Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Integration of 3D Electroanatomic Maps and Magnetic Resonance Scar Characterization Into the Navigation System to Guide Ventricular Tachycardia Ablation

Background— Scar heterogeneity identified with contrast-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance (CE-CMR) has been related to its arrhythmogenic potential by using different algorithms. The purpose of the study was to identify the algorithm that best fits with the electroanatomic voltage maps (EAM) to guide ventricular tachycardia (VT) ablation. Methods and Results— Three-dimensional scar reconstructions from preprocedural CE-CMR study at 3T were obtained and compared with EAMs of 10 ischemic patients submitted for a VT ablation. Three-dimensional scar reconstructions were created for the core (3D-CORE) and border zone (3D-BZ), applying cutoff values of 50%, 60%, and 70% of the maximum pixel signal intensity to discriminate between core and BZ. The left ventricular cavity from CE-CMR (3D-LV) was merged with the EAM, and the 3D-CORE and 3D-BZ were compared with the corresponding EAM areas defined with standard cutoff voltage values. The best match was obtained when a cutoff value of 60% of the maximum pixel signal intensity was used, both for core (r 2=0.827; P<0.001) and BZ (r 2=0.511; P=0.020), identifying 69% of conducting channels (CC) observed in the EAM. Matching improved when only the subendocardial half of the wall was segmented (CORE: r 2=0.808; P<0.001 and BZ: r 2=0.485; P=0.025), identifying 81% of CC. When comparing the location of each bipolar voltage intracardiac electrogram with respect to the 3D CE-CMR–derived structures, a Cohen &kgr; coefficient of 0.70 was obtained. Conclusions— Scar characterization by means of high resolution CE-CMR resembles that of EAM and can be integrated into the CARTO system to guide VT ablation.
High Q-factor hydrogenated amorphous silicon microdisk resonators

We report about the fabrication and optical characterization of high Q hydrogenated amorphous silicon microdisk resonators in telecommunication C-band. High resonance peaks of >;30dB were achieved. Intrinsic Q-factors of 0.9×106 were measured with >;10dB extinction for qTM-modes.
A Test of the Hierarchical Model of Personal Illness

Summary To test the Foulds and Bedford hierarchical model of personal illness, the Delusions-Symptoms-States Inventory (DSSI) was administered to 100 psychiatric in-patients. Ninety-six had symptom patterns compatible with the hierarchy. This is significantly more than expected on the basis merely of the number of DSSI items affirmed, and overall the results support the model.
Personalized search in digital libraries via spreading activation model

With the tremendous development of information technology, the volume of data in digital libraries is increasing enormously, and the magnitude is putting users at risk of information overload. Personalized search aims at solving the problem by tailoring search results for individual demands. We propose a novel approach to provide personalized search by learning users' interests from historic behaviors and re-ranking search results by a Spreading Activation SA model. In our approach, users' interests are categorized by the level of recency to form user profiles, which in turn serve as the input of the SA model. Then, SA runs on the domain ontology incorporated with a newly defined relationship borrowIntent derived from the assumption of collaborative filtering. We further demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology through experiments on real data from a university library. The presented approach can also be applied in other contexts such as electronic commerce.
Expression of murine DNA methyltransferases Dnmt1 and Dnmt3a in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Murine DNA methyltransferases Dnmt1 and Dnmt3a were expressed in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Adjustment to yeast preferences of the nucleotide sequences upstream and downstream of the translation initiation sites of both cDNAs was needed to obtain significant levels of the methyltransferases. Both proteins were correctly localized to the nucleus and their presence had no measurable influence on the functioning of yeast cells. Both Dnmt1 and Dnmt3a expressed in yeast cells were enzymatically active in vitro, and in vivo in the genomic DNA of the transgenic S. cerevisiae ca. 0.06% and 0.4%, respectively, of cytosines became methylated. This level of DNA methylation is about 100‐ to 10‐fold less than that observed in mammalian cells. The constructed system may be used to investigate the in vivo specificity of individual mammalian DNA methyltransferases and to search for additional factors needed to allow more efficient in vivo methylation of chromatin‐contained DNA and to study their mechanism of action. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Sulfonation and Phosphorylation of Regions of the Dioxin Receptor Susceptible to Methionine Modifications*S

Tagged murine dioxin receptor was purified from mammalian cells, digested with trypsin, and analyzed by capillary HPLC-MALDI-TOF/TOF-MS and -MS/MS. Several chromatographically distinct semitryptic peptides matching two regions spanning residues Glu409–Arg424 and Ser547–Arg555 of the dioxin receptor were revealed by de novo sequencing. Methionine residues at 418 and 548 were detected in these peptides as either unmodified or modified by moieties of 16 (oxidation) or 57 amu (S-carboxamidomethylation) or in a form corresponding to degradative removal of 105 amu from the S-carboxamidomethylated methionine. MS/MS spectra revealed that the peptides containing modified methionine residues also existed in forms with a modification of +80 amu on serine residues 411, 415, and 547. The MS/MS spectra of these peptide ions also revealed diagnostic neutral loss fragment ions of 64, 98, and/or 80 amu, and in some instances combinations of these neutral losses were apparent. Taken together, these data indicated that serines 411 and 547 of the dioxin receptor were sulfonated and serine 415 was phosphorylated. Separate digests of the dioxin receptor were prepared in H216O and H218O, and enzymatic dephosphorylation was subsequently performed on the H216O digest only. The digests were mixed in equal proportions and analyzed by capillary HPLC-MALDI-TOF/TOF-MS and -MS/MS. This strategy confirmed assignment of sulfonation as the cause of the +80-amu modifications on serines 411 and 547 and phosphorylation as the predominant cause of the +80-amu modification of serine 415. The relative quantitation of phosphorylation and sulfonation enabled by this differential phosphatase strategy also suggested the presence of sulfonation on a serine other than residue 411 within the sequence spanning Glu409–Arg424. This represents the first description of post-translational sulfonation sites and identification of a new phosphorylation site of the latent dioxin receptor. Furthermore this is only the second report of serine sulfonation of eukaryotic proteins. Mutagenesis studies are underway to assess the functional consequences of these modifications.
Predicting survival in heart failure case and control subjects by use of fully automated methods for deriving nonlinear and conventional indices of heart rate dynamics.

BACKGROUND Despite much recent interest in quantification of heart rate variability (HRV), the prognostic value of conventional measures of HRV and of newer indices based on nonlinear dynamics is not universally accepted. METHODS AND RESULTS We have designed algorithms for analyzing ambulatory ECG recordings and measuring HRV without human intervention, using robust methods for obtaining time-domain measures (mean and SD of heart rate), frequency-domain measures (power in the bands of 0.001 to 0.01 Hz [VLF], 0.01 to 0.15 Hz [LF], and 0.15 to 0.5 Hz [HF] and total spectral power [TP] over all three of these bands), and measures based on nonlinear dynamics (approximate entropy [ApEn], a measure of complexity, and detrended fluctuation analysis [DFA], a measure of long-term correlations). The study population consisted of chronic congestive heart failure (CHF) case patients and sex- and age-matched control subjects in the Framingham Heart Study. After exclusion of technically inadequate studies and those with atrial fibrillation, we used these algorithms to study HRV in 2-hour ambulatory ECG recordings of 69 participants (mean age, 71.7+/-8.1 years). By use of separate Cox proportional-hazards models, the conventional measures SD (P<.01), LF (P<.01), VLF (P<.05), and TP (P<.01) and the nonlinear measure DFA (P<.05) were predictors of survival over a mean follow-up period of 1.9 years; other measures, including ApEn (P>.3), were not. In multivariable models, DFA was of borderline predictive significance (P=.06) after adjustment for the diagnosis of CHF and SD. CONCLUSIONS These results demonstrate that HRV analysis of ambulatory ECG recordings based on fully automated methods can have prognostic value in a population-based study and that nonlinear HRV indices may contribute prognostic value to complement traditional HRV measures.
CYP19A1, MIF and ABCA1 genes are targets of the RORα in monocyte and endothelial cells

RORα is a member of nuclear receptor superfamily of transcription factors, which has a vital role in the regulation of various physiological processes. Cholesterol is a known ligand of RORα and is one of the key components that take part in cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis. Therefore, it is possible that RORα might have a role in the development of atherosclerosis. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the presence of novel RORα response elements (ROREs) located in the promoter of CYP19A1, MIF and ABCA1 genes. Briefly, the occupancy of RORα in the promoter regions of these genes was demonstrated in THP‐1 and HUVEC cell lines by ChIP analysis. In order to modulate RORα activity, THP‐1 and HUVEC cells were treated with specific RORα ligands (CPG 52608 and SR1001) and then the expression levels of target genes were analysed. In the next step, we tested whether RORα activity in THP‐1 macrophages was influenced by the presence of simvastatin, a cholesterol lowering drug. We found that in the presence of simvastatin the expression of the investigated target genes were down regulated and that this regulation was partially prevented by CPG 52608 and SR1001. Results of this study suggest that CYP19A1, MIF and ABCA1 are the direct target genes of RORα. In conclusion, it is important to demonstrate that certain genes involved in the development of atherosclerosis could be modulated by an inducible transcription factor. Therefore, these results offer a potential therapeutic approach for the treatment of atherosclerosis.
Anxiety and Depression among Students of a Medical College in Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVE To assess prevalence of anxiety and depression among medical students in a medical college of Saudi Arabia. METHODS A cross-sectional study was done on premedical, 1(st), 2(nd) & 3(rd) year students of College of Medicine, Qassim University. The instrument used to assess the anxiety and depression was Self administered questionnaire, The Aga Khan University Anxiety and Depression Scale (AKUADS). AKUADS is a screening tool, and at a cut off point of 19, it has a Specificity of 81%, Sensitivity of 74%, a Positive Predictive Value of 63% and Negative Predictive Value of 88%. Data analysis was done on Epi Info version 6. RESULTS At the time of the study there were a total of 288 male students and 105 female students enrolled in the college. The overall response rate among the males and females were 68.7% and 99.0% respectively. Overall the prevalence of anxiety and depression in females were 66.6% and males 44.4% (p-value 0.01). In the 1(st) year the prevalence in females were 89.7% and males 60% (P-Value = 0.006). No suicidal ideation was reported by either males or females. CONCLUSION Almost similar level of anxiety and depression was found in another study using the same instrument in a similar curriculum model medical college in Pakistan. Our findings are also consistent with the findings from other studies from western medical schools as well as other Asian and African medical schools using different screening tools.
The Surgeon as a Consultant for Medical Device Manufacturers: What Do Our Patients Think?

Study Design. Patient survey. Objective. To evaluate patient perspective on surgeons as consultants for industry and medical device manufacturers. Summary of Background Data. Relationships between surgeons and medical device manufacturers are becoming increasingly common. Little is known, however, about how patients perceive these relationships. Methods. Patients in the waiting area of an orthopedic surgery clinic were given a simple 1-page, 8-question anonymous questionnaire. Their responses were tabulated and analyzed for 3 variables: gender, age, and education level. Results. A total of 245 patients completed the questionnaire. An overwhelming majority (94.3%) believed that surgeon-industry relationship is beneficial to patients, and a majority (66.5%) of patients thought that physicians should be compensated for this role. Women were more likely than men to want this relationship to be regulated by physicians instead of the government or hospitals. Patients older than 55 years were less likely to be in favor of physicians being compensated than younger patients. The more educated the patient, the less likely he/she was in favor of allowing physicians to regulate physician-industry relationship. Conclusion. Patients support surgeons in the role of consultants for industry. Gender, age, and education level influence the way that patients perceive this issue.
Product-Form Solution Techniques for the Performance Analysis of Multiple-Bus Multiprocessor Systems with Nonuniform Memory References

Recursive relations are derived for the exact computation of the steady-state probability distribution of some queuing models with passive resources that can be used to analyze the performance of multiple-bus multiprocessor system architectures. The most general case that can be shown to admit a product-form solution is described, and a recursive solution is obtained taking into account, considering different processor access rates, different memory selection probabilities, and a first-come-first-served bus scheduling policy. Several simpler cases allowing easier model solutions are also considered. Numerical evaluations for large computing systems with nonuniform memory references show the usefulness of the results. >
Robust Feedback Control Design for a Nonlinear Wastewater Treatment Model

In this work we deal with the design of the robust feedback control of wastewater treatment system, namely the activated sludge process. This problem is formulated by a nonlinear ordinary differential system. On one hand, we develop a robust analysis when the specific growth function of the bacterium μ is not well known. On the other hand, when also the substrate concentration in the feed stream s in is unknown, we provide an observer of system and propose a design of robust feedback control in term of recycle rate, in order to keep the pollutant concentration lower than an allowed maximum level s d .
Inverse Optimal Velocity Field Control of an Outdoor Blimp Robot

Abstract: A surveillance system is required to gather the suffering information in the stricken area safely and quickly after natural disasters. An autonomous blimp is the best option for this purpose. Inverse optimal velocity field control is proposed for the blimp to keep a desired trajectory. The desired trajectory based on velocity field is designed, and inverse optimal tracking control is applied to be robust to input uncertainties. The transient performance to the desired trajectory is very important to fly smoothly along the contour, because the blimp is affected by wind easily. The inverse optimal control is expected to improve the robustness to uncertainties of various dynamic parameters. Some experiments are performed to confirm the usefulness of the proposed method by using an outdoor blimp whose length is 12.2m.
Where Diffusion of Clean Technologies and Barriers to Innovation Clash: Application to the Global Diffusion of the Electrical Arc Furnace

This paper analyses the role of barriers preventing the worldwide take-up of a clean technology: the electrical arc furnace. It also identifies which barriers affect a parameter that summarises the combined effect of all of them. The first step, determination of the combined effect of the barriers, is carried out using a novel approach to model the diffusion of innovations. This new approach is composed only by terms that account for the driver of innovations and the parameter that summarises the effect of barriers. The objective quantification of the effect of barriers in the diffusion of innovations opens up new opportunities for designing policies to overcome the barriers identified as the most relevant, for identifying the effect of existing policies, for relating innovation indicators with those barriers or for better incorporating the effect of barriers in bottom-up models that forecast the technological evolution of the economy.
Reducing metal artifacts by pre-processing projection data in dental CBCT with a half-size detector

In dental Cone-Beam CT reconstruction images, the metallic implants will cause apparent streak artifacts, which may seriously increase the difficulty of diagnosis. Here we present a new metal artifacts reducing method designed for our dental CBCT with a half-size detector. In our method, we first locate the positions of all the metallic implants in the three-dimensional space, and then the projection points of the metal positions will greatly simplify the segmentation and modification of the metal area in each projection image. This method is proved to be efficient and accurate by experimental results.
Interaction between childhood maltreatment on immunogenetic risk in depression: discovery and replication in clinical case-control samples

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a prevalent disorder with moderate heritability. Both MDD and interpersonal adversity, including childhood maltreatment, have been consistently associated with elevated inflammatory markers. We investigated interaction between exposure to childhood maltreatment and extensive genetic variation within the inflammation pathway ( CRP, IL1b, IL-6, IL11, TNF , TNFR1, and TNFR2 ) in relation to depression diagnosis. The discovery RADIANT sample included 262 cases with recurrent DSM-IV/ICD-10 MDD, and 288 unaffected controls. The replication Münster cohort included 277 cases with DSM-IV MDD, and 316 unaffected controls. We identified twenty-five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) following multiple testing correction that interacted with childhood maltreatment to predict depression in the discovery cohort. Seven SNPs representing independent signals (rs1818879, rs1041981, rs4149576, rs616645, rs17882988, rs1061622, and rs3093077) were taken forward for replication. Meta-analyses of the two samples presented evidence for interaction with rs1818879 ( IL6 ) (RD=0.059, SE=0.016, p < 0.001), with the replication Münster sample approaching statistical significance in analyses restricted to recurrent MDD and controls following correction for multiple testing ( q =0.066). The CRP locus (rs3093077) showed a similar level of evidence for interaction in the meta-analysis (RD=0.092, SE=0.029, p =0.002), but less compelling evidence in the replication sample alone (recurrent MDD q =0.198; all MDD q =0.126). Here we present evidence suggestive of interaction with childhood maltreatment for novel loci in IL-6 (rs1818879) and CRP (rs3093077), increasing risk of depression. Replication is needed by independent groups, targeting these specific variants and interaction with childhood maltreatment on depression risk.
Phosphatidylinositol 4‐kinase III beta is the target of oxoglaucine and pachypodol (Ro 09‐0179) for their anti‐poliovirus activities, and is located at upstream of the target step of brefeldin A

In recent years, phosphatidylinositol 4‐kinase III beta (PI4KB) has emerged as a conserved target of anti‐picornavirus compounds. In the present study, PI4KB was identified as the direct target of the plant‐derived anti‐picornavirus compounds, oxoglaucine and pachypodol (also known as Ro 09‐0179). PI4KB was also identified as the target via which pachypodol interferes with brefeldin A (BFA)‐induced Golgi disassembly in non‐infected cells. Oxysterol‐binding protein (OSBP) inhibitor also has interfering activity against BFA. It seems that this interference is not essential for the anti‐poliovirus (PV) activities of BFA and PI4KB/OSBP inhibitors. BFA inhibited early to late phase PV replication (0 to 6 hr postinfection) as well as PI4KB inhibitor, but with some delay compared to guanidine hydrochloride treatment. In contrast with PI4KB/OSBP inhibitors, BFA inhibited viral nascent RNA synthesis, suggesting that BFA targets some step of viral RNA synthesis located downstream of the PI4KB/OSBP pathway in PV replication. Our results suggest that PI4KB is a major target of anti‐picornavirus compounds identified in vitro for their anti‐picornavirus activities and for some uncharacterized biological phenomena caused by these compounds, and that BFA and PI4KB/OSBP inhibitors synergistically repress PV replication by targeting distinct steps in viral RNA replication.
Avian egg antibodies: basic and potential applications

The existence of an IgG-like molecule in avian eggs, referred to as IgY, has been well documented, and extensive research has been carried out on its characterization, production and purification. Although it is the functional equivalent of mammalian IgG, themajor serum antibody found inmammals, IgY is structurally different, and has been found to exhibit several important differences when compared to mammalian antibodies, including its physico-chemical properties and immunological capabilities. Recently, considerable researchhas focussedon theuseof IgYas analternative tomammalianantibodies for severalapplications, including for immunotherapeutic applications, especially for the oral passive immunization against various bacteria and viruses. Much researchhas alsobeen carried out on the use of IgYas a replacement for IgGin various immunodiagnostic and immunoaffinity purificationpurposes.The use of IgYoffers several advantages over polyclonal antibodies produced inmammals, including providing amuchmore hygienic, cost efficient, convenient, humane and plentiful source of antigen-specific antibodies.
SOA Intensity Noise Suppression in Spectrum Sliced Systems: A Multicanonical Monte Carlo Simulator of Extremely Low BER

We present a thorough numerical study of intensity noise mitigation of spectrum sliced wavelength-division multiplexing (SS-WDM) systems employing a nonlinear semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) before the modulator. Our simulator of the SS-WDM link, embedded inside a Multicanonical Monte Carlo (MMC) platform, estimates the tails of the probability density functions of the received signals down to probabilities smaller than 10-16. We introduce a new, simple, and efficient technique to handle intersymbol interference (ISI) in MMC simulations. We address the impact of optical postfiltering on SOA noise suppression performance. While previous research experimentally observed the SOA-induced noise cleaning in SS-WDM systems, this is the first complete simulator able to correctly predict the ensuing BER improvement. We measure the BER at different bit-rates and validate predicted BERs with and without post filtering.