs<sub>0.35</sub>Sb<sub>0.65</sub>/In<sub>0.7</sub>Ga<sub>0.3</sub>As) is used to demonstrate heterojunction tunnel FET (TFET) with the highest drive current, I<sub>on</sub>, of 135μA/μm and highest I<sub>on</sub>/I<sub>off</sub> ratio of 2.7×10<sup>4</sup> (V<sub>ds</sub>=0.5V, V<sub>on</sub>-V<sub>off</sub>=1.5V). Effective oxide thickness (EOT) scaling (using Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>/HfO<sub>2</sub> bilayer gate stack) coupled with pulsed I-V measurements (suppressing D<sub>it</sub> response) enable demonstration of steeper switching TFET.
Fractioned DNA Pooling: A New Cost-Effective Strategy for Fine Mapping of Quantitative Trait Loci

Selective DNA pooling (SDP) is a cost-effective means for an initial scan for linkage between marker and quantitative trait loci (QTL) in suitable populations. The method is based on scoring marker allele frequencies in DNA pools from the tails of the population trait distribution. Various analytical approaches have been proposed for QTL detection using data on multiple families with SDP analysis. This article presents a new experimental procedure, fractioned-pool design (FPD), aimed to increase the reliability of SDP mapping results, by “fractioning” the tails of the population distribution into independent subpools. FPD is a conceptual and structural modification of SDP that allows for the first time the use of permutation tests for QTL detection rather than relying on presumed asymptotic distributions of the test statistics. For situations of family and cross mapping design we propose a spectrum of new tools for QTL mapping in FPD that were previously possible only with individual genotyping. These include: joint analysis of multiple families and multiple markers across a chromosome, even when the marker loci are only partly shared among families; detection of families segregating (heterozygous) for the QTL; estimation of confidence intervals for the QTL position; and analysis of multiple-linked QTL. These new advantages are of special importance for pooling analysis with SNP chips. Combining SNP microarray analysis with DNA pooling can dramatically reduce the cost of screening large numbers of SNPs on large samples, making chip technology readily applicable for genomewide association mapping in humans and farm animals. This extension, however, will require additional, nontrivial, development of FPD analytical tools.
Effects of ANG-converting enzyme and alpha 1-adrenoceptor inhibition on intrarenal hemodynamics in SHR.

To investigate the prolonged effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition and alpha 1-adrenoceptor blockade on intrarenal hemodynamics, whole kidney and renal micropuncture studies were performed in male 21-wk-old Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) and spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) rats treated for 3 wk with quinapril (3 mg/kg), terazosin (1 mg/kg), or in their combination (quinapril 1.5 mg/kg and terazosin 0.5 mg/kg). In WKY, only quinapril significantly reduced mean arterial pressure (MAP) associated with reduced afferent arteriolar resistance; there were no other significant changes. In contrast, all treatments similarly decreased MAP in SHR. Quinapril increased renal plasma flow and decreased filtration fraction. With respect to intrarenal hemodynamics, quinapril increased single-nephron plasma flow and reduced glomerular capillary pressure (from 53.1 to 47.8 mmHg; P < 0.01), associated with reduced afferent (from 4.80 to 3.17 10(10)dyn.s. cm-5; P < 0.01) and efferent (from 1.70 to 1.17 10(10)dyn.s. cm-5; P < 0.01) arteriolar resistances, and increased ultrafiltration coefficient (from 0.037 to 0.052 nl.s-1.mmHg-1; P < 0.05). Terazosin only reduced arteriolar resistance. The combined treatment attenuated either agent's independent effects on glomerular hemodynamics. These data demonstrate that prolonged ACE and adrenergic inhibition therapy alone or in combination produce different effects than when given by vein, suggesting that prolonged renopressor system inhibition may be more effective than adrenergic in SHR.
An interest propagation based movie recommendation method for social tagging system

Collaborative tags labeled by users in social tagging systems contain rich information about individual preference and resource content, which can further improve the performance of personalized recommender system. In this paper, a hybrid method that combines the collaborative filtering with graph-based interest propagation is proposed for movie recommendation. In the proposed method, both user and movie profiles are constructed by tags. The top-k similar users are collected by user-user interest which is calculated by the user profiles, and then a user-movie bipartite graph is constructed according to the top-k users and candidate movies. We utilize the user and movie profiles to calculate user-movie interest, and the interest is propagated in the graph until converged or the max iterations are reached. Lastly, the top-n movies in the graph are recommended to the initial user. Experimental results on MovieLens dataset demonstrate that our proposed method can achieve better performance than several baselines for the movie recommendation problem.
Effects of IL‐3 and LPS on transcription factors involved in the regulation of IL‐6 mRNA

Recently it has been demonstrated that in vivo application of interleukin‐3 (IL‐3) is associated with the release of IL‐6. This observation suggests that the transcription factors triggered by IL‐3 are in great homology with the transcription factors induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The results of the present study with in vitro activated human monocytes demonstrate that IL‐3 alone is incapable of inducing IL‐6 mRNA, but primes monocytes to enhance the IL‐6 mRNA expression when co‐stimulated with LPS. The difference in effect between IL‐3 and LPS might be related to our observation that IL‐3 induces the p50 subunit of the transcription factor nuclear factor‐κB (NF‐κB), whereas LPS appears to induce both the p50 as well as the p65 subunit of NF‐κB, as demonstrated with RNA studies and electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA). However, no difference was found with regard to the induction of activator protein‐1 (AP‐1) and NF‐IL6 after treatment with IL‐3 or LPS alone. Priming with IL‐3 followed by LPS stimulation is associated with a reduced expression of NF‐κB without changing the composition of the complex. In addition, a reduced expression of c‐fos and c‐jun mRNA was noticed, combined with a reduced DNA binding activity of AP‐1. However, the expression of NF‐IL6 was enhanced when priming with IL‐3 followed by LPS. Since AP‐1 has been suggested as negative regulator of the IL‐6 gene expression, it is conceivable that, after priming with IL‐3, the reduced DNA binding activity of AP‐1, in conjunction with the increased DNA binding of NF‐IL6, might result in a synergistic effect on IL‐6 mRNA expression, when compared to stimulation with LPS alone.
ACTION (acute coronary treatment and intervention outcomes network) registry-GWTG (get with the guidelines) risk score predicts long-term mortality in acute myocardial infarction

This study aimed to test the predictive performance of the updated ACTION, GRACE, and CADILLAC risk scores (RS’s) for long-term mortality in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The study included individuals from 2 independent cohorts: derivation cohort (N = 1901) and validation cohort (N = 728). From the derivation cohort, we used Cox regression analysis to determine that the updated ACTION, GRACE, and CADILLAC RS's were associated with long-term mortality. The concordance (C) statistics of the 3 RS's were 0.682, 0.703 and 0.734, respectively. We used the validation cohort to validate the results. Moreover, the discriminatory performance of the updated ACTION RS for predicting long-term mortality in both the respective derivation and validation cohorts was similar to the discriminatory performance of the GRACE and CADILLAC RS's (ACTION vs. GRACE: z = 0.684, p = 0.494; ACTION vs. CADILLAC: z = 1.638, p = 0.101) and (ACTION vs. GRACE: z = 0.460, p = 0.646; ACTION vs. CADILLAC: z = 0.290, p = 0.772). Despite their development over a decade ago, GRACE and CADILLAC RS's maintain good performance for predicting the long-term mortality of AMI patients undergoing PCI. As a new risk model, the updated ACTION RS also predicts long-term mortality, and its discriminatory performance is similar to that of the GRACE and CADILLAC RS’s.
Exponential Observer for a Class of One-Sided Lipschitz Stochastic Nonlinear Systems

This note investigates observer design for a class of nonlinear one-sided Lipschitz stochastic systems with multiplicative noises. It is shown that the almost sure exponential convergence of the observation error could be treated by decoupling the state from this error. This is done by using a new theorem dedicated to triangular stochastic systems. The observer gains are designed using a polytopic technique exploiting the structure of the control inputs, coupled with a descriptor systems approach.
Why Asia’s Oldest Democracy is Bound to Fail

Despite having the earliest exposure to electoral democratic practices in the Asia-Pacific region, the Philippines remains to be one of the least stable democracies in the Global South. Notwithstanding the return of electoral democracy in 1986 after two decades of authoritarian rule, the Philippine state has yet to consolidate its democratic regime. In view of the emerging literature on post-1986 Philippine politics, this highlights the defective aspects of its contemporary electoral democracy by examining four key features of state–society relations: (a) the nature of the elite class; (b) electoral and representative politics; (c) civil society; (d) political economy; and (e) internal security. This article focuses on the balance of power across various sectors where interests of the state and non-state spheres interact, and to what extent such dynamics reflect the prospects of a stable electoral democracy. Employing an interpretivist analysis with allusion to some demonstrative empirical examples, this article concentrates on the post-1986 Philippine politics. The main theoretical argument here is that a good starting point for a comprehensive empirical analysis of the quality of democracy requires disaggregating and analyzing empirical observations that demonstrate the nature of the balance of interests found in state–society relations.
Basal values, intra-day and inter-day variations in tear film osmolarity and tear fluorescein clearance

Abstract Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the normal inter-day and intra-day variations in tear film osmolarity and the tear fluorescein clearance test (T-FCT) in healthy subjects. Methods: Tear samples from 24 young, healthy adults were collected from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM (midday) and 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM (evening) on three non-consecutive days. Tear osmolarity measurement and the T-FCT were performed to assess the basal values and inter-day and intra-day variations of the test results. A freezing point depression osmometer was used to analyze the tear osmolarity, and the T-FCT was performed using a fluorophotometer. Results: The mean osmolarity value was 270 ± 4.4 mOsm/l and the mean T-FCT result was 2.97 ± 0.17 fluorescence arbitrary units. The inter-day or intra-day tear osmolarity values did not differ significantly. The T-FCT results varied significantly during the day, with significantly (p = 0.0004) higher results in the evening; no significant differences were found in the inter-day analysis. Conclusions: Tear osmolarity was unaffected by intra-day variations; however, the T-FCT showed an inter-day variation, which indicated that the time of day when the test is performed must be considered when it is used to evaluate the diagnosis of dry eye disease, disease progression or therapeutic effectiveness.
Pricing Crude Oil Options Using Lévy Processes

Crude oil prices exhibit significant volatility over time. The distribution of returns on crude oil prices shows fat tails and skewness that barely follow a normal distribution. For this reason, we use the normal Gaussian process, jump diffusion process and variance gamma process as three Levy processes that do not have these drawbacks. Their tails also carry a heavier mass than in a normal distribution. We employ the fractional fast Fourier transform to calibrate parameters in an optimization setup, using data about European-style options on crude oil futures in the New York Mercantile Exchange for a settlement date of April 24, 2015. Our results indicate that these three Levy processes have very good out-of-sample results for near at-the-money options compared with others.
Tri-band FSS for Ku/Ka bands reflector antennas

A tri-band frequency selective surface (FSS) is presented for Ku and Ka bands for space communications. The FSS is designed to be transparent in the frequency range 10.7 GHz-12.05 GHz and to provide total reflection at 20 GHz and 30 GHz, Ku- and Ka-band in satellite communications, respectively. A single square ring with two pairs of dipoles are used in each FSS unit cell to obtain this performance. The simulation of the transmission and reflection coefficients for the proposed FSS, under normal and oblique TE and TM incidences, show satisfactory results for the reflection and transmission bands with a stable frequency response at oblique incidence angles.
FPGA-Based Predictive Current Controllerfor Synchronous Machine Speed Drive

In this paper, a field programmable gate array (FPGA)-based speed controller for a synchronous machine with an internal current control loop based on a predictive current controller is presented. Due to their complex computation schemes, predictive current controllers implemented in a full digital system are characterized by an inevitable delay in calculating and applying the switching states to the inverter. Consequently, their performances are affected and the achieved sampling frequency is limited. These digital control limitations are mainly due to the processing speed versus computational complexity trade-off. To cope with this problem, specific digital hardware technology such as FPGA can be used as an alternative digital solution to ensure fast processing operation and to preserve performances of predictive current controllers in spite of their complex computation schemes. Such performances can be preserved thanks to the high flexibility and high computation capabilities of FPGAs. In order to illustrate this, an FPGA implementation of a synchronous machine speed controller based on a predictive current controller is presented and fully analyzed in this work. The obtained execution time is only of few microseconds for the whole control algorithm. Experimental results are shown to prove the efficiency of FPGA-based solutions to achieve high performances.
Vibration analysis for isolation system with inerter

Fundamental analysis of vibration system with inerter is carried out in this paper based on a “uni-axial” single-degree-of-freedom isolation system. The condition that force and displacement transmissibilities are identical is derived for all passive isolators composed of springs, dampers and inerters. Specifically, the inerter in parallel connection and the one in series connection are analyzed in terms of the invariant points and isolating bandwidth of the considered transmissibilities. It is analytically demonstrated that both the parallel-connected and the series-connected inerters can effectively lower the invariant points and enlarge the isolating bandwidth. It is also shown that the series-connected inerter can depict some mixed-behaviours between the configuration with only a spring and the configuration with a parallel connection of a spring and an inerter, due to its inherent property of the physical structure. The weakness of isolation at high frequency caused by inerter is also analytically demonstrated.