Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hippocampal involvement in glucose facilitation of recognition memory: Event-related potential components in a dual-task paradigm

BACKGROUND: Glucose administration may facilitate hippocampus-mediated recognition memory (‘remember’ rather than familiarity ‘know’ responses). OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the electrophysiological correlates of this phenomenon in a cohort of older individuals. METHODS: In this double-blind placebo-controlled cross-over study, 12 older participants (mean age = 69.33 ± 1.69 years) completed the remember-know paradigm both with and without a concurrent tracking task while recording event-related potentials (ERPs). RESULTS: Counter to predictions, glucose reduced overall accuracy. No treatment effects were found for proportion of Remember, Know and Guess responses, although there was a trend towards greater accuracy for ‘Remember’ responses following glucose. There was weak evidence for dissociation of drink effects on tracking with glucose being associated with preferential allocation of resources to ‘Remember’ over ‘Know’ responses. At P3 and F3 electrode sites, a significantly greater left parietal (LP) recollection effect and greater FN400 effect respectively were found for glucose. CONCLUSIONS: These findings do not support task effort modulation of the memory-enhancing effects of glucose. There was evidence of a greater glucose facilitatory effect for hippocampus-mediated LP recollection.
Pilot Study of Once-Daily Simplification Therapy with Abacavir/Lamivudine/Zidovudine and Efavirenz for Treatment of HIV-1 Infection

Abstract Objective: The purpose of this pilot study was to explore the efficacy and safety of the abacavir/lamivudine/zidovudine fixed-dose combination tablet administered as two tablets once daily (qd) versus one tablet twice daily (bid) in combination with efavirenz (EFV). Method: This was a prospective, randomized, open-label, multicenter study with a 24-week treatment period in 7 outpatient HIV clinics in the United States. Patients currently receiving an initial regimen of abacavir/lamivudine/zidovudine bid plus EFV qd for at least 6 months with HIV-1 RNA <50 copies/mL for at least 3 months and a screening CD4+ cell count ≥200 cells/mm3 were eligible. Thirty-six patients enrolled, and 35 (97%) completed the study. Participants were randomized to switch to 2 tablets of abacavir/lamivudine/zidovudine qd plus EFV qd (QD arm) or continue current treatment (BID arm) for 24 weeks. Results: Efficacy, safety, and adherence were evaluated. Median baseline CD4+ cell count was 521 cells/mm3. At week 24, HIV-1 RNA <50 copies/mL was achieved for 94% of participants in the QD arm and 89% in the BID arm by intent-to-treat, missing = failure analysis (95% confidence interval for difference: ≥0.29 to +0.18, p = 1.000). At week 24, median CD4+ cell count change from baseline was +26 cells/mm3 for the QD arm and –39 cells/mm3 for BID arm. One patient randomized to the QD arm met virologic failure criteria (confirmed HIV-1 RNA >120 copies/mL) at week 20 and viral genotype showed M184V. After failure, this patient revealed he never took EFV throughout the entire study after randomization, effectively receiving only abacavir/lamivudine/zidovudine qd alone. Median adherence was slightly higher in the QD arm, although both arms had broad variability and overlapping interquartile ranges. Adverse events were infrequent and occurred with similar frequency between arms; treatment-related adverse events were abdominal pain, flatulence, nausea, headache, and abnormal dreams (1 patient [3%] for each adverse event). No patients withdrew due to adverse events, and no abacavir hypersensitivity reactions were reported. Conclusion: In this pilot study of patients suppressed on abacavir/lamivudine/zidovudine bid plus EFV, 94% of participants switching to abacavir/lamivudine/zidovudine qd plus EFV maintained virologic suppression, compared to 89% of participants continuing abacavir/lamivudine/zidovudine bid plus EFV.
Dependence of Ideality Factor in Lateral PNP Transistors on Surface Carrier Concentration

The influence of surface carrier concentration on the ideality factor of excess base current (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Delta I_{B}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) in gated lateral PNP (GLPNP) bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) induced by 1-MeV electrons is investigated. <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Delta I_{B}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> in LPNP BJTs is impacted by the surface carrier density and radiation-induced interface traps. In GLPNP BJTs, the surface carrier concentration can be controlled by the voltage applied to a gate over the base region. The ideality factor changes after irradiation, and its dependence on emitter-base voltage (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$V_{\mathrm {EB}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) is a function of gate voltage. For the irradiated devices, as the gate voltage decreases from +20 to −5 V, the ideality factor for excess base current changes from a single slope to two-slope behavior. The majority carrier concentration at the surface of the base, controlled by the gate voltage, impacts the excess base current and its ideality factor.
CcrR, a TetR Family Transcriptional Regulator, Activates the Transcription of a Gene of the Ethylmalonyl Coenzyme A Pathway in Methylobacterium extorquens AM1

ABSTRACT The ethylmalonyl coenzyme A (ethylmalonyl-CoA) pathway is one of the central methylotrophy pathways in Methylobacterium extorquens involved in glyoxylate generation and acetyl-CoA assimilation. Previous studies have elucidated the operation of the ethylmalonyl-CoA pathway in C1 and C2 assimilation, but the regulatory mechanisms for the ethylmalonyl-CoA pathway have not been reported. In this study, a TetR-type activator, CcrR, was shown to regulate the expression of crotonyl-CoA reductase/carboxylase, an enzyme of the ethylmalonyl-CoA pathway involved in the assimilation of C1 and C2 compounds in Methylobacterium extorquens AM1. A ccrR null mutant strain was impaired in its ability to grow on C1 and C2 compounds, correlating with the reduced activity of crotonyl-CoA reductase/carboxylase. Promoter fusion assays demonstrated that the activity of the promoter required for ccr expression (the katA-ccr promoter) decreased as much as 50% in the absence of ccrR compared to wild-type M. extorquens AM1. Gel mobility shift assays confirmed that CcrR directly binds to the region upstream of the katA-ccr promoter. A palindromic sequence upstream of katA at positions −334 to −321 with respect to the predicted translational start site was identified, and mutations in this region eliminated the gel retardation of the katA-ccr promoter region by CcrR. CcrR does not appear to regulate the expression of other ethylmalonyl-CoA pathway genes, suggesting the existence of additional regulators.
Asymmetry-aware link layer services in wireless sensor networks

Recent studies in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have observed that the irregular link quality is a common phenomenon, rather than an anomaly. The irregular link quality, especially link asymmetry, has significant impacts on the design of WSN protocols. In this paper, we propose two asymmetry-aware link layer services, including the neighborhood link quality service (NLQS) and the link relay service (LRS). The novelty of the NLQS service is taking the link asymmetry into consideration, providing timeliness link quality and distinguishing the inbound and outbound neighbors with the support of LRS, which builds a relay framework to alleviate the effects of link asymmetry. To demonstrate the proposed link layer service, we design and implement two example applications, building the shortest-hop routing path (SHRT) and the best path reliability routing path (BRRT), on the TinyOS platform. We found that the performance of two example applications is improved substantially. More than 40% of nodes identify more outbound neighbors and the percentage of increased outbound neighbors is between 14% and 100%. In SHRT, more than 15% of nodes reduce hops of the routing path and the percentage of reduced hops is between 14% and 100%. In BRRT, more than 16% of nodes improve the path reliability of the routing path and the percentage of the improved path reliability is between 2% to 50%.
A sparse array antenna using 2-D pattern reconfigurable antenna

This paper presents a planer sparse array antenna using two-dimensional pattern reconfigurable antenna. In order to cut down the manufacturing cost of an Active Phased Array Antenna, the number of elements antenna is drastically reduced. To avoid the degradation of antenna performances due to arising grating lobes, the proposed antenna improves the gain of the necessary direction and can reduce the level of the unnecessary direction that the grating lobe arise. The element antenna consists of the patch antenna and four parasitic elements with switches in the four corners of the excited patch. The effectiveness of the antenna is verified through the experiment in X-band.
Heat-shock protein 90 inhibitors as novel cancer chemotherapeutic agents

Heat-shock protein 90 (Hsp90) is a molecular chaperone whose association is required for the stability and function of multiple mutated, chimeric and overexpressed signalling proteins that promote cancer cell growth and/or survival. Hsp90 client proteins include mutated p53, Bcr-Abl, Raf-1, Akt, HER2/Neu (ErbB2) and hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α). Through specific interaction with a single molecular target, Hsp90 inhibitors cause the destabilisation and eventual degradation of Hsp90 client proteins, and they have shown promising antitumour activity in preclinical model systems. One Hsp90 inhibitor, 17-allylamino-geldanamycin (17-AAG), is currently in Phase I clinical trials. Hsp90 inhibitors are unique in that, although they are directed towards a specific molecular target, they simultaneously inhibit multiple signalling pathways on which cancer cells depend for growth and survival. Further, because of the unique effect that Hsp90 inhibition has on cancer cells, combination of an Hsp90 inhibitor with standard chemotherapeutic agents may dramatically increase the in vivo efficacy of the standard agent.
Antral follicle count and FSH concentration after clomiphene citrate challenge test in the prediction of ovarian response during IVF treatment.

BACKGROUND We compared: (i) antral follicle count (AFC) in the early follicular phase, after the clomiphene citrate challenge test (CCCT) and before ovarian stimulation following pituitary down-regulation; and (ii) age of women, body mass index, basal and stimulated serum FSH concentrations and AFC in predicting the ovarian response of infertile women aged <40 years with basal FSH <10 IU/l on recruitment in their first IVF cycle. METHODS Two months prior to the treatment cycle, AFC and basal FSH concentration were determined on day 2-3 of a spontaneous period and on day 10 after CCCT. All women received a standard stimulation regimen. Ovarian response was represented by the number of oocytes, serum estradiol, the duration and dosage of gonadotrophins. RESULTS There was no significant difference between basal, stimulated and down-regulated AFC. AFC achieved the best predictive value in relation to the number of oocytes, followed by combined FSH concentration (sum of the two FSH concentrations) and age of women. Both basal AFC and combined FSH concentration were predictive factors of serum estradiol concentration, whereas stimulated FSH concentration was predictive of the total dosage of gonadotrophins. CONCLUSION Combined FSH concentration after CCCT provides additional information in predicting ovarian response.
Localization of objects in electric distribution systems by using segmentation and 3D template matching with M-estimators

Semi-automatic mobile-robots for maintaining works in electric distribution systems have been developed by Kyushu Electric Power Company in Japan. This robot can greatly reduce the demands on the human operator, although some human intervention is still required to perform such tasks as insulator recognition, positional adjustments of the robot, and guidance toward electric lines and insulators. We develop a 3D object recognition and localization system for robot's positional adjustment. For localization to be useful and practical, the method is designed to be insensitive to outliers. Our algorithm is general enough to be applied not only to our dual-armed mobile robots but also to other teleoperation robots. This algorithm should greatly reduce the burden of human operators when it is applied to the robot. This paper first describes our algorithm, and then presents a performance evaluation.
Telemetry for Implantable Medical Devices: Part 2 - Power Telemetry

This three-part article focuses on power and data telemetry for implantable medical devices (IMDs). It is not restricted to circuit and system descriptions but outlines the background of the application, along with typical requirements, to illuminate why the circuits are being built as described in state-of-the-art publications. In order to adequately cover this wide range of topics, the article has been split into three parts. In the first part, we reviewed tissue properties, regulations, standards, and safety limits for EM and optical telemetry and its application to the human body. This second part focuses on power telemetry, with an emphasis on the inductive link and the corresponding power management circuits, and gives a short overview of more recent advances such as energy harvesting for IMDs. The third and last part will be dedicated to data telemetry concepts for IMDs. These will be reviewed in principle, then split mostly into electromagnetic and optical approaches. To conclude, an example of a system realizing some of the aforementioned ideas will be provided.
Effects of lunar phase on sleep in men and women in Surrey

Recently, evidence has emerged that the phases of the moon may modulate subjective sleep quality and polysomnographically assessed sleep structure in humans. We aimed to explore further the putative effects of circa‐lunar periodicity (~29.5 days) on subjective and objective parameters of human sleep in a retrospective analysis. The baseline sleep recordings of 205 (91 males and 114 females; mean age = 47.47 years, standard deviation =19.01; range: 20–84 years) healthy and carefully screened participants who participated in two clinical trials in the Surrey Clinical Research Centre were included in the analyses. Sleep was recorded in windowless sleep laboratories. For each study night, we calculated the distance, in days, to the date of the closest full moon phase and based on this distance, classified sleep records in three lunar classes. Univariate analysis of variance with factors lunar class, age and sex was applied to each of 21 sleep parameters. No significant main effect for the factor lunar class was observed for any of the objective sleep parameters and subjective sleep quality but some significant interactions were observed. The interaction between lunar class and sex was significant for total sleep time, Stage 4 sleep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Separate analyses for men and women indicated that in women total sleep time, Stage 4 sleep and REM sleep were reduced when sleep occurred close to full moon, whereas in men REM duration increased around full moon. These data provide limited evidence for an effect of lunar phase on human sleep.
Lab Testing Beyond Usability: Challenges and Recommendations for Assessing User Experiences

In the “third wave” of human-computer interaction (HCI), the advent of the conceptual approach of UX broadens and changes the HCI landscape. Methods approved before, mainly within the conceptual approach of usability, are still widely used, and yet their adequacy for UX evaluation remains uncertain in many applications. Laboratory testing is undoubtedly the most prominent example of such a method. Hence, in this study, we investigated how the more comprehensive and emotional scope of UX can be assessed by laboratory testing. In this paper, we report on a use case study involving 70 participants. They first took part in user/laboratory tests and then were asked to evaluate their experience with the two systems (perceived UX) by filling out an AttrakDiff scale and a UX needs fulfillment questionnaire. We conducted post-test interviews to better understand participants’ experiences . We analyzed how the participants’ perceived UX depends on quantitative (e.g., task completion time, task sequence, level of familiarity with the system) and qualitative aspects (think aloud, debriefing interviews) within the laboratory context. Results indicate that the laboratory setting has a strong impact on the participants’ perceived UX, and support a discussion of the quality and limitations of laboratory evaluations regarding UX assessment. In this paper, we have identified concrete challenges and have provided solutions and tips useful for both practitioners and researchers who seek to account for the subjective, situated, and temporal nature of the UX in their assessments.
Analysis of sealing vs tensile bond strength of eight adhesive restorative material systems.

PURPOSE Using a simulated perfusion system, the intent was to determine: 1) the sealing ability of eight restorative materials (five composite resins and three compomers) used together with their corresponding dentin bonding systems, 2) their tensile bond strength, and 3) the correlation (if any) between both parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS Permeability in crown segments from sound human third molars (n = 140) subjected to simulated perfusion (32 cm of distilled water) was measured before and after restoring with each material, and the percentage of decrease in permeability (PPD) was recorded. Specimens were later subjected to tensile tests to determine the tensile bond strength (TBS) of the interface. Finally, parameters were analyzed for correlation. RESULTS For the eight adhesive systems, the percentage of reduction in permeability was relatively high [mean in %, (SD)]: F2000 93.6 (5.7), SB1 88.6 (11.3), SSC 86.0 (5.7), PB20 81.1 (15.9), COM 77.5 (10.8), OPTS 75.3 (20.6), DYR 73.7 (12.7), SSPR 65.5 (19.8). TBS values were relatively low [mean (SD)], in MPa: F2000 1.8 (0.7), SB1 4.9 (1.4), SSC 2.6 (1.4), PB20 4.3 (1.2), COM 2.4 (1.1), OPTS 4.5 (1.7), DYR 1.6 (0.6), SSPR 4.2 (1.5). We could not demonstrate any statistically significant correlation between both parameters for these results (maximum significance [F2000]: r = 0.39, p = 0.206). CONCLUSION No material completely ceased to filtrate through the interface. The low TBS values were probably due to the large size of adhesive areas. No significant correlation was found between PPD and TBS for the materials tested. There was a statistically significant relationship (r2 = 0.063, p = 0.018) between TBS and TBA (total bonded area), described by the equation TBS = 5.9 - 0.03. TBA.
Fundamental oscillation up to 1.08THz in resonant tunneling diodes with high-indium-composition transit layers for reduction of transit delay

Fundamental oscillations up to 1.08THz with the output power of 5.5 microwatts was achieved in GaInAs/AlAs resonant tunneling diodes (RTDs) at room temperature. The graded emitter, thin barriers, and high-indium-composition transit layers were introduced to reduce the tunneling and transit delays. The first two of these structures are the same as those in RTDs oscillating at 1.04THz reported recently, and the last structure provided for further reduction of the transit time and increase in frequency due to suppression of the Γ-L transition and increment of the launching velocity.
Phase-Variable Expression of an Operon Encoding Extracellular Alkaline Protease, a Serine Protease Homolog, and Lipase in Pseudomonas brassicacearum

ABSTRACT The rhizobacterium Pseudomonas brassicacearum forms phenotypic variants which do not show extracellular protease and lipase activity. The operon encoding these enzymes, a serine protease homolog, and a type I secretion machinery was characterized. Transcriptional lacZ gene fusions revealed that the expression of the operon is under the control of phase variation.
ATLAS: a framework for large scale automated mapping and localization

This thesis describes a scalable robotic navigation system that builds a map of the robot's environment on the fly. This problem is also known as Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM). The SLAM problem has as inputs the control of the robot's motion and sensor measurements to features in the environment. The desired output is the path traversed by the robot (localization) and a representation of the sensed environment (mapping). The principal contribution of this thesis is the introduction of a framework, termed Atlas, that alleviates the computational restrictions of previous approaches to SLAM when mapping extended environments. The Atlas framework partitions the SLAM problem into a graph of submaps, each with its own coordinate system. Furthermore, the framework facilitates the modularity of sensors, map representations, and local navigation algorithms by encapsulating the implementation specific algorithms module that matches submaps and a verification procedure that trades latency in loop closing with a lower chance of incorrect loop detections inherent with symmetric environments. The framework is demonstrated with several datasets that map large indoor and urban outdoor environments using a variety of sensors: a laser scanner, sonar rangers, and omni-directional video. (Copies available exclusively from MIT Libraries, Rm. 14-0551, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307. Ph. 617-253-5668; Fax 617-253-1690.)
The experimental survey of protein-folding energy landscapes

1. Introduction 2 2. The macroscopic and microscopic views of protein folding 2 2.1 The macroscopic view: the experimental folding free-energy profile 2 2.2 The microscopic view: an underlying energy landscape 3 3. The micro to macro projection: from an energy landscape to a free-energy profile 6 4. Global features of the protein folding transition-state ensemble 12 4.1 Overall transition state location β[Dagger]: a measure of compactness 12 4.2 What makes folding so robust ? 13 5. Structural characterization of the transition-state ensemble 16 5.1 Insights from ϕ-value analysis 16 6. Deviations from ideality 20 6.1 β[Dagger] shifts along seemingly robust trajectories 21 6.2 Anomalous ϕ values, frustration and inhomogeneities 25 7. Intermediates 28 8. Detours, traps and frustration 29 8.1 Premature collapse and non-native trapping 29 9. Diffusion on the energy landscape and the elementary events of protein folding 30 10. Malleability of folding routes: changes of the dominant collective coordinates for folding 33 11. The evolution of the shape of the energy landscape 35 11.1 Negative design: the hidden dimension of the folding code 35 12. Mechanistic multiplicity and evolutionary choice 36 13. Acknowledgements 37 14. References 38 We review what has been learned about the protein-folding problem from experimental kinetic studies. These studies reveal patterns of both great richness and surprising simplicity. The patterns can be interpreted in terms of proteins possessing an energy landscape which is largely, but not completely, funnel-like. Issues such as speed limitations of folding, the robustness of folding, the origin of barriers and cooperativity and the ensemble nature of transition states, intermediate and traps are assessed using the results from several experimental groups highlighting energy-landscape ideas as an interpretive framework.