Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Calcification Remodeling Index Characterized by Cardiac CT as a Novel Parameter to Predict the Use of Rotational Atherectomy for Coronary Intervention of Lesions with Moderate to Severe Calcification

Objective To assess the feasibility of calcification characterization by coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) to predict the use of rotational atherectomy (RA) for coronary intervention of lesions with moderate to severe calcification. Materials and Methods Patients with calcified lesions treated by percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) who underwent both CCTA and invasive coronary angiography were retrospectively included in this study. Calcification remodeling index was calculated as the ratio of the smallest vessel cross-sectional area of the lesion to the proximal reference luminal area. Other parameters such as calcium volume, regional Agatston score, calcification length, and involved calcium arc quadrant were also recorded. Results A total of 223 patients with 241 calcified lesions were finally included. Lesions with RA tended to have larger calcium volume, higher regional Agatston score, more involved calcium arc quadrants, and significantly smaller calcification remodeling index than lesions without RA. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed that the best cutoff value of calcification remodeling index was 0.84 (area under curve = 0.847, p < 0.001). Calcification remodeling index ≤ 0.84 was the strongest independent predictor (odds ratio: 251.47, p < 0.001) for using RA. Conclusion Calcification remodeling index was significantly correlated with the incidence of using RA to aid PCI. Calcification remodeling index ≤ 0.84 was the strongest independent predictor for using RA prior to stent implantation.
Calcium Regulates the Activity and Structural Stability of Tpr, a Bacterial Calpain-like Peptidase*

Background: Calcium-activated, family C2 cysteine peptidases (calpains) are rare among prokaryotes, and none have been characterized. Results: Tpr peptidase from Porphyromonas gingivalis requires calcium for stability, autoprocessing, and activity. Conclusion: Tpr is the calcium-regulated peptidase well adapted to function on the P. gingivalis cell surface. Significance: Tpr is the first characterized bacteria-derived calpain-like peptidase. Porphyromonas gingivalis is a peptide-fermenting asaccharolytic periodontal pathogen. Its genome contains several genes encoding cysteine peptidases other than gingipains. One of these genes (PG1055) encodes a protein called Tpr (thiol protease) that has sequence similarity to cysteine peptidases of the papain and calpain families. In this study we biochemically characterize Tpr. We found that the 55-kDa Tpr inactive zymogen proteolytically processes itself into active forms of 48, 37, and 33 kDa via sequential truncations at the N terminus. These processed molecular forms of Tpr are associated with the bacterial outer membrane where they are likely responsible for the generation of metabolic peptides required for survival of the pathogen. Both autoprocessing and activity were dependent on calcium concentrations >1 mm, consistent with the protein's activity within the intestinal and inflammatory milieus. Calcium also stabilized the Tpr structure and rendered the protein fully resistant to proteolytic degradation by gingipains. Together, our findings suggest that Tpr is an example of a bacterial calpain, a calcium-responsive peptidase that may generate substrates required for the peptide-fermenting metabolism of P. gingivalis. Aside from nutrient generation, Tpr may also be involved in evasion of host immune response through degradation of the antimicrobial peptide LL-37 and complement proteins C3, C4, and C5. Taken together, these results indicate that Tpr likely represents an important pathogenesis factor for P. gingivalis.
Inferring malicious network events in commercial ISP networks using traffic summarisation

With the recent increases in bandwidth available to home users, traffic rates for commercial national networks have also been increasing rapidly. This presents a problem for any network monitoring tool as the traffic rate they are expected to monitor is rising on a monthly basis. Security within these networks is para- mount as they are now an accepted home of trade and commerce. Core networks have been demonstrably and repeatedly open to attack; these events have had significant material costs to high profile targets. Network monitoring is an important part of network security, providing in- formation about potential security breaches and in understanding their impact. Monitoring at high data rates is a significant problem; both in terms of processing the information at line rates, and in terms of presenting the relevant information to the appropriate persons or systems. This thesis suggests that the use of summary statistics, gathered over a num- ber of packets, is a sensible and effective way of coping with high data rates. A methodology for discovering which metrics are appropriate for classifying signi- ficant network events using statistical summaries is presented. It is shown that the statistical measures found with this methodology can be used effectively as a metric for defining periods of significant anomaly, and further classifying these anomalies as legitimate or otherwise. In a laboratory environment, these metrics were used to detect DoS traffic representing as little as 0.1% of the overall network traffic. The metrics discovered were then analysed to demonstrate that they are ap- propriate and rational metrics for the detection of network level anomalies. These metrics were shown to have distinctive characteristics during DoS by the analysis of live network observations taken during DoS events. This work was implemented and operated within a live system, at multiple sites within the core of a commercial ISP network. The statistical summaries are generated at city based points of presence and gathered centrally to allow for spacial and topological correlation of security events. The architecture chosen was shown to be exible in its application. The system was used to detect the level of VoIP traffic present on the network through the implementation of packet size distribution analysis in a multi-gigabit environment. It was also used to detect unsolicited SMTP generators injecting messages into the core. ii Monitoring in a commercial network environment is subject to data protec- tion legislation. Accordingly the system presented processed only network and transport layer headers, all other data being discarded at the capture interface. The system described in this thesis was operational for a period of 6 months, during which a set of over 140 network anomalies, both malicious and benign were observed over a range of localities. The system design, example anomalies and metric analysis form the majority of this thesis.
Evaluating paediatric brain injury services in NSW.

BACKGROUND Rehabilitation professionals strive to provide high-quality evidence-based services for children. Developing systems to measure and monitor the benefits of our services, and health outcomes for children is complex and challenging. The Community Outcome Project aims to introduce systematic outcome measurement across the network of paediatric community-based brain injury services within the New South Wales Brain Injury Rehabilitation Program (BIRP) to support clinical practice and service evaluation. METHODS A literature review informed the development of the evaluative framework and identified available paediatric outcome measures which may be appropriate. Extensive consultation with clinicians supported project planning and identified clinical priorities that the outcome measures needed to capture. Outcome measures were shortlisted by matching them to identified clinical priorities, and then trialled in clinical practice. Qualitative feedback regarding clinical utility and feasibility was obtained from clinical staff. The process has utilized change management strategies to ensure the success of the project and keep staff engaged. RESULTS The process identified the three main clinical priorities for outcome measurement - family functioning, school performance and participation. Three outcome measures were chosen for the pilot project that is currently underway. They are Family Burden of Injury Interview, Academic Competence and Evaluation Scales and Child and Adolescent Scale of Participation. Plans for analyses of outcome data within the paediatric BIRP services are discussed. CONCLUSIONS Extensive preparation is required to optimize staff engagement in a project that systematically introduces outcome measures that are useful to clinicians, clients and service providers. Managing the change required is a key focus of the project. Benefits and costs to clinicians and services will be discussed.
Articulatory mechanisms underlying incremental compensatory vowel shortening in German

The main aim of this study was to investigate the articulatory mechanisms underlying incremental vowel shortening in German. Five speakers were recorded reading sentences with target words that contained either simplex (one consonant) or complex (two consonants) onsets and codas, respectively. Acoustic measurements showed that both onset and coda clusters induce vowel shortening. Two potential articulatory mechanisms that may cause this shortening are taken into account: (1) a compression of the vowel gesture’s plateau in words containing complex onsets or codas and/or (2) a shift of the vowel adjacent consonant towards the vowel in these tokens. Vowel plateaus were not significantly compressed in cluster words, but the CV overlap in onset cluster tokens increased indicating a shift towards the vowel. Despite the acoustic vowel shortening in words with coda clusters, there was no significant shift towards the vowel (only a trend). The degree of VC overlap also depended on onset’s manner of articulation. The results are discussed with respect to the predictions made by articulatory phonology regarding gestural timing.
The Role of Inflammation and Infection in Age-related Macular Degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) affects more than 1.75 million individuals in the United States and is the leading cause of blindness in persons over the age of 65 in Western countries. The earliest signs of AMD include drusen and changes in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Late changes include geographic atrophy and choroidal neovascularization (CNV). AMD is broadly classified into dry and neovascular forms. Dry AMD is characterized by the presence of drusen (localized deposits between the RPE and Bruch’s membrane) and geographic atrophy (areas of localized RPE cell death with overlying photoreceptor atrophy), whereas neovascular AMD is characterized by CNV. CNV accounts for 10% of cases of AMD but advanced AMD (geographic atrophy involving the macular center and neovascular AMD) causes 90% of visual loss. AMD is a complex disorder that is associated with a number of demographic, genetic, and environmental factors. Increasing evidence has suggested a role for local and systemic inflammation in the pathogenesis of this disease. Risk factors associated with AMD include advanced age, cigarette smoking, race, family history, body mass index (BMI), underlying cardiovascular disease, and systemic inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein (CRP). Some of these risk factors may predispose individuals to AMD by inflammatory mechanisms. Genetic factors may also lead to AMD by inflammatory mechanisms. Recently, several groups have determined that a variant of the gene encoding complement factor H (CFH), the Tyr402His polymorphism, is strongly associated with the development of AMD in whites.5–7
Factors Influencing Customers Patronizing Mamak Restaurants - A Survey in Shah Alam

Malaysia is one of the Asian countries with a multi ethnic population. Its population is made of major ethnic groups such as native Malays, Chinese and Indian besides other small ethnic groups. These groups have brought up a magnificent blend of culture in foods, traditions, and others that form a unique Malaysian identity. In foodservice industry, this uniqueness has vitalized the Malaysia economy. Today, the foodservice industry is one of the Malaysia major revenue. As a progressing nation, Malaysia is moving fast towards the trends in this industry especially in the restaurant business, the sub sector of the foodservice industry. The restaurant sector is one of the fastest growing sectors within the context of the Malaysia foodservice economy. Various scenes of restaurant business boost cities and towns throughout Malaysia. Panoramic views of restaurants’ patrons are seen surfing their time from as basic as eating to dining, chatting, mingling around, watching people and up to discussing on serious matters. Here, restaurant is more than just a place to eat. One of the most popular ethnic based restaurants in Malaysia is mamak restaurant. Mamak restaurant is observed continue to flourish and expand over the period. Therefore, this paper seeks to explore the attributes that act as the influencing factors, which influence customers’ decision to patronize mamak restaurants. 250 individuals from six (6) major areas in Shah Alam were identified and participated in the survey study. Results of this study show that business operation hour as the most influencing factor. This attribute is followed by location, socialize reasons, parking space, service, ambience, items variations, taste, crowd, pricing, standard hygiene and items presentation.
Voronoi Based Nanocrystalline Generation Algorithm for Atomistic Simulations

Abstract : The objective herein is to discuss an algorithm for generating nanocrystalline structures for use in molecular dynamics simulations. This algorithm employs Voronoi tessellations to populate grains using atomic coordinates obtained from a set of reference structures. To ensure a realistic grain morphology, a shell-based, geometric packing algorithm is used to assign grain centers. Optimized placement of centers represents an improvement over traditional Voronoi methods that rely on random placement by ensuring a consistent grain size and realistic grain geometry. Careful tracking of the grain centers and the atomic structure within grains allows the user to rescale a previously built nanostructure, resulting in larger or smaller grains with consistent grain morphology. This algorithm can be used to generate a wide variety of granular nanostructures including nano-twinned metals, alloyed nanocrystals, and multiphase nanocrystals.
Functional Outcomes after Lateral Crural J-Flap Repair of External Nasal Valve Collapse

Objectives: We evaluated the lateral crural J-flap technique in the surgical repair of external nasal valve collapse with standardized and validated outcome measurements. Methods: Prospective data were gathered on consecutive cases, performed by a single surgeon between 2007 and 2010, of adult patients who underwent a lateral crural approach to repair of external nasal valve collapse. Data were collected on diagnosis, surgical outcomes, and complications. Outcome measures included the Nasal Obstructive Symptom Evaluation and the Rhinoplasty Outcome Evaluation. Results: Fifteen patients were included in the study. Their follow-ups ranged from 9 to 13 months. All patients had statistically significant improvements in Nasal Obstructive Symptom Evaluation scores. There was no significant change in perceived nasal appearance after surgery as measured by the Rhinoplasty Outcome Evaluation. There were no surgical complications. Conclusions: The lateral crural J-flap approach to repair of external nasal valve collapse is a technically straightforward and relatively safe procedure. The efficacy is excellent at the 1-year follow-up examination.
Study of a key factor for performance evaluation of wireless cellular networks: The f-factor

The f-factor, which is roughly the interference to signal power ratio, plays a crucial role in the performance evaluation of wireless cellular networks. The objective of the present paper is to study the properties of the f-factor and establish approximations for it which we compare to previously proposed approximations. We consider the hexagonal network model, where the base stations are placed on a regular hexagonal grid which may be infinite. The propagation loss is assumed to be a power of the distance between the transmitter and the receiver. In this context, we build a reference method to calculate the f-factor to which previously proposed approximations as well as a new one are compared. It is shown that the previous approximations are not always close to the reference. One should choose the approximation carefully since the performance of cellular networks depend strongly on the f-factor. The results in our paper help to make the appropriate choice. This is particularly important for operational needs as for example dimensioning a real network.
Inconvenient interactions: an alternative interaction design approach to enrich our daily activities

While most traditional user interfaces are intended to pursue "convenience" by eliminating user operations and by typically automating tasks, some new categories of HCI, such as health support, may require explicit human participation and effort to achieve long-term benefits. In these areas, interfaces that require interactions that promote users to perform explicit activities, rather than interfaces that solely perform tasks on behalf of users, are becoming increasingly important. This trend can be a further challenge of interaction design, and we refer it as "inconvenient interactions". In this paper, we discuss why carefully designed inconveniences can enrich our lives, and provide preliminary but concrete examples. We also propose our guidelines for the design of these inconvenient interactions.
Effect of cross-sectional shape on the dispersion characteristics of Au/Ag nanowires

We examine the effect of the cross-sectional shape on the dispersion characteristics of the fundamental surface plasmon polariton (SPP) mode guided along Au/Ag nanowires in a wide wavelength range. It is observed that the cross-sectional shape has a significant effect on dispersion characteristics of the metallic nanowires. The dispersion is found to be minimum for the circular cross-section, and increases as we go toward triangular via pentagonal and rectangular cross-sections. Further the difference between circular and other cross-sections increases rapidly as the wavelength of operation decreases.
The Quality Evaluation of Property Service Based on SERVQUAL Model —A Nanjing City Perspective

With the development of real estate market,the quality of property service has been a hot issue in both industry and academy. Effective quality evaluation of property service has important realistic meanings to improve the level of property service and to increase owners' satisfaction. Based on the SERVQUAL model,the article builds the service quality evaluation system of property enterprises,and evaluates the quality of property service through the questionnaire taking those residents in Nanjing as the study samples. The results show that the overall level of property service in Nanjing is the average. Dimensions of reliability and responsiveness have the most important influence on the quality of property service. Differences in the grades of property management fee cause significant differences in the quality of property service,and the higher the grade of property is,the higher the integral evaluation of the service quality will be. Finally,according to the conclusions,this paper puts forward related suggestions for improving the property service quality.
Short Forms of Ste20-related Proline/Alanine-rich Kinase (SPAK) in the Kidney Are Created by Aspartyl Aminopeptidase (Dnpep)-mediated Proteolytic Cleavage*

Background: C-terminal SPAK fragments are found in kidney medulla. Results: We identified Dnpep as the protease responsible for SPAK cleavage, identified the sites of cleavage, and showed unusual preference for α helices. Conclusion: C-terminal SPAK fragments originate from Dnpep-mediated proteolytic cleavage. Significance: SPAK and its cleavage are significant for the regulation of renal Na+ reabsorption and control of blood pressure. The Ste20-related kinase SPAK regulates sodium, potassium, and chloride transport in a variety of tissues. Recently, SPAK fragments, which lack the catalytic domain and are inhibitory to Na+ transporters, have been detected in kidney. It has been hypothesized that the fragments originate from alternative translation start sites, but their precise origin is unknown. Here, we demonstrate that kidney lysate possesses proteolytic cleavage activity toward SPAK. Ion exchange and size exclusion chromatography combined with mass spectrometry identified the protease as aspartyl aminopeptidase. The presence of the protease was verified in the active fractions, and recombinant aspartyl aminopeptidase recapitulated the cleavage pattern observed with kidney lysate. Identification of the sites of cleavage by mass spectrometry allowed us to test the function of the smaller fragments and demonstrate their inhibitory action toward the Na+-K+-2Cl− cotransporter, NKCC2.
Smart maximum power extraction for wind energy systems

This paper proposes two effective maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithms for two different wind energy conversion systems connected to the grid using permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG). The wind turbine (WT) is connected to the grid via back-to-back PWM-VSC for the first scheme, whereas, the WT is connected to the grid via diode-bridge rectifier, boost converter and the grid side PWM-VSC for the other scheme. Active and reactive power control is achieved independently via controlling q-axis and d-axis current components, respectively for the first scheme, whereas, active and reactive power control is achieved dependently via controlling modulation index of the PWM converter and duty ratio of the boost converter for the second scheme. The effective and powerful WECS is determined via the whole control system superiority and the system operation stability. Also, comparison of the output power from each WECS is introduced for maximum power following.
Predicting jet lag in long-haul cabin crew: The role of illness cognitions and behaviour

Objective: Established risk factors for jet lag are mostly physiological including circadian preference, age, gender, the number of flight zones crossed and to some extent direction of travel. Some research has also highlighted a role for psychosocial factors including sleep, diet and ‘circadian’ health behaviours and illness cognitions although this remains relatively untested. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of sleep, diet and illness cognitions in predicting perceived jet lag amongst long-haul crew. Design : Sixty long-haul crew took part in a longitudinal study. Profile characteristics (including chronotype), preparation strategies (sleep, eating and ‘circadian’ behaviours) and illness cognitions were measured at baseline (before a trip). Main outcome measures: Subjective jet lag (unidimensional and multidimensional) was measured on the crews’ second day off (post-trip). Results: Hierarchical regression analyses showed that unidimensional jet lag was predicted by the belief in a cyclical timeline, whereas multidimensional jet lag was predicted by multidimensional jet lag at baseline and to a lesser extent by identity. No role was found for profile characteristics and preparation strategies. Conclusion: Illness cognitions partly explain the experience of perceived jet lag in long-haul cabin crew indicating that jet lag is in part a psycho-social construct, not just a biological one.