Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Physicochemical screening for chemical stabilizer of erythropoietin to prevent its aggregation

ABSTRACT Recombinant protein aggregation is a problematic issue and can provoke immunological response. The aim of this study was to analyze the stability of erythropoietin (EPO), as a therapeutic protein expressed in mammalian cells, in the presence of different chemicals and find a specific stabilizer for EPO. The effects of several chemicals, including mannitol, betaine, trehalose, taurine, linoleic acid, beta-cyclodextrin, copper sulfate, spermidine, maltose, maltodextrin, sucrose, dextran, beta-alanine, myo-inositol, and cysteine, on protein stabilization through the thermally induced aggregation of EPO were monitored. Based on the results of turbidity assay for thermal aggregation, three different patterns were observed for protein stability of active pharmaceutical ingredient of EPO, namely, accelerated, dose-dependent, and inhibitory behaviors for aggregate formation due to treatment with spermidine, mannitol, and betaine, respectively. According to circular dichroism outcomes, EPO treatment with betaine and spermidine resulted in different helical contents of the secondary structure. Dynamic light scattering experiments indicated that treating EPO with betaine resulted in less protein aggregation due to freeze and thaw stresses. Betaine was able to stabilize EPO and inhibit its aggregation, as opposed to spermidine that induced protein aggregation.
Superior vasodilation of human pulmonary vessels by vardenafil compared with tadalafil and sildenafil: additive effects of bosentan.

OBJECTIVES Pulmonary arterial hypertension is characterized by pulmonary vascular proliferation and remodelling, leading to a progressive increase in pulmonary arterial resistance. Vasodilator properties of 3 different phosphodiesterase (PDE)-5 inhibitors alone and in combination with an endothelin (ET) receptor antagonist were compared in an ex vivo model. METHODS Segments of human pulmonary arteries (PAs) and pulmonary veins (PVs) were harvested from lobectomy specimens. Contractile forces were determined in an organ bath. Vessels were constricted with norepinephrine (NE) to determine the effects of sildenafil, tadalafil and vardenafil and with ET-1 to assess the effects of bosentan. RESULTS All 3 PDE-5 inhibitors had no relevant effect on the basal tone of the vessels. Both sildenafil and vardenafil significantly (P < 0.0001) reduced the responses of the vessels to NE, whereas tadalafil was effective only in PA (P = 0.0009) but not in PV (P = 0.097). Sildenafil relaxed NE-preconstricted PV (P < 0.0001) but not PA (P = 0.143). Both tadalafil and vardenafil relaxed PA and PV significantly. Vardenafil appears to be the most potent of the PDE-5 inhibitors tested. Furthermore, we analysed the combination of bosentan and vardenafil in PA. Bosentan and vardenafil reduced ET-1 and NE induced vasoconstriction stronger than vardenafil alone (P ≤ 0.049). CONCLUSIONS Vardenafil caused the most consistent antihypertensive response in this ex vivo model. However, ET receptor antagonism appears to be an even more potent mechanism. A combination therapy using vardenafil and bosentan turned out to be an effective combination to lower vessel tension in PA.
Adding Dense , Weighted Connections to

WORDNET, a ubiquitous tool for natural language processing, suffers from sparsity of connections between its component concepts (synsets). Through the use of human annotators, a subset of the connections between 1000 hand-chosen synsets was assigned a value of “evocation” representing how much the first concept brings to mind the second. These data, along with existing similarity measures, constitute the basis of a method for predicting evocation between previously unrated pairs. Submission Type:Long Article Topic Areas: Extending WORDNET Author of Record: Jordan Boyd-Graber, jbg@princeton.edu Under consideration for other conferences (specify)? None Adding Dense, Weighted Connections to WORDNET
User‐level microblogging recommendation incorporating social influence

With the information overload of user‐generated content in microblogging, users find it extremely challenging to browse and find valuable information in their first attempt. In this paper we propose a microblogging recommendation algorithm, TSI‐MR (Topic‐Level Social Influence‐based Microblogging Recommendation), which can significantly improve users' microblogging experiences. The main innovation of this proposed algorithm is that we consider social influences and their indirect structural relationships, which are largely based on social status theory, from the topic level. The primary advantage of this approach is that it can build an accurate description of latent relationships between two users with weak connections, which can improve the performance of the model; furthermore, it can solve sparsity problems of training data to a certain extent. The realization of the model is mainly based on Factor Graph. We also applied a distributed strategy to further improve the efficiency of the model. Finally, we use data from Tencent Weibo, one of the most popular microblogging services in China, to evaluate our methods. The results show that incorporating social influence can improve microblogging performance considerably, and outperform the baseline methods.
Biocompatible, Flexible, and Compliant Energy Harvesters Based on Piezoelectric Thin Films

Piezoelectric energy harvesters are promising transducers for supplying low-power mobile/portable electronics, wearable and implantable devices, or for autonomous wireless sensors and microsystems, which are of increasing importance for monitoring environmental and structural health, sensing in automotive applications, human health and wellness. One of the main requirements for such applications is the ability to develop piezoelectric materials and devices generating enough voltage/power even from tiny mechanical or biomechanical excitations at extremely low frequencies and out-of-resonance. In addition to high performance, wearable devices and medical implants require biocompatibility of materials/devices in the long term. This paper reviews recent advances on biocompatible, flexible, and compliant energy harvesters based on piezoelectric thin films scavenging energy from (bio)mechanical movements or flows induced deformations.
Feasibility of Space-Division-Multiplexed Transmission of IEEE 802.11 n/ac-Compliant Wireless MIMO Signals Over OM3 Multimode Fiber

In this paper, we have experimentally demonstrated the feasibility of space-division-multiplexed 3 × 3 multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission over a single OM3 multimode fiber (MMF) using commercial IEEE 802.11 n/ac access points. Throughput performance for different fiber length links under a range of fiber bending conditions was evaluated. To study the throughput improvement by MIMO technology, throughput performance of single-input single-output (SISO), 2 × 2 MIMO and 3 × 3 MIMO over separate SMF links was also measured for comparison. It is shown that, spatially-multiplexed MMF channel with 3 × 3 MIMO configuration could provide a significant throughput increase in comparison with SISO and 2 × 2 MIMO SMFs configurations, and present a comparable performance with 3 × 3 MIMO SMFs configuration. Meanwhile, the analyses of the impact of fiber bending indicate that, even under a tight fiber bending radius as low as 2 mm, the system performance could still keep at an acceptable level. With all fiber bending radii tested, within each 5-min measurement time, the fiber channel is found to be good enough to provide throughput greater than twice the average SISO value for more than 87.66% and 72.72% of the time, at the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands, respectively. These results together point out a very simple and cost-saving solution for future in-building DASs to distribute wireless MIMO signals using commercially-available MMF infrastructure by space division multiplexing technique, even though it may encounter tight bending conditions.
The Comparison of Porous Titanium Granule and Xenograft in the Surgical Treatment of Peri‐Implantitis: A Prospective Clinical Study

BACKGROUND Regarding the current approach, there is no evidence to show which treatment technique is the most accurate and useful in peri-implant defects. PURPOSE The aim of this study is comparing the effect of porous titanium granule (PTG) with rotary titanium brush and the use of xenograft and collagen membrane in the treatment of intra-bony peri-implant defects. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty-two patients, suffering peri-implantitis defects were included this study. Patients were divided into two groups: The PTG group used rotary titanium brush, PTG, and platelet rich fibrin (PRF) membrane. The XGF group used xenograft bone substitute, collagen membrane, and PRF membrane. Clinical measurements and cone beam computed tomography per region were recorded as baseline and sixth month after surgery. RESULTS The mean CAL values were improved from 5.29 ± 1.06 to 3.59 ± 0.88 mm in PTG group, while in XGF group; these values were improved from 4.77 ± 1.05 to 3.30 ± 0.58 mm. Radiographic bone filling values displayed a statistically significant difference between of groups. In PTG groups, these radiological values increased more than the XGF group. CONCLUSIONS PTG may be more appropriate for peri-implantitis surgery than xenograft due to inert structure and comfortable use of PTG to provide mechanical support for enlarging the surface area of the implant.
On Optimizing Hierarchical Modulation in AWGN channel

Hierarchical modulation (HM) is able to provide different levels of protection for data streams and achieve a rate region that cannot be realized by traditional orthogonal schemes, such as time division (TD). Nevertheless, criterions and algorithms for general HM design are not available in existing literatures. In this paper, we jointly optimize the constellation positions and binary labels for HM to be used in additive white gaussian noise (AWGN) channel. Based on bit-interleaved coded modulation (BICM) with successive interference cancellation (SIC) capacity, our main purpose is to maximize the rate of one data stream, with power constrains and the constrain that the rate of other data streams should be larger than given thresholds. Multi-start interior-point algorithm is used to carry out the constellation optimization problems and methods to reduce optimization complexity are also proposed in this paper. Numerical results verify the performance gains of optimized HM compared with optimized quadrature amplidude modulation (QAM) based HM and other orthogonal transmission methods.
Precoding for MIMO systems with Grassmannian codebooks

In this paper, we investigate limited feedback precoding for two single-user MIMO systems. The first one employs spatial diversity at the transmitter and Maximum Ratio Combining at the receiver. The second one uses spatial multiplexing at the transmitter and V-BLAST signal processing at the receiver. For both systems, the precoder is selected at the receiver among a codebook and its index is conveyed to the transmitter through an error free feedback channel. For the first system, we consider two Grassmannian precoding codebooks and show through simulation results that a small number of feedback bits can reach the theoretical performance. For the case of a single-user system based on spatial multiplexing, we propose a novel criterion for selecting among codebook matrices the optimum precoding matrix at the receiver which maximizes the minimum signal to interference and noise ratio over the transmitted substreams. Simulation results show that our proposed selection criterion outperforms three other criteria introduced in the literature for the spatial muliplexing MIMO system. They also show a significant enhancement over the unprecoded spatial multiplexing system.
Individual and Regional Determinants for Physical Therapy Utilization in Germany: Multilevel Analysis of National Survey Data

Background Physical therapy is included in many clinical guidelines and is a commonly used health service. However, access to its benefits should not strongly depend on social or demographic factors. Objective The present study used the Andersen model to explain to what extent physical therapy utilization in Germany depends on factors beyond medical need. Methods The German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults (DEGS, 2008-2011; target population, 18-79 years) is part of the German health-monitoring system. Two-stage stratified cluster sampling resulted in a sample of 8152 participants. Data were matched with district-related information on social structures and service supply. Following Andersen's Behavioral Model of Health Services Use, this study identified predisposing, enabling, and need factors for physical therapy utilization using multilevel logistic regression analyses. Results Physical therapy was used by 23.4% (95% CI: 22.0-24.8) of the German population within one year, with a higher proportion of females (26.8%; 95% CI: 25.1-28.6) than males (19.9%; 95% CI: 18.1-21.8) and an increase with age. Beyond medical need, physical therapy utilization depended on higher education, migrant background, nonsmoking (predisposing), social support, higher income, private health insurance, and gatekeeping service contact (enabling). Variation among districts partly reflected regional supply. Limitations Because the present study was cross-sectional, its findings provide representative information on physical therapy use but do not establish final causal links or identify whether utilization or supply in certain districts or population groups is adequate. Conclusions Whether certain regions are under- or overserved and whether further regulations are needed is of political interest. Physicians and therapists should develop strategies to improve both adherence of hard-to-reach groups and supply in low-supply regions.
PortLoad: Taking the Best of Two Worlds in Traffic Classification

Traffic classification approaches based on deep packet inspection (DPI) are considered very accurate, however, two major drawbacks are their invasiveness with respect to users privacy, and their significant computational cost. Both are a consequence of the amount of per-flow payload data - we refer to it as "deepness" - typically inspected by such algorithms. At the opposite side, the fastest and least data-eager traffic classification approach is based on transport-level ports, even though today it is mostly considered inaccurate. In this paper we propose a novel approach to traffic classification - named PortLoad - that takes the advantages of both worlds: the speed, simplicity and reduced invasiveness of port-based approaches, on a side, and the classification accuracy of DPI on the other one.
Estimating primate population densities: the systematic use of playbacks along transects in population surveys

Accurate measures of animal population densities are essential to assess their status, demography, and answer ecological questions. Among several methods proposed to collect abundance data, line transect sampling is used the most. The assumptions required to obtain accurate density estimates through this method, however, are rarely met when studying primates. As most primate species are vocally active, density estimates can be improved by associating transect sampling with playback point counts to scan the entire study area. Yet, attention to playback procedure and data collection design is necessary. Here, we describe a protocol to assess primate densities using playback and test its application on surveys of Callicebus nigrifrons, a small Neotropical primate that shows site fidelity and active vocal behavior. We list important steps and discuss precautions that should be considered, from the adjustments in the recordings in the lab to field procedures in the playback broadcasting sessions. Prior to the surveys, we conducted playback trials with three habituated wild groups at three forest remnants to test their response to the playback stimuli at different distances. Based on these trials, we defined the radius distance covered by the playback sessions. Then, we conducted two surveys in 12 forest remnants, in the northeast of São Paulo State Brazil. The results of density estimates were consistent between the two surveys. As the playback survey protocol we described has proved to be a simple and useful tool for surveying vocal primate and generated reliable data, we suggest that it is a good alternative method to estimate density of species, particularly for those that are responsive to playbacks and show site fidelity.
A Supervised Learning Algorithm for Learning Precise Timing of Multiple Spikes in Multilayer Spiking Neural Networks

There is a biological evidence to prove information is coded through precise timing of spikes in the brain. However, training a population of spiking neurons in a multilayer network to fire at multiple precise times remains a challenging task. Delay learning and the effect of a delay on weight learning in a spiking neural network (SNN) have not been investigated thoroughly. This paper proposes a novel biologically plausible supervised learning algorithm for learning precisely timed multiple spikes in a multilayer SNNs. Based on the spike-timing-dependent plasticity learning rule, the proposed learning method trains an SNN through the synergy between weight and delay learning. The weights of the hidden and output neurons are adjusted in parallel. The proposed learning method captures the contribution of synaptic delays to the learning of synaptic weights. Interaction between different layers of the network is realized through biofeedback signals sent by the output neurons. The trained SNN is used for the classification of spatiotemporal input patterns. The proposed learning method also trains the spiking network not to fire spikes at undesired times which contribute to misclassification. Experimental evaluation on benchmark data sets from the UCI machine learning repository shows that the proposed method has comparable results with classical rate-based methods such as deep belief network and the autoencoder models. Moreover, the proposed method can achieve higher classification accuracies than single layer and a similar multilayer SNN.
Female Genitalia Concealment Promotes Intimate Male Courtship in a Water Strider

Violent coercive mating initiation is typical for animals with sexual conflict over mating. In these species, the coevolutionary arms-race between female defenses against coercive mating and male counter-adaptations for increased mating success leads to coevolutionary chases of male and female traits that influence the mating. It has been controversial whether one of the sexes can evolve traits that allow them to “win” this arms race. Here, we use morphological analysis (traditional and scanning electron micrographs), laboratory experiments and comparative methods to show how females of a species characterized by typical coercive mating initiation appear to “win” a particular stage of the sexual conflict by evolving morphology to hide their genitalia from direct, forceful access by males. In an apparent response to the female morphological adaptation, males of this species added to their typically violent coercive mounting of the female new post-mounting, pre-copulatory courtship signals produced by tapping the water's surface with the mid-legs. These courtship signals are intimate in the sense that they are aimed at the female, on whom the male is already mounted. Females respond to the signals by exposing their hidden genitalia for copulatory intromission. Our results indicate that the apparent victory of coevolutionary arms race by one sex in terms of morphology may trigger evolution of a behavioral phenotype in the opposite sex.
Trends and results of lung cancer surgery in Finland between 2004 and 2014†

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to investigate the current trends and results of lung cancer surgery in Finland at the population level. METHODS Three compulsory national registries provided the data on surgical treatment of lung cancer during 2004 and 2014. Outcomes of interest were all-cause mortality, population level surgical rates and frequencies of resections. The data were divided into 2 eras to analyse changes in treatment strategies and baseline characteristics: 2004-2009 and 2010-2014. RESULTS A total of 3621 patients underwent lung resections for cancer during the study period. The mean age of the patients was 65.8 years. During the study period, the patients were older and Charlson comorbidity index score of the patients increased (P < 0.001 for both). Simultaneously, the rate of surgery (from 12.8% to 14.4%, P = 0.001) and the rate of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery increased (from 7.3% to 31.9%, P < 0.001). The rate of pneumonectomy decreased from 12.7% to 7.5% (P < 0.001). Mortality was 2.3% at 30 days and 4.3% at 90 days without significant differences between eras. Overall survival was 85% at 1 year and 50.2% at 5 years. Long-term survival improved significantly during the study from 53% to 60.1% at 4 years (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS This nationwide population-based study demonstrates an improvement in long-term outcome after lung cancer surgery despite an increasing age and comorbidity burden concomitantly with an increasing rate of surgery. This suggests that video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery can be offered to more patients with more comorbidities while still improving lung cancer survival.
Incorporating graceful degradation into embedded system design

In this work, the focus is put on the behavior of a system in case a fault occurs that disables the system from executing its applications. Instead of executing a random subset of the applications depending on the fault, an approach is presented that optimizes the systems structure and behavior with respect to a possible graceful degradation. It includes a degradation-aware reliability analysis that guides the optimization of the resource allocation and function distribution, and provides data-structures for an efficient online degradation algorithm. Thus, the proposed methodology covers both, the design phase with a structural optimization and the online phase with a behavioral optimization of the system. A case study shows the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
LOMO3D descriptor for video-based person re-identification

Person re-identification methods aim to match identical pedestrians across non-overlapping camera views. In this task, a robust and distinctive feature is of great value, especially for complex scenes that are interfered by occlusion, illumination variance, and background clutter. Existing descriptors focus on spatial information of images, the capacity of which is limited on video-based data. Video-based person re-identification has more potential information but is also more challenging. To this end, this paper proposes a feature representation named LOMO3D that extracts both spatial information and temporal information. This feature focuses on the maximum horizontal occurrence of local features in both spatial and temporal dimension. Experiments on iLIDS-VID and PRID2011 datasets affirms the strong representation capability of this new descriptor compared with state-of-the-art hand-crafted features.