Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An evaluation of candidate definitions of the metabolic syndrome in adult Asian Indians.

OBJECTIVES We aimed to evaluate eight candidate definitions of the metabolic syndrome (MS) against the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP ATPIII) definition as the reference for optimally defining MS in adult Asian Indians. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We used clinical and biochemical data from our previous cross-sectional epidemiological studies. Candidate definitions of MS were proposed by modifying the NCEP ATPIII definition. These modifications included the following: waist circumference cutoffs as >90 cm in men and >80 cm in women, BMI cutoff as >23 kg/m(2), and a measure of truncal subcutaneous fat (subscapular skinfold thickness [SST] >18 mm). RESULTS The highest prevalence (29.9%) of MS was observed by the inclusion of modified cutoffs of waist circumference and BMI and SST in place of the existing cutoffs of waist circumference in the NCEP ATPIII criteria. Further, this modified definition showed the maximum absolute gain in the percentage of prevalence of MS over the NCEP ATPIII definition, and it was the best predictor for MS in subjects with impaired fasting glucose, type 2 diabetes, and different age-groups. The lowest percentage of prevalence of MS was observed with the definition that excluded biochemical variables and blood pressure. CONCLUSIONS The criteria for defining MS in adult Asian Indians need revision. Inclusion of modified cutoffs of waist circumference and BMI and measures of truncal subcutaneous fat in the NCEP ATPIII definition requires further validation.
High-throughput logP measurement using parallel liquid chromatography/ultraviolet/mass spectrometry and sample-pooling.

A novel approach to high-throughput logP measurement based on liquid chromatography/ultraviolet/mass spectrometry (LC/UV/MS) is proposed. The logP value is determined by correlation with the logk value, where k is the capacity factor k = (t(r)-t(0))/t(0), with the logP value using a defined set of standards. Since the analyte retention time (t(r)) is determined from the appropriate extracted ion chromatogram (EIC), there are no interferences from impurities and this allows the pooling of multiple compounds into one injection. To ensure the accuracy and instrument robustness in a routine high-throughput environment, a simple and MS-friendly mobile phase consisting of 20 mM ammonium carbonate (pH 8.0) for basic compounds or 20 mM ammonium formate (pH 1.0) for acidic compounds, both in combination with methanol at a ratio of 45:55, is used. This approach has been successfully used on single as well as parallel multi-channel LC/UV/MS systems to screen small to large sets of lead compounds and their analogs. A high-throughput capability to analyze over 1000 compounds per day has been achieved.
Defect-oriented cell-internal testing

Industry is facing very high quality requirements for today's and tomorrow's ICs. Especially in the automotive market these quality requirements need to be fulfilled. To achieve this we need to improve currently used test methods and fault models to improve the overall defect coverage. This paper presents two new methodologies to significantly improve this situation. One method will focus on cell-internal Bridges over a wide range of Bridge resistor values and the second method concentrates on library cell-internal high-resistive Open defects. The fault models used during the ATPG are enhanced to directly target the layout-based intra-cell Open and Bridge defects. Both methods have been evaluated on 1500 library cells of a 65nm technology. In addition the wide range of intracell Bridges has been evaluated on 10 real industrial designs with up to 60 million faults. Various results are presented from all 1500 library cells and from the 10 industrial designs as well.
Regulation of TSC2 by 14-3-3 Binding*

Mutation in either the TSC1 or TSC2 tumor suppressor gene is responsible for the inherited genetic disease of tuberous sclerosis complex. TSC1 and TSC2 form a physical and functional complex to regulate cell growth. Recently, it has been demonstrated that TSC1·TSC2 functions to inhibit ribosomal S6 kinase and negatively regulate cell size. TSC2 is negatively regulated by Akt phosphorylation. Here, we report that TSC2, but not TSC1, associates with 14-3-3 in vivo. Phosphorylation of Ser1210 in TSC2 is required for its association with 14-3-3. Our data indicate that 14-3-3 association may inhibit the function of TSC2 and represents a possible mechanism of TSC2 regulation.
RCAMP: A resilient communication-aware motion planner for mobile robots with autonomous repair of wireless connectivity

Mobile robots, be it autonomous or teleoperated, require stable communication with the base station to exchange valuable information. Given the stochastic elements in radio signal propagation, such as shadowing and fading, and the possibilities of unpredictable events or hardware failures, communication loss often presents a significant mission risk, both in terms of probability and impact, especially in Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) operations. Depending on the circumstances, disconnected robots are either abandoned, or attempt to autonomously back-trace their way to the base station. Although recent results in Communication-Aware Motion Planning can be used to effectively manage connectivity with robots, there are no results focusing on autonomously re-establishing the wireless connectivity of a mobile robot without back-tracing or using detailed a priori information of the network. In this paper, we present a robust and online radio signal mapping method using Gaussian Random Fields, and propose a Resilient Communication-Aware Motion Planner (RCAMP) that integrates the above signal mapping framework with a motion planner. RCAMP considers both the environment and the physical constraints of the robot, based on the available sensory information. We also propose a self-repair strategy using RCMAP, that takes both connectivity and the goal position into account when driving to a connection-safe position in the event of a communication loss. We demonstrate the proposed planner in a set of realistic simulations of an exploration task in single or multi-channel communication scenarios.
Planning Biped Navigation Strategies in Complex Environments

We present an algorithm for planning goal-directed footstep navigation strategies for biped robots through obstacle-filled environ- ments and uneven ground. Planning footsteps is more general than most existing navigation methods designed for wheeled robots, since the op- tions of stepping over or upon obstacles are available. Given a height map of the terrain and a discrete set of possible footstep motions, the planner uses an A* search to generate a sequence of footstep locations to reach a given goal state. The planner evaluates footstep locations for viability using a collection of heuristic metrics designed to encode the relative safety, effort required, and overall motion complexity. We show preliminary results of the planner over several simulated terrains, as well as a simplified, online version of the algorithm running on the H7 hu- manoid robot. In the latter case, a stereo vision system is used to sense obstacles in the immediate environment and identify a target goal loca- tion, which is used to update the current optimal footstep sequence to the goal from the robot's present location.
Evaluation of the nanoparticles contribution to elemental concentration in airborne particulate matter

A method for estimating the contribution of nanoparticles (NPs) to the elemental concentration in airborne particulate matter (PM) is described. The results related to size-segregated samples collected at an urban site show that significant concentrations of Sb, Cd, Pb, As, V and Sn are present in the fine fraction of PM as complex structures in which NPs are aggregated or included in other materials. These structures are easily broken in water media by the application of ultrasounds, leading to a stable suspension of insoluble NPs. The contribution of NPs can be evaluated as the difference between the inductively coupled plasma (ICP-MS) analysis before and after the elution of the stable NPs suspension from an ion exchange cartridge.
Expected Solution Quality

This paper presents the Expected Solution Quality (ESQ) method for statistically characterizing scheduling problems and the performance of schedulers. The ESQ method is demonstrated by applying it to a practical telescope scheduling problem. The method addresses the important and difficult issue of how to meaningfully evaluate the performance of a scheduler on a constrained optimization problem for which an optimal solution is not known. At the heart of ESQ is a Monte Carlo algor ithm that estimates a problem's probability density function with respect to solution quality This "quality density function" provides a useful characterization of a scheduling problem, and it also provides a background against which scheduler performance can be meaningfully evaluated. ESQ provides a unitless measure that combines both schedule quality and the amount of time to generate a schedule.
Influences of the colonic microbiome on the mucous gel layer in ulcerative colitis

The colonic mucus gel layer (MGL) is a critical component of the innate immune system acting as a physical barrier to microbes, luminal insults, and toxins. Mucins are the major component of the MGL. Selected microbes have the potential to interact with, bind to, and metabolize mucins. The tolerance of the host to the presence of these microbes is critical to maintaining MGL homeostasis. In disease states such as ulcerative colitis (UC), both the mucosa associated microbes and the constituent MGL mucins have been shown to be altered. Evidence is accumulating that implicates the potential for mucin degrading bacteria to negatively impact the MGL and its stasis. These effects appear more pronounced in UC. This review is focused on the host-microbiome interactions within the setting of the MGL. Special focus is given to the mucolytic potential of microbes and their interactions in the setting of the colitic colon.
SPARC promotes cell invasion in vivo by decreasing type IV collagen levels in the basement membrane

21 Overexpression of SPARC, a collagen-binding glycoprotein, is strongly associated with tumor 22 invasion through extracellular matrix in many aggressive cancers. SPARC regulates numerous 23 cellular processes including integrin-mediated cell adhesion, cell signaling pathways, and 24 extracellular matrix assembly; however, the mechanism by which SPARC promotes cell invasion 25 in vivo remains unclear. A main obstacle in understanding SPARC function has been the 26 difficulty of visualizing and experimentally examining the dynamic interactions between 27 invasive cells, extracellular matrix and SPARC in native tissue environments. Using the model 28 of anchor cell invasion through the basement membrane (BM) extracellular matrix in 29 Caenorhabditis elegans , we find that SPARC overexpression is highly pro-invasive and rescues 30 BM transmigration in mutants with defects in diverse aspects of invasion, including cell polarity, 31 invadopodia formation, and matrix metalloproteinase expression. By examining BM assembly, 32 we find that overexpression of SPARC specifically decreases levels of BM type IV collagen, a 33 crucial structural BM component. overexpression and was sufficient to promote invasion. Tissue-specific overexpression and 35 photobleaching experiments revealed that SPARC acts extracellularly to inhibit collagen incorporation into BM. By reducing endogenous SPARC, we also found that SPARC functions 37 normally to traffic collagen from its site of synthesis to tissues that do not express collagen. We 38 propose that a surplus of SPARC disrupts extracellular collagen trafficking and reduces BM 39 collagen incorporation, thus weakening the BM barrier and dramatically enhancing its ability to 40 be breached by invasive cells. We how an of SPARC promotes invasion in a native setting. Anchor cell allows experimental examination and visualization of the interactions between an invasive cell, the surrounding tissues, and the basement membrane, a sheet-like extracellular matrix that surrounds tissues. We find that increased SPARC expression potently enhances the ability of weakly invasive anchor cells to breach the basement membrane. Our data indicate that SPARC functions normally to transport the basement membrane component type IV collagen between tissues to precisely regulate its deposition into basement membranes. Collagen molecules are covalently cross-linked and provide basement membranes their barrier properties. Our results indicate that overexpression of SPARC interferes with collagen trafficking and significantly decreases collagen incorporation into basement thus weakening this barrier and it to be more easily breached by invasive
FacetMap: A Scalable Search and Browse Visualization

The dominant paradigm for searching and browsing large data stores is text-based: presenting a scrollable list of search results in response to textual search term input. While this works well for the Web, there is opportunity for improvement in the domain of personal information stores, which tend to have more heterogeneous data and richer metadata. In this paper, we introduce FacetMap, an interactive, query-driven visualization, generalizable to a wide range of metadata-rich data stores. FacetMap uses a visual metaphor for both input (selection of metadata facets as filters) and output. Results of a user study provide insight into tradeoffs between FacetMap's graphical approach and the traditional text-oriented approach
Effect of Measurement Temperature on Electrical Cable Frequency Domain Reflectometry Response

In nuclear power plants, electrical cables are exposed to stressors, such as elevated temperature and radiation. Evaluation of the effect of stressors on the condition of electrical cables can be conducted using offline electrical reflectometry techniques, such as frequency domain reflectometry (FDR). However, recent work has raised the concern that FDR measurements at temperatures higher than ambient may diminish or reduce the response due to stressors, potentially leading to incorrect assessment of electrical cable damage. In this work, we explore the FDR response of an electrical cable exposed to an oven-based thermal stressor up to 140°C, including both ramping up and ramping down temperature. It was observed that, for both the oven entrance and exit, an increase in the FDR measurement temperature led to a decrease in the FDR reflection coefficient. In particular, it was found that the reflection coefficient at the oven entrance decreased from the ambient measurement by approximately 7%, 22%, and 36% at temperatures of 60°C, 100°C, and 140°C, respectively.
Two–dimensional phononic crystals and scattering of elastic waves by an array of voids

We study the diffraction of plane elastic waves by a grating of circular holes in an elastic matrix, using a multipole formulation to determine scattering matrices, for both the scalar (out–of–plane shear) and vector (plane–strain) problems. We use these matrices in a recurrence procedure to analyse the reflection and transmission properties of a stack containing an arbitrary number of such gratings. We establish the form of symmetry properties that may be used to verify the elastodynamic scattering matrices and comment on the filtering properties of grating stacks and their relationship to phononic band diagrams.
PDS: Pseudo-differential sensing scheme for STT-MRAM

STT-MRAM has been considered as one of the most promising nonvolatile memory candidates in the next-generation of computer architecture. However, the read reliability and dynamic write power concerns greatly hinder its practical application. In this paper, we propose a synergistic solution, namely pseudo-differential sensing (PDS), to jointly address these two concerns. Three techniques, including cell cluster, asymmetric sensing amplifier (ASA) and self-error-detection-correction (SEDC), are proposed to implement the PDS concept. Our experimental results show that the PDS scheme with the 3T3MTJ cell cluster can reduce the area (~21.7%) and write power (~25.6%) of the differential sensing (DS) scheme while improve the read reliability (read margin, ~35.6%) of the typical sensing (TS) scheme for a 16 Mbit cache. Furthermore, the PDS scheme with the 1T3MTJ cell cluster can outperform both the TS and DS schemes in terms of area (~40.0%, ~66.1%), read latency (~16.6%, ~32.1%), read power (~16.7%, ~37.1%), write latency (~5.4%, 16.3%) and write power (~18.6%, ~43.4%).
Multi-dimensional real-time spectrum analysis for high-resolution signal processing

Two types of RTSAs are presented, which spectrally decompose a broadband electromagnetic signal in space in real-time. The first system is based on an array of LWA fed using an array of phasers, where the dispersion of the phasers in conjunction with the natural frequency scanning of the leaky-wave antenna enable the 2-D frequency scan. The second system is a purely spatial system based on dispersive metasurface which operate on a incident wave and performs 2-D spectral decomposition. Their principle and basic characteristics are discussed in details.
Regional fault tolerant recovery mechanism for multilayer networks

With the multi-rate transmission and variable bandwidth switching technology, the Elastic Optical Networks (EONs) have many advantages to satisfy current network traffic. Compared with the traditional optical network, the EONs improve the spectrum utilization and increase the network capacity. So the EONs gradually become the key point of next generation optical transport networks. Obviously, the restoration mechanism in EONs has become thefocus of network operators' attention. This paper presents a dynamic restoration scheme based on software defined network (SDN) framework and an improved regional fault-tolerant routing and spectrum allocation algorithm (RSA). Using the SDN framework, we can greatly reduce recovery time and avoid configuration contentions. On this basis, we introduce the improved regional fault-tolerant RSA algorithm. The proposed RSA algorithm can decrease restoration blocking probability and relief effects caused by regional failures. The performance of the proposed dynamic restoration is evaluated in terms of restoration blocking probability and recovery time under different network loads, and compared against other schemes.
Effective and accurate representation of extended Bloch states on finite Hilbert spaces

We present a straightforward, noniterative projection scheme that can represent the electronic ground state of a periodic system on a finite atomic-orbital-like basis, up to a predictable number of electronic states and with controllable accuracy. By co-filtering the projections of plane-wave Bloch states with high-kinetic-energy components, the richness of the finite space and thus the number of exactly-reproduced bands can be selectively increased at a negligible computational cost, an essential requirement for the design of efficient algorithms for electronic structure simulations of realistic material systems and massive high-throughput investigations.
Non-surgical therapies for peripheral nerve injury.

BACKGROUND Non-surgical approaches have been developed to enhance nerve recovery, which are complementary to surgery and are an adjunct to the reinnervation process. SOURCES OF DATA A search of PubMed, Medline, CINAHL, DH data and Embase databases was performed using the keywords 'peripheral nerve injury' and 'treatment'. AREAS OF CONTROVERSY Most of the conservative therapies are focused to control neuropathic pain after nerve tissue damage. Only physical therapy modalities have been studied in humans and their effectiveness is not proved. GROWING POINTS Many modalities have been experimented with to promote nerve healing and restore function in animal models and in vitro studies. Despite this, none have been actually translated into clinical practice. AREAS TIMELY FOR DEVELOPING RESEARCH The hypotheses proved in animals and in vitro should be translated to human clinical practice.
Monte Carlo Beam Search

Monte Carlo tree search is the state of the art for multiple games and for solving puzzles such as Morpion Solitaire. Nested Monte Carlo (NMC) search is a Monte Carlo tree search algorithm that works well for solving puzzles. We propose to enhance NMC search with beam search. We test the algorithm on Morpion Solitaire. Thanks to beam search, our program has been able to match the record score of 82 moves. Monte Carlo beam search achieves better scores in less time than NMC search alone.
Multinational Study of Subcutaneous Model-Predictive Closed-Loop Control in Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: Summary of the Results

Background: In 2008–2009, the first multinational study was completed comparing closed-loop control (artificial pancreas) to state-of-the-art open-loop therapy in adults with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Methods: The design of the control algorithm was done entirely in silico, i.e., using computer simulation experiments with N = 300 synthetic “subjects” with T1DM instead of traditional animal trials. The clinical experiments recruited 20 adults with T1DM at the Universities of Virginia (11); Padova, Italy (6); and Montpellier, France (3). Open-loop and closed-loop admission was scheduled 3–4 weeks apart, continued for 22 h (14.5 h of which were in closed loop), and used a continuous glucose monitor and an insulin pump. The only difference between the two sessions was that insulin dosing was performed by the patient under a physician's supervision during open loop, whereas insulin dosing was performed by a control algorithm during closed loop. Results: In silico design resulted in rapid (less than 6 months compared to years of animal trials) and cost-effective system development, testing, and regulatory approvals in the United States, Italy, and France. In the clinic, compared to open-loop, closed-loop control reduced nocturnal hypoglycemia (blood glucose below 3.9 mmol/liter) from 23 to 5 episodes (p < .01) and increased the amount of time spent overnight within the target range (3.9 to 7.8 mmol/liter) from 64% to 78% (p = .03). Conclusions: In silico experiments can be used as viable alternatives to animal trials for the preclinical testing of insulin treatment strategies. Compared to open-loop treatment under identical conditions, closed-loop control improves the overnight regulation of diabetes.