Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tandem mass spectrometry for the direct assay of lysosomal enzymes in dried blood spots: application to screening newborns for mucopolysaccharidosis IVA.

BACKGROUND Treatments are being developed for an increasing number of mucopolysaccharidoses, and early diagnosis is expected to be necessary to maximize the benefits of therapy. Therefore, we developed an assay for N-acetylgalactosamine-6-sulfate sulfatase (GALNS), the enzyme deficient in mucopolysaccharidosis IVA (Morquio A syndrome), that is applicable for clinical diagnosis. METHODS A novel substrate for GALNS was synthesized for a new enzyme activity assay that is based on tandem mass spectrometry and uses dried blood spots (DBSs) as the enzyme source. We optimized the assay conditions, including the substrate concentration, reaction pH, lead formate concentration, incubation time, punch size of the DBS, and mass spectrometer conditions. We also assessed inter- and intraassay variation. RESULTS The assay uses either solid-phase or liquid-phase extraction before analysis by mass spectrometry. An evaluation of blood spots from 90 randomly chosen healthy newborns and 9 patients with Morquio A syndrome showed a well-defined interval between their respective enzyme activities. Inter- and intraassay imprecision was <10%. CONCLUSIONS This tandem mass spectrometry assay requires a minimal number of sample-preparation steps, thus making it easy to implement. The assay has the potential to be adopted for early diagnosis of Morquio A syndrome. We believe this assay could be performed in a multiplex fashion with assays for other lysosomal enzymes.
Generating Chinese Named Entity Data from a Parallel Corpus

Annotating Named Entity Recognition (NER) training corpora is a costly process but necessary for supervised NER systems. This paper presents an approach to generate large-scale Chinese NER training data from an English-Chinese discourse level aligned parallel corpus. Difficulty of NER is different among languages due to their unique features. For example, the performance of English NER systems is usually higher than the Chinese ones on average. In our method, we first employ a high performance NER system on one side of a bi-lingual corpus. And then, we project the NE labels to the other side according to the word level alignment. At last, we select high-quality labeled sentences using different strategies and generate an NER training corpus. In our experiments, we generate a Chinese NER corpus with 167,100 sentences through an English-Chinese parallel corpus. The system trained on the automatically generated corpus attains a comparable result with the one trained on the manually-annotated corpus. Further experiments show that the NER performance is significantly improved on two different evaluation sets by using the generated training data as an additional corpus to the ma-nually-labeled data.
Interferometric point target analysis of RADARSAT-1 data for deformation monitoring at the Belridge/Lost Hills oil fields

Interferometric point target analysis using Gamma Remote Sensing's IPTA module has been applied to two interferometric stacks of RADARSAT-1 FINE mode data over the Belridge/Lost Hills oil fields in California. The stacks (/spl sim/30 images each) are both from descending orbits and span the same 2 year time period (2002/02-2004/02) but incidence angles are different (F1 vs. F3F). An IPTA analysis is carried out on each stack separately and results are then compared in terms of achieved density of the scatterers and residual errors of the motion analysis. We verify the accuracy of our methods indirectly by studying the subtle difference in line-of-sight motion caused by the different incidence angles of the data stacks (38.4 vs. 43.1 degrees at the study site).
UWB antenna designs with double band-notches for WLAN frequencies including time domain analysis

In this paper, we present designs for a microstrip line UWB monopole antenna and a CPW fed UWB monopole antenna. First, a monopole antenna to cover the entire UWB band of 3.1-10.6GHz is designed. Different types of tapers are investigated to achieve the impedance match over the desired band. Next, two band-rejection notches at 5.2GHz and 5.8GHz are introduced by combining two traditional band-notching techniques. Performance of the proposed antennas has been investigated in both frequency and time domain. It is found that the antennas exhibit omnidirectional radiation in H-Plane, with a gain of 2-4dB except at the notch frequencies. Both antennas also exhibit low-level ringing and pulse distortion, making them suitable for applications in UWB communication systems.
Chemokines and HIV: The First Close Encounter

The first “close encounter” between the fields of chemokines and HIV occurred in the late spring of 1995, when my group at NCI’s Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology (LTCB) received from Harvard Microchemistry and Proteomics the amino acid sequences of three peptide fragments from an HPLC-purified fraction that we had submitted a few weeks earlier. The sequences showed a perfect match with the human chemokine RANTES/CCL5. The fraction had been isolated from the culture supernatant of an immortalized T-cell clone (FC36.22) producing the elusive “CD8-derived HIV-suppressive factor” whose existence had been postulated by Jay Levy’s group at UCSF since 1986 (1), but whose identity had remained enigmatic for nearly a decade.
The Multi-Faceted Nature of Mindfulness

Kabat-Zinn, J. (1990). Full catastrophe living: Using the wisdom of your body and mind to face stress, pain, and illness. New York: Dell Publishing. Kernis, M. H. (2003). Toward a conceptualization of optimal self esteem. Psychological Inquiry, 14, 1-26. Kernis, M. H. (2005). Measuring self-esteem in context: The impor tance of stability of self-esteem in psychological functioning. Journal of Personality, 73,1-37. Kernis, M. H. , & Goldman, B. M. (2006). A multicompo nent conceptualization of authenticity: Theory and research. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 38, pp. 283-357). Philadelphia: Elsevier Inc. Kernis, M. H. , Lakey, C. E. , & Heppner, W. L. (in press). Secure versus fragile high self-esteem as a predictor of verbal defen siveness: Converging findings across three different markers. Journal of Personality. Kernis, M. H. , Paradise, A. W, Whitaker, D. J., Wheatman, S. R. , & Goldman, B. N. (2000). Master of one's psychological do main? Not likely if one's self-esteem is unstable. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26, 1297-1305. Lakey, C. E. , Kernis, M. H. , & Heppner, W. L. (2004). Personality and verbal defensiveness. Unpublished raw data, University of Georgia. Lakey, C. E. , Kernis, M. H. , Heppner, W. L. , & Davis, P. J. (2005). Development of the Hostile Attribution Bias Scale. Unpublished raw data, University of Georgia. Lakey, C. E. , Kernis, M. H. , Heppner, W. L. , & Lance, C. E. (in press). Individual differences in authenticity and mindfulness as predictors of verbal defensiveness. Journal of Research in Personality. Ryan, R. M. (1982). Control and information in the intrapersonal sphere: An extension of cognitive evaluation theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43, 450-461.
Classification of patients undergoing weaning from mechanical ventilation using the coherence between heart rate variability and respiratory flow signal

Weaning from mechanical ventilation is still one of the most challenging problems in intensive care. Unnecessary delays in discontinuation and weaning trials that are undertaken too early are both undesirable. This study investigated the contribution of spectral signals of heart rate variability (HRV) and respiratory flow, and their coherence to classifying patients on weaning process from mechanical ventilation. A total of 121 candidates for weaning, undergoing spontaneous breathing tests, were analyzed: 73 were successfully weaned (GSucc), 33 failed to maintain spontaneous breathing so were reconnected (GFail), and 15 were extubated after the test but reintubated within 48 h (GRein). The power spectral density and magnitude squared coherence (MSC) of HRV and respiratory flow signals were estimated. Dimensionality reduction was performed using principal component analysis (PCA) and sequential floating feature selection. The patients were classified using a fuzzy K-nearest neighbour method. PCA of the MSC gave the best classification with the highest accuracy of 92% classifying GSucc versus GFail patients, and 86% classifying GSucc versus GRein patients. PCA of the respiratory flow signal gave the best classification between GFail and GRein patients (79% accuracy). These classifiers showed a good balance between sensitivity and specificity. Besides, the spectral coherence between HRV and the respiratory flow signal, in patients on weaning trial process, can contribute to the extubation decision.
Soluble Expression of Active Recombinant Firefly Luciferase in Escherichia coli

Luciferase catalyzes luciferin to emit yellow green fluorescence in the presence of ATP and Mg 2+ . Based on such a feature, it played an important role in many scientific and industrial fields. In the study, a simple and rapid expression and purification method of recombinant luciferase was developed. The high expression vector pET28a-luc was constructed and successfully induced to express soluble luciferase. The luciferase was separated and purified through immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC). After optimizing expression conditions, 45 mg recombinant luciferase with high specific activity, 4.04±0.50×10 12 RLU/mg was achieved per liter of cell culture. It turned out that lower shaking speed and longer induction time were more effective for high yield of soluble protein. Circular dichroism (CD) and fluorescence spectroscopy were performed to verify the proper fold of the recombinant target protein.
Melastoma malabathricum Ethyl Acetate Fraction Induces Secondary Necrosis in Human Breast and Lung Cancer Cell Lines

Background: Melastoma malabathricum (MM) is a traditional plant used in the Borneo region. The cytotoxic effects of methanol extracts from MM leaves have been reported in a number of human cancer cell lines. However, the mode of cell death by MM has not been investigated. Objective: We investigated the cytotoxic effects of MM in both human breast and lung cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and A549, respectively, and defined the mode of cell death. Materials and Methods: Cell viability was measured using the 3-(4-, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Annexin-V/propidium iodide (PI) and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) staining was done to determine the mode of cell death. Results: The MTT assay revealed that MM extract had an IC50 of >400 μ g/ml on both cell lines at 24 h posttreatment. Flow cytometric and fluorescence microscopy analysis of Annexin-V/PI stained MM-treated cells revealed that the majority of the cells underwent secondary necrosis/late apoptosis. TUNEL assay showed that little to no DNA nicks were present in MM-treated cells, suggesting that cells have undergone secondary necrosis, not late apoptosis, at that time point. Conclusion: MCF-7 and A549 cells undergoes secondary necrosis 24 h post-treatment with MM extract. MM leaf extract could be a potential source for a novel anti-tumor agent for cancer therapy. Abbreviations used: DMSO: Dimethyl sulfoxide; MM: Melastoma malabathricum; MTT: 3-(4-, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide; PI: Propidium iodide; TUNEL: Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling.
Security-aware service migration for tactical mobile micro-clouds

Mobile micro-clouds (MMCs), which are small cloud-like infrastructures that can host services for mobile users, provide a promising approach to deliver data and computation to users in low bandwidth/high latency networks. In this work, we take a step towards security-aware service migration for multiple servers for MMC in tactical environments. As a fundamental model, we consider two users sharing a cluster of MMCs and moving between coverage areas of different MMCs according to random walk. We formulate the problem using a finite horizon Markov Decision Process (MDP). Due to the coupling between users due to security (and possibly interference) costs, we observe that the problem is significantly more complex compared with the non-security-aware single user service migration problem studied in the literature, even in the simplest case of two users. Accordingly, we consider efficient control algorithms which aim to minimize time average costs. Particularly, we propose a modified myopic policy which aims to reduce time average costs by steering operation towards settings which would reduce the likelihood of future security cost increases, by proactively keeping the services distant. Our numerical results demonstrate that our modified myopic policy outperforms other policies in terms of average cost for various settings.
User identification via process profiling: extended abstract

Insiders are authorized persons who possess special privileges of access; these privileges in some cases may be abused. One way in which an insider attack may occur is when user X makes use of user Y's unattended (but logged in) computer, and masquerades as user Y. This paper presents a method of masquerade detection. A light-weight monitor collected information about computer usage by employees of a small organization for a period of three weeks. A profile of each user was developed using a Naïve Bayes classifier that analyzed handle counts of processes as the input. Under conditions specified in the paper, users were correctly identified using this technique approximately 97% of the time, with a misidentification rate of . 4%.
Voices From Test-Takers: Further Evidence for Language Assessment Validation and Use

Test-takers' interpretations of validity as related to test constructs and test use have been widely debated in large-scale language assessment. This study contributes further evidence to this debate by examining 59 test-takers' perspectives in writing large-scale English language tests. Participants wrote about their test-taking experiences in 300 to 500 words, focusing on their perceptions of test validity and test use. A standard thematic coding process and logical cross-analysis were used to analyze test-takers' experiences. Codes were deductively generated and related to both experiential (i.e., testing conditions and consequences) and psychometric (i.e., test construction, format, and administration) aspects of testing. These findings offer test-takers' voices on fundamental aspects of language assessment, which bear implications for test developers, test administrators, and test users. The study also demonstrated the need for obtaining additional evidence from test-takers for validating large-scale language tests.
BRANE WORLD IN A TOPOLOGICAL BLACK HOLES IN ASYMPTOTICALLY FLAT SPACE–TIME

We study static brane configurations in the bulk background of the topological black holes in asymptotically flat space–time and find that such configurations are possible even for flat black hole horizon, unlike the AdS black hole case. We construct the brane world model with an orbifold structure S1/Z2 in such bulk background and study massless bulk scalar field.
Use of three-dimensional Gaussian interpolation in the projector/backprojector pair of iterative reconstruction for compensation of known rigid-body motion in SPECT

Due to the extended imaging times employed in single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET), patient motion during imaging is a common clinical occurrence. The fast and accurate correction of the three-dimensional (3-D) translational and rotational patient motion in iterative reconstruction is thus necessary to address this important cause of artifacts. We propose a method of incorporating 3-D Gaussian interpolation in the projector/backprojector pair to facilitate compensation for rigid-body motion in addition to attenuation and distance-dependent blurring. The method works as the interpolation step for moving the current emission voxel estimates and attenuation maps in the global coordinate system to the new patient location in the rotating coordinate system when calculating the expected projection. It also is employed for moving back the backprojection of the ratio of the measured projection to the expected projection and backprojection of the unit value (sensitivity factor) to the original location. MCAT simulations with known six-degree-of-freedom (6DOF) motion were employed to evaluate the accuracy of our method of motion compensation. We also tested the method with acquisitions of the data spectrum anthropomorphic phantom where motion during SPECT acquisition was measured using the Polaris IR motion tracking system. No motion artifacts were seen on the reconstructions with the motion compensation
A low-power system-on-chip for the documentation of road accidents

In this letter, the implementation of a system-on-chip for the documentation of road accidents is presented. Key features of the system are the implementation on a programmable architecture of a compression algorithm capable of encoding up to 20 black and white QCIF frames/s, and the computation of a digital signature performed every frame which is applied to the encoded bitstream certifying the source of the video sequence. The acquired images are then stored on a battery of on-chip flash memories that can be used to retrieve accident information to be used in legal confrontations. Having to perform in critical energy conditions (e.g., continued image acquisition for up to 10-20 s after an accident has occurred), the system was designed to minimize energy consumption at all levels. The system-on-chip has been implemented in 6/spl times/6 mm/sup 2/ on a 0.25-/spl mu/m 6-metal standard-cell CMOS technology and works at 40 MHz with a 2.5-V power supply. Performance can be decreased to 12 QCIF frames/s, 24 MHz, and 1.3-V power supply in order to achieve 30-mW power consumption.
The Roots of Academic News Research: Tobias Peucer's "De relationibus novellis" (1690)

Probably the first graduate study of news reporting was a doctoral dissertation, "De relationibus novellis" (On news reporting), written in Germany in 1690. A history and analysis of seventeenth-century news reporting, it anticipated major themes of news research not fully explored until the latter half of the twentieth century. Written in Latin, Peucer's short dissertation of approximately 6000 words, divided into 29 statements, presented a historical overview and analysis of the forms, motivations and methods of news reporting, "of which," he wrote, "there is at present a great deal on every hand". Peucer's research contributes to our understanding of early news reporting and offers scholarly insights still relevant today.
Boys and Road Rage: Driving-Related Violence and Aggression in Western Australia

Abstract This article reports on the results of a population survey of 1208 West Australian drivers designed to measure the prevalence of drivingrelated violence and aggression as well as perceptions of these behaviours. A clear distinction is made between driving-related violence (restricted to criminal acts of violence, threats of violence and vehicle damage) and other aggressive driving behaviours. Although the majority of survey respondents had experienced some form of aggressive driving behaviour, only 13% reported ever being a victim of driving-related violence. However, 17% of respondents believed they were likely, or very likely, to be a victim of driving-related violence within the coming year. More than two thirds of respondents thought their likelihood of being a victim of driving-related violence had increased over the past 10 years. Both aggressive driving behaviours and driving-related violence were typically perpetrated by young males against other males. The article concludes with a discussion of the masculinist characteristics of road rage and what this implies for the prevention of this crime.
Optimization of Battery Capacity Decay for Semi-Active Hybrid Energy Storage System Equipped on Electric City Bus

In view of severe changes in temperature during different seasons in cold areas of northern China, the decay of battery capacity of electric vehicles poses a problem. This paper uses an electric bus power system with semi-active hybrid energy storage system (HESS) as the research object and proposes a convex power distribution strategy to optimize the battery current that represents degradation of battery capacity based on the analysis of semi-empirical LiFePO4 battery life decline model. Simulation results show that, at a room temperature of 25 °C, during a daily trip organized by the Harbin City Driving Cycle including four cycle lines and four charging phases, the percentage of battery degradation was 9.6 × 10−3%. According to the average temperature of different months in Harbin, the percentage of battery degradation of the power distribution strategy proposed in this paper is 3.15% in one year; the electric bus can operate for 6.4 years until its capacity reduces to 80% of its initial value, and it can operate for 0.51 year more than the rule-based power distribution strategy.
Help for the Anxious Performer

any musicians suffer from some performance anxiety, especially those who are young and in training settings. The characteristics of musical performance anxiety, which are surprisingly similar among musicians, include trembling, cold hands, stomach upset, faintness, muscle tension, a rapid pulse, memory blocks, and feelings of dread. These symptoms just before or during a performance can be devastating. The musician begins a vicious cycle in which fears generate anxiety that in turn impairs performance, thus making the musician afraid of performing again. In the end, the joy and sense of accomplishment treasured by performing musicians is lost.