Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
D 5-Cholenoyl-amino acids as selective and orally available antagonists of the Eph e ephrin system

The Eph receptoreephrin system is an emerging target for the development of novel anti-angiogenic therapies. Research programs aimed at developing small-molecule antagonists of the Eph receptors are still in their initial stage as available compounds suffer from pharmacological drawbacks, limiting their application in vitro and in vivo. In the present work, we report the design, synthesis and evaluation of structureeactivity relationships of a class of D5-cholenoyl-amino acid conjugates as Epheephrin antagonists. As a major achievement of our exploration, we identified N-(3b-hydroxy-D5-cholen-24-oyl)-Ltryptophan (UniPR1331) as the first small molecule antagonist of the Epheephrin system effective as an anti-angiogenic agent in endothelial cells, bioavailable in mice by the oral route and devoid of biological activity on G protein-coupled and nuclear receptors targeted by bile acid derivatives. © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
1 DOES SOCIAL CAPITAL INFLUENCE THE FINANCING OF CHINESE PRIVATE SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPISES ?

We use a panel of 65,485 firms over the period 2000-2006 to study the financing decisions of Chinese private SMEs. Motivated by the fact that traditional capital structure theories are not fully supported by the findings of previous research in emerging economies characterized by weak institutional frameworks and underdeveloped financial systems, we propose a modified pecking-order in which financing mechanisms based on social capital supplant those based on more traditional forms of collateral, especially in the short-term. Our findings underline the importance of social capital to the financing decisions of SMEs.
Invention patterns in the history of Web technology : preliminary evidence from US patents

Current discussions about the history of Web technology tend to focus on cornerstone technologies and perceived evolutionary stages, but these narratives rely largely on verbal accounts and opinions provided by experts. Here, we draw on economic literature relating to the typical characteristics of technological revolutions and industry life-cycles to address the history of Web technology in a systematic and quantitative manner. Using an original longitudinal dataset of 20,493 patented inventions related to the Web, we found that the temporal accumulation of Web-related patents began with an S-shaped growth trajectory that later changed to linear growth. The inflection point of the S-curve coincided relatively closely with the timing of the dot-com crash. However, we were unable to find a reliable statistical relationship between Web-related patenting rates and NASDAQ composite stock index values from the corresponding months. Lastly, we find that the development of Web technology was accompanied by a temporal decline in the proportion of radical inventions, as gleaned from the novelty of patent classification codes that describe them. Overall, our findings provide some tentative empirical evidence suggesting that the history of inventions in Web technology followed a pattern that seems similar to technological revolutions and industry life cycles observed previously by economists. Invention Patterns in the History of Web Technology: Preliminary Evidence from US Patents Maria Priestley1*, Timothy J. Sluckin2, Thanassis Tiropanis1 1 Web and Internet Science Group, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK 2 Mathematical Sciences, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
oluntary monitoring systems for pig health and welfare in the UK: omparative analysis of prevalence and temporal patterns of selected on-respiratory post mortem conditions

Collection of abattoir data related to public health is common worldwide. Standardised on-going programmes that collect information from abattoirs that inform producers about the presence and frequency of disease that are important to them rather than public health hazards are less common. The three voluntary pig health schemes, implemented in the United Kingdom, are integrated systems which capture information on different macroscopic disease conditions detected in slaughtered pigs. Many of these conditions have been associated with a reduction in performance traits and consequent increases in production costs. The schemes are the Wholesome Pigs Scotland in Scotland, the British Pig Health Scheme in England and Wales and the Pig Regen Ltd. health and welfare checks in Northern Ireland. In this study, four post mortem conditions (pericarditis, milk spots, papular dermatitis and tail damage) were surveyed and analysed over a ten and half year period, with the aim to compare the prevalence, monthly variations, and yearly trends between schemes. Liver milk spot was the most frequently recorded condition while tail damage was the least frequently observed condition. The prevalence of papular dermatitis was relatively low compared to liver milk spot and pericarditis in the three schemes. A general decreasing trend was observed for milk spots and papular dermatitis for all three schemes. The prevalence of pericarditis increased in Northern Ireland and England and Wales; while Scotland in recent years showed a decreasing trend. An increasing trend of tail damage was depicted in Scotland and Northern Ireland until 2013/2014 followed by a decline in recent years compared to that of England and Wales with a decreasing trend over the full study period. Monthly effects were more evident for milk spots and papular dermatitis. Similarity of the modus operandi of the schemes made the comparison of temporal variations and patterns in gross pathology between countries possible over time, especially between countries with similar pig production profile. This study of temporal patterns enables early detection of prevalence increases and alerts industry and researchers to investigate the reasons behind such changes. These schemes are, therefore, valuable assets for endemic disease surveillance, early warning for emerging disease and also
Prediction of Mortality Rate among ICU Patients based on Vital Signals using Data Analysis Methods

Using a scoring system for illness intensity can be a signpost for the physician to objectively assess the future state of the patient or estimate the probability of his/her recovery. In fact, due to individual differences among ICU patients, it seems necessary to develop a special estimation system for every intensive care unit. This system helps physicians to prioritize the patients in receiving appropriate care and helps them to be more explicit in explaining and presenting the final state of the illness to the patients’ affiliates. By analyzing the vital signals of ICU patients, their mortality rate can be automatically predicted. In our proposed system, using statistical analyses and Wavelet change, several features were extracted out of the patients’ vital signals. Then using Fisher’s standard analysis and multi-layered perceptron neural network classification, it was found that the proposed system is able to predict people’s mortality rate with high accuracy. The results of the present study indicate that the proposed system has an accuracy level of 85.1% and 81.7% for treatment and test data, respectively. Any attempt to practically apply this method can help enhance the quality of care system in ICU sections of the hospitals considerably.
OF MICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY , A Compact CPW-Fed Printed UWB Antennas

In this work, we present the design and analysis of compact coplanar waveguide-fed ultra wideband rectangular antennas. These proposed antennas exhibit very wide operating bandwidth (return loss ≤ -10dB) which covers 3.2-15 GHz range, which means a relative bandwidth of 126% covering FCC defined UWB band with stable omnidirectional radiation patterns and important gain. The parameters of antennas have been investigated and optimized by using two electromagnetic solvers. A good agreement has been obtained between simulation and measurement results. These antennas are useful for UWB indoor applications, handheld and wireless communication requiring low profile antennas. The antennas achieved are low cost and easy to fabricate and integrate with RF circuit. The simulated and the experimental results are described and discussed.
Tuning cell e surface af fi nity to direct cell speci fi c responses to patterned proteins

Interactions with local extracellular cues direct cell migration. A versatile method to study cell response to a protein consists of patterning the protein cue on a substrate and quantifying the distribution of cells between patterned and non-patterned areas. Here, we define the concepts of (i) cellesurface affinity to describe cell choices, and of (ii) reference surface (RS) to clarify that the choice is made relative to a reference. Furthermore, we report a method to systematically tune the RS and show that it can dominate the experimental cell response to a protein cue. The cell response to a cue can be switched from strong preference to strong aversion by only changing the RS. Using microcontact printing, we patterned the extracellular matrix proteins fibronectin or netrin-1 adjacent to a series of RSs with different ratios of poly-D-lysine (PDL) and polyethylene glycol (PEG), which are of high affinity and of low-affinity for cells, respectively. C2C12 myoblasts or primary neurons seeded on substrates with a high affinity RS (high % PDL) did not respond to a printed protein of interest, and conversely on RSs of low affinity (high % PEG) the cells preferred the printed protein even in the absence of a specific interaction. However, when testing cell response to a standardized series of RSs varying from high to low affinity, a specific response curve was obtained that was unique to each cell typeeprotein pair. Importantly, for intermediate RSs with moderate affinity, the cell response to the cue was dependent on the activation of biologically relevant protein-specific biochemical signal transduction pathways. Our results establish that choices made by cells in response to a surface-bound cue must take into account, and be interpreted in the context of, the RS. The use of a series of RSs with varying cellesurface affinity reveals specific response curves of cells to a cue that can be compared quantitatively and that may help gain new insights into cellular responses to extracellular proteins. 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Design, development, and usability evaluation of a system for adding and editing social media banners in the immersive street-level 3D virtual city

In this paper, we present design and implementation of a system for adding and visualizing social media content in an immersive street-level 3D virtual city environment. The system enables its users to add banners anywhere in the virtual 3D environment, typically on building façades, walls, or on the ground. The banner's owner is then able to edit the banner and select the social media platform to load the content from, thereby creating a social media content banner with a specific ID. The system supports four social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Flickr. Users can also customize banners' position, rotation, and the visual elements such as text, images and colors. To evaluate our system's usability, we conducted an iterative usability evaluation with 12 participants. Each evaluation round with three participants indicated improvements to the system, which were implemented before next evaluation round. Finally, after the last modifications, system was found to be easy to use by average users and only a little help was needed for non-experienced users. We believe this system could provide added value for the business owners and users by enabling social media content to be add on the 3D virtual city and use it as a marketing platform.
Stock Market Co-Movement in the Caribbean

This paper investigates co-movement in five Caribbean stock markets (Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, The Bahamas and Guyana) using common factor analysis. The common factors are obtained using principal component analysis and therefore account for the maximum portion of the variance present in the stock exchanges investigated. We break our analysis down and test for co-movement in different periods so as to ascertain any changes that have taken place from one period to the next. In particular we examine 10-year, 5-year and 3-year periods. We also specify a vector autoregression model and test for co-movement between the five markets during the sample period through impulse response functions. Both of our tests fail to find any evidence of co-movement between the exchanges over the entire sample period. However, we find evidence of periodic co-movement, particularly between exchanges in Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.
Imaging in Radiation Oncology In Vivo Validation of Elekta ’ s Clarity Autoscan for Ultrasound-based Intrafraction Motion Estimation of the Prostate During Radiation Therapy

Reprint requests to: Alexander. Grimwood, therapy and Imaging, The Institute of Cancer R Sutton, London, SM2 5NG, UK. Tel: þ44 20 grimwood@icr.ac. uk K.T. was responsible for the statistical anal NHS funding was provided to the Nati Research Biomedical Research Centre at the Ro The Institute of Cancer Research. This resea Cancer Research UK under programs C335 A23557. Conflict of interest: A.T. reports support research fellow working on other projects (not personally has received honoraria and travel gr meeting attendance. J.B. reports grants from C the Engineering and Physical Sciences Res
Seed-Driven Geo-Social Data Extraction

Geo-social data has been an attractive source for a variety of problems such as mining mobility patterns, link prediction, location recommendation, and influence maximization. However, new geo-social data is increasingly unavailable and suffers several limitations. In this paper, we aim to remedy the problem of effective data extraction from geo-social data sources. We first identify the limitations of extracting geo-social data. To overcome the limitations, we propose a novel seed-driven approach that uses the points of one source as the seed to feed as queries for the others. We additionally handle differences between, and dynamics within the sources by proposing three variants for optimizing search radius. Furthermore, we provide an optimization based on recursive clustering to minimize the number of requests and an adaptive procedure to learn the specific data distribution of each source. Our comprehensive experiments with six popular sources show that our seed-driven approach yields 14.3 times more data overall, while our request-optimized algorithm retrieves up to 95% of the data with less than 16% of the requests. Thus, our proposed seed-driven approach set new standards for effective and efficient extraction of geo-social data.
PATHFINDER: Storage and Indexing of Massive Trajectory Sets

We consider the problem of indexing massive trajectory data in an underlying road network. Our Pathfinder index structure is based on a state-of-the-art speed-up technique for shortest path planning and allows to both compress and access huge amounts of trajectory data. In a continent-sized network with more than 400 million nodes and almost a billion edges, Pathfinder allows to retrieve all trajectories within a given space-time cube in a few microseconds per reported trajectory. The applicability of Pathfinder is shown using both synthetic and real-world trajectory sets.
Representative Query Answers on Uncertain Data

Our goal is to incorporate uncertainty information in the querying process to enhance results with probabilistic guarantees. Existing probabilistic querying solutions can not be scaled to realistic data sets due to #P-complete nature of querying uncertain data. We present a new approach to query uncertain sets of spatial data by sampling the possible database worlds, each resulting in a possible query result. The main challenge is to find a consensus of the retrieved results. We tackle this by finding query results that are representative. A representative query result is associated with a probabilistic guarantee, stating that with a guaranteed probability, the true (but unknown) query result is sufficiently similar. Our experiments show that our sampling approach provides probabilistic guarantees while scaling to large data sets, thus allowing to perform queries such as range queries, kNN queries, RkNN queries and ranking queries, where state-of-the-art solutions do not scale.
Evaluating the Utility and Prevalence of HPV Biomarkers in Oral Rinses and Serology for HPV-related Oropharyngeal Cancer

Performance of commercially available human papillomavirus (HPV) assays (approved for cervical HPV detection) is unknown for detecting HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer (HPV-OPC). Assays for detection of HPV DNA [ELISA (DEIA) and Cobas], and RNA (Aptima) in oral rinse samples, and serum HPV oncogene antibodies were evaluated. Sensitivity and specificity of each test was explored among HPV-OPC cases and controls. Biomarker prevalence was evaluated among 294 “at-risk” people (screening) and 133 “high-risk” people [known to previously have oral oncogenic HPV (oncHPV) DNA and/or HPV16 E6/E7 antibodies detected]. HPV16 E6 antibodies had the best overall test performance with sensitivity of 88%, compared with oral HPV16 DNA sensitivity of 51% by DEIA and 43% by Cobas (each P < 0.001). Specificity was comparable in each of these tests (≥98%). When positivity for any oncHPV type was compared with HPV16 for the same test, sensitivity was comparable (60% vs. 51%, 40% vs. 43%, and 92% vs. 88% for DEIA, Cobas, and E6 antibodies, respectively), but specificity was reduced (93%–97%). Aptima had poor sensitivity (23%). Sensitivity decreased when cotesting HPV16 oral rinse DNA and E6 antibodies (37%–48%), or multiple E antibodies (69%–72%). HPV16 DNA were detected in ∼2% of the at-risk by either DEIA or Cobas and up to 15% of the high-risk population. HPV16 E6 seroprevalence was 2.3% and 2.4% in the at-risk and high-risk populations, respectively. Oral rinse HPV testing had moderate-to-poor sensitivity for HPV-OPC, suggesting many true positives would be missed in a potential screening scenario. HPV16 E6 serum antibody was the most promising biomarker evaluated.
Conformational and Dynamical Effects of Tyr32 Phosphorylation in K-Ras: Molecular Dynamics Simulation and Markov State Models Analysis.

Phosphorylation of tyrosine 32 in K-Ras has been shown to influence function by disrupting the GTPase cycle. To shed light on the underlying mechanism and atomic basis of this process, we carried out a comparative investigation of the oncogenic G12D K-Ras mutant and its phosphorylated variant (pTyr32) using all-atom molecular dynamics simulations and Markov state models. We show that, despite sharing a number of common features, G12D and pTyr32-G12D K-Ras exhibit some distinct conformational states and fluctuations. Notable differences in conformation and dynamics were observed in the vicinity of the GTP, but there were also variations at a number of loops distal from the active site. Switch I is more flexible in pTyr32-G12D K-Ras while switch II is more flexible in G12D K-Ras. We also used time-lagged independent component analysis and k-means clustering to identify five metastable states for each system. We utilized transition path theory to calculate the transition probabilities for each state to build a Markov state model for each system. This model and other close inspections suggest that the phosphorylation of Tyr32 strongly affects protein dynamics and the active site conformation, especially with regards to the canonical switch conformations and dynamics.
Clinical Performance of the Updated Trabecular Bone Score (TBS) Algorithm, Which Accounts for the Soft Tissue Thickness: The OsteoLaus Study

Regional soft tissue may have a noise effect on trabecular bone score (TBS) and eventually alter its estimate. The current TBS software (TBS iNsight®) is based on an algorithm accounting for body mass index (BMI) (TBSv3.03). We aimed to explore the updated TBS algorithm that accounts for soft tissue thickness (TBSv4.0). This study was embedded in the OsteoLaus cohort of women in Lausanne, Switzerland. Hip and lumbar spine (LS) dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans were performed using Discovery A System (Hologic). The incident major osteoporotic fractures (MOFs) were assessed from vertebral fracture assessments using Genant's method (vertebral MOF) or questionnaires (nonvertebral MOF). We assessed the correlations of bone mineral density (BMD) or TBS with body composition parameters; MOF prediction ability of both versions of TBS; and the differences between Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX) adjusted for TBSv3.03 or TBSv4.0. In total, 1362 women with mean ± SD age 64.4 ± 7.5 years and mean ± SD BMI 25.9 ± 4.5 kg/m2 were followed for 4.4 years and 132 experienced an MOF. All the anthropometric measurements of our interest were positively correlated with LS, femoral neck, or hip BMD and TBSv4.0; whereas with TBSv3.03 their correlations were negative. In the models adjusted for age, soft tissue thickness, osteoporotic treatment, and LS‐BMD, for each SD decline in TBSv3.03, there was a 43% (OR 1.43; 95% CI, 1.12 to 1.83) increase in the odds of having MOF; whereas for each SD decline in TBSv4.0, there was a 54% (OR 1.54; 95% CI, 1.18 to 2.00) increase in the odds of having an MOF. Both FRAXs were very strongly correlated and the mild differences were present in the already high‐risk women for MOF. This study shows that TBSv4.0 overcomes the debatable residual negative correlation of the current TBS with body size and composition parameters, postulating itself as free from the previously acknowledged technical limitation of TBS. © 2019 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
UAA and UAG may Encode Amino Acid in Cathepsin B Gene of Euplotes octocarinatus

The ciliate Euplotes deviates from the universal genetic code by translating UGA as cysteine and using UAA and UAG as the termination codon. Here, we cloned and sequenced the Cathepsin B gene of Euplotes octocarinatus (Eo‐CTSB) which containing several in‐frame stop codons throughout the coding sequence. We provide evidences, based on 3′‐RACE method and Western blot, that the Eo‐CTSB gene is actively expressed. Comparison of the derived amino acid sequence with the homologs in other eukaryotes revealed that UAA and UAG may code for glutamine in Eo‐CTSB. These findings imply an evolutionary complexity of stop codon reassignment in eukaryotes.
Urogenital and pelvic complications in the Ehlers‐Danlos syndromes and associated hypermobility spectrum disorders: A scoping review

The Ehlers‐Danlos syndromes (EDS) and associated hypermobility spectrum disorders (HSD) are a heterogenous group of connective tissue disorders associated with significant morbidity. The urogenital aspects of these disorders are understudied and there is little guidance on the prevalence, types, or outcomes of urogenital complications in EDS/HSD. Our objective was to perform a scoping review to characterize and synthesize the literature reporting urogenital and pelvic complications in EDS/HSD patients. We performed a systematic search of three databases (Medline, CINAHL, Embase) to January 2019. English language, full‐text articles reporting on urogenital or pelvic complications in EDS/HSD were included. A total of 105 studies were included (62 case reports/series, 43 observational) involving patients with hypermobile (23%), vascular (20%), classical (12%) EDS, and HSD (24%). Some studies looked at multiple subtypes (11%) or did not report subtype (33%). Reported complications included urinary (41%), gynecological (36%), obstetrical (25%), renal (9%), and men's health problems (7%), with some studies reporting on multiple areas. Urinary and gynecological complications were most prevalent in patients with HSD, while a broad range of complications were reported in EDS. While further research is required, results suggest a higher index of suspicion for urogenital problems is probably warranted in this population.