Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Microfluidic Flow Chamber Model for Platelet Transfusion and Hemostasis Measures Platelet Deposition and Fibrin Formation in Real-time

Microfluidic models of hemostasis assess platelet function under conditions of hydrodynamic shear, but in the presence of anticoagulants, this analysis is restricted to platelet deposition only. The intricate relationship between Ca2+-dependent coagulation and platelet function requires careful and controlled recalcification of blood prior to analysis. Our setup uses a Y-shaped mixing channel, which supplies concentrated Ca2+/Mg2+ buffer to flowing blood just prior to perfusion, enabling rapid recalcification without sample stasis. A ten-fold difference in flow velocity between both reservoirs minimizes dilution. The recalcified blood is then perfused in a collagen-coated analysis chamber, and differential labeling permits real-time imaging of both platelet and fibrin deposition using fluorescence video microscopy. The system uses only commercially available tools, increasing the chances of standardization. Reconstitution of thrombocytopenic blood with platelets from banked concentrates furthermore models platelet transfusion, proving its use in this research domain. Exemplary data demonstrated that coagulation onset and fibrin deposition were linearly dependent on the platelet concentration, confirming the relationship between primary and secondary hemostasis in our model. In a timeframe of 16 perfusion min, contact activation did not take place, despite recalcification to normal Ca2+ and Mg2+ levels. When coagulation factor XIIa was inhibited by corn trypsin inhibitor, this time frame was even longer, indicating a considerable dynamic range in which the changes in the procoagulant nature of the platelets can be assessed. Co-immobilization of tissue factor with collagen significantly reduced the time to onset of coagulation, but not its rate. The option to study the tissue factor and/or the contact pathway increases the versatility and utility of the assay.
Comparative assessment of Eli-Twist and TFO yarns

An attempt has been made to compare the properties of Eli-Twist yarn with those of conventional TFO yarn. Yarns ofthree compositions (100% Polyester, 50/50 Polyester/Cotton and 100% Cotton) were produced on Eli-Twist and ringspinning systems. Three different counts (39.4tex, 29.5tex and 23.6tex) from each composition have been produced,maintaining 40 twist factor for all the yarns. Hairiness, tensile strength, breaking extension, diameter, abrasion resistanceand coefficient of friction have been measured and then compared with those of conventional ring-spun TFO yarn. The massirregularity and imperfections are found more or less similar in both the yarns, while Eli-Twist yarn exhibits higher breakingstrength and breaking extension. Both coefficient of friction and abrasion resistance of Eli-Twist yarn are found to be low ascompared to ring- spun TFO yarn.
Toward understanding inter-organizational knowledge transfer needs in SMEs: insight from a UK investigation

Purpose - External knowledge is generally believed to be of prime importance to small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). However, a review of the literature shows that no empirical research has looked at knowledge management issues at the inter-organizational level in SMEs. This paper seeks to report on an empirical investigation with UK SMEs in the service sector to identify their needs and practices regarding inter-organizational knowledge transfer, and thus provide empirical evidence to support the above belief. Design/methodology/approach - A two-tier methodology (i.e. using both questionnaire survey and interview approaches) is deployed to address the main research objectives. A questionnaire survey of SMEs is carried out to investigate their current inter-organizational knowledge transfer situation and managers' perception on various relevant issues. Then 12 face-to-face interviews with SME managers are conducted to further validate key findings drawn from the questionnaire survey. Findings - The empirical evidence collected from the survey and interviews confirms the general belief that external knowledge is of prime importance for SMEs, and demonstrates that SMEs have very strong needs for external knowledge and inter-organizational knowledge transfer. Research limitations/implications - The findings provide very strong underpinning for further theoretical research on inter-organizational knowledge transfer in SMEs. However, this study has certain limitations: its results may not be applicable to other industrial sectors or the same sector in other countries; or to micro or large companies; nor does it involve cross-cultural issues. Originality/value - By adopting a two-tier research methodology, this study provides more reliable understanding and knowledge on SMEs' inter-organizational knowledge transfer needs and practices, and fills the gap that exists in the empirical investigations on the subject. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Parallel workflow tools to facilitate human brain MRI post-processing

Multi-modal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques are widely applied in human brain studies. To obtain specific brain measures of interest from MRI datasets, a number of complex image post-processing steps are typically required. Parallel workflow tools have recently been developed, concatenating individual processing steps and enabling fully automated processing of raw MRI data to obtain the final results. These workflow tools are also designed to make optimal use of available computational resources and to support the parallel processing of different subjects or of independent processing steps for a single subject. Automated, parallel MRI post-processing tools can greatly facilitate relevant brain investigations and are being increasingly applied. In this review, we briefly summarize these parallel workflow tools and discuss relevant issues.
Stack Bounds Protection with Low Fat Pointers

—Object bounds overﬂow errors are a common source of security vulnerabilities. In principle, bounds check instrumentation eliminates the problem, but this introduces high overheads and is further hampered by limited compatibility against un-instrumented code. On 64-bit systems, low-fat pointers are a recent scheme for implementing efﬁcient and compatible bounds checking by transparently encoding meta information within the native pointer representation itself. However, low-fat pointers are traditionally used for heap objects only, where the allocator has sufﬁcient control over object location necessary for the encoding. This is a problem for stack allocation, where there exist strong constraints regarding the location of stack objects that is apparently incompatible with the low-fat pointer approach. To address this problem, we present an extension of low-fat pointers to stack objects by using a collection of techniques, such as pointer mirroring and memory aliasing, thereby allowing stack objects to enjoy bounds error protection from instrumented code. Our extension is compatible with common special uses of the stack, such as alloca , setjmp and longjmp , exceptions, and multi-threading, which rely on direct manipulation of the stack pointer. Our experiments show that we successfully extend the advantages of the low-fat pointer encoding to stack objects. The end result is a competitive bounds checking instrumentation for the stack and heap with low memory and runtime overheads, and high compatibility with un-instrumented legacy code.
Ultraviolet B radiation and reactive oxygen species modulate interleukin‐31 expression in T lymphocytes, monocytes and dendritic cells

Background Interleukin (IL)‐31 is a novel Th2 T‐cell cytokine that induces pruritus and dermatitis in transgenic mice. While enhanced mRNA expression of this cytokine is detected in skin samples of inflammatory skin diseases, the regulation of IL‐31 expression is poorly understood.
Mathematical programs with complementarity constraints in the context of inverse optimal control for locomotion

In this paper an inverse optimal control problem in the form of a mathematical program with complementarity constraints (MPCC) is considered and numerical experiences are discussed. The inverse optimal control problem arises in the context of human navigation where the body is modelled as a dynamical system and it is assumed that the motions are optimally controlled with respect to an unknown cost function. The goal of the inversion is now to find a cost function within a given parametrized family of candidate cost functions such that the corresponding optimal motion minimizes the deviation from given data. MPCCs are known to be a challenging class of optimization problems typically violating all standard constraint qualifications (CQs). We show that under certain assumptions the resulting MPCC fulfills CQs for MPCCs being the basis for theory on MPCC optimality conditions and consequently for numerical solution techniques. Finally, numerical results are presented for the discretized inverse optimal control problem of locomotion using different solution techniques based on relaxation and lifting.
Reactive Oxygen Stimulation of Interleukin-6 Release in the Human Trophoblast Cell Line HTR-8/SVneo by the Trichlorethylene Metabolite S-(1,2-Dichloro)-l-Cysteine

ABSTRACT Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a common environmental pollutant associated with adverse reproductive outcomes in humans. TCE intoxication occurs primarily through its biotransformation to bioactive metabolites, including S-(1,2-dichlorovinyl)-l-cysteine (DCVC). TCE induces oxidative stress and inflammation in the liver and kidney. Although the placenta is capable of xenobiotic metabolism and oxidative stress and inflammation in placenta have been associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, TCE toxicity in the placenta remains poorly understood. We determined the effects of DCVC by using the human extravillous trophoblast cell line HTR-8/SVneo. Exposure to 10 and 20 μM DCVC for 10 h increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) as measured by carboxydichlorofluorescein fluorescence. Moreover, 10 and 20 μM DCVC increased mRNA expression and release of interleukin-6 (IL-6) after 24-h exposure, and these responses were inhibited by the cysteine conjugate beta-lyase inhibitor aminooxyacetic acid and by treatments with antioxidants (alpha-tocopherol and deferoxamine), suggesting that DCVC-stimulated IL-6 release in HTR-8/SVneo cells is dependent on beta-lyase metabolic activation and increased generation of ROS. HTR-8/SVneo cells exhibited decreased mitochondrial membrane potential at 5, 10, and 20 μM DCVC at 5, 10, and 24 h, showing that DCVC induces mitochondrial dysfunction in HTR-8/Svneo cells. The present study demonstrates that DCVC stimulated ROS generation in the human placental cell line HTR-8/SVneo and provides new evidence of mechanistic linkage between DCVC-stimulated ROS and increase in proinflammatory cytokine IL-6. Because abnormal activation of cytokines can disrupt trophoblast functions necessary for placental development and successful pregnancy, follow-up investigations relating these findings to physiologic outcomes are warranted.
The Cognitive Benefits of Being Bilingual

Editor’s note: Today, more of the world’s population is bilingual or multilingual than monolingual. In addition to facilitating cross-cultural communication, this trend also positively affects cognitive abilities. Researchers have shown that the bilingual brain can have better attention and task-switching capacities than the monolingual brain, thanks to its developed ability to inhibit one language while using another. In addition, bilingualism has positive effects at both ends of the age spectrum: Bilingual children as young as seven months can better adjust to environmental changes, while bilingual seniors can experience less cognitive decline.
Unintended adverse consequences of a clinical decision support system: two cases

Many institutions have implemented clinical decision support systems (CDSSs). While CDSS research papers have focused on benefits of these systems, there is a smaller body of literature showing that CDSSs may also produce unintended adverse consequences (UACs). Detailed here are 2 cases of UACs resulting from a CDSS. Both of these cases were related to external systems that fed data into the CDSS. In the first case, lack of knowledge of data categorization in an external pharmacy system produced a UAC; in the second case, the change of a clinical laboratory instrument produced the UAC. CDSSs rely on data from many external systems. These systems are dynamic and may have changes in hardware, software, vendors, or processes. Such changes can affect the accuracy of CDSSs. These cases point to the need for the CDSS team to be familiar with these external systems. This team (manager and alert builders) should include members in specific clinical specialties with deep knowledge of these external systems.
Functional activity of the sensorimotor cortex and cerebellum relates to cervical dystonia symptoms

Cervical dystonia (CD) is the most common type of focal dystonia, causing abnormal movements of the neck and head. In this study, we used noninvasive imaging to investigate the motor system of patients with CD and uncover the neural correlates of dystonic symptoms. Furthermore, we examined whether a commonly prescribed anticholinergic medication in CD has an effect on the dystonia‐related brain abnormalities. Participants included 16 patients with CD and 16 healthy age‐matched controls. We collected functional MRI scans during a force task previously shown to extensively engage the motor system, and diffusion and T1‐weighted MRI scans from which we calculated free‐water and brain tissue densities. The dystonia group was also scanned ca. 2 h after a 2‐mg dose of trihexyphenidyl. Severity of dystonia was assessed pre‐ and post‐drug using the Burke–Fahn–Marsden Dystonia Rating Scale. Motor‐related activity in CD was altered relative to controls in the primary somatosensory cortex, cerebellum, dorsal premotor and posterior parietal cortices, and occipital cortex. Most importantly, a regression model showed that increased severity of symptoms was associated with decreased functional activity of the somatosensory cortex and increased activity of the cerebellum. Structural imaging measures did not differ between CD and controls. The single dose of trihexyphenidyl altered the fMRI signal in the somatosensory cortex but not in the cerebellum. Symptom severity was not significantly reduced post‐treatment. Findings show widespread changes in functional brain activity in CD and most importantly that dystonic symptoms relate to disrupted activity in the somatosensory cortex and cerebellum. Hum Brain Mapp 38:4563–4573, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Optical Correction Of Space-Based Telescopes Using A Deformable Mirror System

Abstract : Adaptive optics offer the potential to reduce the high cost and long lead time associated with manufacturing mirrors for spaced-based telescopes by allowing lighter materials to be substituted. These lighter materials lack the optical performance of traditional space-based mirrors. Deformable mirrors could be used to correct for surface aberrations in order to improve the optical quality by altering their surface to adjust the wavefront. Research focused on placing a deformable mirror at the exit pupil of a simulated telescope. Experimental work first studied a severely degraded one-meter carbon fiber reinforced polymer mirror to establish a baseline. Simulations were conducted to see how a notional deformable mirror would be able to negate the optical effects due to a distorted mirror in combination with field angle effects. Results from the investigation showed that a deformable mirror yielded the greatest benefit when applied to a distorted mirror surface. Increasing the actuator count on the deformable mirror boosted the root mean square performance across all field angles. Increasing the actuator stroke yielded minimal benefits after a certain reduction in wave front had already been achieved. Further research is recommended to focus on using a continuous deformable mirror to account for field angle effects.
Deformation mechanism transition in Fe–17Mn–0.4C–0.06V TWIP steel with different strain rates

ABSTRACT The dynamic tensile behaviour and deformation mechanism of the Fe–17Mn–0.4C–0.06V twinning-induced plasticity (TWIP) steel were investigated over a wide range of strain rates from 10−4 to 103 s−1. With increasing strain rate, the stacking fault energy increased due to the increase of adiabatic heating temperature, ΔT. At 10−4 to 101 s−1, the transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) effect coexisted with the TWIP effect and weakened with increasing strain rate. With the increase of strain rate in the range of 10−1 to 101 s−1, the TWIP effect strengthened gradually and intersected deformation twins were formed. When the strain rate was higher than 101 s−1, the TRIP effect disappeared and the twinning was inhibited since the adiabatic heating effect elevated.
A Simple Symptom Score for Acute Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection in a San Diego Community-Based Screening Program

Background Treatment of acute human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection (AHI) decreases transmission and preserves immune function, but AHI diagnosis remains resource intensive. Risk-based scores predictive for AHI have been described for high-risk groups; however, symptom-based scores could be more generalizable across populations. Methods Adults who tested either positive for AHI (antibody-negative, HIV nucleic acid test [NAT] positive) or HIV NAT negative with the community-based San Diego Early Test HIV screening program were retrospectively randomized 2:1 into a derivation and validation set. In the former, symptoms significant for AHI in a multivariate logistic regression model were assigned a score value (the odds ratio [OR] rounded to the nearest integer). The score was assessed in the validation set using receiver operating characteristics and areas under the curve (AUC). An optimal cutoff score was found using the Youden index. Results Of 998 participants (including 261 non-men who have sex with men [MSM]), 113 had AHI (including 4 non-MSM). Compared to HIV-negative cases, AHI cases reported more symptoms (median, 4 vs 0; P < .01). Fever, myalgia, and weight loss were significantly associated with AHI in the multivariate model and corresponded to 11, 8, and 4 score points, respectively. The summed score yielded an AUC of 0.85 (95% confidence interval [CI], .77-.93). A score of ≥11 was 72% sensitive and 96% specific (diagnostic OR, 70.27). Conclusions A 3-symptom score accurately predicted AHI in a community-based screening program and may inform allocation of resources in settings that do not routinely screen for AHI.
Social Activities, Incident Cardiovascular Disease, and Mortality

Objective: This study examined the relationships between social activities, incident cardiovascular disease (CVD), and non-CVD mortality among older adults in the United States. Method: Data from the Health and Retirement Study (2006-2010) were employed. Two measures of social engagement, volunteering and informal helping, along with two measures of social participation, attendance at religious services and social group meetings, were included. Mediation models for health behaviors were estimated. Results: Multinomial logistic regression models demonstrated that volunteering provided the most consistent results in terms of a lower risk of incident CVD and mortality. Furthermore, volunteering at higher time commitments is related to lower CVD incidence and death; informally helping others at a modest time commitment is related to lower risk of death only. Health behaviors mediated the relationships. Social participation was not related to either CVD or mortality. Discussion: Social activity is a modifiable behavior that may be considered a potential health intervention.
Kinematic comparison of the seoi-nage judo technique between elite and college athletes

Abstract This study sought to identify biomechanical factors that determine fast and skilful execution of the seoi-nage (shoulder throw) technique by comparing kinematics between elite and college judo athletes. Three-dimensional motion data were captured using a VICON-MX system with 18 cameras operating at 250 Hz as three male elite and seven male college judo athletes performed seoi-nage. No significant difference was found in motion phase time of the turning phase between the two groups, indicating that motion phase time is not necessarily a factor contributing quickness in seoi-nage. The maximum relative velocity of the whole body centre of mass along the anterior–posterior direction was significantly greater in the elite athletes (2.74 ± 0.33 m/s) than in the college athletes (1.62 ± 0.47 m/s) during the turning phase (p = 0.023). The overall angular velocity of the body part lines, particularly the arm line, tended to be greater in the elite athletes (p = 0.068). The results imply that the velocity of the thrower relative to the opponent in the forward drive and turning motion reflects high skill seoi-nage. Coaches should recognise the relative forward velocity as a factor that may contribute to a successful seoi-nage when teaching the judo throw technique.
Two-year changes in proteinuria and risk for myocardial infarction in patients with hypertension: a prospective cohort study

Objective: To assess whether changes in proteinuria are associated with the incidence of myocardial infarction (MI) in patients with hypertension. Methods: The Kailuan study was a prospective longitudinal cohort study on cardiovascular risk factors and events. Hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using Cox regression models. Results: A total of 24 926 hypertensive patients (mean age: 55.2 ± 10.9 years) without previous MI were included. After a mean follow-up of 6.8 years, 382 (1.5%) individuals developed MI. Participants with proteinuria at baseline had a 60% higher risk for developing MI as compared with participants without proteinuria at baseline (hazard ratio: 1.60, 95% CI: 1.12–2.29) after adjusting for dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus and other cardiovascular risk factors. Compared with participants without proteinuria, individuals with incident proteinuria or persistent proteinuria during the follow-up had 54 and 141% higher risks for developing MI, respectively (hazard ratio: 1.54, 95% CI: 1.14–2.09 and hazard ratio: 2.41, 95% CI: 1.59–3.66; all P < 0.05). Conclusion: Proteinuria is associated with an increased incidence of MI, but the association is likely to be underestimated if baseline measurements of proteinuria are used. Measures of changes in proteinuria, particular persistent proteinuria, are more likely to reflect the lifetime risk for MI.