Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Restrictive cardiomyopathies in childhood. Etiologies and natural history.

Restrictive cardiomyopathy is rare in childhood and little is known about the causes and outcome. This lack of information results in extrapolation of adult data to the care and management of children, who might require different treatment from that of adults. This study was undertaken retrospectively to evaluate the causes and natural history of restrictive cardiomyopathy in childhood. Twelve cases of restrictive cardiomyopathy were identified by database review of patient records from 1967 to 1994. The cases were selected on the basis of echocardiographic and cardiac catheterization criteria. Charts were reviewed for the following variables: age, sex, cause, right-and left-sided hemodynamics, pulmonary vascular resistance index, shortening fraction, therapy, and outcome. There were 6 males and 6 females with a mean age of 4.6 years at presentation (median, 3.4 yr; range, 0.9 to 12.3 yr). Etiologies included hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in 3 patients, cardiac hypertrophy with restrictive physiology in 3, idiopathic in 2, familial in 2 (twins), "chronic eosinophilia" in 1, and "post inflammatory" with no definitive causes in 1. At presentation the mean shortening fraction was 33% +/- 2% (mean +/- SEM), average right ventricular pressures were 44/13 +/- 3/1, average left ventricular pressures were 88/25 +/- 4/3, and the mean pulmonary vascular resistance index was 3.4 +/- 1.3 U.m2 (n = 9), but increased to 9.9 +/- 3.1 U.m2 (n = 5, p = 0.04) by 1 to 4 years after diagnosis. Four of the 12 patients had embolic events (1, recurrent pulmonary emboli; 1, saddle femoral embolus; 2, cerebrovascular accidents) and 9 of 12 died within 6.3 years despite medical therapies, which included diuretics, verapamil, propranolol, digoxin, and captopril. In conclusion, restrictive cardiomyopathy in childhood is commonly idiopathic or associated with cardiac hypertrophy, and the prognosis is poor. Embolic events occurred in 33% of our patients, and 9 of 12 patients died within 6.3 years. Within 1 to 4 years of diagnosis, patients may develop a markedly elevated pulmonary vascular resistance index; therefore, transplantation should be considered early.
Nonlinear static state feedback controller design to enlarge the domain of attraction for a class of nonlinear systems

In this paper, the problem of computing state feedback controllers to enlarge the domain of attraction (DOA) in non-polynomial systems is considered. An optimization strategy based on a multidimensional gridding approach to estimate and to enlarge the guaranteed DOA of equilibrium points of non-polynomial systems is developed. Our intention is to extend our approach for the estimation of the DOA for non-polynomial systems presented in [1] to controller design, which maximizes the estimated DOA induced by a given quadratic Lyapunov function (QLF). An inner and an outer approximation of the enlarged DOA and the corresponding state feedback controller can be calculated. Two illustrative examples with different state feedback controllers demonstrate the effectiveness of the presented method.
Novel ionizing radiation-sensitive mutants of Deinococcus radiodurans

Two new loci, irrB and irrI, have been identified in Deinococcus radiodurans. Inactivation of either locus results in a partial loss of resistance to ionizing radiation. The magnitude of this loss is locus specific and differentially affected by inactivation of the uvrA gene product. An irrB uvrA double mutant is more sensitive to ionizing radiation than is an irrB mutant. In contrast, the irrI uvrA double mutant and the irrI mutant are equally sensitive to ionizing radiation. The irrB and irrI mutations also reduce D. radiodurans resistance to UV radiation, this effect being most pronounced in uvrA+ backgrounds. Subclones of each gene have been isolated, and the loci have been mapped relative to each other. The irrB and irrI genes are separated by approximately 20 kb of intervening sequence that encodes the uvrA and pol genes.
Efficient Ray Traversal of Constrained Delaunay Tetrahedralization

Acceleration structures are mandatory for ray-tracing applications, allowing to cast a large number of rays per second. In 2008, Lagae and Dutre have proposed to use Constrained Delaunay Tetrahedralization (CDT) as an acceleration structure for ray tracing. Our experiments show that their traversal algorithm is not suitable for GPU applications, mainly due to arithmetic errors. This article proposes a new CDT traversal algorithm. This new algorithm is more efficient than the previous ones: it uses less arithmetic operations; it does not add extra thread divergence since it uses a fixed number of operation; at last, it is robust with 32-bits floats, contrary to the previous traversal algorithms. Hence, it is the first method usable both on CPU and GPU.
YAPPTCHA: Yet another picture promoted CAPTCHA with spam stopping, image labeling and SIFT accomplishment

We present YAPPTCHA, a new CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) as a security measure to recognize human users. The proposed system uses images instead of distorted text to label images as a valuable output. YAPPTCHA is generated from images on the Web. In order to solve this type of CAPTCHA, users must type two words for description of two images. When users pass the challenge, the provided meaningful labels are used to determine the content of images. In addition, semantic graphs for labels and images are created and it will make it possible to develop an image semantic search engine accordingly. Due to usage of images in this system, and its architecture, it is highly secure compared to its counterparts. In a user study involving 60 participants, YAPPTCHA's word accuracy is measured to be 98.18% while 61.26% of attempts of the users were successful.
A Low Cost Key Agreement Protocol Based on Binary Tree for EPCglobal Class 1 Generation 2 RFID Protocol

There are many protocols proposed for protecting Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system privacy and security. A number of these protocols are designed for protecting long-term security of RFID system using symmetric key or public key cryptosystem. Others are designed for protecting user anonymity and privacy. In practice, the use of RFID technology often has a short lifespan, such as commodity check out, supply chain management and so on. Furthermore, we know that designing a long-term security architecture to protect the security and privacy of RFID tags information requires a thorough consideration from many different aspects. However, any security enhancement on RFID technology will jack up its cost which may be detrimental to its widespread deployment. Due to the severe constraints of RFID tag resources (e.g., power source, computing power, communication bandwidth) and open air communication nature of RFID usage, it is a great challenge to secure a typical RFID system. For example, computational heavy public key and symmetric key cryptography algorithms (e.g., RSA and AES) may not be suitable or over-killed to protect RFID security or privacy. These factors motivate us to research an efficient and cost effective solution for RFID security and privacy protection. In this paper, we propose a new effective generic binary tree based key agreement protocol (called BKAP) and its variations, and show how it can be applied to secure the low cost and resource constraint RFID system. This BKAP is not a general purpose key agreement protocol rather it is a special purpose protocol to protect privacy, un-traceability and anonymity in a single RFID closed system domain.
Anterior ankle arthrodesis with molded plate: technique and outcomes.

BACKGROUND There is still controversy regarding the best technique for ankle arthrodesis to acheive stable rigid fixation along with reconstructing a functional plantigrade foot. Moreover, existing techniques have complictions related to stability, soft tissue covering, fusion rate, and exposure. METHODS With the anterior approach exactly on the tibialis anterior sheath, the joint was exposed and previous hardware, if any, was removed and with the safe direct approach, the ankle, hindfoot, and indirectly the subtalar joints were accessed. Then fresh cancellous bone was obtained and complete denudation was preformed. Lastly, a narrow 4.5 millimeter plate was carefully placed on what was determined to be the best final position.In this prospective study, 12 patients with severe ankle pain and arthritis enrolled from February 2010 to January 2012. Eight of them had posttraumatic arthritis and deformity with hardware, two had rheumatoid arthritis, one had poliomyelitis with severe deformity of the foot and knee, and another had chronic ulcerative synovitis of the ankle joint. The patients were assessed clinically and radiographically for an average of two years (range: 13 months to 4 years) for functional recovery, range of motion, stability of the ankle, and imaging evidence of union. RESULTS Ankle deformities and pain in all 12 cases were corrected. With a short healing time and rapid recovery period, after six weeks all of the patients could walk independently. Also, scores of the Manchester-Oxford Foot Questionnaire (MOXFQ) improved significantly from 69 preoperatively to 33 postoperatively). CONCLUSIONS Anterior ankle arthrodesis with molded plating can be an easy and safe way to manage deformities and it has excellent fusion rate and sufficient rigid fixation.
Lipopolysaccharide Activates Distinct Signaling Pathways in Intestinal Epithelial Cell Lines Expressing Toll-Like Receptors1

LPS elicits several immediate proinflammatoy responses in peripheral blood leukocytes via a recently described pathway including CD14, Toll-like receptors (TLR), serine-threonine kinases, and NF-κB transcription factor. However, the functional responses of intestinal epithelial cells (IEC) to stimulation with LPS are unknown. Expression of mRNA and protein for CD14 and TLRs were assessed by RT-PCR, immunoblotting, and immunohistochemistry in mouse and human IEC lines. LPS-induced activation of signaling pathways (p42/p44 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK), p38, p65, NF-κB) were assessed by immunoblotting and gel shifts. CD14 mRNA and protein expression were not detectable in IEC. However, human TLR2, TLR3, and TLR4 mRNA were present in IEC. TLR4 protein was expressed in all cell lines; however, TLR2 protein was absent in HT29 cells. Immunofluorescent staining of T84 cells demonstrated the cell-surface presence of the TLRs. LPS-stimulation of IEC resulted in activation (>1.5-fold) of the three members of the MAPK family. In contrast, LPS did not significantly induce activation of JNK and p38 in CMT93 cells, p38 in T84 cells and MAPK and JNK in HT29 cells. Downstream, LPS activated NF-κB in IEC in a time-, dose-, and serum-dependent manner. IEC express TLRs that appear to mediate LPS stimulation of specific intracellular signal transduction pathways in IEC. Thus, IEC may play a frontline role in monitoring lumenal bacteria.
Retinoic acid and the transcription factor MafB act together and differentially to regulate aggrecan and matrix metalloproteinase gene expression in neonatal chondrocytes

Vitamin A (VA) and its active form, retinoic acid (RA), are regulators of skeletal development and chondrogenesis. MafB, a transcription factor, has been identified as an important mediator in monocyte and osteoclast differentiation. However, the presence and function of MafB in chondrocytes is not clear. In this study, MafB gene expression was regulated by both the VA status of the mother (VA‐marginal, adequate, and supplemented diets) and by direct oral supplementation of the neonates with VARA (VA mixed with 10% RA). Expression was highest in neonates of VA‐supplemented versus VA‐marginal dams (P < 0.05), and in VARA‐treated versus placebo‐treated neonates across all diet groups (P < 0.05). To examine cellular changes, primary chondrocytes derived from neonatal rat ribs were cultured in the presence of RA for up to 48 h. MafB mRNA exhibited a time‐ and dose‐dependent increase in response to RA, while the induction of MafB mRNA was attenuated by BMS‐493, a pan‐RAR inverse agonist, implicating RAR signaling in the regulation of MafB. The genetic knockdown of MafB in chondrocytes using siRNA (MafBSI chondrocytes) abrogated the RA‐induced increase in MafB expression. MafBSI chondrocytes expressed higher levels of aggrecan mRNA. Additionally, the increased matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)3 and MMP13 gene expression due to RA was attenuated in MafBSI chondrocytes, while total extracellular matrix staining was increased. These results support a role for MafB as a regulator of chondrocyte gene expression and matrix formation via control of aggrecan, MMP3 and MMP13 expression, and indicate an important role for RA in the regulation of MafB. J. Cell. Biochem. 114: 471–479, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Difficulties in the differentiation of chronic inflammatory diseases of the central nervous system – value of cerebrospinal fluid analysis and immunological abnormalities in the diagnosis

Objectives – A number of neurological syndromes may be evoked by involvement of the nervous system due to systemic diseases such as lupus erythematodes, sarcoidosis, Behçet's disease and Sjögren's syndrome (SS) and may be confounded with another chronic inflammatory disease which is restricted to the central nervous system, e.g. multiple sclerosis (MS). Because of different treatment strategies, it is important to distinguish between these different autoimmune diseases.
Molecular structures of supported metal oxide catalysts under different environments

The use of in situ Raman spectroscopy to study the molecular structures of supported metal oxide catalysts under different environments is reviewed. The molecular structures under ambient (hydrated) and dehydrated conditions are presented. The effect of moisture at elevated temperatures is also presented and discussed with regard to its implications for catalytic phenomena. The molecular structural transformations during C2–C4 lower alkane (LPG) oxidation, methane oxidation, methanol oxidation and selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH3 reaction conditions are presented. In situ spectroscopy during catalytic reaction with simultaneous activity/selectivity measurement (‘operando’ spectroscopy) is emphasized owing to its contribution to the fundamental understanding of catalytic performance. The reducibility of the different surface metal oxide species, the relevance of surface coverage (surface monomeric vs polymeric species) and the specific oxide support are discussed when LPG, methane, methanol or hydrogen is the reducing agent. In situ Raman spectroscopy provides molecular-level information about the surface metal oxide species: structures, stability and transformations under different environments. In many cases, the use of complementary spectroscopic techniques results in a more complete understanding of the molecular structure–activity/selectivity relationships for supported metal oxide catalysts. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A dynamic programming algorithm for elastic registration of distorted pictures based on autoregressive model

It is shown how to register a picture and a map when the deformation of the picture is severe by totally unknown. The method makes use of the combination of autoregressive (AR) modeling of the deformation working at the pixel level and a dynamic programming (DP) frame working at a higher level. AR modeling and DP work jointly: DP provides several sequences of observations which are candidates for an AR model, and at the same time the model furnishes a convenient cost function to DP. The only prerequisite to this method is that the map be expressible as an ordered sequence of primitives, and that a (not necessarily ordered) set of comparable primitives be extractable from the picture. >
Impact of stent platform of paclitaxel-eluting stents: assessment of neointimal distribution on optical coherence tomography.

BACKGROUND The Taxus Express™ paclitaxel-eluting stent (Express-PES) and Taxus Liberté™ PES (Liberté-PES) have identical drugs, drug doses, and polymers, but different stent platforms. The Liberté-PES platform has thinner struts, specifically designed for more uniform drug elution. METHODS AND RESULTS Fifty-four patients who underwent 6-month follow-up optical coherence tomography (OCT) after Express-PES (n=27) or Liberté-PES (n=27) implantation were enrolled. Longitudinal and circumferential uniformity of neointimal distribution was evaluated in 3-D by computing mean neointimal thickness (NIT) within 360 equally spaced radial sectors for every 1-mm cross-section. After stenting, intravascular ultrasound showed that Liberté-PES had a significantly smaller maximum angle between adjacent struts, with a tendency toward a lower incidence of % length of the segment with maximum angle >90° than Express-PES. Liberté-PES had a significantly thinner mean NIT than the Express-PES with comparable frequency of uncovered struts. Longitudinal and circumferential absolute variation of NIT expressed by standard deviation of NIT from each sector was significantly smaller for Liberté-PES than for Express-PES. Liberté-PES had a tendency toward a decreased incidence of thrombus and peri-strut low-intensity areas (findings suggestive of delayed arterial healing), compared to Express-PES. CONCLUSIONS Stent design and thickness appeared to affect neointima suppression of PES. The stent platform of the Liberté-PES may offer greater and more homogeneous reduction of neointimal proliferation spatially across the full length of the PES.
Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) of a High-Pressure CO2–Water Mixture: Application to Carbon Sequestration

Geologic carbon storage in deep saline aquifers is considered a feasible and possible approach of mitigating the problem of increasing greenhouse gas emissions. However, there are latent risks in which carbon dioxide (CO2) could migrate from the deep saline formations to shallower aquifers. In the event of a significant CO2 leakage to an underground source of drinking water, CO2 will dissolve in the water, thereby increasing its acidity, which could potentially enhance the solubility of various aquifer constituents, including hazardous compounds, subsequently compromising groundwater quality due to increased concentration of aqueous metals. In this paper we explore the possibility of detecting such leakage by the use of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). The experiments were conducted in calcium chloride solution at three pressures of 10, 50, and 120 bar. To evaluate the direct effect of elevated CO2 on the intensity of calcium emission lines (422.67 and 393.37 nm), we also performed experiments with pure nitrogen (N2) gas, offering large water solubility contrast. We found that when performed in presence of CO2, LIBS showed only a modest decrease in Ca emission intensity from 10 to 120 bar compared to N2. These results indicate that LIBS is a viable tool for measuring brine/water contents in high-pressure CO2 environment and can be applied for monitoring CO2 leakage and displaced brine migration.
Partial least-squares methods for spectral analyses. 1. Relation to other quantitative calibration methods and the extraction of qualitative information

Partial least-squares (PLS) methods for spectral analyses are related to other multivariate calibration methods such as classical least-squares (CLS), inverse least-squares (ILS), and principal component regression (PCR) methods which have been used often in quantitative spectral analyses. The PLS method which analyzes one chemical component at a time is presented, and the basis of each step in the algorithm is explained. PLS calibration is shown to be composed of a series of simplified CLS and ILS steps. This detailed understanding of the PLS algorithm has helped to identify how chemically interpretable qualitative spectral information can be obtained from the intermediate steps of the PLS algorithm. These methods for extracting qualitative information are demonstrated by use of simulated spectral data. The qualitative information directly available from the PLS analysis is superior to that obtained from PCR but is not complete as that which can be generated during CLS analyses. Methods are presented for selecting optimal numbers of loading vectors for both the PLS and PCR models in order to optimize the model while simultaneously reducing the potential for overfitting the calibration data. Outlier detection and methods to evaluate the statistical significance of results obtained from the different calibration methods applied tomore » the same spectral data are also discussed. « less
Comparison of Brown Midrib Sorghum with Conventional Sorghum Forage for Grazing Dairy Cows

A brown midrib (BMR) sorghum pasture was compared with normal sorghum for its effects on performance of Holstein cows in midlactation in terms of milk production and composition at grazing over three periods (Period 1: 20/01 to 31/01, Period 2: 17/02 to 28/02, Period 3: 19/03 to 30/03). Forty Holstein cows were grouped according to pre-experimental milk production (22.4 ± 4.2 kg/d milk), live weight (530 ± 25 kg) and lactation stage (127 ± 63 days) and assigned randomly to one of the two experimental pasture. Pasture was assigned on equal basis at an allowance 25 kg DM/cow/day (above 10 cm), assuming a 65% forage utilization and cows received 4 kg of concentrate per day. Simultaneously, both pastures were evaluated with sheep, to analyze digestibility at every grazing period. The BMR sorghum supported higher FCM than normal sorghum (18.5 vs. 17.8 l/day, P 0.05), with fewer intake of concentrate (-0.4 kg/day/cow, P 0.05) when compared with cows grazing normal sorghum. Those results are in accordance with greater (P 0.05) total digestive tract DM, OM and NDF in vivo digestibilities for BMR sorghum (65.0, 67.1, 65.9 respectively) than for normal sorghum (60.3, 62.0, 61.3 respectively). The increased digestibility of BMR sorghum must be associated with the compositional differences on fiber which allowed a higher cell wall digestion. Results of this study indicate that the BMR sorghum hybrid outperformed the normal sorghum hybrid resulting in a higher performance per cow with lower concentrate consumption compared with normal sorghum.
Reduction of Sheet Resistance and Low-Thermal-Budget Relaxation of Stress Gradients in Polysilicon Microcantilever Beams Using Nickel-Silicides

Nickel-silicide (NixSiy) is formed by the reaction of nickel and silicon at the temperature of couple of hundred degrees Celsius. Nickel-silicide technology is employed for the purpose of application in polysilicon-based microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices to reduce sheet resistance as well as to control residual stress gradients of the structures. To improve the compatibility of nickel-silicide with MEMS micromachining, anticorrosion release method is developed using cathodic protection. In situ study of stress evolutions during the reaction of a nickel film with polysilicon is quantitatively investigated using wafer curvature measurements. The phase of nickel-silicide is validated by using X-ray diffraction. The stress developed during the silicidation is utilized to control the stress gradient in polysilicon microcantilever beams. The experimental results show that the sheet resistance changes from over 20 000 Omega/sq. (insulating material) to less than 10 Omega/sq. The stress gradient is relaxed by counterbalancing the tensile residual stress at the upper part of a cantilever with a built-up compressive stress when the annealing temperature is 290 degC