Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mutual Contribution of Pten and Estrogen to Endometrial Carcinogenesis in a PtenloxP/loxP Mouse Model

Objective: An association between estrogen and the risk of type 1 endometrial carcinoma, which shows frequent mutations in the Pten tumor suppressor gene, has consistently been found in many studies. However, such tumors usually arise in perimenopausal or postmenopausal women with decreased serum estrogen levels. This study aimed to reveal the contributions of estrogen to endometrial carcinogenesis in a mouse model of endometrial carcinoma initiated by conditional targeting of Pten. Methods: The Cre-loxP system was used to achieve Pten inactivation within mouse endometrial epithelium. We delivered a recombinant adenovirus vector expressing Cre recombinase to the endometrial cavity of the Pten loxP/loxP mice that had been ovariectomized at 10 weeks old. Mice were subcutaneously injected with 17&bgr;-estradiol (E2) or vehicle, followed by injection of the adenovirus. Two weeks after adenovirus injection, the entire endometrium was analyzed. Results: Mice that did not receive E2 injection notably developed endometrial neoplasia, complex atypical hyperplasia, or carcinoma (7/8, 87.5%). In contrast, hyperplastic but nonneoplastic endometrium was observed in E2-treated mice. In these E2-treated mice, immunohistochemistry revealed that Pten-null glandular epithelial cells clonally proliferate among the hyperplastic endometrium. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that estrogen clonally proliferates Pten-null epithelial cells together with surrounding cells, and depletion of estrogen induces predominant growth of Pten-null cells with estrogen-independent capabilities, resulting in abnormal structure of the glandular cells and subsequent neoplasia. This phenomenon might explain why the incidence of human endometrial carcinoma increases with perimenopausal or postmenopausal status, which represents declining ovarian function. Our model mice have partially resolved the issue of endometrial Pten- and estrogen-related carcinogenesis and have potential to represent a valuable tool for developing novel therapies against this carcinoma.
Removing the texture feature response to object boundaries

Texture is a spatial property and thus any features used to describe it must be calculated within a neighbourhood. This process of integrating information over a neighbourhood leads to what we will refer to as the texture boundary response problem, where an unwanted response is observed at object boundaries. This response is due to features being extracted from a mixture of textures and/or an intensity edge between objects. If segmentation is performed using these raw features this will lead to the generation of unwanted classes along object boundaries. To overcome this, post processing of feature images must be performed to remove this response before a classification algorithm can be applied. To date this problem has received little attention with no evaluation of the alternative solutions available in the literature of which we are aware. In this work we perform an evaluation of known solutions to the boundary response problem and discover separable median filtering to be the curre nt best choice. An in depth evaluation of the separable median filtering approach shows that it fails to remove certain parts or types of object boundary response. To overcome this failing we propose two alternative techniques which involve either post processing of the separable median filtered result or an alternative filtering technique.
Fixing the Java memory model

The Java memory model described in Chapter 17 of the Java Language Specication gives constraints on how threads interact through memory. The Java memory model is hard to interpret and poorly understood; it imposes constraints that prohibit common compiler optimizations and are expensive to implement on existing hardware. At least one shipping optimizing Java compiler violates the constraints of the existing Java memory model. These issues are particularly important for high-performance Java applications, since they are more likely to use and need aggressive optimizing compilers and parallel processors. In addition, programming idioms used by some programmers and used within Sun’s Java Development Kit is not guaranteed to be valid according the existing Java memory model. This paper reviews these issues and suggests replacement memory models for Java.
Study of the fluoro- and chlorodimethylbutyl cations

A comparative study of the 2,3-dimethyl-3-fluoro-2-butyl cation and its chloro analog was carried out by the ab initio/GIAO-CCSD(T) (gauge invariant atomic orbital-coupled cluster with single, double, and perturbative triple excitation) method. The structures and 13C NMR chemical shifts of the cations were calculated at the GIAO-CCSD(T)/tzp/dz//MP2/cc-pVTZ level. Bridged fluoronium ion 1, carbenium ion 2, and fluorocarbenium ion 3 were found to be minima on the potential energy surface. Bridged fluoronium ion 1, although a minimum on the potential energy surface, is 12.8 kcal/mol less stable than the open chain fluorobutyl cation 3. In contrast to the fluorinated ion, bridged chloronium ion 5 was found to be the lowest energy minimum being 10.6 kcal/mol more stable than ion 6 and 7.4 kcal/mol more stable than ion 7.
Random matrix processes: Quantifying rates of change in MIMO systems

The rates of change of a wide variety of MIMO metrics are evaluated by differentiating the relevant random processes. Moments, distributions and simplified representations are derived where possible for the resulting derivatives. Fundamental metrics such as the channel coefficients, channel correlation matrices and eigenvalues are considered in addition to performance metrics such as bit-error-rate and the condition number. The analysis presents a comprehensive framework for studying the time-varying nature of MIMO systems in independent Rayleigh fading and leads to insights into the relative rates of change of the various metrics. For example, we show that there is a difference of several orders of magnitude between the moderate rates of change of channel elements and eigenvalues and the extremely rapid variations of the channel condition number. The channel eigenvectors are also shown to experience rapid fluctuations.
Identification of Modification Sites in Large Biomolecules by Stable Isotope Labeling and Tandem High Resolution Mass Spectrometry

A widely used procedure for site localization of covalent protein modifications involves proteolysis, partial chromatographic separation of the resulting complex mixture, and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) to identify peptides whose molecular weight (M r) has been increased appropriately by the modification. As found previously for MS of small molecules, this study shows that protein fragment identification can be greatly simplified by labeling the modification with stable isotopes. Further, the high resolution capabilities of Fourier transform MS make possible the direct identification of CH3/CD3-labeled peptides without chromatographic separation. Although separate Asp-N, Lys-C, and α-chymotrypsin digests of thiaminase I (42 kDa) yielded as many as 70 peptides, FTMS identification of the labeled peptide localized the modification site of a mechanism-based inhibitor to Arg101-Lys121, Asp90-Gly122, and Gly107-Tyr119, respectively. The measured mass difference values of the two labels agreed with that expected for CH3/CD3, 3.019 Da, with a standard deviation of 0.005 Da, providing persuasive identity verification. MS/MS fragmentation narrowed the site to Pro109-Phe118 and also caused loss of the derivative with a sulfur atom, uniquely identifying Cys113as the thiaminase I active-site nucleophile among the 379 amino acids.
Differential Regulation of Endogenous N- and P/Q-Type Ca2+ Channel Inactivation by Ca2+/Calmodulin Impacts on Their Ability to Support Exocytosis in Chromaffin Cells

P/Q-type (CaV2.1) and N-type (CaV2.2) Ca2+ channels are critical to stimulus-secretion coupling in the nervous system; feedback regulation of these channels by Ca2+ is therefore predicted to profoundly influence neurotransmission. Here we report divergent regulation of Ca2+-dependent inactivation (CDI) of native N- and P/Q-type Ca2+ channels by calmodulin (CaM) in adult chromaffin cells. Robust CDI of N-type channels was observed in response to prolonged step depolarizations, as well as repetitive stimulation with either brief step depolarizations or action potential-like voltage stimuli. Adenoviral expression of Ca2+-insensitive calmodulin mutants eliminated CDI of N-type channels. This is the first demonstration of CaM-dependent CDI of a native N-type channel. CDI of P/Q-type channels was by comparison modest and insensitive to expression of CaM mutants. Cloning of the C terminus of the CaV2.1 α1 subunit from chromaffin cells revealed multiple splice variants lacking structural motifs required for CaM-dependent CDI. The physiological relevance of CDI on stimulus-coupled exocytosis was revealed by combining perforated-patch voltage-clamp recordings of pharmacologically isolated Ca2+ currents with membrane capacitance measurements of exocytosis. Increasing stimulus intensity to invoke CDI resulted in a significant decrease in the exocytotic efficiency of N-type channels compared with P/Q-type channels. Our results reveal unexpected diversity in CaM regulation of native CaV2 channels and suggest that the ability of individual Ca2+ channel subtypes to undergo CDI may be tailored by alternative splicing to meet the specific requirements of a particular cellular function.
Particle filtering based estimation of remaining useful life of lithium-ion batteries employing power fading data

This paper presents a method for remaining useful life (RUL) estimation of lithium-ion batteries based on its power fading model. Firstly, an empirical model of power fading is developed based on battery test data. Then, the obtained model has been used in a particle filtering (PF) framework for making end of life (EOL) predictions at various stages of its cycle life. Finally, the predictions were validated with battery power fade data. From the results it can be observed that as more volume of data becomes available, the accuracy of prediction gradually improves. The prognostics framework proposed in this work provides a systematic way for monitoring the state of health (SoH) of a battery.
The Impact of Positive Sagittal Balance in Adult Spinal Deformity

Study Design. This study is a retrospective review of 752 patients with adult spinal deformity enrolled in a multicenter prospective database in 2002 and 2003. Patients with positive sagittal balance (N = 352) were further evaluated regarding radiographic parameters and health status measures, including the Scoliosis Research Society patient questionnaire, MOS short form-12, and Oswestry Disability Index. Objectives. To examine patients with adult deformity with positive sagittal balance to define parameters within that group that might differentially predict clinical impact. Summary of Background Data. In a multicenter study of 298 adults with spinal deformity, positive sagittal balance was identified as the radiographic parameter most highly correlated with adverse health status outcomes. Methods. Radiographic evaluation was performed according to a standarized protocol for 36-inch standing radiographs. Magnitude of positive sagittal balance and regional sagittal Cobb angle measures were recorded. Statistical correlation between radiographic parameters and health status measures were performed. Potentially confounding variables were assessed. Results. Positive sagittal balance was identified in 352 patients. The C7 plumb line deviation ranged from 1 to 271 mm. All measures of health status showed significantly poorer scores as C7 plumb line deviation increased. Patients with relative kyphosis in the lumbar region had significantly more disability than patients with normal or lordotic lumbar sagittal Cobb measures. Conclusions. This study shows that although even mildly positive sagittal balance is somewhat detrimental, severity of symptoms increases in a linear fashion with progressive sagittal imbalance. The results also show that kyphosis is more favorable in the upper thoracic region but very poorly tolerated in the lumbar spine.
Homology-based fold predictions for Mycoplasma genitalium proteins.

Homology search techniques based on the iterative PSI-BLAST method in combination with various filters for low sequence complexity are applied to assign folds to all Mycoplasma genitalium proteins. The resulting procedure (implemented as a web server) is able to predict at least one domain in 37% of these proteins automatically, with an estimated accuracy higher than 98%. Taking structural features such as coiled coil or transmembrane regions aside, folds can be assigned to more than half of the globular proteins in a bacterium just by iterative sequence comparison.
Low-complexity hybrid beam-tracking algorithms and architectures for mmWave MIMO systems

In the next-generation 5G system, millimeter wave (mmWave) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system utilizes massive antennas at transmitter and receiver to increase the throughput and reliability. Due to the short wavelength of mmWave signals, more antennas can be adopted to alleviate severe channel path loss. However, the increase of RF chains raises the chip cost of the transceiver. Thus, hybrid RF beam-forming and baseband precoding scheme was proposed to reduce the RF chain number and complexity. This study presents a modified mmWave channel model by adding continuous drifting feature for mmWave system. This paper also proposes two pre-parallel index selection algorithms and architectures that can reduce the complexity by reusing previous precoder results and enables a parallel hardware architecture for the hybrid beam-tracking. The PPIS-MIB-SOMP and bit-stream-based PPIS-MIB-SOMP algorithms can reduce the complexity by 74% and 49%, respectively, in the 16×16 mmWave MIMO continuous tracking system.
Improved contact prediction in proteins: using pseudolikelihoods to infer Potts models.

Spatially proximate amino acids in a protein tend to coevolve. A protein's three-dimensional (3D) structure hence leaves an echo of correlations in the evolutionary record. Reverse engineering 3D structures from such correlations is an open problem in structural biology, pursued with increasing vigor as more and more protein sequences continue to fill the data banks. Within this task lies a statistical inference problem, rooted in the following: correlation between two sites in a protein sequence can arise from firsthand interaction but can also be network-propagated via intermediate sites; observed correlation is not enough to guarantee proximity. To separate direct from indirect interactions is an instance of the general problem of inverse statistical mechanics, where the task is to learn model parameters (fields, couplings) from observables (magnetizations, correlations, samples) in large systems. In the context of protein sequences, the approach has been referred to as direct-coupling analysis. Here we show that the pseudolikelihood method, applied to 21-state Potts models describing the statistical properties of families of evolutionarily related proteins, significantly outperforms existing approaches to the direct-coupling analysis, the latter being based on standard mean-field techniques. This improved performance also relies on a modified score for the coupling strength. The results are verified using known crystal structures of specific sequence instances of various protein families. Code implementing the new method can be found at http://plmdca.csc. kth.se/.
A 10-Gb/s fully balanced differential output transimpedance amplifier in 0.18-μm CMOS technology for SDH/SONET application

In this paper, a fully balanced 10-Gb/s differential output transimpedance amplifier (TIA) is realized in 0.18-mum CMOS technology for SDH/SONET application. The TIApsilas input dynamic range is further improved by adding an automatic gain control (AGC) amplifier circuit. To extend the -3-dB bandwidth in a limited 0.18-mum CMOS process, this design utilizes the series peaking technique with 50-Omega output buffer while achieves the differential gain of 62-dBOmega and the bandwidth of 8.1-GHz in the presence of 0.2-pF photodiode capacitance. This TIA operates from a dual supply voltages of 1.8-V for TIA core and 2.2-V for the AGC block while consuming 70-mW of total chip power with the input sensitivity of -15-dBm for a bit error ratio (BER) of 10-12.
Intrinsic Data Retention in Nanoscaled Phase-Change Memories—Part II: Statistical Analysis and Prediction of Failure Time

The statistical spread of intrinsic data retention times in phase-change memory (PCM) cells is studied. Based on the crystallization and percolation model described in part 1, the crystalline grain size in the amorphous volume after data loss is extracted. From the temperature dependence of grain size, the authors calculate the statistical shape factor for the distribution of failure times, allowing a statistical prediction of data retention in PCM large arrays. The scaling and optimization issues with respect to failure time statistical spread are finally addressed
Connective tissue growth factor is an indicator of bone involvement in multiple myeloma, but matrix metalloproteinase‐9 is not

Bone disease (BD) in multiple myeloma (MM) is because of the activation of osteoclasts and impairment of osteoblast differentiation. Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) is known to participate in the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells to committed osteoprogenitor cells. We analysed the concentration of circulating CTGF in 35 MM patients and 22 malignant lymphoma (ML) patients and 14 normal individuals. CTGF is protease‐sensitive and thus is found as both an N‐terminal half fragment (N‐half CTGF) and whole (W‐CTGF). Serum levels of W‐CTGF and N‐half CTGF + W‐CTGF were determined by separate sandwich enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assays. The level of W‐CTGF was significantly lower (P < 0·005) in MM patients compared with ML patients and normal individuals, while N‐half + W‐CTGF was similar in all groups. Furthermore, W‐CTGF was significantly lower in MM patients with BD compared with those without BD (P < 0·005) and this was independent of previous treatment. Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)‐9 is produced by myeloma cells and is thought to be related to BD in MM. However, MMP‐9 does not cleave CTGF and serum MMP‐9 level was not related to BD in MM. Thus, CTGF is an indicator of BD in MM; its metabolism and function in MM should be clarified.
Water Quality Monitoring based on Small Satellite Technology

In order to improve the routine of water quality monitoring and reduce the risk of accidental or deliberate contaminations, this paper presents the development of in-situ water quality monitoring and analysis system based on small satellite technology. A space mission design and analysis was performed in this work. The system consists of three segments; space segment including a constellation of nano-satellites, ground segment entailing the ground station and user-segment containing the in-situ water quality sensors. The authors studied the orbit characteristics and the number of nano-satellites required to cover the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) which presents the most water scarce region of the world. Thus, 9 nano-satellites distributed in 5 low earth orbits (600 km) are needed to cover MENA region continuously for about all the day. Data collected by various sensors such as pH and temperature are sent through Software Defined Radio (SDR) module which is responsible for the satellite communication.
Promoting evidence‐based urinary incontinence management in acute nursing and rehabilitation care—A process evaluation of an implementation intervention in the orthopaedic context

RATIONALE, AIMS, AND OBJECTIVES The risk of developing urinary incontinence (UI) is associated with older age and hip surgery. There has been limited focus on factors that promote evidence-based UI practice in the orthopaedic context. The aim of this study was to evaluate an implementation intervention to support evidence-based practice for UI in patients aged 65 or older undergoing hip surgery. METHODS A 3-month intervention was delivered in 2014 to facilitate the implementation of UI knowledge in orthopaedic units in 2 hospitals in Sweden. Each unit appointed a multidisciplinary team of nurses and physiotherapists or occupational therapists to facilitate the implementation. The teams were supported by external facilitators who shared knowledge about UI and implementation science. Interviews, nonparticipant observations, and audits of patient records were performed. RESULTS Prior to the intervention, there was no use of guidelines regarding UI. The intervention raised the internal facilitators' awareness of UI risks associated with hip surgery. As internal facilitators shared this information with their peers, staff awareness of UI increased. The teams of internal facilitators described needing additional time and support from managers to implement evidence-based UI care. A management initiative triggered by the intervention increased the documentation of UI and urinary problems in 1 unit. CONCLUSION To promote evidence-based practice related to safe procedures for older people in hospital care, there is a need to better understand strategies that successfully facilitate knowledge implementation. This study suggests that a multiprofessional team approach is promising for instigating a process towards evidence-based management of UI.
Assessing the Resting Energy Expenditure of Cancer Patients in the Penang General

Introduction: Malnutrition is common in cancer patients. Generally, it is believed that the resting energy expenditure (REE) is elevated in cancer patients and this contributes to the development of malnutrition. Thus, to be able to assess the REE is important in planning adequate nutrition support. Methods: A crosssectional study was carried out to assess the REE in patients with solid tumour (n=25), leukemia (n=25) and healthy subjects (n=50) by using the indirect calorimetry method under standard conditions. Results: There was no significant difference between the measured REE among patients with solid tumour, leukemia and the control group (p=0.534). By contrast, there was a significant difference between the REE/kg FFM in solid tumour patients compared to the leukemia group and the healthy subjects, (p=0.049 and p=0.002). The REE derived from the Harris Benedict Equation was found to be significantly higher than the measured REE. The stress factor for patients with solid tumour was 1.35 and that for leukemia patients was 1.36. Conclusion: The REE/ kg FFM in the cancer patients undergoing anticancer therapy appeared to be higher than expected compared to healthy subjects. The Harris Benedict Equation (HBE) was found to over-estimate the REE of cancer patients in the study. As the total energy expenditure (TEE) is estimated by multiplying the REE with the stress factor and physical activity factor, the overestimated REE from HBE will further increase the risk of overfeeding in this population.
Stable walking algorithm using tilting motion for a bipedal robot: Control of torso on 2-dimension plane of ZMP

The bipedal robot has a better mobility than the wheel based robot but, its structure is not stable basically. In various environments, it's necessary that the center of the gravity moves properly to get flexible and efficient walking pattern for the walking stability. In this paper, walking trajectory function consistent with constrain in each joint is realized to generate flexible walking pattern and the flexibility, and stability of walking trajectory function are maximized through Acceleration/Deceleration control of each joint which consists of the robot links. Finally, applying the Tilting control, the study for improving walking stability was performed through the ZMP distribution calculated from the robot sensor on its sole.