Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The hOGG 1 Ser 326 Cys Polymorphism and Lung Cancer Risk : A Meta-analysis

The potentially functional polymorphism Ser326Cys in the human 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase (hOGG1) gene has been implicated in lung cancer risk, but published studies have mixed findings. To summarize published data, we did a comprehensive meta-analysis. Two investigators extracted data independently from 17 case control studies published in the PubMed using the search phrases ‘‘hOGG1/OGG1/OGG and polymorphism/genetic variation and lung cancer. ’’ The meta-analysis included 6,375 cancer cases and 6,406 control subjects. The results showed that individuals carrying the hOGG1 Cys/Cys genotype did not have significantly increased risk of lung cancer [odds ratios (OR), 1.15; 95% (confidence interval) CI, 0.94-1.41] compared with those with the Ser/Ser genotype; similarly, no significant association with lung cancer risk was found either in the recessive (OR, 1.09; 95% CI, 0.90-1.32 for Cys/Cys versus Ser/Cys+Ser/Ser) or dominant model of the Ser326 allele (OR, 1.06; 95% CI, 0.93-1.21 for Cys/Cys+Ser/Cys versus Ser/Ser). However, significantly increased risks were found among Asian subjects (OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.01-1.38 for Cys/ Cys+Ser/Cys versus Ser/Ser) in a dominant model. In stratified analyses by control source, compared with the Ser/Ser genotype, lung cancer risk associated with the hOGG1 Cys/Cys genotype was significantly increased in population-based studies (OR, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.041.67) but not in hospital-based studies (OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 0.98-1.42); in stratified analyses by the smoking status, however, the increased risk was observed only among nonsmokers in a dominant model (OR, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.04-1.67). The meta-analysis suggested that a careful matching should be considered in future larger genetic association studies including multiple ethnic groups. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2008;17(7):1739–45)
Correlation between the structure and biochemical activities of FtsA, an essential cell division protein of the actin family.

Cell division protein FtsA, predicted to belong to the actin family, is present in different cell compartments depending on its phosphorylation state. The FtsA fraction isolated from the cytoplasm is phosphorylated and capable of binding ATP, while the membrane‐bound form is unphosphorylated and does not bind ATP. A variant of the protein FtsA102, in which the nucleotide binding site was destroyed by mutagenesis of a highly conserved residue predicted to be needed for the binding, does not bind ATP. Another variant, FtsA104, cannot be phosphorylated because the predicted phosphorylatable residue has been replaced by a non‐phosphorylatable one. This protein although unable to bind ATP in vitro, is able to rescue the reversible ftsA2, the irreversible ftsA3 and, almost with the same efficiency, the ftsA16 amber alleles. Consequently, phosphorylation and ATP binding may not be essential for the function of FtsA. Alternatively they may have a regulatory role on the action of FtsA in the septator.
A Dual-Band Inverted-F MIMO Antenna With Enhanced Isolation for WLAN Applications

This letter presents a dual-band inverted-F multiple-input–multiple-output (MIMO) antenna with improved isolation, covering the 2.4/5-GHz wireless local networks (WLAN) band. The proposed MIMO antenna is composed of two symmetrical winding inverted-F antenna elements. The two antenna elements are closely spaced with about 0.115 λ<sub>0</sub> of the lower band. The high isolation is achieved by building two decoupling devices, a meandering resonant branch and an inverted T-shaped slot etched on the ground for the higher band and the lower band, respectively. Furthermore, two U-shaped slits achieving better impedance matching are etched on the 50-Ω feeding lines to broaden the bandwidth of the high band. The impedance bandwidth (<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX"> $S_{11}$</tex-math></inline-formula> < –10 dB) of the proposed antenna covers 2.4–2.48 GHz in the lower band and 5.15–5.825 GHz in the upper band, and the proposed configuration obtains 15-dB isolation within the 2.4- and 5-GHz WLAN bands, which shows a significant improvement compared to the initial design of the MIMO antenna. The simulation and measurement results indicate that the proposed inverted-F MIMO antenna system is quite suitable for WLAN applications.
Barriers to evidence-based nursing: a focus group study.

AIM This paper reports a study to explore the barriers to evidence-based nursing among Flemish (Belgian) nurses. BACKGROUND Barriers obstructing the call for an increase in evidence-based nursing have been explored in many countries, mostly through quantitative study designs. Authors report on lack of time, resources, evidence, authority, support, motivation and resistance to change. Relationships between barriers are seldom presented. METHODS We used a grounded theory approach, and five focus groups were organized between September 2004 and April 2005 in Belgium. We used purposeful sampling to recruit 53 nurses working in different settings. A problem tree was developed to establish links between codes that emerged from the data. FINDINGS The majority of the barriers were consistent with previous findings. Flemish (Belgian) nurses added a potential lack of responsibility in the uptake of evidence-based nursing, their 'guest' position in a patient's environment leading to a culture of adaptation, and a future 'two tier' nursing practice, which refers to the different education levels of nurses. The problem tree developed serves as (1) a basic model for other researchers who want to explore barriers within their own healthcare system and (2) a useful tool for orienting change management processes. CONCLUSION Despite the fact that the problem tree presented is context-specific for Flanders (Belgium), it gives an opportunity to develop clear objectives and targeted strategies for tackling obstacles to evidence-based nursing.
- 08 : Tapered empirical likelihood for time series

We investigate data tapering in two formulations of empirical likelihood for time series. One empirical likelihood is formed from tapered data-blocks in the time-domain and a second is based on the tapered periodogram in the frequency-domain. Limiting distributions are provided for both empirical likelihood versions under tapering. Theoretical and simulation evidence indicate that a data taper improves the coverage accuracy of empirical likelihood confidence intervals for time series parameters, such as means and correlations. Some key words: Block bootstrap; Confidence interval; Periodogram; Variance estimation
A framework of sector-specific service characteristics

Compare to the manufacturing sector, managing quality in the service sector is sometimes more an art form rather than a scientific process. Due to the intangibility of the service product and the real-time participation of the customer in the production of the service, design of services not only requires good service standards and service procedures, it also requires tactful skills from the service operator and necessary real-time adjustments to suit specific needs of the customer in attendance. In this research, a study on the nature of service characteristics in various major service industries was carried out. These service industries include telecommunications, retail, banking, food & beverage, and public transport. The study involved a field survey on consumers in these service sectors. The research outcomes will hopefully provide an understanding of service output characteristics that are important to consumers. This understanding will support service productivity, service innovations and service automation, which are important attributes of a service science culture.
Stable Isotope Labeling of Phosphoproteins for Large-scale Phosphorylation Rate Determination*

Signals that control responses to stimuli and cellular function are transmitted through the dynamic phosphorylation of thousands of proteins by protein kinases. Many techniques have been developed to study phosphorylation dynamics, including several mass spectrometry (MS)-based methods. Over the past few decades, substantial developments have been made in MS techniques for the large-scale identification of proteins and their post-translational modifications. Nevertheless, all of the current MS-based techniques for quantifying protein phosphorylation dynamics rely on the measurement of changes in peptide abundance levels, and many methods suffer from low confidence in phosphopeptide identification due to poor fragmentation. Here we have optimized an approach for the stable isotope labeling of amino acids by phosphate using [γ-18O4]ATP in nucleo to determine global site-specific phosphorylation rates. The advantages of this metabolic labeling technique are increased confidence in phosphorylated peptide identification, direct labeling of phosphorylation sites, measurement phosphorylation rates, and the identification of actively phosphorylated sites in a cell-like environment. In this study we calculated approximate rate constants for over 1,000 phosphorylation sites based on labeling progress curves. We measured a wide range of phosphorylation rate constants from 0.34 min−1 to 0.001 min−1. Finally, we applied stable isotope labeling of amino acids by phosphate to identify sites that have different phosphorylation kinetics during G1/S and M phase. We found that most sites had very similar phosphorylation rates under both conditions; however, a small subset of sites on proteins involved in the mitotic spindle were more actively phosphorylated during M phase, whereas proteins involved in DNA replication and transcription were more actively phosphorylated during G1/S phase. The data have been deposited to the ProteomeXchange with the identifier PXD000680.
Towards smart logistics processes: a predictive monitoring and proactive adaptation approach

Logistics processes are generally automated, agreed-upon, long running propositions between multiple partners, that are specified over Service Level Agreements as constraints to be maintained. However, these constraints can be violated at any time due to various unforeseen events that may stem from the process evolving context. In this paper, we present a framework along with a demonstration software that correlates critical business operations together with contextual events in order to predict possible violations prior to their occurrences while proactively generating mitigation countermeasures.
Previous hospitalizations predict both hospital readmissions and mortality in patients with heart failure.

We read the article entitled “Prior hospital admission predicts thirty-day hospital readmission for heart failure patients” by McLaren et al. [1] with great interest. In this well designed analysis, the authors reported that hospital readmission is associated with increased risk for 30-day hospital readmission in heart failure (HF) patients. Reducing the hospital readmission rates is quite important in patients with HF in regard to high cost conditions as well as patients prognosis. Of course, it is obvious that adherence to HF guidelines has clinical benefit, however it des not always translate into consistent reductions in readmissions. Prediction of hospital readmissions and prevention in these conditions are possible. Efforts made to predict the highest risks for readmission in HF patients are necessary in this context. In the present study, the investigators showed that the rate of a 30-day readmission increased with the number of prior hospital admissions. Furthermore, they showed that prior hospitalization improved the accuracy of readmission prediction model [1]. Identifying readmission predictors such as co-morbidities, frailty, or other demographics would be beneficial for patient prognosis and action of spending healthcare funds. For this purpose, several risk models for prediction of readmission in HF patients were developed [2, 3]. However, mostly the risk models have limited usefulness in clinical practice. It is also necessary to keep in mind that readmissions are generally unrelated to HF, but non-cardiovascular co-morbidities have larger effect size in HF patients. Also, unmeasured factors in studies related to healthcare system or patient characteristics such as socioeconomic, health status, adherence, and psychosocial factors may affect the readmissions in this group of patients. Prior hospitalizations are not only related to readmission rates but also an independent predictor of mortality in patients with HF. Prior analyses of our group in 630 patients with severe systolic dysfunction with mean ejection fraction of 25 ± 10% showed that number of previous hospitalizations is an independent risk factor for mortality as well as older age, having orthopnea, lack of renin–angiotensin system inhibitor therapy at discharge, hyperuricemia (> 7 mg/dL) and low hemoglobin level (< 10 g/dL) [4]. In our cohort, 50% of the patients have 2 or more prior hospitalizations. Therefore, prior hospital admissions are also a mortality predictor especially in HF patients with severe systolic dysfunctions.
Manifestation of axion electrodynamics through magnetic ordering on edges of a topological insulator

Significance Interactions between two adjacent surfaces of different surface orientations in a single-crystal topological insulator are investigated. We show that the edge between two surfaces can host nontrivial axion electrodynamics with sizeable experimental signals owing to the unique interaction between the two topological surface states. We find that the large work function difference between facets in a topological insulator can generate strong electric fields around the edges and that, in turn, the electric fields give rise to effective magnetic fields for a given broken time-reversal symmetry. Our theoretical work highlights a route to reveal intriguing axion electrodynamics in a real solid and provides methods to exploit macroscopic topological states. Because topological surface states of a single-crystal topological insulator can exist on all surfaces with different crystal orientations enclosing the crystal, mutual interactions among those states contiguous to each other through edges can lead to unique phenomena inconceivable in normal insulators. Here we show, based on a first-principles approach, that the difference in the work function between adjacent surfaces with different crystal-face orientations generates a built-in electric field around facet edges of a prototypical topological insulator such as Bi2Se3. Owing to the topological magnetoelectric coupling for a given broken time-reversal symmetry in the crystal, the electric field, in turn, forces effective magnetic dipoles to accumulate along the edges, realizing the facet-edge magnetic ordering. We demonstrate that the predicted magnetic ordering is in fact a manifestation of the axion electrodynamics in real solids.
Suggesting that the illumination differs between two scenes does not enhance color constancy

Color constancy involves corre ctly attributing a bias in the color of the light reaching your eyes to the illumination, and therefore compensating for it when judging surface reflectance. But not all biases are caused by the illumination, and surface colors will be misjudged if a bias is incorrectly attributed to the illumination. Evidence from within a scene (highlights, shadows, gradients, mutual reflections etc) could help determine whether a bias is likely to be due to the illumination. To examine whether the human visual system considers such evidence we asked subjects to match two surfaces on differently colored textured backgrounds. When the backgrounds were visibly render ed on screens in an otherwise dark room, the influence of the difference in background color was modest, indicating that subjects did not attribute much of the difference in color to the illumination. When the simulation of a change in illumination was more realistic, the results were very similar. We conclude that the visual system does not seem to use a sophisticated analyis of the possible illumination in order to obtain color constancy.
Development of a New Broadcast Protocol Based on Machine Learning for Wide-Ranging MANET Environments

A new broadcast protocol have been developed in this paper. Itpsilas based on a new method in which rebroadcasting a packet is decided by an intelligent classification scheme. Each MN builds a classifier and uses it on data collected from the network environment. For an input vector describing a broadcast packet and current network conditions, the classifier returns a result of "rebroadcast" or "drop". Through the simulation, we can identify a more energetic communication protocol and more efficient use because of each MNpsilas fitting various network condition.
Impaired PGC-1 a function in muscle in Huntington’s disease

We investigated the role of PPAR g coactivator 1 a (PGC-1 a ) in muscle dysfunction in Huntington’s disease (HD). We observed reduced PGC-1 a and target genes expression in muscle of HD transgenic mice. We produced chronic energy deprivation in HD mice by administering the catabolic stressor b -guanidinopropionic acid (GPA), a creatine analogue that reduces ATP levels, activates AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), which in turn activates PGC-1 a . Treatment with GPA resulted in increased expression of AMPK, PGC-1 a target genes, genes for oxidative phosphorylation, electron transport chain and mitochondrial biogenesis, increased oxidative muscle ﬁbers, numbers of mitochondria and motor performance in wild-type, but not in HD mice. In muscle biopsies from HD patients, there was decreased PGC-1 a , PGC-1 b and oxidative ﬁbers. Oxygen consumption, PGC-1 a , NRF1 and response to GPA were signiﬁcantly reduced in myoblasts from HD patients. Knockdown of mutant huntingtin resulted in increased PGC-1 a expression in HD myoblast. Lastly, adenoviral-mediated delivery of PGC-1 a resulted increased expression of PGC-1 a and markers for oxidative muscle ﬁbers and reversal of blunted response for GPA in HD mice. These ﬁndings show that impaired function of PGC-1 a plays a critical role in muscle dysfunction in HD, and that treatment with agents to enhance PGC-1 a function could exert therapeutic beneﬁts. Furthermore, muscle may provide a readily accessible tissue in which to monitor therapeutic interventions.
CDV Index: A Validity Index for Better Clustering Quality Measurement

In this paper, a cluster validity index called CDV index is presented. The CDV index is capable of providing a quality measurement for the goodness of a clustering result for a data set. The CDV index is composed of three major factors, including a statistically calculated external diameter factor, a restorer factor to reduce the effect of data dimension, and a number of clusters related punishment factor. With the calculation of the product of the three factors under various number of clusters settings, the best clustering result for some number of clusters setting is able to be found by searching for the minimum value of CDV curve. In the empirical experiments presented in this research, K-Means clustering method is chosen for its simplicity and execution speed. For the presentation of the effectiveness and superiority of the CDV index in the experiments, several traditional cluster validity indexes were implemented as the control group of experiments, including DI, DBI, ADI, and the most effective PBM index in recent years. The data sets of the experiments are also carefully selected to justify the generalization of CDV index, including three real world data sets and three artificial data sets which are the simulation of real world data distribution. These data sets are all tested to present the superior features of CDV index.
Online Social Media as a Curation Tool for Teaching

This case study shows how students used online social media to disseminate curated knowledge to the public. This is a “redefined” way of having the students show that they have analyzed the existing knowledge on a topic, synthesized/reorganized it in a meaningful way, and created a new presentation of that knowledge in various ways. This case study demonstrates an effective teaching approach to ensure that students develop competencies in teamwork, collaboration, and informatics.
Consistency and Accuracy of Multiple Pain Scales Measured in Cancer Patients From Multiple Ethnic Groups

Background: Standardized pain-intensity measurement across different tools would enable practitioners to have confidence in clinical decision making for pain management. Objectives: The purpose was to examine the degree of agreement among unidimensional pain scales and to determine the accuracy of the multidimensional pain scales in the diagnosis of severe pain. Methods: A secondary analysis was performed. The sample included a convenience sample of 480 cancer patients recruited from both the Internet and community settings. Cancer pain was measured using the Verbal Descriptor Scale (VDS), the visual analog scale (VAS), the Faces Pain Scale (FPS), the McGill Pain Questionnaire–Short Form (MPQ-SF), and the Brief Pain Inventory–Short Form (BPI-SF). Data were analyzed using a multivariate analysis of variance and a receiver operating characteristic curve. Results: The agreement between the VDS and VAS was 77.25%, whereas the agreement was 71.88% and 71.60% between the VDS and FPS, and VAS and FPS, respectively. The MPQ-SF and BPI-SF yielded high accuracy in the diagnosis of severe pain. Cutoff points for severe pain were more than 8 for the MPQ-SF and more than 14 for the BPI-SF, which exhibited high sensitivity and relatively low specificity. Conclusion: The study found substantial agreement between the unidimensional pain scales and high accuracy of the MPQ-SF and the BPI-SF in the diagnosis of severe pain. Implications for Practice: Use of 1 or more pain screening tools that have validated diagnostic accuracy and consistency will help classify pain effectively and subsequently promote optimal pain control in multiethnic groups of cancer patients.
Maximum consensus speed of second-order multi-agent network systems under a kind of dynamic consensus protocols

This paper deals with the maximum consensus speed of multi-agent network systems with double-integrator under a kind of consensus protocols. It is revealed that the maximum consensus speed is determined by the largest and the second smallest eigenvalues of the Laplacian matrix of graph of the network. For a revised form the protocol, arbitrary desired consensus speed can be achieved by choosing suitable gains. Numerical simulations are given to illustrate the main results.
Análise do Perfil de Temperaturas no Gás de Exaustão de um Motor pelo Método das Diferenças Finitas

O conhecimento da energia transferida de calor e um quesito fundamental na analise,desenvolvimento e projeto de sistemas termicos. A mensuracao deste calor transferido pode ser feita empiricamente ou por simulacao numerica, sendo a determinacao dos perfis de temperatura uma etapa crucial para a resolucao do problema de transferencia de calor. Neste trabalho e realizado um estudo da transferencia de calor no duto de exaustao de um motor de combustao interna. Para a determinacao do perfil de temperaturas no gas de exaustao no interior do duto e implementado um algoritmo baseado no Metodo das Diferencas Finitas.