Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Self administered cognitive screening test (TYM) for detection of Alzheimer’s disease: cross sectional study

Objective To evaluate a cognitive test, the TYM (“test your memory”), in the detection of Alzheimer’s disease. Design Cross sectional study. Setting Outpatient departments in three hospitals, including a memory clinic. Participants 540 control participants aged 18-95 and 139 patients attending a memory clinic with dementia/amnestic mild cognitive impairment. Intervention Cognitive test designed to use minimal operator time and to be suitable for non-specialist use. Main outcome measures Performance of normal controls on the TYM. Performance of patients with Alzheimer’s disease on the TYM compared with age matched controls. Validation of the TYM with two standard tests (the mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and the Addenbrooke’s cognitive examination-revised (ACE-R)). Sensitivity and specificity of the TYM in the detection of Alzheimer’s disease. Results Control participants completed the TYM with an average score of 47/50. Patients with Alzheimer’s disease scored an average of 33/50. The TYM score shows excellent correlation with the two standard tests. A score of ≤42/50 had a sensitivity of 93% and specificity of 86% in the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. The TYM was more sensitive in detection of Alzheimer’s disease than the mini-mental examination, detecting 93% of patients compared with 52% for the mini-mental state exxamination. The negative and positive predictive values of the TYM with the cut off of ≤42 were 99% and 42% with a prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease of 10%. Thirty one patients with non-Alzheimer dementias scored an average of 39/50. Conclusions The TYM can be completed quickly and accurately by normal controls. It is a powerful and valid screening test for the detection of Alzheimer’s disease.
Dual-Band Adjustable and Reactive I/Q Generator With Constant Resistance for Down- and Up-Converters

Adjustable and reactive in-phase/quadrature (I/Q) generators with constant resistance are proposed for the first time in this paper with the properties of low loss, dual-band implementation, and high quadrature accuracy. The quadrature phase property and input matching of the I/Q generator can be achieved at all frequencies simultaneously by the constant-resistance I/Q generator. However, the magnitude balance of the dual-band I/Q generator is achieved at two designed frequencies. A 2.4/5.2-GHz I/Q down-converter and a 2.4/5.7-GHz single-sideband up-converter are fabricated using 0.35-mum SiGe BiCMOS technology. The dual-band I/Q generator along with two single-to-differential amplifiers is integrated to provide differential quadrature local oscillator signals for dual-band mixers. The magnitude imbalance and phase error between the I and Q channels of the down-converter are < 1% and < 1deg, respectively, while the maximum sideband rejection ratio of the up-converter is up to 50 dB. Additionally, the operation bandwidth (sideband rejection ratio > 30 dB) is 200 MHz at 2.4 GHz and 720 MHz at 5.7 GHz.
Evaluation and understanding of myocilin mutations in Indian primary open angle glaucoma patients.

PURPOSE To screen for mutations in the MYOC gene of patients with Primary Open Angle Glaucoma (POAG) in India and to better understand the mutations using a possible model of myocilin. METHODS We analyzed DNA for mutations in 107 subjects with POAG and 90 normal control subjects. The exonic sequences of the MYOC gene from all subjects were amplified by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). We carried out Single Strand Conformation Polymorphism (SSCP) for all the PCR products. The DNA samples which showed mobility shift in the banding pattern in SSCP gel were sequenced. We also analyzed the presence of the common mutation Gln368Stop using a specific restriction enzyme Taa 1. The mutations observed here and elsewhere have been mapped onto a possible model built for myocilin using a knowledge-based consensus modeling approach. RESULTS Two heterozygous mutations Gly367Arg (1099G>A) and Thr377Met (1130C>T) were identified in exon3 of the MYOC gene of probands 40-1 and 51-1 respectively, from material obtained from the 107 unrelated subjects with POAG. These two mutations were not present in the normal controls studied. We identified a Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) Gly122Gly (366C>T) in exon1 of proband 57-1 as a non-disease causing variation. The common mutation Gln368Stop found in the Western population was not observed in the POAG cases screened in Indian population. The possible structural model for myocilin suggests a predominantly [beta]-strand rich C-terminal region (181-504) which is connected by the [alpha]-helical mid-region (111-180) to the N-terminal region (34-110) which has low secondary structure content. Both the mutations, Gly367Arg and Thr377Met identified in our study, map on to the C-terminal region. These mutations disfavor burial of this region during oligomer formation due to the charged or bulky nature of the mutants. Most of the other mutations known for myocilin also are surface exposed on the C-terminal region. CONCLUSIONS Our findings indicate that the mutation frequency of the MYOC gene is 2% in the Indian population affected with POAG, which is not a well-studied ethnic group of the Asian continent. The variations identified in our study have been previously reported in the Western population. The nonsense mutation Gln368Stop was not observed in the present study and thereby suggests that it may not be a common disease-causing mutation in the Indian population. Amongst other Asian populations, studies in Japan also didn't report this nonsense mutation. The location of these mutations suggest that a plausible mode of action could be by disruption of dimer or oligomer formation by the C-terminal region allowing greater chances of nucleation of aggregation by the N-terminal region.
Toward generative design for digital publishing on mobile devices

The importance of mobile devices has attracted increasing attention among designers, traditional media publishers, ad agencies, and companies of all sizes to create, distribute, monetize, and optimize interactive content for ubiquitous mobile application. Nonetheless, creating a good mobile application providing rich interactive user experience is time consuming due to the design chaos, communication cost and mobile technical issues. In this paper, a generative design framework is proposed to streamline this design process. This framework comprising three tools, template extraction tool, design exploration tool and packaging tool, is capable of providing non-programming application publishers an easy environment to design their application at the abstract user interface level. Grounded on this study, efficient creation of mobile applications providing rich interactive user experience and ubiquitous delivery is possible.
ADML: a framework for representing inhabitants in 3D virtual worlds

Last years, a new fashion over Internet and computer networks has been established: the 3D virtual worlds. Reports about Future Internet predict virtual worlds will play a major role in the configuration of the future network. They bet on those virtual environments will encompass the ability to become highly adaptive to user preferences (having into account eInclusion aspects), and they will provide a high level of interoperability. However, current 3D virtual worlds are far from cover these issues. This work is focused in providing a preliminary solution about customization and interoperability in the field of avatars representation. They are a key element in the 3D virtual worlds because using 3D avatars is a common way for representing virtual world inhabitants. First of all, nowadays there is not a way for defining all the avatar features that are important for simulating a real person, and for defining their identity. Besides, features that can be specified are usually defined in a closed and proprietary format that does not allow migration among virtual worlds. Thirdly, eInclusion aspects are not taken into account. This work proposes a preliminary framework for specifying a complete avatar identity by means of features that are not dependent on the virtual world context or interaction events. Those are appearance, personality and communication skills. Moreover, for providing a tool that describes the framework, the base for a new XML-based language --ADML-- has been created. The language will allow specify avatar identity features taking into account eInclusion aspects and it will allow migration among worlds. Part of this language has been accepted into the new MPEG-V standard proposal.
Overview of interference situation and mitigation techniques for LDACS1

LDACS1 is the broadband candidate technology for the future L-band digital aeronautical communications system. As unused spectrum is very scarce in the L-band, LDACS1 pursues the approach to make use of the gaps between adjacent channels used by the distance measuring equipment to meet the capacity requirements of a new aeronautical data link. This is a challenging approach as the power of DME signals is well above the LDACS1 received power in many scenarios. In addition, further legacy system, operating in the L-band might affect LDACS1. In this paper, we will characterize the different sources of interference and derive scenarios for their influence onto LDACS1. We will also distinguish between the situations in the forward, i.e. at an airborne receiver, and in the reverse link, corresponding to a ground station receiver. Next we will have a look onto detecting interference pulses which is a challenging task for LDACS1, as it uses orthogonal frequency division multiplexing modulation, which leads to remarkable fluctuations of the useful signal power itself. The efficiency of the proposed interference detection will be confirmed by realistic simulations. Based on the investigated detection capabilities, we will finally assess, by means of bit-error rate simulations, how the different types of interference influence the LDACS1 performance if a basic interference mitigation algorithm is applied.
Endovascular Treatment of Intracranial Dural Arteriovenous Fistulas.

Endovascular treatment options for dural arteriovenous fistulas (DAVFs) have vastly expanded and become progressively safer in the last several years. Angiographic imaging systems have improved, catheter technology has advanced, and liquid embolic and coil options have increased. As a likely result, an increasing proportion of DAVFs are treated via an endovascular approach. In addition to allowing physicians to appreciate and treat lesions better, varied approaches have been developed. The "plug and push" technique and the new availability of dimethyl sulfoxide--compatible dual lumen balloons have allowed safer and more thorough transarterial treatments. Transvenous treatment has proved to be a valuable technique for some lesions. Hybrid approaches with surgical assisted access to vascular structures have been successfully used to treat more challenging fistulas.
Coding Theorems for the Shannon Cipher System With a Guessing Wiretapper and Correlated Source Outputs

The security level of the Shannon cipher system is traditionally measured by equivocation, where is a secret plaintext with length and is its cryptogram. But, Merhav and Arikan have considered another security criterion, which is measured by the number of guesses needed for a wiretapper to uncover from . Merhav has also considered the third security criterion, which measured by the probability of correct guess of a wiretapper. On the other hand, in the case of the traditional security criterion, Yamamoto has treated a coding problem for correlated source outputs and such that only is secret against wiretappers and only must be transmitted to a legitimate receiver. In this correspondence, coding theorems are proved for the case that Yamamoto's coding problem is applied to Merhav-Arikan's security criterion or Merhav's security criterion.
The retinoblastoma homolog RBR1 mediates localization of the repair protein RAD51 to DNA lesions in Arabidopsis

The retinoblastoma protein (Rb), which typically functions as a transcriptional repressor of E2F‐regulated genes, represents a major control hub of the cell cycle. Here, we show that loss of the Arabidopsis Rb homolog RETINOBLASTOMA‐RELATED 1 (RBR1) leads to cell death, especially upon exposure to genotoxic drugs such as the environmental toxin aluminum. While cell death can be suppressed by reduced cell‐proliferation rates, rbr1 mutant cells exhibit elevated levels of DNA lesions, indicating a direct role of RBR1 in the DNA‐damage response (DDR). Consistent with its role as a transcriptional repressor, we find that RBR1 directly binds to and represses key DDR genes such as RADIATION SENSITIVE 51 (RAD51), leaving it unclear why rbr1 mutants are hypersensitive to DNA damage. However, we find that RBR1 is also required for RAD51 localization to DNA lesions. We further show that RBR1 is itself targeted to DNA break sites in a CDKB1 activity‐dependent manner and partially co‐localizes with RAD51 at damage sites. Taken together, these results implicate RBR1 in the assembly of DNA‐bound repair complexes, in addition to its canonical function as a transcriptional regulator.
Lines of Comments as a Noteworthy Metric for Analyzing Fault-Proneness in Methods

This paper focuses on the power of comments to predict fault-prone programs. In general, comments along with executable statements enhance the understandability of programs. However, comments may also be used to mask the lack of readability in the program, therefore well-written comments are referred to as “deodorant to mask code smells” in the field of code refactoring. This paper conducts an empirical analysis to examine whether Lines of Comments (LCM) written inside a method’s body is a noteworthy metric for analyzing fault-proneness in Java methods. The empirical results show the following two findings: (1) morecommented methods (the methods having more comments than the amount estimated by size and complexity of the methods) are about 1.6 – 2.8 times more likely to be faulty than the others, and (2) LCM can be a useful factor in fault-prone method prediction models along with the method size and the method complexity. key words: product metrics, fault-prone method prediction, comments, regression model
A study on SVM with feature selection for fault diagnosis of power systems

When faults occur in power systems, it is hard to manually deal with the fault data reported by the system of supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) because of the huge amount of alarm information. In this paper, we study the problem of power system fault diagnosis by using support vector machine (SVM), and enhance the ability of fault diagnosis through optimizing support vectors. The results of simulation tests demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed automatic fault diagnosis method.
Type and Amount of Input-Based Practice in CALI: The Revelations of a Triangulated Research Design.

Luis Cerezo, American University Research shows that computer-generated corrective feedback can promote second language development, but there is no consensus about which type is the most effective. The scale is tipped in favor of more explicit feedback that provides metalinguistic explanations, but counterevidence indicates that minimally explicit feedback of the right/wrong type may promote comparable learning outcomes. Addressing these conflicting findings, the present study investigated the effects of different types and amounts of practice as variables that may moderate the effectiveness of computerized right/wrong feedback. Fifty-two learners of intermediate Spanish completed either 28 or 56 items of an input-based task with 2 or 4 options targeting Spanish past counterfactual conditional sentences. Quantitative results on achievement scores showed that differences in amount of practice might contribute to explaining the conflicting findings in the literature. Additionally, a qualitative analysis of participant mouse-click histories illustrated participant use of elimination strategies to redefine the 4-option tasks, while participant think-alouds revealed the increased boredom and fatigue induced by the extra amount of practice. This study thus contributes to the debate on the effects of different types of computerized feedback and the development of hybrid and online language learning programs, while underscoring the importance of triangulating data from multiple sources.
Characteristics of the polar assembly and disassembly of microtubules observed in vitro by darkfield light microscopy

We describe here the continuous observations of the polymerization of individual microtubules in vitro by darkfield microscopy. In homogeneous preparations we verify that polymerization can occur onto both ends of microtubules. The assembly of microtubules is polar, with one end growing at three times the rate of the other. The differential rate of elongation can be used to determine the polarity of growth off cellular nucleating centers. We show that the microtubules grow off the proximal end of ciliary axonemes at a growth rate equal to that of the slow growing end of free microtubules, while growth off the distal end proceeds at the same rate as the fast growing end. Applying this technique to microtubule growth from metaphase chromosomes isolated from HeLa and CHO cells, we demonstrate that chromosomes initiate polymerization with the fast growing end facing away from the chromosome nucleation site. The opposite ends of free microtubules show different sensitivities to microtubule depolymerizing agents such as low temperature, Ca++ or colchicine as measured directly by darkfield microscopy. The differing rates of assembly and disassembly of each end of a microtubule suggest that a difference in polarity of growth off nucleating sites could serve as one basis for regulating the polymerization of different groups of microtubules in the same cell.
Comparison of Turbidity Measurement by MODIS and AVHRR Images

The turbidity is commonly measured by turbidity meter. However, it is only accurate for single point measurement but ineffective for wide spatial and temporal coverage. The objective of this study was to calibrate the turbidity algorithm for AVHRR and MODIS images. We also want to compare the effectiveness of MODIS and AVHRR in turbidity retrieval. Some studies had been performed to correlate the relationship between turbidity and reflectance. The reflectance at the Top of Atmosphere (TOA) was different with the reflectance from the target (water surface). Therefore an algorithm for atmospheric corrected reflectance had to be performed before a regression analysis was done to correlate the turbidity measurement with reflectance. Some pre-processing steps had to be performed to retrieve the atmospheric corrected reflectance and perform the geometric correction. The classification of land, cloud and water pixels was done based on the ratio of reflectance for near-infrared channel and red visible channel. The cloud masking techniques were also applied to filter the cloud contaminated pixels. The good pixels were only chosen for regression analysis. The multiple regressions were done on turbidity data and atmospheric corrected reflectance. The turbidity data was turbidity in-situ data obtained from Department of Environment (DOE). The atmospheric corrected reflectance was calculated with method of Hu. The square of correlation coefficient, R2 and root mean square error, RMSE were calculated. The same procedure was done on both MODIS and AVHRR images. The scatter plot was generated to observe the correlation between turbidity estimated from the algorithm for MODIS and AVHRR images. The turbidity estimated from algorithm by MODIS image gave a higher correlation compared with AVHRR image. Besides of that, the turbidity estimated from algorithm by both images show only the moderate relationship.
The Small Molecule Inhibitor QLT0267 Radiosensitizes Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cells of the Head and Neck

Background The constant increase of cancer cell resistance to radio- and chemotherapy hampers improvement of patient survival and requires novel targeting approaches. Integrin-Linked Kinase (ILK) has been postulated as potent druggable cancer target. On the basis of our previous findings clearly showing that ILK transduces antisurvival signals in cells exposed to ionizing radiation, this study evaluated the impact of the small molecule inhibitor QLT0267, reported as putative ILK inhibitor, on the cellular radiation survival response of human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cells (hHNSCC). Methodology/Principal Findings Parental FaDu cells and FaDu cells stably transfected with a constitutively active ILK mutant (FaDu-IH) or empty vectors, UTSCC45 cells, ILK floxed/floxed(fl/fl) and ILK −/− mouse fibroblasts were used. Cells grew either two-dimensionally (2D) on or three-dimensionally (3D) in laminin-rich extracellular matrix. Cells were treated with QLT0267 alone or in combination with irradiation (X-rays, 0–6 Gy single dose). ILK knockdown was achieved by small interfering RNA transfection. ILK kinase activity, clonogenic survival, number of residual DNA double strand breaks (rDSB; γH2AX/53BP1 foci assay), cell cycle distribution, protein expression and phosphorylation (e.g. Akt, p44/42 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)) were measured. Data on ILK kinase activity and phosphorylation of Akt and p44/42 MAPK revealed a broad inhibitory spectrum of QLT0267 without specificity for ILK. QLT0267 significantly reduced basal cell survival and enhanced the radiosensitivity of FaDu and UTSCC45 cells in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. QLT0267 exerted differential, cell culture model-dependent effects with regard to radiogenic rDSB and accumulation of cells in the G2 cell cycle phase. Relative to corresponding controls, FaDu-IH and ILK fl/fl fibroblasts showed enhanced radiosensitivity, which failed to be antagonized by QLT0267. A knockdown of ILK revealed no change in clonogenic survival of the tested cell lines as compared to controls. Conclusions/Significance Our data clearly show that the small molecule inhibitor QLT0267 has potent cytotoxic and radiosensitizing capability in hHNSCC cells. However, QLT0267 is not specific for ILK. Further in vitro and in vivo studies are necessary to clarify the potential of QLT0267 as a targeted therapeutic in the clinic.
Detection of Dense Molecular Gas in Interarm Spurs in M51

Spiral arm spurs are prominent features that have been observed in extinction and 8 μm emission in nearby galaxies. In order to understand their molecular gas properties, we used the Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO) to map the CO(1-0) emission in three spurs emanating from the inner northwestern spiral arm of M51. We report CO detections from all three spurs. The molecular gas mass and surface density are MH2 ∼ 3 × 106 M☉ and ΣH2 ∼ 50 M☉ pc−2. Thus, relative to the spiral arms, the spurs are extremely weak features. However, since the spurs are extended perpendicular to the spiral arms for ~500 pc and contain adequate fuel for star formation, they may be the birthplace for observed interarm H II regions. This reduces the requirement for the significant time delay that would be otherwise needed if the interarm star formation was initiated in the spiral arms. Larger maps of galaxies at similar depth are required to further understand the formation and evolution of these spurs and their role in star formation—such data should be forthcoming with the new Combined Array for Research in Millimeter Astronomy (CARMA) and future Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescopes, and can be compared to several recent numerical simulations that have been examining the evolution of spiral arm spurs.