Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A U.S. CHINESE LANGUAGE SCHOOL'S MANAGERIAL ADAPTATIONS UNDER INTERNATIONAL IMPACT

This study explores the international impact of Chinese language learning on the management policy of a community Chinese language school in the United States. Chinese language schools in the U.S. used to teach Mandarin to Mandarin-speaking students who are highly homogeneous in their linguistic and cultural backgrounds. However, as the impact of China's recent economic development has become more international, so has the influence of Chinese language learning? This international impact of Chinese language learning is reflected in the increasingly heterogeneous student population in many Chinese language schools in the United States. These schools have to adapt their management policy to accommodate these new students, who may have a multicultural, multilingual background and do not speak Mandarin at home. This study examines one such school. This study is a case study of a Chinese language school's adaptations in its management policy when it faces the international impact of Chinese language learning. The school, located in New York City, had one teacher, two students, two parents of these two selected students, and three administrators as participants. Data were collected through interviews and document collection. This study found that: 1. the school believed in the importance of learning Chinese and thus the necessity of well-accommodating new students of different cultural and linguistic backgrounds; and 2. the linguistic heterogeneity in the school was initiated by China's rising economy and would continue to be impacted by such an economic force in the future.
Ultrafast semiconductor-based fiber laser sources

In this paper, a novel ring laser platform is presented that uses a single active element, a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA), to provide both gain and gain modulation in the optical cavity. Gain modulation is achieved by an externally introduced optical pulsed signal. This signal periodically saturates the amplifier gain and forces the ring laser to mode lock. Using this laser platform, we demonstrate picosecond pulsetrain generation at repetition rates up to 40 GHz, either in single or multiwavelength operation mode. In particular, using rational harmonic mode locking, 2.5-ps pulses were obtained up to a 40-GHz repetition rate, while output pulses and output power were constant over a 20-nm tuning range. In addition, a multiwavelength optical signal was obtained using the same laser platform with the addition of a Fabry-Pe/spl acute/rot filter for comb generation. Multiwavelength oscillation is possible due to the broad gain spectrum of the SOA used and its inhomogeneous line broadening. To this end, 48 oscillating wavelengths were obtained at the laser output, with 50-GHz line spacing. Combining both modes of operation, it was possible to mode lock the oscillating multiwavelength signal and to obtain at the output ten wavelength channels, simultaneously mode locked at a 30-GHz repetition rate. The mode-locked channels are temporarily synchronized and exhibit almost identical spectral and time characteristics.
Investigating the inter‐subunit/subdomain interactions and motions relevant to disease mutations in the N‐terminal domain of ryanodine receptors by molecular dynamics simulation

The ryanodine receptors (RyR) are essential to calcium signaling in striated muscles, and numerous disease mutations have been identified in two RyR isoforms, RyR1 in skeletal muscle and RyR2 in cardiac muscle. A deep understanding of the activation/regulation mechanisms of RyRs has been hampered by the shortage of high‐resolution structures and dynamic information for this giant tetrameric complex in different functional states. Toward elucidating the molecular mechanisms of disease mutations in RyRs, we performed molecular dynamics simulation of the N‐terminal domain (NTD) which is not only the best‐resolved structural component of RyRs, but also a hotspot of disease mutations. First, we simulated the tetrameric NTD of wild‐type RyR1 and three disease mutants (K155E, R157Q, and R164Q) that perturb the inter‐subunit interfaces. Our simulations identified a dynamic network of salt bridges involving charged residues at the inter‐subunit/subdomain interfaces and disease‐mutation sites. By perturbing this key network, the above three mutations result in greater flexibility with the highest inter‐subunit opening probability for R157Q. Next, we simulated the monomeric NTD of RyR2 in the presence or absence of a central Cl– anion which is known to stabilize the interfaces between the three NTD subdomains (A, B, and C). We found that the loss of Cl– restructures the salt‐bridge network near the Cl–‐binding site, leading to rotations of subdomain A/B relative to subdomain C and enhanced mobility between the subdomains. This finding supports a mechanism for disease mutations in the NTD of RyR2 via perturbation of the Cl– binding. The rich structural and dynamic information gained from this study will guide future mutational and functional studies of the NTD of RyRs. Proteins 2017; 85:1633–1644. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Prolonged culture of normal chorionic villus cells yields ICF syndrome-like chromatin decondensation and rearrangements

Untreated cultures from normal chorionic villus (CV) or amniotic fluid-derived (AF) samples displayed dramatic cell passage-dependent increases in aberrations in the juxtacentromeric heterochromatin of chromosomes 1 or 16 (1qh or 16qh). They showed negligible levels of chromosomal aberrations in primary culture and no other consistent chromosomal abnormality at any passage. By passage 8 or 9, 82 ± 7% of the CV metaphases from all eight studied samples exhibited 1qh or 16qh decondensation and 25 ± 16% had rearrangements in these regions. All six analyzed late-passage AF cultures displayed this regional decondensation and recombination in 54 ± 16 and 3 ± 3% of the metaphases, respectively. Late-passage skin fibroblasts did not show these aberrations. The chromosomal anomalies resembled those diagnostic for the ICF syndrome (immunodeficiency, centromeric region instability, and facial anomalies). ICF patients have constitutive hypomethylation at satellite 2 DNA (Sat2) in 1qh and 16qh, generally as the result of mutations in the DNA methyltransferase gene DNMT3B. At early and late passages, CV DNA was hypomethylated and AF DNA was hypermethylated both globally and at Sat2. DNMT1, DNMT3A, or DNMT3B RNA levels did not differ significantly between CV and AF cultures or late and early passages. The high degree of methylation of Sat2 in late-passage AF cells indicates that hypomethylation of this repeat is not necessary for 1qh decondensation. Sat2 hypomethylation may nonetheless favor 1qh and 16qh anomalies because CV cultures, with their Sat2 hypomethylation, displayed 1qh and 16qh decondensation and rearrangements at significantly lower passage numbers than did AF cultures. Also, CV cultures had much higher ratios of ICF-like rearrangements to heterochromatin decondensation in chromosomes 1 and 16. These cultures may serve as models to help elucidate the biological consequences of cancer-associated satellite DNA hypomethylation.
The sequential introduction of HIV-1 subtype B and CRF01AE in Singapore by sexual transmission: accelerated V3 region evolution in a subpopulation of Asian CRF01 viruses.

The rapid spread of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) circulating recombinant form (CRF) 01AE throughout Asia demonstrates the dynamic nature of emerging epidemics. To further characterize the dissemination of these strains regionally, we sequenced 58 strains from Singapore and found that subtype B and CRF01 were introduced separately, by homosexual and heterosexual transmission, respectively. Protein similarity scores of the Singapore CRF01, as well as all Asian strains, demonstrated a complex distribution of scores in the V3 loop--some strains had very similar V3 loop sequences, while others were highly divergent. Furthermore, we found a strong correlation between the loss of a V3 glycosylation site and the divergent strains. This suggests that loss of this glycosylation site may make the V3 loop more susceptible to immune surveillance. The identification of a rapidly evolving population of CRF01AE variants should be considered when designing new candidate vaccines and when evaluating breakthrough strains from current vaccine trials.
On Dependability Assessment of Fault Tolerant Systems by Means of Statistical Model Checking

The problem of dependability assessment can be solved analytically just under predefined conditions. If they do not hold, alternative approaches must apply. Widely, they rely on the Monte Carlo simulation, suffering by the high computational complexity. Some rest on further instruments such as probabilistic timed automata that have been shown to be efficient to solve problems in various areas. However, more general as well as precise and faster instruments such as stochastic timed automata (STA) and statistical model checking (SMC) are available for the same purpose the moment. In the paper, basic terms and principles behind the construction of reliability models and dependability assessment on the STA/SMC basis are summarized, followed by a demonstration of their practical applicability in the area of non-repairable systems. Our main goal is to show that, instruments of STA/SMC can facilitate the dependability assessment process even in adverse conditions such as presence of multiple faults of various parameters.
Mutational Analysis of Conserved Domains within the Cytoplasmic Tail of gp41 from Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1: Effects on Glycoprotein Incorporation and Infectivity

ABSTRACT The transmembrane (TM) glycoprotein gp41 of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 possesses an unusually long (∼150 amino acids) and highly conserved cytoplasmic region. Previous studies in which this cytoplasmic tail had been deleted partially or entirely have suggested that it is important for virus infectivity and incorporation of the gp120-gp41 glycoprotein complex into virions. To determine which regions of the conserved C-terminal domains are important for glycoprotein incorporation and infectivity, several small deletions and amino acid substitutions which modify highly conserved motifs were constructed in the infectious proviral background of NL4.3. The effects of these mutations on infectivity and glycoprotein incorporation into virions produced from transfected 293-T cells and infected H9 and CEM×174 cells were determined. With the exception of a mutation deleting amino acids QGL, all of the constructs resulted in decreased infectivity of the progeny virus both in a single-round infectivity assay and in a multiple-infection assay in H9 and CEM×174 cells. For most mutations, the decreased infectivity was correlated with a decreased incorporation of glycoprotein into virions. Substitution of the arginines (residues 839 and 846) with glutamates also reduced infectivity, but without a noticeable decrease in the amount of glycoprotein incorporated into virus produced from infected T cells. These results demonstrate that minor alterations in the conserved C-terminal region of the gp41 cytoplasmic tail can result in reductions in infectivity that correlate for most but not all constructs with a decrease in glycoprotein incorporation. Observed cell-dependent differences suggest the involvement of cellular factors in regulating glycoprotein incorporation and infectivity.
Myocarditis - clinical course and 2-year outcome in 32 patients.

BACKGROUND Acute myocarditis is one of the most challenging diagnoses in cardiology. It is a disease with variable clinical presentation, progression and outcome. AIM To assess clinical characteristics and outcome of patients hospitalised with diagnosis of acute myocarditis from year 2006 to 2008. METHODS We analysed hospital files of consecutive 32 patients admitted to our hospital due to myocarditis. All demographic, clinical and laboratory data were analysed and compared between patients with acute or subacute myocarditis. After discharge the patients were followed for 8-24 months. RESULTS The majority of patients were males (84%) in a mean age of 33 years. Clinical and echocardiographic parameters improved in 25 (78%) of patients during hospital stay. During follow-up decreased left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was observed more often in patients with subacute than acute myocarditis (mean LVEF values of 49 vs. 61%, respectively). Patients with a subacute form of the disease more frequently required chronic pharmacological therapy and more often retired from occupational activities. CONCLUSIONS Diagnosis of myocarditis is still challenging. Careful history taking, serial laboratory, ECG and echocardiographic examinations are helpful in therapeutic decisions making and assessing prognosis. Patient with subacute myocarditis are more symptomatic than patients with acute myocarditis.
Analysis of the Simultaneity, Voice/layer Balance, and Rhythmic Phrasing in Works for Guitar by Rodrigo, Brouwer, and Villa-Lobos

The paper analyzes different right-hand guitar techniques, such as the use of block chords, the balance between independent musical voices and layers, and global rhythmic control. Three well-known musical excerpts were chosen from the twentieth-century repertoire for guitar and were played in three different renditions: the beginning of Rodrigo’s Entre Olivares, Brouwer’s ´ Etude II and a phrase from Villa-Lobos’s ´ Etude 8. The audio was recorded by means of an acoustic guitar with hexaphonic pickups, and data extraction was programmed in Max. Finer timing adjustments—down to 1 ms—were made manually. At this scale, we found that block chords are rarely played simultaneously; for the description of this quasi-simultaneity, we introduced the concepts of spread interval and spread pattern. The excerpts were analyzed also on the note/chord level and in terms of general rhythmic phrasing. Using these combined parameters enabled us to explore the technical difficulties and expressive choices in each rendition.
Investigation of Optimum Double Codebook Design for Downlink MIMO in LTE-A

Due to the limited feedback amount, the codebook and feedback design is very important. In order to achieve better tradeoff between overhead and performance, the double codebook structures are proposed and discussed, where a final precoder W is determined by two precoders W1 and W2, which are selected from two different codebooks. In this paper, we give an overview of several double codebook structures and evaluate them based on system level simulations (SLS). We consider two frameworks to determine a final precoder: W1W2 and W2W1 where W1 and W2 track long-term/wideband and short-term/subband channel properties, respectively. It is shown that under 4Tx assumption, double codebooks achieve gains compared with Rel.8 codebook when considering the multi-user (MU) MIMO and do not suffer in the case of single-user (SU) MIMO. Both W1W2 and W2W1 provide nearly the same gains over that for the Rel. 8 codebook with uniform linear array (ULA) deployment. Furthermore, W1W2 framework performs better than W2W1 framework with cross-polarized array (CPA) deployment.
Assessment of arterial arrival times derived from multiple inversion time pulsed arterial spin labeling MRI

The purpose of this study was to establish a normal range for the arterial arrival time (AAT) in whole‐brain pulsed arterial spin labeling (PASL) cerebral perfusion MRI. Healthy volunteers (N = 36, range: 20 to 35 years) provided informed consent to participate in this study. AAT was assessed in multiple brain regions, using three‐dimensional gradient and spin echo (GRASE) pulsed arterial spin labeling at 3.0 T, and found to be 641 ± 95, 804 ± 91, 802 ± 126, and 935 ± 108 ms in the temporal, parietal, frontal, and occipital lobes, respectively. Mean gray matter AAT was found to be 694 ± 89 ms for females (N = 15), which was significantly shorter than for men, 814 ± 192 ms (N = 21; P < 0.0003), and significant after correcting for brain volume (P < 0.001). Significant AAT sex differences were also found using voxelwise permutation testing. An atlas of AAT values across the healthy brain is presented here and may be useful for future experiments that aim to quantify cerebral blood flow from ASL data, as well as for clinical comparisons where disease pathology may lead to altered AAT. Pulsed arterial spin labeling signals were simulated using an identical sampling scheme as the empiric study and revealed AAT can be estimated robustly when simulated arrival times are well beyond the normal range. Magn Reson Med, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Percutaneous closure of secundum atrial septal defect with a new self centring device (“angel wings”)

Objective To investigate the safety, efficacy, and clinical application of a new self centring device (“angel wings”) for closure of secundum atrial septal defects (ASD II) and persistent foramen ovale in all age groups. Design Multicentre, prospective, non-randomised study. Patients Inclusion criteria: defects with an occlusive diameter of ⩽ 20 mm and a surrounding rim of > 4 mm; body weight > 10 kg; and an indication for surgical closure of secundum atrial septal defect. Additionally, there were compassionate indications for closure in patients with persistent foramen ovale. Interventions Defects were closed by a transcatheter device consisting of two square frames made of superelastic nitinol wire. The frames are covered by elastic polyester fabric, which is sewn together at a central circle. All procedures, except for three interventions that were carried out under sedation, were performed under general anaesthesia using transoesophageal echocardiography and fluoroscopy to monitor intervention. Results Closure was attempted in 75 (71%) of 105 patients. An ASD II was present in 35 children and 15 adults. A persistent foramen ovale was present in 25 adults with suspected paradoxical embolism. Transcatheter closure was unsuccessful in three children and crossover to surgery was required. Residual shunts were found in 20 patients (27%) immediately after the procedure. A transient atrioventricular third degree block occurred in three patients (4%) and the right atrial disk was not fully deployed in three. A minor shunt (< 3 mm) was present in only three (4%) of 72 patients during follow up of 1–17 months. Blood clots on the right atrial disks in two patients (one required lysis) were seen during follow up transoesophageal echocardiography. Serious complications demanding surgical removal of the device occurred in three patients. One patient had haemopericardial tamponade because of an aortic lesion. Left atrial thrombus formation due to an unfolded right atrial disk was found in a second patient and dislodgement of the left atrial disk resulted in a large residual shunt in a third. Conclusions Percutaneous closure of a central ASD with a diameter ⩽ 20 mm in paediatric and adult patients is feasible and effective with this new device. It is a promising alternative to surgical closure. Modifications of the design, however, seem to be mandatory as 4% of patients developed serious complications.
Low cost and high throughput FME interpolation for the HEVC emerging video coding standard

The new demands for high resolution digital video applications are pushing the development of new techniques in the video coding area. This paper presents the hardware design of the sub-pixel interpolator for the Fractional Motion Estimation algorithm defined by the HEVC emerging standard. Based on evaluations using the HEVC reference software, a strategy was defined to be used in the architectural design. The designed architecture was described in VHDL and synthesized for Altera FPGAs. The hardware designed presents interesting results in terms of performance, being able to process QFHD videos (3840×2160 pixels) in real time.
Derivation of original RESP atomic partial charges for MD simulations of the LDAO surfactant with AMBER: applications to a model of micelle and a fragment of the lipid kinase PI4KA

In this paper, we describe the derivation and the validation of original RESP atomic partial charges for the N, N-dimethyl-dodecylamine oxide (LDAO) surfactant. These charges, designed to be fully compatible with all the AMBER force fields, are at first tested against molecular dynamics simulations of pure LDAO micelles and with a fragment of the lipid kinase PIK4A (DI) modeled with the QUARK molecular modeling server. To model the micelle, we used two distinct AMBER force fields (i.e. Amber99SB and Lipid14) and a variety of starting conditions. We find that the micelle structural properties (such as the shape, size, the LDAO headgroup hydration, and alkyl chain conformation) slightly depend on the force field but not on the starting conditions and more importantly are in good agreement with experiments and previous simulations. We also show that the Lipid14 force field should be used instead of the Amber99SB one to better reproduce the C(sp3)C(sp3)C(sp3)C(sp3) conformation in the surfactant alkyl chain. Concerning the simulations with LDAO-DI protein, we carried out different runs at two NaCl concentrations (i.e. 0 and 300 mM) to mimic, in the latter case, the experimental conditions. We notice a small dependence of the simulation results with the LDAO parameters and the salt concentration. However, we find that in the simulations, three out of four tryptophans of the DI protein are not accessible to water in agreement with our fluorescence spectroscopy experiments reported in the paper. Graphical abstract
Fluorolabeling of antibody variable domains with green fluorescent protein variants: application to an energy transfer-based homogeneous immunoassay.

A site-specific and efficient fluorolabeling of antibody variable regions with green fluorescent protein (GFP) variants and its application to an energy transfer-based homogeneous fluoroimmunoassay (open sandwich FIA) were attempted. Two chimeric proteins, Trx-V(H)-EBFP and Trx-V(L)-EGFP, consisting of V(H) and V(L) fragments of anti-hen egg lysozyme (HEL) antibody HyHEL-10 and two GFP color variants, EBFP and EGFP, respectively, were designed to be expressed in cytoplasm of trxB - mutant Escherichia coli as fusions with thioredoxin from E.coli The mixture of two proteins could be purified with HEL-affinity chromatography, retaining sufficient intrinsic fluorescence and binding activity to HEL. A significant increase in fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) dependent on HEL concentration was observed, indicating the reassociation of the V(H) and V(L) domains of these chimeric proteins due to co-existing antigen. With this open sandwich FIA, an HEL concentration of 1-100 microg/ml could be non-competitively determined. The assay could be performed in a microplate format and took only a few minutes to obtain a sufficient signal after simple mixing of the chimeric proteins with samples. This represents the first demonstration that the FRET between GFP variants is applicable to homogeneous immunoassay.