Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The complement system in hypertension and renal damage in the Dahl SS rat

Evidence indicates the immune system is important in development of hypertension and kidney disease. In the Dahl Salt‐Sensitive (SS) rat model, lymphocytes play a role in development of hypertension and kidney damage after increased sodium intake. Recent transcriptomic analyses demonstrate upregulation of the innate immune complement system in the kidney of Dahl SS rat fed a high‐salt diet, leading us to hypothesize that inhibition of complement activation would attenuate development of hypertension and kidney damage. Male Dahl SS rats on a low salt (0.4% NaCl) diet were instrumented with telemeters for continuous monitoring of arterial blood pressure. Animals received saline vehicle (Control) or sCR1, a soluble form of endogenous Complement Receptor 1 (CR1; CD35) that inhibits complement activation. At Day 0, rats were switched to high salt (4.0% NaCl) diet and assigned to sCR1 (15 mg/kg per day) or Control groups with daily ip injections either days 1–7 or days 14–18. Urine was collected overnight for determination of albumin excretion. Treatment with sCR1, either immediately after high‐salt diet was initiated, or at days 14–18, did not alter development of hypertension or albuminuria. The sCR1 dose effectively inhibited total hemolytic complement activity as well as C3a generation. High salt caused an increase in message for complement regulator Cd59, with minimal change in Crry that controls the C3 convertase. Thus, innate immune complement activation in the circulation is not critical for development of hypertension and kidney damage due to increased sodium intake, and therapeutic manipulation of the complement system is not indicated in salt‐sensitive hypertension.
Canonical TSH Regulation of Cathepsin-Mediated Thyroglobulin Processing in the Thyroid Gland of Male Mice Requires Taar1 Expression

Trace amine-associated receptor 1 (Taar1) has been suggested as putative receptor of thyronamines. These are aminergic messengers with potential metabolic and neurological effects countering their contingent precursors, the thyroid hormones (THs). Recently, we found Taar1 to be localized at the primary cilia of rodent thyroid epithelial cells in vitro and in situ. Thus, Taar1 is present in a location of thyroid follicles where it might be involved in regulation of cathepsin-mediated proteolytic processing of thyroglobulin, and consequently TH synthesis. In this study, taar1 knock-out male mice (taar1-/-) were used to determine whether Taar1 function would entail differential alterations in thyroid states of young and adult animals. Analyses of blood serum revealed unaltered T4 and T3 concentrations and unaltered T3-over-T4 ratios upon Taar1 deficiency accompanied, however, by elevated TSH concentrations. Interestingly, TSH receptors, typically localized at the basolateral plasma membrane domain of wild type controls, were located at vesicular membranes in thyrocytes of taar1-/- mice. In addition, determination of epithelial extensions in taar1-/- thyroids showed prismatic cells, which might indicate activation states higher than in the wild type. While gross degradation of thyroglobulin was comparable to controls, deregulated thyroglobulin turnover in taar1-/- mice was indicated by luminal accumulation of covalently cross-linked thyroglobulin storage forms. These findings were in line with decreased proteolytic activities of thyroglobulin-solubilizing and -processing proteases, due to upregulated cystatins acting as their endogenous inhibitors in situ. In conclusion, Taar1-deficient mice are hyperthyrotropinemic in the absence of respective signs of primary hypothyroidism such as changes in body weight or TH concentrations in blood serum. Thyrocytes of taar1-/- mice are characterized by non-canonical TSH receptor localization in intracellular compartments, which is accompanied by altered thyroglobulin turnover due to a disbalanced proteolytic network. These finding are of significance considering the rising popularity of using TAAR1 agonists or antagonists as neuromodulating pharmacological drugs. Our study highlights the importance of further evaluating potential off-target effects regarding TSH receptor mislocalization and the thyroglobulin processing machinery, which may not only affect the TH-generating thyroid gland, but may emanate to other TH target organs like the CNS dependent on their proper supply.
Towards a New Opportunistic IoT Network Architecture for Wildlife Monitoring System

In this paper we introduce an opportunistic dual radio IoT network architecture for wildlife monitoring systems (WMS). Since data processing consumes less energy than transmitting the raw data, the proposed architecture leverages opportunistic mobile networks in a fixed LPWAN IoT network infrastructure. This solution will facilitate an IoT devices to be deployed for ultra-low power and sustainable wildlife monitoring applications. As part of the IoT infrastructure, a LoRa based network is presented with coverage characterization and preliminary test bed deployment for wildlife tracking purpose. In addition, through simulation, the utilization of existing BLE based opportunistic data collection protocols for the proposed architecture is investigated.
Efficient Information Flow Maximization in Probabilistic Graphs

Reliable propagation of information through large networks, e.g., communication networks, social networks, or sensor networks is very important in many applications concerning marketing, social networks, and wireless sensor networks. However, social ties of friendship may be obsolete, and communication links may fail, inducing the notion of uncertainty in such networks. In this paper, we address the problem of optimizing information propagation in uncertain networks given a constrained budget of edges. We show that this problem requires to solve two NP-hard subproblems: the computation of expected information flow, and the optimal choice of edges. To compute the expected information flow to a source vertex, we propose the F-tree as a specialized data structure, that identifies independent components of the graph for which the information flow can either be computed analytically and efficiently, or for which traditional Monte-Carlo sampling can be applied independently of the remaining network. For the problem of finding the optimal edges, we propose a series of heuristics that exploit properties of this data structure. Our evaluation shows that these heuristics lead to high quality solutions, thus yielding high information flow, while maintaining low running time.
Influential Factors for Very High Cycle Fatigue Behavior of Metallic Materials

In recent years, very high cycle fatigue has become a major concern in design and durability of engineering components and structures such as railway wheels, rails, offshore structures, bridges, load bearings, etc. There are some factors which have been assumed to influence the fatigue behavior for metallic materials in VHCF regime. But most factors influencing the VHCF behavior have not been studied thoroughly. In order to deeply understand the essence of material fatigue, the experimental and theoretical aspects of the factors influencing on very high cycle fatigue for metallic materials should be studied further more. This paper deals with an overview on the effect of factors on the property in very high cycle fatigue regime. Research trends and some conclusions in this field are briefly discussed and obtained.
A Randomized Trial of a Multicomponent Intervention to Promote Medication Adherence: The Teen Adherence in Kidney Transplant Effectiveness of Intervention Trial (TAKE-IT).

BACKGROUND Poor adherence to immunosuppressive medications is a major cause of premature graft loss among children and young adults. Multicomponent interventions have shown promise but have not been fully evaluated. STUDY DESIGN Unblinded parallel-arm randomized trial to assess the efficacy of a clinic-based adherence-promoting intervention. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS Prevalent kidney transplant recipients 11 to 24 years of age and 3 or more months posttransplantation at 8 kidney transplantation centers in Canada and the United States (February 2012 to May 2016) were included. INTERVENTION Adherence was electronically monitored in all participants during a 3-month run-in, followed by a 12-month intervention. Participants assigned to the TAKE-IT intervention could choose to receive text message, e-mail, and/or visual cue dose reminders and met with a coach at 3-month intervals when adherence data from the prior 3 months were reviewed with the participant. "Action-Focused Problem Solving" was used to address adherence barriers selected as important by the participant. Participants assigned to the control group met with coaches at 3-month intervals but received no feedback about adherence data. OUTCOMES The primary outcomes were electronically measured "taking" adherence (the proportion of prescribed doses of immunosuppressive medications taken) and "timing" adherence (the proportion of doses of immunosuppressive medications taken between 1 hour before and 2 hours after the prescribed time of administration) on each day of observation. Secondary outcomes included the standard deviation of tacrolimus trough concentrations, self-reported adherence, acute rejection, and graft failure. RESULTS 81 patients were assigned to intervention (median age, 15.5 years; 57% male) and 88 to the control group (median age, 15.8 years; 61% male). Electronic adherence data were available for 64 intervention and 74 control participants. Participants in the intervention group had significantly greater odds of taking prescribed medications (OR, 1.66; 95% CI, 1.15-2.39) and taking medications at or near the prescribed time (OR, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.21-2.50) than controls. LIMITATIONS Lack of electronic adherence data for some participants may have introduced bias. There was low statistical power for clinical outcomes. CONCLUSIONS The multicomponent TAKE-IT intervention resulted in significantly better medication adherence than the control condition. Better medication adherence may result in improved graft outcomes, but this will need to be demonstrated in larger studies. TRIAL REGISTRATION Registered at ClinicalTrials.gov with study number NCT01356277.
Fair resource allocation with varying time constraints

In this paper we discuss fair resource allocation among users with varying time constraints. Often, resource allocation problems study short-term (instantaneous) or long term (average) fairness where the resource allocation is over a given (same) period of time. What if we want to address fair sharing of resources when the users are interested in two different time periods? In this context, we study fair resource allocation among users with varying time constraints. We formulate this as a Markov Decision Process (MDP) for a two user case and provide a Dynamic Program (DP) solution. Simulation results in an LTE framework are provided to support the theoretical claims.
Delta-Channel Modular Multilevel Converter for a Variable-Speed Motor Drive Application

Delta-channel modular multilevel converter (MMC) proved successful for zero/low-fundamental-frequency operation without injecting common-mode voltage. However, its application in a medium-voltage variable-speed motor drive is not verified. This paper develops a variable-speed motor drive system based on a delta-channel MMC. The converter power losses together with the compensation strategies are analyzed, and accordingly the submodule capacitor voltage controls are elaborated. The converter controls cascaded with the advanced motor control form the entire control scheme for the drive system. The system performances are tested based on a 4160-V 1-MW simulation model and 208-V 5-kW experimental setup. The results show that the delta-channel MMC along with the proposed control algorithm performs satisfactorily in a driving motor from standstill to a rated speed even under rated torque condition.
Design of multi-band antenna with cut slots and parasitic patch for wireless communication

A compact Design of Multi-Band Antenna With Cut Slots and Parasitic Patch for super high frequencies (SHF) in C band, S band and X band applications is proposed. The proposed antenna fabricated on a FR-4 substrate with dimensions 44.450 mm (L) × 55.60 mm (W) × 1.6 mm (h), relative permittivity εr =4.3 and loss tangent δ = 0.025. The proposed antenna is designed by etching rectangular cut at center and faces of patch with inset feed. CST microwave studio suite software used to simulate and measurement of fabricated design is done on VNA. The proposed multiband antenna can be used for Satellite Communications, ITU band, WLAN, IEEE 802.11a system, Aeronautical Radio navigation and Maritime applications.
Flexible Analysis of Cross-Organizational Process Modeling Based on π Calculus

This paper mainly focuses on the formal modeling of cross-organizational business process. Specifically, it has been analyzed and formalized from three aspects to the structural characteristic of the flexible business process: dynamic selection type, change type and abnormal type. Moreover, the corresponding mapping rules of the BPMN (Business Process Management System)elements to formal model based on the π-calculus have been proposed. In terms of the above three structure types of flexible business process, the corresponding formal expression based on the π-calculus is then defined. Finally, the specific process instance is modeled.
Design of Length-Saving Multiway Wilkinson Power Dividers

A conventional multiway Wilkinson power divider must include transmission lines with a quarter of the wavelength. The prior miniaturized versions can further shorten the quarter-wave lines by adopting synthesized transmission lines, but the resulted shrunk operation bandwidth has not been considered as part of design. This paper introduces a method of designing the proposed length-saving multiway power divider to achieve targeted bandwidth performance with the minimum required total length. The proposed multiway power divider, including transmission lines with flexible lengths and additional matching capacitors, has the adjustable total length that can be set to the optimum value according to the generated plot mapping the corresponding bandwidths to the selected total lengths. The background principle, the theoretical analyses, and the design procedure of the proposed idea are addressed in detail. The design examples of the four-way, eight-way, and 32-way power dividers are provided. A 1-GHz eight-way power divider prototype based on the proposed design method is fabricated. The measurements, decently matching with simulations and the theoretical prediction, show an expected 51% operation bandwidth with the total length reduced to 72% of the conventional value.
Polar Cooperative Navigation Algorithm for Multi-Unmanned Underwater Vehicles Considering Communication Delays

To solve the navigation accuracy problems of multi-Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (multi-UUVs) in the polar region, a polar cooperative navigation algorithm for multi-UUVs considering communication delays is proposed in this paper. UUVs are important pieces of equipment in ocean engineering for marine development. For UUVs to complete missions, precise navigation is necessary. It is difficult for UUVs to establish true headings because of the rapid convergence of Earth meridians and the severe polar environment. Based on the polar grid navigation algorithm, UUV navigation in the polar region can be accomplished with the Strapdown Inertial Navigation System (SINS) in the grid frame. To save costs, a leader-follower type of system is introduced in this paper. The leader UUV helps the follower UUVs to achieve high navigation accuracy. Follower UUVs correct their own states based on the information sent by the leader UUV and the relative position measured by ultra-short baseline (USBL) acoustic positioning. The underwater acoustic communication delay is quantized by the model. In this paper, considering underwater acoustic communication delay, the conventional adaptive Kalman filter (AKF) is modified to adapt to polar cooperative navigation. The results demonstrate that the polar cooperative navigation algorithm for multi-UUVs that considers communication delays can effectively navigate the sailing of multi-UUVs in the polar region.
Clinical significance of high expression of miR-452-5p in lung squamous cell carcinoma

The role of microRNA (miRNA)-452-5p in lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) remains unclear. Therefore, the present systematic study was performed to investigate the clinical significance and the rudimentary mechanism of the function of miR-452-5p in LUSC. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases were utilized to confirm the expression level and clinical value of miR-452-5p in LUSC. Using online databases and bioinformatic software, gene ontology (GO), pathway and protein-protein interaction (PPI) analyses of miR-452-5p target genes were performed to examine the molecular mechanism of miR-452-5p. The association between the expression of miR-452-5p and that of its hub genes was verified using TCGA. Based on TCGA data on 387 clinical specimens, the expression of miR-452-5p in LUSC was significantly increased compared with adjacent lung tissues (7.1525±1.39063 vs. 6.0885±0.35298; P<0.001). The expression levels of miR-452-5p were significantly correlated with age (P=0.001) and tumor-node metastasis stage (P=0.028). Furthermore, the increased expression of miR-452-5p in LUSC compared with non-cancerous tissue [standard mean deviation (SMD), 0.372; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.020–0.724; z=2.07; P=0.038] was validated by a meta-analysis of 720 clinical samples. The GO and pathway analyses revealed that miR-452-5p target genes were mainly enriched in the ‘regulation of transcription’, ‘nucleoplasm’, ‘protein binding’ and ‘cell cycle’ pathways. A total of 10 hub genes were identified by PPI analysis, and 5 hub genes (SMAD4, SMAD2, CDKN1B, YWHAE and YWHAB) were significantly enriched in the ‘cell cycle’ pathway. The expression of CDKN1B was negatively correlated with miR-452-5p (P=0.003). It was concluded that miR-452-5p may serve an essential role in the occurrence and progression of LUSC by targeting CDKN1B, which is involved in the cell cycle.
Intelligent Subevent Detection Based on Social Network Data

Event Detection and Tracking has been a big challenge with the growth and diversification of data sources, especially in large urban centers. As components of a complex event, subevents have not received many attempts of detection by applications and studies. This work uses a human as a sensor approach via social network data to automatically detect subevents within events reported by media. These kind of data usually consists of short texts with colloquial language which provides an additional challenge for automated applications. To overcome these challenges, a scalable topic modeling based algorithm is proposed to identify and label the subevents to ease the analysis by humans. Evaluation is made in Brazil's 2013 political protests scenario, comparing subevents detected with news published by mainstream media regarding the same subjects. Results show that even with the particular data extracted from social media, the majority of subevents detected corresponded to real subevents published in official and traditional media. These results can open new applications in event tracking and emergence scenarios as social media usually has a minimum delay between an event and a report.
Burden of Psoriatic Arthritis According to Different Definitions of Disease Activity: Comparing Minimal Disease Activity and the Disease Activity Index for Psoriatic Arthritis

Treat‐to‐target strategies have improved outcomes in rheumatic diseases. In psoriatic arthritis (PsA), the proposed targets are the multidimensional target minimal disease activity (MDA) and the articular target Disease Activity index for PsA (DAPSA). The aim of this study was to compare the disease burden of PsA in patients with low disease activity according to the 2 definitions, MDA and DAPSA low disease activity (DAPSA‐LDA), 1 year after diagnosis.
A High-Dimensional Outlier Detection Algorithm Base on Relevant Subspace

Outlier detection in high-dimensional big data is an important data mining task to distinguish outliers from regular objects. In tradition, outlier detection approaches miss outliers which hide in full data space. However, these methods are deteriorated due to the notorious "curse of dimensionality" which leads to distance cannot express the deviation of outlier and normal objects, and the exponential computation leads to low efficiency. In this paper, we propose an outlier detection method based on relevant subspace, which can effectively describe the local distribution of objects and detect outliers hidden in subspaces of the data. In thorough experiments on synthetic data and real data, it shows that the method outperforms competing outlier ranking approaches by detecting outliers in subspace.
Understanding Travel Behavior of Private Cars via Trajectory Big Data Analysis in Urban Environments

Private cars, i.e., the vehicles owned for private use, compose a large portion of the civilian automobiles, which play an important role in metropolitan transportation. Private car trajectory offers us an effective way to understand travel behavior of private cars since it is useful in different application areas under urban environment such as path discovery, travel behavior analysis and transportation planning. The existing works regarding trajectory big data analysis mainly concern the floating cars or public vehicles but few consider private cars. In this paper, we focus on studying the travel behavior for private cars based on their trajectory analysis. To achieve this, we investigate the aggregation effect via trajectory clustering with the aim at modeling travel pattern of private cars. We propose a Trajectory Aggregation Detection (TAD) algorithm to find areas where the private cars appear frequently in a fix time interval and then analyze the travel regularity of each individual private car based on trajectory clustering. To validate the proposed method, we have collected large-scale raw dataset of private cars trajectory from real urban environment by installing On-Board Diagnostic (OBD) terminal including motion sensors and GPS receiver. Extensive experiments based on one-year trajectories collected from 1000 private cars reveal that the regularity types of private cars can be identified with high accuracy by the proposed method. We believe that our finding provides a new perspective in studying private car owners' driving pattern and travel behavior.