Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Free-Breathing, Motion-Corrected Late Gadolinium Enhancement Is Robust and Extends Risk Stratification to Vulnerable Patients

Background— Routine clinical use of novel free-breathing, motion-corrected, averaged late-gadolinium-enhancement (moco-LGE) cardiovascular MR may have advantages over conventional breath-held LGE (bh-LGE), especially in vulnerable patients. Methods and Results— In 390 consecutive patients, we collected bh-LGE and moco-LGE with identical image matrix parameters. In 41 patients, bh-LGE was abandoned because of image quality issues, including 10 with myocardial infarction. When both were acquired, myocardial infarction detection was similar (McNemar test, P=0.4) with high agreement (&kgr;=0.95). With artifact-free bh-LGE images, pixelwise myocardial infarction measures correlated highly (R 2=0.96) without bias. Moco-LGE was faster, and image quality and diagnostic confidence were higher on blinded review (P<0.001 for all). During a median of 1.2 years, 20 heart failure hospitalizations and 18 deaths occurred. For bh-LGE, but not moco-LGE, inferior image quality and bh-LGE nonacquisition were linked to patient vulnerability confirmed by adverse outcomes (log-rank P<0.001). Moco-LGE significantly stratified risk in the full cohort (log-rank P<0.001), but bh-LGE did not (log-rank P=0.056) because a significant number of vulnerable patients did not receive bh-LGE (because of arrhythmia or inability to hold breath). Conclusions— Myocardial infarction detection and quantification are similar between moco-LGE and bh-LGE when bh-LGE can be acquired well, but bh-LGE quality deteriorates with patient vulnerability. Acquisition time, image quality, diagnostic confidence, and the number of successfully scanned patients are superior with moco-LGE, which extends LGE-based risk stratification to include patients with vulnerability confirmed by outcomes. Moco-LGE may be suitable for routine clinical use.
Impaired Urea Accumulation in the Inner Medulla of Mice Lacking the Urea Transporter UT-A2

ABSTRACT Urea transporter UT-A2, the major urea transporter of the thin descending limb of the loop of Henle in short loop nephrons, has been implicated in urea recycling in the medulla, thereby producing concentrated urine. To investigate the physiological role of UT-A2 in vivo, we generated UT-A2-selective knockout mice by deleting the UT-A2 promoter. Western analysis, immunohistochemistry, and quantitative reverse transcription-PCR were used to confirm the specific deletion of UT-A2 with preservation of other UT-A transporters. Compared to wild-type mice, differences in the urine outputs of UT-A2−/− mice consuming a normal protein diet (20% protein) were not observed under normal conditions or with dehydration. Likewise, impairment of urea accumulation in the inner medulla of UT-A2−/− mice was not observed. On a low-protein diet (4% protein), however, significantly reduced maximal urine osmolality was observed in dehydrated UT-A2−/− mice compared to wild-type littermates (2,500 mosmol versus 3,450 mosmol, respectively). A significant reduction in urea accumulation in the inner medulla was also observed in UT-A2−/− mice; however, differences in Na+ and Cl− accumulation were not observed. Thus, UT-A2 is important for maintaining a high concentration of urea in the inner medulla when urea supply to the kidney is limited.
Calcein-Acetyoxymethyl Cytotoxicity Assay: Standardization of a Method Allowing Additional Analyses on Recovered Effector Cells and Supernatants

ABSTRACT Cytotoxicity assays provide an in vitro evaluation of the lytic activity of NK and T cells against tumors or transformed cells. However, none of these methods allow the recovery of cells or supernatants after the assay. We standardized a microcytotoxicity test using calcein-acetoxymethyl (calcein-AM) dye that requires very small quantities of cells while maintaining the same sensitivity as the traditional 51Cr assay. The assay is applicable to resting as well as activated human effector cells and uses different targets such as human cell lines that are adherent or growing in suspension and resistant or sensitive. The most important feature of the method is the possibility of recovering cells and supernatants for additional analyses such as phenotyping and evaluation of soluble factors.
Transient extensional rheology of wormlike micelle solutions

A filament stretching rheometer is used to follow the evolution in the tensile force and the flow induced birefringence of a wormlike micelle solution experiencing a uniaxial elongation flow. The experiments are performed using a series of wormlike micelle solutions of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and sodium salicylate in de-ionized water. The linear viscoelastic shear rheology of the wormlike micelle solutions is well described by an upper convected Maxwell model with a single relaxation time. In transient homogeneous uniaxial extension, the wormlike micelle solutions demonstrate significant strain hardening and a failure of the stress-optical, however, no stress-conformation hysteresis is observed. A quantitative fit to the extensional rheology of each of the wormlike micelle solution tested is achieved with a FENE–PM model having as few as two relaxation modes. At a critical stress, nearly independent of strain rate, the wormlike micelle solutions filaments are found to fail through a dramatic ruptur.
Cellular Location and Some Properties of Proteolytic Enzymes of Rumen Bacteria

Several physical and chemical techniques were used to extract, and to identify the location of, proteolytic enzymes associated with mixed rumen bacteria. Most activity was removable by gentle physical methods such as shaking and brief blending, without cell disruption, indicating that it was associated with coat and capsular material. Proteases were present also in the cell envelope, corresponding to the inner membrane fraction of gram-negative bacteria, and intracellularly and were removable by detergent and French press treatment. Temperature and pH profiles were obtained for the coat enzymes, likely to be the most important in the digestion of food protein. Inhibition studies indicated that these proteases, and those of the whole bacterial fraction from rumen fluid, were predominantly of the cysteine protease type.
Study on the Visualization of the Impression of Listening to the Music

In this study, we considered audio equipment evaluation using the sound of music. Audio amplifiers were set up as the evaluation targets, and sound quality differences between them were visualized by a wavelet analysis using an actual musical sound signal. We considered the cause of these differences and then tried to connect the sound impression to an analysis result. WT ( wavelet transform ) of the sound of music was carried out to evaluate two amplifiers. The sound quality of amplifier A related to the esthetic factor of the "depth " and has been analyzed as the high region of WT, and that of amplifier B related to the force factor of the "depth " and has been analyzed as the low region of WT. Thus, we were able to visualize the impression of listening to the music by correlation of the auditory experiment and wavelet analysis.
Growth factor-induced delayed early response genes

Growth factors induce the sequential expression of cellular genes whose products are thought to mediate long-term responses to the growth factors. In mouse 3T3 fibroblastic cells, the first genes to be expressed (immediate-early genes) are activated within minutes after the addition of platelet-derived growth factor, fibroblast growth factor, or serum. By cDNA cloning, we have identified genes that are activated after a delay of a few hours and several hours prior to serum-induced DNA replication. Activation of these delayed early response genes requires new protein synthesis, presumably the synthesis of immediate-early transcription factors described previously. Partial or complete sequencing of 13 different delayed early cDNAs, representing about 40% of the 650 primary cDNA isolates, revealed that 8 were related to known gene sequences and 5 were not. Among the former are cDNAs encoding nonhistone chromosomal proteins [HMGI(Y) and HMGI-C], adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (APRT), a protein related to human macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), a protein of the major intrinsic protein (MIP) family homologous to the integral membrane protein of human erythrocytes, and cyclin CYL1. In 3T3 cells, the delayed early gene response to growth factors appears to be at least as complex as the immediate-early gene response previously described.
Evaluation of optimum modes of ultrasonic pulsed influence for coagulation in liquid-dispersed medium

This paper proposes a new approach to improve the efficiency of coagulation of dispersed particles in liquid. The approach is based on the ultrasonic treatment as a sequence of wave packets (ultrasonic pulses) of finite duration that is less than cycle period. The impact of ultrasonic pulses reduces the maximum cavitation nuclei radius achieved during direct diffusion of dissolved gas into the cavitation bubble interior. This leads to an increase the threshold intensity required for cavitation and hence to increase the maximum allowable ultrasonic energy that permits particles coagulation at stable cavitation absence mode. To determine the optimal ultrasonic pulse exposure modes (intensity and pulse duration) to ensure the most effective coagulation, a model is proposed and developed. The model initially considers the formation of cavitation nuclei to evaluate limit ultrasound exposure intensity realizing cavitation absence mode and then the convergence and coalescence of particles to evaluate their dispersed composition evolution during time. Evaluated exposure modes provide acceleration of coagulation up to 1.5 times during sonication in pulse mode in comparison with continuous exposure.
Errors resulting from the reflectivity of calibration targets

For a microwave total-power radiometer, we consider the error introduced by neglecting the difference in the antenna reflection coefficient between when it views a distant scene and when it views a nearby calibration target. An approximate expression is presented for the error, and measurements are described that enable one to estimate the resulting uncertainty in the measured brightness temperature. The measurement results are presented for several combinations of antenna and calibration target. The resulting uncertainty ranges from about 0.1 K to several kelvins for the representative cases considered.
“Do it-yourself”: Home blood pressure as a predictor of traditional and everyday cognition in older adults

Background Hypertension guidelines recommend home blood pressure (HBP) monitoring in adjunct to office blood pressure (OBP) for its greater reproducibility and prognostic utility in the prevention of cardiovascular outcomes, especially stroke. To date, the relationship between HBP and cognitive function remains unexplored. Methods We examined HBP as a cognitive predictor in a multi-ethnic group of community-dwelling adults aged 60 and over (N = 133) using neuropsychological measures and analyzed the data using multiple regression analyses. We also employed “everyday cognition” measures that have been found to have higher prognostic utility for real-world functioning than traditional cognitive tasks. Results Good to perfect HBP monitoring compliance over seven days was achieved by 88.7% of the participants with superior reliability (ICC≥.96) to office readings. Higher home systolic BP and pulse pressure predicted worse processing speed, executive function, and everyday cognitive function, whereas lower home diastolic BP predicted worse everyday cognition. Office readings were similarly associated with everyday cognitive function but with no other cognitive measures. Conclusion Our findings are the first to validate HBP as a predictor of neuropsychological function in older adults beyond cognitive screening. Differential relationships among blood pressure variables and specific cognitive domains were observed. With proper standardization and training, we demonstrated that HBP can be obtained in a multi-ethnic community-dwelling older adult cohort. Our findings emphasize the importance of employing blood pressure and cognitive measures that are adequately sensitive to detect vascular-related cognitive impairment in a relatively healthy population. Implications regarding proper HBP measurement for hypertension management, cognitive health, and everyday function are discussed.
Experimental Verification of the Inertial Oscillations of a Fluid in a Cylinder During Spin-up

Abstract : The dependence of inertial oscillation frequency on time since a cylindrical container began rotating from rest is established experimentally for several axially symmetric modes of oscillation. The oscillations were excited by including a sinusoidal perturbation in the rotation speed of the container which served to establish an exchange of fluid between the viscous boundary layers and the interior. The interior is set into oscillation by the boundary layer flow and the resulting axial pressure differences are used to establish the amplitude of the inertial oscillation.
On a theorem of Haupt and Wirtinger concerning the periods of a differential of the first kind, and a related topological theorem

Riemann showed that the entries in this matrix were far from arbitrary. In fact, both of the square matrices A and B are nonsingular, making it possible to choose a new basis for the-set of differentials of the first kind in such a way that A is replaced by the gXg identity matrix and B is replaced by A-'B. The whole gX2g matrix is then of the form (I, Z) where Z =A-'B is a square matrix with complex entries. If each element of Z is written as the sum of its real and imaginary parts, then Z itself may be written as a sum of two matrices, Z = X+i Y, where X and Y have real entries. Then the Riemann relations between the entries in (A; B) are equivalent to the statement that Z is now symmetric (from which it follows that both X and Y are symmetric) and that Y is in fact positive definite. An arbitrary g X 2g matrix (A; B) where A is nonsingular and A-'B is symmetric and has positive definite imaginary part is often called (after Scorza) a Riemann matrix, but it is not true that every Riemann matrix, in this sense, arises as the Riemann matrix associated with a Riemann surface. Let (A; B) be an arbitrary Riemann matrix.2 Since Z=A-'B is symmetric, it has g(g+1)/2 independent complex entries, which may be taken as the coordinates of a point in complex g(g+1)/2-space, Cg(+1)12. The set of points arising thus from the totality of all Riemann matrices of genus g is an open set, being restricted only by the condition that the imaginary part of Z be positive definite, and therefore has the same dimension as the space. But it is known that if the set of all Riemann surfaces of genus g is parametrized in any reasonable fashion, then for g= 1, one complex param
Incidental Thyroid Nodules Detected on Thoracic Contrast-Enhanced CT in the Pediatric Population: Prevalence and Outcomes.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and outcomes of incidental thyroid nodules detected on thoracic contrast-enhanced CT (CECT) in the pediatric population. MATERIALS AND METHODS We used our hospital information system to retrospectively identify all consecutive pediatric patients (< 21 years old) with newly detected thyroid nodules reported on thoracic CECT performed between January 2006 and January 2013. The study population was categorized into two groups: patients with (group 1) and without (group 2) an available follow-up thyroid ultrasound study. Two pediatric radiologists systematically reviewed the CT studies, available follow-up thyroid ultrasound studies, and outcomes of patients meeting the inclusion criteria. For patients without an available follow-up ultrasound study (group 2), the duration of clinical follow-up was also evaluated. If a biopsy was performed, the pathologic diagnosis was correlated with the imaging findings. RESULTS The study population consisted of 35 thoracic CECT studies from 35 pediatric patients (18 females, 17 males; mean age, 13 ± 6.2 [SD] years) who met the inclusion criteria. The prevalence of incidental thyroid nodules detected on thoracic CECT in our study population was 1.4% (35/2525 patients; 95% CI, 1-2%). Seventeen of the 35 (49%) patients (group 1) underwent follow-up thyroid ultrasound, six (17%) of whom ultimately underwent biopsy of the thyroid nodule for pathologic diagnosis. Among these six patients, two (33%) were found to have malignant thyroid nodules: papillary thyroid carcinoma and thyroid involvement by an underlying Burkitt lymphoma. Therefore, the prevalence of malignancy among incidentally detected thyroid nodules on thoracic CECT in pediatric patients in this study was 5.7% (2/35 patients; 95% CI, 2-18%). The remaining four of six patients (67%) had benign thyroid nodules. Eighteen of the 35 (51%) patients (group 2) had only clinical follow-up information (mean follow-up, 27.1 ± 21.1 months); no neoplasm subsequently developed from incidentally detected thyroid nodules among this subset. CONCLUSION Thyroid nodules detected incidentally on thoracic CECT are rare in pediatric patients. However, when thyroid nodules are present, ultrasound (with or without biopsy for pathologic evaluation) is an appropriate strategy because of the rare but real possibility of an underlying thyroid malignancy in the pediatric population.
Measurement-oriented comparison of multiple regulations with GRL

In recent years, intentional models have been adapted to capture and analyze compliance needs and requirements. Furthermore, intentional models have been used to identify the impact of regulations on organizational goals by helping to elicit different alternatives about the business operations supported by compliant business processes and services. In other works, intentional models based on measurement-frameworks have provided well-structured models of regulations and compliance alternatives. This paper integrates Goal-Oriented Requirements Language (GRL)-based methodologies with measurement-based methodologies to improve support for comparing regulations sharing the same concerns via the (measurement) objectivity.
Insights on the drivers and inhibitors of Mobile Data Services uptake

Studying the adoption and acceptance of Mobile Data Services (MDS) has been an intriguing endeavour for quite some time. Much of the related literature is inspired by the technology acceptance model and its heirs. The study presented in this paper adopts an alternative perspective and proposes the study of MDS actual usage patterns under the lens of the Triandis theory of explaining human behaviour. To this end, we adjust the concepts included in the original Triandis model to the MDS context and construct a model predicting MDS use. The model is empirically validated through a survey (N = 365) and tested for its predictive capacity against four different MDS categories (m-commerce, communication, information and entertainment services). Results suggest that the uptake of each of the four service categories is contingent upon a limited set of factors. In addition, financial barriers emerge as a universal inhibitor over and above specific service groupings.
Plantibacter auratus sp . nov . , in the family

Strain NCIMB 9991 is a Gram-positive, short rod-shaped, yellow-pigmented bacterium, with a high DNA G+C content, and was originally deposited in 1967 as Arthrobacter sp. The bacterium is aerobic, non-motile, catalase-positive and oxidase-negative. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequencing studies demonstrated that this strain was highly related genealogically to Plantibacter flavus DSM 14012. Strain IAM 14817 (=NCIMB 9991) has the following characteristics: the predominant menaquinones are MK-9 and MK-10, the DNA G+C content is 68 mol%, the diamino acid in the cell wall is 2,4-L-diaminobutyric acid and the muramic acid in the peptidoglycan is of an acetyl type. The major fatty acid is 12-methyl tetradecanoic acid (anteiso-C15 : 0), followed by 14-methyl hexadecanoic acid (anteiso-C17 : 0), 14-methyl pentadecanoic acid (iso-C16 : 0) and hexadecanoic acid (C16 : 0). On the basis of morphological, physiological and chemotaxonomic characteristics, together with DNA–DNA hybridization and 16S rRNA gene sequence comparison, strain IAM 14817 represents a novel species within the genus Plantibacter, for which the name Plantibacter auratus sp. nov. is proposed, with the type strain IAM 14817 (=NCIMB 9991=NBRC 15702).
Using the crowds to satisfy unbounded requirements

The Internet is a social space that is shaped by humans through the development of websites, the release of web services, the collaborative creation of encyclopedias and forums, the exchange of information through social networks, the provision of work through crowdsourcing platforms, etc. This landscape offers novel possibilities for software systems to satisfy their requirements, e.g., by retrieving and aggregating the information from Internet websites as well as by crowdsourcing the execution of certain functions. In this paper, we present a special type of functional requirements (called unbounded) that is not fully satisfiable and whose satisfaction is increased by gathering evidence from multiple sources. In addition to charac- terizing unbounded requirements, we explain how to maximize their satisfaction by asking and by combining opinions of mul- tiple sources: people, services, information, and algorithms. We provide evidence of the existence of these requirements through examples by studying a modern Web application (Spotify) and from a traditional system (Microsoft Word).
The binding of [ 125 I ] wheat germ agglutinin ( [ 12 zI ] WGA ) of high specific activity to Chinese hamster ovary

The binding of [125I]wheat germ agglutinin ([12zI]WGA) of high specific activity to Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells has been examined over a millionfold range of WGA concentrations and correlated with the phenomena of agglutination and capping by WGA. Analysis of the binding data by the method of Scatchard gives a complex curve indicative of positive cooperativity amongst high-affinity binding sites. Binding assays performed under conditions which inhibit capping and/or agglutination, such as low temperature or glutaraldehyde fixation, give similarly complex binding curves. Thus, the gross mobility of WGA receptors in the membrane does not appear to be responsible for the cooperative binding of WGA
Checkpointing distributed applications on mobile computers

The integration of mobile/portable computing devices within existing data networks can be expected to spawn distributed applications that execute on mobile hosts (MHs). For reliability, it is vital that the global state of such applications be checkpointed from time to time. A global checkpoint consists of a set of local checkpoints, one per participant. This paper first identifies the problems in recording a consistent global state of mobile distributed applications. The location of a MH within the static network varies with time and therefore, a MH will first need to be located ("searched") in order to obtain its local checkpoint. Moreover, MHs often (voluntarily) disconnect from the network; a disconnected MH is not reachable from the rest of the network This means that a (disconnected) MH may not be available to provide its local checkpoint. Lastly, a MH is not equipped with stable storage; disk space at a MH is not considered stable due to vulnerability of MHs to loss, theft and physical damage. Therefore, an alternative stable repository is required to save local checkpoints of MHs. This paper presents a checkpointing algorithm for MHs that satisfies these constraints. <<ETX>>