Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Symmetric Dimethylarginine Is Not Associated with Cumulative Inflammatory Load or Classical Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A 6-Year Follow-Up Study

Symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) indirectly inhibits nitric oxide (NO) synthesis and predicts cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in high-risk patients. The aim of our study was to investigate the associations of cumulative inflammatory burden (assessed by serial measurements of inflammatory markers) and classical cardiovascular (CV) disease risk factors with SDMA in RA patients. 201 RA patients (155 females, median age 67 (59–73)) were assessed at baseline (2006). Classical CV disease risk factors were recorded and systemic inflammation was determined by the measurement of C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). At follow-up (2012) SDMA levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Mean SDMA levels in RA population were 0.40 (0.40–0.53) μmol/L. No significant association between SDMA and cumulative inflammatory load was established in the analysis. SDMA levels were not found to be significantly related to CV disease risk factors. We explored the potential relationship between SDMA and cumulative inflammatory burden in patients with RA and obtained negative results. SDMA did not relate to CV disease risk factors in our population and its clinical significance as a surrogate marker of endothelial dysfunction in patients with RA remains to be determined.
Enabling the Semantic Web of Things: Framework and Architecture

The Semantic Web of Things is a novel paradigm combining the Semantic Web and the Internet of Things, aiming to associate semantic annotations to real-world objects, locations and events. This paper presents a general framework for the Semantic Web of Things, based on an evolution of classic Knowledge Base models, also providing architectural solutions for information storage, communication and processing.
Biomarkers in Lung Diseaes : from Pathogenesis to Prediction to New Therapies A-kinase-anchoring proteins coordinate inflammatory responses to cigarette smoke in airway smooth muscle X

X Wilfred J. Poppinga, Irene H. Heijink, Laura J. Holtzer, Philipp Skroblin, Enno Klussmann, Andrew J. Halayko, Wim Timens, Harm Maarsingh, and Martina Schmidt University of Groningen, Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Groningen, The Netherlands; University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen Research Institute for Asthma and COPD, GRIAC, Groningen, The Netherlands; Max-Delbrück-Centrum für Molekulare Medizin, Berlin, Germany; University of Manitoba, Departments of Physiology and Pathophysiology, and Internal Medicine, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Pathology and Medical Biology, Groningen, The Netherlands; Palm Beach Atlantic University, Lloyd L. Gregory School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, West Palm Beach, Florida
Freeze-Casted Nanostructured Apatite Scaffold Obtained from Low Temperature Biomineralization of Reactive Calcium Phosphates

Macroporous nanostructured calcium phosphate scaffold was produced at low temperature using freeze casting technique. Aqueous suspension of tetracalcium phosphate and dicalcium phosphate anhydrous was freeze-casted into cylindrical samples using an automated freeze casting device and subsequently freeze-dried. The sample was stored at 37 °C and 100% relative humidity for 24h, and then kept in simulated body fluid (SBF) for 7 days. The phase composition and microstructure of scaffold was characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electronic microscopy, respectively. Cell proliferation and attachment was also studied using Rat calvarium osteoblasts. The results showed a porous structure with total porosity of 75% and pore diameter ranging 50-150 μm and compressive strength of 5 ± 1 Mpa. The scaffolds had been composed of needle-like nanocrystals at the range of 40-100 nm. The XRD and FTIR data confirmed complete conversion of tetracalcium phosphate and dicalcium phosphate reactants into carbonate-substituted apatite phase due to the immersion process without any other impure phases. The results of cell studies revealed well attachment of osteoblasts on the pores and walls of the scaffolds as well as a time dependent proliferation and increased alkaline phosphatase activity. The produced scaffold has the requirements of an osteoinductive material but more in vitro and in vivo studies are required to prove this suggestion.
A 900-MHz local oscillator using a DLL-based frequency multiplier technique for PCS applications

A monolithic CMOS local oscillator utilizing a delay-locked loop (DLL)-based frequency multiplier technique to synthesize a 900-MHz carrier frequency with a low close-in phase noise is described. The prototype, implemented in a double-poly five-metal 0.35-/spl mu/m CMOS technology, achieves a -123 and -127 dBc/Hz phase noise at 60 and 330 kHz offset frequencies, respectively, while dissipating 130 mW from a 3.3-V supply. This prototype satisfies the specification of the IS-137 AMPS/TDMA dual-mode standard.
ANTIOXIDANT PROPERTIES AND INHIBITORY EFFECT OF ETHANOLIC EXTRACT OF STRUCHIUM SPARGANOPHORA ( EWURO ODO ) LEAF ON α AMYLASE AMYLASE AMYLASE AND α – GLUCOSIDASE ACTIVITIES

Recent studies have shown that vegetables consumption could lower the risk of diabetes mellitus. Therefore, this study sought to investigate the inhibitory effect of Struchium sparganophora (Ewuro Odo) leaf on key enzyme linked to type-2 diabetes (α-amylase and α-glucosidase) as well as assessing the effect of blanching (a commonly practiced food processing technique) of this leafy vegetable on these key enzymes. Fresh leaves of Struchium sparganophora were blanched in hot water for 10 minutes, and the 70% ethanolic extracts of the fresh and blanched vegetables were prepared and used for subsequent analysis. The antioxidant properties and interaction of the extracts on α amylase and α glucosidase activities was determined in vitro. The result revealed that Struchium sparganophora leaf scavenged DPPH free radical and also inhibited α amylase and α glucosidase activities in a dose dependent manner (0.05 -0.2 mg/ml). However, blanching of this leafy vegetables caused a significant (P<0.05) increase in the antioxidant properties as typified by the DPPH radical scavenging ability and reducing property but decrease their ability to inhibit α amylase and α glucosidase activities. This antioxidant properties and enzyme inhibition could be part of the mechanism by which green leafy vegetables exert their anti-diabetic properties. However, blanching of the vegetable could reduce their ability to inhibit both α amylase and α glucosidase activity, but enhance their antioxidant properties in vitro.
vhnf1 integrates global RA patterning and local FGF signals to direct posterior hindbrain development in zebrafish

The vertebrate hindbrain is transiently divided along the anterior-posterior axis into seven morphologically and molecularly distinct segments, or rhombomeres, that correspond to Hox expression domains. The establishment of a proper `hox code' is required for the development of unique rhombomere identities, including specification of neuronal fates. valentino (val), the zebrafish ortholog of mafB/Kreisler (Kr), encodes a bZip transcription factor that is required cell autonomously for the development of rhombomere (r) 5 and r6 and for activation of Hox group 3 gene expression. Recent work has demonstrated that the expression of val itself depends on three factors: retinoic acid (RA) signals from the paraxial mesoderm; fibroblast growth factor (Fgf) signals from r4; and variant hepatocyte nuclear factor 1 (vhnf1, also known as tcf2), a homeodomain transcription factor expressed posterior to the r4-5 boundary. We have investigated the interactions between these inputs onto val expression in the developing zebrafish hindbrain. We show that RA induces val expression via activation of vhnf1 expression in the hindbrain. Fgf signals from r4, acting through the MapK pathway, then cooperate with Vhnf1 to activate val expression and subsequent r5 and r6 development. Additionally, vhnf1 and val function as part of a multistep process required for the repression of r4 identity in the posterior hindbrain. vhnf1 acts largely independently of val to repress the r4 `hox code' posterior to the r4-5 boundary and therefore to block acquisition of r4-specific neuronal fates in the posterior hindbrain. However, vhnf1 is not able to repress all aspects of r4 identity equivalently. val is required downstream of vhnf1 to repress r4-like cell-surface properties, as determined by an `Eph-ephrin code', by repressing ephrin-B2a expression in r5 and r6. The different requirements for vhnf1 and val to repress hoxb1a and ephrin-B2a, respectively, demonstrate that not all aspects of an individual rhombomere's identity are regulated coordinately.
Early-state damage detection, characterization, and evolution using high-resolution computed tomography

Safely using materials in high performance applications requires adequately understanding the mechanisms which control the nucleation and evolution of damage. Most of a material’s operational life is spent in a state with noncritical damage, and, for example in metals only a small portion of its life falls within the classical Paris Law regime of crack growth. Developing proper structural health and prognosis models requires understanding the behavior of damage in these early stages within the material’s life, and this early-stage damage occurs on length scales at which the material may be considered “granular” in the sense that the discrete regions which comprise the whole are large enough to require special consideration. Material performance depends upon the characteristics of the granules themselves as well as the interfaces between granules. As a result, properly studying early-stage damage in complex, granular materials requires a means to characterize changes in the granules and interfaces. The granular-scale can range from tenths of microns in ceramics, to single microns in fiber-reinforced composites, to tens of millimeters in concrete. The difficulty of direct-study is often overcome by exhaustive testing of macro-scale damage caused by gross material loads and abuse. Such testing, for example optical or electron microscopy, destructive and further, is costly when used to study the evolution of damage within a material and often limits the study to a few snapshots. New developments in high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) provide the necessary spatial resolution to directly image the granule length-scale of many materials. Successful application of HRCT with fiber-reinforced composites, however, requires extending the HRCT performance beyond current limits. This dissertation will discuss improvements made in the field of CT reconstruction which enable resolutions to be pushed to the point of being able to image the fiber-scale damage structures and the application of this new capability to the study of early-stage damage.
Tagging English Text with a Probabilistic Model

In this paper we present some experiments on the use of a probabilistic model to tag English text, i.e. to assign to each word the correct tag (part of speech) in the context of the sentence. The main novelty of these experiments is the use of untagged text in the training of the model. We have used a simple triclass Markov model and are looking for the best way to estimate the parameters of this model, depending on the kind and amount of training data provided. Two approaches in particular are compared and combined:using text that has been tagged by hand and computing relative frequency counts,using text without tags and training the model as a hidden Markov process, according to a Maximum Likelihood principle.Experminents show that the best training is obtained by using as much tagged text as possible. They also show that Maximum Likelihood training, the procedure that is routinely used to estimate hidden Markov models parameters from training data, will not necessarily improve the tagging accuracy. In fact, it will generally degrade this accuracy, except when only a limited amount of hand-tagged text is available.
Chapter 2 Unmanned Aerial and Ground Vehicle Teams : Recent Work and Open Problems

Unmanned aerial and ground vehicle teams present a majoropportunity for expanded operation over individual autonomous vehicles alone. The different perspectives available for sensors, the different operating ranges and payload capabilities, and the ability to observe a target environment from all angles at once all add up to significant improvements in ability to search for and track targets, to inspect infrastructure, to persistently perform surveillance, and to map 3D environments. This chapter surveys recent efforts in unmanned air vehicle (UAV)/unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) team coordination and presents a description of open problems that remain to enable the many applications for which aerial and ground vehicles are well suited.
SCARF: a segmental conditional random field toolkit for speech recognition

This paper describes a new toolkit SCARF for doing speech recognition with segmental conditional random fields. It is designed to allow for the integration of numerous, possibly redundant segment level acoustic features, along with a complete language model, in a coherent speech recognition framework. SCARF performs a segmental analysis, where each segment corresponds to a word, thus allowing for the incorporation of acoustic features defined at the phoneme, multi-phone, syllable and word level. SCARF is designed to make it especially convenient to use acoustic detection events as input, such as the detection of energy bursts, phonemes, or other events. Language modeling is done by associating each state in the SCRF with a state in an underlying n-gram language model, and SCARF supports the joint and discriminative training of language model and acoustic model parameters. SCARF is available for download from http://research.microsoft. com/en-us/projects/scarf/
A Quantitative Method for the Characterization of Lytic Metastases of the Bone from Radiographic Images

The aim of our study was to assess the diagnostic usefulness of the gray level parameters to distinguish osteolytic lesions using radiological images. Materials and Methods. A retrospective study was carried out. A total of 76 skeletal radiographs of osteolytic metastases and 67 radiographs of multiple myeloma were used. The cases were classified into nonflat (MM1 and OL1) and flat bones (MM2 and OL2). These radiological images were analyzed by using a computerized method. The parameters calculated were mean, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation (MGL, SDGL, and CVGL) based on gray level histogram analysis of a region-of-interest. Diagnostic utility was quantified by measurement of parameters on osteolytic metastases and multiple myeloma, yielding quantification of area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC). Results. Flat bone groups (MM2 and OL2) showed significant differences in mean values of MGL (P = 0.048) and SDGL (P = 0.003). Their corresponding values of AUC were 0.758 for MGL and 0.883 for SDGL in flat bones. In nonflat bones these gray level parameters do not show diagnostic ability. Conclusion. The gray level parameters MGL and SDGL show a good discriminatory diagnostic ability to distinguish between multiple myeloma and lytic metastases in flat bones.
Scaling relations of the slightly self-interacting cold dark matter in galaxies and clusters

Recent observations in galaxies and clusters indicate that dark matter density profiles exhibit core-like structures which contradict the numerical simulation results of collisionless cold dark matter. The idea of self-interacting cold dark matter (SICDM) has been invoked to solve the discrepancies between the observations and numerical simulations. In this paper, I derive some important scaling relations in galaxies and clusters by using the long-range SICDM model. These scaling relations give good agreement with the empirical fittings from observational data in galaxies and clusters if the dark matter particles are only slightly self-interacting. Also, there may exist a universal critical optical depth τ c that characterizes the core-like structures. These results generally support the idea of the SICDM to tackle the long-lasting dark matter problem.
Universal Dependencies for Arabic

We describe the process of creating NUDAR, a Universal Dependency treebank for Arabic. We present the conversion from the Penn Arabic Treebank to the Universal Dependency syntactic representation through an intermediate dependency representation. We discuss the challenges faced in the conversion of the trees, the decisions we made to solve them, and the validation of our conversion. We also present initial parsing results on NUDAR.
Validation of MODIS F/sub PAR/ products in boreal forests of Alaska

Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) fraction of photosynthetically active radiation absorbed by vegetation (FPAR ) products covering the boreal forest of interior Alaska were analyzed and compared with field measurements of canopy light harvesting over a multiyear period (2001 to 2004), as well as to high-resolution F PAR maps derived from IKONOS and Landsat ETM+ imagery. The spatial variability of FPAR within the MODIS products was examined by incorporating the field measurements and aggregating the high-resolution FPAR maps to the MODIS scale. Characterization of the temporal accuracy of the MODIS FPAR products was conducted through comparisons with continuously operating canopy light interception measurements. The MODIS product tended to overestimate FPAR relative to both ground-based measurements and Landsat-derived estimates of FPAR, particularly in the more sparsely vegetated burn scars on which we focus related research, but adequately captured seasonal variability associated with vegetation phenology. A combination of canopy closure and ground cover vegetation was identified as the source of most of the discrepancies between the MODIS estimated and field measured FPAR values. Neither the field measurements nor the high resolution image FPAR maps based on the field measurements characterized the light environment of the ground cover vegetation (i.e., <10 cm height); thus, absolute validation of the MODIS products was incomplete - despite the extensive spatial and temporal characterization of FPAR dynamics in the study region. We discuss these results, explore some other possible sources for observed differences between the MODIS, field, and high-resolution FPAR maps, and consider possible ways to address these issues in future work
Capacitative and 1-Oleyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycerol-Activated Ca2+ Entry Distinguished Using Adenylyl Cyclase Type 8

Although the molecular identity of capacitative Ca2+ entry (CCE) channels remains elusive, transient receptor potential channel (TRPC) family members 3, 6, and 7, which are activated by diacylglycerol (DAG), have been put forward as possible candidates. Because human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells endogenously express these TRP subunits, this cell line is suitable for investigating whether DAG-activated TRP subunits form part of the putative multimeric assemblies that mediate CCE. Adenylyl cyclase type 8 (AC8) is activated by CCE in nonexcitable cells but is not responsive to other forms of Ca2+ entry, such as ionophore- or arachidonate-activated entry through the plasma membrane ( J Biol Chem271:12438-12444, 1996 ; J Biol Chem273:9297-9305, 1998 ; J Biol Chem274:31174-31178, 1999 ). In this study, we exploited this unique dependence of AC8 on CCE to determine whether the DAG analog, 1-oleyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycerol (OAG), activates the same subset of Ca2+ channels as store depletion, which triggers CCE. In populations of HEK 293 cells, OAG evoked a faster and greater influx of Ca2+ than CCE. Both pathways of Ca2+ entry could be triggered simultaneously in the same batch of cells, with additive effects. It is striking that OAG-mediated Ca2+ entry, unlike CCE, did not stimulate AC8 activity in populations of cells. In single cells, OAG evoked a highly heterogeneous response, whereas CCE occurred as a smooth and sustained increase in [Ca2+]i. Taken together, our results indicate that, in HEK 293 cells, OAG-activated Ca2+ entry is distinct from CCE. The inability of the OAG-activated Ca2+ entry pathway to regulate AC8 further reinforces the absolute dependence of this enzyme on CCE.
SentiView: Sentiment Analysis and Visualization for Internet Popular Topics

There would be value to several domains in discovering and visualizing sentiments in online posts. This paper presents SentiView, an interactive visualization system that aims to analyze public sentiments for popular topics on the Internet. SentiView combines uncertainty modeling and model-driven adjustment. By searching and correlating frequent words in text data, it mines and models the changes of the sentiment on public topics. In addition, using a time-varying helix together with an attribute astrolabe to represent sentiments, it can visualize the changes of multiple attributes and relationships among demographics of interest and the sentiments of participants on popular topics. The relationships of interest among different participants are presented in a relationship map. Using a new evolution model that is based on cellular automata, it is able to compare the time-varying features for sentiment-driven forums on both simulated and real data. Adaptable for different social networking platforms, such as Twitter, blog and forum, the methods demonstrate the effectiveness of SentiView in analyzing and visualizing public sentiments on the Web.
The Impact of HLA-C Matching on Donor Identification Rates in a European-Caucasian Population

The degree of HLA concordance with the patient has long been known to be the major donor-related prediction factor for the success of hematopoietic stem cell transplantations and, with the progress of HLA typing technology, selection criteria became more stringent with regard to the recommended loci and resolution. A late refinement was HLA-C matching, which gained broader acceptance only after the turn of the millennium. The enormous HLA polymorphism has always necessitated registries with a large number of donors in order to be able to provide well-matched donors to a substantial fraction of patients. Using a biostatistical approach, we investigated the impact of adding HLA-C at low or high resolution as a supplementary matching criterion on some key parameters in donor provision for a European-Caucasian population. Starting point is donor selection based on allele level matching for HLA-A, -B, -DRB1, and, optionally, HLA-DQB1. Without typing for HLA-C, 68% of the donors selected based on matching for HLA-A, -B, -DRB1, and -DQB1 at high resolution will also match for HLA-C, 29% will have a single and only 3% will have two HLA-C alleles different from the patient. In order to provide the same fraction of patients with a fully matched donor, a registry would have to be about twice the size if HLA-C is considered in addition to the four other loci, with the exact factor increasing with the registry’s size. If the provision of donors with up to a single allele mismatch is considered, this factor doubles due to the strong linkage between HLA-B and -C. These figures only change slightly when HLA-DQB1 is completely ignored or HLA-C matching is only considered at low resolution. Our results contribute to quantifying the medical and economic impact of the progress in donor selection algorithms.