Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Increased Rate of Arterial Stiffening with Obesity in Adolescents: A Five-Year Follow-Up Study

Background We prospectively and longitudinally determined the effects of childhood obesity on arterial stiffening and vascular wall changes. Changes in arterial stiffness measured as pulse wave velocity (PWV) and vascular morphology of the radial (RA) and dorsal pedal arteries (DPA) were examined in obese adolescents compared to lean subjects in a 5-year follow-up study. Methodology/Principal Findings A total of 28 obese subjects and 14 lean controls participated in both baseline (14 years old) and follow-up studies. PWV was measured by tonometer (SphygmoCor®) and recorded at RA and carotid artery, respectively. Intima thickness (IT), intima-media thickness (IMT) and RA and DPA diameters were measured using high-resolution ultrasound (Vevo 770™). Over the course of 5 years, PWV increased by 25% in the obese subjects as compared to 3% in the controls (p = 0.01). Diastolic blood pressure (DBP) increased by 23% in the obese subjects as opposed to 6% in controls (p = 0.009). BMI increased similarly in both groups, as did the IT and IMT. The change in PWV was strongly associated to the baseline BMI z -score (r = 0.51, p<0.001), as was the change in DBP (r = 0.50, p = 0.001). Conclusions/Significance During the transition from early to late adolescence, there was a general increase in arterial stiffness, which was aggravated by childhood obesity. The increase in arterial stiffness and DBP after 5 years was closely correlated to the baseline BMI z -score, indicating that childhood obesity has an adverse impact on vascular adaptation.
Frequency Estimation From Arbitrary Time Samples

We consider the problem of estimating the line spectrum of a signal from finitely many time domain samples. We present a gridless algorithm for solving the total variation minimization approach associated with this problem. Unlike the related previous results, our method does not require the sampling instants to lie on an uniform grid. The resulting algorithm is a semidefinite program, structurally similar to some of the existing methods. One key observation made in our analysis also allows us to develop a gridless version of the SPICE algorithm. The simulation results demonstrate the superiority of these in performance compared to other related methods.
A 35mm 13.89 Million Pixel CMOS Active Pixel Image Sensor

This paper discusses a 13.89 million pixels CMOS image sensor with the same size as a 36x24 mm 2 film negative. The pitch of the 3-transistor active pixel is 8 microns. The sensor has a full well charge of 65,000 electrons and 35 electrons temporal noise, and a dynamic range of 65 dB. This Sensor can be used in a variety of applications. Especially for machine vision, the resolution, the simple operation of the device and the compatibility of 35 mm optics make it an attractive device. The paper will also address more in detail some advantages of this sensor for vision and inspection applications.
Testing and verification in service‐oriented architecture: a survey

Service‐oriented architecture (SOA) is gaining momentum as an emerging distributed system architecture for business‐to‐business collaborations. This momentum can be observed in both industry and academic research. SOA presents new challenges and opportunities for testing and verification, leading to an upsurge in research. This paper surveys the previous work undertaken on testing and verification of service‐centric systems, which in total are 177 papers, showing the strengths and weaknesses of current strategies and testing tools and identifying issues for future work. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Alzheimer's Amyloid-Degrading Peptidase, Neprilysin: Can We Control It?

The amyloid cascade hypothesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) postulates that accumulation in the brain of amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) is the primary trigger for neuronal loss specific to this pathology. In healthy brain, Aβ levels are regulated by a dynamic equilibrium between Aβ release from the amyloid precursor protein (APP) and its removal by perivascular drainage or by amyloid-degrading enzymes (ADEs). During the last decade, the ADE family was fast growing, and currently it embraces more than 20 members. There are solid data supporting involvement of each of them in Aβ clearance but a zinc metallopeptidase neprilysin (NEP) is considered as a major ADE. NEP plays an important role in brain function due to its role in terminating neuropeptide signalling and its decrease during ageing or after such pathologies as hypoxia or ischemia contribute significantly to the development of AD pathology. The recently discovered mechanism of epigenetic regulation of NEP by the APP intracellular domain (AICD) opens new avenues for its therapeutic manipulation and raises hope for developing preventive strategies in AD. However, consideration needs to be given to the diverse physiological roles of NEP. This paper critically evaluates general biochemical and physiological functions of NEP and their therapeutic relevance.
Piezoelectric Biosensors for Organophosphate and Carbamate Pesticides: A Review

Due to the great amount of pesticides currently being used, there is an increased interest for developing biosensors for their detection. Among all the physical transducers, piezoelectric systems have emerged as the most attractive due to their simplicity, low instrumentation costs, possibility for real-time and label-free detection and generally high sensitivity. This paper presents an overview of biosensors based on the quartz crystal microbalance, which have been reported in the literature for organophosphate and carbamate pesticide analysis.
Graphical modeling and animation of brittle fracture

In this paper, we augment existing techniques for simulating flexible objects to include models for crack initiation and propagation in three-dimensional volumes. By analyzing the stress tensors computed over a finite element model, the simulation determines where cracks should initiate and in what directions they should propagate. We demonstrate our results with animations of breaking bowls, cracking walls, and objects that fracture when they collide. By varying the shape of the objects, the material properties, and the initial conditions of the simulations, we can create strikingly different effects ranging from a wall that shatters when it is hit by a wrecking ball to a bowl that breaks in two when it is dropped on edge. This paper received the SIGGRAPH 99 Impact Award.
In Vitro P 450-Mediated Metabolism of Exemestane

Exemestane is a potent and irreversible steroidal aromatase inhibitor drug used for the treatment of estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. Our aim was to identify and assess the contribution of the specific P450s responsible for exemestane primary in vitro metabolism. Using HPLC and LC-MS/MS analytical techniques, 17-hydroexemestane (MI) and 6-hydroxymethylexemestane (MII) formation were found to be the predominant exemestane metabolic pathways. In a bank of 15 well characterized human liver microsomes with known cytochrome P450 (CYP) isoformspecific activities, MI formation rate significantly correlated with CYP1A2 (spearman r = 0.60, p =0.02) and CYP4A11 (spearman r = 0.67, p = 0.01) isoform specific activities. Whereas, MII production rate significantly correlated with CYP2B6 (spearman r = 0.57, p = 0.03) and CYP3A (spearman r = 0.76, p = 0.005) isoform-specific activities. Recombinant CYP1A1 metabolized exemestane to MI with a catalytic efficiency (CLint) of 150 nl/pmol P450 x min that was at least 3.5-fold higher than those of other investigated P450s. Recombinant CYP3A4 catalyzed MII formation from exemestane with a catalytic efficiency of 840 nl/pmol P450 x min that was at least 4-fold higher than those of other investigated P450s. Among a panel of 10 chemical inhibitors tested, only ketoconazole and troleandomycin (CYP3A specific chemical inhibitors) inhibited significantly the formation of MII by 45% and 95%, respectively. None of them remarkably inhibited the formation of MI. In summary, exemestane appears to be metabolized to MI by multiple CYPs that include CYP4A11 and CYP1A1/2, whereas its oxidation to MII is primarily mediated by CYP3A. This article has not been copyedited and formatted. The final version may differ from this version. DMD Fast Forward. Published on September 28, 2010 as DOI: 10.1124/dmd.110.032276 at A PE T Jornals on N ovem er 6, 2017 dm d.aspurnals. org D ow nladed from
A lightweight methodology to improve web accessibility

This paper introduces a methodology to improve the accessibility of websites with the use of free so-called automatic tools. The methodology has three iterative phases, namely assessing a website against accessibility guidelines, user testing and creating in-house 'guidelines' to prevent similar mistakes in future versions of the system. Aspects of accessibility addressed include the use of colour, accessibility guidelines and priorities, readability or comprehensibility, and screen reader simulators. We recommend free tools for each of these accessibility aspects and discuss the process that should be followed when evaluating a website.
Quantification of 5-HT2A Receptors in the Human Brain Using [18F]Altanserin-PET and the Bolus/Infusion Approach

The aim of the present study is to describe and validate a method for accurate quantification of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)2A receptors using [18F]altanserin-positron emission tomography (PET) and the bolus/infusion approach. A bolus/infusion ratio of 1.75 h aimed at attaining rapid steady state in blood and brain was predicted from previous bolus studies performed in our laboratory. The infusion schedule was tested in normal subjects (n = 10) using dynamic PET and frequent plasma sampling for 6 h. Steady state was attained in brain and plasma within 2 h, and time–activity curves remained constant for another 3 h. To represent free and nonspecifically bound [18F]altanserin and its radiolabeled metabolites only, cerebellum must show no displacement in 5-HT2A displacement studies. To validate this, saturating doses of cold ketanserin were administered and it was found that specific binding of [18F]altanserin decreased uniformly to the level of the cerebellum and no change in the cerebellar time–activity curve was found after ketanserin administration. A shorter experimental setup was tested in a second group (n = 20) including patients with neuropsychiatric disorders. Dynamic PET (five frames of 8 minutes each) and venous blood sampling at midscan time started 2 h after [18F]altanserin administration. The mean percentage rate of change per hour in the outcome parameter, DV3′, was low (mean −0.3% h−1; range −7.3–7.2% h−1) and no correlation of DV3′ versus time was demonstrated. It is concluded that 5-HT2A receptor studies can be conducted within 2 h of [18F]altanserin infusion, yielding reliable results.
Toward microRNA-mediated gene regulatory networks in plants

Current achievements in plant microRNA (miRNA) research area are inspiring. Molecular cloning and functional elucidation have greatly advanced our understanding of this small RNA species. As one of the ultimate goals, many research efforts devoted to draw a comprehensive view of miRNA-mediated gene regulatory networks in plants. Numerous bioinformatics tools competent for network analysis have been available. However, the most important point for network construction is to obtain reliable analytical results based on sufficient experimental data. Here, we introduced a general workflow to retrieve and analyze the desired data sets that serve as the cornerstones for network construction. For the upstream analyses of miRNA genes, the sequence feature of miRNA promoters should be characterized. And, regulatory relationships between transcription factors (TFs) and miRNA genes need to be investigated. For the downstream part, we emphasized that the high-throughput degradome sequencing data were especially useful for genuine miRNA-target pair identification. Functional characterization of the miRNA targets is essential to provide deep biological insights into certain miRNA-mediated pathways. For miRNAs themselves, studies on their organ- or tissue-specific expression patterns and the mechanism of self-regulation were discussed. Besides, exhaustive literature mining is required to further support or improve the established networks. It is desired that the introduced framework for miRNA-mediated network construction is timely and useful and could inspire more research efforts in the miRNA research area.
P 2 P Middleware for Massively Multi-player Online Games ∗

The Peer-to-Peer (P2P) computing paradigm is currently receiving con siderable attention. Many recent research advances are enabling P2P systems to be used for complex app lications, beyond simple file sharing. We are currently focusing on Massively Multi-player Online Gaming (MMOG) applications. A P2P architecture offers several advantages over centralized arch itectures for various applications, including MMOG. Decentralization with high scalability and no single point of failur e forms the key advantage. Seamlessly unifying many peers under one application, especially for complex P2P applications such as MMOG, forms the main challenge. We demonstrate the use of a P2P middle ware which enables the development of such complex applications, and efficient entity maintenance a nd interactions for the highly interactive and visual P2P MMOG application domain.
Partitions, Rooks, and Symmetric Functions in Noncommuting Variables

Let n denote the set of all set partitions off1; 2;:::;ng. We consider two subsets of n, one connected to rook theory and one associated with symmetric functions in noncommuting variables. LetEn n be the subset of all partitions corresponding to an extendable rook (placement) on the upper-triangular board,Tn 1. Given 2 m and 2 n, dene their
Estimating the Stoichiometry of HIV Neutralization

HIV-1 virions infect target cells by first establishing contact between envelope glycoprotein trimers on the virion's surface and CD4 receptors on a target cell, recruiting co-receptors, fusing with the cell membrane and finally releasing the genetic material into the target cell. Specific experimental setups allow the study of the number of trimer-receptor-interactions needed for infection, i.e., the stoichiometry of entry and also the number of antibodies needed to prevent one trimer from engaging successfully in the entry process, i.e., the stoichiometry of (trimer) neutralization. Mathematical models are required to infer the stoichiometric parameters from these experimental data. Recently, we developed mathematical models for the estimations of the stoichiometry of entry [1]. In this article, we show how our models can be extended to investigate the stoichiometry of trimer neutralization. We study how various biological parameters affect the estimate of the stoichiometry of neutralization. We find that the distribution of trimer numbers—which is also an important determinant of the stoichiometry of entry—influences the estimated value of the stoichiometry of neutralization. In contrast, other parameters, which characterize the experimental system, diminish the information we can extract from the data about the stoichiometry of neutralization, and thus reduce our confidence in the estimate. We illustrate the use of our models by re-analyzing previously published data on the neutralization sensitivity [2], which contains measurements of neutralization sensitivity of viruses with different envelope proteins to antibodies with various specificities. Our mathematical framework represents the formal basis for the estimation of the stoichiometry of neutralization. Together with the stoichiometry of entry, the stoichiometry of trimer neutralization will allow one to calculate how many antibodies are required to neutralize a virion or even an entire population of virions.
It May Not Take a Village: Increasing Achievement Among the Poor

∗Correspondence can be addressed to any of the authors by mail at 44 Brattle Street, 5th Floor, Cambridge, MA, 02138; or by email: vcurto@edlabs.harvard. edu (Curto), rfryer@fas.harvard. edu (Fryer), or mhoward@edlabs.harvard. edu (Howard). The usual caveat applies. †The Education Innovation Laboratory at Harvard University ‡Department of Economics and EdLabs, Harvard University, NBER §The Education Innovation Laboratory at Harvard University
Stochastic Integral with respect to Cylindrical Wiener Process

This paper is devoted to a construction of the stochastic It\^o integral with respect to infinite dimensional cylindrical Wiener process. The construction given is an alternative one to that introduced by DaPrato and Zabczyk [3]. The connection of the introduced integral with the integral defined by Walsh [9] is provided as well.
Improved antenna selection technique to enhance the performance of wireless communications channels

The combination of space-time codes and a closed loop transmission diversity technique is currently receiving a lot of attention since it allows one to improve the performance of wireless communications channels. This paper proposes a simple closed loop transmission diversity technique to improve further the performance of the channels through proposing a structure of feedback information in order to reduce the time required for processing the feedback information at the transmitter. Calculations and simulations show that our technique performs especially well when it is combined with the Alamouti code.
Removal Rates of Native and Exotic Dung by Dung Beetles (Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) in a Fragmented Tropical Rain Forest

ABSTRACT Many studies have evaluated the effect of forest fragmentation on dung beetle assemblage structure. However, few have analyzed how forest fragmentation affects the processes carried out by these insects in tropical forests where their food sources consist mainly of dung produced by native herbivore mammals. With the conversion of forests to pastures, cattle dung has become an exotic alternative and abundant food for dung beetles. This study compares dung removal rates of native (monkey) and exotic (cow) dung in different-sized fragments of tropical rain forests, during the dry and rainy seasons at the Los Tuxtlas Biosphere Reserve. Dung removal rates were affected by season, dung type, and the interaction between resource type and season. During the dry season, the removal rates of monkey dung were somewhat similar than during the rainy season, whereas the removal rates of cow dung were much higher during the rainy season. Dung beetle biomass and species richness were almost three times greater in monkey dung than in cow dung. Monkey dung attracted species belonging to the dweller, roller, and tunneler guilds; cow dung attracted mostly tunnelers. Therefore, the use of exotic dung may result in a biased misconception of the rates of dung removal in tropical forest and an underestimation of dung beetle diversity. This study highlights the importance of working with natural tropical forest resources when attempting to identify realistic tendencies concerning processes in natural habitats and those modified by fragmentation and by other human activities.
A data-driven approach for the definition of metropolitan regions

Rui Antonio Rodrigues RAMOS Assistant Professor Department of Civil Engineering School of Engineering University of Minho Campus of Gualtar 4710-057, Braga – Portugal Tel: +351 253 604720 Fax: +351 253 604721 E-mail: rui.ramos@civil.uminho. pt Antonio Nelson RODRIGUES DA SILVA Associate Professor Department of Transportation, Sao Carlos School of Engineering University of Sao Paulo Av. Trabalhador Sao-carlense, 40
Investigation of Different Algorithms for Surface Defects of Steel Sheet for Quality

In the process of inspection and quality control of steel sheets which is considered as an important issue in the metal industry surface defects of metals is one of the reasons that reduces the quality of products, also the detection of different defects in raw metals with the naked eye is very difficult and given that in recent years, automatic surface inspection system has made remarkable progress and is deemed as the research’s mainstream and while the accuracy of visual inspection of people is different there is a need to a rapid, accurate, and non-destructive way to identify and classify surface defects based on the texture and form of this product and guarantee metal quality in the production process ; also, increase the production rate and helps separating defective metal from normal metal in a very short period of time. The main purpose of examining surface automatically is to investigate defective parts by comparing the user requirements and the generated images to minimize the wastes led to the product rejection to be delivered steel with better quality to the customer. Accordingly, the expression of different methods and examine
Modified K-line in Magnetic Resonance Imaging Predicts Clinical Outcome in Patients With Nonlordotic Alignment After Laminoplasty for Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy

Study Design. Retrospective single-center study. Objective. To investigate whether a preoperative index predicts clinical outcome after laminoplasty for cervical spondylotic myelopathy. Summary of Background Data. This is the first study using the modified K-line, which connects the midpoints of the spinal cord at the C2 and C7 levels on midsagittal magnetic resonance imaging, to assess the relationship between postoperative clinical outcome and anticipated degree of spinal cord shifting. Methods. Sixty-one consecutive patients who underwent laminoplasty for the treatment of cervical spondylotic myelopathy between 2000 and 2011 at our hospital were retrospectively reviewed. The interval between the preoperative mK-line and the anterior structure of the spinal canal at each segment of the C3 to C6 levels (INTn, n = 3–6) were measured on sagittal T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging, and the sum of the INTn (INTsum) was then calculated. The degree of posterior cord shift was defined as follows: %Csum = &Sgr;Cn; Cn = (Bn−An) × 100/An (n = 3–6; An and Bn represent the preoperative and postoperative intervals between the midpoint of the spinal cord and the anterior impingement at each segment on sagittal T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging, respectively). In addition, we defined INTmin as the minimum interval of the INTn in each patient. All patients were divided into lordotic and nonlordotic groups on the basis of lateral neutral radiography. The Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) scoring system and recovery rate of the JOA score for cervical myelopathy was evaluated as clinical outcomes. Results. The recovery rate of the JOA score was 48.1%. The lordotic and nonlordotic groups contained 38 and 23 patients, respectively. Linear regression analysis revealed that INTmin was significantly correlated with the recovery rate of the patients in the nonlordotic group, whereas INTsum was not associated with recovery of the JOA score. Conclusion. We identified INTmin as a predictive factor for clinical outcomes in patients with nonlordotic alignment after laminoplasty. Level of Evidence: 4
FEA of Al-Sic Composite in Engine Valve Guides

In this paper an attempt has been made to increase the reliability of engine using Al-SiCp composites as an alternative material for the engine valve guides. Aluminum matrix composites are finding increased application in automotive, aircraft and aerospace industries and hold the greatest promise for the future growth. The finite element analysis of the Al-SiCp composite engine valve guide was done using Ansys software. The temperature, principal stress and principal strain distribution over the entire surface of the engine valve guide were obtained. The stresses were found to be well below the allowable stress for the Al-Sic composites.