Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efficient Time-Frequency Localization of a Signal

A new representation of the Fourier transform in terms of time and scale localization is discussed that uses a newly coined A-wavelet transform (Grigoryan 2005). The A-wavelet transform uses cosine- and sine-wavelet type functions, which employ, respectively, cosine and sine signals of length . For a given frequency , the cosine- and sine-wavelet type functions are evaluated at time points separated by on the time-axis. This is a two-parameter representation of a signal in terms of time and scale (frequency), and can find out frequency contents present in the signal at any time point using less computation. In this paper, we extend this work to provide further signal information in a better way and name it as -wavelet transform. In our proposed work, we use cosine and sine signals defined over the time intervals, each of length , , and are nonnegative integers, to develop cosine- and sine-type wavelets. Using smaller time intervals provides sharper frequency localization in the time-frequency plane as the frequency is inversely proportional to the time. It further reduces the computation for evaluating the Fourier transform at a given frequency. The A-wavelet transform can be derived as a special case of the -wavelet transform.
New and developing non-adrenoreceptor small molecule drugs for the treatment of asthma

ABSTRACT Introduction: Inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) alone or in combination with an inhaled long-acting beta2-agonist (LABA) are the preferred long-term treatment for adults and adolescents with symptomatic asthma. Additional drugs include leukotriene-receptor antagonists, slow-release theophylline and the long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) tiotropium (approved in 2015). There is a need for more effective therapies, as many patients continue to have poorly controlled asthma. Areas covered: New and developing long-acting non-adrenoreceptor synthetic drugs for the treatment of symptomatic chronic asthma despite treatment with an ICS alone or combined with a LABA. Data was reviewed from studies published up until November 2016. Expert opinion: Tiotropium improves lung function and has a modest effect in reducing exacerbations when added to ICS alone or ICS and LABA. The LAMAs umeclidinium and glycopyrronium are under development in fixed dose combination with ICS and LABA. Novel small molecule drugs, such as CRTH2 receptor antagonists, PDE4 inhibitors, protein kinase inhibitors and nonsteroidal glucocorticoid receptor agonists and ‘off-label’ use of licensed drugs, such as macrolides and statins are under investigation for asthma, although their effectiveness in clinical practice is not established. To better achieve the goal of developing effective novel small molecule drugs for asthma will require greater understanding of mechanisms of disease and the different phenotypes and endotypes of asthma.
GABA and Histamine Interaction in the Basolateral Amygdala of Rats in the Plus-Maze Test of Anxiety-Like Behaviors

In the present study, we have investigated the effects and the interaction of the GABAergic and histaminergic systems in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) of rats using the plus-maze test of anxiety-like behaviors. Unilateral injection of different doses of muscimol (GABAA receptor selective agonist; 0.01, 0.05 and 0.1 µg/rat) into the BLA (intra-BLA) increased the percentage of open arm time (%OAT) and open arm entries (%OAE) at the doses of 0.05 and 0.1 µg/rat that are representative of an anxiolytic response. Intra-BLA injection of bicuculline (GABAA receptor selective antagonist; 0.05, 0.1 and 0.5 µg/rat) decreased %OAT and %OAE at the doses of 0.1 and 0.5 µg/rat showing an anxiogenic-like effect. Intra-BLA administration of histamine (0.05, 0.1 and 0.5 µg/rat) also showed anxiogenic-like effects at the doses of 0.1 and 0.5 µg/rat while intra-BLA administration of pyrilamine (an H1 receptor selective antagonist; 5, 10 and 20 µg/rat) induced anxiolytic effects at the dose of 20 µg/rat. Coadministration of histamine (0.1 µg/rat) with muscimol reversed the anxiolytic effect of muscimol at the dose of 0.1 µg/rat while coadministration of histamine (0.1 µg/rat) with bicuculline increased the anxiogenic effect of bicuculline at the dose of 0.05 µg/rat. On the other hand, coadministration of pyrilamine (10 µg/rat) with bicuculline decreased anxiety-like behaviors of bicuculline at the dose of 0.5 µg/rat while pyrilamine could not affect the anxiolytic effect of muscimol. In conclusion, it seems that both GABAergic and histaminergic systems not only play a part in the modulation of anxiety-like behaviors in the BLA of rats but may also have opposite effects in this brain region.
A proteomic investigation into etoposide chemo‐resistance of neuroblastoma cell lines

Neuroblastoma, one of the most common pediatric solid tumors, originates from the peripheral sympathetic nervous system and is responsible for approximately 15% of all childhood cancer deaths. Among the several antineoplastic drugs used in neuroblastoma chemotherapeutic protocols, topoisomerase inhibitors (i.e., etoposide) represent the most commonly used. Several resistance mechanisms limit the clinical success of topoisomerase‐targeting drugs, mainly reducing the ability of neoplastic cells to start programmed cell death when exposed to antineoplastic drugs. The aim of this study was to determine, by means of proteomics, potential markers of etoposide resistance in human neuroblastoma cell lines as well as to investigate protein levels and modifications possibly involved in the onset of resistance. The etoposide resistant clone showed overexpression of the following proteins: peroxiredoxin 1, β‐galactoside soluble lectin binding protein, vimentin (three protein spots), heat shock 27 kDa protein (two protein spots) and heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein K. In addition, we also found down‐regulation of dUTP pyrophosphatase. This investigation might represent a first step towards the development of novel prognostic markers of neuroblastoma chemotherapy.
Nanoparticle Engineering Processes for Enhancing the Dissolution Rates of Poorly Water Soluble Drugs

Poor water solubility is an industry wide issue, especially for pharmaceutical scientists in drug discovery and drug development. In recent years, nanoparticle engineering processes have become promising approaches for the enhancement of dissolution rates of poorly water soluble drugs. Nanoparticle engineering enables manufacturing of poorly water soluble drugs into nanoparticles alone, or incorporation with a combination of pharmaceutical excipients. The use of these processes has dramatically improved in vitro dissolution rates and in vivo bioavailabilities of many poorly water soluble drugs. This review highlights several commercially or potentially commercially available nanoparticle engineering processes recently reported in the literature for increasing the dissolution properties of poorly water soluble drugs.
PARTIAL PURIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF A CALCIUM‐DEPENDENT ALKALINE PHOSPHATASE FROM THE CYANOBACTERIUM ARTHROSPIRA PLATENSIS  1

In the present study, Triton X‐114 (TX‐114) is used to extract and partially purify alkaline phosphatase (ALP) from a membranous fraction of Arthrospira platensis Gomont containing cell wall, plasma membrane, thylakoids, and sheath. TX‐114 has a double effect: solubilizing cell components to liberate the enzyme and, after phase partitioning, removing chl and other pigments present in the crude extract. The recovery of the enzyme in the aqueous phase suggests the overall hydrophilic character of this enzyme. ALP was kinetically characterized at pH 11.0 using p‐nitrophenyl phosphate as substrate, giving a Km value of 1.7 mM. Orthovanadate was seen to be a competitive inhibitor of ALP, with a Ki of 0.8 mM. The enzyme was almost completely inactivated in the presence of 70 μM EDTA, although the addition of Ca2+ reverted this inactivation; these results indicate that ALP from A. platensis is a calcium‐dependent metalloenzyme. When the effect of Ca2+ was investigated in detail, a value of 0.067 μM−1 for the affinity constant was obtained. The enzyme was histochemically localized in the cytoplasm, cell wall, and sheath using the enzyme‐labeled fluorescent substrate (ELF) method. It is assumed that the same enzyme is either soluble in the cytoplasm and in some way “trapped” in the cell wall or in the sheath. ALP localization within the sheath and the subsequent release of phosphorus (P) may benefit the neighboring cells surrounding this layer.
Multidimensional performance characteristics and standard of performance in talented youth field hockey players: A longitudinal study

Abstract To identify performance characteristics that could help predict future elite field hockey players, we measured the anthropometric, physiological, technical, tactical, and psychological characteristics of 30 elite and 35 sub-elite youth players at the end of three consecutive seasons. The mean age of the players at the end of the first season was 14.2 years (s = 1.1). Repeated-measures analyses of covariance, with standard of performance and measurement occasion as factors and age as a covariate, showed that the elite players fared better than the sub-elite players on technical and tactical variables. Female elite youth players also scored better on interval endurance capacity, motivation, and confidence. Future elite players appear to have excellent tactical skills by the age of 14. They also have good specific technical skills and develop these together with interval endurance capacity better than sub-elite youth players in the subsequent 2 years. To verify our conclusions, we will be tracking these players into adulthood.
A car-free year: Providing vehicles for change

This paper describes an interventionist design research project called a Car-free Year, where three families substitute their cars for a fleet of light electric vehicles during one year. The aim is to study how this intervention changes the families’ everyday practices, as well as suggest how design can support and sustain such a change on a larger scale. If radically new paradigms are to be shaped, changes are needed both in what is considered normalities and in people’s everyday practices. We argue that design can play an important role in the transition towards more sustainable futures and new normalities.
Xenotropic murine leukemia virus–related virus (XMRV) and blood transfusion: report of the AABB interorganizational XMRV task force

I n October 2009, a report in the journal Science identified evidence of infection with the retrovirus xenotropic murine leukemia virus–related virus (XMRV) in the blood of two-thirds of 101 patients diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and in 3.7% of 218 healthy control subjects. This was not the first report of XMRV nor the first association of these viral sequences with human tissue. However, because this study recovered virus from lymphocytes, these findings raised concerns anew about a possible pathologic role of XMRV and its potential transmission by blood transfusion. As a result of this publication, in December 2009 the AABB (formerly American Association of Blood Banks) established an Interorganizational Task Force composed of representatives of blood collectors, government agencies, and notfor-profit organizations dedicated to CFS research and policy, supplemented with additional scientific consultants. The Task Force was charged with reviewing the available data on XMRV, recommending action to assess and if necessary mitigate the risk of transmitting XMRV through blood and cellular therapy products, and advising AABB about informing donors, recipients, physicians, and the general public regarding the risk of XMRV transmission.
Reducing the numerical effort of finite-temperature density matrix renormalization group calculations

Finite-temperature transport properties of one-dimensional systems can be studied using the time dependent density matrix renormalization group via the introduction of auxiliary degrees of freedom which purify the thermal statistical operator. We demonstrate how the numerical effort of such calculations is reduced when the physical time evolution is augmented by an additional time evolution within the auxiliary Hilbert space. Specifically, we explore a variety of integrable and non-integrable, gapless and gapped models at temperatures ranging from T = ∞ down to T/bandwidth = 0.05 and study both (i) linear response where (heat and charge) transport coefficients are determined by the current–current correlation function and (ii) non-equilibrium driven by arbitrary large temperature gradients. The modified density matrix renormalization algorithm removes an ‘artificial’ build-up of entanglement between the auxiliary and physical degrees of freedom. Thus, longer time scales can be reached.
Chronicity and use of health services: peer education of the School of Patients.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the impact of the training strategy of the Escuela de Pacientes (School of Patients) on the use of health services among people with chronic diseases. METHOD Quantitative design study of pretest and posttest evaluation with a population of 3,350 chronic patients of the Escuela de Pacientes (Andalusia, 2013-2015). A questionnaire adapted from the Stanford University was used. It measured the self-perceived health, number of health visits, and level of trust and communication with health personnel. A descriptive and bivariate study, a correlation study and a pretest/posttest net gain analysis were performed. RESULTS Participation of 964 patients (28.8% of the population), of which 18.8% were men, mean age 56 years. Training increased trust in Primary Care (PC) and Hospital Care (HC) professionals (0.44 and 0.65 points), medical visits decreased by 25%, and hospital admissions fell by 51% with statistically significant differences by sex and disease. The correlation index between trust in professionals and use of health services was -0.215. CONCLUSION The training strategy had a positive impact on the use of health services and trust in health professionals, and were identified areas of improvement from which recommendations are established.
Association between uncoupling protein 2, adiponectin and resting energy expenditure in obese women with normal and low resting energy expenditure

Abstract Obesity is recognized as the most prevalent metabolic disease worldwide. Decreases in energy expenditure may increase risk of obesity. One of the key regulators of energy balance is uncoupling protein2 (UCP2), a transporter protein presents in mitochondrial inner membrane. Moreover, adiponectin is the most abundant adipocytokine, it may play a role in energy metabolism and gene expression of UCP2. The aim of this study was to investigate potential associations between the level of uncoupling protein 2 and adiponectin and their relationship with REE (Resting Energy Expenditure) in obese women with normal and low resting energy expenditure. A total of 49 subjects (women, 25–50 years old), were included in current study, 16 subjects with BMI > 30 and low resting energy expenditure, 17 subjects with BMI > 30 and normal resting energy expenditure and 16 non-obese subjects as a control group. Anthropometric, body composition parameters and resting energy expenditure were measured. Plasma adiponectin, UCP2 protein and total protein in PBMC were determined. Measured resting energy expenditure in obese subjects with low REE was significantly lower than other groups. Plasma adiponectin in the obese subjects with low REE was significantly lower compared to normal weight group. There was a significant relationship between ‘UCP2 protein/Total protein’ ratio and plasma adiponectin in obese group with low REE and in three groups when we pooled. There was a significant association between REE and plasma adiponectin in three groups when we pooled. There was a significant association between plasma adiponectin and REE. Moreover, there was a significant relationship between UCP2 and REE.
heckpoint protein Rad 9 plays an important role in nucleotide xcision repair

Rad9, an evolutionarily conserved checkpoint gene with multiple functions for preserving genomic integrity, has been shown to play important roles in homologous recombination repair, base excision repair and mismatch repair. However, whether Rad9 has an impact on nucleotide excision repair remains unknown. Here we demonstrated that Rad9 was involved in nucleotide excision repair and loss of Rad9 led to defective removal of the UV-derived photoproduct 6-4PP (6,4 pyrimidine-pyrimidone) and the BPDE (anti-benzo(a)pyrene-trans-7,8-dihydrodiol-9,10-epoxide)–DNA adducts in mammalian cells. We also demonstrated that Rad9 could co-localize with XPC in response to local UV irradiation. However, our data showed that Rad9 was not required for the photoproducts recognition step of nucleotide excision ucleotide excision repair ranscription regulation repair. Further investigation revealed that reduction of Rad9 reduced the UV-induced transcription of the genes of the nucleotide excision repair factors DDB2, XPC, DDB1 and XPB and DDB2 protein levels in human cells. Interestingly, knockdown of one subunit of DNA damage recognition complex, hHR23B impaired Rad9-loading onto UV-damaged chromatin. Based on these results, we suggest that Rad9 plays an important role in nucleotide excision repair through mechanisms including maintaining DDB2 protein level in human cells.
Quasi-elliptic dual-band stepped-impedance filters with folded parallel high-impedance segments

A design approach is presented for dual-band filters formed by cascaded stepped-impedance resonators in microstrip technology. The resonators feature folded parallel high- impedance sections which permit resonator coupling in cascaded arrangements and, at the same time, create transmission zeros between the two passbands. Additional transmission zeros in the lower and upper frequency ranges are created by employing source-load coupling. All designs are verified by results obtained from two different commercially available field solvers.
Identification of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans Serotypes by Multiplex PCR

ABSTRACT Oligonucleotide primers specific for gene clusters involved in the biosynthesis of serotype-specific polysaccharide antigens were designed to identify Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans serotypes a to e using the multiplex PCR. This method may be useful for serotype-specific genotyping rapidly and directly from clinical samples containing various organisms.
Enriching Course-Specific Regression Models with Content Features for Grade Prediction

An enduring issue in higher education is student retention and timely graduation. Early-warning and degree planning systems have been identified as a key approach to tackle this problem. Accurately predicting a student’s performance can help recommend degree pathways for students and identify students at-risk of dropping from their program of study. Various approaches have been developed for predicting students’ next-term grades. Recently, course-specific approaches based on linear regression and matrix factorization have been proposed. To predict a student’s grade, course-specific approaches utilize the student’s grades from courses taken prior to that course. However, there are a lot of factors other than student’s historical grades that influence his/her performance, such as the difficulty of the courses, the quality and pedagogy of the instructor, the academic level of the students when taking the courses and so on. In this paper, we propose a course-specific regression model enriched with features about students, courses and instructors. Our proposed models were evaluated on datasets from two large public universities for academic programs with varying flexibility. The experimental results showed that incorporating content features can boost the performance of the course-specific model. For some degree programs with high flexibility, our experiments showed that predicting the grades with informative content features demonstrated better prediction accuracy.
Prediction of cerebral infarction and patient outcome in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: comparison of new and established radiographic, clinical and combined scores

There are numerous grading scales to describe the severity of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) and to predict outcome. Historically, outcome measures are heterogeneous and the comparability of grading scales is therefore limited. We designed this study to compare radiographic, clinical and combined grading systems in aSAH.
The Properties of Ge-C Thin Films Deposited using Dual Hollow Cathodes

Experimental results on thin films of the new material Gex C1-x, deposited by a unique dual plasma hollow cathode sputtering technique are presented. The GeC films grown on etched Si (100) exhibited remarkable crystallinity with a lattice spacing very near that of Si. This order has been characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy. The deposition rate ratio of Ge to C did not have a great effect on the crystallinity nor on the presence or absence of Ge-C lattice bonds. However, the substrate type had a great influence. Although microcrystalline films of GeC were grown on oxidized Si surfaces, the Ge-C lattice bond did not appear to be present in all cases though it was for films grown on Si etched with HF. The photon absorption for these films was greater than that for pure Si and for pure Ge. This promising result indicates that this material has potential for future photovoltaic devices
Development of a multi-DOF prosthetic hand with intrinsic actuation, intuitive control and sensory feedback

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a five-fingered, multisensory prosthetic hand integrating both intuitive myoelectric control and sensory feedback. Design/methodology/approach – The artificial hand’s palm has a three-arcuate configuration and the thumb can move along a cone surface, improving the resemblance with the biological hand. By using a coupling linkage mechanism, each finger is independently actuated by a direct current motor. Both torque and position sensors are embedded in the finger to sense the hand’s status and its interaction with the outer environment. The proposed human-in-the-loop control system consists of an internal motion control scheme and an external human–machine interface. The pattern recognition-based electromyography (EMG) control scheme is adopted to control the motion of the hand, and the transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is utilized to feedback the hand’s sensory information to its user. Findings – The hand prototype shows that it has an ant.