Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ethanol Impairs Spatial Cognitive Processing

This article presents behavioral and electrophysiological evidence that one of ethanol's major effects in the brain is a marked impairment in spatial cognitive processing. The behavioral evidence indicates that ethanol produces deficits on tasks requiring spatial memory and spatial learning. The electrophysiological evidence indicates that ethanol degrades the spatial specificity of hippocampal place cells. Togther, these results suggest a neurophysiological basis for an animal's impaired performance on spatial navigation tasks while intoxicated. Such impaired performance in spatial cognitive processing could well be a factor in impaired performance by intoxicated humans on tasks requiring spatial navigation, such as automobile driving.
Model reduction by moment matching for linear singular systems

The paper presents a moment matching approach to the model reduction problem for singular systems. Combining the interpolation-based and the steady-state-based description of moment, a partitioned formulation of the Krylov projector is obtained. Several implications of this result are investigated and different families of reduced order models are proposed. The possibility to maintain structural properties of system is studied. Two examples illustrate the results of the paper.
TROPICAL PARASITIC LUNG DISEASES

Protozoa and helminthes can affect the lung as a primary site, or a complication. Some parasites have a migration cycle through the lung (larva migrans), inducing blood and tissue eosinophilia. Clinical manifestations of lung involvement could be acute: asthma –like syndrome, or Loeffler’s syndrome, with dyspnea, wheezing, cough; or chronic such as hemoptysis or right heart failure signs. Acute manifestations depend on immunological reaction (hypersensitivity), and chronic feature relay on the mechanical action of pathogen on the vessels and tissues. (vg: schistosoma eggs in the pulmonary artery and pulmonary hypertension). The lung is important organs which affected by parasitic diseases in tropical area, e.g. Protozoal parasites that cause pulmonary diseases are Entamoeba histolytica , Leishmania donovani , malarial parasites, Toxoplasma gondii , Babesia microti and Babesiadivergens. and also, some helminthes such as Helminths: Cestodes (Pulmonary hydatid cyst; Trematodes (Pulmonary schistosomiasis, Pulmonary paragonimiasis); Nematodes (Pulmonary ascariasis, Pulmonary ancylostomiasis, Pulmonary strongyloidiasis); Tropical pulmonary eosinophilia, Pulmonary dirofilariasis; Visceral larva migrans; Pulmonary trichinellosis. The perfect diagnosis for parasitic lung diseases very important to prevent the distribution of parasites between patient in tropical and subtropical area. Health education must be done. The main target of this study is to focus on some tropical parasitic lung diseases.
Cloning and characterization of the polC region of Bacillus subtilis

The polC gene of Bacillus subtilis is defined by five temperature-sensitive mutations and the 6-(p-hydroxyphenylazo)-uracil (HPUra) resistance mutation azp-12. Biochemical evidence suggests that polC codes for the 160-kilodalton DNA polymerase III. A recombinant plasmid, p154t, was isolated and found to contain the azp-12 marker and one end of the polC gene (N. C. Brown and M. H. Barnes, J. Cell. Biochem. 78 [Suppl.]: 116, 1983). The azp-12 marker was localized to a 1-kilobase DNA segment which was used as a probe to isolate recombinant lambda phages containing polC region sequences. A complete polC gene was constructed by in vitro ligation of DNA segments derived from two of the recombinant phages. The resulting plasmid, pRO10, directed the synthesis of four proteins of 160, 76, 39, and 32 kilodaltons in Escherichia coli maxicells. Recombination-deficient (recE) B. subtilis PSL1 containing pRO10 produced an HPUra-resistant polymerase III activity which was lost when the strain was cured of pRO10. In vivo, the HPUra resistance of the plasmid-encoded polymerase III appeared to be recessive to the resident HPUra-sensitive polymerase III enzyme.
A new method of prostatectomy, transurethral detachment and resection of benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) has been gradually adopted in Japan as well as in Europe and America for benign prostatic hyperplasia. TURP is a safe method for older patients, because they have a minimal morbidity from the operations. The main disadvantage with this method is that it is very difficult to remove the prostate completely from the surgical capsule without inflicting an injury on the external urethral sphincter or without causing a perforation of the surgical capsule. Open prostatectomy is to detach adenoma from the surgical capsule with a finger or a pair of scissors. In order to achieve this end more effectively, I elaborated the method of the detachment of the enlarged prostatic gland by transurethral approach, and devised a detaching instrument . The top of the detaching instrument was tongue-shaped so as to detach the prostate easily and prevent a perforation of the surgical capsule. The instrument was employed together with a resectoscope. The instrument was interchangeable with the loop of the resectoscope. The prostate was detached with the instrument and resected with the loop. The detaching instrument was movable forward and backward in the same way as the loop (Fig. 1). The urethral mucosa was incised in the form of a ring at the abutment to the urethral membrane of the apex of the prostate with the resectoscope knife . When endoscopic vision was not good on account of the poor flow of irrigation fluid, the prostatic gland was partially resected with TURP so as to improve the flow. The detaching instrument was inserted into the apex of the prostate, and the prostatic gland was detached , using a finger introduced into the rectum as the guide. The surgical capsule was identified and along this capsule, detachment was carried out from the apex to the bladder neck (Fig . 2). The detached prostate gland, which was still partly attached to the bladder neck, could be resected more easily with TURP. The new method was employed in 7 benign prostatic hyperplasia cases between May and July in 1983. The patients ranged in age from 65 to 83 years, (average: 73). The operation time was 60 to 90 min (average: 68 min) . Twenty five min in average (20-30 min) were needed for the incision of the urethral mucosa and detachment of the prostate . The resected tissue weighed 6-47g (average : 19g). The blood loss was 226 ml in average , ranging from 90 to 450 ml and there were no cases of blood transfusions . In 3 of 7 cases, the prostate was completely removed. In the remaining 4 cases, the detachment was complete in the
Segmentation Granularity in Dependency Representations for Korean

Previous work on Korean language processing has proposed different basic segmentation units. This paper explores different possible dependency representations for Korean using different levels of segmentation granularity — that is, different schemes for morphological segmentation of tokens into syntactic words. We provide a new Universal Dependencies (UD)-like corpus based on different levels of segmentation granularity for Korean. The corpus contains 67K words in 5,000 sentences which are split into training, development and evaluation data sets. We report parsing results using the new dependency corpus for Korean and compare them with the previous Korean UD corpus.
Sparse residue for occluded face image reconstruction and classification

Occlusion problem is one of remaining challenges in face recognition. This work expresses an occluded image as the summation of a non-occluded image and a sparse occlusion. By solving a l1 norm minimization problem, we isolate the sparse occlusion from the face image, and simultaneously reconstruct the image. The reconstructed image is same to the original one in most pixels. To classify an occluded image with unknown identity, we first linearly express it using the images of every person, and then make decision based on the residues of the expressions. This paper also presents the relationship between the proposed method and the popular methods. The experiments validate the feasibility of the proposed method.
Persistence of human papillomavirus as a predictor for treatment failure after loop electrosurgical excision procedure

We aimed to investigate whether postconization human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing can predict treatment failure and improve the accuracy of conventional follow-up in women with high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). Between March 2001 and October 2005, 120 patients with confirmed CIN 2 or 3 were treated with loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) and were enrolled. Six patients were lost to the follow-up. Postconization follow-up was performed at every 3–6 months during the first year and then annually. Specimens were tested for the presence of HPV, using the Hybrid Capture 2 (Digene Co, Gaithersburg, MD) and HPV DNA chip (Mygene Co, Seoul, Korea) test. Persistent HPV infection was defined as persistently (two times or more) positive HPV tests with the same HPV subtype(s) at initial diagnosis. Twenty-two (19.3%) patients showed treatment failure after conization. The only significant risk factor for redevelopment of CIN after conization was persistence of the same HPV subtype (P< 0.0001). And women with recurrent or residual CIN had higher HPV load during the 6-month follow-up postconization. In conclusion, the persistence of the same HPV subtype after LEEP conization was an important predictor of treatment failure. The follow-up protocol after conization of CIN should include both cervical cytology and HPV test, and HPV DNA chip test is needed to detect a persistent HPV infection.
Sensorimotor control of 3D arm movement and stability in post-stroke hemiparesis

SENSORIMOTOR CONTROL OF 3D ARM MOVEMENT AND STABILITY IN POST-STROKE HEMIPARESIS Kakanand A. SrungBoonmee, M.Eng. Marquette University, 2011 Deficits of the affected arm in people with post-stroke hemiparesis have been generally associated with decreased strength and increased spasticity. These deficits are varied in proximal (shoulder) and distal (elbow) joints which results in an overall impairment during movement or during stabilization of hand position in space. In this study, reaching of the hemiparetic arm in 3D workspace was characterized by a curved and non-smooth endpoint trajectory and a reduced functional range of motion, compared to the unimpaired arm. Smoother trajectories were observed in the acceleration phase more than the deceleration phase, which was common to both the stroke subjects and the neurologically intact controls. Decreased range of motion of the paretic arm in the proximal joint was associated with shoulder weakness, whereas limited range of motion in the elbow appeared to be due to increased antagonist muscle activation. In a task requiring subjects to stabilize their hand at different positions in space, arm weakness and movement synergy constraints may have contributed to stroke survivors generally decreasing the plane of elevation in order to maintain stable arm postures during movement and then stabilize the hand in space. The degree of decreased plane of elevation was negatively correlated with the Fugl-Meyer score. For a task when fine control movement was required simultaneously with a stable arm posture, stroke subjects demonstrated an inability to grade fine muscle control, resulting in larger range of the plane of elevation movements and larger endpoint error. These findings suggest that shoulder strength training might have important implications to the recovery of movement and ability to stabilize the hemiparetic arm during functional tasks.
Suspended Cell Patterning for Automatic Microrobotic Cell Injection

Microinjection of DNA/mRNA/morpholinos is a critical technology for molecular biology and drug discovery. When dealing with suspended cells, state-of-the-art manual injection involves a time-consuming and tedious sample preparation procedure, to accurately align cells. To enable automatic microrobotic cell injection, this paper reports on two inexpensive, reusable, biocompatible, and easy-to-make devices that are capable of patterning a large number of cells in 10-30 seconds. One device is based on negative air pressure and made of polycarbonate using a conventional micro-machining process. It is particularly suitable for cells larger than 100 mum, such as the zebrafish embryo patterning and successful gene 'knock-down' products of the morpholino-injected embryos. The other device is based on dielectrophoresis and suitable for cells smaller than 100 mum, demonstrated by successful trapping of pituitary cells. These devices offer a complete solution for suspended cells in all size spectrums to be prepared up to 10 times faster than manual human preparation. Furthermore, this approach can facilitate high-throughput automatic microrobotic cell injection, for injection applications such as the injection of zebrafish embryos, mouse oocytes/embryos, Drosophila embryos, and other types of suspended cells.
Comparison of Outcomes on Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis Versus Automated Peritoneal Dialysis: Results from a USA Database

♦ Background and Objective: Automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) is being increasingly used as an alternative to continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). However, there has been concern regarding reduced sodium removal leading to hypertension and resulting in a faster decline in residual renal function (RRF). The objective of the present study was to compare patient and technique survival and other relevant parameters between patients treated with APD and patients treated with CAPD. ♦ Methods: Data for incident patients were retrieved from the database of the Renal Research Institute, New York. Treatment modality was defined 90 days after the start of dialysis treatment. In addition to technique and patient survival, RRF, blood pressure, and laboratory parameters were also compared. ♦ Results: 179 CAPD and 441 APD patients were studied. Mean as-treated survival was 1407 days [95% confidence interval (CI) 1211 – 1601] in CAPD patients and 1616 days (95% CI 1478 – 1764) in APD patients. Adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for mortality was 1.31 in CAPD compared to APD (95% CI 0.76 – 2.25, p = NS). Unadjusted as-treated technique survival was lower in CAPD compared to APD, with HR 2.84 (95% CI 1.65 – 4.88, p = 0.002); adjusted HR was 1.81 (95% CI 0.94 – 3.57, p = 0.08). Peritonitis rate was 0.3 episodes/patient-year for CAPD and APD; exit-site/tunnel infection rate was 0.1 and 0.3 episodes/patient-year for CAPD and APD respectively (p = NS). ♦ Conclusions: Patient survival was not significantly different between APD and CAPD patients, whereas technique survival appeared to be higher in APD patients and could not be explained by differences in infectious complications. No difference in blood pressure control or decline in RRF was observed between the 2 modalities. Based on these results, APD appears to be an acceptable alternative to CAPD, although technique prescription should always follow individual judgment.
Practical techniques for constructing binary space partitions for orthogonal rectangles

We present the first systematic comparison of the performance of algorithms that construct Binary Space Partitions for orthogonal rectangles in R3. We compare known algorithms with our implementation of a variant of a recent algorithm of Agarwal et al. [1]. We show via an empirical study that their algorithm constructs BSPS of near-linear size in practice and performs better than most of the other algorithms in the literature.
Dissertation: issues in guidance, supervision and assessment

This guide explores some key issues concerning the supervision and assessment of dissertations. It explores the definition of a ‘dissertation’ in this context, preparing students to undertake dissertation work, the supervision process itself and the preparation of supervisors. Finally, it explores some issues around the marking criteria and the assessment process. It argues primarily for clear guidance for both students and staff, particularly in relation to criteria for assessment, and for much closer attention to the interpretation of those criteria by assessors.
Intercellular Interactions as Regulators of NETosis

Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are chromatin-derived webs extruded from neutrophils in response to either infection or sterile stimulation with chemicals, cytokines, or microbial products. The vast majority of studies have characterized NET release (also called NETosis) in pure neutrophil cultures in vitro. The situation is surely more complex in vivo as neutrophils constantly sample not only pathogens and soluble mediators but also signals from cellular partners, including platelets and endothelial cells. This complexity is beginning to be explored by studies utilizing in vitro co-culture, as well as animal models of sepsis, infective endocarditis, lung injury, and thrombosis. Indeed, various selectins, integrins, and surface glycoproteins have been implicated in platelet–neutrophil interactions that promote NETosis, albeit with disparate results across studies. NETosis can also clearly be regulated by soluble mediators derived from platelets, such as eicosanoids, chemokines, and alarmins. Beyond platelets, the role of the endothelium in modulating NETosis is being increasingly revealed, with adhesive interactions likely priming neutrophils toward NETosis. The fact that the same selectins and surface glycoproteins may be expressed by both platelets and endothelial cells complicates the interpretation of in vivo data. In summary, we suggest in this review that the engagement of neutrophils with activated cellular partners provides an important in vivo signal or “hit” toward NETosis. Studies should, therefore, increasingly consider the triumvirate of neutrophils, platelets, and the endothelium when exploring NETosis, especially in disease states.
A new design technique for low power dynamic feedthrough logic with delay element

This paper presents a new approach for high performance and low power circuit using a new CMOS logic known as feedthrough logic (FTL). Feedthrough logic can improve the performance by partial evaluation in its computational block before getting a valid input. The FTL is more suited for those circuits which consist of a critical path of large cascaded inverting gates. FTL based circuit can perform better in both high fan out and high frequency operations due to both lesser delay and dynamic power consumption at the cost of area. A 2 bit conventional multiplier circuit with proposed model is simulated. The proposed circuit achieves a reduction in the average power and delay. The comparison analysis has been simulated by 180 nm CMOS technology. The proposed modified FTL reduces total power delay product up to 22.85% in NAND gates and 11.63% in NOR gates. The results of 2 bit multiplier simulation also confirms that the proposed model can perform with better as compared with existing models of FTL with less transistor count.
Identification with encrypted biometric data

Biometrics make human identification possible with a sample of a biometric trait and an associated database. Classical identification techniques lead to privacy concerns. This paper introduces a new method to identify someone using his biometrics in an encrypted way. Our construction combines Bloom Filters with Storage and Locality-Sensitive Hashing. We apply this error-tolerant scheme, in a Hamming space, to achieve biometric identification in an efficient way. This is the first non-trivial identification scheme dealing with fuzziness and encrypted data. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Computationally Driven, Quantitative Experiments Discover Genes Required for Mitochondrial Biogenesis

Mitochondria are central to many cellular processes including respiration, ion homeostasis, and apoptosis. Using computational predictions combined with traditional quantitative experiments, we have identified 100 proteins whose deficiency alters mitochondrial biogenesis and inheritance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In addition, we used computational predictions to perform targeted double-mutant analysis detecting another nine genes with synthetic defects in mitochondrial biogenesis. This represents an increase of about 25% over previously known participants. Nearly half of these newly characterized proteins are conserved in mammals, including several orthologs known to be involved in human disease. Mutations in many of these genes demonstrate statistically significant mitochondrial transmission phenotypes more subtle than could be detected by traditional genetic screens or high-throughput techniques, and 47 have not been previously localized to mitochondria. We further characterized a subset of these genes using growth profiling and dual immunofluorescence, which identified genes specifically required for aerobic respiration and an uncharacterized cytoplasmic protein required for normal mitochondrial motility. Our results demonstrate that by leveraging computational analysis to direct quantitative experimental assays, we have characterized mutants with subtle mitochondrial defects whose phenotypes were undetected by high-throughput methods.
Predicting Internet/ e-commerce use

Use of the Internet continues to grow at an explosive rate. While entertainment, education and communication serve as important applications of the Internet, e‐commerce continues to emerge as an increasingly significant business phenomenon. However, little empirical research exists to identify factors that influence the extent to which individuals use the Internet and e‐commerce. With the aid of survey research and a neural network, this study analyzes a wide range of variables in an attempt to identify accurate predictors of this usage. The results of the analysis identify gender, overall computer usage, job‐related use, and home access as important characteristics that should influence use of the Internet and e‐commerce.
Development and evaluation of an instrument to assess medical students' cultural attitudes.

This paper describes the development and psychometric evaluation of an instrument designed to assess medical students' comfort with a range of sociocultural issues and intercultural experiences. Each survey item obliged students to reflect on their own sociocultural identities and academic status in relation to others', and to judge how comfortable they would be interacting across perceived boundaries based on sociocultural identity and academic status. More than 90% of University of Michigan first-year medical students (n=153) completed the survey just before classes began. Principal components analysis of the survey's 26 items identified 7 interpretable factors or subscales; the Cronbach alpha reliability coefficients for the 7 subscales and the total scale ranged from . 73 to . 92. T-tests were used to investigate differences in average ratings among student subgroups (based on gender and ethnicity). To assess the magnitude of the effect of the differences between groups, effect size was computed for each of the means comparisons. Psychometric analyses indicated that this survey was both reliable and valid for assessing students' cultural attitudes. Further, analyses by gender and ethnic subgroup identified meaningful ratings differences in men's and women's reported comfort levels. Our findings suggest that this instrument is useful for assessing students' openness to developing cultural awareness and competence. Educators at other medical schools may find this instrument useful as a needs assessment tool for planning educational programs designed to increase students' cultural competence.