Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Author ' s personal copy Elevated concentrations of oxidized lipoprotein ( a ) are associated with the presence and severity of acute coronary syndromes

In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier's archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit: Elevated concentrations of oxidized lipoprotein(a) are associated with the presence and severity of acute coronary syndromes a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o Objective: To investigate possible mechanisms and association of increased oxidized Lp(a) [ox-Lp(a)] levels with presence and extent of acute coronary syndromes (ACS). Methods: Ox-Lp(a) levels were studied in 96 patients with ACS, 89 patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD), and 100 control subjects. ratio of ox-Lp(a) to Lp(a) was higher in the ACS than those in the stable CAD (P b 0.05) and control (P b 0.001). Ox-Lp(a) levels were found associated with a graded increase in extent of angiographically documented CAD in the ACS (R = 0.275, P = 0.007), while not in the stable CAD (R = 0.090, P = 0.402). Multiple linear regression analysis found ox-Lp(a) (β = 0.271, P = 0.019), age (β = 0.244, P = 0.038) and TG (β = 0.213, P = 0.070) accounted for 11.1% of the variation in the extent of angiographically documented CAD in ACS patients; Lp(a) (β = 0.415, P = 0.000) and extent of CAD (β = 0.193, P = 0.071) accounted for 21.5% of that in ox-Lp(a) levels. Conclusion: Elevated ox-Lp(a) levels are associated with presence and severity of ACS, and may be useful for identification of patients with ACS. Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is an atherogenic particle that structurally resembles a low density lipoprotein (LDL) particle but contains a molecule of apolipoprotein(a) [apo(a)] attached to apoB-100 by a disulfide bond [1]. Elevated plasma concentrations of Lp(a) have been shown to be one of the independent risk factor for atherosclerosis [2–4]. Oxidized Lp(a) [ox-Lp(a)] has been reported to play more potent role than native Lp(a) in atherosclerosis. Ox-Lp(a) is a ligand for scavenger receptors [5,6] and might reasonably be expected to contribute to foam cell formation. Ox-Lp(a) may also induce adhesion molecular expression on monocytes, promoting their recruitment and adhesion to the endothelium [7], and modified forms of Lp(a), some resembling oxidized Lp(a), have been identified in human atheromatous lesions [8]. In addition, in vitro oxidative modification increases the inhibitory effect of Lp(a) …
The determinants of retrieval interference in dependency resolution: Review and computational modeling

We report a comprehensive literature review of retrieval interference in reflexive-antecedent dependencies, number agreement, and non-agreement subject-verb dependencies, and computationally evaluate the predictions of cue-based retrieval theory with reference to published results. A novel finding from the review and modeling is that, contrary to claims in the literature, results on number agreement are not entirely compatible with cue-based retrieval theory. We also show that the cue-based retrieval account in its current form cannot explain several reported interference eects, such as (i) speed-ups observed in presence of a syntactically unlicensed distractor when the correct dependent is a full match to the retrieval cues and (ii) slow-downs when the correct dependent only partially matches the retrieval cues. We demonstrate that these eects can be explained by two theoretical and independently motivated constructs: distractor prominence and cue confusion. The cue-based retrieval model is therefore extended to incorporate distractor prominence and cue confusion, and quantitative predictions are derived from this extended model. We show that the extended cue-based retrieval model provides a better explanation of published results than the classical retrieval account.
Observations of heterogeneous reactions between Asian pollution and mineral dust over the Eastern North Pacific during INTEX-B

In-situ airborne measurements of trace gases, aerosol size distributions, chemistry and optical properties were conducted over Mexico and the Eastern North Pacific during MILAGRO and INTEX-B. Heterogeneous reactions between secondary aerosol precursor gases and mineral dust lead to sequestration of sulfur, nitrogen and chlorine in the supermicrometer particulate size range. Simultaneous measurements of aerosol size distributions and weak-acid soluble calcium result in an estimate of 11 wt% of CaCO3 for Asian dust. During transport across the North Pacific, 5-30% of the CaCO3 is converted to CaSO4 or Ca(NO3)2 with an additional 4% consumed through re- actions with HCl. The 1996 to 2008 record from the Mauna Loa Observatory confirm these findings, indicating that, on average, 19% of the CaCO3 has reacted to form CaSO4 and 7% has reacted to form Ca(NO3)2 and 2% has reacted with HCl. In the nitrogen-oxide rich boundary layer near Mexico City up to 30% of the CaCO3 has reacted to form Ca(NO3)2 while an additional 8% has reacted with HCl. These heterogeneous reactions can result in a 3% in- crease in dust solubility which has an insignificant effect on
A Systems Biology Approach to the Analysis of Subset-Specific Responses to Lipopolysaccharide in Dendritic Cells

Dendritic cells (DCs) are critical for regulating CD4 and CD8 T cell immunity, controlling Th1, Th2, and Th17 commitment, generating inducible Tregs, and mediating tolerance. It is believed that distinct DC subsets have evolved to control these different immune outcomes. However, how DC subsets mount different responses to inflammatory and/or tolerogenic signals in order to accomplish their divergent functions remains unclear. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) provides an excellent model for investigating responses in closely related splenic DC subsets, as all subsets express the LPS receptor TLR4 and respond to LPS in vitro. However, previous studies of the LPS-induced DC transcriptome have been performed only on mixed DC populations. Moreover, comparisons of the in vivo response of two closely related DC subsets to LPS stimulation have not been reported in the literature to date. We compared the transcriptomes of murine splenic CD8 and CD11b DC subsets after in vivo LPS stimulation, using RNA-Seq and systems biology approaches. We identified subset-specific gene signatures, which included multiple functional immune mediators unique to each subset. To explain the observed subset-specific differences, we used a network analysis approach. While both DC subsets used a conserved set of transcription factors and major signalling pathways, the subsets showed differential regulation of sets of genes that ‘fine-tune’ the network Hubs expressed in common. We propose a model in which signalling through common pathway components is ‘fine-tuned’ by transcriptional control of subset-specific modulators, thus allowing for distinct functional outcomes in closely related DC subsets. We extend this analysis to comparable datasets from the literature and confirm that our model can account for cell subset-specific responses to LPS stimulation in multiple subpopulations in mouse and man.
Inertial sensors aided image alignment and stitching for panorama on mobile phones

In this paper, we propose using signals collected from inertial sensors on cameras to speed up image alignment for panorama construction. Inertial sensors including accelerometers and gyroscopes are first calibrated to improve sensing accuracy. These sensors are then used to estimate the position and orientation of each captured image frame. By knowing the relative displacement of image frames, alignment can be performed with good accuracy and computational efficiency. Through examples we illustrate the effectiveness of inertial-sensor assisted panorama.
Quantitative Proteomic Analysis of Duck Ovarian Follicles Infected with Duck Tembusu Virus by Label-Free LC-MS

Duck Tembusu virus (DTMUV) is a newly emerging pathogenic flavivirus that has caused massive economic losses to the duck industry in China. DTMUV infection mainly results in significant decreases in egg production in egg-laying ducks within 1–2 weeks post infection. However, information on the comparative protein expression of host tissues in response to DTMUV infection is limited. In the present study, the cellular protein response to DTMUV infection in duck ovarian follicles was analyzed using nano-flow high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry. Quantitative proteomic analysis revealed 131 differentially expressed proteins, among which 53 were up regulated and 78 were down regulated. The identified proteins were involved in the regulation of essential processes such as cellular structure and integrity, RNA processing, protein biosynthesis and modification, vesicle transport, signal transduction, and mitochondrial pathway. Some selected proteins that were found to be regulated in DTMUV-infected tissues were screened by quantitative real-time PCR to examine their regulation at the transcriptional level, western blot analysis was used to validate the changes of some selected proteins on translational level. To our knowledge, this study is the first to analyze the proteomic changes in duck ovarian follicles following DTMUV infection. The protein-related information obtained in this study may be useful to understand the host response to DTMUV infection and the inherent mechanism of DTMUV replication and pathogenicity.
A numerical method for fractal conservation laws

We consider a fractal scalar conservation law, that is to say, a conservation law modified by a fractional power of the Laplace operator, and we propose a numerical method to approximate its solutions. We make a theoretical study of the method, proving in the case of an initial data belonging to L ∞ ∩ BV that the approximate solutions converge in L ∞ weak-* and in L P strong for p < ∞, and we give numerical results showing the efficiency of the scheme and illustrating qualitative properties of the solution to the fractal conservation law.
'I'm excited!' Student expectations prior to starting their first year at university

First year student retention is an ongoing challenge in higher education and expectations are an important influence on students’ adjustment. Based on interviews with 19 students before they started at a regional Australian university, this research is informed by a framework of student engagement that proposes that the student experience occurs in an educational interface, the dynamic space influenced by student and institutional factors. Four constructs manifest within the interface and influence engagement. This paper therefore explores students’ emotions, self-efficacy, well-being, and belonging prior to starting university. Overall, the students have expectations of high engagement driven by two key influences: the alignment between their interests and their courses, and the relationships they expect to make. While some are nervous about what lies ahead, others are naively optimistic. Most know what they need from the university but seem less aware of what they need to do in order to succeed. ; ;
A Planetary Nebula around Nova V458 Vulpeculae Undergoing Flash Ionization

Nova V458 Vul erupted on 2007 August 8 and reached a visual magnitude of 8.1 a few days later. Hα images obtained 6 weeks before the outburst as part of the IPHAS Galactic plane survey reveal an 18th magnitude progenitor surrounded by an extended nebula. Subsequent images and spectroscopy of the nebula reveal an inner nebular knot increasing rapidly in brightness due to flash ionization by the nova event. We derive a distance of 13 kpc based on light travel time considerations, which is supported by two other distance estimation methods. The nebula has an ionized mass of 0.2 M☉ and a low expansion velocity: this rules it out as ejecta from a previous nova eruption, and is consistent with it being a ~14,000 year old planetary nebula, probably the product of a prior common envelope (CE) phase of evolution of the binary system. The large derived distance means that the mass of the erupting WD component of the binary is high. We identify two possible evolutionary scenarios, in at least one of which the system is massive enough to produce a Type Ia supernova upon merging.
The Dynamic Decision Switch for Multiple Pixel Connected Component Labeling Algorithm

Connected component labeling is an indispensable and one of most time consuming tasks of the applications in computer vision. Many labeling algorithms have been introduced, such as scan plus connection table, scan plus union-find, and contour tracing etc. They would rather use byte data than bit data to represent the binary pixel, which is either 1 or 0, due to the heavy cost of bitwise operations. This paper will propose a mechanism employing bit data to stand for the binary image pixels and labeling multiple pixels in one labeling process so that it can turn the weakness of bit data into the strength. According to the test results run in ARM926EJ-S, this new mechanism can double the speed of the scanning and analysis phases of an array based scan plus union-find algorithm. Besides, the much smaller binary image buffer needed by this mechanism is critical for the limited hardware-resource embedded devices, which are implemented in the field of computer vision gradually.
DAWN: Defending against wormhole attacks in wireless network coding systems

Network coding has been shown to be an effective approach to improve the wireless system performance. However, many security issues impede its wide deployment in practice. Besides the well-studied pollution attacks, there is another severe threat, that of wormhole attacks, which undermines the performance gain of network coding. Since the underlying characteristics of network coding systems are distinctly different from traditional wireless networks, the impact of wormhole attacks and countermeasures are generally unknown. In this paper, we quantify wormholes' devastating harmful impact on network coding system performance through experiments. Then we propose DAWN, a Distributed detection Algorithm against Wormhole in wireless Network coding systems, by exploring the change of the flow directions of the innovative packets caused by wormholes. We rigorously prove that DAWN guarantees a good lower bound of successful detection rate. We perform analysis on the resistance of DAWN against collusion attacks. We find that the robustness depends on the node density in the network, and prove a necessary condition to achieve collusion-resistance. DAWN does not rely on any location information, global synchronization assumptions or special hardware/middleware. It is only based on the local information that can be obtained from regular network coding protocols, and thus does not introduce any overhead by extra test messages. Extensive experimental results have verified the effectiveness and the efficiency of DAWN.
Global longitudinal strain is a strong independent predictor of all-cause mortality in patients with aortic stenosis.

AIMS To assess the capacity of global longitudinal strain (GLS) in patients with aortic stenosis (AS) to (i) detect the subclinical left ventricular (LV) dysfunction [LV ejection fraction (LVEF) ≥50% patients]; (ii) predict all-cause mortality and major adverse cardiac events (MACE) (all patients), and (iii) provide incremental prognostic information over current risk markers. METHODS AND RESULTS Patients with AS (n = 146) and age-matched controls (n = 12) underwent baseline echocardiography to assess AS severity, conventional LV parameters and GLS via speckle tracking echocardiography. Baseline demographics, symptom severity class and comorbidities were recorded. Outcomes were identified via hospital record review and subject/physician interview. The mean age was 75 ± 11, 62% were male. The baseline aortic valve (AV) area was 1.0 ± 0.4 cm(2) and LVEF was 59 ± 11%. In patients with a normal LVEF (n = 122), the baseline GLS was controls -21 ± 2%, mild AS -18 ± 3%, moderate AS -17 ± 3% and severe AS -15 ± 3% (P< 0.001). GLS correlated with the LV mass index, LVEF, AS severity, and symptom class (P< 0.05). During a median follow-up of 2.1 (inter-quartile range: 1.8-2.4) years, there were 20 deaths and 101 MACE. Unadjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for GLS (per %) were all-cause mortality (HR: 1.42, P< 0.001) and MACE (HR: 1.09, P< 0.001). After adjustment for clinical and echocardiographic variables, GLS remained a strong independent predictor of all-cause mortality (HR: 1.38, P< 0.001). CONCLUSIONS GLS detects subclinical dysfunction and has incremental prognostic value over traditional risk markers including haemodynamic severity, symptom class, and LVEF in patients with AS. Incorporation of GLS into risk models may improve the identification of the optimal timing for AV replacement.
Three-Dimensional Geological Model of Quaternary Sediments in Walworth County, Wisconsin, USA

A three-dimensional (3D) geologic model was developed for Quaternary deposits in southern Walworth County, WI using Petrel, a software package primarily designed for use in the energy industry. The purpose of this research was to better delineate and characterize the shallow glacial deposits, which include multiple shallow sand and gravel aquifers. The 3D model of Walworth County was constructed using datasets such as the U.S. Geological Survey 30 m digital elevation model (DEM) of land surface, published maps of the regional surficial geology and bedrock topography, and a database of water-well records. Using 3D visualization and interpretation tools, more than 1400 lithostratigraphic picks were efficiently interpreted amongst 725 well records. The final 3D geologic model consisted of six Quaternary lithostratigraphic units and a bedrock horizon as the model base. The Quaternary units include in stratigraphic order from youngest to oldest: the New Berlin Member of the Holy Hill Formation, the Tiskilwa Member of the Zenda Formation, a Sub-Tiskilwa Sand/Gravel unit, the Walworth Formation, a Sub-Walworth Sand/Gravel unit, and a Pre-Illinoisan unit. Compared to previous studies, the results of this study indicate a more detailed distribution, thickness, and interconnectivity between shallow sand and gravel aquifers and their connectivity to shallow bedrock aquifers. This study can also help understand uncertainty within previous local groundwater-flow modeling studies and improve future studies.
Sensorless Operation of an Inset PM Bearingless Motor Implemented by the Combination Approach of MRAS and HF Signal Injection

On the basis of analyzing the mathematic model of high frequency signal injection and model reference adaptive system, a novel rotor position estimation scheme using the combined rotor position self-sensing method was suggested, which will meet the need of sensorless operation for an inset permanent magnet type bearingless motor. The rotor position detecting principle, such as the saliency-tracking technology with the injection of high-frequency carrier signal at low speed, the observer estimation at high speed, the smooth switching of these two detecting schemes for rotor position estimation and their implementation technique were all discussed in this paper. And then, the sensorless vector control system of an inset permanent magnet type bearingless motor was set up based on the aforementioned position estimation approach. Simulation study demonstrates that the proposed combined self-sensing method is capable of precisely estimating the rotor space position in the full speed regions for the inset permanent magnet type bearingless motor and is capable of achieving stable sensorless suspension operation at the low or high speeds with heavy load disturbance
Uncovering the temperature of the hotspot in nanoscale devices

We present for the first time multi-scale modeling of self-heating effects in conventional MOSFET devices in a common-source and common-drain configurations in which one of the devices is the device under test (DUT) and the other device is the sensor. Via comparisons to experimental measurements performed at IMEC, we are able to uncover the temperature of the hot spot. This is also the first study in which a circuit with two transistors is being simulated using thermal particle-based device simulations.
Heliospheric Origin of Gamma-Ray Bursts

Systematic variations of average observational characteristics and correlation properties between different parameters of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with time from 1991 April to 1994 September are revealed. It is hard to explain the observed long-term variability by variations of experimental conditions. The variability of GRB properties with the time scale of months to years, together with the similarity between GRBs, solar hard X-ray flares and terrestrial gamma-ray flashes, may indicate an origin of GRBs, at least partly, within the heliosphere. Large-voltage and high-temperature pinch plasma columns produced by disruptive electrical discharges in the outer heliosphere can generate hard X-ray and gamma-ray flashes with energy spectra and spectral evolution characters consistent with that observed in GRBs.
The criminal justice system on trial: Shaming, outrage, and gendered tensions in public responses to the Jian Ghomeshi verdict

Drawing on an affective framework, this qualitative content analysis of the immediate public responses on Twitter in the hours following Jian Ghomeshi’s not guilty verdict (n = 3943 tweets) reveals two key discourses of public opinion. Twitter users depicted the criminal justice system (CJS) as having worked and/or failed, and these intensifying divisions were highly gendered. Members of the public pitted notions of the “rational male” against the “emotional female”, and these debates heavily supported or opposed a patriarchal legal rationality. This study sheds light on the ways in which adversarial justice systems reproduce adversarial discourses on crime, and overlook the problems entangled in misleading applications of rationality to sexual consent. The wide circulation of blame to all parties involved in this case leads us to the conclusion that the CJS, in its current punitive form, does not instil a sense of confidence in the public. With a shifted focus on the healing and dignity of everyone involved in sexual assault cases, we recommend Restorative and Transformative approaches to justice as alternative measures to respond to sexual assault.