Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A TEST OF THE NEUTRAL MODEL OF EXPRESSION CHANGE IN NATURAL POPULATIONS OF HOUSE MOUSE SUBSPECIES

Changes in expression of genes are thought to contribute significantly to evolutionary divergence. To study the relative role of selection and neutrality in shaping expression changes, we analyzed 24 genes in three different tissues of the house mouse (Mus musculus). Samples from two natural populations of the subspecies M. m. domesticus and M. m. musculus were investigated using quantitative PCR assays and sequencing of the upstream region. We have developed an approach to quantify expression polymorphism within such populations and to disentangle technical from biological variation in the data. We found a correlation between expression polymorphism within populations and divergence between populations. Furthermore, we found a correlation between expression polymorphism and sequence polymorphism of the respective genes. These data are most easily interpreted within a framework of a predominantly neutral model of gene expression change, where only a fraction of the changes may have been driven by positive selection. Although most genes investigated were expressed in all three tissues analyzed, significant changes of expression levels occurred predominantly in a single tissue only. This adds to the notion that enhancer‐specific effects or transregulatory effects can modulate the evolution of gene expression in a tissue‐specific way.
A Scale-Synthesis Method for High Spatial Resolution Remote Sensing Image Segmentation

Multiscale segmentation is always needed to extract semantic meaningful objects for object-based remote sensing image analysis. Choosing the appropriate segmentation scales for distinct ground objects and intelligently combining them together are two crucial issues to get the appropriate segmentation result for target applications. With respect to these two issues, this paper proposes a simple scale-synthesis method which is highly flexible to be adjusted to meet the segmentation requirements of varying image-analysis tasks. The main idea of this method is to first divide the whole image area into multiple regions; each region consisted of ground objects that have similar optimal segmentation scale. Then, synthesize the suboptimal segmentations of each region to get the final segmentation result. The result is the combination of suboptimal scales of objects and is therefore more coherent to ground objects. To validate this method, the land-cover-category map is used to guide the scale synthesis of multiscale image segmentations for the Quickbird-image land-use classification. First, the image is coarsely divided into multiple regions; each region belongs to a certain land-cover category. Then, multiscale-segmentation results are generated by the Mumford-Shah function based region-merging method. For each land-cover category, the optimal segmentation scale is selected by the supervised segmentation-accuracy-assessment method. Finally, the optimal scales of segmentation results are synthesized under the guide of land-cover category. It is proved that the proposed scale-synthesis method can generate a more accurate segmentation result that benefits the latter classification. The land-use-classification accuracy reaches to 77.8%.
Statistically quantified measurement of an Alzheimer's marker by surface‐enhanced Raman scattering

Fibrillar forms of the Amyloid‐β (Aβ) protein have been implicated in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD), however there are no standardised assays for soluble Aβ oligomer biomarkers that provide the best indication of the disease progression [1,2]. As a step towards a fast and label‐free method for testing different AD biomarkers, we have combined laser nano‐textured substrates with a SERS mapping technique and validated it using soluble Aβ‐40 oligomers [3‐5]. The nano‐textured SERS substrates provide fast (&5 min), label‐free spectra associated with soluble Aβ‐40 oligomers down to a concentration of 10 nM. Statistical analysis of the spectral intensities mapped over the substrate surface shows a quantitative correlation with the oligomer concentration. Schematics of experiments: SERS mapping of Aβ‐40 (left figure: measured SERS intensity overlayed with an SEM image of ripples) was carried out on the laser nano‐textured (ripple) surface of sapphire and statistical analysis of the SERS intensity was carried out for qualitative (a high SERS intensity at low probability) and quantitative (a moderate SERS intenisty at the highest probability) measures. Quantitative statistical analysis of SERS mapping data can be performed off line for cross correlations with other known SERS signatures.
Loss-of-function mutations in the C9ORF72 mouse ortholog cause fatal autoimmune disease

Loss-of-function mutations in the mouse ortholog of C9ORF72 cause fatal autoimmunity that is transferable by bone marrow–derived cells, demonstrating a hematopoietic intrinsic function for the protein encoded by this gene. C9orf72, a suppressor of autoimmunity? Mutations in C9ORF72 are a common contributor to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia, yet the function of this gene is still poorly defined. In new work, Burberry et al. demonstrate that mutations disrupting the normal function of C9orf72 cause mice to develop features of autoimmunity. They further found that transplantation of normal bone marrow into mutant animals ameliorated this phenotype, whereas transplantation of mutant bone marrow into normal animals was sufficient to cause autoimmunity. The authors conclude that C9orf72 acts through hematopoietic cells to maintain normal immune function and suggest that investigations are warranted into whether disruptions in immunity contribute to disease in patients. C9ORF72 mutations are found in a significant fraction of patients suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia, yet the function of the C9ORF72 gene product remains poorly understood. We show that mice harboring loss-of-function mutations in the ortholog of C9ORF72 develop splenomegaly, neutrophilia, thrombocytopenia, increased expression of inflammatory cytokines, and severe autoimmunity, ultimately leading to a high mortality rate. Transplantation of mutant mouse bone marrow into wild-type recipients was sufficient to recapitulate the phenotypes observed in the mutant animals, including autoimmunity and premature mortality. Reciprocally, transplantation of wild-type mouse bone marrow into mutant mice improved their phenotype. We conclude that C9ORF72 serves an important function within the hematopoietic system to restrict inflammation and the development of autoimmunity.
Breaking loose

Did the Internet get it right? Well, yes and no. It achieved my first three predictions—ubiquitous, always available, and always on—but has so far missed the last two—any device could be plugged in at any location and it would be as invisible as electricity. Basically, the mistake regarding anything being plugged in at any location was that the Internet’s TCP/IP protocol assumed that end users and their devices and IP addresses would all be found in the same location and would all be tightly coupled. The fact is that end users today do not always access the Internet from fixed locations, do not always use the same device, and the IP address they use may not be one familiar to every subnetwork they encounter in their travels; indeed, ST EV EN A D LE R The Internet’s ultimate utility depends on our ability and willingness to make the network at least as pervasive, convenient, and invisible as electricity is today. BREAKING LOOSE
Hypoxia inducible factor-1α regulates a pro-invasive phenotype in acute monocytic leukemia

Hypoxia inducible transcription factors (HIFs) are the main regulators of adaptive responses to hypoxia and are often activated in solid tumors, but their role in leukemia is less clear. In acute myeloid leukemia (AML), in particular, controversial new findings indicate that HIF-1α can act either as an oncogene or a tumor suppressor gene, and this may depend on the stage of leukemia development and/or the AML sub-type. In this study, we find that HIF-1α promotes leukemia progression in the acute monocytic leukemia sub-type of AML through activation of an invasive phenotype. By applying a list of validated HIF-1α-target genes to different AML sub-types, we identified a HIF-1α signature that typifies acute monocytic leukemia when compared with all other AML sub-types. We validated expression of this signature in cell lines and primary cells from AML patients. Interestingly, this signature is enriched for genes that control cell motility at different levels. As a consequence, inhibiting HIF-1α impaired leukemia cell migration, chemotaxis, invasion and transendothelial migration in vitro, and this resulted in impaired bone marrow homing and leukemia progression in vivo. Our data suggest that in acute monocytic leukemia an active HIF-1α-dependent pro-invasive pathway mediates the ability of leukemic cells to migrate and invade extramedullary sites and may be targeted to reduce leukemia dissemination.
Development and performance optimization of polyurethane-based multifunctional coatings using Taguchi method

Inducing multifunctionality is the need of the products used in diverse environments. Here, polyurethane-based water repellent, flame retardant and antibacterial coatings are fabricated on cotton fabrics which sequentially involve the deposition of coating through knife coating, drying and curing of coated fabric. Taguchi design has been used to optimize the parameters for enhanced water repellency, flame retardancy and antibacterial activity. When applied individually, the performance characteristics enhance with the increase in concentration of respective finishing agent. However, a different behaviour was shown by the coated fabric when applied all the finishing agents simultaneously. Taguchi design enabled the monitoring of interdependency of different concentrations of chemicals and finding the most influencing parameters for efficient performance of coated fabrics.
A Survey of Text Summarization Techniques for Indian Regional Languages

Summarization is the process of reducing a text document with a computer program in order to create a summary that retains the most important points of the original document. Technologies that can make a coherent summary take into account variables such as length, writing style and syntax. The main idea of summarization is to find a representative subset of the data, which contains the information of the entire set. Text summarization is commonly used to handle summaries of email threads, action items from a meeting and simplifying text by compressing sentences used to manage knowledge and also to help Internet search engines. This paper gives comparative study of various text summarization techniques used for Indian regional languages and also discusses in detail two main Types of Text summarization techniques these are extractive and abstractive.
Mindfulness-based interventions with social workers and the potential for enhanced patient-centered care: A systematic review of the literature

ABSTRACT The use of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) is well documented in the mental health, medical, and education literature. There is minimal research on the use of mindfulness with social workers. As demonstrated in other professional and helping fields, mindfulness may enhance clinical skills, reduce burnout, and increase job satisfaction among social workers. In the health care field mindfulness appears integral to patient and family relationships and personal resilience. The evolving and expanding role of hospital social workers may lead to increased work stress and greater demands from both the medical system and patients and families. Research with medical providers, such as physicians and nurses, suggests mindfulness may help in reducing stress, enhancing relationships, and fostering the self-reflection required to provide patient-centered care. We systematically reviewed the existing literature to begin understanding both mindfulness qualities and practices and the effectiveness of MBIs among social workers as well as the relationship of mindfulness to patient-centered care.
Cardiac resynchronization therapy in pacemaker-dependent patients with left ventricular dysfunction.

AIMS Heart failure and left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction (LVSD) are common in patients with permanent pacemakers. The aim was to determine if cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) at the time of pulse generator replacement (PGR) is of benefit in patients with unavoidable RV pacing and LVSD. METHODS AND RESULTS Fifty patients with unavoidable RV pacing, LVSD, and mild or no symptoms of heart failure, listed for PGR were randomized 1 : 1 to either standard RV-PGR (comparator) or CRT. The primary endpoint was the difference in change in LV ejection fraction (LVEF) between RV-PGR and CRT groups from baseline to 6 months. Secondary endpoints included peak oxygen consumption, quality of life, and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels. At 6 months there was a difference in change in median (interquartile range) LVEF [9 (6-12) vs. -1.5 (-4.5 to -0.8)%; P < 0.0001] between the CRT and RV-PGR arms. There were also improvements in exercise capacity (P = 0.007), quality of life (P = 0.03), and NT-proBNP (P = 0.007) in those randomized to CRT. After 809 (729-880) days, 17 patients had died or been hospitalized (6 in CRT group and 11 in the comparator RV-PGR group) and two patients in the RV-PGR arm had required CRT for deteriorating heart failure. Patients with standard RV-PGR had more days in hospital during follow-up than those in the CRT group [4 (2-7) vs. 11 (6-16) days; P = 0.047]. CONCLUSION Performing CRT in pacemaker patients with unavoidable RV pacing and LVSD but without severe symptoms of heart failure, at the time of PGR, improves cardiac function, exercise capacity, quality of life, and NT-pro-BNP levels.
Alterung von Leistungshalbleitermodulen im Temperatur-Feuchte-Spannungs-Test

Power electronics, in particular power semiconductors, has to cope with operating in warm and humid climate, although the vast majority of devices are not hermetically sealed. Thus, moisture is able to enter the housing and then penetrates the package along delaminated interfaces or diffuses through the moulding compound and/or the silicone gel. For a power semiconductor chip the most critical region is its junction termination. By the formation of a closed water film (monolayer electrolytic solution) linking the chip metallisation of the active area and the channel stopper metallisation or any other structure near the chip edge, a corrosion cell builds up. In case of copper and silver, the electro-chemical migration (ECM) occurs and forms dendrites of the metals at the active area metallisation. In case of aluminium, metal corrosion occurs leading to corrosion of the active area metal and precipitation at the outer part of the JT. This kind of degradation is usually investigated by means of accelerated testing, in this case by the High Humidity, High Temperature, Reverse Bias (H3TRB) test. Traditionally, end-of-life testing was done, but degradation occurs much earlier and, thus, this kind of test strategy is not sufficient. Instead, leakage monitoring and intermediate blocking measurements yield a much better estimation of the degradation status. The more detailed methods reveal a more complex degradation scenario. There is a first, irreversible degradation already after a few 10 hours. This is due to ion movement on the surface of the chip. The ions disturb the charge balance in the area of the junction termination leading to premature avalanche breakdown and/or increased leakage and can even kill the device, especially in case of high voltage devices. In a second phase, the aluminium corrosion deteriorates the blocking capability significantly and leads to device failures. Afterwards the increased leakage leads to increased self-heating and the locally higher temperature drives away the moisture and stops further corrosion. An accurate modelling of all this is difficult and complex. Although the individual degradation effects are known and e.g. the Al corrosion is usually modelled by Peck’s model, the individual situation of each device is different. In fact, every model is valid for only one chip technology, one voltage class, and one package type. On top, transient effects and the influence of contaminations are hardly investigated. Nevertheless, these are important factors as real-life applications lead to quite different mission profiles and, consequently, different stress.
Sound absorption behavior of flexible polyurethane foams including high molecular‐weight copolymer polyol

Noise pollution is an important issue for automotive industries. In this article, the high molecular-weight copolymer polyol is blended in the polyol mixtures for fabricating flexible polyurethane foams to improve sound absorption efficiency. Changes of cavity size and material density of the foams are negligible by inclusion of copolymer polyol in the polyol mixture, but the closed pore ratio and specific airflow resistance increase for the copolymer polyol content higher than 20 wt% because of changes of phase separation behavior from drainage flow rate reduction that occurs with increased viscosity. Sound absorption efficiency increases with increasing copolymer polyol content up to 20 wt%, but it decreases beyond this point. The sound absorption property mainly results from the closed pore ratio, not from the cavity size. The compression strength increases with increasing copolymer polyol contents by increased amount of hard segments. Therefore, an optimum amount of high molecular-weight polyol is recommended for enhanced sound absorption property.
Disabled‐2 modulates homotypic and heterotypic platelet interactions by binding to sulfatides

Disabled‐2 (Dab2) inhibits platelet aggregation by competing with fibrinogen for binding to the αIIbβ3 integrin receptor, an interaction that is modulated by Dab2 binding to sulfatides at the outer leaflet of the platelet plasma membrane. The disaggregatory function of Dab2 has been mapped to its N‐terminus phosphotyrosine‐binding (N‐PTB) domain. Our data show that the surface levels of P‐selectin, a platelet transmembrane protein known to bind sulfatides and promote cell‐cell interactions, are reduced by Dab2 N‐PTB, an event that is reversed in the presence of a mutant form of the protein that is deficient in sulfatide but not in integrin binding. Importantly, Dab2 N‐PTB, but not its sulfatide binding‐deficient form, was able to prevent sulfatide‐induced platelet aggregation when tested under haemodynamic conditions in microfluidic devices at flow rates with shear stress levels corresponding to those found in vein microcirculation. Moreover, the regulatory role of Dab2 N‐PTB extends to platelet‐leucocyte adhesion and aggregation events, suggesting a multi‐target role for Dab2 in haemostasis.
Characterization of Protein Content Present in Exosomes Isolated from Conditioned Media and Urine

Cells secrete biomolecules into the extracellular space as a way of intercellular communication. Secreted proteins can act as ligands that engage specific receptors—on the same cell, nearby cells, or distant cells—and induce defined signaling pathways. Proteins and other biomolecules can also be packaged as cargo molecules within vesicles that are released to the extracellular space (termed extracellular vesicles or EVs). A subclass of such EVs, exosomes have been shown to horizontally transfer information. In recent years, exosomes have sparked tremendous interest in biological research, both for the discovery of novel biomarkers and for the identification of signaling molecules, as part of their cargo. Although multiple methods have been described for the isolation of exosomes, described here is a simple differential centrifugation approach that is well suited for the isolation of exosomes from conditioned cell culture media and urine. Mass spectrometry provides an ideal method to comprehensively analyze the protein cargo of exosomes. © 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Micro‐slurry jet for surface processing of dental ceramics

A micro-slurry jet (MSJ) was used for removing microscopic cracks and microstructural defects on surfaces of dental ceramics, in which the MSJ functioned as a wet blasting machine using mixed alumina particles and water to spray workpiece surfaces by a compressed air. Plate specimens made from a composite resin ceramic (CERASMART 270) and a zirconia ceramic (KZR-CAD Zr) were prepared using a dental computer-aided manufacturing system. The results indicate that the MSJ processing has removed the microscopic cracks and defects on surfaces of the composite resin ceramic, and improved the material bending strength. In comparison, the MSJ processing created spraying patterns on zirconia surfaces due to the movement of the MSJ injection nozzle. The bending strength of the MSJ processed zirconia was slightly deteriorated because of the MSJ-induced patterns which might have led to stress concentrations on the ceramic surfaces.
Performance Comparison of Multi-Layer STBC OFDM and V-BLAST OFDM

We propose a multi-layer space-time block coded orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (multi-layer STBC OFDM) scheme. It combines the spatial diversity and spatial multiplexing in order to exploit the potentials of both techniques. The transmit antennas are divided into different layers and each layer is composed of a small number of antennas. These antennas transmit OFDM signals in order to deal with frequency- selective fading channels. In each layer, Alamouti's space-time codes are applied at individual subcarriers to provide spatial diversity gain. Exhaustive simulations are conducted to compare the proposed scheme with the full-multiplexing V-BLAST OFDM under the same spectral efficiency condition. We find each scheme has its own prevailing area. When the receive diversity order is limited, the proposed Multi-Layer STBC OFDM has better performance since it embeds transmit diversity; as the receive diversity order increases, the performance gap between the two schemes shrinks and finally V-BLAST OFDM prevails in performance. Therefore, the proper choice depends on the system configuration, i.e., the numbers of transmit and receive antennas.
Painful questions about fibromyalgia.

To the Editor. — It was surprising to see an editorial 1 and review article 2 on "fibromyalgia" in a prestigious journal such as JAMA , but perhaps some discussion is better than none. It is not simply "contemporary medical prejudices" that keep many physicians from using the diagnosis of fibromyalgia. There simply has never been good evidence for it as a syndrome distinct from affective disorders. As Dr Goldenberg admits in his article, it "cannot be explained on current pathophysiologic grounds and lacks specific laboratory or other diagnostic tests. " It is argued by Dr Bennett that "tender points" are an "objective abnormality" and by Dr Goldenberg that they constitute the "gold standard for diagnosis. " Reference is made by the latter to the "dolorimeter," as if this quasiscientific device supports the existence of anything other than plain old aches and pains. Any medical student knows that using a stethoscope does not take