Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prevalence and determinants of subclinical brain infarction

Objective: Risk factors for subclinical brain infarcts (SBI) have not been well studied, especially in Hispanic and black populations who may be at higher risk for vascular disease. We examined the prevalence and determinants of SBI in a multiethnic community cohort. Methods: The Northern Manhattan Study (NOMAS) includes 892 stroke-free participants who underwent brain MRI. Baseline demographic and vascular risk factor data were collected. The presence of SBI was determined from the size, location, and imaging characteristics of the lesion based on fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) T1 and T2, and proton density MRI sequences. We calculated the prevalence of SBI and cross-sectional associations with sociodemographic and vascular risk factors, using logistic regression to adjust for relevant covariates. Results: Among 892 subjects (mean age 71.3 years), 158 (17.7%) had SBI (13.5% had 1 lesion, 4.3% had >1 lesion). Of the total 216 infarcts, most were small (<1 cm, 82.4%) and subcortical (82.9%). SBI prevalence increased with age (<65: 9.7%; 65 to 75: 16.4%; >75: 26.1%), was increased among men (21.3% vs 15.2% in women), and was increased among blacks (24.0% vs 18.1% in whites and 15.8% in Hispanics). The presence of SBI was independently associated with older age (per year: OR 1.06, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.09), male sex (OR 1.79, 95% CI 1.22 to 2.61), and hypertension (OR 2.08, 95% CI 1.35 to 3.22) adjusting for age, sex, race-ethnicity, and vascular risk factors. A significant interaction (p = 0.002) between race and age was observed such that younger black subjects had greater odds of having SBI. Conclusions: SBI were detected in nearly 18% of subjects in a multiethnic community-based cohort. Age, male sex, and hypertension were independently associated with SBI. Subclinical cerebral infarcts are more prevalent than symptomatic infarcts and may increase the true public health burden of stroke.
Factors Influencing the Adoption of HRIS Applications: A Literature Review

This paper aims to present and discuss a collection of empirical studies relating to the adoption and implementation of HRIS, by means of a content analysis of the findings of previous HRIS studies. A review of the relevant literature has shown that a large number of previous studies have attempted to identify factors determining the adoption and implementation of HRIS applications. For the purpose of this study, these factors are presented and discussed under two dimensions: internal and external environmental factors. However, as the findings of previous studies presented conflicting results, these factors needed to be examined empirically at an aggregate and individual level.
Pseudoxanthoma elasticum‐like changes in nonuremic calciphylaxis: Case series and brief review of a helpful diagnostic clue

Calciphylaxis is a rare syndrome of vascular calcification with thrombosis that occurs most often in patients with end‐stage renal disease, and it frequently portends a guarded prognosis. Rarely, nonuremic calciphylaxis (NUC) may occur; in this context, a strongly supportive histology is crucial in establishing the diagnosis. Herein, we describe 2 cases of NUC associated with pseudoxanthoma elasticum‐like changes, identified in both initial nondiagnostic and subsequent diagnostic biopsy specimens. This unusual but helpful histologic finding may support the early diagnosis and treatment of a potentially life‐threatening disease in the context of subtle histopathologic vascular changes or in the absence of classic clinical or laboratory findings.
Biometrie recognition for airplane cockpit security

Airplane cockpit security is of utmost importance in the current scenario of terrorism. To avoid incidents like the September 11 attacks, where unauthorized people took control of airplanes, it is crucial to determine the authenticity of a person occupying the pilot/co-pilot seat(s). In this paper we extend previous results in biometric techniques to accurately recognize the person occupying the seat — using pressure signatures. Our technique uses machine learning tools to compute/compare the pressure signatures to identify the person.
A handwritten Bangla numeral recognition scheme based on expanded two-layer SOM

This paper proposes a system for handwritten Bangla numeral recognition based on expanded two-layer self-organising map (SOM), in which every map in the second layer expands from a corresponding neuron in the first layer map. It carries out multiple classifications in the second layer for each character sample. The exact classification of the character image is obtained by a fusion algorithm using confidence coefficients. The discriminability of SOM is improved by this structure. With the directional and density features as the input vector, the experiments on handwritten Bangla numeral samples have achieved satisfactory recognition performance.
The association between the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio and functional capacity in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy

OBJECTIVE The neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is an inexpensive, readily available and reliable inflammatory marker, which has a predictor value in different cardiovascular disorders. Functional capacity is one of the most important prognostic factors in patients with heart failure, which is usually stated as metabolic equivalents (MET). The goal of the study was to investigate the relationship between the NLR and functional capacity (FC) in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC). METHODS Treadmill test according to modified-Bruce protocol was performed in 37 patients with IDC (mean age 46.7±11.7 years, 81.1% male) to assess their functional capacity. Baseline clinical and echocardiographic variables were obtained. Hematological and biochemical parameters were measured using standard techniques. RESULTS The patients were divided into low (<5 MET, n=18) and high (>5 MET, n=19) FC groups according to their functional status in the exercise test. The 2 groups were similar regarding age, gender and the presence of hypertension and diabetes mellitus. There was no significant difference between groups regarding echocardiographic parameters such as left ventricular ejection fraction and diameters. However, the NLR was significantly higher in low FC group compared to high FC group (3.62±2.24 vs. 2.24±0.67, p=0.002; respectively). There were significant negative correlations between the NLR, MET and left ventricular ejection fraction (r=-0.405, p=0.013 and r=-0.028, p=0.028; respectively). Diastolic dysfunction was present in all the patients with low functional capacity. A cut-off point of 2.26 for the NLR had 83% sensitivity and 69% specificity in predicting poor FC. After multivariate analysis, only the NLR remained significant predictor of poor functional status. CONCLUSION We detected a significant association between the NLR and low FC, both of which has predictive and prognostic value in patients with heart failure. Functional capacity may depend on diastolic function rather than left ventricular ejection fraction in patients with IDC.
Analysis of the immune infiltrate in undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma of the extremity and trunk in response to radiotherapy: Rationale for combination neoadjuvant immune checkpoint inhibition and radiotherapy

ABSTRACT Background: Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma of the extremity and trunk (ET-UPS) presents a unique therapeutic challenge. Although immunotherapy has recently been employed in advanced soft tissue sarcoma, there is limited data characterizing the immune infiltrate in ET-UPS. Radiotherapy (RT) has been shown in other tumor types to promote tumor antigen release and enhance tumor-specific targeting by the adaptive immune system. The aim of this study was to 1) characterize the baseline immune infiltrate and 2) evaluate the effect of preoperative RT on the histologic appearance of and the immune infiltrate in ET-UPS. Methods: We identified 17 matched ET-UPS samples before and after RT. Immunohistochemistry was performed with CD8, CD4, PD-L1, PD1, CD3, CD163 and FoxP3 positive cells identified in all samples. Changes in the immune infiltrate following RT were examined. Results: There was a trend towards increased density of tumor infiltrating immune cells in ET-UPS following RT, with increases in median number of CD3 (158 vs 219 cells/mm2, p = 0.06), CD4 (3 vs 13 cells/mm2, p = 0.01), CD8 (55 vs 111 cells/mm2, p = 0.17), and FOXP3 (14 vs 25 cells/mm2, p = 0.23) positive cells. Interestingly, although PD-L1 was not expressed in any ET-UPS tumor at baseline, positive PD-L1 expression was observed in 21% (3/14) of tumors after RT (p = 0.07). Conclusion: An immune infiltrate is present in ET-UPS at the time of diagnosis, with a trend towards increased density of immune infiltrate and PD-L1 expression after RT. These data support prospectively evaluating immune checkpoint inhibitors with standard of care RT in the treatment of ET-UPS.
A Novel Recurrent Neural Network for Solving Mlcps and its Application to Linear and Quadratic Programming Problems

In this paper, we present a recurrent neural network for solving mixed linear complementarity problems (MLCPs) with positive semi-definite matrices. The proposed neural network is derived based on an NCP function and has a low complexity respect to the other existing models. In theoretical and numerical aspects, global convergence of the proposed neural network is proved. As an application, we show that the proposed neural network can be used to solve linear and convex quadratic programming problems. The validity and transient behavior of the proposed neural network are demonstrated by using five numerical examples.
Graph kernel extensions and experiments with application to molecule classification, lead hopping and multiple targets

The discovery of drugs that can effectively treat disease and alleviate pain is one of the core challenges facing modern medicine. The tools and techniques of machine learning have perhaps the greatest potential to provide a fast and efficient route toward the fabrication of novel and effective drugs. In particular, modern structured kernel methods have been successfully applied to range of problem domains and have been recently adapted for graph structures making them directly applicable to pharmaceutical drug discovery. Specifically graph structures have a natural fit with molecular data, in that a graph consists of a set of nodes that represent atoms that are connected by bonds. In this thesis we use graph kernels that utilize three different graph representations: molecular, topological pharmacophore and reduced graphs. We introduce a set of novel graph kernels which are based on a measure of the number of finite walks within a graph. To calculate this measure we employ a dynamic programming framework which allows us to extend graph kernels so they can deal with non-tottering, softmatching and allows the inclusion of gaps. In addition we review several graph colouring methods and subsequently incorporate colour into our graph kernels models. These kernels are designed for molecule classification in general, although we show how they can be adapted to other areas in drug discovery. We conduct three sets of experiments and discuss how our augmented graph kernels are designed and adapted for these areas. First, we classify molecules based on their activity in comparison to a biological target. Second, we explore the related problem of lead hopping. Here one set of chemicals is used to predict another that is structurally dissimilar. We discuss the problems that arise due to the fact that some patterns are filtered from the dataset. By analyzing lead hopping we are able to go beyond the typical cross-validation approach and construct a dataset that more accurately reflect real-world tasks. Lastly, we explore methods of integrating information from multiple targets. We test our models as a multi-response problem and later introduce a new approach that employs Kernel Canonical Correlation Analysis (KCCA) to predict the best molecules for an unseen target. Overall, we show that graph kernels achieve good results in classification, lead hopping and multiple target experiments.
An DDS based Architecture in Supporting of Data Centric Wireless Sensor Network Environments

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have emerged as one of the most promising technology to provide a wide variety of industrial applications. However, it is still failing to respond in a timely fashion service. In contrast to existing studies, we propose a more practical standard known as Data Distribution Service (DDS), as a middleware standard for interoperable Data Centric Publish-Subscribe (DCPS) architecture with real-time data distribution capabilities, and a candidate for standards based realizations of equally data centric WSN environments. Especially, this paper aims to evaluate on customized design features for real-time WSNs of an applicable and supportive architecture of DDS-based middleware. In the meantime, to integrate the underlying heterogeneous WSN and DDS, a supportive wireless protocol design is required and, thus, those features could be taken into account in designing the protocol.
Role of Local Renin Angiotensin Systems in Cardiac Damage

The renin angiotensin system (RAS) recently celebrated its 100th anniversary. In 1898, renin was discovered by Tigerstedt and Bergman in rabbit kidney (Tigerstedt and Bergman, 1898). Renin turned out to be the rate limiting enzyme of a proteolytic cascade leading to the formation of angiotensin (Ang) I and Ang II. In this cascade renin splits the liverderived renin substrate, angiotensinogen (AOGEN), in the plasma to form the decapeptide Ang I (Bader and Ganten, 2000). Ang I is then metabolized further into the octapeptide Ang II via the endotheliumbound angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE). Ang II is one of the most potent vasopressor substances and releases aldosterone from the adrenal gland. The effects of the peptide are transmitted by two main G-proteincoupled receptors, AT1 and AT2, that were originally defined by the discovery of specific ligands and later confirmed by the cloning of two different genes (Murphy et al., 1991; Sasaki et al., 1991; Kambayashi et al., 1993; Mukoyama et al., 1993). This was the classic view of the RAS. However, with additional research, it became clear that it is not the whole story. The local generation of angiotensin peptides in different tissues was detected mostly even by locally produced precursors and the concept of a tissue-based RAS emerged (Bader et al., 2001). The most obvious example of such a tissue RAS was found in the brain, where AT1 and AT2 receptors have been located beyond the blood–brain barrier not
Evaluation of inferior turbinate outfracture outcomes using computed tomography.

BACKGROUND Outfracture of the inferior turbinate (IT) presents numerous advantages, but it is generally believed that the lateralized IT will resume its original position. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcome of IT outfracture objectively using computed tomography (CT). METHODOLOGY Fifteen patients who underwent bilateral IT outfracture for the removal of pituitary adenomas by the endonasal approach were enrolled. The angles between the lateral wall of the nasal cavity (NC) and IT on both sides were measured from CT scans before and at least 6 months after operation. In addition, we evaluated the effects of variables including age, thickness of IT attachment site and width of the nasal floor, on the angles. RESULTS Regardless of the side where a Hardy retractor was placed, the angle between the lateral wall of the NC and IT decreased significantly within 6 months after the outfracture compared to preoperative values on both sides. Other variables showed no significant correlations with the angle between the IT and the lateral wall of the NC. CONCLUSION The outfracture procedure effectively lateralized the IT and it maintained that position for at least 6 months after the operation.
Canonical path integral measures for Holst and Plebanski gravity: I. Reduced phase space derivation

An important aspect in defining a path integral quantum theory is the determination of the correct measure. For interacting theories and theories with constraints, this is non-trivial, and is normally not the heuristic ‘Lebesgue measure’ usually used. There have been many determinations of a measure for gravity in the literature, but none for the Palatini or Holst formulations of gravity. Furthermore, the relations between different resulting measures for different formulations of gravity are usually not discussed. In this paper we use the reduced phase technique in order to derive the path-integral measure for the Palatini and Holst formulation of gravity, which is different from the Lebesgue measure up to local measure factors which depend on the spacetime volume element and spatial volume element. From this path integral for the Holst formulation of general relativity we can also give a new derivation of the Plebanski path integral and discover a discrepancy with the result due to Buffenoir, Henneaux, Noui and Roche whose origin we resolve. This paper is the first in a series that aims at better understanding the relation between canonical loop quantum gravity and the spin-foam approach.
A classification scheme for acoustical room responses

Room acoustical modes, particularly in small rooms, cause a significant variation in the room responses measured at different locations. Responses measured only a few cm apart can vary by up to 15-20 dB at certain frequencies. This makes it difficult to equalize an audio system for multiple simultaneous listeners. Previous methods have utilized multiple microphones and spatial averaging with equal weighting. We determine representative prototypical room responses derived from several room responses that share similar characteristics. We present a fuzzy unsupervised technique for finding similarities between room responses by clustering the room responses, and determining their prototypical responses. These prototypical responses can then be combined to form a general point response. When we use the inverse of the general point response as an equalizing filter, our results show a significant improvement in equalization performance over single point equalization and spatial averaging methods. Our method also allows a unique determination of the optimal number of representatives that are required for a given set of room responses. Applications of this method thus include equalization and multiple point sound control at home and in automobiles.
The mammalian autophagy initiator complex contains 2 HORMA domain proteins

ATG101 is an essential component of the ULK complex responsible for initiating cellular autophagy in mammalian cells; its 3-dimensional structure and molecular function, however, are currently unclear. Here we present the X-ray structure of human ATG101. The protein displays an open HORMA domain fold. Both structural properties and biophysical evidence indicate that ATG101 is locked in this conformation, in contrast to the prototypical HORMA domain protein MAD2. Moreover, we discuss a potential mode of dimerization with ATG13 as a fundamental aspect of ATG101 function.
The Effect of the Forcing Function on Disruption of a phase-Locked Loop (PLL)

In this paper we compare the disruption of a second-order type II phase-locked loop (PLL) by two different waveforms: a sinusoid and a sawtooth. The choice of these two waveforms results from a novel approach to the problem of determining an appropriate forcing function for studying the disruption of such systems. It is shown that the sawtooth is the better disruptor for low frequencies of modulation, i.e. in the regime of physical interest. Analytical, numerical and experimental results are reported which support this conclusion. The paper presents the first results of a sawtooth modulated PLL, which viewed as a nonsmooth dynamical system with a nonsmooth forcing function is a problem of considerable theoretical interest. This paper demonstrates that forcing functions can be designed for nonlinear dynamical systems which are well suited to the study of certain aspects of the system dynamics, and significantly better than the conventional choice of a simple sinusoid.
Friendship Experiences and Anxiety Among Children: A Genetically Informed Study

This study examined (a) whether, in line with a gene-environment correlation (rGE), a genetic disposition for anxiety puts children at risk of having anxious friends or having no reciprocal friends; (b) to what extent these friendship experiences are related to anxiety symptoms, when controlling for sex and genetic disposition for this trait; and (c) the additive and interactive predictive links of the reciprocal best friend's anxiety symptoms and of friendship quality with children's anxiety symptoms. Using a genetically informed design based on 521 monozygotic and ic twins (264 girls; 87% of European descent) assessed in Grade 4 (M age = 10.04 years, SD = .26), anxiety symptoms and perceived friendship quality were measured with self-report questionnaires. Results indicated that, in line with rGE, children with a strong genetic disposition for anxiety were more likely to have anxious friends than nonanxious friends. Moreover, controlling for their genetic risk for anxiety, children with anxious friends showed higher levels of anxiety symptoms than children with nonanxious friends but did not differ from those without reciprocal friends. Additional analyses suggested a possible contagion of anxiety symptoms between reciprocal best friends when perceived negative features of friendship were high. These results underline the importance of teaching strategies such as problem solving that enhance friendship quality to limit the potential social contagion of anxiety symptoms.
Temporal variation of caspase 3-like protein activity in cultures of the harmful dinoflagellates Karenia brevis and Karenia mikimotoi

To better understand the role of caspase-like proteins in the cellular activities of harmful dinoflagellates, cultures of Karenia brevis and Karenia mikimotoi were monitored over a 56-day period. The cellular abundance, maximum photochemical efficiency of photosystem II (Fv/Fm), percentage of dead cells (revealed by SYTOX-labelling of nuclei of cells with a compromised membrane) and the variation in caspase 3-like protein activity were monitored every 7 days. During the cultures’ late decline phase, DNA degradation was also confirmed in Karenia cells using a terminal deoxynucletidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labelling assay. Karenia brevis reached its maximal cellular abundance after 3 weeks then declined to its lowest value on Day 56. In cells of K. brevis the caspase 3-like activity likely served some housekeeping functions as demonstrated by the constitutive level of activity observed throughout the whole experiment (3000‐ 6664 RFU/h/mg protein). The increase in activity which occurred on Days 21 and 28 (38 000 RFU/h/mg protein on Day 28) coincided with the appearance cyst-like structures in the cultures and suggests a role in the encystment progression of K. brevis. For K. mikimotoi, the highest cellular abundance was reached on Day 42 after which it declined to reach its lowest value, along with the highest percentage of dead cells, on Day 56. The caspase 3-like protein activity (,1300 RFU/h/mg protein) was elevated at the beginning of the experiment (on Days 0, 7 and 14) and just before the decline in cellular abundance (on Days 35 and 42) and likely played some housekeeping functions as well as a role in the death of the cells. This study demonstrates the involvement of caspase 3-like protein activity in a variety of processes in cells of the harmful algae K. brevis and K. mikimotoi.