Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mixed Signal Integrated Circuit Design for Custom Sensor Interfacing

Mixed Signal Integrated Circuit Design for Custom Sensor Interfacing Steven M. Andryzcik II Low-power analog integrated circuits (ICs) can be utilized at the interface between an analog sensor and a digital system’s input to decrease power consumption, increase system accuracy, perform signal processing, and make the necessary adjustments for compatibility between the two devices. This interfacing has typically been done with custom integrated solutions, but advancements in floating-gate technologies have made reconfigurable analog ICs a competitive option. Whether the solution is a custom design or built from a reconfigurable system, digital peripheral circuits are needed to configure their operation for these analog circuits to work with the best accuracy. Using an analog IC as a front end signal processor between an analog sensor and wireless sensor mote can greatly decrease battery consumption. Processing in the digital domain requires more power than when done on an analog system. An Analog Signal Processor (ASP) can allow the digital wireless mote to remain in sleep mode while the ASP is always listening for an important event. Once this event occurs, the ASP will wake the wireless mote, allowing it to record the event and send radio transmissions if necessary. As most wireless sensor networks employ the use of batteries as a power source, an energy harvesting system in addition to an ASP can be used to further supplement this battery consumption. This thesis documents the development of mixed-signal integrated circuits for use as interfaces between analog sensors and digital Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). The following work outlines, as well as shows the results, of development for sensor interfacing utilizing both custom mixed signal integrated circuits as well as a Field Programmable Analog Array (FPAA) for post fabrication customization. An Analog Signal Processor (ASP) has been used in an Acoustic Vehicle Classification system. To keep these interfacing methods low power, a prototype energy harvesting system using commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) devices is detailed which has led to the design of a fully integrated solution.
REducing delay through edUcation on eXacerbations for people with chronic lung disease: Study protocol of a single‐arm pre‐post study

Abstract Aim This study protocol aims to examine the effectiveness and preconditions of a self‐management program—named REducing Delay through edUcation on eXacerbations (REDUX)—in China. Background The high disease burden in people with chronic lung disease is mainly due to exacerbations. There is a need for effective exacerbation‐management interventions. A nurse‐led program, REDUX, helped patients self‐manage exacerbations. Design A single‐arm pre‐post study. Methods Fifty‐four patients and 24 healthcare professionals (HCPs) in Chinese primary care will be included. The core element of the program is a personalized action plan. HCPs will receive training in using the action plan to help patients manage exacerbations. The intervention will start when a patient is referred to the nurse for a post‐exacerbation consultation and ends when the patient presents for the second post‐exacerbation consultation. During the first post‐exacerbation consultation, the patient and nurse will create the action plan. The primary outcomes in patients will include the delays between the onset of exacerbation and recognition, between exacerbation recognition and action, between exacerbation recognition and consultation with a doctor, and when the patients feel better after receiving medical help from HCPs. The secondary outcomes will include preconditions of the program. The ethics approval was obtained in September 2021. Discussion This study will discuss a culturally adapted nurse‐led self‐management intervention for people with chronic lung disease in China. The intervention could help Chinese HCPs provide efficient care and reduce their workload. Furthermore, it will inform future research on tailoring nurse‐led self‐management interventions in different contexts. Impact The study will contribute to the evidence on the effectiveness and preconditions of REDUX in China. If effective, the result will assist the nursing of people with chronic lung disease. Trial registration: Registered in the Chinese clinical trial registry (ID: 2100051782).
Absence of the Rpb9 subunit of RNA polymerase II reduces the chronological life span in fission yeast

Fission yeast RNA polymerase II consists of 12 subunits, Rpb1‐Rpb12. Among these subunits, Rpb9 is the only subunit whose absence does not cause lethality under optimum growth conditions in fission yeast. However, an rpb9 null fission yeast mutant exhibits a slow‐growth phenotype under optimum growth conditions and a defect in survival under environmental and genotoxic stress conditions. To further gain an understanding of its physiological roles, in the present study we have elucidated the role of the Rpb9 subunit in chronological aging using fission yeast as the model organism. Our results provide evidence that the absence of Rpb9 reduces the chronological life span in fission yeast. Our data further shows that lack of Rpb9 in fission yeast causes oxidative stress sensitivity and accumulation of reactive oxygen species during the stationary phase. Our domain mapping experiments have demonstrated that the Rpb9 region encompassing its amino‐terminal zinc finger domain and the central linker region is important for the role of Rpb9 in chronological aging. Finally, we also show that expression of the budding yeast or human Rpb9 ortholog can functionally complement the reduced chronological life span phenotype of the fission yeast rpb9 deletion mutant. Taken together, our study has identified a new role of the Rpb9 subunit in chronological aging.
AML with inv(16)/t(16;16) and high-risk cytogenetic abnormalities: atypical features and unfavorable outcome

ABSTRACT Objectives Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with inv(16)/t(16;16) is among the most frequent AML subtypes. It is recognized by the detection of the CBFB-MYH11 fusion which confers a favorable prognosis, irrespective of the presence of secondary cytogenetic abnormalities. However, the effect of additional genetic anomalies on the behavior of inv(16) AML is debatable. Recent case reports describe an unfavorable prognosis for those patients, characterized by early relapse and death. In this study, we present a series of patients with CBFB-MYH11 fusion and high-risk rearrangements to increase knowledge about this potentially distinct subgroup. Methods All cases with inv(16)/ t(16;16) and one or more high risk abnormalities were reviewed at two tertiary healthcare centers between years 2006 and 2020 in terms of demographics, biological and clinical data. Results Among the total 1447 and 1283 AML cases, the frequency was found to be 0,2% and 0.3%. Clinical data could be retrieved for 5 patients. Detected high-risk abnormalities included TP53 and 5q deletion, complex and monosomal karyotype. The median age was 67 years, with a majority of females (M:F = 1:1.5). Two out of 5 patients presented with therapy related AML, with short latency periods. All patients presented with thrombocytopenia and/or leukocytopenia. Bone marrow aspirates revealed atypical morphology and the detection of rare CBFB-MYH11 fusion transcripts. All 5 patients died, with a short mean overall survival of 5.8 months. Discussion and Conclusion Our series suggests that the presence of high risk abnormalities confers distinct biological features and poor prognosis to inv(16) AML.
The unfolded protein response to PI*Z alpha‐1 antitrypsin in human hepatocellular and murine models

Alpha‐1 antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency (AATD) is an inherited disease caused by mutations in the serpin family A member 1 (SERPINA1, also known as AAT) gene. The most common variant, PI*Z (Glu342Lys), causes accumulation of aberrantly folded AAT in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of hepatocytes that is associated with a toxic gain of function, hepatocellular injury, liver fibrosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. The unfolded protein response (UPR) is a cellular response to improperly folded proteins meant to alleviate ER stress. It has been unclear whether PI*Z AAT elicits liver cell UPR, due in part to limitations of current cellular and animal models. This study investigates whether UPR is activated in a novel human PI*Z AAT cell line and a new PI*Z human AAT (hAAT) mouse model. A PI*Z AAT hepatocyte cell line (Huh7.5Z) was established using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 gene editing of the normal ATT (PI*MM) gene in the Huh7.5 cell line. Additionally, novel full‐length genomic DNA PI*Z hAAT and PI*M hAAT transgenic mouse models were established. Using these new models, UPR in Huh7.5Z cells and PI*Z mice were comprehensively determined. Robust activation of UPR was observed in Huh7.5Z cells compared to Huh7.5 cells. Activated caspase cascade and apoptosis markers, increased chaperones, and autophagy markers were also detected in Z hepatocytes. Selective attenuation of UPR signaling branches was observed in PI*Z hAAT mice in which the protein kinase R‐like ER kinase and inositol‐requiring enzyme1α branches were suppressed while the activating transcription factor 6α branch remained active. This study provides direct evidence that PI*Z AAT triggers canonical UPR and that hepatocytes survive pro‐apoptotic UPR by selective suppression of UPR branches. Our data improve understanding of underlying pathological molecular mechanisms of PI*Z AATD liver disease.
ANALYSE MULTICRITERES ET FUSION D'INFORMATION POUR L'EXPERTISE ET LA GESTION INTEGREE DES RISQUES NATURELS EN MONTAGNE MULTICRITERIA DECISION ANALYSIS AND INFORMATION FUSION FOR EXPERTISE APPLIED TO NATURAL RISKS IN MOUNTAINS

Summary Rapid mass movements hazards such as mountain rivers (torrents) and snow avalanches put humans and material assets at risk with dramatic consequences. Risk reduction is reached through structural and non-structural measures such as zoning control, preventive information. In a context of lacking knowledge about the natural phenomena, expertise is required to provide analyses for decision and risk management purposes using multi-disciplinary quantitative or qualitative approaches. Expertise depends on the quality and uncertainty of the available information that may result from measures, historical analysis, testimonies but also subjective, possibly conflicting, assessments done by the experts themselves. At the end, phenomena scenarios and decisions may very well rely on very uncertain and conflicting information without being able to really know what was completely true, imprecise, conflicting or simply unknown in the hypotheses leading to the result. A framework mixing fuzzy logics, evidential reasoning and multi-criteria decision analysis (ER-MCDA) is proposed. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used to model the decision and to elicit preferences between criteria. Fuzzy Sets and Possibilities theories are used to transform quantitative and qualitative criteria into a common frame of discernment for Dempster-Shafer Theory (DST) and Dezert-Smarandache Theory (DSmT). A simplified decision sorting problem based on a snow-avalanche risk management problem shows how the use of multi-criteria decision analysis principles and information fusion can be used to characterize and take information quality or imperfection into account for decision purposes.
Genome-wide Association and Meta-analysis of Age at Onset in Parkinson Disease Evidence From the COURAGE-PD Consortium

Considerable heterogeneity exists in the literature concerning genetic determinants of the age at onset (AAO) of Parkinson disease (PD), which could be attributed to a lack of well-powered replication cohorts. The previous largest genome-wide association studies (GWAS) identi ﬁ ed SNCA and TMEM175 loci on chromosome (Chr) 4 with a signi ﬁ cant in ﬂ uence on the AAO of PD; these have not been independently replicated. This study aims to conduct a meta-analysis of GWAS of PD AAO and validate previously observed ﬁ ndings in worldwide populations. A meta-analysis was performed on PD AAO GWAS of 30 populations of predominantly European ancestry from the Comprehensive Unbiased Risk Factor Assessment for Genetics eQTL = expression quantitative trait locus; GTEx = Genotype-Tissue Expression; GWAS = genome-wide association studies; IPDGC = International Parkinson Disease Genomics Consortium; LD = linkage disequilibrium (LD); PD = Parkinson disease; PRS = polygenic risk score; QQ = quantile-quantile; SNV = single-nucleotide variation; UKBEC = UK Brain Expression Consortium.
Growth‐dependent heterogeneity in the DNA damage response in Escherichia coli

In natural environments, bacteria are frequently exposed to sub‐lethal levels of DNA damage, which leads to the induction of a stress response (the SOS response in Escherichia coli). Natural environments also vary in nutrient availability, resulting in distinct physiological changes in bacteria, which may have direct implications on their capacity to repair their chromosomes. Here, we evaluated the impact of varying the nutrient availability on the expression of the SOS response induced by chronic sub‐lethal DNA damage in E. coli. We found heterogeneous expression of the SOS regulon at the single‐cell level in all growth conditions. Surprisingly, we observed a larger fraction of high SOS‐induced cells in slow growth as compared with fast growth, despite a higher rate of SOS induction in fast growth. The result can be explained by the dynamic balance between the rate of SOS induction and the division rates of cells exposed to DNA damage. Taken together, our data illustrate how cell division and physiology come together to produce growth‐dependent heterogeneity in the DNA damage response.
Pranlukast treatment and the use of respiratory support in infants with respiratory syncytial virus infection

Background In infants, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection occasionally causes severe symptoms requiring respiratory support; however, supportive care is the primary treatment. This study compared the use of respiratory support among infants with RSV infection treated with or without pranlukast. Methods This retrospective cohort study included infants aged <10 months with RSV infection who were admitted to three secondary level hospitals in Japan between 2012 and 2019. The infants were divided into two groups depending on whether they were treated with pranlukast. The primary outcome was the receiving respiratory support (high-flow nasal cannula, nasal continuous positive airway pressure, or ventilator). The secondary outcomes were the length of hospital stay, and the Global Respiratory Severity Score (GRSS) on starting respiratory support or at the time of the worst signs during hospitalization. We performed a propensity score-matched analysis. Results A total of 492 infants, including 147 propensity score-matched pairs, were included in the analysis. The use of respiratory support was significantly lower in infants treated with pranlukast (3.4% [5/147]) than those treated without pranlukast (11.6% [17/147]; P = 0.01). In the propensity score-matched analysis, pranlukast use was associated with a significantly lower chance of needing respiratory support (odds ratio: 0.27, 95% confidence interval: 0.08–0.79; P = 0.01); however, the length of hospital stay (median: 4 days) and the GRSS (median: 2.804 and 2.869 for infants treated with and without pranlukast, respectively) did not differ significantly between propensity score-matched pairs. Conclusions Pranlukast use was associated with a reduced likelihood of requiring respiratory support in infants aged <10 months with RSV infection.
Interaction between mesenchymal stem cells and myoblasts in the context of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy contributes to the disease phenotype

Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is a genetic disease associated with ectopic expression of the DUX4 gene in skeletal muscle. Muscle degeneration in FSHD is accompanied by muscle tissue replacement with fat and connective tissue. Expression of DUX4 in myoblasts stimulates mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) migration via the CXCR4‐CXCL12 axis. MSCs participate in adipose and connective tissue formation and can contribute to fibrosis. Here we studied the interaction between myoblasts and MSCs and the consequences of this interaction in the FSHD context. We used cell motility assays and coculture of MSCs with myoblasts to study their mutual effects on cell migration, differentiation, proliferation, and extracellular matrix formation. The growth medium conditioned by FSHD myoblasts stimulated MSCs migration 1.6‐fold (p < 0.04) compared to nonconditioned medium. Blocking the CXCL12‐CXCR4 axis with the CXCR4 inhibitor (AMD3100) or neutralizing antibodies to CXCL12 abolished this effect. FSHD myoblasts stimulated MSC proliferation 1.5−2 times (p < 0.05) compared to control myoblasts, while the presence of MSCs impaired myoblast differentiation. Under inflammatory conditions, medium conditioned by FSHD myoblasts stimulated collagen secretion by MSCs 2.2‐fold as compared to the nonconditioned medium, p < 0.03. FSHD myoblasts attract MSCs via the CXCL12‐CXCR4 axis, stimulate MSC proliferation and collagen secretion by MSCs. Interaction between MSCs and FSHD myoblasts accounts for several important aspects of FSHD pathophysiology. The CXCL12‐CXCR4 axis may serve as a potential target to improve the state of the diseased muscles.
Factors Influencing Hearing Aid Satisfaction in South Korea

Purpose The purpose of this study is three-fold: 1) to evaluate factors influencing hearing aid (HA) satisfaction; 2) to provide a profile of HA satisfaction in daily life; and 3) to examine the reasons why people gave up using HAs. Materials and Methods Data for 1148 respondents were statistically analyzed and reported. Results In the study, age (β=-0.03, p<0.01), level of education (β=1.21, p<0.01), HA purchase price (β=1.50, p<0.01), bilateral amplification (β=1.23, p<0.01), wearing time (β=0.28, p<0.01), and HA fitting and fine tuning on a regular basis (β=1.71, p<0.01) significantly influenced HA satisfaction. In addition, the authors observed that the most satisfactory factors were clarity of sound (53.5%), people’s trust in their HA (61.7%), and listening from a quiet environment (72.8%) in the domains of sound quality, HA features, and listening environments, respectively. Finally, with multiple choices being possible, 65% of the 40 respondents who no longer used HAs answered that their HAs ended up in a drawer since the background noise was annoying and distracting. Conclusion This study is significant in that it is a large-scale multi-center research to comprehensively examine the factors influencing HA satisfaction in South Korea. This data will provide helpful information that could lead to the successful rehabilitation of hearing loss with HAs.
KIF2C affects sperm cell differentiation in patients with Klinefelter syndrome, as revealed by RNA‐Seq and scRNA‐Seq data

Klinefelter syndrome (KS) is a leading contributor to male infertility and is characterised by complex and diverse clinical features; however, genetic changes in the KS transcriptome remain largely unknown. We therefore used transcriptomic and single‐cell RNA sequencing (scRNA‐seq) datasets from KS versus normal populations through the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database to identify gene biomarkers associated with the occurrence of KS. We identified a total of 700 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and completed Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), enrichment pathway analysis and protein‐protein interaction (PPI) network analysis. A total of four unreported KS‐related hub genes (KIF2C, MRPS2, RPS15 and TSFM) were identified. Validation of the single‐cell sequencing dataset showed that only KIF2C and RPS15 were expressed in spermatocytes and that they were differentially expressed in sperm cells. Further construction of the developmental trajectories of these two genes in sperm cells showed that the KIF2C gene showed an upward trend throughout the differentiation and development of sperm cells. In conclusion, we report here that KIF2C may be closely related to the differentiation and development of sperm cells in KS patients, which is important for revealing the molecular mechanism of KS and conducting further studies.
Video Review of Simulated Pediatric Cardiac Arrest to Identify Errors/Latent Safety Threats: A Mixed Methods Study

Introduction Outcomes from pediatric in-hospital cardiac arrest depend on the treatment provided as well as resuscitation team performance. Our study aimed to identify errors occurring in this clinical context and develop an analytical framework to classify them. This analytical framework provided a better understanding of team performance, leading to improved patient outcomes. Methods We analyzed 25 video recordings of pediatric cardiac arrest simulations from the pediatric intensive care unit at the Alberta Children's Hospital. We conducted a qualitative-dominant crossover mixed method analysis to produce a broad understanding of the etiology of errors. Using qualitative framework analysis, we identified and qualitatively described errors and transformed the data coded into quantitative data to determine the frequency of errors. Results We identified 546 errors/error-related actions and behaviors and 25 near misses. The errors were coded into 21 codes that were organized into 5 main themes. Clinical task–related errors accounted for most errors (41.9%), followed by planning, and executing task-related errors (22.3%), distraction-related errors (18.7%), communication-related errors (10.1%), and knowledge/training-related errors (7%). Conclusions This novel analytical framework can robustly identify, classify, and describe the root causes of errors within this complex clinical context. Future validation of this classification of errors and error-related actions and behaviors on larger samples of resuscitations from various contexts will allow for a better understanding of how errors can be mitigated to improve patient outcomes.