Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Design and implementation of microstrip patch antenna array

This paper refers to a detailed analysis on the design and implementation of 4×1 and 8×1 microstrip patch antenna (array) of given specifications using IE3D software and a dielectric material FR4 with dielectric substrate permittivity of 4.28, tangent loss of 0.002 and height of 1.6 mm. The microstrip patch antenna array is designed for WLAN applications, at an operating frequency of 2.4 GHz with microstrip line feed and power dividers.
Disease-related stress in parents of children who are overweight: relations with parental anxiety and childhood psychosocial functioning

The psychometric properties of the Pediatric Inventory for Parents, a measure of chronic disease-related parental stress, were examined in a sample of 72 children and adolescents who are overweight. The correlations between disease-related parental stress and general parenting stress, parental and child anxiety and children's behavioral and psychological maladjustment were examined. The results demonstrated excellent internal consistency and modest correlations with a measure of general parenting stress. Significant and positive relations of medium to large effect sizes between disease-related parenting stress and internalizing and externalizing maladjustment were found. Internalizing and externalizing behavior moderated the relations between disease-related parenting stress and parental distress. Recommendations for use of the Pediatric Inventory for Parents in clinical settings and future research directions are discussed.
A Simple Fuzzy Neural Network

Our simple fuzzy neural network first thins the set of exemplar input feature vectors and then centers a Gaussian function on each remaining one and saves its associated output label (target). Next, any unknown feature vector to be classified is put through each Gaussian to get the fuzzy truth that it belongs to that center. The fuzzy truths for all Gaussian centers are then maximized and the label of the winner is the class of the input feature vector. We use the knowledge in the exemplar-label pairs directly with no training, no weights, no local minima, no epochs, no defuzzification, no overtraining, and no experience needed to use it. It sets up automatically and then classifies all input feature vectors from the same population as the exemplar feature vectors. We compare our results on well known data with those of several other fuzzy neural networks, which themselves compared favorably to other neural networks.
MicroRNA-92a Negatively Regulates Toll-like Receptor (TLR)-triggered Inflammatory Response in Macrophages by Targeting MKK4 Kinase*

Background: microRNAs (miRNAs) participate in innate immune responses. Results: miR-92a decreases rapidly in macrophages once stimulated with TLR ligands, and miR-92a controls inflammatory response by targeting MKK4/JNK/c-Jun pathway. Conclusion: TLR-mediated miR-92a reduction feedback enhances TLR-triggered inflammatory response. Significance: Our findings reveal a novel positive feedback loop in which TLR-reduced miR-92a expression functions to regulate the innate inflammatory responses. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play a critical role in the initiation of immune responses against invading pathogens. MicroRNAs have been shown to be important regulators of TLR signaling. In this study, we have found that the stimulation of multiple TLRs rapidly reduced the levels of microRNA-92a (miRNA-92a) and some other members of the miRNA-92a family in macrophages. miR-92a mimics significantly decreased, whereas miR-92a knockdown increased, the activation of the JNK/c-Jun pathway and the production of inflammatory cytokines in macrophages when stimulated with ligands for TLR4. Furthermore, mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 4 (MKK4), a kinase that activates JNK/stress-activated protein kinase, was found to be directly targeted by miR-92a. Similar to the effects of the miR-92a mimics, knockdown of MKK4 inhibited the activation of JNK/c-Jun signaling and the production of TNF-α and IL-6. In conclusion, we have demonstrated that TLR-mediated miR-92a reduction feedback enhances TLR-triggered production of inflammatory cytokines in macrophages, thus outlining new mechanisms for fine-tuning the TLR-triggered inflammatory response.
Heparanase promotes growth, angiogenesis and survival of primary breast tumors

Despite great strides toward diagnosis and therapy, breast cancer remains a most threatening disease in its incidence, morbidity and mortality; therefore, additional knowledge regarding the molecular mechanisms contributing to breast cancer progression, as well as new targets for drug discovery are highly needed. Heparanase is the predominant enzyme involved in cleavage of heparan sulfate, the main polysaccharide component of the extracellular matrix. Experimental and clinical data indicate that heparanase plays important roles in cancer metastasis and angiogenesis. In breast carcinoma patients, heparanase expression correlates with the metastatic potential of the tumor. The present study was undertaken to investigate the role of heparanase in local growth and angiogenesis of primary breast tumors. MCF‐7 breast carcinoma cells were stable transfected with the human heparanase (H‐hpa) cDNA, or empty vector (mock), and injected into the mammary pad of nude mice. MRI was applied to monitor progression of tumor growth and angiogenesis. We demonstrate that tumors produced by cells overexpressing heparanase grew faster and were 7‐fold larger than tumors produced by mock transfected cells. This enhanced growth was accompanied by increased tumor vascularization and a higher degree of vessel maturation. Histological examination ascribed the differences in tumor growth to heparanase‐stimulated cell proliferation and survival. In‐vitro experiments reinforced heparanase role as a survival factor under stress conditions. Moreover, H‐hpa tumor cells infiltrate into the adjacent stroma, promoting formation of highly vascularized fibrous bands. Our results emphasize the significance and clarify the involvement of heparanase in primary breast cancer progression by generating a supportive microenvironment that promotes tumor growth, angiogenesis and survival. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A Genetic Programming approach to face recognition

Increasing demand for a fast and reliable face recognition technology has obliged researchers to try and examine different pattern recognition schemes. But until now, Genetic Programming (GP), an acclaimed pattern recognition, data mining and relation discovery methodology, has been neglected in face recognition literature. This paper tries to apply GP to face recognition. First Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is used to extract features, and then GP is used to classify image groups. To further improve the results, a leveraging method is also utilized. It is shown that although GP might not be efficient in its isolated form, a leveraged GP can offer results comparable to other Face recognition solutions.
Theory of the birefringence due to dislocations in single crystal CVD diamond

Single crystal diamond grown by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) often exhibits strain induced birefringence arising from bundles of edge dislocations lying almost parallel to the [001] growth axis. The birefringent pattern changes when the crossed-polarizers are rotated with respect to the underlying lattice. For polarizers parallel to ⟨110⟩ directions, the birefringence pattern consists of four bright petals with dark arms along ⟨110⟩. For polarizers parallel to ⟨100⟩, the birefringence pattern consists of eight petals of weaker intensity with dark arms along ⟨110⟩ and ⟨100⟩ directions. We evaluate the birefringence intensity by using isotropic elasticity theory and find that these patterns can be explained by a specific dislocation arrangement which is consistent with x-ray topographic studies.
Folded bit-plane FIR filter architecture with changeable folding factor

The application of folding technique to the bit-plane systolic FIR filter architecture that enables the implementation of changeable folding factor onto the fixed size array is described in this paper. The transformation of original data flow graph (DFG) for bit-plane architecture that provides the successful application of the folding technique with changeable folding sets is presented. The involving of changeable folding sets in the synthesized folded architecture allows the reducing of folding factor according to the coefficient length increasing the throughput of the folded system.
Health outcomes in pediatric rheumatic diseases

Purpose of reviewHealth outcomes in the pediatric rheumatic diseases have been a very active area of research in the past several years, with a significant number of published studies from the United States, Canada, and Europe. Although most studies have been in the area of juvenile idiopathic arthritis, there are increasing numbers of studies in juvenile dermatomyositis and juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus. Recent findingsThese studies suggest that although there has been an improvement in overall outcomes, active disease persists in significant proportions of individuals into adulthood, causing damage and disability. In juvenile idiopathic arthritis, this is particularly so for patients with systemic arthritis and polyarthritis with rheumatoid factor positivity who overall appear to have a poor prognosis. SummaryWith the current approach to treatment of all these diseases being more aggressive, one anticipates an improvement in these outcomes in the future. Better longitudinal outcome studies with larger inception cohorts of new-onset disease are required to ascertain whether this prediction can be upheld. Such studies are now ongoing.
The Evolutionarily Conserved Domain of Beclin 1 is Required for Vps34 Binding, Autophagy, and Tumor Suppressor Function

Atg6/Beclin 1 is an evolutionarily conserved protein family that has been shown to function in vacuolar protein sorting (VPS) in yeast; in autophagy in yeast, Drosophila, Dictyostelium, C.elegans, and mammals; and in tumor suppression in mice. Atg6/Beclin 1 is thought to function as a VPS and autophagy protein as part of a complex with Class III PI3 kinase, Vps34. However, nothing is known about which domains of Atg6/Beclin 1 are required for its functional activity and binding to Vps34. We hypothesized that the most highly conserved region of human Beclin 1 spanning from amino acids 244-337 is essential for Vps34 binding, autophagy, and tumor suppressor function. To investigate this hypothesis, we evaluated the effects of wild-type and mutant beclin 1 gene transfer in autophagy-deficient MCF7 human breast carcinoma cells. We found that, unlike wildtype Beclin 1, a Beclin 1 mutant lacking aa 244-337 (Beclin 1deltaGECD), is unable to enhance starvation-induced autophagy in low Beclin 1-expressing MCF7 human breast carcinoma cells. In contrast to wild-type Beclin 1, mutant Beclin 1£GECD is unable to immunoprecipitate Vps34, has no Beclin 1-associated Vps34 kinase activity, and lacks tumor suppressor function in an MCF7 scid mouse xenograft tumor model. The maturation of cathepsin D, which requires intact Vps34-dependent VPS function, is comparable in autophagy-deficient low-Beclin 1 expressing MCF7 cells, autophagydeficient MCF7 cells transfected with Beclin 1deltaGECD, and autophagy-competent MCF7 cells transfected with wild-type Beclin 1. These findings identify an evolutionarily conserved domain of Beclin 1 that is essential for Vps34 interaction, autophagy function, and tumor suppressor function. Furthermore, they suggest a connection between Beclin 1-associated Class III PI-3 kinase-dependent autophagy, but not VPS, function and the mechanism of Beclin 1 tumor suppressor action in human breast cancer cells.
Fibrinogen levels and obstructive sleep apnea in ischemic stroke.

The plasma level of fibrinogen is felt to be an independent risk factor for vascular events. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has a high prevalence in patients with stroke and may also be an independent risk factor. The aim of our study was to determine the association between OSA and plasma levels of fibrinogen in patients with stroke. Polysomnography was performed during neurological rehabilitation in 113 patients (82 men, 31 women, age 58 +/- 11.1 yr, mean +/- SD) with ischemic stroke. OSA was absent (RDI < 5) in 44 patients, 42 had mild OSA (5 < or = RDI < 20), and 27 had moderate to severe OSA (RDI > or = 20). Parameters of OSA (respiratory disturbance index [RDI], oxygen indices) were correlated to plasma levels of fibrinogen, measured in the morning after admission to rehabilitation. Fibrinogen was positively correlated with RDI (r = 0.24, p = 0.007), duration of the longest apnea (r = 0.18, p = 0.049), and negatively correlated with several oxygen indices including average minimal oxygen saturation (r = -0.41, p < 0.001). Correlation coefficients were slightly higher when excluding patients with stroke of presumed cardiac origin. Multiple linear regression identified minimal mean oxygen saturation and sex as independent predictors of fibrinogen level. The correlation between severity of coexisting OSA and fibrinogen level in patients with stroke suggests a possible pathophysiological mechanism for an increased risk of stroke in patients with OSA.
Cis-regulatory analysis of nodal and maternal control of dorsal-ventral axis formation by Univin, a TGF-β related to Vg1

The TGF-β family member Nodal is essential for specification of the dorsal-ventral axis of the sea urchin embryo, but the molecular factors regulating its expression are not known. Analysis of the nodal promoter is an excellent entry point to identify these factors and to dissect the regulatory logic driving dorsal-ventral axis specification. Using phylogenetic footprinting, we delineated two regulatory regions located in the 5′ region of the nodal promoter and in the intron that are required for correct spatial expression and for autoregulation. The 5′ regulatory region contains essential binding sites for homeodomain, bZIP, Oct, Tcf/Lef, Sox and Smad transcription factors, and a binding site for an unidentified spatial repressor possibly related to Myb. Soon after its initiation, nodal expression critically requires autoregulation by Nodal and signaling by the maternal TGF-β Univin. We show that Univin is related to Vg1, that both Nodal and Univin signal through Alk4/5/7, and that zygotic expression of univin, like that of nodal, is dependent on SoxB1 function and Tcf/β-catenin signaling. This work shows that Tcf, SoxB1 and Univin play essential roles in the regulation of nodal expression in the sea urchin and suggests that some of the regulatory interactions controlling nodal expression predate the chordates. The data are consistent with a model of nodal regulation in which a maternal TGF-β acts in synergy with maternal transcription factors and with spatial repressors to establish the dorsal-ventral axis of the sea urchin embryo.
The SRCR/SID region of DMBT1 defines a complex multi‐allele system representing the major basis for its variability in cancer

Deleted in malignant brain tumors 1 (DMBT1) at 10q25.3–q26.1 has been proposed as a candidate tumor‐suppressor gene for brain and epithelial cancer. DMBT1 encodes a multifunctional mucin‐like protein presumably involved in epithelial differentiation and protection. The gene consists of highly homologous and repeating exon and intron sequences. This specifically applies to the region coding for the repetitive scavenger receptor cysteine‐rich (SRCR) domains and SRCR‐interspersed domains (SIDs) that constitutes the major part of the gene. This particular structure may previously have interfered with the delineation of DMBT1 alterations in cancer. Uncovering these, however, is of mechanistic importance. By a combined approach, we conducted a detailed mutational analysis, starting from a panel of 51 tumors, including 46 tumor cell lines and five primary tumors. Alterations in the repetitive region were present in 22/31 (71%) tumors that were investigated in detail. Six tumors showed presumably de novo mutations, among these three with point mutations in combination with a loss of heterozygosity. However, none of the alterations unambiguously would be predicted to lead to an inactivation of DMBT1. We define seven distinct DMBT1 alleles based on variable numbers of tandem repeats (VNTRs). At least 11 tumors exclusively harbored these VNTRs. The data suggest that the SRCR/SID region defines a complex multi‐allele system that has escaped previous analyses and that represents the major basis for the variability of DMBT1 in cancer. DMBT1 thus compares to mucins rather than to conventional tumor suppressors. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Rupture Reactivation during the 2011 Mw 9.0 Tohoku Earthquake: Dynamic Rupture and Ground‐Motion Simulations

Near‐source ground‐motion observations and kinematic source inversions suggest that the rupture process of the 2011 M w 9.0 Tohoku earthquake involved rupture reactivation, that is, repeated rupture nucleation in the same hypocentral area. This unusual phenomenon may have provided a second breath to the rupture that enhanced its final size. Here, we propose that rupture reactivation may have been governed by a slip‐weakening friction model with two sequential strength drops, the second one being activated at large slip. Such frictional behavior has been previously observed in laboratory experiments and attributed to pressurization of fault‐zone fluids by mineral decomposition reactions activated by shear heating, such as dehydration and decarbonation. Further evidence of this double‐slip‐weakening friction model is obtained here from the dynamic stress changes in the hypocentral region derived from a finite source inversion model. We incorporate this friction model in a dynamic rupture simulation comprising two main asperities constrained by source inversion models and several deep small asperities constrained by backprojection source imaging studies. Our simulation produces ground‐motion patterns along the Japanese coast consistent with observations and rupture patterns consistent with a kinematic source model featuring rupture reactivation. The deep small asperities serve as a bridge to connect the two main asperities, and the rupture reactivation mechanism is needed to reproduce the observed ground‐motion pattern. Therefore, we argue that rupture reactivation during the 2011 Tohoku earthquake is consistent with a second strength drop, possibly caused by activation of thermochemical weakening processes at large slip. Online Material: Movie of simulated rupture and wave propagation and ground velocities recorded at the KiK‐net and K‐NET seismic networks.
Kinematic characteristics of elite men's and women's 20 km race walking and their variation during the race

The aim of this study was to analyse the important kinematic variables in elite men's and women's 20 km race walking. Thirty men and 30 women were analysed from video data recorded during the World Race Walking Cup. Video data were also recorded at four points during the European Cup Race Walking and 12 men and 12 women analysed from these data. Two camcorders operating at 50 Hz recorded at each race for 3D analysis. The two main performance determinants of speed were step length and cadence. Men were faster than women because of their greater step lengths but there was no difference in cadence. A reduction in step length was the initial cause of slowing down with later decreases in speed caused by reductions in cadence. Shorter contact times were important in optimising both step length and cadence, and faster athletes tended to have longer flight times than slower athletes. It was less clear which other kinematic variables were critical for successful walking, particularly with regard to joint angles. Different associations were found for some key variables in men and women, suggesting that their techniques may differ due to differences in height and mass.
Editorial – Recent Developments in Capture‐Recapture Methods and Their Applications

In recent years capture-recapture methods have experienced important theoretical developments. New application areas have been added to their spectrum, in turn supporting new developments on the methodological side. Hence it appears appropriate to take a closer look at some of these developments. This is the objective of this special theme in the current issue of the Biometrical Journal. The contributions to this special theme stem from a recent Conference of Recent Developments in Capture-Recapture Methods and their Applications (held on July 12–13, 2007, School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, UK). Capture-Recapture has its origin in the Biological/Ecological Sciences with the work of Lincoln and Petersen. More than one hundred years ago Petersen (1896) published his landmark paper suggesting what later became known as the Lincoln–Petersen estimator, since it was also independently developed by Lincoln (1930). This estimator and its stabilized version developed by Chapman (1951) are still in use by numerous practitioners. In a way, this issue could be considered a celebration of the centenary of the Lincoln–Petersen estimator. Capture-Recapture methods can be seen to be applied in three major sciences, all represented in various contributions of this special topic issue: The biological sciences, where the size of animal populations and their diversity are of importance. The social sciences, where we are interested in the amount of illegal activities, such as illegal immigration. The life and medical sciences, where we often want to know the size of the hidden disease burden in a population, such as depression or drug use. In the biological sciences the classical book by Seber (1982) characterizes the various biological application fields. In addition, the recent monograph by Borchers, Buckland and Zucchini (2002) supplements a view with biological applications using modern inference tools. More recently, capturerecapture methods have been applied to other areas. The landmark paper by Sekar and Deming (1949) applied capture-recapture methods to estimate the number of births and deaths in an area near Calcutta. This paper started a development of the capture-recapture methodology in demography and social science in general. This development was further supplemented and supported by the appearance of the book by Bishop, Fienberg, and Holland (1975) on multivariate discrete analysis in which the entire chapter 6 was devoted to capture-recapture methods. Yet a further milestone was the establishment of the methodology in medicine and public health by the landmark papers by Hook and Regal (1995) as well as the two papers by the International Working Group for Disease Monitoring and Forecasting (IWGDMF 1995a, b). In the early phases the method was used to develop a more com-