Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The lipide composition of epidermis and dermis of mice undergoing carcinogenesis by methylcholanthrene.

Summary The lipide composition of epidermis and dermis under the influence of the hair growth cycle and following the topical application of methylcholanthrene was investigated. The percentage of cholesterol and phospholipide was lowest in anagen and telogen epidermis, was nearly doubled in early and late hyperplastic epidermis, and rose to even higher values in squamous-cell carcinomas. The cholesterol ester content and the iodine number of the triglyceride fatty acids were of the same order of magnitude in these tissues, but the percentage of total lipide and triglycerides was much lower in the carcinomas than in hyperplastic, anagen, or telogen epidermis. Early hyperplastic male epidermis contained a much higher percentage of cholesterol esters and cholesterol than did similarly treated female epidermis. Fast acting sterols of the epidermis were limited essentially to the cholesterol ester fraction. No appreciable change was found in the lipide composition of the dermis of early and late hyperplastic epidermis, as compared with anagen and telogen dermis. The lipide composition of epidermis was considerably different from dermis in having a higher content of phospholipide, cholesterol, and cholesterol esters but less neutral lipide and triglycerides.
An energy efficient convergecast generic algorithm for wireless sensors network

The aim of the present work is to develop a new Convergecast routing technique which allows to connect many source nodes to a single sink node via a wireless sensor network (WSN). The synthesized method overcame the problem of energy consumption resulting from the repetition of the course of the edges during a transmission period. The proposed technique, based on intelligent routing algorithm to transmit the collected data to the base station, ensured a reduction of the routing paths length. This new approach was applied to a WSN, designed to control the temperature and volume of propane and butane in the tanks of the British Gas Group, for minimizing the energy consumed and increasing the life cycle of the network.
Ultrafast stimulus error removal algorithm for ADC linearity test

Linearity test of an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) can be very challenging because it requires a signal generator substantially more linear than the ADC under test. For high performance ADCs, the overall manufacturing cost could be dominated by the long test time and the high-precision test instruments. This paper introduces the ultrafast stimulus error removal and segmented model identification of linearity errors (USER-SMILE) method for high resolution ADC linearity test, allowing the stimulus signal's linearity requirement to be significantly relaxed and the test time to be reduced by orders of magnitude compared to the state-of-art histogram method. The USER-SMILE algorithm uses two nonlinear but functionally related input signals as ADC excitations and uses a stimulus error removal technique to recover test accuracy. The USER-SMILE algorithm also uses the ultrafast segmented model identification of linearity errors (uSMILE) approach to dramatically reduce test time while achieving test accuracy and coverage superior to the histogram method. The USER-SMILE algorithm is validated by extensive simulation with different types of ADCs, different resolution levels, and different types of input signals including nonlinear ramps, nonlinear sine waves and even random input signals. Statistical simulation results show that for a 16-bit SAR ADC, with two 1 hit/code nonlinear ramp signals, the INL test error is within +/- 0.4LSB.
Reasoning and Decisions in Probabilistic Graphical Models - A Unified Framework

Author(s): Liu, Qiang | Advisor(s): Ihler, Alexander | Abstract: Probabilistic graphical models such as Markov random fields, Bayesian networks and decision networks (a.k.a. influence diagrams) provide powerful frameworks for representing and exploiting dependence structures in complex systems. However, making predictions or decisions using graphical models involve challenging computational problems of optimization and/or estimation in high dimensional spaces. These include combinatorial optimization tasks such as maximum a posteriori (MAP), which finds the most likely configuration, or marginalization tasks that calculate the normalization constants or marginal probabilities. Even more challenging tasks require a hybrid of both: marginal MAP tasks find the optimal MAP prediction while marginalizing over missing information or latent variables, while decision-making problems search for optimal policies over decisions in single- or multi-agent systems, in order to maximize expected utility in uncertain environments.All these problems are generally NP-hard, creating a need for efficient approximations. The last two decades have witnessed significant progress on traditional optimization and marginalization problems, especially via the development of variational message passing algorithms. However, there has been less progress on the more challenging marginal MAP and decision-making problems.This thesis presents a unified variational representation for all these problems. Based on our framework, we derive a class of efficient algorithms that combines the advantages of several existing algorithms, resulting in improved performance on traditional marginalization and optimization tasks. More importantly, our framework allows us to easily extend most or all existing variational algorithms to hybrid inference and decision-making tasks, and significantly improves our ability to solve these difficult problems. In particular, we propose a spectrum of efficient belief propagation style algorithms with "message passing" forms, which are simple, fast and amenable to parallel or distributed computation. We also propose a set of convergent algorithms based on proximal point methods, which have the nice form of transforming the hybrid inference problem into a sequence of standard marginalization problems. We show that our algorithms significantly outperform existing approaches in terms of both empirical performance and theoretical properties.
Overt Aggression and Psychotic Symptoms in Patients With Schizophrenia Treated With Clozapine, Olanzapine, Risperidone, or Haloperidol

Abstract: The subjects were 157 treatment-resistant inpatients diagnosed with chronic schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. They were randomly assigned to treatment with clozapine, olanzapine, risperidone, or haloperidol in a 14-week, double-blind trial. Incidents of overt aggression were recorded and their severity was scored. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale was administered. Atypical antipsychotics showed an overall superiority over haloperidol, particularly after the first 24 days of the study when the dose escalation of clozapine was completed. Once an adequate therapeutic dose of clozapine was reached, it was superior to haloperidol in reducing the number and severity of aggressive incidents. Patients exhibiting persistent aggressive behavior showed less improvement of psychotic symptoms than the other patients. There was an interaction between aggressiveness, medication type, and antipsychotic response: risperidone and olanzapine showed better antipsychotic efficacy in patients exhibiting less aggressive behavior; the opposite was true for clozapine. Clozapine appears to have superior antiaggresive effects in treatment-resistant patients; this superiority develops after the patient has been exposed to an adequate dose regimen.
A Robust PLL Algorithm to Synchronize Static Power Converters with Polluted AC Systems

A phase locked loop algorithm appropriated for DSP-based control implementations where the operation of a static power converter needs to be synchronized with an AC network is presented. The operating principle of the proposed algorithm includes a multiplier, a filter, a feedback closed loop, and a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) stage. As a result, a discrete sine (and cosine) signal is generated in perfect synchronism with the fundamental component of an external reference signal. Moreover, the sampling period of the algorithm is adjusted at each sampling instant such that an integer number of sampling periods is ensured per period of the external reference signal. This is mainly achieved by using an improved discrete rectangular window filter and a discrete controller. The algorithm code is simple, stable, and presents high noise rejection. The theoretical justification and various experimental tests are included
While the ball in the digital soccer is rolling, where the non-player characters should go in a defensive situation?

The non-player characters (NPCs), i.e. the artificial characters that are not under direct control by the user, are essential part of many digital games. Achieving the realistic behavior by NPCs in digital sports games such as the simulated soccer is challenging. Here we limit our scope to the defensive situation, i.e. when the ball is controlled by the opponents, and propose a systematic method for optimal NPC positioning. So far the methods for automatically finding defensive positions by the intelligent robotic soccer players have been investigated by some scholars within RoboCup, an international research and educational initiative in Artificial Intelligence and robotics. Although simulated soccer teams using these methods have proved to be reasonably good, the collaboration issue in defensive situations has been overlooked. In this paper we propose a systematic approach based on solving a multi-criteria assignment problem. This allows gracefully balancing the costs and rewards involved in defensive positioning to achieve better results.
Increased brain activation during working memory in cognitively intact adults with the APOE epsilon4 allele.

OBJECTIVE Altered patterns of brain activity during cognitive tasks have been demonstrated using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. However, there have been few studies of adults at genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease prior to the onset of symptoms. The purpose of this study was to determine whether brain activation patterns associated with working memory differ as a function of apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype in cognitively intact adults. METHOD Participants were cognitively intact, healthy adults who completed genotyping, comprehensive neuropsychological testing, and structural and functional neuroimaging. Twenty-two participants had the APOE epsilon3/epsilon3 genotype, and 13 participants had the APOE epsilon3/epsilon4 genotype. The study employed an auditory verbal N-back task to probe working memory-related brain activity. RESULTS The epsilon3/epsilon3 and epsilon3/epsilon4 groups did not differ in demographic characteristics, cognitive ability, mood, or in-scanner task performance. The epsilon3/epsilon4 group showed greater activity during working memory in the medial frontal and parietal regions bilaterally and in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. There were no regions in which the epsilon3/epsilon3 group showed greater activation than the epsilon3/epsilon4 group. CONCLUSIONS These results indicate that differences in brain activity are evident in cognitively intact individuals who are at risk for late-onset Alzheimer's disease by virtue of their APOE allele status. As neuroprotective interventions become available, early detection will increase in importance. The combination of genetic and functional neuroimaging strategies may prove useful for monitoring individuals at risk for Alzheimer's disease before the onset of cognitive symptoms.
Ultra-compact multi-channel drop filter in one-dimensional photonic crystal on silicon-on-insulator substrate

We first experimentally demonstrated ultra-compact four-channel drop filters based on one-dimensional photonic crystal nanocavities. The drop wavelengths were controlled at 7.9±0.3nm spacing by changing the cavity length of the nanobeam cavities on several nanometers. The device size was as small as 7 μm × 34 μm, and the extinction ratio was as high as 25dB.
Neuromuscular Adaptations to Low-Frequency Stimulation Training in a Patient with Chronic Heart Failure

Deley G, Kervio G, Verges B, Hannequin A, Petitdant M-F, Grassi B, Casillas J-M: Neuromuscular adaptations to low-frequency stimulation training in a patient with chronic heart failure. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 2008;87:502–509. Electrical myostimulation (EMS) has recently been proposed as an interesting rehabilitation tool in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). Although its beneficial effects on exercise capacity and muscle strength have been demonstrated, the neuromuscular adaptations responsible for improved performance are not well understood. This preliminary case report was therefore planned to investigate the neural and muscular adaptations to a 5-wk EMS program in one patient. An increase in maximal strength (10.5%) was accompanied by increased twitch torque (13.9%) and slowing of muscle contractile properties (half-relaxation time, time to peak torque, and maximal rate of relaxation increased by 7.1, 31.1, and 16.6%, respectively) without changes in muscle activation. This preliminary case report therefore shows that in a highly deconditioned patient, EMS training improved strength through muscular adaptations rather than by neural changes, suggesting that EMS may be valuable for counterbalancing loss of muscle strength and function common in CHF patients.
Describing Software Architecture Styles Using Graph Grammars

We believe that software architectures should provide an appropriate basis for the proof of properties of large software. This goal can be achieved through a clearcut separation between computation and communication and a formal definition of the interactions between individual components. We present a formalism for the definition of software architectures in terms of graphs. Nodes represent the individual agents and edges define their interconnection. Individual agents can communicate only along the links specified by the architecture. The dynamic evolution of an architecture is defined independently by a "coordinator". An architecture style is a class of architectures specified by a graph grammar. The class characterizes a set of architectures sharing a common communication pattern. The rules of the coordinator are statically checked to ensure that they preserve the constraints imposed by the architecture style.
Coronary interventions in the elderly

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of morbidity, mortality, and reduced quality of life in western cultures. Elderly patients, usually defined as those aged 65 years or above, are particularly affected; since they are the fastest growing segment of the population, the absolute prevalence of CVD will therefore increase further. Among cardiovascular diseases, coronary artery disease is—by quantity and quality—the most prominent one, a fact that emphasises the relevance of coronary interventions in these patients. With regard to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), many studies of the pre-stent era had rather disappointing results for elderly patients, lower success rates and frequent complications being the most prominent problems. In the meantime, because of improvements in interventional techniques, particularly the routine use of stents, outcomes have improved continuously while complications have decreased. A particularly striking example of this phenomenon are studies with recruitment periods lasting several years, in which significant improvements over time could be observed even within the individual trials. However, since most interventional studies focus on patients aged 50–65 years, scientific evidence regarding the interventional treatment of the elderly is not as good as for younger patients. For this and other reasons, many physicians are still reluctant to suggest any invasive measure for elderly patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease. An important insight from recent studies is the heterogeneity of risk observed for elderly patients. While peri-interventional mortality in elective PCI may be as low as 1% in the absence of risk factors, mortality increases exponentially in emergency situations involving multi-morbid patients, rising to more than 20%. The treatment of the elderly in urgent settings is complicated by several problems: the elderly more often present with acute coronary syndromes, have longer intervals from the onset of symptoms to presentation, frequently complain of atypical symptoms, and frequently present with …
FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH SPONTANEOUS PRE‐TERM BIRTH

Factors associated with spontaneous pre‐term birth in 283 singleton pregnancies were compared with those present in a total population of 16 994 women at risk studied in the First British Perinatal Mortality Survey. It was shown that the risk of spontaneous pre‐term birth was related to low maternal age, low maternal weight, maternal smoking, low social class, illegitimacy, threatened abortion, and a previous history of antepartum haemorrhage, perinatal loss, or low birth weight livebirths.
OF FRONT WING OF FORMULA ONE CAR USING COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

The 222 member organization worldwide and one of the richest sports Federation Internationale de Automobile (FIA) Formula 1 World Championship proposed new aerodynamic rules for 2009 season. The main intentions and goals were to reduce the downward force by 50% and improving the sensitivity of the car running at an average speed of 175 kmph. The CFD simulations point that the main factor contributing in the field of new aerodynamic rules and regulations is the design of front wing of F1 car. Till date steady state CFD simulations have been carried out with different add on devices like front wing, roof spoiler, nose wing, bargeboard at different speeds in order to improve aerodynamic performance. Front wing is vital component because it is where air first meets the car. Entire aerodynamic performance of an F1 car can be changed by subtlest of alterations in front wing design.
Stress and hazardous alcohol use: Associations with early dropout from university

Background: The transition to studying at university is associated with increased levels of both stress and hazardous alcohol use. The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of these factors on first-year dropout from university studies. Methods: Two complete cohorts of university freshmen at two homogeneous universities, one in the north and one in the south of Sweden, were asked to participate in an intervention study. Participants responded to a baseline questionnaire including measures of stress and alcohol use. Official university records showing dropout over 12 months were collected. Results: A multivariate analysis established that high stress and admission to the northern university were associated with dropout from university studies, while symptoms of depression and anxiety as well as hazardous drinking were not. Conclusions: There is a need to address the issue of stress associated with the start of university studies. It seems important to offer stress-reducing interventions, specifically aimed at reducing transitional stress, as soon as students start university.
Adherence of Heart Transplant Recipients to Prescribed Medication and Recommended Lifestyle Habits

Introduction: Nonadherence may cause severe health problems in heart transplant (HTx) recipients. Research Questions: The present study aimed to investigate adherence to prescribed medication and recommended lifestyle habits in post-HTx patients and to assess associations between adherence, quality of life (QOL), and psychological well-being. Design: A questionnaire package was sent to all HTx patients from our clinic (n = 858) to answer questions anonymously on medication adherence, dietary recommendations (avoidance of raw animal products and ice cream), pet keeping (risk of zoonosis), anxiety and depression, QOL, and posttraumatic stress disorders. Results: Of the contacted patients, 524 (61%) responded and 505 fulfilled the inclusion criteria (age ≥18 years and ability to understand German). Of the study participants, 72.4% reported taking their medications very correctly, 72.2% stated consuming alcohol less often than once a week, 58.3% performed physical exercise at least once a week, one-third reported eating nonrecommended foods, 22.1% stated pet keeping, and 4.3% reported smoking. Adherence to prescribed medication was positively associated with age (P < .001) and mental QOL (P = .015) but was unrelated to eating nonrecommended foods (P > .05). Depressiveness correlated inversely with physical QOL (r = −0.232; P < .01) and mental QOL (r = −0.411; P < .01). Stress disorders and minor stressful events were reported by 7.8% and 46.6%, respectively. Stress disorders correlated inversely with mental QOL (r = −0.282; P < .01) and physical QOL (r = −0.422; P < .01). Discussion: Many HTx patients adhere to prescribed medications and health advice. Nevertheless, nonadherence is a problem, especially in younger HTx patients, indicating the need for a nonadherence crisis intervention program for long-term HTx patients.
ADAMTS 1 mediates the release of antiangiogenic polypeptides from TSP 1 and 2

Nathan V Lee, Makoto Sato, Douglas S Annis, Joseph A Loo, Lily Wu, Deane F Mosher and M Luisa Iruela-Arispe* Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, Molecular Biology Institute, Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA, Department of Urology, Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA, Department of Medicine and Biomolecular Chemistry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA and Department of Biological Chemistry and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA