Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sensing refractive-turbulence profiles (C(n)(2)) using wave front phase measurements from multiple reference sources.

A new technique for sensing refractive-turbulence profiles is described. The technique is based on performing a spatial correlation of the measured wave front phase from two reference sources. This technique is unique in that the correlation properties of the wave front phase are used instead of the more common approach of using optical scintillations. The geometry between the reference sources and the two wave front sensor apertures is arranged such that the two optical paths cross at some point in front of the sensor plane. The wave front phase for each reference source is reconstructed from the measured wave front sensor data. A spatial correlation of the two reconstructed phase maps is performed. From this correlation we are able to extract a measure of the structure constant of the refractive-index fluctuations C(n)(2). The resolution of the technique depends on the angle between the optical paths, the spatial frequency response of the wave front sensors, as well as the size of the wave front sensorapertures. For sensing the vertical profile of C(n)(2), we can obtain resolution of the order of 100 m by using sources separated by 1.15 degrees .
Statistical motor unit number estimation: Reproducibility and sources of error in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

The reliability of motor unit number estimation (MUNE) for assessment of the long‐term course of ALS is dependent on the reproducibility of the technique. We report our results with the statistical method of MUNE on the ulnar nerve/hypothenar muscle in 16 ALS patients who were studied on 52 occasions. On each occasion, MUNE was performed twice with one electrode placement and once with a different placement. For each MUNE, mean surface motor unit potential amplitude was determined within three different recording ranges or windows at different stimulus intensities. The MUNE results had excellent reproducibility with coefficients of variation of 19% and test–retest correlation coefficients from 0.75 to 0.86. With examination of sources for variability, the reproducibility of statistical MUNE is not affected by minor variation in stimulation and recording electrode placement but may be improved by modifying methods for recording window selection. The high reproducibility of statistical MUNE supports its reliability for estimating the rate of motor unit loss in ALS. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Muscle Nerve 23: 193–197, 2000.
Building the evidence base for chronic disease self-management support interventions across Canada.

OBJECTIVE The objective of this project was to determine how to improve evaluation of self-management support (SMS) in Canada to generate high-quality evidence to guide policy-makers, implementers, providers and participants. METHODS This project used a multi-method approach, including a scoping and a focused literature review, an internet scan, interviews with key stakeholders, a review of existing theoretical evaluation frameworks and a consensus meeting with experts. RESULTS Four themes were identified through the collection and analysis of data: 1) diverse SMS interventions are identifiable; 2) emerging evaluation activity in Canada is limited to mostly disease-specific, clinic-based programs; 3) there is little evaluation capacity among program implementers in Canada; and 4) there is a gap between the evidence and expectations. CONCLUSION Policy-makers, community organizations and health care teams, regional health authorities and, most importantly, people living with chronic conditions, need better evidence about how to support self-management in their communities. Measuring outcomes must be an explicit part of program implementation and development and requires coordinated support. A common evaluation framework may provide researchers, practitioners and decision- or policy-makers with a systems approach to understanding the possible structural and process factors that can affect self-management outcomes, and could support capacity building in evaluation.
First report of carglumic acid in a patient with citrullinemia type 1 (argininosuccinate synthetase deficiency)

Carglumic acid is a structural analogue of human N‐acetylglutamate, which has become an alternative therapeutic option for hyperammonaemia in organic acidaemias such as isovaleric acidaemia, methylmalonic acidaemia and propionic acidaemia, and it has been suggested in other urea cycle disorders such as ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency and carbamoyl phosphate synthetase 1 deficiency.
Establishment of hepatitis E virus infection‐permissive and ‐non‐permissive human hepatoma PLC/PRF/5 subclones

PLC/PRF/5 cells show limited permissiveness, meaning that almost all subclones are permissive; however, some subclones do not exhibit permissiveness for hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection. In this study, the single‐cell cloning of PLC/PRF/5 was performed and heterogeneous subclones characterized. Notably, the efficiency of intracellular virus replication did not correlate with the permissiveness for HEV infection. However, as well as binding permissive subclones, virus‐like particles bound non‐permissive subclones on various levels, suggesting that these subclones have some deficiencies in the attachment and entry steps of infection. Our data would be useful for investigating the HEV life cycle.
Comparative ontogeny and phylogeny of the upper jaw skeleton in amniotes

The morphology, position, and presence of the upper jaw bones vary greatly across amniote taxa. In this review, we compare the development and anatomy of upper jaw bones from the three living amniote groups: reptiles, birds, and mammals. The study of reptiles is particularly important as comparatively little is known about the embryogenesis of the jaw in this group. Our review covers the ontogeny and phylogeny of membranous bones in the face. The aim is to identify conserved embryonic processes that may exist among the three major amniote groups. Finally, we discuss how temporal and spatial regulation of preosseous condensations and ossification centers can lead to variation in the morphology of amniote upper jaw bones. Developmental Dynamics 235:1230–1243, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Generating Conditional Plans and Programs

This paper describes Warplan-C, a general purpose system for synthesising plans and programs from precise problem descriptions. The system combines an adequate solution to the "side effect" problem (typified by the task of "interchanging the contents of two machine registers") with the case analysis necessary for generating programs containing conditionals. Predicate logic is used both as the problem specification language and, in the form of Prolog, as the implementation language. The entire Warplan-C program comprises 66 clauses and compiles into quite an efficient program by current standards.
Time Inconsistent Stochastic Control in Continuous Time: Theory and Examples

In this paper, which is a continuation of a previous discrete time paper, we develop a theory for continuous time stochastic control problems which, in various ways, are time inconsistent in the sense that they do not admit a Bellman optimality principle. We study these problems within a game theoretic framework, and we look for Nash subgame perfect equilibrium points.For a general controlled continuous time Markov process and a fairly general objective functional we derive an extension of the standard Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation, in the form of a system of non-linear equations, for the determination for the equilibrium strategy as well as the equilibrium value function. As applications of the general theory we study non exponential discounting, various types of mean variance problems, a point process example, as well as a time inconsistent linear quadratic regulator. We also present a study of time inconsistency within the framework of a general equilibrium production economy of Cox-Ingersoll-Ross type.
Interactions of HIV-1 nef with the mu subunits of adaptor protein complexes 1, 2, and 3: role of the dileucine-based sorting motif.

HIV-1 Nef interacts with cellular adaptor protein (AP) complexes and their medium (mu) subunits. However, the role of the dileucine-based sorting motif within Nef in these interactions has been incompletely characterized. Here, yeast two-hybrid assays indicated that HIV-1 Nef interacted not only with the mu subunits of AP-1 and AP-2, but also with that of AP-3. The interactions with mu1 and mu3 were markedly stronger than the interaction with mu2. Leucine residues of the sorting motif were required for the interactions with mu3 and mu2 and contributed to the interaction with mu1. Confocal immunofluorescence microscopy indicated that Nef, AP-1, and AP-3 (but not AP-2) were concentrated in a juxtanuclear region near the cell center, potentially facilitating interaction between Nef and the mu1 and mu3 subunits. However, leucine residues of the sorting motif were not required for this subcellular localization of Nef. These data suggest that the dileucine motif, required for optimal viral replication, functions through interactions with a variety of AP complexes, including AP-3, potentially by recruiting adaptor complexes to subcellular locations specified by additional determinants in the Nef protein.
Effect of selenium and vitamin E on iminodipropionitrile induced dyskinesia in rats.

The present study was undertaken to determine the effect of combination of selenium and vitamin E on experimentally induced dyskinesia in rats. The dyskinetic syndrome was produced in 4 groups of 6 male rats each weighing 250-300g by intraperitoneal (ip) administration of iminodipropionitrile (IDPN) in doses of 100 mg/kg body weight daily for 12 days. A group of 6 rats (group 1) served as control and received normal saline only. The rats in group 2 (IDPN only) received normal saline (ip) 30 minutes before the administration of IDPN. The animals in groups 3, 4 and 5 received selenous acid (5 mumol/kg), vitamin E (500 mg/kg p.o.) and a combination of selenous acid and vitamin E respectively, daily, 30 minutes before IDPN for 12 days. Twenty four hours after the last dose of IDPN, the dyskinetic behavior including vertical head movements (retrocollis), horizontal head movements (laterocollis), circling and backwalking of each rat was studied for a period of 10 minutes. Immediately after behavioral studies, the animals were sacrificed and brains were dissected out for the analysis of conjugated dienes, lipid hydroperoxides and vitamin E. The results of this study showed that treatment of rats with IDPN only for 12 days produced dyskinetic syndrome in all the rats characterized by vertical and horizontal head movements, circling and backwalking. Concomitant treatment of rats with vitamin E and selenium individually reduced IDPN induced dyskinesia, and the symptoms were almost completely absent when the combination of these two agents was used. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
A new application of adaptive noise cancellation

A new application of Widrow's adaptive noise cancellation (ANC) is presented in this paper. Specifically, the method is applied to the case where an acoustic barrier exists between the primary and reference microphones. By updating the coefficients of the noise estimation filter only during silence, it is shown that ANC can provide substantial noise reduction with little speech distortion even when the acoustic barrier provides only moderate attenuation of acoustic signals. The use of the modified ANC method is evaluated using an oxygen facemask worn by fighter aircraft pilots. Experiments demonstrate that if a noise field is created using a single source, 11 dB signal-to-noise ratio improvements can be achieved by attaching a reference microphone to the exterior of the facemask. The length of the ANC filter required for this particular environment is only 50 points.
Grassland compost amendments increase plant production without changing plant communities

Author(s): Ryals, R; Eviner, VT; Stein, C; Suding, KN; Silver, WL; Peters, DPC | Abstract: © 2016 Ryals et al. Compost amendment to grassland is a novel strategy proposed and demonstrated to increase ecosystem carbon (C) storage. However, the effects of compost applications on biomass production and plant diversity are not well known. We assessed impacts of a one-time compost amendment over 4 yr on plant dynamics in two grazed grassland ecosystems in California: a coastal prairie and valley grassland. The valley grassland was dominated by exotic annual grasses and had significantly lower species diversity than the coastal prairie, which consisted of a mix of perennial and annual grasses and forbs. We observed large and persistent increases in aboveground biomass. Over the 4 study years, aboveground biomass from compostamended plots increased by 76% ± 21% at the valley grassland and 41% ± 21% at the coastal prairie, compared with controls. Plant N content was also greater from compost-amended plots. There were no major shifts in species richness or abundance at either grassland site. Overall, plant communities at both grasslands were relatively resistant to the compost addition, but responses of some individual species were observed. Notably at the valley grassland, the abundance of forbs decreased slightly, while the abundance of grasses increased. The abundance of two noxious weeds did not change as a result of the compost amendment. Our results suggest that a single application of composted organic matter used to sequester C provided cobenefits to grassland plant dynamics. The compost amendments produced sustained increases in plant productivity and forage production as well as plant N content without greatly affecting the diversity of these exotic annual grasslands.
Predicting the Popularity of Online Videos via Deep Neural Networks

Predicting the popularity of online videos is important for video streaming content providers. This is a challenging problem because of the following two reasons. First, the problem is both "wide" and "deep". That is, it not only depends on a wide range of features, but also be highly non-linear and complex. Second, multiple competitors may be involved. In this paper, we propose a general prediction model using the multi-task learning (MTL) module and the relation network (RN) module, where MTL can reduce over-fitting and RN can model the relations of multiple competitors. Experimental results show that our proposed approach significantly increases the accuracy on predicting the total view counts of TV series with RN and MTL modules.
Transcriptional Control of Human Antigen R by Bone Morphogenetic Protein*

Human antigen R (HuR) is an RNA-binding protein with protective activities against cellular stress. This study considers the mechanisms by which HuR transcriptional regulation occurs in renal proximal tubule cells. Under basal conditions, HuR mRNA is expressed in two forms: one that contains a ∼20-base 5′-untranslated region (UTR) sequence and one that contains a ∼150-base, G+C-rich 5′-UTR that is inhibitory to translation. Recovery from cellular stresses such as thapsigargin and ATP depletion induced increased expression of the shorter, more translatable transcript and decreased expression of the longer form. Analysis of HuR upstream regions revealed sequences necessary for regulation of the shorter mRNA. Within the long, G+C-rich 5′-UTR exist multiple copies of the alternate Smad 1/5/8-binding motif GCCGnCGC. Recovery from ATP depletion induced increases in Smad 1/5/8 levels; further, gel shift and chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses demonstrated the ability of these Smads to bind to the relevant motif in the HuR 5′-UTR. Transfection of exogenous Smad 1 increased HuR mRNA expression. Finally, HuR mRNA expression driven by the Smad-binding sites was responsive to BMP-7, a protein with known protective effects against ischemic injury in kidney. These data suggest that transcriptional induction of a readily translatable HuR mRNA may be driven by a mechanism known to protect the kidney from injury and provides a novel pathway through which administration of BMP-7 may attenuate renal damage.
Hierarchy of eosinophil chemoattractants: role of p38 mitogen‐activated protein kinase

Several chemoattractants can regulate the recruitment of eosinophils to sites of inflammation, but the hierarchy among them is unknown. We observed here that eosinophil chemotaxis towards eotaxin or 5‐oxo‐6,8,11,14‐eicosatetraenoic acid (5‐oxo‐ETE) was amplified up to sixfold in the presence of prostaglandin (PG) D2. This effect was only seen in eosinophils, and not in neutrophils or basophils. Pretreatment with the chemoattractant receptor‐homologous molecule expressed on TH2 cells (CRTH2) antagonist ramatroban prevented the PGD2 enhancement of eosinophil migrations. In contrast, eotaxin or 5‐oxo‐ETE inhibited the migration of eosinophils towards PGD2. 5‐oxo‐ETE enhanced the chemotaxis to eotaxin, while eotaxin had no effect on 5‐oxo‐ETE‐induced migration. 5‐oxo‐ETE induced the phosphorylation of p38 mitogen‐activated protein kinase, and inhibition of p38 mitogen‐activated protein kinase by SB‐202190 converted the effect of 5‐oxo‐ETE on the chemotaxis to PGD2 from inhibition to enhancement. The presence of blood or plasma markedly decreased the sensitivity of eosinophils to eotaxin or 5‐oxo‐ETE, while responses to PGD2 were unaltered. In conclusion, PGD2 might be an initial chemoattractant, since it maintains its potency in the circulation and augments the responsiveness of eosinophils to other chemoattractants. In contrast, eotaxin seems to be an end‐point chemoattractant, since it has reduced efficacy in blood and is capable of down‐modulating eosinophil responsiveness to other chemoattractants.
The effects of drilling parameters on the acoustic drilling signature of the squamous temporal bone: A categorical multivariate regressive analysis

This paper investigates the effects of drill speed, burr type, burr style, and stroke speed on the acoustics that are generated from a surgical drill when dissecting the squamous temporal bone region. Multivariate regression is used to analyse and predict the Mel frequency cepstrum of the audio that is generated during the procedure. It is seen that each of drilling parameters along with their higher order interaction terms has a significant affect on the acoustic drilling signature of the squamous temporal bone. Furthermore, it was established, for the first time, that a categorical multivariate regressive model could consistently predict the Mel frequency cepstrum of the squamous temporal bone with accuracy of 97.78% with only 2 seconds of audio training data. This represents a significant advance on previously reported work.
Human blood dendritic cell antigen 3 (BDCA3)+ dendritic cells are a potent producer of interferon‐λ in response to hepatitis C virus

The polymorphisms in the interleukin (IL)‐28B (interferon‐lambda [IFN]‐λ3) gene are strongly associated with the efficacy of hepatitis C virus (HCV) clearance. Dendritic cells (DCs) sense HCV and produce IFNs, thereby playing some cooperative roles with HCV‐infected hepatocytes in the induction of interferon‐stimulated genes (ISGs). Blood dendritic cell antigen 3 (BDCA3)+ DCs were discovered as a producer of IFN‐λ upon Toll‐like receptor 3 (TLR3) stimulation. We thus aimed to clarify the roles of BDCA3+ DCs in anti‐HCV innate immunity. Seventy healthy subjects and 20 patients with liver tumors were enrolled. BDCA3+ DCs, in comparison with plasmacytoid DCs and myeloid DCs, were stimulated with TLR agonists, cell‐cultured HCV (HCVcc), or Huh7.5. 1 cells transfected with HCV/JFH‐1. BDCA3+ DCs were treated with anti‐CD81 antibody, inhibitors of endosome acidification, TIR‐domain‐containing adapter‐inducing interferon‐β (TRIF)‐specific inhibitor, or ultraviolet‐irradiated HCVcc. The amounts of IL‐29/IFN‐λ1, IL‐28A/IFN‐λ2, and IL‐28B were quantified by subtype‐specific enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The frequency of BDCA3+ DCs in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) was extremely low but higher in the liver. BDCA3+ DCs recovered from PBMC or the liver released large amounts of IFN‐λs, when stimulated with HCVcc or HCV‐transfected Huh7.5. 1. BDCA3+ DCs were able to induce ISGs in the coexisting JFH‐1‐positive Huh7.5. 1 cells. The treatments of BDCA3+ DCs with anti‐CD81 antibody, cloroquine, or bafilomycin A1 reduced HCVcc‐induced IL‐28B release, whereas BDCA3+ DCs comparably produced IL‐28B upon replication‐defective HCVcc. The TRIF‐specific inhibitor reduced IL‐28B release from HCVcc‐stimulated BDCA3+ DCs. In response to HCVcc or JFH‐1‐Huh7.5. 1, BDCA3+ DCs in healthy subjects with IL‐28B major (rs8099917, TT) released more IL‐28B than those with IL‐28B minor genotype (TG). Conclusion: Human BDCA3+ DCs, having a tendency to accumulate in the liver, recognize HCV in a CD81‐, endosome‐, and TRIF‐dependent manner and produce substantial amounts of IL‐28B/IFN‐λ3, the ability of which is superior in subjects with IL‐28B major genotype. (HEPATOLOGY 2013)
Perspectiva cualitativa-perspectiva cuantitativa en la metodología sociológica

En lugar de ser contradictorias, las aproximaciones cuantitativas y cualitativas pueden ser complementarias. La limitación precisa de los dos ámbitos dependerá del paradigma sociológico usado. El punto de vista del etnometodologista difiere del estructuralista o el positivista lógico. Tampoco hay más lógica entre la conexión que pueda establecerse entre los datos cualitativos y la generación de teorías que la que hay entre los conceptos operacionales, los datos cuantitativos y la contrastación de teorías. Sólo hay una relación empírico-histórica, que está sujeta a una modificación constante.
Monoclonal antibodies to recombinant Der f 2 and development of a two‐site ELISA sensitive to major Der f 2 isoallergen in Korea

Background: Der f 2 is a major sensitizing allergen in patients allergic to house dust mites worldwide. Isoforms of Der f 2 have been reported and are known to have different antigenicities. The aim of this study was to facilitate antigenic analysis and to develop an improved method for the detection of Der f 2 isoallergen, which is prevalent in Korea.
Network vector quantization

A network source code is an optimal source code for a network. To design network source codes, we require each node to have a single encoder, which jointly encodes all messages transmitted by that node, and a single decoder, which jointly decodes all messages arriving at that node. Given a distribution over the sources, the design of the network source code jointly optimizes all encoders and decoders to obtain the best performance with respect to a user-defined priority schedule over the rates and distortions of the system. In this paper we focus on fixed-rate codes and address the implementation of an existing design algorithm for optimal network vector quantizers. Implementing the design algorithm is not straightforward since each encoder must choose its reproduction based on the expected behavior of sources that are unknown to it. We describe a new implementation approach and demonstrate its performance on a three-node network. In addition, we extend the design algorithm to allow the decoder at each node to use side information (specifically, the messages that are to be encoded by the encoder at the same node).