Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Using the HEMOCLOT direct thrombin inhibitor assay to determine plasma concentrations of dabigatran

The objective of the present study was to assess the suitability of an accurate, sensitive, standardized, chronometric blood coagulation test to determine the anticoagulation activity of dabigatran and to quantify concentrations of dabigatran in plasma. Dabigatran was spiked at increasing concentrations in pooled citrated normal human plasma to measure diluted thrombin time with the HEMOCLOT THROMBIN INHIBITOR assay. Calibration curve linearity, inter-assay and intra-assay precision, and assay accuracy were investigated. Dabigatran stability in plasma and the feasibility of lyophilized dabigatran standards for assay calibration were assessed. Data are presented as back-calculated plasma concentrations of dabigatran using regression analysis. Dabigatran's calibration curve for thrombin clotting time was linear over the concentration range 0–4000 nmol/l (0–1886 ng/ml). The R2 was 0.99. Total assay imprecision for dabigatran was 4.7–12.0% coefficient of variation, with 1.2–3.1% for intra-run imprecision, 4.0–10.0% for inter-run precision and 0.3–8.3% for between-day imprecision. Assay accuracy was determined at three dabigatran concentrations; deviation from sample target concentrations ranged from −20.7% (100 nmol/l; 47.15 ng/ml) to 5.6% (1500 nmol/l; 707.3 ng/ml). Assay robustness was determined by analysing identical dabigatran samples in two independent laboratories. The mean bias of dabigatran coagulation times between laboratories was 6.6%. The HEMOCLOT Thrombin Inhibitors assay is suitable for determining the anticoagulant activity and calculating plasma concentrations of dabigatran using simple and widely available chronometric coagulation devices. The use of this rapid, established, standardized and calibrated assay should provide accurate and consistent results when assessing the anticoagulant activity of dabigatran.
Integration technology for light-source arrays with polymeric optical waveguide arrays

The integration of efficient semiconductor lightsources with low-loss functional optical waveguide devices is one of the major problems in integrated optics. In this paper we present a novel integration scheme based on the epitaxial lift-off technique for the integration of a laser diode array with an array of polymeric waveguides. This method shows a number of advantages with respect to previously reported solutions. The presented quasi-monolithic integration of laser diodes with polymeric waveguides might lead to important applications in areas such as optical interconnections and optical communications.
Fuzzy Adaptive Tracking Control of Constrained Nonlinear Switched Stochastic Pure-Feedback Systems

In this paper, the fuzzy adaptive control problem for a class of switched stochastic nonlinear systems in pure feedback form with output constraint is addressed. By proposing a nonlinear mapping, the constrained system is transformed into an unconstrained one, with equivalent control objective. All signals in the closed-loop system are proved to be semi-globally uniformly ultimately bounded. Meanwhile, the output constraint is satisfied and the output tracking error converges to an arbitrarily small neighborhood of zero. Finally, the applicability of the proposed controller is verified by a simulation example.
An Improved Recombination-Based In Vivo Expression Technology-Like Reporter System Reveals Differential cyaA Gene Activation in Bordetella Species

Bordetella pertussis and Bordetella bronchiseptica rely on the global two-component regulatory system BvgAS to control expression of distinct phenotypic phases. In the Bvg (cid:1) phase, expression of vrg genes, including those required for motility in B. bronchiseptica , is activated and genes encoding virulence factors are not expressed. Conversely, in the Bvg (cid:2) phase, genes encoding virulence factors are highly expressed while genes necessary for motility are repressed. Although several genetic analyses have demonstrated the importance of the Bvg (cid:2) phase during respiratory infection, Bvg-regulated gene activation in B. bronchiseptica has not been investigated in vivo . To address this, we developed a plasmid, pGFLIP, that encodes a sensitive Flp recombinase-based ﬂuorescent reporter system able to document gene activation both in vitro and in vivo . Using pGFLIP, we demonstrated that cyaA , considered to be a “late” Bvg (cid:2) phase gene, is activated substantially earlier in B. bronchiseptica than B. pertussis following a switch from Bvg (cid:1) to Bvg (cid:2) phase conditions. We show that the altered activation of cyaA is not due to differences in the cyaA promoter or in the bvgAS alleles of B. bronchiseptica compared to B. pertussis , but appears to be species speciﬁc. Finally, we used pGFLIP to show that ﬂaA remains repressed during infection, conﬁrming that B. bronchiseptica does not modulate to the Bvg (cid:1) phase in vivo .
Prenatal maternal stress events and phenotypic outcomes in Autism Spectrum Disorder

There is significant heterogeneity amongst individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in symptom presentation and severity. An understanding of the factors that contribute to and modulate symptom severity are critical to informing prognosis, stratification, and treatment decisions. Maternal prenatal stress exposure is a nonspecific risk factor for a wide array of neurodevelopmental outcomes in subsequent offspring. Emerging evidence suggests that prenatal maternal stress may increase ASD risk and contribute to variability in autism‐like traits in the general population. In the current study, we aimed to determine whether prenatal maternal exposure to stressful life events is associated with symptom severity amongst individuals with ASD. We performed multiple regression analyses to examine associations between retrospectively recalled maternal prenatal stressful life events and the severity of ASD‐associated symptoms in 174 children with ASD (Mage = 9.09 years; SD = 3.81). ASD‐related symptom severity was measured using the Social Responsiveness Scale and communication abilities were measured using the Children's Communication Checklist. Exposure to prenatal stressful life events was a significant predictor of ASD‐related symptom severity (t = 2.014; P = .048) and communication abilities (t = −2.925; P = .004) amongst children with ASD, even after controlling for a range of sociodemographic and obstetric variables. Follow‐up analyses demonstrated significant increases in symptom severity only in the context of multiple (two or more) prenatal stressful life events. Together, these findings indicate that ASD, in the context of prenatal maternal stress exposure, may be associated with a more severe phenotype, particularly when there are multiple prenatal exposures. Autism Res 2017, 10: 1866–1877. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Improving User Efficiency in Structured Data Exploration

While the number, sizes and complexity of databases have increased, the query interfaces that facilitate exploration of these databases have largely remained inadequate.This dissertation takes a principled approach to user data exploration and proposes techniques that simplify access to large and complex structured and semi-structured databases. Various factors that affect usability such as user preference, intuitiveness of interfaces, and effort expended by users are taken into account, in addition to database structure. The interplay of these factors is studied and the proposed methods effectively utilize them to deliver maximum benefit to users. The most common tasks in a data exploration scenario are query formulation, results navigation and presentation. We propose and evaluate methods to improve usability for all these tasks. The techniques proposed are often complementary to each other, and exploit domain properties of the data. The effectiveness of the approaches is demonstrated with experiments on real-life datasets and comprehensive user-studies, wherever applicable.The first part of the dissertation presents an auto-completion style query formulation interface, which enables users to augment keyword queries by adding structured conditions. The resulting queries are focused and more likely to return results that the user finds relevant. The next two parts of the dissertation focus on challenges in two commonly used scenarios of results navigation: Categorization and Faceted Navigation. To model and quantify the effort incurred by a user, navigation and cost models are proposed for both navigation scenarios. Techniques to estimate this effort, taking into account preferences, are proposed and algorithms developed to compute the minimal set of suggested options that, if followed by the user, minimize the expected effort required to navigate the results. The final part focuses on the results presentation. They present a method to construct result snippets, which complements existing methods that consider solely the importance of the selected attributes. This method considers the user effort required to read and comprehend the snippets.
Synthesis of Electronic Circuits for Simulating nonlinear Dynamics

In this paper, we present a unified approach for synthesizing nonlinear circuits. That is, we synthesize electronic circuits for simulating nonlinear dynamics. One advantage of our approach is that we can directly synthesize nonlinear circuits from ordinary differential equations. A large variety of chaotic nonlinear systems (Chua's circuit, hyperchaotic system, Lorenz system, Rossler system, etc.) are realized by using several analog circuit elements.
Artificial Spores: Immunoprotective Nanocoating of Red Blood Cells with Supramolecular Ferric Ion-Tannic Acid Complex

The blood-type-mismatch problem, in addition to shortage of blood donation, in blood transfusion has prompted the researchers to develop universal blood that does not require blood typing. In this work, the “cell-in-shell” (i.e., artificial spore) approach is utilized to shield the immune-provoking epitopes on the surface of red blood cells (RBCs). Individual RBCs are successfully coated with supramolecular metal-organic coordination complex of ferric ion (FeIII) and tannic acid (TA). The use of isotonic saline (0.85% NaCl) is found to be critical in the formation of stable, reasonably thick (20 nm) shells on RBCs without any aggregation and hemolysis. The formed “RBC-in-shell” structures maintain their original shapes, and effectively attenuate the antibody-mediated agglutination. Moreover, the oxygen-carrying capability of RBCs is not deteriorated after shell formation. This work suggests a simple but fast method for generating immune-camouflaged RBCs, which would contribute to the development of universal blood.
Membrane localization and topology of a viral assembly protein

The gene I protein (pI) of the filamentous bacteriophage f1 is required for the assembly of this virus. Antibodies specific to either the amino or carboxyl terminus of this protein were used to determine the location and topology of the gene I protein in f1-infected bacteria. pI is anchored in the inner membrane of Escherichia coli cells via a 20-amino-acid hydrophobic stretch, with its carboxyl-terminal 75 residues located in the periplasm and its amino-terminal 253 amino acids residing in the cytoplasm. By using the carboxyl-terminal pI antibody, a smaller protein, pI*, is also detected in f1-infected cells at a ratio of one to two molecules per molecule of pI. Analysis of proteins produced from a gene I amber mutant plasmid or bacteriophage suggests that pI* is most likely the result of an in-frame internal translational initiation event at methionine 241 of the 348-amino-acid pI. pI* is shown to be an integral inner membrane protein inserted in the same orientation as pI. The relation of the cellular locations of pI and pI* to some of the proposed functions of pI is discussed.
Spann-Fischer İlişki Bağımlılığı Ölçeği’nin Türkçe’ye Uyarlama Çalışmasına İlişkin Psikometrik Bir Analiz

Kisilerarasi iliskilere bakildiginda, bireyin sahip oldugu bir takim kisilik ozellikleri ve davranis oruntuleri nedeniyle karsisindakine bagimli iliskiler gelistirdigi gozlenebilmektedir. Bu durum, “iliski bagimliligi” kavramini ortaya cikarmaktadir. Bireylerin iliskilerdeki bagimlilik duzeylerini olcmek amaciyla cesitli olcme araclari gelistirilmistir. SFIBO, disariya asiri odaklanma/asiri bakicilik, duygularini ifade etmede zorluk ve digerleriyle olan iliskilerde bir amaca odaklanma gibi iliski bagimliligi ozelliklerini olcmeyi saglayan ve kisilerarasi iliski bagimliligini olcen psikometrik araclar icinde en onemli olceklerden biridir. Bu calismada, SFIBO’nun Turkce’ye uyarlanmasi ve psikometrik ozelliklerinin degerlendirilmesi amaclanmistir. Arastirmanin amaci dogrultusunda, SFIBO, kisisel bilgi formu, olcut gecerliliginin yapilabilmesi amaciyla Genel Saglik Anketi-12 ve Rossenberg Benlik Saygisi Olcegi katilimcilara uygulanmistir. Olcegin ic tutarliligina, Cronbach alfa katsayisi hesaplanarak bakilmistir. Olcegin, genel faktor yuk degerlerine bakilmis olup olcegin toplam varyans yuzdesi, % 48.698 olarak elde edilmistir. Olcme aracinin, Pearson korelasyon analizleriyle olcut gecerliliginin saglandigi ve ic tutarlilik katsayisinin guvenilir bir deger oldugu sonucu ortaya cikmistir. SFIBO, Turk katilimcilarin yer aldigi arastirmalarda kullanilabilecek gecerli ve guvenilir bir olcme aracidir.
Selective minimum-norm solution of the biomagnetic inverse problem

A new multidipole estimation method which gives a sparse solution of the biomagnetic inverse problem is proposed. This solution is extracted from the basic feasible solutions of linearly independent data equations. These feasible solutions are obtained by selecting exactly as many dipole-moments as the number of magnetic sensors. By changing the selection, the authors search for the minimum-norm vector of selected moments. As a result, a practically sparse solution is obtained; computer-simulated solutions for L/sub p/-norm (p=2, 1, 0.5, 0.2) have a small number of significant moments around the real source-dipoles. In particular, the solution for L/sub 1/-norm is equivalent to the minimum-L/sub 1/-norm solution of the original inverse problem. This solution can be uniquely computed by using linear programming. <<ETX>>
INTERRELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN LEPTIN RESISTANCE, BODY COMPOSITION, AND AGING IN ELDERLY WOMEN

1. Hunter GR, McCarthy JP, Bamman MM. Effects of resistance training on older adults. Sports Med 2004;34:329–348. 2. Toth MJ, Beckett T, Poehlman ET. Physical activity and the progressive change in body composition with aging: Current evidence and research issues. Med Sci Sports Exerc 1999;31(11 Suppl):S590–S596. 3. Sacheck JM, Milbury PE, Cannon JG et al. Effect of vitamin E and eccentric exercise on selected biomarkers of oxidative stress in young and elderly men. Free Radic Biol Med 2003;34:1575–1588. 4. Powers SK, Ji LL, Leeuwenburgh C. Exercise training-induced alterations in skeletal muscle antioxidant capacity: A brief review. Med Sci Sports Exerc 1999;31:987–997. 5. Rousseau AS, Margaritis I, Arnaud J et al. Physical activity alters antioxidant status in exercising elderly subjects. J Nutr Biochem 2006;17:463–470. 6. Ji LL. Exercise-induced modulation of antioxidant defence. Ann NY Acad Sci 2002;959:982. 7. Fielding RA, Meydani M. Exercise, free radical generation, and aging. Aging (Milano) 1997;9:12–18. 8. Chroder H, Navarro E, Mora J et al. Effects of alpha-tocopherol, beta-carotene and ascorbic acid on oxidative, hormonal and enzymatic exercise stress markers in habitual training activity of professional basketball players. Eur J Nutr 2001;40:178–184. 9. Ji LL. Exercise at old age: Does it increase or alleviate oxidative stress? Ann NY Acad Sci 2001;928:236–247. 10. Guigoz Y, Lauque S, Vellas BJ. Identifying the elderly at risk for malnutrition. The mini nutritional assessment. Clin Geriatr Med 2002;18:737–757.
Direct torque and adaptive flux control of novel transverse-flux permanent magnet motor with brushless DC drive

To solve the problem of controlling the stator flux linkage amplitude, a direct torque control (DTC) scheme is proposed for a novel transverse-flux permanent magnet motor (TFPMM) with two-phase conduction mode of brushless DC drive. In this approach, flux linkage hysteresis comparator is removed and the desired voltage space vector is determined by only stator flux position and the output from torque hysteresis comparator, obtaining adaptive stator flux linkage. Further, reasonable phase compensation for the difference of optimal phase advance angle and the angle between stator and rotor flux is adopted to obtain maximum torque per ampere in the constant torque region. The validity and effectiveness of the proposed DTC scheme are verified through simulation results.
The Effect of Smoking on Corneal Endothelial Cells

ABSTRACT Purpose: To investigate the effect of chronic cigarette smoking on the endothelial cells of the cornea via non-contact specular microscopy. Method: In this prospective, cross-sectional study, 25 eyes of 25 chronic smokers and 21 eyes of 21 age-matched, healthy non-smokers were enrolled. The Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence on Cigarettes was used to determine the nicotine dependency level. The level of cotinine, a major metabolite of nicotine, was measured in urine samples from the control group to detect whether they were passively affected by cigarette smoke. All participants underwent measurement of tear break-up time (TBUT), central corneal thickness (CCT), and axial length. Endothelial cell density and endothelial cell morphology were evaluated by non-contact specular microscopy. Results: On average, the cigarette smokers consumed 19.2 ± 8.3 cigarettes per day and had been smoking for 14.5 ± 6.8 years. The mean TBUT value was significantly lower in the smoker group compared to the non-smoker group (p < 0.05). No statistically significant difference was found in the mean CCT, mean endothelial cell density, or parameters of endothelial cell morphology between smokers and non-smokers. Conclusion: This study showed that cigarette smoking seems to affect the TBUT value but no effects were found on the parameters of corneal endothelial cells.
Pro-Apoptotic Effects of JDA-202, a Novel Natural Diterpenoid, on Esophageal Cancer Through Targeting Peroxiredoxin I.

AIMS Esophageal cancer (EC) is an aggressive malignancy and the most common solid tumor of gastrointestinal tract all over the world, with high incidence in Asia. The current study was designed to investigate the anticancer efficacy and mechanism that is involved in the action of a natural ent-kaurene diterpenoid, JDA-202, targeting EC. RESULTS We found that an antioxidant protein peroxiredoxin I (Prx I) was upregulated in human EC tissues as well as in EC cell lines. JDA-202, a novel natural compound isolated from Isodon rubescens (Labiatae), was proved to possess strong anti-proliferative activities on those cell lines. Importantly, JDA-202 does not only bind to Prx I directly and markedly inhibit the activity of Prx I in vitro, but it also significantly induces hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-related cell death. Furthermore, overexpression of Prx I significantly reversed EC109 cell apoptosis caused by JDA-202, whereas short interfering RNA (siRNA)-induced Prx I knockdown resulted in marked cell death even without JDA-202 pretreatment. On the other hand, the increased phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) proteins (c-Jun N-terminal kinase [JNK], p38, and extracellular signal-regulated kinase [ERK]) by JDA-202 was suppressed by N-acetylcysteine (NAC) or catalase, a known reactive oxygen species (ROS) or H2O2 scavenger. JDA-202 also significantly inhibited the growth of EC109 tumor xenograft, without significant body weight loss and multi-organ toxicities. Innovation and Conclusion: Our findings, for the first time, demonstrated that JDA-202 may serve as a lead compound, targeting the overexpressed Prx I in EC cell lines and ROS accumulation as well as inhibiting the activation of their downstream targets in MAPKs. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 27, 73-92.
Application of a recombination model in calculating the variance of sib pair genetic identity

Using a previously described model of crossing over (Risch & Lange, 1979), we have calculated analytically the variance in the proportion of genes identical by descent shared by two sibs. The prior distributions for numbers of chiasmata reported in Suarez et al. (1979) were used to calculate a standard deviation of 0.040 for the 22 human autosomes. It is also shown that any two identity by descent values within a sibship are uncorrelated.
Uso das Técnicas de Aprendizado de Máquina na análise de Acidentes Marítimos

Este trabalho tem como objetivo avaliar o uso de tecnicas de aprendizado de maquina em um banco de dados de acidentes maritimos. Os algoritimos Naive Bayes, Bayes Net e Simple Logistic apresentaram os melhores resultados no desempenho. Os resultados evidenciam que os dados podem ser modelados por diferentes tipos de algoritmos de um modo muito satisfatorio.
X‐linked Alport syndrome in Hellenic families: Phenotypic heterogeneity and mutations near interruptions of the collagen domain in COL4A5

Demosthenous P, Voskarides K, Stylianou K, Hadjigavriel M, Arsali M, Patsias C, Georgaki E, Zirogiannis P, Stavrou C, Daphnis E, Pierides A, Deltas C, Hellenic Nephrogenetics Research Consortium. X‐linked Alport syndrome in Hellenic families: Phenotypic heterogeneity and mutations near interruptions of the collagen domain in COL4A5.
Chiffrement avancé à partir du problème Learning With Errors

Le problemeLearning With Errors (LWE) est algorithmiquement difficile pour des instances aleatoires. Il a ete introduit par Oded Regev en 2005 et, depuis lors, il s'est avere tres utile pour construire des primitives cryptographiques, pour assurer la confidentialite de l'information. Dans ce chapitre, nous presenterons le probleme LWE et illustrerons sa richesse, en decrivant des schemas de chiffrement avances pouvant etre prouves au moins aussi surs que LWE est difficile. Nous rappellerons le concept fondamental de chiffrement, puis nous nous focaliserons sur les notions de chiffrement fonde sur l'identite et de chiffrement par attributs.
Herbal remedies and clinical biochemistry

The use of herbal products in the UK is increasing, and over-the-counter herbal supplements are perceived by the public as 'safe' and 'harmless'. Although the majority of them are safe, some herbal medicines carry risks. Heavy metal contamination, adulteration with Western pharmaceuticals and inclusion of prohibited animal and plant ingredients are regularly reported in ethnic medicines. Other herbs are hepato- or nephrotoxic and some interact with prescription medicines. Doctors should be made aware of the need to take a herbal as well as a drug history, and the clinical laboratory has a role in helping understanding of how herbal products may affect laboratory tests and in suggesting relevant lines of investigation in patients whose symptoms may be linked to the use of herbal products.