Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quantification of mRNA by non-radioactive RT-PCR and CCD imaging system.

The amount of PCR product increases exponentially in early cycles of the reaction, but subsequently reaches a plateau level (1). PCR product yield, therefore, does not quantitatively reflect the amount of the initial template DNA after the reaction reaches the plateau. This necessitates, for quantitative PCR analysis, the measurement of the product while the reaction occurs exponentially. We describe here a simple and widely applicable procedure for quantifying mRNA by non-radioactive RT-PCR avoiding the plateau effect. We prepared PCR mixtures containing rabbit cx globin primers and first strand cDNA libraries made from fibroblast RNA and serially diluted rabbit globin mRNA. PCR was then performed using capillary air thermo-cycler (Idaho Technology, USA) and one sample of the capillaries was picked up at every one or two cycles of reaction. Each sample was electrophoresed on agarose gel and stained with ethidium bromide to detect a 327 bp-band of amplified fragment (Figure lA). The intensity of the ethidium-bromide luminescence was measured by CCD image sensor (Densitograph AE-6900-F; Atto, Japan) (2). Figure lB shows the reaction cycle-intensity curves of each reaction mixture. All samples reached the same plateau level in ten cycles after the band intensity reached the limit of detection (Figure iB). For of the initial of the form: y = a xbn, n semi-logarithnic 'a' the amplification
Outcomes of a mind-body treatment program for chronic back pain with no distinct structural pathology--a case series of patients diagnosed and treated as tension myositis syndrome.

CONTEXT Chronic, nonspecific back pain is a ubiquitous problem that has frustrated both physicians and patients. Some have suggested that it is time for a "paradigm shift" in treating it. One of them is John Sarno, MD, of New York University's Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation, who has argued for this in 4 books and several journal publications. We believe that a mind-body approach is more effective and involves much less risk and expense than conventional approaches in appropriately diagnosed cases. OBJECTIVE To determine if a mind-body treatment program addressing a presumed psychological etiology of persistent back pain merits further research. DESIGN Case series outcome study. SETTING Single physician's office in metropolitan Los Angeles. PATIENTS Fifty-one patients with chronic back pain, diagnosed with tension myositis syndrome, a diagnosis for "functional" back pain and treated in the principal investigator's office in 2002 and 2003. INTERVENTIONS A program of office visits, written educational materials, a structured workbook (guided journal), educational audio CDs, and, in some cases, individual psychotherapy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Pain intensity (visual analog scale scores), quality of life (RAND SF-12), medication usage, and activity level (questionnaires). Follow-up was at least 3 to 12 months after treatment. RESULTS Mean VAS scores decreased 52% for "average" pain (P < .0001), 35% for "worst" pain (P < .0001), and 65% for "least" pain (P < .0001). SF-12 Physical Health scores rose >9 units (P = .005). Medication usage decreased (P = .0008). Activity levels increased (P =.03). Participants aged >47 years and in pain for >3 years benefited most.
Cytokeratin 7 and 20 expression in intestinal metaplasia of the distal oesophagus: relationship to gastro‐oesophageal reflux disease

Aims : Intestinal metaplasia and gastro‐oesophageal reflux disease typify classical Barrett's oesophagus. Cytokeratin (CK) 7 and 20 phenotypes differentiate intestinal metaplasia in long segment Barrett's oesophagus from gastric intestinal metaplasia. This study examines the relationship between CK7/20 phenotypes and reflux disease in intestinal metaplasia of the distal oesophagus.
Intrahepatic Pseudoaneurysms Complicating Transjugular Liver Biopsy in Liver Transplantation Patients: Three Case Reports

An intrahepatic pseudoaneurysm is a rare complication following transjugular liver biopsy. Transarterial embolization is considered a safe and effective treatment for treating pseudoaneurysms. Herein we report three cases of intrahepatic pseudoaneurysms following transjugular liver biopsies. The three pseudoaneurysms were managed by the following methods: transarterial embolization, percutaneous transhepatic embolization, and close observation.
12.5 A 2MHz 12-to-100V 90%-efficiency self-balancing ZVS three-level DC-DC regulator with constant-frequency AOT V2 control and 5ns ZVS turn-on delay

Wide input rails (12V to 100V) are common in today's automotive and industrial systems. Miniaturized DC-DC voltage regulators (VRs), which can provide a low-voltage regulated output from a wide input range and deliver a few Watts, are essential in these systems. Wide-input-range integrated VRs, however have difficulty to simultaneously achieve high frequency (HF) operation and high power efficiency. Previous hard-switching (HS) high-input-voltage (HV) buck regulators can only operate at a low frequency of 100s of kHz in order to limit the dominant switching power loss PSW, that occurs at the converter switching node [1,2]. Low-frequency operation however results in using bulky inductors of 100s of μH, significantly increasing the bill-of-material cost and the converter volume. Three-level converters (TLCs) are effective to reduce the required inductance by doubling the frequency at the switching node and allow using lower-voltage-rating power transistors in HV conditions. However, the concern of large PSW in HV conditions would still limit the HS TLC converter to operate in the MHz range. Moreover, the TLC needs the voltage across its flying capacitor to be balanced at half the input voltage; otherwise power transistors could be damaged during operation. In HF HV conditions, the capability of high-speed flying-capacitor self-balancing is even more crucial, but it is not addressed in prior 3-level DC-DC regulators [3,4]. This paper reports a ZVS-based 3-level voltage regulator (TL-VR) to remove PSW in HF and HV conditions, thereby improving the converter power efficiency. A constant-frequency adaptive-on-time (CF-AOT) V2 control is developed to offer the flying-capacitor self-balancing in the MHz range, ensuring reliable regulator operation with a wide input range. A body-diode-based floating ZVS detection is also proposed to provide nanosecond-scale ZVS turn-on delay and thus enable full-ZVS operation in HF low-duty-ratio conditions.
Acquisition of the stop-spirant alternation in bilingual Mexican Spanish–English speaking children: Theoretical and clinical implications

Abstract The purpose of this study was to identify characteristics of typical acquisition of the Mexican Spanish stop-spirant alternation in bilingual Spanish–English speaking children and to shed light on the theoretical debate over which sound is the underlying form in the stop-spirant allophonic relationship. We predicted that bilingual children would acquire knowledge of this allophonic relationship by the time they reach age 5;0 (years;months) and would demonstrate higher accuracy on the spirants, indicating their role as the underlying phoneme. This quasi-longitudinal study examined children’s single word samples in Spanish from ages 2;4–8;2. Samples were phonetically transcribed and analyzed for accuracy, substitution errors and acoustically for intensity ratios. Bilingual children demonstrated overall higher accuracy on the voiced stops as compared to the spirants. Differences in substitution errors across ages were found and acoustic analyses corroborated perceptual findings. The clinical implication of this research is that bilingual children may be in danger of overdiagnosis of speech sound disorders because acquisition of this allophonic rule in bilinguals appears to differ from what has been found in previous studies examining monolingual Spanish speakers.
Hyperreactio luteinalis in pregnancy and hyperandrogenism: a case report.

BACKGROUND Hyperreactio luteinalis in pregnancy is associated with theca lutein cysts (TLCs) and androgenization. CASE A 24-year-old, primigravid woman was referred at 35 weeks' gestation for bilateral enlarged cystic ovaries. She showed signs of androgenization. On ultrasonogram the ovaries bore a spoke-wheel appearance. A nonvirilized female infant was subsequently delivered by cesarean section because of obstruction of the birth canal by a large impacted ovarian cyst. There was an initial delay in lactogenesis; however, it was well-established after regression of the TLC, by postpartum week 6. Signs ofandrogenization resolved and testosterone levels returned to normal by 3 months postpartum. CONCLUSION Hyperreactio luteinalis is associated with TLC and maternal androgenization in the antepartum period and persists into the postpartum period with subsequent resolution. Aromatization of testosterone in hyperreactio luteinalis prevents fetal virilization, unlike that seen with masculinizing ovarian tumors. There is some evidence of genetic predisposition and a possibility for recurrence in future pregnancies.
General Health Questionnaire-12 items: adaptation study to the Portuguese population

Summary Aims – To assess the validity and reliability of the GHQ-12 in Portugal. Methods – Using a standard ‘forwardbackward’ translation procedure, the English language version of the questionnaire was translated into Portuguese. To test reliability the internal consistency was assessed by Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Validity was performed using convergent validity. Finally, the factor structure of the questionnaire was extracted by performing principal component analysis using varimax rotation. Results – In all 790 undergraduates entered into the study. Reliability analysis showed satisfactory result (Cronbach's alpha coefficient = 0.91). Convergent validity indicated a significant negative correlation between the GHQ-12 and social support scores as expected (r = -0.54, P < 0.001). The principal component analysis showed that the GHQ-12 was a measure with two-factor structure. Conclusion – The Portuguese version of the GHQ-12 has a good structural characteristic for measuring psychological well being. Declaration of Interest: None.
Using Theory to Identify Beliefs Associated With Support for Policies to Raise the Price of High-Fat and High-Sugar Foods

Public policies designed to dramatically raise the price of high-fat and high-sugar foods have received substantial attention from researchers and the media. Although econometric studies suggest that these policies could reduce obesity rates, they are likely to face substantial public opposition. This study used the theory of perceived responsibility and social motivation as a framework to analyze data from a politically diverse convenience sample of 500 adults in upstate New York. The authors examined associations between attribution beliefs and policy support to identify what types of scientific evidence and accompanying messages appear most likely to generate public support for price-raising policies. Results suggest that public health advocates and health communicators could benefit from an increased emphasis on advertising for unhealthy foods as a cause of obesity and the food industry's (manufacturers, advertisers, markets, and restaurants) responsibility for addressing the problem.
Spectroscopic and computational insight into the activation of O2 by the mononuclear Cu center in polysaccharide monooxygenases

Significance Activation of the O-O bond in dioxygen is difficult but fundamental in biology. Nature has evolved several strategies to achieve this, often including copper as an enzyme cofactor. Copper-dependent enzymes usually use more than one metal to activate O2 by multielectron reduction, but recently it was discovered that cellulose and chitin degrading polysaccharide monooxygenase enzymes use only a single Cu center for catalysis, in a reaction that is of great interest to the biofuel industries. To understand this reactivity, we have determined the solution structures of both the reduced and oxidized Cu site, and determined experimentally and computationally how this site is capable of facile O2 activation by a thermodynamically difficult one-electron reduction, via an inner-sphere Cu-superoxide intermediate. Strategies for O2 activation by copper enzymes were recently expanded to include mononuclear Cu sites, with the discovery of the copper-dependent polysaccharide monooxygenases, also classified as auxiliary-activity enzymes 9–11 (AA9-11). These enzymes are finding considerable use in industrial biofuel production. Crystal structures of polysaccharide monooxygenases have emerged, but experimental studies are yet to determine the solution structure of the Cu site and how this relates to reactivity. From X-ray absorption near edge structure and extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopies, we observed a change from four-coordinate Cu(II) to three-coordinate Cu(I) of the active site in solution, where three protein-derived nitrogen ligands coordinate the Cu in both redox states, and a labile hydroxide ligand is lost upon reduction. The spectroscopic data allowed for density functional theory calculations of an enzyme active site model, where the optimized Cu(I) and (II) structures were consistent with the experimental data. The O2 reactivity of the Cu(I) site was probed by EPR and stopped-flow absorption spectroscopies, and a rapid one-electron reduction of O2 and regeneration of the resting Cu(II) enzyme were observed. This reactivity was evaluated computationally, and by calibration to Cu-superoxide model complexes, formation of an end-on Cu-AA9-superoxide species was found to be thermodynamically favored. We discuss how this thermodynamically difficult one-electron reduction of O2 is enabled by the unique protein structure where two nitrogen ligands from His1 dictate formation of a T-shaped Cu(I) site, which provides an open coordination position for strong O2 binding with very little reorganization energy.
An Independent Component Analysis (ICA) Based Approach for EEG Person Authentication

Exploring brain electrical activity represented by electroencephalogram (EEG) signals for biometric applications has recently attracted increasing research attention since EEG pattern has been shown to be unique for each individual. In this paper, we propose an Independent Component Analysis (ICA) based EEG feature extraction and modeling approach for person authentication. Five dominating Independent Components (DIC) are determined from five brain regions represented by EEG channels, then univariate autoregressive coefficients of DICs are extract as features. Based on AR coefficients of DICs, a Naive Bayes probabilistic model is employed for person authentication purpose. Results from a real EEG motor task study suggest that the proposed ICA-based approach is promising and may open new directions in the emerging EEG biometry area.
Sparsity-constrained probabilistic latent semantic analysis for land cover classification

Land cover classification can be regarded as topic assignment that the pixels can be classified into different kinds of regions (e.g. road, tree, grass) according to the semantics of topics in topic model. In this paper, we present a novel probabilistic latent semantic analysis (pLSA) model based on sparsity constraint for classifying different kinds of land cover. In contrast with conventional topic model which usually assumes each local feature descriptor is only related to one visual word of the dictionary, our method uses sparse coding to characterize the potential relationship between the descriptor and multiple words. Therefore each descriptor can be represented by a small set of words. More importantly, we further apply sparse coding to mine the correlation of documents (i.e. image) in pLSA model. Consequently, our model can generate the more discriminative latent topics and benefit land cover classification. Experimental results on high-resolution remote sensing images demonstrate the excellent superiority of our method.
Evidence for a CD14+ population of monocytes in inflammatory bowel disease mucosa—implications for pathogenesis

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is abundant in the intestinal lumen. CD14 is the receptor for the LPS‐LPS binding protein complex, and its presence on mononuclear phagocytes allows cell activation by pg/ml concentrations of LPS. We have shown that the recently recruited blood monocyte in inflammatory bowel disease mucosa is CD14+. This study examined the expression of CD14 on macrophages in inflamed (n= 13) and uninflamed (n= 7) intestine by immunohistochemistry, and on disaggregated lamina propria mononuclear cells (12 from inflamed, 17 from uninflamed intestine) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (n= 26) by flow cytometry, using a panel of three MoAbs directed against CD14. Immunohistochemistry revealed that 3·7% of macrophages in uninflamed intestine were CD14+, while 25·1 % of macrophages in active inflammatory bowel disease expressed CD14 (P < 0·02). Flow cytometry demonstrated that CD14 expression by macrophages from Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis was augmented significantly (P= 0·02 and P= 0·01, respectively) compared with uninflamed intestine, with a discrete population of macrophages in inflammatory bowel disease, not present in normal intestine, which strongly expressed CD14. The characteristically high levels of CD14 on blood monocytes were unaffected by the presence of intestinal inflammation. Given the exposure of lamina propria cells to LPS present in the lúmen of the terminal ileum and colon, the increased numbers of CD14+ macrophages in inflammatory bowel disease may result in greatly increased production of inflammatory mediators, thereby suggesting a mechanism for the perpetuation of mucosal inflammation.
Power and Attraction to the Counternormative Aspects of Infidelity

Previous research shows that powerful people are more likely than those lacking power to engage in infidelity. One possible explanation holds (a) that power psychologically releases people from the inhibiting effects of social norms and thus increases their appetite for counternormative forms of sexuality. Two alternative explanations are (b) that power increases appetite for any form of sexuality, normative or counternormative, and (c) that power makes men (but not women) seem more attractive to others and thus increases their access to potential mating opportunities. The current research tested these explanations using correlational data from 610 Dutch men and women. Supporting the first explanation, power's relationship with infidelity was statistically mediated by increased attraction to the secrecy associated with infidelity. Inconsistent with the second explanation, power was linked with infidelity but not with casual sex among singles (a more normative form of sexuality). Inconsistent with the third explanation, the link between power and infidelity was observed just as strongly in women as in men. Findings suggest that power may be associated with infidelity because power draws people to the counternormative aspects of infidelity. Implications for theories of power, sexuality, and gender are discussed.
Exhumation of high‐pressure metamorphic rocks in a subduction channel: A numerical simulation

High‐pressure metamorphic rocks provide evidence that in subduction zones material can return from depths of more than 100 km to the surface. The pressure‐temperature paths recorded by these rocks are variable, mostly revealing cooling during decompression, while the time constraints are generally narrow and indicate that the exhumation rates can be on the order of plate velocities. As such, subduction cannot be considered as a single pass process; instead, return flow of a considerable portion of crustal and upper mantle material must be accounted for. Our numerical simulations provide insight into the self‐organizing large‐scale flow patterns and temperature field of subduction zones, primarily controlled by rheology, phase transformations, fluid budget, and heat transfer, which are all interrelated. They show the development of a subduction channel with forced return flow of low‐viscosity material and progressive widening by hydration of the mantle wedge. The large‐scale structures and the array of pressure‐temperature paths obtained by these simulations favorably compare to the record of natural rocks and the structure of high‐pressure metamorphic areas.
Approaches to the evaluation of spectral and energy efficiency millimeter wave cellular networks

In this paper, to analyze and calculate the spectral and energy efficiency of radio systems in the millimeter wave range, the following approaches are proposed: to take into account signal losses caused by the divergence of radio emission, and not to use the parameter of losses in “free space” the main limiting factors to consider the phase instability of optoelectronic converters of radio signals and signal loss in complex urban conditions; compensating methods can be an increase in the dimension of the antenna array, the density of base stations, the choice of effective methods of modulation and multiplexing, which take into account the features of propagation and formation of millimeter wave signals.
Secure communications in local multipoint distribution service (LMDS) networks

The transmission of confidential information over LMDS networks is investigated in the present paper from an information-theoretic standpoint. The major factor impairing the link performance at these networks is rain attenuation, a physical phenomenon exhibiting both spatial and temporal variation. Based on an accurate channel modeling, analytical expressions of the probability of non-zero secrecy capacity and the outage probability for this type of networks are provided, giving for the first time an information-theoretic approach of the problem of secure transmission for LMDS networks. Useful conclusions are drawn through extended numerical results suggesting the increase of operational frequency and the use of more directional antennas to improve security in transmission of confidential messages for this type of networks.
Leave no Trace: Learning to Reset for Safe and Autonomous Reinforcement Learning

Deep reinforcement learning algorithms can learn complex behavioral skills, but real-world application of these methods requires a large amount of experience to be collected by the agent. In practical settings, such as robotics, this involves repeatedly attempting a task, resetting the environment between each attempt. However, not all tasks are easily or automatically reversible. In practice, this learning process requires extensive human intervention. In this work, we propose an autonomous method for safe and efficient reinforcement learning that simultaneously learns a forward and reset policy, with the reset policy resetting the environment for a subsequent attempt. By learning a value function for the reset policy, we can automatically determine when the forward policy is about to enter a non-reversible state, providing for uncertainty-aware safety aborts. Our experiments illustrate that proper use of the reset policy can greatly reduce the number of manual resets required to learn a task, can reduce the number of unsafe actions that lead to non-reversible states, and can automatically induce a curriculum.