Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evidence for local transmission and reactivation of tuberculosis in the Toronto Somali community

To further understand the molecular and clinical epidemiology of tuberculosis in the Toronto Somali community, molecular fingerprinting using IS6110 restriction fragment length polymorphism typing or spoligotyping was performed on M. tuberculosis isolates obtained from Somali-Canadians who developed active disease from 1997 to 2001. Molecular fingerprints were further compared with those obtained from Somalis residing in Denmark. 142 Somali TB patients were reported, for whom, 80 isolates were fingerprinted. 25% of isolates were clustered. Three clusters involving 2 patients each were identified out of the17 isolates that underwent spoligotyping. Of the 63 isolates typed by the IS6110 method, 6 clusters (4 of 2 patients and 2 of 3 patients) were identified. 57% of these isolates were found to be identical to Danish isolates. Our study suggests that a combination of reactivation and recent transmission are responsible for the high incidence rates of tuberculosis in this community. We recommend that ongoing surveillance and treatment programmes be directed towards this community
[Correlation between MALDI-TOF Vitek-MSTM system and conventional identification methods of gastrointestinal infection causing bacteria].

OBJECTIVE Rapid identification of pathogens is essential for the diagnosis of gastrointestinal infections. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry has shown to be effective and fast for the identification of microorganisms. The objective of this study was to evaluate the correlation between Vitek-MSTM and conventional methods for bacterial identification causing gastrointestinal infection. METHODS A total of 329 gastrointestinal pathogens were identified using Vitek-MSTM (v2 SARAMIS MS -ID, bioMérieux, Marcy-I´Étoile, France) and routine diagnostic methods simultaneously. In cases of discrepancy 16SrRNA gene sequencing was performed. RESULTS The correlation between Vitek-MSTM and diagnostic methods was 100% except for Yersinia enterocolitica (94.1%), Helicobacter pylori (10%) and Aeromonas veronii (0 %). CONCLUSIONS Vitek-MSTM is a quick and useful method for identification of enterophatogenic bacteria. It is necessary to improve the performance of the system for the identification of H. pylori and A. veronii.
Left Endomyocardial Fibrosis with Severe Mitral Insufficiency; The Case for Mitral Valve Repair. A Report of 4 Cases

Left ventricular endomyocardial fibrosis accompanied by severe mitral insufficiency occurring in 4 adolescent African patients is reported. Mitral valve repair was successfully performed in all 4 cases including annuloplasty in 3 and chordal shortening in one. Short-term follow-up of up to 10 months indicated substantial clinical improvement and decrease of the cardiothoracic ratio in all. It is emphasized that mitral valve repair appears to be the method of choice in treating mitral incompetence in the localized form of endomyocardial fibrosis, where endocardiectomy is not required in the area of the papillary muscles.
THE FIFTH DECADE

It turned 40 years in 2007 since in Lithuania it have been started to publish series of studies of Civil Engineering. • Lithuanian Collection of Mechanics (No. 1–33, 1967–1994; ISSN 0460-2242, Editor prof. A. Čyras) • Reinforced Concrete Structures (No. 1–16, 1967– 1989, ISSN 0372-3070, Editor prof. A. Kudzys) • Building Materials and Structures (No. 1–9, 1971– 1981, ISSN 0202-3210, Editor prof. G. Marčiukaitis) • Building Structures (No. 10–20, 1983–1995, ISSN 0208-2500, Editor prof. G. Marčiukaitis) • Building Economy and Organization (No. 1–17, 1971–1990, ISSN 0202-3210, Editor prof. K. Antanavičius). • Building Economy and Management (No. 18, 1993, ISSN 0208-2497, Editor prof. K. Antanavičius). • Construction Technology and Management (No. 1– 7, 1984–1993, Editor Prof. E. K. Zavadskas) • Structural Repair and Strengthening (No. 1–2, 1992 and 1995, Editor Prof. Z. Kamaitis)
Stability Analysis of Systems With Generalized Frequency Variables

A class of large-scale, multi-agent systems with decentralized information structures can be represented by a linear system with a generalized frequency variable. In this paper, we investigate fundamental properties of such systems, stability, and D-stability, exploiting the dynamical structure. Specifically, we first show that such system is stable if and only if the eigenvalues of the connectivity matrix lie in a region of the complex plane specified by the generalized frequency variable. The stability region is characterized in terms of polynomial inequalities, leading to an algebraic stability condition. We also show that the stability test can be reduced to a linear matrix inequality (LMI) feasibility problem involving generalized Lyapunov inequalities and that the LMI result can be extended for robust stability analysis of systems subject to uncertainties in the interconnection matrix. We then extend the result to D-stability analysis to meet practical requirements, and provide a unified treatment of D-stability conditions for ease of implementation. Finally, numerical examples illustrate utility of the stability conditions for the analysis of biological oscillators and for the design of cooperative stabilizers.
Responsiveness of clonal limb bud cell lines to bone morphogenetic protein 2 reveals a sequential relationship between cartilage and bone cell phenotypes

There is growing evidence to suggest that BMPs are among the signals necessary to create the embryonic skeleton, but how these regulatory molecules enter the pathways of embryonic bone formation remains to be defined. The earliest steps of endochondral bone formation, consisting of mesenchymal condensation and chondrogenesis, have been shown to result directly from BMP‐2 action. To determine whether the transition from chondrogenesis to osteogenesis occurring later in endochondral bone formation is also the result of BMP activity, we tested the effects of BMP‐2 on immortalized endochondral skeletal progenitor cells derived from mouse limb bud. The cell lines established by this process were found to fall into three general categories: undifferentiated skeletal progenitor cells, which in the presence of BMP‐2 first express cartilage matrix proteins and then switch to production of bone matrix proteins; prechondroblast‐like cells that constitutively express a subset of markers associated with chondrogenesis and, in the presence of BMP‐2, shut off synthesis of these molecules and are induced to produce bone matrix molecules; and osteoblast‐like cells that are not significantly affected by BMP‐2 treatment. These data suggest that BMP‐2 initiates the differentiation of limb bud cells into cells of both the cartilage and bone lineages in a sequential manner, making BMP‐2 a potent regulator of skeletal cell differentiation.
A comparison of two-phase three-wire shunt compensation strategies

This work describes and compares two compensation strategies for shunt active filters in circuits comprised by two phases and neutral derived from three-phase grids. In the “double single-phase strategy”, the active filter is controlled as a superposition of two single-phase filters. In the other approach, called “zero neutral current strategy”, the active filter is controlled to mitigate neutral currents. Both strategies are described and experimental results are presented to show the characteristics of each compensation strategy.
State-of-the-art in open data research: Insights from existing literature and a research agenda

ABSTRACT With the proliferation of mobile network, mobile devices, and Web of things, many industries, including government departments, private firms, and research communities, offer more transparency through releasing data. The resultant effort offers a new paradigm—open data—still at infancy stage. Despite the rising research initiatives explaining its benefits and challenges and demonstrating policy conception and project details, no systematic survey of extant literature on open data has been performed. Hence, there is need for studies that examine open data on a holistic canvas, assess the current status of research, and propose future directions. Here, we conduct a review of extant literature to ascertain the current state of research on open data, and present an extensive exploration for 11 types of analyses: contexts, perspectives, level of analysis, research methods, the drivers, benefits, barriers, theory/model development, the most productive journals, authors, and institutions. Additionally, we present several future research agendas. This study also explains the implications to assist researchers, policymakers, and journal editors.
Evaluation of Noise Reduction Methods for Sentence Recognition by Mandarin-Speaking Cochlear Implant Listeners

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to (1) assess the contributions of single-channel noise-reduction (NR) algorithms for improving speech intelligibility for Mandarin-speaking cochlear implant (CI) listeners and (2) examine whether different algorithms perform differently in various environmental noises. Design: Mandarin sentences were corrupted by three types of maskers, including speech-shaped noise, babble, and car noise, at +10, +5, or 0 dB signal to noise ratios and processed by four single-channel NR algorithms. The processed sentences were played to seven Mandarin-speaking CI patients for recognition. All patients used their own clinical speech processors in the testing. Results: Significant improvements in speech intelligibility were observed with most noise-suppression methods. Further analysis indicated that NR algorithms could effectively preserve the phonetic boundaries, which are critical for speech perception, and also the fundamental frequency (F0) representation was moderately improved by the NR methods. Conclusions: The present study demonstrated that although most single-channel NR algorithms could effectively improve speech recognition in noise for Mandarin-speaking CI listeners, these algorithms perform differently in various environmental noises, and it would be beneficial for the CI sound processor to integrate NR methods tailored to individual types of noises for the best cost and benefit tradeoff. In addition, the intelligibility improvement may be attributed to the restoration of acoustic landmark information and the improved representation of temporal F0 cues.
Book reivew: Lisp Lore: A Guide to Programming the Lisp Machine by: Hank Bromley Kluwer (Academic Publishers)

Having recently (over the past two years) become a user of a Lisp machine I had faced the task of becoming proficient on the machine without much outside help. The massive set of hard copy documentation has most of the answers, somewhere, but finding them without knowing the answer can be difficult. Worse, not knowing that easy methods exist for many operations, you never even look for them. The introductory material gets you started, byt the advanced techniques remain hidden in the manuals. This book started as a set of notes for an informal course given by the author at AT&amp;T Bell Labs and grew into an interesting introduction to the Lisp Machine for someone who already knows Lisp fairly well.
Adenoviral‐mediated expression of functional na+ channel β1 subunits tagged with a yellow fluorescent protein

Voltage‐gated sodium (Na+) channels typically contain a pore‐forming α subunit and one or two auxiliary β subunits. Although initial characterization of known α and β subunits has been facilitated by expression in heterologous cells, to understand fully the differences between individual subunits and the functional consequences of selective subunit expression, there is a need to acutely manipulate expression in cells that endogenously express Na+ channels. To this end, we have constructed a recombinant adenovirus containing a cDNA for a mouse Na+ channel β1 subunit with a yellow fluorescent protein fused to its C‐terminus (Ad‐β1‐EYFP), and with fluorescence microscopy detected β1‐EYFP expression in primary cerebellar neurons and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells upon transduction with this adenovirus, including expression in the plasma membrane. Consistent with this, patch clamp recordings confirmed that Na+ currents in CHO cells expressing mouse Nav1.4 α subunits were appropriately modified by the viral‐mediated expression of β1‐EYFP subunits. The results demonstrate that adenoviral‐mediated gene delivery can be used effectively to express epitope‐tagged Na+ channel subunits with properties similar to wild‐type subunits, and suggest that Ad‐β1‐EYFP will be a useful reagent for investigating Na+ channels in a variety of excitable cell types, including neurons. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Experimental evidence for a link among cupredoxins: Red, blue, and purple copper transformations in nitrous oxide reductase

The cupredoxin fold is an important motif in numerous proteins that are central to several critical cellular processes ranging from aerobic and anaerobic respiration to catalysis and iron homeostasis. Three types of copper sites have been found to date within cupredoxin folds: blue type 1 (T1) copper, red type 2 (T2) copper, and purple CuA. Although as much as 90% sequence difference has been observed among some members of this superfamily of proteins that span several kingdoms, sequence alignment and phylogenic trees strongly suggest an evolutionary link and common ancestry. However, experimental evidence for such a link has been lacking. We report herein the observation of pH-dependent transformation between blue T1 copper, red T2 copper, and the native purple CuA centers of nitrous oxide reductase (N2OR) from Paracoccus denitrificans. The blue and red copper centers form initially before they are transformed into purple CuA center. This transformation process is pH-dependent, with lower pH resulting in fewer trapped T1 and T2 coppers and faster transition to purple CuA. These observations suggest that the purple CuA site contains the essential elements of T1 and T2 copper centers and that the CuA center is preferentially formed at low pH. Therefore, this work provides an underlying link between the various cupredoxin copper sites and possible experimental evidence in vitro for the evolutionary relationship between the cupredoxin proteins. The findings also lend physiological relevance to cupredoxin site biosynthesis.
Modeling substrate binding in Thermus thermophilus isopropylmalate dehydrogenase

The Thermus thermophilus 3‐isopropylmalate dehydrogenase (IPMDH) and Escherichia coli isocitrate dehydrogenase (ICDH) are two functionally and evolutionarily related enzymes with distinct substrate specificities. To understand the determinants of substrate specificities of the two proteins, the substrate and coenzyme in IPMDH were docked into their respective binding sites based on the published structure for apo IPMDH and its sequence and structural homology to ICDH. This modeling study suggests that (1) the substrate and coenzyme (NAD) binding modes of IPMDH are significantly different from those of ICDH, (2) the interactions between the substrates and coenzymes help explain the differences in substrate specificities of IPMDH and ICDH, and (3) binding of the substrate and coenzyme should induce a conformational change in the structure of IPMDH.
Températures, erreurs matérielles et GPU

Les co-processeurs massivement paralleles offrent une grande puissance de calcul en integrant un nombre croissant de coeurs. De plus, les technologies de gravure sont de plus en plus denses, les frequences plus elevees et les voltages plus faibles. La combinaison de ces facteurs tend a augmenter significativement la probabilite d'erreurs de calcul dues aux erreurs physiques. Dans cet article, nous presentons les resultats d'experiences caracterisant l'impact du vieillissement des cartes de type GPU NVIDIA sur l'apparition d'erreurs physiques. En se basant sur une plateforme logicielle de micro-tests ecrit en OpenCL, nous sollicitons de maniere intensive et ciblee certains elements de l'architecture pour caracteriser les eventuelles erreurs de calcul. Afin d'accelerer le processus de vieillissement et donc d'apparition d'erreurs, nous utilisons une technique standard, consistant a faire fonctionner les processeurs a des temperatures elevees. Ce papier introduit les phenomenes physiques et l'etat de l'art lies aux methodes de caracterisation des erreurs physiques. Nous presentons ensuite notre adaptation de ces protocoles au cas des GPU NVIDIA ainsi que nos premiers resultats. Ces derniers montrent comment et ou ces erreurs se produisent.
Toll-Like Receptor (TLR)2 and TLR4 in Human Peripheral Blood Granulocytes: A Critical Role for Monocytes in Leukocyte Lipopolysaccharide Responses1

Leukocyte responsiveness to LPS is dependent upon CD14 and receptors of the Toll-like receptor (TLR) family. Neutrophils respond to LPS, but conflicting data exist regarding LPS responses of eosinophils and basophils, and expression of TLRs at the protein level in these granulocyte lineages has not been fully described. We examined the expression of TLR2, TLR4, and CD14 and found that monocytes expressed relatively high levels of cell surface TLR2, TLR4, and CD14, while neutrophils also expressed all three molecules, but at low levels. In contrast, basophils expressed TLR2 and TLR4 but not CD14, while eosinophils expressed none of these proteins. Tested in a range of functional assays including L-selectin shedding, CD11b up-regulation, IL-8 mRNA generation, and cell survival, neutrophils responded to LPS, but eosinophils and basophils did not. In contrast to previous data, we found, using monocyte depletion by negative magnetic selection, that neutrophil responses to LPS were heavily dependent upon the presence of a very low level of monocytes, and neutrophil survival induced by LPS at 22 h was monocyte dependent. We conclude that LPS has little role in the regulation of peripheral blood eosinophil and basophil function, and that, even in neutrophils, monocytes orchestrate many previously observed leukocyte LPS response patterns.
A hybrid nanomemristor/transistor logic circuit capable of self-programming

Memristor crossbars were fabricated at 40 nm half-pitch, using nanoimprint lithography on the same substrate with Si metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOS FET) arrays to form fully integrated hybrid memory resistor (memristor)/transistor circuits. The digitally configured memristor crossbars were used to perform logic functions, to serve as a routing fabric for interconnecting the FETs and as the target for storing information. As an illustrative demonstration, the compound Boolean logic operation (A AND B) OR (C AND D) was performed with kilohertz frequency inputs, using resistor-based logic in a memristor crossbar with FET inverter/amplifier outputs. By routing the output signal of a logic operation back onto a target memristor inside the array, the crossbar was conditionally configured by setting the state of a nonvolatile switch. Such conditional programming illuminates the way for a variety of self-programmed logic arrays, and for electronic synaptic computing.
Complex current-mode control used for linear-assisted DC/DC converters

Linear-assisted DC/DC converters are structures that allow to take advantages of the two classic alternatives in the design of power supply systems: Voltage linear regulators (classic NPN topology or LDO - low dropout -) and switching DC/DC converters. This paper shows the proposal of a modified current-mode one-cycle control for linear-assisted DC/DC converters. The modified current-mode one-cycle control technique is proposed in order to obtain the duty cycle of the linear-assisted converter switch. The proposed structure can provide an output with suitable load and line regulations. The paper shows the design of the proposed modified current-mode one-cycle linear-assisted regulator and simulation results that validate the aforementioned proposal.
Social Network De-Anonymization and Privacy Inference with Knowledge Graph Model

Social network data is widely shared, transferred and published for research purposes and business interests, but it has raised much concern on users’ privacy. Even though users’ identity information is always removed, attackers can still de-anonymize users with the help of auxiliary information. To protect against de-anonymization attack, various privacy protection techniques for social networks have been proposed. However, most existing approaches assume specific and restrict network structure as background knowledge and ignore semantic level prior belief of attackers, which are not always realistic in practice and do not apply to arbitrary privacy scenarios. Moreover, the privacy inference attack in the presence of semantic background knowledge is barely investigated. To address these shortcomings, in this work, we introduce knowledge graphs to explicitly express arbitrary prior belief of the attacker for any individual user. The processes of de-anonymization and privacy inference are accordingly formulated based on knowledge graphs. Our experiment on data of real social networks shows that knowledge graphs can power de-anonymization and inference attacks, and thus increase the risk of privacy disclosure. This suggests the validity of knowledge graphs as a general effective model of attackers’ background knowledge for social network attack and privacy preservation.
Reducing User Avoidance of Sponsored Search Results: The Effects of Social Influence Cues

Whether and how social influence cues can reduce users’ avoidance of sponsored search results (SSRs) remain a puzzling and critical issue in IS research. This study employed an implicit theory perspective to investigate the effects of social influence cues on SSR avoidance. This theoretical perspective suggests that in e-commerce context, SSR avoidance is driven by various implicit theories of consumers regarding sponsored products (e.g., “sponsored products must be of low popularity or quality”). Through a laboratory experiment, we observed a matching effect that a social influence cue could reduce users’ behavioral and psychological SSR avoidance when the cue (e.g., high ratings on the quality of sponsored products) directly addressed the active implicit theory (e.g., a concern on the product quality). In addition, social influence cues could also reduce consumers’ attentional SSR avoidance. This study advances our understanding of the effects of social influence cues on consumers’ judgment and behavior.
Congenital Tetragametic Blood Chimerism Explains a Case of Questionable Paternity *

Abstract: Human chimerism is the presence of ≥2 cell populations in one person that contain genetic material from more than one zygote. Chimerism may be either acquired by transfusion or transplantation of donor cells, or congenital arising from embryo fusion or dizygotic twin–twin transfusion. We encountered a 4‐year‐old boy with developmental hip dysplasia whose preoperative (serologic) blood group was AB, but whose red cell agglutination was atypical (“mixed field”) and caused us to study the patient’s parents’ ABO blood groups. Parental blood groups (AB and O) suggested possible nonparentage. An alternative explanation of the findings was that the child was chimeric or mosaic. Molecular cloning and genotyping of his ABO locus in leukocytes revealed two heterozygous genotypes: A102/O01 and B101/O01. Other loci, each of which possessed three distinct alleles, unambiguously showed transmission of two alleles from either the child’s mother (e.g., HLA‐A) or two alleles from the child’s father (e.g., D8S1179). Findings indicate that the child is a tetragametic chimera.