Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Polymorphisms at the Osteoprotegerin and Interleukin-6 Genes in Relation to First-Ever Stroke

Background: Arterial calcification and osteoporosis often coexist, especially in postmenopausal women. Osteoporosis associates with a substantially increased risk of stroke in elderly women, suggesting that impaired estrogen signaling may link stroke and osteoporosis. Osteoprotegerin (OPG, TNFRSF11B) and interleukin-6 (IL-6, IL6) are putative target genes for estrogen signaling and have been implicated in both cardiovascular diseases and osteoporosis. We hypothesized that specific polymorphisms in these genes may be associated with increased risk of ischemic stroke or intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Methods: We performed a population-based prospective nested case-control study, in which the relationships between polymorphisms (OPG-1181G/C, OPG-950T/C and IL6-174G/C) and ischemic stroke and ICH were examined. Definitive first-ever stroke events (n = 388), i.e. ischemic stroke (n = 320), ICH (n = 61) and unspecified stroke (n = 7) cases, and controls without cardiovascular disease (n = 773), matched for age, sex and geographical region were studied. Univariate and multivariate models using conditional logistic regression, which included traditional risk factors, were used to test for association. Results: Carriers of the OPG-1181C/C genotype had a significantly (p = 0.018) increased risk of ICH (OR, 2.69; 95% CI, 1.19–6.12) in the univariate analysis. After adjustments (hypertension, diabetes, BMI and triglycerides), this genotype remained significantly (p = 0.005) associated with ICH (OR, 6.04; 95% CI, 1.71–21.29). By contrast, no correlations were found between this genotype and ischemic stroke, nor between the OPG-950T/C or IL6-174G/C polymorphisms and stroke subtypes. Conclusions: In this population, the OPG-1181C/C genotype associates with first-ever ICH, implying that alterations in OPG-mediated signaling in the vasculature may be involved in the pathophysiology of this disease.
Retrovirus promoter-trap vector to induce lacZ gene fusions in mammalian cells

A retrovirus promoter-trap vector (U3LacZ) has been developed in which Escherichia coli lacZ coding sequences were inserted into the 3' long terminal repeat (LTR) of an enhancerless Moloney murine leukemia virus. The U3LacZ virus contains the longest reported LTR (3.4 kbp); nevertheless, lacZ sequences did not interfere with the ability of the virus to transduce a neomycin resistance gene expressed from an internal promoter. Duplication of the LTR placed lacZ sequences in the 5' LTR just 30 nucleotides from the flanking cellular DNA. Approximately 0.4% of integrated proviruses expressed beta-galactosidase as judged by 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-beta-D-galactopyranoside (X-Gal) staining, and individual clones expressing lacZ were isolated by fluorescence-activated cell sorting. In all clones examined, beta-galactosidase expression resulted from the fusion of lacZ sequences to transcriptional promoters located in the flanking cellular DNA. Furthermore, by differential sorting of neomycin-resistant cell populations, clones were isolated in which lacZ expression was induced and repressed in growth-arrested and log phase cells, respectively.
Altered mitogen‐activated protein kinase signaling in dystrophic (mdx) muscle

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) results from a deficiency in the protein, dystrophin. Dystrophic myotubes are susceptible to stressful stimuli. This may be partly due to altered regulation of pro‐survival signaling pathways, but a role for mitogen‐activated protein (MAP) kinases has not been investigated.
Electrical Impedance Tomography for Piecewise Constant Domains Using Boundary Element Shape-Based Inverse Solutions

Shape-based solutions have recently received attention for certain ill-posed inverse problems. Their advantages include implicit imposition of relevant constraints and reduction in the number of unknowns, especially important for nonlinear ill-posed problems. We apply the shape-based approach to current-injection electrical impedance tomography (EIT) reconstructions. We employ a boundary element method (BEM) based solution for EIT. We introduce two shape models, one based on modified B-splines, and the other based on spherical harmonics, for BEM modeling of shapes. These methods allow us to parameterize the geometry of conductivity inhomogeneities in the interior of the volume. We assume the general shape of piecewise constant inhomogeneities is known but their conductivities and their exact location and shape is not. We also assume the internal conductivity profile is piecewise constant, meaning that each region has a constant conductivity. We propose and test three different regularization techniques to be used with either of the shape models. The performance of our methods is illustrated via both simulations in a digital torso model and phantom experiments when there is a single internal object. We observe that in the noisy environment, either simulated noise or real sources of noise in the experimental study, we get reasonable reconstructions. Since the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) expected in modern EIT instruments is higher than that used in this study, these reconstruction methods may prove useful in practice
Urban Mobility Dynamics Based on Flexible Discrete Region Partition

Understanding the urban mobility patterns is essential for the planning and management of public infrastructure and transportation services. In this paper we focus on taxicab moving trajectory records and present a new approach to modeling and analyzing urban mobility dynamics. The proposed method comprises two phases. First, discrete space partition based on flexible grid is developed to divide urban environment into finite nonoverlapping subregions. By integrating mobility origin-destination points with covered region, the partitioned discrete subregions have better spatial semantics scalability. Then, we study mobility activity and its distribution randomness during given time periods among discrete subregions. Moreover, we also carry out the analysis of mobility linkage of mobility trips between different regions by O-D matrix. We present a case study with real dataset of taxicab mobility logs in Shenzhen, China, to demonstrate and evaluate the methodology. The experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms the clustering partition and regular partition methods.
MDS-UPDRS to assess non-motor symptoms after STN DBS for Parkinson's disease

Objective: To determine if the non-motor sections of the Movement Disorder Society's (MDS) version of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) could supplement the original UPDRS as a patient completed assessment of changes in non-motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients after bilateral subthalamic nucleus (STN) deep brain stimulation (DBS). Methods: Thirty PD patients who underwent bilateral STN DBS were assessed using the total UPDRS and the non-motor sections of the MDS-UPDRS prior to surgery and one year following surgery. This study focuses on non-motor symptoms as assessed by Part I of the UPDRS and Part 1A and 1B of the MDS-UPDRS. Results: One year following surgery, no individual non-motor symptoms or the total mentation score of the UPDRS were significantly changed. In comparison, the MDS-UPDRS showed significant improvements in sleep and urinary problems and a trend towards improvement in anxiety, constipation, daytime sleepiness, fatigue and pain. Conclusions: This study provides evidence that the MDS-UPDRS non-motor sections, when completed by the patients, can supplement the original version of the UPDRS as an effective method of measuring changes in non-motor symptoms after DBS. It also reinforces the benefits of bilateral STN DBS on non-motor symptoms of PD.
Purification and partial characterization of thioredoxin reductase from Streptomyces aureofaciens

Thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) is one of a number of flavoproteins that catalyze the transfer of electrons between pyridine nucleotides and a specific disulfide‐containing substrate. Thioredoxin reductase from Streptomyces aureofaciens 3239 has been purified to homogeneity by a two‐step chromatographic procedure including anion‐exchange chromatography and affinity chromatography on 2′5′‐ADP‐Sepharose 4B. Molar mass determined by chromatography on Superose 12 HR 10/30 and sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed 69 kDa for the native protein and 34.8 kDa for the enzyme subunit. The isoelectric point determined by isoelectric focusing gel electrophoresis was 4.3. TrxR effectively catalyzed the reduction of DTNB in the presence of S. aureofaciens thioredoxin‐1. TrxR activity in the presence of S. aureofaciens thioredoxin‐2 was only 1/4 of the activity with thioredoxin‐1 (1). The activity of pure TrxR decreased drastically in the presence of NADPH, while NADP+ as well as Streptomyces aureofaciens thioredoxin‐1 protected the enzyme from inactivation. These results indicate that thioredoxin reductase activity in bacteria could be modulated by the redox status of NADP+/NADPH and thioredoxin pools.
Modelling and control of a quadrotor carrying a suspended load

This work proposes a high level dynamic model of a quadrotor UAV with a suspended load in the three dimensional space. Euler Lagrange equations are applied, and a nonlinear controller, based on partial feedback linearization, is proposed and used to guide the quadrotor in positioning and trajectory tracking tasks. The controller is responsible for stabilizing the vehicle and for rejecting the disturbance caused by the load during the flight maneuvers. The proposal is validated by simulation results obtained using the AuRoRA platform.
An Improved Toeplitz Measurement Matrix for Compressive Sensing

Compressive sensing (CS) takes advantage of the signal's sparseness in some domain, allowing the entire signal to be efficiently acquired and reconstructed from relatively few measurements. A proper measurement matrix for compressive sensing is significance in above processions. In most compressive sensing frameworks, random measurement matrix is employed. However, the random measurement matrix is hard to implement by hardware. So the randomness of the measurement matrix leads to the poor performance of signal reconstruction. In this paper, Toeplitz matrix is employed and optimized as a deterministic measurement matrix. A hardware platform for signal efficient acquisition and reconstruction is built by field programmable gate arrays (FPGA). Experimental results demonstrate the proposed approach, compare with the existing state-of-the-art method, and have the highest technical feasibility, lowest computational complexity, and least amount of time consumption in the same reconstruction quality.
A novel compact tri-band antenna design for WiMAX, WLAN and Bluetooth applications

A novel and compact tri-band patch antenna for 2.4/5.2/5.8-GHz wireless local area network (WLAN), 2.3/3.5/5.5-GHz Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) and Bluetooth applications is proposed and studied in this paper. The antenna comprises of a L-shaped element which is coupled with a ground shorted parasitic resonator to generate three resonant modes for tri-band operation. The L-shaped element which is placed on top of the substrate is fed by a 50Ω microstrip feed line and is responsible for the generation of a wide band at 5.5 GHz. The parasitic resonator is placed on the other side of the substrate and is directly connected to the ground plane. The presence of the parasitic resonator gives rise to two additional resonant bands at 2.3 GHz and 3.5 GHz. Thus, together the two elements generate three resonant bands to cover WLAN, WiMAX and Bluetooth bands of operation. A thorough parametric study has been performed on the antenna and it has been found that the three bands can be tuned by varying certain dimensions of the antenna. Hence, the same design can be used for frequencies in adjacent bands as well with minor changes in its dimensions. Important antenna parameters such as return loss, radiation pattern and peak gains in the operating bands have been studied in detail to prove that the proposed design is a promising candidate for the aforementioned wireless technologies.
Synthesis and dielectric properties of epoxy based nanocomposites

Insulation based on epoxy resin is widely used in high voltage applications. This paper shows the formulation of epoxy based nanocomposites and the influence of the filler material on the DC breakdown strength. Filler materials discussed are SiO2, A12O3 and A1N with average particle size between 22 and 100nm. A1N has been chosen because it has shown to considerably increase the thermal conductivity of epoxy resin. SiO2 and A12O3 are widely used as filler for electrical applications since they improve mechanical, thermal and electrical properties, beside neat epoxy samples, which have been used as reference. Base material for all samples is conventional bisphenol-A type epoxy resin with anhydrite hardener. Particle size and dispersion within the epoxy matrix have been validated via transmission electron microscopy. Breakdown measurements have been performed by means of DC ramp tests. Results of nano-Al2O3 samples have also been compared with surface functionalized microscale filler.
Isolation, cultivation and identification of nanobacteria from placental calcification

Objective: The etiology of placental calcification (PC) is lack of research. To detect the bacterial infection mechanisms for PC, the experiment of isolating, culturing and identifying the nanobacteria in PC was done. Method: The calcified placental tissues from 18 confirmed PC cases with normal placental tissue samples from 18 cases were studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), special nanobacterial culture methods, and identification of 16S rRNA sequence. Result: Under transmission electron microscope (TEM), Nanobacteria-like particles (NLP) in extra-cellular matrix (ECM) of calcified placental tissues were found, they were 50–500 nm in diameter, existed aggregation, among hydroxyapatite (HAP) crystals. Isolation and culture of NLP from the calcified tissues with methods described for nanobacteria were successful. All calcified placental tissue samples showed white granular deposition, which were firmly attached to the bottom of the culture tubes visible to the naked eyes. In the control group they could not be seen. According to 16S rRNA gene sequences analysis and was amplified adopting PCR and obtained 1407 bp fragment. Submit to GenBank after sequencing with accession number JN029830. Conclusion: Indicating that nanobacteria infection is related with placental calcification.
50 Micron Pitch Wafer Level Packaging Testbed with Reworkable IC-Package Nano Interconnects

The decrease in feature sizes of micro-electronic devices has underlined the need for higher number of I/O's in order to increase its functionality. Being able to provide several fold increase in the chip-to-package vertical interconnect density is essential for garnering the true benefits of nanotechnology that will utilize nanoscale devices. This will spur greater interest in developing electronic packages with fine and ultra fine pitches (20-50 microns). Current approaches for chip to package interconnections are limited in terms of either pitch or electrical-mechanical trade-off in properties. For example, lead free solder interconnects fail mechanically as the pitch is brought down from current 200 micron pitch to 20 micron. Compliant leads, on the other hand, solve mechanical reliability but at the expense of electrical performance. We propose reworkable nano interconnects as a new interconnect paradigm for potential low cost, highest performance and reliability—not trading one for the other. This paper describes the design and fabrication of the first 50 micron pitch wafer level packaging test bed to demonstrate reworkable nano-interconnects. Nano-grained electroplated copper is chosen as the primary interconnect material. Reworkability was addressed by a thin, liquid lead-free solder interface between the interconnect and the package. The processing approaches for the electroplated Cu interconnect, Sn-Cu interface and the high-density substrate wiring are presented along with the simulated mechanical and electrical performance of the interconnects.
Simulation of protein crystal nucleation

To attempt to understand the physical principles underlying protein crystallization, an algorithm is described for simulating the crystal nucleation event computationally. The validity of the approach is supported by its ability to reproduce closely the well‐known preference of proteins for particular space group symmetries. The success of the algorithm supports a recent argument that protein crystallization is limited primarily by the entropic effects of geometric restrictions imposed during nucleation, rather than particular energetic factors. These simulations provide a new tool for attacking the problem of protein crystallization by allowing quantitative evaluation of new ideas such as the use of racemic protein mixtures. Proteins 28:515–521, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A Unit Root Hypothesis: Is Afghanistan Real GDP Per Capita Stationary? (A Case Study for the Period 2001 to 2014)

The central theme of this paper was to investigate the non-stationarity of the Afghanistan real GDP per capita on a set of data which was retrieved from World Development Indicator (WDI) data bank for the period 2001-2014. The statistical analysis of the data by applying two most common unit root test models of Augmented Dickey Fuller and Phillips-Perron, found that the stated macroeconomic variable is non-stationary and has unit root at level and when it was first differenced too. A further test of Granger Causality documented that the growth in real GDP per capita throughout the period of concern is not caused by the steady growth of the population in the country.
Energy Efficient Cognitive Radio System for Joint Spectrum Sensing and Data Transmission

An energy-efficient cognitive radio system design is suggested that simultaneously meets spectrum sensing reliability and secondary data transmission rate constraints. System model involves co-located multiple amplify-and-forward relays in single cognitive radio source-destination (S-D) environment with a primary focus on optimal relay power allocation strategy. The problem is mathematically formulated as minimization of total energy consumption under the constraints of sensing reliability (in terms of detection and false alarm probabilities), secondary user throughput and interference threshold to primary user. Then a cluster based nonequal relay power allocation is also suggested. Extensive simulation results illustrate the variation of the minimum energy consumption with the key system parameters.
The Importance of Careful Blood Processing in Isolation of Cell‐Free DNA

Abstract: In healthy individuals, the source of cell‐free plasma DNA is predominantly apoptotic, whereas, increased plasma DNA integrity is seen in cancer patients. Therefore, it is important to carefully isolate absolutely “cell‐free” plasma DNA. Plasma DNA from 30 healthy females was analyzed using 4 PCR amplicons of increasing size, comparing standard blood processing with additional centrifugation steps prior to DNA extraction. Cellular DNA contamination, indicated by positive amplicons >300 bp was eliminated only after the extra centrifugation step. This highlights the importance of careful processing in preparation of cell‐free plasma DNA as a tool for cancer detection and we recommend the use of a microcentrifuge spin, prior to DNA extraction.
Detecting network performance anomalies with contextual anomaly detection

Network performance anomalies can be defined as abnormal and significant variations in a network's traffic levels. Being able to detect anomalies is critical for both network operators and end users. However, the accurate detection without raising false alarms can become a challenging task when there is high variance in the traffic. To address this problem, we present in this paper a novel methodology for detecting performance anomalies based on contextual information. The proposed method is compared with the state of the art and is evaluated with high accuracy on both synthetic and real network traffic.
Scattering of stratified lenses illuminated by any real source

An analytical method to compute the scattering of spherically and hemispherically stratified lens antennas fed by any real source is described. A mode matching technique (MMT) based on spherical wave functions is first used to analyze the scattering by spherically stratified lens antennas. The farfield patterns and directivity obtained are in excellent agreement with commercial software simulations and measurements for a six-shell Luneburg lens at 6 GHz. This MMT is then extended to hemispherically stratified lens antenna analysis. Its validation is carried out by comparisons to both commercial software and measurements for a three-shell half Maxwell fish-eye lens fed by an open-ended waveguide at W-band. The expansion on spherical modes gives a direct access to the field everywhere. To highlight the progressive focusing effect of inhomogeneous lens antennas, the electric field is mapped in terms of magnitude and phase in the neighborhood of the entire structure. One of the originalities of this work stands in the fact that, besides scattering the incident field, the reaction created by the scatterer on the feed is quantified. The particularization of the scatterer to the stratified lens does not affect the generality of the presented procedure. On the top of providing a controlled accuracy, the MMT tremendously reduces both computation time and memory load in comparison to commercial software.
Introduction of Anesthesia Resident Trainees to the Operating Room Does Not Lead to Changes in Anesthesia-controlled Times for Efficiency Measures

Background:Operating room efficiency is an important concern in most hospitals today. Little work has been reported to evaluate the contribution of anesthesia residents to changes in anesthesia-controlled time-related efficiencies in the operating room. The goal of this study was to measure the impact of the initiation of new residents to the operating room on anesthesia-related time measures of operating room efficiency. Methods:Using the computerized operating room information systems, specific data regarding anesthesia-controlled times were extracted over three distinct 2-week periods over the course of 1 academic year. These included the first 2 weeks of July, when most of the operating rooms were staffed by attending physicians working alone; 2 weeks in September when new anesthesia residents were working in a 2:1 ratio with staff; and 2 weeks in May. The induction times, emergence times, and room turnover times were compared over these three periods for first-year anesthesia residents. Standard descriptive statistics were computed. Analysis of variance testing was then conducted comparing each of these time periods. Significance was set at P < 0.05. Results:A total of 3,004 surgical procedures were performed during the 2-week study periods in July, September, and May, respectively. For the July, September, and May groups, the mean anesthesia induction times were 17.3, 19.0, and 20.8 min (P = 0.047); the emergence times were 8.7, 9.7, and 10.0 min, (P = 0.024); and the corresponding mean room turnover times were 47.6, 48.5, and 48.6 min (P = 0.907), respectively. Conclusion:Although statistically significant time differences were found, these data strongly suggest that the initiation of anesthesia trainees to the operating room has no clinically or economically meaningful adverse effect on the anesthesia-controlled time component of operating room efficiency.