Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Osteoblasts Derived from Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells form Calcified Structures in Scaffolds Both In Vitro and In Vivo

Reprogramming somatic cells into an ESC‐like state, or induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, has emerged as a promising new venue for customized cell therapies. In this study, we performed directed differentiation to assess the ability of murine iPS cells to differentiate into bone, cartilage, and fat in vitro and to maintain an osteoblast phenotype on a scaffold in vitro and in vivo. Embryoid bodies derived from murine iPS cells were cultured in differentiation medium for 8–12 weeks. Differentiation was assessed by lineage‐specific morphology, gene expression, histological stain, and immunostaining to detect matrix deposition. After 12 weeks of expansion, iPS‐derived osteoblasts were seeded in a gelfoam matrix followed by subcutaneous implantation in syngenic imprinting control region (ICR) mice. Implants were harvested at 12 weeks, histological analyses of cell and mineral and matrix content were performed. Differentiation of iPS cells into mesenchymal lineages of bone, cartilage, and fat was confirmed by morphology and expression of lineage‐specific genes. Isolated implants of iPS cell‐derived osteoblasts expressed matrices characteristic of bone, including osteocalcin and bone sialoprotein. Implants were also stained with alizarin red and von Kossa, demonstrating mineralization and persistence of an osteoblast phenotype. Recruitment of vasculature and microvascularization of the implant was also detected. Taken together, these data demonstrate functional osteoblast differentiation from iPS cells both in vitro and in vivo and reveal a source of cells, which merit evaluation for their potential uses in orthopedic medicine and understanding of molecular mechanisms of orthopedic disease. STEM CELLS 2011;29:206–216
Determinant inequalities via information theory

Simple inequalities from information theory prove Hadamard's inequality and some of its gen- eralizations. It is also proven that the determinant ofa positive definite matrix is log-concave and that the ratio ofthe determinant ofthe matrix to the determinant of its principal minor g, I/Ig,- 1 is concave, establishing the concavity of minimum mean squared error in linear prediction. For Toeplitz matrices, the normalized determinant g, TM is shown to decrease with n.
The optimal debulking after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in ovarian cancer: proposal based on interval look during upfront surgery setting treatment.

OBJECTIVE The optimal goal of interval debulking surgery (IDS) following neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) remains undefined. The aim of this study was to determine the optimal goal of IDS following NAC on the basis of long-term survival by the disease status at the end of interval look surgery (ILS) or IDS during the treatment in the setting of upfront primary debulking surgery (PDS). METHODS From January 1986 through December 2000, we performed treatment in the setting of upfront PDS in 128 patients with Stage III/IV epithelial ovarian cancer. Sixty-six patients with residual disease (RD) at PDS underwent interval surgery (IS) such as ILS or IDS; 4 patients after two cycles of chemotherapy and 62 after three or more cycles. We investigated how disease status at the end of IS was associated with overall survival (OS). RESULTS The 5-year OS rates for no, minimal and gross RD were not available (n = 0), 67% (n = 3) and 0% (n = 1) after two cycles, and 47% (n = 42), 0% (n = 18) and 0% (n = 2) after three or more cycles, respectively. No visible tumors at the end of IS after three or more cycles of chemotherapy were necessary for 5-year survival. CONCLUSIONS If the optimal goal of IDS is defined as the surgery that is expected to result in long-term survival in the NAC setting treatment, our data on the assessment of peritoneal findings during the upfront PDS setting treatment suggest that only complete resection with no RD could be the optimal goal of IDS in the NAC setting treatment.
Exploring Local Optima in Schematic Layout

In search-based graph drawing methods there are typically a number of parameters that control the search algorithm. These parameters do not affect the ? tness function, but nevertheless have an impact on the ? nal layout. One such search method is hill climbing, and, in the context of schematic layout, we explore how varying three parameters (grid spacing, the starting distance of allowed node movement and the number of iterations) affects the resultant diagram. Although we cannot characterize schematics completely and so cannot yet automatically assign parameters for diagrams, we observe that when parameters are set to values that increase the search space, they also tend to improve the ? nal layout. We come to the conclusion that hillclimbing methods for schematic layout are more prone to reaching local optima than had previously been expected and that a wider search, as described in this paper, can mitigate this, so resulting in a better layout.
Synthesis of Polytypic Gallium Phosphide and Gallium Arsenide Nanowires and Their Application as Photodetectors

One-dimensional semiconductor nanowires often contain polytypic structures, owing to the co-existence of different crystal phases. Therefore, understanding the properties of polytypic structures is of paramount importance for many promising applications in high-performance nanodevices. Herein, we synthesized nanowires of typical III–V semiconductors, namely, gallium phosphide and gallium arsenide by using the chemical vapor transport method. The growth directions ([111] and [211]) could be switched by changing the experimental conditions, such as H2 gas flow; thus, various polytypic structures were produced simultaneously in a controlled manner. The nanobeam electron diffraction technique was employed to obtain strain mapping of the nanowires by visualizing the polytypic structures along the [111] direction. Micro-Raman spectra for individual nanowires were collected, confirming the presence of wurtzite phase in the polytypic nanowires. Further, we fabricated the photodetectors using the single nanowires, and the polytypic structures are shown to decrease the photosensitivity. Our systematic analysis provides important insight into the polytypic structures of nanowires.
Public Policy and Success of Business Start-ups in Germany # 143 RUHR

In this paper, we evaluate the success of publicly supported business start-ups by comparing the outcomes of various support measures. Our question is: do business starter get what they need? Since we do not know the needs of the founders we analyse (1) who received which kind of support (fi nancial support, individual coaching, general information) and (2) which kind of support is successful for whom with regard to his/her job history (employed, unemployed or being not part of the job market). While start-up measures possibly could aim at diff erent kinds of eff ects, our focus is on the eff ect on subsequent fi rm growth. The analysis is based on a survey conducted in 2005. The sample was drawn from a highly heterogeneous population of business start-ups. By using propensity score exact matching for success measurement we try to capture those diff erences. JEL Classifi cation: J23, M13, C14
A Gas-phase Electrochemical Reactor for Carbon Dioxide Reduction Back to Liquid Fuels

We discussed here on a novel approach to recycle CO2 back to liquid fuels by using nanostructured carbon-based materials (doped with suitable metal nanoparticles) as electrocatalysts. This approach is based on the development of a new photo-electrocatalytic (PEC) reactor, working in gas phase, which is quite different from the conventional reactors that operate typically in aqueous slurry and/or in batch. Gas phase operation, under solvent-less conditions, has many advantages (easy recovery of the products, no problems of CO2 solubility, etc.) with respect to liquid phase. The reaction mechanism is also quite different and longer chains of products can be obtained. In particular we investigated the competition of the side reaction of H2 formation by water electrolysis (which is unavoidable in such kinds of systems) with the CO2 reduction process. The understanding of this competitive reaction is very significant in order to maximize the process performances. Moreover the capability to develop advanced nanostructured electrodes, by modulating their properties during the synthesis, allowed to improve the efficiency of the CO2 reduction process, enhancing the productivity and tuning the selectivity towards higher chain hydrocarbons and other chemicals. The CO2 reduction to liquid fuels by solar energy represents an attractive solution which may contribute to the alternative use of clean and renewable sources to cope with the depletion of fossil fuels. The target is to develop a sort of “artificial leaf” which may collect the solar energy as the nature does, by capturing directly CO2 and converting it back to fuels.
Electrochemical Exfoliation of Pencil Graphite Core by Salt Electrolyte

Exfoliation of pencil graphite core throughout electrolysis process is considered as one of the simple and friendly method to synthesis graphene from graphite. In this research, sodium sulphate (Na2SO4) was used as an electrolyte to investigate the effect on pencil graphite core with different grades for exfoliation process. Pencil graphite core was applied as both anode and cathode electrodes and exposed in 0.1 mol of Na2SO4 solution and followed with sonication in DMF solution. The morphology of exfoliated graphite was characterized by FESEM and TEM image. It was found that higher pencil grade produced more exfoliated powder as compared to lower grade pencil, and morphology investigation revealed that the exfoliated powder can produced graphene in nanoplatelet forms.
Neural network learning and expert systems

Neural Network Learning and Expert Systems is the first book to present a unified and in-depth development of neural network learning algorithms and neural network expert systems. Especially suitable for students and researchers in computer science, engineering, and psychology, this text and reference provides a systematic development of neural network learning algorithms from a computational perspective, coupled with an extensive exploration of neural network expert systems which shows how the power of neural network learning can be harnessed to generate expert systems automatically. Features include a comprehensive treatment of the standard learning algorithms (with many proofs), along with much original research on algorithms and expert systems. Additional chapters explore constructive algorithms, introduce computational learning theory, and focus on expert system applications to noisy and redundant problems. For students there is a large collection of exercises, as well as a series of programming projects that lead to an extensive neural network software package. All of the neural network models examined can be implemented using standard programming languages on a microcomputer.
Low-Luminosity GRB 060218: A Collapsar Jet from a Neutron Star, Leaving a Magnetar as a Remnant?

The gamma-ray burst (GRB) 060218 has a luminosity ~105 times lower than that of typical long GRBs and is associated with a supernova (SN). The radio afterglow displays no jet break, so this burst might arise from a mildly relativistic spherical outflow produced by the SN shock sweeping the stellar surface. Since this model is energetically difficult, we propose that the radio afterglow is produced by a nonrelativistic phase of an initially collimated outflow (jet). Our jet model is supported by the detection of optical linear polarization in the SN component. We also show analytically that the jet can penetrate a progenitor star. We analyzed the observational data of the prompt emission of this burst and obtained a smooth power-law light curve which might last longer than 106 s. This behavior contrasts with the long intermittent activities of the X-ray flares of typical GRBs, implying that the central engine of this burst is different from those of typical GRBs. This argument is consistent with the analysis of the SN component of this burst, which suggests that the progenitor star was less massive and collapsed to a neutron star instead of a black hole. The collimation-corrected event rate of such low-luminosity GRBs is estimated to be ~10 times higher than that of typical long GRBs, and they might form a different GRB population: low-luminosity GRBs are produced by mildly relativistic jets from neutron stars at the collapses of massive stars, while typical long GRBs are produced by highly relativistic jets from black holes. We suggest that the central engine of GRB 060218 is a pulsar (or a magnetar) with initial rotation period P0 ~ 10 ms and magnetic field B ~ 1016 G. A giant flare from the magnetar might be observed in future.
Serendipitous recommendations via innovators

To realize services that provide serendipity, this paper assesses the surprise of each user when presented recommendations. We propose a recommendation algorithm that focuses on the search time that, in the absence of any recommendation, each user would need to find a desirable and novel item by himself. Following the hypothesis that the degree of user's surprise is proportional to the estimated search time, we consider both innovators' preferences and trends for identifying items with long estimated search times. To predict which items the target user is likely to purchase in the near future, the candidate items, this algorithm weights each item that innovators have purchased and that reflect one or more current trends; it then lists them in order of decreasing weight. Experiments demonstrate that this algorithm outputs recommendations that offer high user/item coverage, a low Gini coefficient, and long estimated search times, and so offers a high degree of recommendation serendipitousness.
Diabetes does not alter mortality or hemostatic and inflammatory responses in patients with severe sepsis*

Objective: Diabetes patients have an increased risk of sepsis. Several inflammatory and coagulant pathways that are activated during sepsis are also up-regulated in diabetes patients. We tested our a priori hypothesis that the presence of diabetes adversely affects the outcome of sepsis. Design: Retrospective analysis of a previously published study. Setting: Intensive care units of 164 centers in 11 countries. Patients: Eight hundred thirty severe sepsis patients who were admitted to the intensive care unit and who received standard critical care treatment. Interventions: Patients were stratified into diabetic and nondiabetic patient groups. Mortality was assessed after 28 and 90 days, causative microorganisms were evaluated, and markers of coagulation, fibrinolysis, and inflammation were measured at several time points. Measurements and Main Results: Diabetes was present in 22.7% of all sepsis patients. Throughout the study, plasma glucose levels were higher in diabetic patients. Mortality was equal in diabetic and nondiabetic patients (31.4% vs. 30.5% after 28 days). Markers of coagulation, fibrinolysis, and inflammation were generally equal in diabetic and nondiabetic patients, although on admission diabetic patients had slightly higher levels of anticoagulation markers. Interestingly, nondiabetic patients with admission hyperglycemia (>11.1 mmol/L; 200 mg/dL) had a higher mortality rate compared to those without admission hyperglycemia (43.0% vs. 27.2%). Conclusions: Although diabetes is a risk factor for sepsis, once established, the outcome of severe sepsis does not appear to be significantly influenced by the presence of diabetes. In nondiabetic patients, however, admission hyperglycemia is associated with an increased mortality.
A deterministic approach for hardware fault injection in asynchronous QDI logic

This paper presents a new approach for hardware based fault injection in Quasi Delay Insensitive (QDI) asynchronous circuits. Configurable saboteurs are placed at points of interest in the circuit and allow to inject various types of faults on an arbitrary number of signals. These saboteurs not only redefine the logic value of a faulty signal but also the exact moment of the fault occurrence. In asynchronous logic, signal events rather than time are used to trigger on a circuit's state. Our concept allows to precisely control the order of concurrent signal events. It can be shown that the fault sensitivity highly depends on that event ordering. Thereby a deterministic and reproducible investigation of QDI circuits in the presence of transient and permanent faults in hardware is obtained. The work is evaluated by fault injection experiments on different circuits.
Re-evaluating the Frankfurt isothermal static diffusion chamber for ice nucleation

Abstract. Recently significant advances have been made in the collection, detection and characterization of ice nucleating particles (INPs). Ice nuclei are particles that facilitate the heterogeneous formation of ice within the atmospheric aerosol by lowering the free energy barrier to spontaneous nucleation and growth of ice from atmospheric water and/or vapor. The Frankfurt isostatic diffusion chamber (FRankfurt Ice nucleation Deposition freezinG Experiment: FRIDGE) is an INP collection and offline detection system that has become widely deployed and shows additional potential for ambient measurements. Since its initial development FRIDGE has gone through several iterations and improvements. Here we describe improvements that have been made in the collection and analysis techniques. We detail the uncertainties inherent in the measurement method and suggest a systematic method of error analysis for FRIDGE measurements. Thus what is presented herein should serve as a foundation for the dissemination of all current and future measurements using FRIDGE instrumentation.
Silibinin mode(s) of action against hepatitis C virus: A controversy yet to be resolved

Ahmed-Belkacem et al. suggested that silymarin components (such as silibinin A and silibinin B or Legalon-SIL (SIL), a commercially available intravenous (IV) preparation of silibinin) mainly inhibit HCV NS5B RNAdependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) activity. Here we note the HCV kinetics observed in patients treated with SIL and the HCV-RdRp inhibitor RG7128 ( and manuscript in preparation) have similarities and suggest further studies to better understand SIL’s MOAs in vivo.
Incidence of immediate hypersensitivity reaction and serum sickness following administration of Crotalidae polyvalent immune Fab antivenom: a meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES Crotalidae polyvalent immune Fab (ovine) (FabAV) is commonly used in the treatment of symptomatic North American crotaline snake envenomation. When approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2000, the incidences of immediate hypersensitivity reactions and serum sickness were reported as 0.14 and 0.18, respectively. The objective of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the incidence of immediate hypersensitivity reactions and serum sickness reported in studies of patients treated with FabAV therapy after North American crotaline envenomation. METHODS The authors searched PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, and EMBASE from January 1, 1997, to September 20, 2010, for English-language medical literature and cross-referenced bibliographies of reviewed articles. The published abstracts of the major toxicology conferences were also searched. All prospective and retrospective cohort studies with patients receiving FabAV therapy for North American crotaline envenomations were eligible for data abstraction. Two content experts reviewed full-text articles and extracted relevant study design and outcome data. Proportions of immediate hypersensitivity and serum sickness for each study were analyzed in a random-effects model to produce an overall estimate of immediate hypersensitivity and serum sickness incidence associated with FabAV administration. RESULTS The literature search revealed 11 unique studies of patients who received FabAV that contained information on immediate hypersensitivity reactions and serum sickness. The meta-analysis produced a combined estimate of the incidence of immediate hypersensitivity of 0.08 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.05 to 0.11) and a combined estimate of the incidence of serum sickness of 0.13 (95% CI = 0.07 to 0.21). CONCLUSIONS In this systematic literature review and meta-analysis, the combined estimates of the incidence of immediate hypersensitivity reactions and serum sickness from FabAV in the treatment of symptomatic North American crotaline envenomations appear to be lower than previously reported, at 0.08 and 0.13, respectively.
Superparamagnetic Behaviour and Induced Ferrimagnetism of LaFeO3 Nanoparticles Prepared by a Hot-Soap Technique

© 2012 Fujii et al., licensee InTech. This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Superparamagnetic Behaviour and Induced Ferrimagnetism of LaFeO3 Nanoparticles Prepared by a Hot-Soap Technique
IBD (Isolation by Distance): a program for analyses of isolation by distance.

The genetic similarity among individuals or populations can be ascertained using a number of statistical techniques (reviewed by Bohonak 1999; Neigel 1997; Roderick 1996; Slatkin 1985). When populations can be defined a priori, one option is to analyze genetic ‘‘isolation by distance’’ (sensu Wright 1943) by plotting the genetic similarity (or distance) among population pairs as a function of the geographic distance between those pairs. Slatkin (1993) suggested the genetic distance M (1/FST 1)/4 as an appropriate similarity measure, although other approaches are possible (e.g., Epperson and Li 1996). Qualitative and statistical analyses of isolation by distance can reveal much about population genetic structure. The primary use for plots of (genetic) isolation by (geographic) distance is to assess whether more distant population pairs are more different genetically. However, these plots can also be used to test the validity of simpler models of population structure (e.g., island or hierarchical island models). Isolation by distance analyses may help separate the effects of population history from ongoing gene flow, and test the explanatory power of alternative dispersal pathways (Slatkin 1994). For example, one might assess whether the distance along a river or a topographic isocline is more biologically relevant than distance ‘‘as the crow flies. ’’ The influence of geographic features or specific life-history traits on population differentiation can also be tested. Peterson and Denno (1998) contrasted isolation by distance slopes and intercepts in species with different dispersal abilities. IBD version 1.1 is a program written in C and compiled for Macintosh and Windows that can be used for analyses of isolation by distance. This program provides a number of unique features: isolation by distance slopes and intercepts are calculated using reduced major axis (RMA) regression, confidence intervals are generated based on several different assumptions regarding data structure, and statistical significance is determined using Mantel tests. The program is freely available at http:// www.bio. sdsu.edu/pub/andy/IBD.html.
Wave‐CAIPI ViSTa: highly accelerated whole‐brain direct myelin water imaging with zero‐padding reconstruction

This study introduces a highly accelerated whole‐brain direct visualization of short transverse relaxation time component (ViSTa) imaging using a wave controlled aliasing in parallel imaging (CAIPI) technique, for acquisition within a clinically acceptable scan time, with the preservation of high image quality and sufficient spatial resolution, and reduced residual point spread function artifacts.