Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Accurate Measurement of THz Dielectric Constant Using Metamaterials on a Quartz Substrate

We present dielectric constant measurements of thin films using THz metamaterials fabricated on a quartz substrate. The resonance shifts of the metamaterials exhibit saturation behavior with increasing film thickness. The saturation frequency shift varies with the real part of the dielectric constant, from which the numerical expression for the particular metamaterial design was extracted. We first performed finite-difference time-domain simulations to find an explicit relationship between the saturated frequency shift and the dielectric constant of a thin film, which was confirmed by the experimental results from conventional techniques. In particular, the quartz substrate enables us to determine their values more accurately, because of its low substrate index. As a result, we extracted the dielectric constants of various films whose values have not been addressed previously without precise control of the film thickness.
Cell Membrane Integrity in Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1: Implications for Therapy

Myotonic Dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is a multisystemic disease caused by toxic RNA from a DMPK gene carrying an expanded (CTG•CAG)n repeat. Promising strategies for treatment of DM1 patients are currently being tested. These include antisense oligonucleotides and drugs for elimination of expanded RNA or prevention of aberrant binding to RNP proteins. A significant hurdle for preclinical development along these lines is efficient systemic delivery of compounds across endothelial and target cell membranes. It has been reported that DM1 patients show elevated levels of markers of muscle damage or loss of sarcolemmal integrity in their serum and that splicing of dystrophin, an essential protein for muscle membrane structure, is abnormal. Therefore, we studied cell membrane integrity in DM1 mouse models commonly used for preclinical testing. We found that membranes in skeletal muscle, heart and brain were impermeable to Evans Blue Dye. Creatine kinase levels in serum were similar to those in wild type mice and expression of dystrophin protein was unaffected. Also in patient muscle biopsies cell surface expression of dystrophin was normal and calcium-positive fibers, indicating elevated intracellular calcium levels, were only rarely seen. Combined, our findings indicate that cells in DM1 tissues do not display compromised membrane integrity. Hence, the cell membrane is a barrier that must be overcome in future work towards effective drug delivery in DM1 therapy.
Measurement of regional-scale chlorophyll fluorescence

First observations of global and seasonal terrestrial chlorophyll fluorescence from space J. Joiner, Y. Yoshida, A. P. Vasilkov, Y. Yoshida, L. A. Corp, and E. M. Middleton NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA Science Systems and Applications, Inc., 10210 Greenbelt, Rd., Ste 400, Lanham, MD, USA National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), Tsukuba-City, Ibaraki, Japan Sigma Space Corp., Lanham, MD USA
Retrospective correction of motion artifact affected structural MRI images using deep learning of simulated motion

Head motion during MRI acquisition presents significant problems for subsequent neuroimaging analyses. In this work, we propose to use convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to correct motion-corrupted images as well as investigate a possible improvement by augmenting L1 loss with adversarial loss. For training, in order to gain access to a ground-truth, we first selected a large number of motion-free images from the ABIDE dataset. We then added simulated motion artifacts on these images to produce motion corrupted data and a 3D regression CNN was trained to predict the motion-free volume as the output. We tested the CNN on unseen simulated data as well as real motion affected data. Quantitative evaluation was carried out using metrics such as Structural Similarity (SSIM) index, Correlation Coefficient (CC), and Tissue Contrast T-score (TCT). It was found that Gaussian smoothing as a conventional method did not significantly differ in SSIM, CC and RMSE from the uncorrected data. On the other hand, the two CNN models successfully removed the motion-related artifact as their SSIM and CC significantly increased after their correction and the error was reduced. The CNN displayed significantly larger TCT compared to the uncorrected images whereas the adversarial network, while improved did not show a significantly increased TCT, which may be explained also by its over-enhancement of edges. Our results suggest that the proposed CNN framework enables the network to generalize well to both unseen simulated motion artifacts as well as real motion artifact-affected data. The proposed method could easily be adapted to estimate a motion severity score, which could be used as a score of quality control or as a nuisance covariate in subsequent statistical analyses. ∗USC Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, University of Southern California, CA 90033 †Department of Computer Engineering and Computer Science, California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, CA 90840 1st Conference on Medical Imaging with Deep Learning (MIDL 2018), Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Boost half-bridge DC-DC converter with reconfigurable rectifier for ultra-wide input voltage range applications

This paper introduces a novel galvanically isolated boost half-bridge dc-dc converter intended for modern power electronic applications where ultra-wide input voltage regulation range is needed. A reconfigurable output rectifier stage performs a transition between the voltage doubler and the full-bridge diode rectifiers and, by this means, extends the regulation range significantly. The converter features a low number of components and resonant soft switching of semiconductors, which result in high power conversion efficiency over a wide input voltage and load range. The paper presents the operating principle, prototype design and experimental study of the proposed converter.
Transcriptional factor EB regulates macrophage polarization in the tumor microenvironment

ABSTRACT Tumor microenvironment (TME) contains a variety of infiltrating immune cells. Among them, tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and their alternative activation contribute greatly to the progression of tumors. The mechanisms governing macrophage polarization in the TME are unclear. Here, we show that in TAMs or macrophages under tumor-conditioned medium treatment, the expression of transcription factor EB (TFEB) is reduced and more of the TFEB protein is in an inactive cytosolic form. Transforming growth factor (TGF)-β is identified as a main driving force for the reduced TFEB expression and activity in TAMs via activating ERK signaling. TFEB interference in macrophages significantly enhanced their alternative activation, with reduced expression of MHC-II and co-stimulatory molecule CD80, decreased ability to activate T cells, and increased ability to attract tumor cells. When co-inoculated with tumor cells, macrophages with TFEB knockdown significantly enhanced tumor growth with increased infiltration of M2-like macrophages, reduced infiltration of CD8+ T cells, and enhanced angiogenesis in the tumors. Mechanistic studies revealed that TFEB downregulation resulted in macrophage M2 polarization through reducing SOCS3 production and enhancing STAT3 activation. We further demonstrate that the activation of TFEB by hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin in macrophages suppressed their M2 polarization and tumor-promoting capacity, and that macrophage-specific TFEB overexpression inhibited breast tumor growth in mice. Therefore, our data suggest that TFEB plays critical roles in macrophage polarization, and the downregulation of TFEB expression and activation is an integral part of tumor-induced immune editing in the TME. This study provides a rationale for a new cancer treatment strategy by modulating macrophage polarization through activating TFEB.
Perspective of Family Members of Transitions to Alternative Levels of Care in Anglo-Saxon Countries

This scoping review explores circumstances surrounding the decision about, and eventual experience of, transitioning older adults into alternative levels of housing (ALH), such as long-term care. This topic is examined from a family member perspective, given their exposure and involvement in the care of older adult relatives during this transitional period. The scoping review methodology is based on the framework of Arksey and O'Malley and subsequent recommendations from Levac, Colquhoun, and O'Brien. Approximately 470 articles were reviewed covering the period between 2000 and November 2014; 37 articles met inclusion criteria. A temporal organization of themes was used to describe the experiences of family members in the pretransition, active transition, and posttransition periods of moving older adult relatives into ALH. This paper highlights the transitional period as a time of crisis, with a lack of planning, support, and transparent discussion. This study identifies a need for future research on the potential benefits of family support groups, interim transitional housing options, different models of ALH, changing roles in the posttransition period, and the need for a comprehensive list of housing options for older adults. Results have the potential to inform policy/practice and improve the lives of older adults and their family.
Data-driven Sequential Monte Carlo in Probabilistic Programming

Most of Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) and sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) algorithms in existing probabilistic programming systems suboptimally use only model priors as proposal distributions. In this work, we describe an approach for training a discriminative model, namely a neural network, in order to approximate the optimal proposal by using posterior estimates from previous runs of inference. We show an example that incorporates a data-driven proposal for use in a non-parametric model in the Anglican probabilistic programming system. Our results show that data-driven proposals can significantly improve inference performance so that considerably fewer particles are necessary to perform a good posterior estimation.
Online Vertex-Weighted Bipartite Matching

We introduce a weighted version of the ranking algorithm by Karp et al. (STOC 1990), and we prove a competitive ratio of 0.6534 for the vertex-weighted online bipartite matching problem when online vertices arrive in random order. Our result shows that random arrivals help beating the 1-1/e barrier even in the vertex-weighted case. We build on the randomized primal-dual framework by Devanur et al. (SODA 2013) and design a two dimensional gain sharing function, which depends not only on the rank of the offline vertex, but also on the arrival time of the online vertex. To our knowledge, this is the first competitive ratio strictly larger than 1-1/e for an online bipartite matching problem achieved under the randomized primal-dual framework. Our algorithm has a natural interpretation that offline vertices offer a larger portion of their weights to the online vertices as time increases, and each online vertex matches the neighbor with the highest offer at its arrival.
EVIEW ardiac rhabdomyomas in tuberous sclerosis atients : A case report and review of the literature habdomyomes cardiaques chez les patients avec sclérose tubéreuse de ourneville : un cas et revue de la littérature

a Cardiology Unit, Department of Anaesthesiology, Fondation Ophtalmologique Adolphe de Rothschild, 25-29, rue Manin, 75940 Paris cedex 19, France b Department of Paediatric Neurosurgery, Fondation Ophtalmologique Adolphe de Rothschild, 25-29, rue Manin, 75940 Paris cedex 19, France c Department of Anaesthesiology, Fondation Ophtalmologique Adolphe de Rothschild, 25-29, rue Manin, 75940 Paris cedex 19, France d Department of Cardiology, Saint-Antoine Hospital, Paris, France
INTEGRATING PHYLOGENETICS AND ENVIRONMENTAL NICHE MODELS TO EXPLORE SPECIATION MECHANISMS IN DENDROBATID FROGS

Abstract We developed an approach that combines distribution data, environmental geographic information system layers, environmental niche models, and phylogenetic information to investigate speciation processes. We used Ecuadorian frogs of the family Dendrobatidae to illustrate our methodology. For dendrobatids there are several cases for which there is significant environmental divergence for allopatric and parapatric lineages. The consistent pattern that many related taxa or nodes exist in distinct environmental space reinforces Lynch and Duellman's hypothesis that differential selection likely played an important role in species differentiation of frogs in the Andes. There is also some evidence that the Río Esmeraldas basin is a geographic barrier to species distributed in low to middle elevations on the western side of the Andes. Another useful aspect of this approach is that it can point to common environmental parameters that correlate with speciation. For dendrobatids, sister clades generally segregate along temperature/elevational and/or seasonality axes. The joint analysis of environmental and geographic data for this group of dendrobatid frogs has identified potentially important speciation mechanisms and specific sister lineages that warrant intensive study to test hypotheses generated in this investigation. Further, the method outlined in this paper will be increasingly useful as knowledge of distribution and phylogeny of tropical species increases.
Criteria for diagnosing primary aldosteronism on the basis of liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry determinations of plasma aldosterone concentration

Background: Primary aldosteronism is affecting about 10% of hypertensive patients. Primary aldosteronism should be diagnosed by screening tests based on plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC) and aldosterone-to-renin ratio (ARR), followed by confirmatory test. The cutoff values for PAC and ARR depend on PAC and plasma renin measurement methods. Liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), the new gold standard method for aldosterone determination, is now widespread but shows lower values than immunoassays. New cutoff values have yet to be determined with LC-MS/MS PAC. Methods: In a retrospective cohort, we measured PAC by LC-MS/MS in 93 healthy volunteers, 77 patients with essential hypertension and 82 primary aldosteronism patients (42 lateralized, 24 bilateral, 16 primary aldosteronism without adrenal vein sampling) after 30 min in a seated position. Results: PAC ranged from 42 to 309 pmol/l in healthy volunteers and from 63 to 362 pmol/l in essential hypertensive patients. A cutoff value of 360 pmol/l for basal PAC had a sensitivity of 90.5% and a specificity of 95.1% to differentiate lateralized primary aldosteronism from essential hypertensive patients. ARR ranged from 2.3 to 22.3 in healthy volunteers and from 3.2 to 55.6 pmol/mU in essential hypertensive patients. Using ROC curves, we selected an ARR of 46 pmol/mU, which provided a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 93.4% to distinguish between essential hypertensive and lateralized primary aldosteronism patients (sensitivity 94.4%, specificity 93.9% for the overall primary aldosteronism population). Conclusion: Criteria for primary aldosteronism screening need to be adapted, given the increasing use of LC-MS/MS to determine PAC. We suggest to use 360 pmol/l and 46 pmol/mU as cutoff values, respectively, for basal PAC and ARR after 30 min of seated rest.
Ultrafast Fully Photonic Random Bit Generator

To achieve complete security of communication, there is a need for “<italic>real-time</italic>” ultrafast physical random bit generators (RBGs). In the available physical RBGs, random bit extraction is effected in the electrical domain and, therefore, cannot directly function beyond the frequencies of 10 GHz or so <italic>in real time</italic>. Here, we present a fully photonic strategy for <italic>real-time</italic> random number generation and report a proof-of-concept experimental demonstration of an integrated 10 Gb/s RBG system (prototype) based on laser chaos. The use of an ultrastable mode-locked laser, together with ultrafast optical interactions, gives our method the capability to develop super-high-speed RBGs in practice. The photonic implementation is fully compatible with optical communications so that well-established optical multiplexing techniques can be used to realize Tb/s <italic>real-time</italic> random bit generation.
Optimizing GPU-accelerated Group-By and Aggregation

The massive parallelism and faster random memory access of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) promise to further accelerate complex analytics operations such as joins and grouping, but also provide additional challenges to optimizing their performance. There are more implementation alternatives to consider on the GPU, such as exploiting different types of memory on the device and the division of work among processor clusters and threads, and additional performance parameters, such as the size of the kernel grid and the trade-off between the number of threads and the resulting share of resources each thread will get. In this paper, we study in depth offloading to a GPU the grouping and aggregation operator, often the dominant operation in analytics queries after joins. We primarily focus on the design implications of a hash-based implementation, although we also compare it against a sort-based approach. Our study provides (1) a detailed performance analysis of grouping and aggregation on the GPU as the number of groups in the result varies, (2) an analysis of the truncation effects of hash functions commonly used in hashbased grouping, and (3) a simple parametric model for a wide range of workloads with a heuristic optimizer to automatically pick the best implementation and performance parameters at execution time.
The development of hoof balance and landing preference in the post‐natal period

Summary Background Foals can follow the herd within hours of birth, but it has been shown that kinetic gait parameters and static balance still have to mature. However, development of dynamic balance has not been investigated. Objectives To objectively quantify landing and pressure pattern dynamics under the hoof during the first half year of life. Study design Prospective, cohort study performed at a single stud farm. Methods Pressure plate measurements at walk and trot from ten Dutch warmblood foals during the first 24 weeks of life were used to quantify toe‐heel and medial‐lateral hoof balance asymmetry indexes and to determine preferred landing strategy. Concurrently, radiographs of the tarsocrural and femoropatellar joints were taken at 4–6 weeks and after 6 months to check for osteochondrosis. A linear mixed model was used to determine the effects of time point, limb pair (front/hind), side (left/right) and osteochondrosis status of every foal. Results At 25% of stance duration at walk, front limbs were more loaded in the heel region in weeks 6–20 (P≤0.04), the medial‐lateral balance was more to the lateral side from week 6 onwards at both walk and trot (P≤0.04). Landing preference gradually changed in the same directions. Variability in pressure distribution decreased over time. (Subclinical) osteochondrosis did not influence any of the measured parameters. Main limitations This study is limited by the relatively small sample size only containing one breed from a single stud farm. Conclusions Dynamic hoof balance in new‐born foals is more variable and less oriented towards the lateral side of the hoof and to the heel than in mature horses. This pattern changes gradually during the first weeks of life. Knowledge of this process is essential for the clinician when considering interventions in this area in early life.
Smartphone indoor localization by photo-taking of the environment

Existing mainstream indoor localization technologies mainly rely on RF signatures and thus incur significant and recurring labor cost to measure the time-varying signature map. We have proposed a smartphone localization system using the embedded gyroscope for triangulation from nearby physical features (e.g., store logos) recognized from photo-taking. It requires a much reduced and one-time measurement, while incurs uncertain localization errors. In this paper, we propose two methods to systematically address image matching errors that cause unrecognized physical features and large errors in our system. We formulate the optimal benchmark image selection problem and propose a heuristic algorithm that finds the best benchmark images for high matching accuracy. We propose a couple of geographical constraints to further infer unknown physical features based on the observation that the features chosen by the user are close together. Experiments in a 150 × 75m shopping mall, 300 × 200m train station show that dramatically we cut down both maximum and general localization errors, and achieve 2-8m accuracy at 80-percentile even with only one benchmark image on the phone.
Habitat Loss, Uneven Distribution of Resources and Fragmented Landscapes—A Resource Based Model of the Patch Size Effect

The problem of habitat fragmentation is recently an important issue in ecological research as well as in the practical approach of nature conservation. According to the most popular approaches, habitats are considered as the homogenous parts of the landscape. Also the metapopulation concept problem of the inert habitat heterogenity is considered quite seldom. These approaches have some weak points resulting from the assumption that the border between habitat patches and the metapopulation matrix is fairly sharp. This paper presents a resource-based concept of habitats, based on mathematical theory of point processes, which can be easily applied to analysing the problem of uneven distribution of resources. The basic assumption is that the random distribution of resources may be mathematically described as the realisation of a certain point process. According to our method, it is possible to calculate the expected quantities of available resources as well as the minimum area of habitat that includes the expected abundance of the resource. This approach may be very useful to understand some crucial phenomena in landscape ecology, such as the patch size effect and its connection to habitat loss and fragmentation.
ETHANOL EXTRACTS OF TUBERS DIOSCOREA ALATA L. AS ANTIALLERGIC AGENT ON MICE BALB/C INDUCED WITH OVALBUMIN

This study aimed to analyse the effects of ethanol extract tuber Dioscorea alata L. (EEDA) on mice induced by Ovalbumin using the measurement of IgE, IL-4 and TNF-α level. The experimental research on 25 Balb/C mice divided into 5 groups including: the control, and treatment groups which given EEDA dose 0.31, 0.62, 1.24 g/kg and antihistamine drug. Treatment groups were induced the allergic model using Ovalbumin. On the 29 th day, the mice were sacrificed and sera were processed with Elisa methods. The data were analyzed with Anova continued with Tukey test. The IgE level in EEDA 0.62 and 1.24 g/kg decreases with insignificantly difference with antihistamin drug. IL-4 level in EEDA is insignificant different. TNF-α levels in EEDA 1,24 g/kg increases with insignificantly difference with antihistamin drug. The conclusion is EEDA dose 0.62 and 1.24 g/kg is able to decrease the IgE level and EEDA dose 1,24 g/kg is able to increase TNF-α levels.