Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ITRAQ-based quantitative proteomics reveals apolipoprotein A-I and transferrin as potential serum markers in CA19-9 negative pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Abstract Currently the diagnosis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) relies on CA19-9 and radiological means, whereas some patients do not have elevated levels of CA19-9 secondary to pancreatic cancer. The purpose of this study was to identify potential serum biomarkers for CA19-9 negative PDAC. A total of 114 serum samples were collected from 3 groups: CA19-9 negative PDAC patients (n = 34), CA19-9 positive PDAC patients (n = 44), and healthy volunteers (n = 36), whereas the first 12 samples from each group were used for isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) analysis. Thereafter, candidate biomarkers were selected for validation by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with the rest specimens. Using the iTRAQ approach, a total of 5 proteins were identified as significantly different between CA19-9 negative PDAC patients and healthy subjects according to our defined criteria. Apolipoprotein A-I (APOA-I) and transferrin (TF) were selected to validate the proteomic results by ELISA in a further 78 serum specimens. It revealed that TF significantly correlated with the degree of histological differentiation (P = 0.042), and univariate and multivariate analyses indicated that TF is an independent prognostic factor for survival (hazard ratio, 0.302; 95% confidence interval, 0.118–0.774; P = 0.013) of patients with PDAC after curative surgery. ITRAQ-based quantitative proteomics revealed that APOA-I and TF may be potential CA19-9 negative PDAC serum markers.
Glycogen in the brain of Drosophila melanogaster: diurnal rhythm and the effect of rest deprivation

One function of sleep is thought to be the restoration of energy stores in the brain depleted during wakefulness. One such energy store found in mammalian brains is glycogen. Many of the genes involved in glycogen regulation in mammals have also been found in Drosophila melanogaster and rest behavior in Drosophila has recently been shown to have the characteristics of sleep. We therefore examined, in the fly, variation in the glycogen contents of the brain, the whole head and the body throughout the rest/activity cycle and after rest deprivation. Glycogen in the brain varies significantly throughout the day (p = 0.001) and is highest during rest and lowest while flies are active. Glycogen levels in the whole head and body do not show diurnal variation. Brain glycogen drops significantly when flies are rest deprived for 3 h (p = 0.034) but no significant differences are observed after 6 h of rest deprivation. In contrast, glycogen is significantly depleted in the body after both 3 and 6 h of rest deprivation (p < 0.0001 and p < 0.0001, respectively). Glycogen in the fly brain changes in relationship to rest and activity and demonstrates a biphasic response to rest deprivation similar to that observed in mammalian astrocytes in culture.
Reconfigurable Multi-Band Microwave Filters

An original and simple approach to the design of fully reconfigurable multi-band microwave bandpass filters (BPFs) with an arbitrary number of passbands is reported in this paper. It exploits the use of an innovative quasi-BPF configuration made up of different sets of controllable mono-frequency resonators to separately shape each tunable passband. Thus, high-selectivity multi-band bandpass filtering transfer functions exhibiting independent control in terms of center frequency, bandwidth, and transmission zeros can be synthesized. Furthermore, as an unprecedented frequency-agility feature of the proposed reconfigurable multi-band BPF structure when compared to the state-of-the-art, its passbands can be merged together to form broader, and for certain realizations, higher order transmission bands. This allows even more degrees of reconfiguration to be achieved in the devised circuit, which can also operate as ultra-wideband BPF with flexible in-band notches or self-equalized flat-group-delay quasi-elliptic-type BPF. The theoretical foundations of the described reconfigurable multi-band BPF scheme, along with guidelines for its design and a triple-passband filter synthesis example based on the coupled-node formalism, are expounded. In addition, as an experimental proof-of-concept, two microstrip prototypes with high- Q tuning implemented through mechanically variable capacitors are manufactured and tested. They are a wideband dual-band BPF and a quadruple-band BPF with narrow-bandwidth passbands.
Evaluating digital entertainment system performance

Digital entertainment systems - which encompass a broad range of applications, including smart phones, set-top boxes, MP3 players, DVD players and recorders, game consoles, and digital cameras - have become the driving force behind the expansion of the semiconductor market, outstripping even PCs. Consider, for example, that in 2003, smartphones represented about 3 percent of the 500 million mobile phones sold worldwide, with analysts expecting them to grow at triple-digit year-over-year rates. Moving beyond the voice-centric model, more than half of the 600 million mobile phones sold in 2004 included a color display and digital camera. The implementation of more advanced features such as accelerated 2D and 3D graphics, videoconferencing, mobile multimedia, and games has raised the performance requirements of these model. The Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium's DENBench suite of digital media benchmarks provides a spectrum of tools for assessing and refining the video and audio performance of digital devices.
Endoscopic Vein Harvesting for Coronary Bypass Grafting: A Blessing or a Trojan Horse?

Conventional open harvest of the great saphenous vein (GSV) during CABG results in approximately 7% donor-site complications. Using endoscopic vein harvesting (EVH) the full GSV length can be harvested through a 3 cm incision. This nonsystematic review discusses several key issues concerning EVH, based on an extensive Pubmed search. Found studies show that EVH results in reduced number of wound complications, less postoperative pain, earlier postoperative mobilisation, reduced length of hospital stay, and is more cost-effective. Initial studies did not find significant differences in graft histology, patency, or clinical outcome. However, in 2009 convincing evidence of inferior histological graft properties became available. Furthermore, an observational study showed that EVH resulted in significantly more graft stenosis, was associated with higher mortality, more myocard infarction, and more reinterventions. Most recent publications could not confirm these findings, however larger randomised controlled trials focusing on graft quality are being awaited.
Peroxisomal ABC transporters: functions and mechanism

Peroxisomes are arguably the most biochemically versatile of all eukaryotic organelles. Their metabolic functions vary between different organisms, between different tissue types of the same organism and even between different developmental stages or in response to changed environmental conditions. New functions for peroxisomes are still being discovered and their importance is underscored by the severe phenotypes that can arise as a result of peroxisome dysfunction. The β-oxidation pathway is central to peroxisomal metabolism, but the substrates processed are very diverse, reflecting the diversity of peroxisomes across species. Substrates for β-oxidation enter peroxisomes via ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters of subfamily D; (ABCD) and are activated by specific acyl CoA synthetases for further metabolism. Humans have three peroxisomal ABCD family members, which are half transporters that homodimerize and have distinct but partially overlapping substrate specificity; Saccharomyces cerevisiae has two half transporters that heterodimerize and plants have a single peroxisomal ABC transporter that is a fused heterodimer and which appears to be the single entry point into peroxisomes for a very wide variety of β-oxidation substrates. Our studies suggest that the Arabidopsis peroxisomal ABC transporter AtABCD1 accepts acyl CoA substrates, cleaves them before or during transport followed by reactivation by peroxisomal synthetases. We propose that this is a general mechanism to provide specificity to this class of transporters and by which amphipathic compounds are moved across peroxisome membranes.
Low Bit-Rate Image Compression using CADU

The practical approach of uniform down sampling in image space and yet making the sampling adaptive by spatially varying, directional low-pass pre-filtering. The resulting down-sampled pre filtered image remains a conventional square sample grid, and, thus, it can be compressed and transmitted without any change to current image coding standards and systems. The decoder first decompresses the low-resolution image and then up converts it to the original resolution in a constrained least squares restoration process, using a 2-D piecewise auto regressive model and the knowledge of directional low-pass pre filtering. The proposed compression approach of collaborative adaptive down-sampling and up conversion (CADU) outperforms JPEG 2000 in PSNR measure at low to medium bit rates and achieves superior visual quality, as well. The superior low bit-rate performance of the CADU approach seems to suggest that oversampling not only wastes hardware resources and energy, and it could be counterproductive to image quality given a tight bit budget. I. Introduction Over the past half century, the prevailing engineering practice of image/video compression, as exemplified by all existing image and video compression standards, is to start with a dense 2-D sample grid of pixels. Compression is done by transforming the spatial image signal into a space (e.g., spaces of Fourier or wavelet bases) in which the image has a sparse representation and by entropy coding of transform coefficients. Recently, researchers in the emerging field of compressive sensing challenged the wisdom of what they called " oversampling followed massive dumping " approach. They showed, quite surprisingly,it is possible, at least theoretically, to obtain compact signal representation by a greatly reduced number of random samples. In this paper, we investigate the problem of compact image representation in an approach of sparse sampling in the spatial domain. The fact that most natural images have an exponentially decaying power spectrum suggests the possibility of interpolation-based compact representation of images. A typical scene contains predominantly smooth regions that can be satisfactorily interpolated from a sparsely sampled low-resolution image. Fig. presents a block diagram of the proposed CADU image compression system, summarizing the above ideas and depicting the collaboration between the encoder and decoder However, none of the compression standards accepts quincunx image as input. The encoder of the quincunx method was computationally expensive because it needed an adaptive directional lifting wavelet transform to code quincunx sample grid. Even with its high cost and standard noncompliance, the quincunx method yet …
Randomized parallel communication (Preliminary Version)

Using a simple finite degree interconnection network among <italic>n</italic> processors and a straightforward randomized algorithm for packet delivery, it is possible to deliver a set of <italic>n</italic> packets travelling to unique targets from unique sources in 0(<italic>log n</italic>) expected time. The expected delivery time is in other words the depth of the interconnection graph. The <italic>b</italic> -way shufile networks are examples of such. This represents a crude analysis of the transient response to a sudden but very uniform request load on the network. Variations in the uniformity of the load are also considered. Consider s<subscrpt><italic>i</italic></subscrpt> packets with randomly chosen targets beginning at a source labelled <italic>i</italic>. The expected overall delay is then [equation] where the labelling is chosen so that s<subscrpt>1</subscrpt>≥s<subscrpt>2</subscrpt>≥. These ideas can be used to guage the asymptotic efficiency of various synchronous parallel algorithms which use such a randomized communications system. The only important assumption is that variations in the physical transmission time along any connection link are negligible in comparison to the amount of work done at a processor.
Phylogeography and palaeodistribution modelling of Nassauvia subgenus Strongyloma (Asteraceae): exploring phylogeographical scenarios in the Patagonian steppe

The Patagonian steppe is an immense, cold, arid region, yet phylogeographically understudied. Nassauvia subgen. Strongyloma is a characteristic element of the steppe, exhibiting a continuum of morphological variation. This taxon provides a relevant phylogeographical model not only to understand how past environmental changes shaped the genetic structure of its populations, but also to explore phylogeographical scenarios at the large geographical scale of the Patagonian steppe. Here, we (1) assess demographic processes and historical events that shaped current geographic patterns of haplotypic diversity; (2) analyze hypotheses of isolation in refugia, fragmentation of populations, and/or colonization of available areas during Pleistocene glaciations; and (3) model extant and palaeoclimatic distributions to support inferred phylogeographical patterns. Chloroplast intergenic spacers, rpl32–trnL and trnQ–5′rps16, were sequenced for 372 individuals from 63 populations. Nested clade analysis, analyses of molecular variance, and neutrality tests were performed to assess genetic structure and range expansion. The present potential distribution was modelled and projected onto a last glacial maximum (LGM) model. Of 41 haplotypes observed, ten were shared among populations associated with different morphological variants. Populations with highest haplotype diversity and private haplotypes were found in central-western and south-eastern Patagonia, consistent with long-term persistence in refugia during Pleistocene. Palaeomodelling suggested a shift toward the palaeoseashore during LGM; new available areas over the exposed Atlantic submarine platform were colonized during glaciations with postglacial retraction of populations. A scenario of fragmentation and posterior range expansion may explain the observed patterns in the center of the steppe, which is supported by palaeomodelling. Northern Patagonian populations were isolated from southern populations by the Chubut and the Deseado river basins during glaciations. Pleistocene glaciations indirectly impacted the distribution, demography, and diversification of subgen. Strongyloma through decreased winter temperatures and water availability in different areas of its range.
The Secular Tendency of the Age at Menarche in a Representative Sample of Mexican Girls from an Urban Zone in Central Mexico

Objective: To investigate the age at menarche, pubarche and telarche in a representative sample of residents of an urban zone of Leon, Guanajuato, Central Mexico and to evaluate the secular change of the age at menarche between 1985 and 2000. Methods: Using status quo and retrospective methods, menarcheal, pubarcheal and telarcheal status of girls 8 - 17 years of age (n = 1093) were determined. Multiple regression analysis and logistic regression were used to determine factors that were related to or predictive of age at menarche. Results: Median ages for menarche, pubarche and telarche in our studied sample were: 11.9 ± 0.04; 11.13 ± 1.25 and 10.84 ± 1.34 years, respectively. A direct correlation was found between the age of menarche of adolescents and that of their mother (p p p = 0.001), but an indirect correlation was found with the girls’ hip circumference (p = 0.004). We demonstrated a clear secular tendency towards an earlier onset of menarche by comparing our results (11.9 ± 0.04) with data from 1985 (12.8 ± 1.3) for adolescents from the same city. Conclusion: We demonstrated a clear reduction in age at menarche of approximately 0.75 year/decade, higher than Tanner’s finding in 1962, but similar than that of Malina et al. in 2004.
Fault Detection and Diagnosis for Component-based Robotic Systems

In the software engineering domain, much work has been done for fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) and many methods and technologies have been developed, especially for safety-critical systems. In the meantime, component-based software engineering has emerged and been widely adopted as an effective way to deal with various issues of modern systems such as complexity, scalability, and reusability. Robotics is one of the representative domains where this trend appears. As technology advances, robots are beginning to inhabit the same physical space as humans and this makes the safety issue more important, even critical. However, the safety of recent component-based robotic systems has not been extensively investigated yet. One effective way to achieve system safety is fault tolerance based on FDD which recent robot systems can benefit from. For this purpose, we propose a FDD scheme for component-based software systems with the requirements of flexibility, extendability, and efficiency. The proposed FDD scheme consists of three main components: filter and history buffer, filtering pipeline, and FDD pipeline. We implemented this scheme using the cisst framework and show how it can be systematically deployed in an actual system. As an illustrative example, a FDD pipeline is set up to detect a thread scheduling fault on various operating systems (Linux, RTAI, and Xenomai) and experimental results are presented. Although the target of this example is only one type of fault, it demonstrates how the proposed FDD scheme can be introduced to component-based environments in flexible and systematic ways and how system designers can define a fault and FDD pipeline for it. It is obvious that the importance of dependability-especially safety-of robots will significantly increase as robots are deployed in our daily lives, directly operate on us, or interact closely with us. Thus, the FDD scheme proposed in this paper can be a useful basis for robot dependability research in the future.
Interference neutralization using lattice codes

Deterministic approach of models the interaction between the bits that are received at the same signal level by the modulo 2 sum of the bits where the carry-overs that would happen with real addition are ignored. By this model in a multi-user setting, the receiver can distinguish most significant bits (MSBs) of the stronger user without any noise. A faithful implementation of the deterministic model requires one to “neutralize interference” from previous carry over digits. This paper proposes a new implementation of “interference neutralization” [2] using structured lattice codes. We first present our implementation strategy and then, as an application, apply this strategy to a symmetric half-duplex Gaussian butterfly network. In this network, two transmitters communicate their information to two destinations via a half-duplex relay. For duplexing factor 0.5 and under certain conditions, we show that our proposed scheme based on superposition of nested lattice codes can achieve the capacity region in high SNR. Also, regardless of all channel parameters, the gap between its achievable rate region and the outer bound is at most 0.293 bits/sec/Hz.
Leveraging Graphics Hardware for Vision Based Human Computer Interaction

We present a system which allows users to draw on arbitrary display surfaces. The system is implemented using consumer electronics; data is gathered with a webcam, and most video analysis is done on a desktop graphics card. Two variants of the core system are discussed. In the first, users draw on a computer monitor using a laser pointer. In the second, a light pen is used to draw on a display surface created by back-projecting onto a plexiglass plate. The laser pointer system presents a more challenging data filtering problem. These challenges may be addressed through additional processing, though the results from the back-projection system remain superior.
Agent-based service coordination for the grid

Agents are active autonomous entities that interact with one another to achieve their objectives. This paper addresses how these active agents are a natural fit to consume the passive service oriented architecture which is found in Internet and grid systems, in order to compose, coordinate and execute e-science experiments. A framework is introduced which allows an e-science experiment to be described as a group of e-systems. The notion of a coordination template is introduced which describes the interactions between the agents, these templates do not have to be completely specified before execution and the framework allows agents to synthesize variants of this coordination from the template at run-time. The framework and template concept are applied to a live grid scenario, taken from the UK e-science project AstroGrid.
Translations in social work

ABSTRACT This article is concerned with the relation between classical texts within social work and the interpretation of these classics in contemporary literature. It aims to explore how classical texts influence and work in our perception of, and writing about, our history, but also how they influence our perception of social work today. A study is made of Mary Richmond’s classic text Social diagnosis [1917. Social diagnosis. New York, NY: The Russell Sage Foundation] and later interpretations of her text in secondary literature. Through this analysis, a grand narrative within the effective history of social work: social work as a ‘borrowing field’ is questioned. Using translation theory as an alternative to the borrowing metaphor, I analyze the transference of ideas and concepts from other disciplines into social work and how these processes have been perceived. The dynamic processes of translation places social work within an interdisciplinary field, where ideas and concepts are continually exchanged between disciplines. It is the thesis of this article that research into authorities within the discipline and early contributions to the development of social work strengthen the discipline’s insight into past and current theoretical contributions within the discipline itself and the knowledge base of social work.
Examining the Moderating Effects of Executive function on Transtheoretical Model Utilization to Predict Physical Activity

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to examine the association of each of the transtheoretical model (TTM) constructs on physical activity, with considerations by executive function levels, which has yet to be evaluated in the literature. This is a noteworthy investigation as this may help determine whether the utility of the TTM is contingent upon an individual’s level of executive function. Methods: Data were collected from 200 University students (mean age: 21.6 years; 63% female). TTM constructs were assessed via a validated TTM survey. To assess executive function, the Parametric Go/No-Go computer task was utilized. Results: Physical activity was assessed using the international physical activity questionnaire. The only TTM construct associated with meeting activity guidelines was behavioral processes (odds ratio: 1.13; 95% confidence interval: 1.06-1.20; P < 0.001). Further, there were no interaction effects of executive function and any of the TTM constructs on moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (all P > 0.05). Conclusion: Greater use of behavioral processes of change was associated with higher levels of activity, and executive function did not moderate this association. Utilization of the TTM framework may have utility among young adults irrespective of their executive function level.