Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Synthetic amyloid-β oligomers impair long-term memory independently of cellular prion protein

Inability to form new memories is an early clinical sign of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). There is ample evidence that the amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide plays a key role in the pathogenesis of this disorder. Soluble, bio-derived oligomers of Aβ are proposed as the key mediators of synaptic and cognitive dysfunction, but more tractable models of Aβ−mediated cognitive impairment are needed. Here we report that, in mice, acute intracerebroventricular injections of synthetic Aβ1–42 oligomers impaired consolidation of the long-term recognition memory, whereas mature Aβ1–42 fibrils and freshly dissolved peptide did not. The deficit induced by oligomers was reversible and was prevented by an anti-Aβ antibody. It has been suggested that the cellular prion protein (PrPC) mediates the impairment of synaptic plasticity induced by Aβ. We confirmed that Aβ1–42 oligomers interact with PrPC, with nanomolar affinity. However, PrP-expressing and PrP knock-out mice were equally susceptible to this impairment. These data suggest that Aβ1–42 oligomers are responsible for cognitive impairment in AD and that PrPC is not required.
Urban Ecosystem Health Assessment Based on Vitality Index and Set Pair Analysis

In light of characteristics of the urban ecosystem,the concept of urban vital organism is introduced to vividly and systematically assess the status of urban ecosystem from the macroscopical layer.Covering producing power,living status,ecological ascendancy and vital force,the urban vitality index is constructed to represent the urban ecosystem health states from the economic subsystem,social subsystem,natural subsystem and ecological regulatory subsystem,respectively.Set pair analysis(SPA), an uncertainty assessment method which systematically estimates the uncertainty of urban system,is also introduced to assess the urban ecosystem health.Through SPA,multiple indicators of urban vitality index can be integrated to evaluate the relative approximate degree of real index set to the optimal one,which can be used to describe the relative health states of the urban ecosystems and finally impel the improvement of the whole urban ecosystem health status.With the integrated SPA-based urban vitality assessment model and the indicator weights determined by information entropy method,the relative status of urban vitality index in 2005 among each urban ecosystem is measured,by choosing sixteen typical cities including Beijing,Shanghai,Wuhan,Guangzhou,etc.as study objects.The results show that the health status of urban ecosystem based on urban vitality index of Xiamen,Shanghai,Beijing,and Qingdao is relatively good,while the states of Chongqing,Xi'an,Yinchuan,Harbin and Chengdu is relatively bad.
Midmodiolar Reconstruction as a Valuable Tool to Determine the Exact Position of the Cochlear Implant Electrode Array

Hypothesis: A midmodiolar reconstruction with multislice computed tomography could potentially be used clinically to determine the cochlear implant electrode array position if the technique was validated with a cadaveric temporal bone study. Background: Several radiologic studies using sophisticated techniques have been described. This study was designed to validate a standard multislice computed tomography scan technique to determine the electrode array position. Methods: This ex vivo study was conducted on 18 cadaveric temporal bones without malformation. Cochlear electrode dummies were implanted by a single experimented surgeon with the Advance Off-Stylet technique. After randomization, the placement was processed through an anteroinferior or superior cochleostomy for respective scala tympani or vestibuli positioning with direct location of the basilar membrane. Cadaveric temporal bones were then scanned (Philips Brilliance 40 computed tomographic scan) and reconstructed into the midmodiolar computed tomography scan plane (±45 degrees, z-axis in the cochlear coordinate system). Two independent neuroradiologists, who were unaware of the implanted scala, evaluated the electrode array position on a computed tomographic scan through the midmodiolar reconstruction. In the end, the microanatomic study was the criterion standard to determine the exact scala localization of the electrode array. Results: Nine electrodes were inserted into the scala tympani, and 9 were inserted into the scala vestibuli. According to our anatomic criterion standard, the midmodiolar reconstruction sensitivity and the specificity for the scala tympani position were 0.875 (range, 0.722-1.0) and 1.0, respectively; the sensitivity and specificity for dislocation and the scala vestibuli position were both 1.0. The radioanatomic concordance was 0.94 (range, 0.89-0.98) for determining the electrode array position into scalae with midmodiolar reconstruction. Conclusion: Our cadaveric study validates midmodiolar reconstruction as a valuable tool to routinely determine the precise position of the cochlear implant electrode array. This study opens the field for further clinical studies.
Coordinated zero-forcing beamforming in multipoint MIMO networks for backhaul applications

The capacity of a multipoint MIMO wireless network is interference-limited. In order to increase the system capacity, MIMO precoding at the transmitter and decoding at the receiver can be employed so that interference among different nodes is eliminated or suppressed. In this paper, we propose precoding/decoding techniques based on an iterative zero-forcing approach. By utilizing the extra degrees of freedom provided by multiple transmit and receive antennas, this algorithm achieves good signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) and fast convergence. The sum-rate capacity and convergence behavior of this algorithm are studied and the possible application to MIMO backhaul networks is discussed.
Sexual Orientation and Demographic, Cultural, and Psychological Factors Associated with the Perpetration and Victimization of Intimate Partner Violence among Hispanic Men

Hispanics are disproportionately affected by intimate partner violence (IPV). Most of the research describing factors associated with intimate partner violence among Hispanics has focused on Hispanic women or Hispanics in heterosexual relationships. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship among sexual orientation (heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual), and demographic, cultural, and psychological factors and intimate partner violence among Hispanic men. A cross sectional questionnaire was administered to 160 Hispanic heterosexual men and men who have sex with men. Demographic factors (age, education, and income), acculturation, depressive symptoms, and self-esteem were assessed using standardized instruments. Data was analyzed using ANOVA, and simple and multiple logistical regression. Differences in education, income, and self-esteem were noted across participants identifying as heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual. Bisexual Hispanic men had almost four times greater odds of reporting the perpetration of IPV than homosexual Hispanic men, even when differences in education, income, and self-esteem were controlled for (AOR = 3.92, 95%CI = 1.11, 14.19). This study suggests the importance of specifically targeting bisexual Hispanic men in IPV research and services.
RELAXATION OF VASCULAR SMOOTH MUSCLE INDUCED BY LOW‐POWER LASER RADIATION

The relaxation of rabbit aorta rings induced by low‐power laser radiation was investigated in vitro to determine the location of the chromophore(s) responsible for this response and evaluate possible mechanisms. An action spectrum for relaxation was measured on rabbit thoracic aorta rings precontracted with norepinephrine. The decrease in isometric tension was measured during exposure to laser light (351–625 nm) delivered via a fiber optic to a small spot on the adventitial surface. The shortest UV wavelength (351 nm) was 35‐fold more effective than 390 nm and 1700‐fold more effective than 460 nm. Ultraviolet wavelengths also produced greater maximum relaxation (0.40–0.45) than visible wavelengths (0.20–0.25), suggesting that photovasorelaxation involves more than one chromophore.
Health status and health services access and utilization among Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, South Asian, and Vietnamese children in California.

OBJECTIVES We examined health status and health services access and utilization of Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, South Asian, Vietnamese, and non-Hispanic White children in California. METHODS We analyzed aggregated data from the 2003 and 2005 California Health Interview Survey (648 Chinese, 523 Filipino, 235 Japanese, 308 Korean, 314 South Asian, 264 Vietnamese, and 8468 non-Hispanic White children aged younger than 12 years), examining the relationship between Asian ethnicities and outcomes. RESULTS Compared with non-Hispanic White children, Korean children were 4 times more likely to lack health insurance; Filipino children were twice as likely to not have had recent contact with a doctor; Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese children were less likely to have visited an emergency room in the past year; and Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese children were more likely to be in fair or poor health. Age, gender, poverty, citizenship-nativity status, health insurance, and parental marital and child health statuses were related to most outcomes. CONCLUSIONS Asian ethnicities have heterogeneous health care access and utilization patterns, suggesting the need for targeted outreach to different Asian ethnic groups.
Overview of the 2017 RedICA text-image matching (RICATIM) challenge

This paper describes the design and analysis of results of the 2017 RedICA: Text-Image Matching (RICATIM) challenge. This academic competition faces the image labeling problem (assigning words to images) as one binary classification. Motivated by recent success of representation learning, we built a data set for binary classification in which each instance is the learned representation of a pair of an image and a word. Instances are labeled as positive, if the word is relevant for describing the content of the image and negative otherwise. Thus, participants of the challenge had to develop binary classification methods to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant text-image matchings. The challenge attracted 43 participants, that provided quite original and competitive solutions. The performance obtained by the top ranked participants was impressive, improving the performance of the baseline considerably. In this paper we describe the approached problem, the challenge design (including data and evaluation protocol), and provide an overview of the results achieved by participants.
Executive Compensation and Ethnic Minority Status

We examine the compensation of ethnic minority executives in listed US firms. The total pay of African American executives is 9 percent lower than that earned by Caucasians. This is due to lower base salary, lower bonus, and lower restricted stock grants. The lower bonus is due to a lower sensitivity to above average firm performance. African Americans also earn significantly less on the exercise of stock options, increasing the pay gap to 17 percent for total ex-post pay. In contrast to African Americans, the compensation of Hispanic and Asian executives is comparable to Caucasians.
A practical approach to strengthen vulnerable downlinks using superposition coding

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel approach to improve the packet delivery efficiency on a vulnerable downlink (e.g., from a transmitter to a far-away receiver) using superposition coding, a multiuser transmission scheme that forgoes orthogonal transmission and deliberately introduces interference among signals at the transmitter. On a software radio platform that uses off-the-shelf point-to-point channel codes, we show that a transmitter serving multiple links can use simple two-user superposition codes to dramatically improve (compared to time division multiplexing) the packet delivery efficiency on its most vulnerable links. Interestingly, our results suggest that superposing signals of far-away users on to those of high-traffic users yields the maximum benefits - implying that the degrees-of-freedom gain in doing so can more than compensate for the increased interference from signal superposition.
Dielectric breakdown characteristics of the rod-plane electrode system in SF6 gas under oscillating impulse voltage

Gas insulated switchgear (GIS) has been widely used in electric power system for its high reliability and the small size. And considering the transportation difficulty GIS is always assembled in field. The AC withstand voltage testing is used on the spot to check the insulation condition of GIS, but it is not enough to inspect all the defects inside GIS. So impulse voltage testing is required. But it is not easy to carry out the impulse voltage testing for the sake of the huge size of impulse voltage generator. IEC 60060-3 recommends the oscillating impulse voltage waveform as the field testing waveform for its high efficiency. The breakdown characteristics of SF6 gas are still not clear under oscillating impulse voltage. This paper aims to present the breakdown characteristics of rod-plane electrode model in SF6 under oscillating voltage waveform. The oscillating lightning impulse voltage (OLI) with the frequency of 300 kHz is adopted as the testing waveform while the distance of rod-plane electrode is 3.2mm. The standard lightning impulse (SLI) voltage is also adopted as a reference waveform. The breakdown voltage-time (V-t) curves are illustrated in this paper. Results show the time lag under oscillating voltage is longer than that of the standard impulse voltage. Besides the oscillating characteristics of impulse voltage waveform have great influence on the breakdown characteristics of SF6.
Toll-like receptor modulators: a patent review (2006 – 2010)

Introduction: The immune response is mediated via two parallel immune components, innate and adaptive, whose effector functions are highly integrated and coordinated for the protection of the human body against invading pathogens and transformed cells. The discovery of pathogen recognition receptors (PRRs), most notably toll-like receptors (TLRs), in innate immunity has evoked increased interest in the therapeutic handling of the innate immune system. TLRs are germ line-encoded receptors that play a potent role in the recognition of a diverse variety of ligands ranging from hydrophilic nucleic acids to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or peptidoglycan (PGN) structures in pathogens. Areas covered: This review discusses recent updates (2006 – 2010) in completed, ongoing and planned clinical trials of TLR immunomodulator-based therapies for the treatment of infectious diseases, inflammatory disorders and cancer. Expert opinion: Since the discovery of human TLRs, modulating immune responses using TLR agonists or antagonists for therapeutic purposes has provoked intense activity in the pharmaceutical industry. The ability of TLRs to initiate and propagate inflammation makes them attractive therapeutic targets. We are now at the stage of evaluating such molecules in human diseases. Additionally, there is also extensive literature available on TLRs in diseased states. These data provide a basis for the identification of novel immunomodulators (agonists and antagonists) for the therapeutic targeting of TLRs.
The diagnostic yield of quantified electromyography and quantified muscle biopsy in neuromuscular disorders

Electromyography (EMG), histology, and histochemistry were related in 264 patients with neuromuscular disorders classified according to history and clinical and other laboratory findings. Electromyography and histological and histochemical abnormalities were divided in specific and nonspecific criteria. Specific histochemical criteria alone identified 28% of neurogenic lesions. Criteria of myopathy, obtained from the pattern of electrical activity during 30% of maximal effort, helped to delineate a myopathy when the only abnormality was an increased incidence of polyphasic potentials together with a pattern of full recuitment during maximal effort. Histology, histochemistry, or both, and EMG were concordant with clinical findings in 77% of 188 patients with myopathy and in 91% of 64 patients with neurogenic lesions. The electromyogram was concordant with the clinical classification in 87% of patients with myopathy and in 91% of patients with neurogenic impairment. The biopsy was in agreement with or contributed to the classification in 79% of patients with myopathy and in 92% of patients with neuropathy.
Developing ALK Immunohistochemistry and In Situ Hybridization Proficiency Testing for Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer in Canada: Canadian Immunohistochemistry Quality Control Challenges and Successes

Intrachromosomal rearrangements involving the ALK gene are found in 3% to 5% of non–small cell lung cancers. Crizotinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor that has been shown to prolong progression-free survival in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer harboring ALK gene rearrangements. In Canada, ALK immunohistochemistry (IHC) is used as a screening test before confirmation by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Canadian Immunohistochemistry Quality Control (CIQC) provides ALK (Lung Cancer) proficiency testing (PT) for Canadian IHC laboratories. Samples included 32 previously characterized cases (IHC and FISH) either from the Canadian ALK (CALK) project or from CIQC reference laboratories. The same design was used for both runs. A total of 20 laboratories participated in Run 1 and 22 in Run 2. Some laboratories participated in the anticipation of future need and used the PT exercise as a part of test development and validation. Results of the IHC testing were first self-reported using the CIQC TMA Scorer and then evaluated by expert assessment. FISH results were self-reported only. Participants also reported details about IHC and FISH protocols. The &kgr;-values were calculated, for which values >0.80 were used as acceptable results, respectively. The pass rate between the 2 runs and between different primary antibodies were compared. Six of the 22 protocols (27%) in Run 1 and 15 of the 22 (68%) protocols in Run 2 passed the CIQC PT criteria for IHC testing. The increase in the pass rate for Run 2 was significant (P=0.03, Wilcoxon signed-rank test). All reported FISH results were correct. CALK laboratories had significantly higher &kgr;-values than non-CALK laboratories (P=0.002, t test). PT for IHC for rare diseases such as ALK-positive lung cancer is feasible, but challenging. The academic nature of the CIQC program and collaboration on a national level facilitated the development of appropriate PT samples. Participating laboratories made use of the PT exercise either to confirm that their testing was properly calibrated or to improve their protocols, which was confirmed by the achievement of significantly better results in Run 2. They also used CIQC’s PT program for new test development and optimization.
Experimental study on bounded ethicality, outcome bias and supplier ethical management

Unbiased ethical judgment of an enterprise's decision maker on suppliers' behaviors is the starting point of effective supplier ethical management. However, owing to bounded ethicality, outcome bias may occur in their judgment, which will affect the supplier ethical management. Two-factor-mixed design, a method of cognitive psychology experimental research, is adopted to create three types of unethical behavior scenario with each behavior further classified into that of “positive outcome” and that of “negative outcome”. And with so designed an experiment, the influence of outcome information and the types of the behavior on the supplier ethical judgment and management is studied. An analysis of variance shows that the main effect of outcome information and the behavior type on ethical judgment and management are significant and a regression analysis indicates that the mediating effect of ethical judgment on the relationship between outcome information and ethical management is also significant.
Interference Mitigation in Cognitive-Radio-Based Femtocells

Femtocell architecture involves the use of two separate layers-the macrocell and femtocell layers. In this architecture, the former is the conventional cellular network, whereas the latter incorporates a range of shorter range cells. Femtocells are designed to coexist alongside macrocells, providing spatial frequency reuse, higher spectrum efficiency, and cover areas where macrocells cannot. Femtocells positioned in the macrocell considerably improve the indoor coverage and provide better user experience. However, interference between the two layers is imminent; therefore, ways to manage it must be employed to efficiently avoid problems such as coverage holes in the macrocells. Essential limits of capacity and attainable data rates also mainly depend on the interference faced by a femtocell network. Recently, cognitive radio (CR), which has the ability to sense its environment and accordingly alter its characteristics, e.g., transmission parameters, has been merged with femtocells to exploit the capabilities of the former in the latter. CR-enabled femtocells in a two-tier network can sense the environment and opportunistically allocate both licensed and unlicensed frequency bands to user equipments to avoid interference. This paper examines interference mitigation in femtocells using CR and provides comprehensive survey of different CR-enabled interference mitigation schemes. Presented schemes such as power control, spectrum access, antenna, and joint schemes are classified before they are compared for pros and cons. Finally, tradeoffs and cost of using CR in femtocells are highlighted with some insight into future research issues and challenges.
Transforming artifact to signal: A wavelet-based algorithm for quantifying neonatal movement

In neonatal research, physiological signals are often degraded by an artifact generated by movement of the infant. Portions of these movement embedded signals are commonly excluded in the analysis of the relevant physiological signal. However, movement may be a significant marker of physiological development of the infant. Here we present results from a wavelet-based algorithm that quantifies neonatal movement, using recordings from the pulse plethysmograph. We suggest that movement-induced artifactual signal can yield important physiological information regarding neonatal physiology.
Security Enhancements in Novel Passive Optical Networks

Passive optical networks (PONs) solve the bandwidth bottleneck issue as they extend optical networks to homes and businesses. Security concerns in time division multiplexed PONs that are traditionally addressed through filtering and encryption techniques are replaced by an enhanced physical security technique that is presented herein. This security enhancement is accomplished through the inclusion of tunable lasers in the optical line terminal of a PON architecture. Simulation tools verify the viability of the physical security scheme. Presented results verify that implementation of this enhanced security technique can be successfully employed in a PON.
A 0.2V 492nW VCO-based OTA with 60kHz UGB and 207 μVrms noise

This paper presents a 0.2V VCO-based OTA (VCO-OTA) for low-voltage, low-power applications. The VCO-OTA processes information in the time domain, which makes it possible to scale down supply to really low voltages. The proposed architecture eliminates current sources used in the charge pump to design a 0.2V VCO-OTA. Simulations show that in unity gain configuration, the proposed architecture achieves 60kHz unity gain bandwidth and 207μVRMs input referred noise while consuming 492nW.