Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Parallel group ICA for multimodal biomedical data analyses

Multiple types of signals or images are often collected from the same participants in biomedical research. Multimodal analyses have been shown to better capture the joint information. We propose a new method named parallel group independent component analysis (para-GICA) to address a special need for parallel processing of multimodal brain images or signals where it is desirable to partition into groups, for example to stratify by age. Para-GICA is designed to identify associated components between two modalities based on their loading variations in participants, while allowing components to show group specificity. Simulation using synthetic MRI and genetic data demonstrates that para-GICA is able to recover group specific brain networks and the connection between brain networks and genetic factors. A real data application on brain gray matter concentration and whiter matter fractional anisotropy images extracts associated gray matter and white matter components, and ageing induced spatial differences of the components.
The role of the human posterior parietal cortex in memory‐guided saccade execution: a double‐pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation study

The present study investigated the role of the right posterior parietal cortex (PPC) in the triggering of memory‐guided saccades by means of double‐pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (dTMS). Shortly before saccade onset, dTMS with different interstimulus intervals (ISI; 35, 50, 65 or 80 ms) was applied. For contralateral saccades, dTMS significantly decreased saccadic latency with an ISI of 80 ms and increased saccadic gain with an ISI of 65 and 80 ms. Together with the findings of a previous study during frontal eye field (FEF) stimulation the present results demonstrate similarities and differences between both regions in the execution of memory‐guided saccades. Firstly, dTMS facilitates saccade triggering in both regions, but the timing is different. Secondly, dTMS over the PPC provokes a hypermetria of contralateral memory‐guided saccades that was not observed during FEF stimulation. The results are discussed within the context of recent neurophysiological findings in monkeys.
Erythrothrombocytapheresis and Plasmathrombocytapheresis with Storage in T-sol of Platelets Collected by the New Amicus Cell Separator

The Amicus cell separator is the latest apparatus introduced into the international market for high-yield, low WBC contamination and short-procedure time thrombocytapheresis. In its original configuration the apparatus collects platelets for subsequent resuspension in plasma and no collection of PRBC can be carried out along with thrombocytapheresis. In this paper we present the results of plasma-thrombocytapheresis and erythro-thrombocytapheresis after the adaptation of the Amicus to the collection and storage of platelets in a non-plasma medium and the concurrent collection of PRBC. From our study it is concluded that PRBC collection doesn't modify the quality of the platelet product obtained from random donors (platelets pre-count 263×10e3/μl) in terms of yield which is 4.6×10e11 platelets, WBC contamination (1.3×10e5) or procedure time (63±26 min.). The quality of the platelet products is satisfactory too, as measured by aggregation induced by collagen and ristocetin or by the substantial stability of membrane glycoproteins (CD62 - 63 - 51 - 36 - 42B). The concentrate had an average content of 58.8 g of hemoglobin per bag, a final volume of 376 ± 13 ml, (after the addition of 100 ml of SAG-M) and a normal mechanic and osmotic fragility.
Visualization of Polarized Membrane Type 1 Matrix Metalloproteinase Activity in Live Cells by Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer Imaging*

Membrane type 1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) plays a critical role in cancer cell biology by proteolytically remodeling the extracellular matrix. Utilizing fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) imaging, we have developed a novel biosensor, with its sensing element anchoring at the extracellular surface of cell membrane, to visualize MT1-MMP activity dynamically in live cells with subcellular resolution. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) induced significant FRET changes in cancer cells expressing MT1-MMP, but not in MT1-MMP-deficient cells. EGF-induced FRET changes in MT1-MMP-deficient cells could be restored after reconstituting with wild-type MT1-MMP, but not MMP-2, MMP-9, or inactive MT1-MMP mutants. Deletion of the transmembrane domain in the biosensor or treatment with tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-2, a cell-impermeable MT1-MMP inhibitor, abolished the EGF-induced FRET response, indicating that MT1-MMP acts at the cell surface to generate FRET changes. In response to EGF, active MT1-MMP was directed to the leading edge of migrating cells along micropatterned fibronectin stripes, in tandem with the local accumulation of the EGF receptor, via a process dependent upon an intact cytoskeletal network. Hence, the MT1-MMP biosensor provides a powerful tool for characterizing the molecular processes underlying the spatiotemporal regulation of this critical class of enzymes.
Effects of volume expansion on cardiac output in the preterm infant

Clinical and echocardiography haemodynamic evaluations of response to volume expansion are described in 12 preterm neonates aged < 7days presenting without cardiac dysfunction and with a low cardiac output. They received 10% albumin solution (20 ml kg‐1) for 3h. Measurements were made before infusion, at volumes 5, 12. 5 and 20 ml kg‐1 and 1 h later. All infants increased significantly their cardiac output (CO) (from a median of 177 to 283 ml kg‐1 min‐1). The rise of CO decreased with the volume infused. The index of systemic vascular resistance (SVR = ratio of mean arterial pressure to the CO) decreased for the six patients without PDA (from 272 to 193 mmHg 1‐1 kg‐1 min‐1, p < 0. 05) showing that the hypovolemic preterm infant is able to shut down peripherally in response to hypovolemia. The four hypotensive infants responded by increasing mean arterial blood pressure (from 29 to 44 mmHg). Cutaneous refilling time decreased during infusion (from 6. 7 to 3. 8 s, p < 0. 01). One infant had an haemodynamically significant ductus arteriosus revealed by volume expansion, another one developed myocardial dysfunction.
CHIP Is a U-box-dependent E3 Ubiquitin Ligase

Proper folding of proteins (either newly synthesized or damaged in response to a stressful event) occurs in a highly regulated fashion. Cytosolic chaperones such as Hsc/Hsp70 are assisted by cofactors that modulate the folding machinery in a positive or negative manner. CHIP (carboxyl terminus ofHsc70-interacting protein) is such a cofactor that interacts with Hsc70 and, in general, attenuates its most well characterized functions. In addition, CHIP accelerates ubiquitin-dependent degradation of chaperone substrates. Using an in vitro ubiquitylation assay with recombinant proteins, we demonstrate that CHIP possesses intrinsic E3 ubiquitin ligase activity and promotes ubiquitylation. This activity is dependent on the carboxyl-terminal U-box. CHIP interacts functionally and physically with the stress-responsive ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme family UBCH5. Surprisingly, a major target of the ubiquitin ligase activity of CHIP is Hsc70 itself. CHIP ubiquitylates Hsc70, primarily with short, noncanonical multiubiquitin chains but has no appreciable effect on steady-state levels or half-life of this protein. This effect may have heretofore unanticipated consequences with regard to the chaperoning activities of Hsc70 or its ability to deliver substrates to the proteasome. These studies demonstrate that CHIP is a bona fide ubiquitin ligase and indicate that U-box-containing proteins may comprise a new family of E3s.
Agglomerates Containing Pantoprazole Microparticles: Modulating the Drug Release

Pantoprazole-loaded microparticles were prepared using a blend of Eudragit® S100 and Methocel® F4M. The accelerated stability was carried out during 6 months at 40°C and 75% relative humidity. In order to improve technological characteristics of the pantoprazole-loaded microparticles, soft agglomerates were prepared viewing an oral delayed release and gastro-resistant solid dosage form. The agglomeration was performed by mixing the pantoprazole microparticles with spray-dried mannitol/lecithin powders. The effects of factors such as the amount of lecithin in the spray-dried mannitol/lecithin powders and the ratio between pantoprazole microparticles and spray-dried mannitol/lecithin powders were evaluated. The pantoprazole-loaded microparticles present no significant degradation in 6 months. The agglomerates presented spherical shape, with smooth surface and very small quantity of non-agglomerated particles. The agglomerates presented different yields (35.5–79.0%), drug loading (58–101%), and mechanical properties (tensile strength varied from 44 to 69 mN mm−2), when the spray-dried mannitol/lecithin powders with different lecithin amounts were used. The biopharmaceutical characteristics of pantoprazole microparticles, i.e., their delayed-release properties, were not affected by the agglomeration process. The gastro-resistance of the agglomerates was affected by the amount of spray-dried mannitol/lecithin powders. The ratio of lecithin in the spray-dried mannitol/lecithin powders was the key factor in the agglomerate formation and in the drug release profiles. The agglomerates presenting better mechanical and biopharmaceutical characteristics were prepared with 1:2 (w/w) ratio of pantoprazole-loaded microparticles and mannitol/lecithin (80:20) powder.
RTS and 1/f noise in Ge nanowire transistors

Random telegraph signal (RTS) and 1/f noise is investigated in Ge nanowire field effect transistors with NiGe Ohmic contacts and a Si/SiO<inf>2</inf> back gate. Dominant, trap-related, two-level or multilevel RTS noise with relative amplitude in the 10–30% range is usually observed at drain currents below I<inf>D</inf>=1nA. For higher currents, 1/f noise becomes dominant. With the current increase, the normalized power spectral density (S<inf>I</inf>/I<inf>D</inf><sup>2</sup>) is first independent on ID and then drops as I<inf>D</inf><sup>−1</sup>. Considering dominant mobility fluctuations due to scattering on surface defects a Hooge parameter of 4×10<sup>−3</sup> has been estimated.
Design of efficient BLDC motor for DC operated mixer-grinder

In residential applications, DC operated appliances along with DC power distribution can provide considerable energy savings compared to the present AC system. In future, most of the domestic AC operated appliances will be replaced by efficient, DC operated appliances. Presently, domestic mixer-grinders employ universal motor, which has an efficiency of the order of 70%. This paper proposes a low cost ferrite magnet based BLDC motor as an efficient alternative to universal motor. The buried magnet type rotor design is generally preferred for such high speed application, however, it suffers from high armature reaction and increased core loss. Instead, design with surface mounted ring permanent magnet is found to be most suitable for this application. Effect of rotor overhang is investigated to improve the magnetic loading. The proposed BLDC motor has iron and copper losses of about 5.2%, thus resulting in high efficiency motor.
Strategic Information Acquisition and Transmission

This paper explores the implications of costly information acquisition in a strategic communication setting. We show that equilibrium decisions based on a biased expert's advice may be more precise than when information is directly acquired by the decision maker, even if the expert is not more efficient than the decision maker at acquiring information. This result bears important implications for organization design. Communication by an expert to a decision maker may often outperform delegation of the decision-making authority to the expert, as well as centralization by the decision maker of both information acquisition and decision-making authority.
The Economy-wide Impact of a Uniform Carbon Tax in ASEAN

The main goal of this study is to analyse the benefits and losses associated with cooperation among ASEAN members in mitigating their CO<sub xmlns:m="http://www.w3. org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3. org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3. org/1999/xlink">2</sub> emissions, particularly by implementing a uniform carbon tax across ASEAN. To achieve this goal, this paper uses a multi-country computable generals equilibrium model for ASEAN, known as the Inter-Regional System of Analysis for ASEAN model. This study finds that the implementation of a carbon tax scenario is an effective means of reducing carbon emissions in the region. However, this environmental gain could come at a cost in terms of GDP contraction and reduction in social welfare, i.e. household income. Nevertheless, Indonesia and Malaysia can potentially gain from the implementation of a carbon tax as it counteracts price distortions due to the existence of heavy energy subsidies in these two countries.
Handbook of Research on Serious Games as Educational, Business and Research Tools

Serious games are being developed at an exponential rate and have applications in management, education, defense, scientific research, health care, and emergency planning. In order to maximize the potential and profit of serious games, organizations, researchers, and developers must understand the opportunities and challenges presented by this new tool in all of its domains of application.Handbook of Research on Serious Games as Educational, Business and Research Tools: Development and Design collects research on the most recent technological developments in all fields of knowledge or disciplines of computer games development, including planning, design, development, marketing, business management, users and behavior. Including research on the technological aspects of serious games, user experience and serious games, serious games for social change, and business opportunities for serious games, this two-volume reference offers key perspectives on all aspects of social game design, development and implementation for researchers, managers, and computer game developers.
The influence of speed of approach and accuracy constraint on the maximal speed of the ball in soccer kicking

The kicking skill of the individual player is of great importance in soccer, and two parameters can be identified as being important in soccer kicking – achieving high speed of the ball and accuracy of performance. The purpose of the current study was to examine the influence of different speeds of approach on the maximal speed of the ball when kicking a stationary ball, and to examine the influence of accuracy of performance on the maximal speed of the ball relevant to a penalty kick. Seven male soccer players kicked for maximal speed of the ball (I) with a self‐selected angle and speed of approach, (II) with accuracy demand placed on the subjects, (III) with a straight‐line approach of different velocities ranging from 0 m/s to maximal running speed. The maximal speed of the ball was between 28.60 and 34.48 m/s. An accuracy constraint caused the speed of the ball to decline to 85%. With a straight‐line approach, the maximal speed of the ball was between 25.64 and 32.26 m/s. When the subjects approached the ball at speeds other than the self‐selected speed of approach, the speed of the ball declined, indicating a subject‐specific optimal speed of approach.
Analysis of Pilus Adhesins from Haemophilus influenzae Biotype IV Strains

ABSTRACT A subset of nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae(NTHI) biotype IV isolates from the human genital tract or from infected newborn infants forms a cryptic genospecies characterized by, among other features, the presence of peritrichous pili. The objective of this study was to determine the similarity of these pili to hemagglutinating, HifA- and HifE-containing pili expressed by respiratory H. influenzae isolates. For this analysis, the presence of hifA and hifE and their gene products in NTHI biotype IV strains was assessed, the binding ofH. influenzae biotype IV strains to human epithelial cells was characterized, possible genital tissue tropism of these isolates was explored, and the role of HifA- and HifE-possessing pili in the adhesion of NTHI biotype IV strains to human epithelial cells was determined. None of the six biotype IV NTHI isolates tested agglutinated human red blood cells, nor could they be enriched for hemagglutinating variants. Although hifA, which encodes the major structural subunit of hemagglutinating pili, andhifE, which encodes the tip adhesin of hemagglutinating pili, were detected by PCR from six and five, respectively, of the six biotype IV strains tested, neither HifA nor HifE (the gene products ofhifA and hifE) were detected in any of these strains by Western blot analysis using antisera that recognize HifA and HifE of respiratory strains. Transmission electron microscopy showed no surface pili on the two biotype IV H. influenzae isolates examined; strain 4162 containing an insertional mutation in hifA also showed no surface pili, whereas strain 1595 containing an insertional mutation inhifB showed pilus-like structures that were shorter and thicker than hemagglutinating pili of the respiratory strains AAr176 and M43. In enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, biotype IV strains adhered to 16HBE14o− and HEp-2 cells of respiratory origin as well as to ME180 and HeLa cells of genital origin. This adherence was not pilus specific, however, as GM-1, a known pilus receptor analog, did not inhibit binding of biotype IV strains to ME180, HEp-2, or HeLa cells, and GM-1 inhibition of binding to 16HBE14o− cells did not correlate with the presence ofhifE. While both nonpiliated variants andhifA and hifB (encoding the pilus chaperone) mutants of respiratory strain AAr176 showed reduced binding (64 to 87% of that of piliated AAr176) to 16HBE14o− and ME180 cells, hifA and hifB mutants of the biotype IV strains showed minimal reduction in binding to these cell lines (91 to 98% of that of wild-type strains). Thus, although biotype IV H. influenzae isolates of the cryptic genospecies possess the genes that code for HifA- and HifE-containing hemagglutinating pili, epithelial cell adherence exhibited by these strains is not mediated by expression of hemagglutinating pili.
Directed Hungary Greedy Algorithm for Biomolecular Networks Alignment

There are many algorithms for conducting alignments between undirected biomolecular networks (UBNs), including protein-protein interaction networks (PINs). However, none of them are specialized for directed biomolecular networks (DBNs), such as gene regulatory networks (GRNs) and metabolic networks (MNs). It is challenging and meaningful to achieve optimal mapping in DBN alignment. In this article, we propose a new algorithm, referred to as Directed Hungary Greedy Algorithm (DHGA), for the alignment of DBNs. DHGA focuses on a directed graph and catches information on the direction of edges. Furthermore, both the homology of biomolecules and the similarities of the network topologies are taken into consideration. In DHGA, expert knowledge can be brought in to pre-match biomolecules. We verified the effectiveness and robustness of DHGA using simulation datasets. Our experiments demonstrate that the performance of DHGA is clearly improved when expert knowledge is introduced. Moreover, we conducted DHGA on two metabolic pathway maps from KEGG and identified 21 pairs of similar cell cycle regulatory relationships between human and yeast, 12 of which were supported by references indicating that the paired relationships have the same function.
Superpixel generation for SAR images based on DBSCAN clustering and probabilistic patch-based similarity

In this paper, we propose a superpixel generation method for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images by using the density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN) algorithm. The pixels is firstly grouped to generate initial superpixels by using probabilistic patch-based (PPB) dissimilarity. Then, small clusters are combined into their neighbor superpixels to get final results through a distance measurement defined by statistical models. Experiments on simulated data sets exhibit high boundary adherence of the generated superpixels and demonstrate the availability and efficiency of the proposed method.
HLogo: A parallel Haskell variant of NetLogo

Agent-based Modeling (ABM) has become quite popular to the simulation community for its usability and wide area of applicability. However, speed is not usually a trait that ABM tools are characterized of attaining. This paper presents HLogo, a parallel variant of the NetLogo ABM framework, that seeks to increase the performance of ABM by utilizing Software Transactional Memory and multi-core CPUs, all the while maintaining the user friendliness of NetLogo. HLogo is implemented as a Domain Specific Language embedded in the functional language Haskell, which means that it also inherits Haskell's features, such as its static typing.
Identification and characterization of the minimal 5 =-regulatory region of the human riboflavin transporter-3 ( SLC 52 A 3 ) in intestinal epithelial cells

Ghosal A, Sabui S, Said HM. Identification and characterization of the minimal 5=-regulatory region of the human riboflavin transporter-3 (SLC52A3) in intestinal epithelial cells. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 308: C189–C196, 2015. First published November 12, 2014; doi:10.1152/ajpcell.00342. 2014. —The human riboflavin (RF) transporter-3 (product of the SLC52A3 gene) plays an important role in intestinal RF absorption. Our aims in this study were to identify the minimal 5=-regulatory region of the SLC52A3 gene and the regulatory element(s) involved in its activity in intestinal epithelial cells, as well as to confirm promoter activity and establish physiological relevance in vivo in transgenic mice. With the use of transiently transfected human intestinal epithelial HuTu 80 cells and 5=-deletion analysis, the minimal SLC52A3 promoter was found to be encoded between 199 and 8 bp (using the start of the transcription start site as position 1). Although several putative cis-regulatory elements were predicted in this region, only the stimulating protein-1 (Sp1) binding site (at position 74/ 71 bp) was found to play a role in promoter activity, as indicated by mutational analysis. Binding of Sp1 to the minimal SLC52A3 promoter was demonstrated by means of EMSA and supershift assays and by chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis. Studies with Drosophila SL2 cells (which lack Sp activity) confirmed the importance of Sp1 in driving the activity of the SLC52A3 minimal promoter; they further showed that Sp3 can also do the activation. Finally, with the use of luciferase gene fusions, the activity of the cloned SLC52A3 promoter was confirmed in vivo in transgenic mice. These studies report, for the first time, on the identification and characterization of the SLC52A3 promoter and also demonstrate the importance of Sp1 in regulating its activity in intestinal epithelial cells.