Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of obesity on functional outcomes at 6 months post-stroke among elderly Koreans: a prospective multicentre study

Objectives We examined whether obesity based on body mass index (BMI) was a predictor of functional independence measure (FIM) at 6 months after ischaemic stroke onset while adjusting for stroke risk factors and covariates and stratifying by age group. Design This is an interim report of the Korean Stroke Cohort for Functioning and Rehabilitation that was designed as a nested case study within a nationwide hospital-based cohort. Setting We identified all patients who were admitted to nine representative hospitals in Korea from 2012 until 2014 under a diagnosis of acute first-ever ischaemic stroke. The hospitals were selected from the metropolitan district, mid-sized cities and a small-sized city. Participants The sample included 2057 patients with acute ischaemic stroke who were at least 18 years old. Primary and secondary outcome measures We divided participants into two age levels (<65 and ≥65 years). Participants were classified into five groups according to their baseline BMI at admission: underweight (BMI<18.5), normal (18.5≤BMI<23), overweight (23≤BMI<25), obese (25≤BMI<30) and extremely obese (30≤BMI). Results The proportion of patients who were aged ≥65 years was 55.0%. The proportions of underweight, normal, overweight, obese and extremely obese patients were 2.6%, 24.3%, 29.6%, 37.2% and 6.3%, respectively, in the <65 years group and 5.5%, 34.5%, 27.9%, 28.8% and 3.3%, respectively, in the ≥65 years group. In a multiple linear regression, the 6-month FIM after stroke in the elderly group was significantly associated with being extremely obese (7.95, p<0.05) after adjusting for confounding variables. In the <65 years group, the 6-month FIM was not associated with any weight category. Conclusions This nationwide hospital-based cohort study showed that extreme obesity is a predictor of a good 6-month FIM, especially in patients with ischaemic stroke who are at least 65 years of age.
Three-dimensional position measurement of a gold nanoparticle trapped in optical tweezers using in-line low-coherence digital holography

We demonstrate the three-dimensional position measurement of a 100nm-gold nanoparticle held in optical tweezers in solution using an in-line low-coherence digital holographic microscope. The trapped gold nanoparticle had the axial movement of 4.5nm in the standard deviation when a 300mW laser beam was focused with an 1.25NA objective lens.
Displacement of basolateral Bazooka/PAR-3 by regulated transport and dispersion during epithelial polarization in Drosophila

Bazooka/PAR-3 apicolateral polarity landmarks are established by the combination of two basolateral displacement activities in the Drosophila embryo. Basolateral PAR-1 activity acts redundantly with a basal-to-apical transport mechanism. With disruption of either mechanism alone Bazooka can polarize, but disruption of both blocks polarization.
Comparative Genome Analysis of Mycobacterium avium Revealed Genetic Diversity in Strains that Cause Pulmonary and Disseminated Disease

Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) infection causes disseminated disease in immunocompromised hosts, such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients, and pulmonary disease in persons without systemic immunosuppression, which has been increasing in many countries. In Japan, the incidence of pulmonary MAC disease caused by M. avium is about 7 times higher than that caused by M. intracellulare. To explore the bacterial factors that affect the pathological state of MAC disease caused by M. avium, we determined the complete genome sequence of the previously unreported M. avium subsp. hominissuis strain TH135 isolated from a HIV-negative patient with pulmonary MAC disease and compared it with the known genomic sequence of M. avium strain 104 derived from an acquired immunodeficiency syndrome patient with MAC disease. The genome of strain TH135 consists of a 4,951,217-bp circular chromosome with 4,636 coding sequences. Comparative analysis revealed that 4,012 genes are shared between the two strains, and strains TH135 and 104 have 624 and 1,108 unique genes, respectively. Many strain-specific regions including virulence-associated genes were found in genomes of both strains, and except for some regions, the G+C content in the specific regions was low compared with the mean G+C content of the corresponding chromosome. Screening of clinical isolates for genes located in the strain-specific regions revealed that the detection rates of strain TH135-specific genes were relatively high in specimens isolated from pulmonary MAC disease patients, while, those of strain 104-specific genes were relatively high in those from HIV-positive patients. Collectively, M. avium strains that cause pulmonary and disseminated disease possess genetically distinct features, and it suggests that the acquisition of specific genes during strain evolution has played an important role in the pathological manifestations of MAC disease.
Examining Secondary Special Education Teachers’ Literacy Instructional Practices

ABSTRACT This study presents findings from a survey of secondary special education teachers who teach reading. Respondents were 577 special education teachers from a large Midwestern state who completed an online or mail survey. Results based on quantitative and qualitative analyses indicate predominant foci of secondary special education teachers’ reading instructional practices were teaching vocabulary and comprehension, engaging in ongoing formative assessment, and incorporating technology into instruction. Major themes included the widespread use of commercial reading programs and a bifurcation of instructional roles. These findings are discussed in relation to the national discourse on adolescent literacy and current schooling initiatives including the Common Core State Standards and Multi-tiered Systems of Support.
Performance characteristics of LSB steganalysis based on statistics of image difference signal

We evaluate performance characteristics of LSB steganalysis based on statistics of image difference signal using a discretized version of two dimensional Gaussian distribution. We numerically obtain a joint probability and a distribution of difference signal for our probabilistic model. Furthermore, a variation of difference signal by zero embedding and that by random embedding are computed. Many results of our computer simulation show a limit of estimation ability. From the point of view of the mean squared error, we argue that our method is superior to sample pairs analysis and RS steganalysis. The miss rate and false alarm rate for our steganalysis are plotted.
Establishing Restricted Expression of Caveolin-1 in HIV Infected Cells and Inhibition of Virus Replication

Background: Caveolin-1 (Cav-1) is the major protein of the caveolae and plays a role in multiple cellular functions and implicated to have anti-HIV activity. Regulated expression of Cav-1 is important for safe and effective use in order to exploit Cav-1 for HIV therapeutic applications. Methods: A series of Cav-1 and GFP expression vectors were constructed under the control of the HIV LTR for conditional expression or CMV promoter and the expression of Cav-1 was monitored in the presence or absence of Tat or HIV infection in order to establish the restricted expression of Cav-1 to HIV infected cells. Results: Cav-1 expression was evident under the control of the HIV LTR in the absence of Tat or HIV infection as demonstrated by immunoblot. Placing two internal ribosomal entry sequences (IRES) and a Rev response element, RRE (5’~ LTR-IRES-GFP-RRE-IRES-Cav-1~3’) resulted in no expression of Cav-1 in the absence of Tat with effective expression in the presence of Tat. Transduction of HIV permissive cells with this construct using a foamy virus vector show that Cav-1 was able to inhibit HIV replication by 82%. Cells that received LTR-IRES-GFP-RRE-IRES-Cav-1 remain healthy in the absence of Tat or HIV infection. Conclusion: These results taken together reveal the inclusion of two IRES establishes a significant reduction of leak through expression of Cav-1 in the absence of Tat or HIV infection. Such regulated expression will have therapeutic application of Cav-1 for HIV infection as well as broad applications which can be beneficial for other host-targeted interventions as therapeutics.
A general model of opportunistic spectrum sharing with unreliable sensing

We analytically call waiting in the buffer can reconnect when a channel becomes available or drop out when a maximum waiting time is reached. Spectrum sensing errors from either an initiating or an ongoing secondary user cause false alarm and misdetection events, which may impose various impact on both types of users. We analyze multiple sensing errors and multiple possible results cause by the sensing errors, solve the steady‐state probability vector of the system, and derive a set of performance metrics of interest. Numerical results and discussion are presented. The proposed modeling method is expected to be used for evaluation and design of future OSS wireless networks. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Clonality inference in multiple tumor samples using phylogeny

MOTIVATION Intra-tumor heterogeneity presents itself through the evolution of subclones during cancer progression. Although recent research suggests that this heterogeneity has clinical implications, in silico determination of the clonal subpopulations remains a challenge. RESULTS We address this problem through a novel combinatorial method, named clonality inference in tumors using phylogeny (CITUP), that infers clonal populations and their frequencies while satisfying phylogenetic constraints and is able to exploit data from multiple samples. Using simulated datasets and deep sequencing data from two cancer studies, we show that CITUP predicts clonal frequencies and the underlying phylogeny with high accuracy. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION CITUP is freely available at: http://sourceforge.net/projects/citup/. CONTACT cenk@sfu.ca SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Laparoscopy as a Diagnostic and Definitive Therapeutic Tool in Cases of Inflamed Simple Lymphatic Cysts of the Mesentery

Mesenteric cysts are rare benign abdominal tumors. These cysts, especially those of lymphatic origin, very rarely become inflamed. The diagnosis of inflamed lymphatic cysts of the mesentery may be difficult. We herein report two cases of inflamed simple lymphatic cysts of the mesentery definitively diagnosed and excised by laparoscopy.
Infrared Emission from Interstellar Dust Ii. the Diffuse Interstellar Medium

We present a quantitative model for the infrared emission from dust in the diffuse interstellar medium. The model consists of a mixture of amorphous silicate grains and carbonaceous grains, each with a wide size distribution ranging from molecules containing tens of atoms to large grains 1 micron in diameter. We assume that the carbonaceous grains have polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-like properties at very small sizes, and graphitic properties for radii a 50Å. On the basis of recent laboratory studies and guided by astronomical observations, we propose " astronomical " absorption cross sections for use in modeling neutral and ionized PAHs from the far ultraviolet to the far infrared. We also propose modifications to the far-infrared emissivity of " astronomical silicate ". We calculate energy distribution functions for small grains undergoing " temperature spikes " due to stochastic absorption of starlight photons, using realistic heat capacities and optical properties. Using a grain size distribution consistent with the observed interstellar extinction, we are able to reproduce the near-IR to submillimeter emission spectrum of the diffuse interstellar medium, including the PAH emission features at 3.3, 6.2, 7.7, 8.6, and 11. 3µm. The model is compared with the observed emission at high Galactic latitudes as well as in the Galactic plane, as measured by the COBE/DIRBE, COBE/FIRAS, IRTS/MIRS, and IRTS/NIRS instruments. The model has 60 × 10 −6 of C (relative to H) locked up in PAHs, with 45×10 −6 of C in a component peaking at ∼ 6 ˚ A (N C ≈ 100 carbon atoms) to account for the PAH emission features, and with 15 × 10 −6 of C in a component peaking at ∼ 50Å to account for the 60µm flux. The total infrared emission is in excellent agreement with COBE/DIRBE observations at high galactic latitudes, just as the albedo for our grain model is in accord with observations of the diffuse galactic light. The aromatic absorption features at 3.3µm and 6.2µm predicted by our dust model are consistent with observations. We calculate infrared emission spectra for our dust model heated by a range of starlight intensities, from 0.3 to 10 4 times the local interstellar radiation field, and we tabulate the intensities integrated over the SIRTF/IRAC and MIPS bands. We also provide dust opacities tabulated from the extreme ultraviolet to submillimeter wavelengths.
Constructive Methods for Scheduling Uniform Loop Nests

This paper surveys scheduling techniques for loop nests with uniform dependences. First, we introduce the hyperplane method and related variants. Then we extend it by using a different affine scheduling for each statement within the nest. In both cases, we present a new, constructive, and efficient method to determine optimal solutions, i.e., schedules whose total execution time is minimum. >
Boundary-Integral Calculations of Two-Dimensional Electromagnetic Scattering in Infinite Photonic Crystal Slabs: Channel Defects and Resonances

We compute the transmission of two-dimensional (2D) electromagnetic waves through a square lattice of lossless dielectric rods with a channel defect. The lattice is finite in the direction of propagation of the incident wave and periodic in a transverse direction. We revisit a boundary-integral formulation of 2D electromagnetic scattering [Venakides, Haider, and Papanicolaou, SIAM J. Appl. Math., 60 (2000), pp. 1686--1706] that is Fredholm of the first kind and develop a second-kind formulation. We refine the numerical implementation in the above paper by exploiting separability in the Green's function to evaluate the far-field influence more efficiently. The resulting cost savings in computing and solving the discretized linear system leads to an accelerated method. We use it to analyze E-polarized electromagnetic scattering of normally incident waves on a structure with a periodic channel defect. We find three categories of resonances: waveguide modes in the channel, high-amplitude fields in the crystal.
An efficient borrowing channel assignmnet scheme for cellular mobile systems

In this paper, we propose a new efficient borrowing channel assignment (BCA) scheme, which consists of two phases. The first ordinary channel allocation phase borrows a channel from neighboring cells by an impact-based borrowing strategy. The second channel reallocation phase has a reallocation procedure for locked-channel utilization and a reallocation procedure for efficient channel reuse. Simulation results show that in both uniform and nonuniform traffic cases, our schemes significantly reduce the system blocking probability over the other existing schemes. Furthermore, one of our schemes has a much smaller number of reallocations than other compared schemes.
Human α4β2 Acetylcholine Receptors Formed from Linked Subunits

We prepared concatamers of α4 and β2 subunits for human nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (AChRs), in which the C terminus of α4 was linked to the N terminus of β2, or vice versa, via a tripeptide sequence repeated 6 or 12 times, and expressed them in Xenopus oocytes. Linkage did not substantially alter channel amplitude or channel open-duration. Linkage at the C terminus of α4 prevented AChR potentiation by 17-β-estradiol by disruption of its binding site. Assembly of AChRs from concatamers was less efficient, but function was much more efficient than that of unlinked subunits. With both linked and free subunits, greater ACh-induced currents per surface AChR were observed with the (α4)3(β2)2 stoichiometry than with the (α4)2(β2)3 stoichiometry. The (α4)3(β2)2 stoichiometry exhibited much lower ACh sensitivity. When concatamers were expressed alone, dipentameric AChRs were formed in which the (α4)2(β2)3 pentamer was linked to the (α4)3(β2)2 pentamer. Dipentamers were selectively expressed on the cell surface, whereas most monopentamers with dangling subunits were retained intracellularly. Coexpression of concatamers with monomeric β2, β4, or α4 subunits resulted in monopentamers, the stoichiometry of which was determined by the free subunit added. Linkage between the C terminus of β2 and the N terminus of α4 favored formation of ACh-binding sites within the concatamer, whereas linkage between the C terminus of α4 and the N terminus of β2 favored formation of ACh-binding sites between concatamers. These protein-engineering studies provide insight into the structure and function of α4β2 AChRs, emphasizing the functional differences between α4β2 AChRs of different stoichiometries.
Comparative analysis of bagging, stacking and random subspace algorithms

Data mining is a powerful new technology and is an important area of science and engineering. In this paper show that the comparing results using bagging, stacking and random subspace algorithms on forest fire data set in to WEKA data mining suite. We compare better results of these methods and improve classification accuracy. Performance results show that the classifiers built. These classifiers are more accurate than that produced by the classification methods. Finally, we are explaining the combining technique for increasing accuracy on the data set is presented. Experimental results are based on minimum time and minimum error rates.
Virialization of cosmological structures in models with time-varying equation of state

We study the virialization of the cosmic structures in the framework of flat cosmological models where the dark energy component plays an important role in the global dynamics of the Universe. In particular, our analysis focuses on the study of the spherical matter perturbations, as the latter decouple from the background expansion, start to 'turn around' and finally collapse. We generalize this procedure, taking into account models with an equation of state which vary with time, and provide a complete formulation of the cluster virialization attempting to address the non-linear regime of structure formation. In particular, assuming that clusters have collapsed prior to the epoch of z f ≃ 1.4, in which the most distant cluster has been found, we show that the behaviour of the spherical collapse model depends on the functional form of the equation of state.
Normalization of vowels by vocal-tract length and its application to vowel identification

A new approach to speech parameter normalization is presented in which no prior knowledge about the input speakers is required. The vocal-tract length and area function are first estimated from the acoustic speech waveform, and then the area function is normalized to an acoustic tube of the same shape having a certain reference length. The normalized formant frequencies are defined as the resonance frequencies of this acoustic tube. The distributions of unnormalized and normalized formant frequencies for 9 stationary American vowels were investigated with 14 male and 12 female speakers. Fairly compact distributions of the vowels in the normalized F 1 -F 2 -F 3 space were obtained. A preliminary identification test for stationary vowels based on this normalization method showed an expected average recognition rate of 84-96 percent for arbitrarily selected speakers, depending on the phonetic criteria adopted for defining "correct" identification.
Making ‘what works’ work: enacting evidence-based pedagogies in early childhood education and care

Abstract Inspired by perspectives from actor-network theory, this paper challenges key assumptions in evidence-based pedagogies. Through a multi-sited analysis of the evidence-based pedagogy ‘Dialogic Reading’ (DR) in the area of early childhood education and care in Denmark, the paper explores how DR is enacted as part of an assemblage of tests, research in the field of audiologopedics, classifications of reading disabilities, day care centres and the book as a ‘nice experience’. It also explores how DR is organised in a local day care centre, hereby organising objects such as dolls, books, children and a mattress. As such, the paper shows how DR, as an evidence-based method, is established through concrete relations, rather than abstracted and universal principals. It argues that these relations stabilising DR are never enacted once and for all, but require continual work to be held together as a method that ‘works’.
Several Issues on the Boolean Satisfiability (SAT) Problem

Title of Thesis: Several Issues on the Boolean Satisfiability (SAT) Problem Degree candidate: Pushkin Raj Pari Degree and year: Master of Science, 2004 Thesis directed by: Professor Dr. Gang Qu Department of Electrical Engineering Boolean Satisfiability (SAT) is often used as the model for a significant and increasing number of applications in Electronics Design Automation (EDA) and many other fields of computer science and engineering. Although the SAT problem belongs to the class NP-complete problems that do not have a polynomial run time algorithm but answers for which can be checked for correctness, by an algorithm with run time is polynomial in the size of the input typical SAT instances are easy to solve. Both theoretical and empirical studies have been conducted on various SAT models to investigate when SAT instances become hard to solve. For more than a decade, crossover point has been the only parameter considered for hardness. Existing results state that for random SAT, the problems becomes relatively harder when the clause to variable ratio is 4.3. This thesis work is motivated by the observation that not all benchmarks at the crossover point are hard. We conjecture that the structure of the solution space is also related to the hardness. We provide an empirical framework for the validation of this conjecture. Firstly, we show by experiments that (1) the crossover point is not the only metric to characterize hardness and (2) existing benchmarks are inefficient in providing solution space information We present a novel approach to generate the SAT instances with known solution space structure. Another related issue on how to obtain the solution space information is also discussed, where we propose two probabilistic techniques for quick estimation of the solution space with high accuracy. Several Issues on the Boolean Satisfiability (SAT) Problem