Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efficacy and Tolerance of a New Anti-Regurgitation Formula

Purpose Regurgitation is a common physiological phenomenon in infants. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of a new anti-regurgitation (AR) formula (Novalac), thickened with an innovative complex including fibres, on the daily number of regurgitations and to assess its impact on stool consistency and frequency. Methods Infants younger than five months, presenting at least 5 regurgitations per day were recruited in this trial. The efficacy of the new formula on regurgitation (daily number and Vandenplas score), stool frequency and consistency were assessed at day 14 and 90. Growth data were recorded at each study visit. Results Ninety babies (mean age 9.6±5.8 weeks) were included in the full analysis data set. The mean number of regurgitation episodes at inclusion was 7.3±3.4. In all infants, regurgitations improved after 2 weeks. The daily number of regurgitations decreased significantly (-6.3±3.3, p<0.001) including in those previously fed a thickened formula (-6.2±3.0, p<0.001). There was no significant change in stool consistency at day 14. After 3 months, 97.5% of infants had formed or soft stools. Growth was appropriate with a slight increase of weight-for-age z-score (from -0.5±1.0 to -0.1±0.9) and no change of weight-for length z-score (-0.1±1.1 to -0.1±-1.1). Conclusion The new AR formula thickened with an innovative complex is very effective in reducing the daily number of regurgitations without having a negative impact on stools consistency.
A Prospective Randomized Clinical Trial Comparing Bone Union Rate Following Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion Using a Polyetheretherketone Cage: Hydroxyapatite/B-Tricalcium Phosphate Mixture versus Hydroxyapatite/Demineralized Bone Matrix Mixture

Study Design Prospective randomized noninferiority trial. Purpose To evaluate whether the union rate of anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) using a polyetheretherketone (PEEK) cage filled with a mixture of hydroxyapatite (HA) and demineralized bone matrix (DBM) is inferior to that of a mixture of β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) and HA. Overview of Literature There have been no clinical trials investigating the outcomes of a mixture of HA and DBM in a PEEK cage in ACDF. Methods Eighty-five eligible patients were randomly assigned to group B (n=43), in which a PEEK cage with a mixture of HA and DBM was used, or group C (n=42), in which a PEEK cage with a mixture of HA and β-TCP was used. The primary study endpoint was the fusion rate, which was assessed with dynamic radiographs and computed tomography (CT) scans. Secondary endpoints included pain intensity using a visual analogue scale, functional outcome using a neck disability index score, laboratory tests of inflammatory profiles, and the infection rate. Results Seventy-seven patients (38 in group B and 39 in group C) were included in the final analysis. One year postoperatively, bone fusion was achieved in 87% of group B patients and 87% of group C patients on dynamic radiographs, and 87% of group B patients and 72% of group C patients on CT scans (p=1.00 and 0.16, respectively). There were also no between-groups differences with respect to the secondary endpoints. Conclusions A HA/DBM mixture inside a PEEK cage can provide noninferior outcomes compared to a HA/TCP mixture in ACDF.
Convergence of singular limits for multi-D semilinear hyperbolic systems to parabolic systems

In this paper we investigate the diffusive zero-relaxation limit of the following multi-D semilinear hyperbolic system in pseudodifferential form: W t (x,t) + 1 eA(x,D)W(x,t) = 1 e 2 B(x, W(x,t)) + 1 e D(W(x,t)) + E(W(x,t)). We analyze the singular convergence, as e ↓ 0, in the case which leads to a limit system of parabolic type. The analysis is carried out by using the following steps: (i) We single out algebraic structure conditions on the full system, motivated by formal asymptotics, by some examples of discrete velocity models in kinetic theories. (ii) We deduce energy estimates, uniformly in e, by assuming the existence of a symmetrizer having the so-called block structure and by assuming dissipativity conditions on B. (iii) We assume a Kawashima type condition and perform the convergence analysis by using generalizations of compensated compactness due to Tartar and Gerard. Finally, we include examples that show how to use our theory to approximate any quasilinear parabolic systems, satisfying the Petrowski parabolicity condition, or general reaction diffusion systems, including Chemotaxis and Brusselator type systems.
Adaptive jitter margin PID controller

This paper develops an adaptive controller for (wireless) networked control systems by combining delay estimation and a jitter margin based PID controller tuning. A control system with wireless measurement is assumed, where the network induces delay jitter. Two delay jitter estimation algorithms are developed, with a method for selecting only valid delay estimates. The delay jitter adaptive PID controller is verified by two simulation studies, one with the networked control system simulator PiccSIM.
Runtime techniques for efficient Ray-Tracing on heterogeneous systems

The prevalence of real time multimedia delivery appliances has led to the developments of a wide variety of efficient architectures and supporting software techniques. Specifically, Ray-Tracing, a well-known physically-based rendering algorithm, has been receiving great attentions in research and development with the evolution of multi-core architecture since massive parallelism is inherent in that application. Unfortunately, the type of computation in Ray-tracing is known as an instance of irregular application which possesses attributes that may vary during execution and are often unpredictable, making it difficult to run efficiently on SIMD/SIMT based GPGPU architectures. For example, the irregularity in such applications may cause control flow divergence, load imbalance and low efficiency in the memory hierarchy of heterogeneous computing systems. To address these issues, researchers have been trying different approaches such as MIMD based homogeneous platform or specific hardware solutions. While these approaches tend to emphasize on dedicated special-purpose hardware configurations, our work illustrates that with appropriate analysis and tuning for irregularity within Ray-Tracing, it is possible to achieve high performance and high efficiency on current heterogeneous systems by applying software-based runtime approach. We studied and proposed phase guided dynamic work partitioning, a light-weight and fast analysis technique, to collect information during program phases at runtime in order to guide work partitioning in subsequent phases for more efficient work dispatching on heterogeneous systems. The experiments have shown that the performance gain of this approach can be as high as 5 times faster than the original system.
Induce or Prevent Anergy Kinase Blocks T Cell Proliferation But Does Not Inhibition of Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase

Three mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways are up-regulated during the activation of T lymphocytes, the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), Jun NH 2 -terminal kinase, and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways. To examine the effects of blocking the ERK pathway on T cell activation, we used the inhibitor U0126, which has been shown to speciﬁcally block mitogen-activated protein kinase/ERK kinase (MEK), the kinase upstream of ERK. This compound inhibited T cell proliferation in response to antigenic stimulation or cross-linked anti-CD3 plus anti-CD28 Abs, but had no effect on IL-2-induced proliferation. The block in T cell proliferation was mediated by down-regulating IL-2 mRNA levels. Blocking Ag-induced proliferation by inhibiting MEK did not induce anergy, unlike treatments that block entry into the cell cycle following antigenic stimulation. Surprisingly, induction of anergy in T cells exposed to TCR cross-linking in the absence of costimulation was also not affected by blocking MEK, unlike cyclosporin A treatment that blocks anergy induction. These results suggest that inhibition of MEK prevents T cell proliferation in the short term, but does not cause any long-term effects on either T cell activation or induction of anergy. These ﬁndings may help determine the viability of using mitogen-activated protein kinase inhibitors as immune suppressants. The Journal of Immunology, 1998, 160: 4175–4181.
DETERMINATION OF COST-EFFECTIVE OPTIMAL TARGET RELIABILITY FOR SEISMIC DESIGN AND UPGRADING OF LONG SPAN PC BRIDGES

A systematic approach is proposed for the development of the reliability-based seismic safety and costeffective performance criteria for design and upgrading of long-span segmental PC box-girder bridges. Following the procedure of the Korean Standard Bridge Design Code(KSBDC), the model bridge would be designed for varying levels of safety or reliability under specified earthquake loadings. The cost functions which consist of the initial cost, maintenance cost, direct damage cost, and indirect losses are formulated as functions of structural damage probability and Park-Ang damage index. The Park-Ang damage index is used for the quantification of structural damage under possible earthquake loadings. The system failure probability of example bridges is considered for the development of the target reliability for seismic design and upgrading of bridges. Structural component models are used for the 2-D/3-D dynamic analysis of whole structure. A seismic hazard curve for Seoul area, which is applied to probabilistic seismic hazard analysis and a stochastic ground input motion generated considering site effects, is used for non-linear damage assessment of the model bridge. The aforementioned procedure is developed as a new computer code for bridges, especially including a simulation algorithm, a Monte Carlo simulation-based reliability analysis program, and nonlinear dynamic analysis program, DRAIN-2DX/3DX.
Capturing sequence variation among flowering-time regulatory gene homologs in the allopolyploid crop species Brassica napus

Flowering, the transition from the vegetative to the generative phase, is a decisive time point in the lifecycle of a plant. Flowering is controlled by a complex network of transcription factors, photoreceptors, enzymes and miRNAs. In recent years, several studies gave rise to the hypothesis that this network is also strongly involved in the regulation of other important lifecycle processes ranging from germination and seed development through to fundamental developmental and yield-related traits. In the allopolyploid crop species Brassica napus, (genome AACC), homoeologous copies of flowering time regulatory genes are implicated in major phenological variation within the species, however the extent and control of intraspecific and intergenomic variation among flowering-time regulators is still unclear. To investigate differences among B. napus morphotypes in relation to flowering-time gene variation, we performed targeted deep sequencing of 29 regulatory flowering-time genes in four genetically and phenologically diverse B. napus accessions. The genotype panel included a winter-type oilseed rape, a winter fodder rape, a spring-type oilseed rape (all B. napus ssp. napus) and a swede (B. napus ssp. napobrassica), which show extreme differences in winter-hardiness, vernalization requirement and flowering behavior. A broad range of genetic variation was detected in the targeted genes for the different morphotypes, including non-synonymous SNPs, copy number variation and presence-absence variation. The results suggest that this broad variation in vernalization, clock and signaling genes could be a key driver of morphological differentiation for flowering-related traits in this recent allopolyploid crop species.
ABSORB: Atlas building by self-organized registration and bundling

A novel groupwise registration framework, called Atlas Building by Self-Organized Registration and Bundling (ABSORB), is proposed in this paper. In this framework, the global structure of relative subject image distribution is preserved during the registration by constraining each subject to deform locally within the learned manifold. A self-organized registration is employed to deform each subject towards a subset of its neighbors that are closer to the global center. Some subjects close enough in the manifold will be bundled into a subgroup during the registration, and then deformed together in the subsequent registration process. This framework performs groupwise registration in a hierarchical way. Specifically, in the higher level, it will perform on a much smaller dataset formed by the representative subjects of all subgroups generated in the previous levels of registration. The atlas image can be eventually built once the registration arrives at the upmost level. Experimental results on both synthetic and real datasets show that the proposed framework can achieve substantial improvements, compared to the other two widely used groupwise methods, in terms of both registration accuracy and robustness.
A New Evaluation Function for Clustering: The NK Internal Validation Criterion

The use of good evaluation functions is essential when evolutionary algorithms are employed for clustering. The NK internal clustering validation measure is proposed for hard partitional clustering. The evaluation function is composed of N subfunctions, where N is the number of objects in the dataset. Each subfunction is influenced by a group of K+1 objects. By using neighbourhood relations among connected small groups, density-based regions can be identified. The NK internal clustering validation measure allows the application of partition crossover (PX). PX for hard partitional clustering is also proposed in this work. By using PX, the evaluation function can be decomposed in q partial evaluations. As a consequence, PX deterministically finds the best of 2q possible offspring at the cost of evaluating 2 solutions. In the experiments, the application of PX resulted in a high number of successful recombinations. It was able to improve partitions defined by the best parents.
Load Balancing to Extend Life of Wireless Sensor Network

Wireless sensor network is energy constrain network. Lifetime of network is defined by life of first certain percentage of dying nodes. Load balancing is a method to make energy consumption of all nodes equal and this way all nodes will die together. By load balancing, lifetime of network does not depend only on life of weak node but depends on life all nodes in network which helpful to increase life of network. In this paper two methods are proposed for load balancing which are also called data aggregation methods. In first method, nodes which are far from the sink consume more energy and load balancing is achieved by increasing the interval of communication based on residual energy of these nodes. In second method, load balancing is achieved by tolerating the quality of data. Nodes which have less energy send data only when data is sufficient deviate from past data. Quality of data is based on deviation control function and this deviation control function is based on residual energy of nodes. Simulation results show proposed methods significantly increases the lifetime of wireless sensor network.
AN ALGORITHMIC FRAMEWORK FOR IMPROVING HEURISTIC SOLUTIONS APPLIED TO NEW VERSIONS OF THE TRAVELING SALESMAN PROBLEM

Many practical scheduling and planning problems involve optional tasks or conditional tasks such as cleaning process units or taking additional measurements. Proper consideration of these tasks increases the complexity of scheduling problems. The task network structure becomes more complicated and the decisions often require information that is available only as the schedule is executed. To exemplify the role of such optional tasks in scheduling problems, new deterministic and stochastic traveling salesman problems(TSPs) variants are introduced. Based on the premise that the use of heuristics would be the only recourse in handling such problems, we propose a novel way to improve upon a solution obtained from heuristics by applying dynamic programming to the subset of states visited by the heuristics. The method represents a way to take a family of solutions and patch them up as an improved solution. However, the ‘patching up’ is accomplished in state space rather than in solution space. We develop and apply the approach to the TSP variants to examine the degree of improvement that can be obtained by the method. For small problems, we compare the quality of these solutions with the global optimal ones. The proposed method can be generalized to other planning and scheduling problems.
Intracellular localization of membrane-bound ATPases in the compartmentalized anammox bacterium ‘Candidatus Kuenenia stuttgartiensis’

Anaerobic ammonium‐oxidizing (anammox) bacteria are divided into three compartments by bilayer membranes (from out‐ to inside): paryphoplasm, riboplasm and anammoxosome. It is proposed that the anammox reaction is performed by proteins located in the anammoxosome and on its membrane giving rise to a proton‐motive‐force and subsequent ATP synthesis by membrane‐bound ATPases. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the location of membrane‐bound ATPases in the anammox bacterium ‘Candidatus Kuenenia stuttgartiensis’. Four ATPase gene clusters were identified in the K. stuttgartiensis genome: one typical F‐ATPase, two atypical F‐ATPases and a prokaryotic V‐ATPase. K. stuttgartiensis transcriptomic and proteomic analysis and immunoblotting using antisera directed at catalytic subunits of the ATPase gene clusters indicated that only the typical F‐ATPase gene cluster most likely encoded a functional ATPase under these cultivation conditions. Immunogold localization showed that the typical F‐ATPase was predominantly located on both the outermost and anammoxosome membrane and to a lesser extent on the middle membrane. This is consistent with the anammox physiology model, and confirms the status of the outermost cell membrane as cytoplasmic membrane. The occurrence of ATPase in the anammoxosome membrane suggests that anammox bacteria have evolved a prokaryotic organelle; a membrane‐bounded compartment with a specific cellular function: energy metabolism.
Coverage in Sensor Networks When Obstacles Are Present

In this paper, we propose a method to determine the quality of deployment in a surveillance wireless sensor network in an environment that contains obstacles. The maximum detection probability on the potential breach paths is used as the deployment quality measure. The watershed segmentation algorithm is applied on the graph formed by the iso-sensing curves to identify the possible breach paths. An algorithm is proposed to convert the watershed segmentation to an auxiliary graph which is then employed to determine the deployment quality measure.
Plasmid Characterization and Chromosome Analysis of Two netF+ Clostridium perfringens Isolates Associated with Foal and Canine Necrotizing Enteritis

The recent discovery of a novel beta-pore-forming toxin, NetF, which is strongly associated with canine and foal necrotizing enteritis should improve our understanding of the role of type A Clostridium perfringens associated disease in these animals. The current study presents the complete genome sequence of two netF-positive strains, JFP55 and JFP838, which were recovered from cases of foal necrotizing enteritis and canine hemorrhagic gastroenteritis, respectively. Genome sequencing was done using Single Molecule, Real-Time (SMRT) technology-PacBio and Illumina Hiseq2000. The JFP55 and JFP838 genomes include a single 3.34 Mb and 3.53 Mb chromosome, respectively, and both genomes include five circular plasmids. Plasmid annotation revealed that three plasmids were shared by the two newly sequenced genomes, including a NetF/NetE toxins-encoding tcp-conjugative plasmid, a CPE/CPB2 toxins-encoding tcp-conjugative plasmid and a putative bacteriocin-encoding plasmid. The putative beta-pore-forming toxin genes, netF, netE and netG, were located in unique pathogenicity loci on tcp-conjugative plasmids. The C. perfringens JFP55 chromosome carries 2,825 protein-coding genes whereas the chromosome of JFP838 contains 3,014 protein-encoding genes. Comparison of these two chromosomes with three available reference C. perfringens chromosome sequences identified 48 (~247 kb) and 81 (~430 kb) regions unique to JFP55 and JFP838, respectively. Some of these divergent genomic regions in both chromosomes are phage- and plasmid-related segments. Sixteen of these unique chromosomal regions (~69 kb) were shared between the two isolates. Five of these shared regions formed a mosaic of plasmid-integrated segments, suggesting that these elements were acquired early in a clonal lineage of netF-positive C. perfringens strains. These results provide significant insight into the basis of canine and foal necrotizing enteritis and are the first to demonstrate that netF resides on a large and unique plasmid-encoded locus.
Velocity field and star formation in the Horsehead nebula

Using large scale maps in C 18 O(2−1) and in the continuum at 1.2 mm obtained at the IRAM-30 m antenna with the Heterodyne Receiver Array (HERA) and MAMBO2, we investigated the morphology and the velocity field probed in the inner layers of the Horsehead nebula. The data reveal a non-self-gravitating (m/mvir ≈ 0.3) filament of dust and gas (the "neck", ∅ = 0.15−0.30 pc) connecting the Horsehead western ridge, a Photon-Dominated Region illuminated by σOri, to its parental cloud L1630. Several dense cores are embedded in the ridge and the neck. One of these cores appears particularly peaked in the 1.2 mm continuum map and corresponds to a feature seen in absorption on ISO maps around 7 µm. Its C 18 O emission drops at the continuum peak, suggestive of molecular depletion onto cold grains. The channel maps of the Horsehead exhibit an overall north-east velocity gradient whose orientation swivels east-west, showing a somewhat more complex structure than was recently reported by Pound et al. (2003) using BIMA CO(1−0) mapping. In both the neck and the western ridge, the material is rotating around an axis extending from the PDR to L1630 (angular velocity = 1.5−4. 0k m s −1 ). Moreover, velocity gradients along the filament appear to change sign regularly (3 km s −1 pc −1 ,p eriod= 0.30 pc) at the locations of embedded integrated intensity peaks. The nodes of this oscillation are at the same velocity. Similar transverse cuts across the filament show a sharp variation of the angular velocity in the area of the main dense core. The data also suggest that differential rotation is occurring in parts of the filament. We present a new scenario for the formation and evolution of the nebula and discuss dense core formation inside the filament.