Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Radiation-Hardened Design of Nonvolatile MRAM-Based FPGA

Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) based on static random access memory (SRAM) are more common than other types, including flash and anti-fuse, because of their infinite configurability and high performance. However, following the scaling down of CMOS technology, standby power of the CMOS circuits are becoming crucial. Logic circuits based on magnetic RAM (MRAM) can be an attractive replacement for SRAM-based logics thanks to their zero leakage and CMOS compatibilities. Furthermore, in FPGA design, using MRAM logics instead of SRAM logics results in some more advantages including non-volatility and high radiation reliability. In this paper, effects of radiation-induced soft errors on MRAM-based FPGAs (MFPGAs) are taken into account. Soft error tolerance of the previous MFPGAs are discussed and a new MFPGA structure is proposed. It is shown that the proposed non-volatile, low-power, and high-speed MFPGA is highly robust against radiation-induced soft errors. It is also shown that the proposed MFPGA offering a high radiation robustness does not incur a considerable design overhead compared with the other similar MFPGAs.
Intra- and interindividual variation in ITS1 of paragonimus westermani (Trematoda: digenea) and related species: implications for phylogenetic studies.

We investigated the utility of the ribosomal first internal transcribed spacer (ITS1) for phylogenetic studies on trematodes of the genus Paragonimus. Numerous clones containing ITS1 PCR products were sequenced for P. miyazakii, P. macrorchis, and members of the P. ohirai and P. westermani species complexes. Some additional data were obtained by direct sequencing of PCR products. The ITS1 is composed of three distinct regions: the short 5' end, followed by a tract of approximately 120 nucleotides which occurs a variable number of times in tandem, and the 3' region, which lacks repeats and is referred to as the "post-repeat" fragment. Sequences from all three regions can be aligned among the species studied. Our initial hypothesis, that the post-repeat region would be valuable for phylogenetic studies within the P. westermani complex, was proved wrong. Intraindividual sequence variation in P. westermani was sometimes greater than between individuals of the species complex. In the P. ohirai species complex, however, sequence variation within individuals was minimal. Possible reasons for these observations are discussed. We also wished to determine whether the length variants sequenced were the dominant variants present in Paragonimus species. This was done by probing Southern blots of genomic digests with an ITS1 fragment which lacks repeat sequences. There is generally greater abundance of large variants, with much lower abundance of small variants, such as those sequenced. Differences in ITS1 lengths are attributed largely to differing numbers of repeats, though some exceptions (which are discussed) were found.
Transceiver Impairments on the Performance of the LMMSE-PIC Iterative Receiver and its Mitigation

This work investigates the impact of inherent residual transceiver impairments of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems on the performance of linear minimum mean-squared error filtering and parallel interference cancellation (LMMSE-PIC) based iterative receiver. The residual transceiver impairments are first modeled as Gaussian noise at the transmitter in this work. Then a residual-transceiver-impairments-aware technique with empirically determined transmitter noise is proposed to mitigate the performance loss associated with the residual transceiver impairments. Numerical results based on MIMO systems with typical residual transceiver impairments show that the proposed method achieves significant performance gain over the conventional one which is designed for ideal transceivers.
Hearing Preservation in Retrosigmoid Approach of Small Vestibular Schwannomas: Prognostic Value of the Degree of Internal Auditory Canal Filling

Objectives: To assess the contribution of preoperative radiologic appearance of vestibular schwannoma (VS) on the magnetic resonance imaging in constructive interference in steady-state sequences and demonstrate if the degree of the internal auditory canal (IAC) filling is correlated with hearing and facial preservation. Patients: A group of 278 patients who underwent VS surgery in a tertiary referral center. Intervention: Retrosigmoid approach surgery. Main Outcome Measures: Patients were classified in 4 groups according to the percentage of IAC filling on the preoperative magnetic resonance imaging as Group IAC 1(IAC empty or filled <25% and with free fundus), Group IAC 2 (IAC filled from 25% to 50% with free fundus), Group IAC 3 (IAC filled from 50% to 75% with free fundus), and Group IAC 4 (complete filling of the IAC without fundus obliteration). Results: A good correlation was observed between the IAC classification and the rate of hearing and facial preservation. The global rate of postoperative facial palsy was 10.4%. The global rate of hearing preservation in 213 patients with preoperative hearing class A and B was 40.8%. Regression analysis showed that the degree of lateral extension of the VS in the IAC was a strong predictor of hearing preservation (p < 0.04). Conclusion: The retrosigmoid approach yields good facial outcomes in selected patients with possible hearing preservation. In case of patient with small tumor and IAC empty or filled less than 75% and with free fundus, surgery is the treatment of choice for patients with serviceable hearing and the desire to retain it.
The actions of peppermint oil and menthol on calcium channel dependent processes in intestinal, neuronal and cardiac preparations

The activities of menthol and peppermint oil were determined in guinea‐pig ileal smooth muscle, in rat and guinea‐pig atrial and papillary muscle, in rat brain synaptosomes and in chick retinal neurones by pharmacological 45Ca2+ uptake and radioligand binding assays. Menthol is a major constituent of peppermint oil and is approximately twice as potent as peppermint oil as an inhibitor of K+ depolarization‐induced and electrically stimulated responses in ileum and electrically stimulated atrial and papillary muscles. IC50 values in the ileal preparation ranged from 7.7 to 28.1 μg ml−1 and in the cardiac preparations from 10.1 to 68.5 μg ml−1. Similar potencies were demonstrated against K+ depolarization‐induced 45Ca2+ uptake in synaptosomes and against K+ depolarization and Bay K 8644‐induced uptake in chick retinal neurons. IC50 values for menthol inhibition of K+ and Bay K 8644 responses in the retinal neurons were 1.1 × 10−4 M (17.2 μg ml−1) and 1.75 × 10−4 M (26.6 μg ml−I), respectively, and for peppermint oil were 20.3 and 41.7 μg ml−1 respectively. Both menthol and peppermint oil inhibited specific [3H]nitrendipine and [3H]PN 200–110 binding to smooth and cardiac muscle and neuronal preparations with potencies comparable to, but slightly lower than, those measured in the pharmacological and 45Ca2+ uptake experiments. Binding of menthol and peppermint oil, studied at 78 μg ml−1, was competitive against [3H]nitrendipine in both smooth muscle and synaptosome preparations. The data indicate that both menthol and peppermint oil exert Ca2+ channel blocking properties which may underlie their use in irritable bowel syndrome. Ca2+ channel antagonism may not be the only pharmacological effect of menthol and peppermint oil contributing to intestinal smooth muscle relaxation.
Epidermal growth factor up-regulates expression of transforming growth factor beta receptor type II in human dermal fibroblasts by phosphoinositide 3-kinase/Akt signaling pathway: Resistance to epidermal growth factor stimulation in scleroderma fibroblasts.

OBJECTIVE Transforming growth factor beta receptors (TGFbetaRs) are known to be expressed at high levels in several fibrotic diseases, including systemic sclerosis. In the present study, we investigated the mechanism of up-regulation of TGFbetaR expression. METHODS The levels of expression of TGFbetaR type II (TGFbetaRII) messenger RNA (mRNA), with or without stimulation by epidermal growth factor (EGF), were evaluated by Northern blot analysis, and the protein levels were determined by immunoblotting. The transcription activity of the TGFbetaRII gene was examined with luciferase assays using the -1670/+35 TGFbetaRII promoter luciferase construct. RESULTS EGF up-regulates the expression of TGFbetaRII mRNA and protein in human dermal fibroblasts. Actinomycin D, an RNA synthesis inhibitor, significantly blocked the EGF-mediated up-regulation of TGFbetaRII mRNA expression, whereas cycloheximide, a protein synthesis inhibitor, did not block this up-regulation. In addition, EGF treatment did not significantly affect the TGFbetaRII mRNA half-life. EGF-mediated induction of TGFbetaRII expression was inhibited by treatment of fibroblasts with the selective phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) inhibitors wortmannin or LY294002, and Akt inhibitor also blocked EGF-induced expression of TGFbetaRII. In addition, EGF induced TGFbetaRII promoter activity, and this induction was significantly blocked by wortmannin, LY294002, or Akt inhibitor. Cotransfection with a dominant-negative mutant of p85 (the regulatory component of PI 3-kinase) or Akt significantly reduced the induction of TGFbetaRII promoter activity by EGF. Moreover, a constitutive active form of p110 (a catalytic component of PI 3-kinase) induced TGFbetaRII promoter activity. In addition, scleroderma fibroblasts expressed increased levels of TGFbetaRII but did not show further up-regulation of TGFbetaRII expression by EGF. CONCLUSION These results indicate that EGF-mediated induction of TGFbetaRII expression occurs at the transcription level, does not require de novo protein synthesis, and involves the PI 3-kinase/Akt signaling pathway, and that abnormal activation of EGF-mediated signaling pathways, including PI 3-kinase or Akt, might play a role in the up-regulation of TGFbetaRII in scleroderma fibroblasts.
Gene Therapy for Human Lung Adenocarcinoma Using a Suicide Gene Driven by a Lung-Specific Promoter Delivered by JC Virus-Like Particles

Lung adenocarcinoma, the most commonly diagnosed type of lung cancer, has a poor prognosis even with combined surgery, chemotherapy, or molecular targeted therapies. Most patients are diagnosed with an in-operable advanced or metastatic disease, both pointing to the necessity of developing effective therapies for lung adenocarcinoma. Surfactant protein B (SP-B) has been found to be overexpressed in lung adenocarcinoma. In addition, it has also been demonstrated that human lung adenocarcinoma cells are susceptible to the JC polyomavirus (JCPyV) infection. Therefore, we designed that the JCPyV virus-like particle (VLP) packaged with an SP-B promoter–driven thymidine kinase suicide gene (pSPB-tk) for possible gene therapy of human lung adenocarcinoma. Plasmids expressing the GFP (pSPB-gfp) or thymidine kinase gene (pSPB-tk) under the control of the human SP-B promoter were constructed. The promoter’s tissue specificity was tested by transfection of pSPB-gfp into A549, CH27, and H460 human lung carcinoma cells and non-lung cells. The JCPyV VLP’s gene transfer efficiency and the selective cytotoxicity of pSPB-tk combined with ganciclovir (GCV) were tested in vitro and in a xenograft mouse model. In the current study, we found that SP-B promoter–driven GFP was specifically expressed in human lung adenocarcinoma (A549) and large cell carcinoma (H460) cells. JCPyV VLPs were able to deliver a GFP reporter gene into A549 cells for expression. Selective cytotoxicity was observed in A549 but not non-lung cells that were transfected with pSPB-tk or infected with pSPB-tk–carrying JCPyV VLPs. In mice injected with pSPB-tk–carrying JCPyV VLPs through the tail vein and treated with ganciclovir (GCV), a potent 80% inhibition of growth of human lung adenocarcinoma nodules resulted. The JCPyV VLPs combined with the use of SP-B promoter demonstrates effectiveness as a potential gene therapy against human lung adenocarcinoma.
Fast MRI used to evaluate the effect of abdominal belts during contraction of trunk muscles.

STUDY DESIGN This study focused on the effects that abdominal belts have on the sagittal section of the abdominal and pelvic cavity during contraction of the trunk muscles. Fast magnetic resonance imaging was used during the Valsalva maneuver by 11 healthy men. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of an abdominal belt on the geometric changes in the sagittal section during Valsalva maneuvers. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA Several hypotheses about the effect of an abdominal belt have considered intraabdominal pressure, which has a hydraulic effect on the diaphragm, providing stability to the spine. However, there is little information on changes in the sagittal section of the abdominal and pelvic cavity. METHODS Eleven male volunteers without back problems were studied with fast magnetic resonance images. Sagittal section images of the abdominal and pelvic cavity were obtained under six conditions: without the belt at rest, at full inhalation, and at full inhalation with Valsalva, as well as with the belt at rest, at full inhalation, and at full inhalation with Valsalva. RESULTS When the belt was worn, the sagittal section area of the abdominal and pelvic cavity did not change, but its shape did. Also, the anteroposterior diameter of the abdominal and pelvic cavity increased at its upper part and decreased at its middle part, elevating the liver and diaphragm. Additionally, the lever arm length of the intraabdominal pressure increased significantly. CONCLUSIONS Fast magnetic resonance imaging quantified the effect of an abdominal belt on the abdominal geometric changes during the Valsalva maneuvers with the patient in a supine position.
A Study of Distinctiveness of Skin Texture for Forensic Applications Through Comparison With Blood Vessels

Skin texture without obvious features is different from other hard biometrics on the skin, such as fingerprints and palmprints. Skin texture gives an impression that it is not distinctive like other soft biometric traits. It was proposed for personal identification a decade ago but did not draw attention from the biometric community, partially due to the success of other biometric technologies for commercial applications. However, in some forensic cases, e.g., identifying masked terrorists in images, skin texture may be the only option. Faces, tattoos, and skin marks are not always available for identification. To address these forensic needs, researchers have recently attempted to visualize blood vessels hidden in color images. Their performance is highly sensitive to image quality. Skin texture that is easily captured even in low-resolution images, such as that of the forearm skin, is suitable for these forensic applications. To study the distinctiveness of low-resolution skin texture, in this paper, an algorithm composed of a positive sample generation scheme, dynamic and directional grids, a large feature set generation scheme, and partial least squares regression has been proposed. More than 6300 inner forearm and thigh images collected from a laboratory environment and from the internet with large pose, viewpoint, and illumination variations were employed in this paper. The proposed algorithm was compared with the state-of-the-art texture recognition methods, and skin texture was compared with blood vessels, a hard biometric trait, extracted from color and infrared images. The results showed that the proposed algorithm performed significantly better than did the texture recognition methods, and skin texture outperformed blood vessels in all of the experiments, achieving encouraging performance.
An Effective Financial Statements Fraud Detection Model for the Sustainable Development of Financial Markets: Evidence from Taiwan

This study aims to establish a rigorous and effective model to detect enterprises’ financial statements fraud for the sustainable development of enterprises and financial markets. The research period is 2004–2014 and the sample is companies listed on either the Taiwan Stock Exchange or the Taipei Exchange, with a total of 160 companies (including 40 companies reporting financial statements fraud). This study adopts multiple data mining techniques. In the first stage, an artificial neural network (ANN) and a support vector machine (SVM) are deployed to screen out important variables. In the second stage, four types of decision trees (classification and regression tree (CART), chi-square automatic interaction detector (CHAID), C5.0, and quick unbiased efficient statistical tree (QUEST)) are constructed for classification. Both financial and non-financial variables are selected, in order to build a highly accurate model to detect fraudulent financial reporting. The empirical findings show that the variables screened with ANN and processed by CART (the ANN + CART model) yields the best classification results, with an accuracy of 90.83% in the detection of financial statements fraud.
Platelet count and outcome in patients with acute venous thromboembolism

Summary The relationship between platelet count and outcome in patients with acute venous thromboembolism (VTE) has not been consistently explored. RIETE is an ongoing registry of consecutive patients with acute VTE. We categorised patients as having very low- (<80,000/μl), low- (80,000/μl to 150,000/μl), normal- (150,000/μl to 300,000/μl), high- (300,000/μl to 450,000/μl), or very high (>450,000/μl) platelet count at baseline, and compared their three-month outcome. As of October 2012, 43,078 patients had been enrolled in RIETE: 21,319 presenting with pulmonary embolism and 21,759 with deep-vein thrombosis. In all, 502 patients (1.2%) had very low-; 5,472 (13%) low-; 28,386 (66%) normal-; 7,157 (17%) high-; and 1,561 (3.6%) very high platelet count. During the three-month study period, the recurrence rate was: 2.8%, 2.2%, 1.8%, 2.1% and 2.2%, respectively; the rate of major bleeding: 5.8%, 2.6%, 1.7%, 2.3% and 4.6%, respectively; the rate of fatal bleeding: 2.0%, 0.9%, 0.3%, 0.5% and 1.2%, respectively; and the mortality rate: 29%, 11%, 6.5%, 8.8% and 14%, respectively. On multivariate analysis, patients with very low-, low-, high- or very high platelet count had an increased risk for major bleeding (odds ratio [OR]: 2.70, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.85–3.95; 1.43 [1.18–1.72]; 1.23 [1.03–1.47]; and 2.13 [1.65–2.75]) and fatal bleeding (OR: 3.70 [1.92–7.16], 2.10 [1.48–2.97], 1.29 [0.88–1.90] and 2.49 [1.49–4.15]) compared with those with normal count. In conclusion, we found a U-shaped relationship between platelet count and the three-month rate of major bleeding and fatal bleeding in patients with VTE.
Meconium aspiration syndrome in infants of HIV-positive women: a case-control study

Abstract Objective: Our aim was to determine whether maternal HIV infection in the current era is associated with an increased incidence of meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS) in their infants. Methods: Infants born to 149 HIV-positive women at our hospital over a 5-year period were compared with infants born to HIV-negative women in a retrospective case-control study. Charts of all 298 patients included in the study were reviewed for maternal and infant demographics, HIV treatment, vertical transmission and untoward events at delivery or during the hospital course. Results: When compared with HIV-negative women, a greater proportion of HIV-positive women had meconium-stained amniotic fluid (MSAF), 33% vs. 13%, P<0.001; and thick MSAF, 17% vs. 5%, P<0.001, respectively. Seven of 298 infants were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit for MAS; all seven were born to HIV-positive women (P=0.015). Although in utero exposure to illicit drugs is a reported risk factor for meconium staining of the amniotic fluid and such drug exposure was more common among our HIV-positive sample, controlling for this and other possible covariates did not greatly reduce the association of HIV status with meconium-related complications of delivery. Conclusions: Infants born to HIV-positive women had significantly more MSAF and MAS than infants born to non-infected women. It is unclear whether this association results from maternal HIV infection itself or from anti-retroviral therapy. Maternal and infant care providers should be prepared for this complication when attending to the deliveries of HIV-positive women.
Eosinophil depletion protects mice from tongue squamous cell carcinoma induced by 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide.

AIMS Tumor-associated tissue eosinophilia (TATE) has been correlated with prognosis in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). This study aimed to investigate whether eosinophils depletion affects experimental oral carcinogenesis. METHODS AND RESULTS BALB/c (wild type - WT) and eosinophil-deficient (Δdb/GATA-1) mice were treated with the carcinogen 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide (4NQO) in drinking water for 28 weeks. Tongues were collected for histopathological and immunohistochemical analysis, as well as for the evaluation of cytokines/chemokines by ELISA. The tongue SCC induced by 4NQO was associated with a rise in eosinophil numbers. WT-treated group showed a significantly increased incidence of SCC, with higher cytological atypia, in comparison with Δdb/GATA-1 mice. Consistently, the proliferative index was higher in WT compared to the Δdb/GATA-1-treated group. No significant changes in the concentration of CCL3, CCL11 and TNF-α were detected for both groups after 4NQO treatment. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that eosinophils might be responsible for the deleterious outcome of experimental tongue carcinogenesis, given that their ablation protects mice from OSCC.
Erythrocyte β spectrin can be genetically targeted to protect mice from malaria.

The malaria parasite hijacks host erythrocytes to shield itself from the immune system and proliferate. Red blood cell abnormalities can provide protection from malaria by impeding parasite invasion and growth within the cell or by compromising the ability of parasites to avoid host clearance. Here, we describe 2 N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea-induced mouse lines, SptbMRI26194 and SptbMRI53426 , containing single-point mutations in the erythrocyte membrane skeleton gene, β spectrin (Sptb), which exhibit microcytosis but retain a relatively normal ratio of erythrocyte surface area to volume and are highly resistant to rodent malaria. We propose the major factor responsible for malaria protection is the specific clearance of mutant erythrocytes, although an enhanced clearance of uninfected mutant erythrocytes was also observed (ie, the bystander effect). Using an in vivo erythrocyte tracking assay, we established that this phenomenon occurs irrespective of host environment, precluding the involvement of nonerythrocytic cells in the resistance mechanism. Furthermore, we recapitulated this phenotype by disrupting the interaction between ankyrin-1 and β spectrin in vivo using CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology, thereby genetically validating a potential antimalarial target. This study sheds new light on the role of β spectrin during Plasmodium infection and highlights how changes in the erythrocyte cytoskeleton can substantially influence malaria susceptibility with minimal adverse consequences for the host.
A novel approach to the grid inductance estimation based on second order generalized integrators

The grid inductance is a sensitive parameter to be considered in order not to degrade the control system performance and to guarantee the system stability. In this paper, the Grid Inductance estimation based on Generalized Integrators (GIGI) method is proposed. It carries out an online grid inductance detection, which disturbs the grid by injecting a time-limited and small-amplitude harmonic voltage component. It employs Second Order Generalized Integrators (SOGI) to identify correctly the provoked current and voltage at the PCC. Simulation and experimental results verifies the satisfactory performance of the proposed method.