Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influence of 23 coronary artery disease variants on recurrent myocardial infarction or cardiac death: the GRACE Genetics Study.

AIMS A pooled analysis of 14 genome-wide association studies revealed 23 susceptibility loci for coronary artery disease (CAD), thereby providing the most comprehensive genetic blueprint of CAD susceptibility. Here, we evaluated whether these 23 loci also predispose to recurrent myocardial infarction (MI) or cardiac death following an acute coronary syndrome (ACS). METHODS AND RESULTS A total of 2099 ACS patients enrolled in the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) UK-Belgian study were prospectively followed for a median of 5 years (1668 days). C-allele carriers of the rs579459 variant, which is located upstream of the ABO gene and correlates with blood group A, were independently associated with recurrent MI [multivariable-adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 2.25, CI = 1.37-3.71; P = 0.001] and with recurrent MI or cardiac death [multivariable-adjusted (HR) 1.80, CI = 1.09-2.95; P = 0.021] within 5 years after an index ACS. The association of rs579459 was replicated in 1250 Polish patients with 6 months follow-up after an index ACS [multivariable-adjusted (HR) 2.70, CI = 1.26-5.82; P = 0.011 for recurrent MI]. Addition of rs579459 to a prediction model of 17 clinical risk factors improved risk classification for recurrent MI or cardiac death at 6 months as calculated by the integrated discrimination improvement method (P = 0.037), but not by C-statistics (P = 0.096). CONCLUSION In this observational study, rs579459 was independently associated with adverse cardiac outcome after ACS. A weak improvement in clinical risk prediction was also observed, suggesting that rs579459 should be further tested as a potentially relevant contributor to risk prediction models for adverse outcome following ACS.
Identification and Equalization Algorithm for MIMO System Based on Higher Order Statistics in Frequency Domain

Combining higher order statistics that can identify non-minimum phase system with shift block method of blind separation (SHIBBS) algorithm which is good in separation and moderate amount of computation, an algorithm was proposed to identify and separate mixed sources for muti-input and muti-output (MIMO) system in frequency domain. However, the received signals have some disadvantages such as the uncertain permutation and gain ambiguities. Under the condition that the sources are independent from each other, the permutation problem was solved by using cross fourth-order statistics, then we get the separated signals; and constant modulus algorithm, employing the LMS for adaptation, is used in the gain ambiguities. Simulations show that the proposed algorithm is feasible and practical.
The kinetics of interfacial interaction between eutectic Sn9Zn solder and nickel plating

The interfacial interaction between liquid eutectic Sn9Zn solder and electroplated Ni layer was investigated in the temperatures range of 230 ∼ 290°C. The interaction gives rise to various Ni-Zn intermetallic compounds, Ni5Zn21 and NiZn3, and Ni-Zn solid solution layer. The evolution of these layers is temperature dependent. The thickness of the interfacial reaction layer was measured with respect to reaction temperature and reaction time. The growth behavior of the interfacial layer and the activation energy of the interaction were discussed. The reaction mechanism was found to vary with respect to reaction temperature.
Information Weighted Consensus for Distributed Estimation in Vision Networks

Due to their high fault-tolerance, ease of installation and scalability to large networks, distributed algorithms have recently gained immense popularity in the sensor networks community, especially in computer vision. Multi-target tracking in a camera network is one of the fundamental problems in this domain. Distributed estimation algorithms work by exchanging information between sensors that are communication neighbors. Since most cameras are directional sensors, it is often the case that neighboring sensors may not be sensing the same target. Such sensors that do not have information about a target are termed as ''naive'' with respect to that target. State-of-the-art distributed state estimation algorithms (e.g., the Kalman Consensus Filter (KCF)) in the sensor networks community are not directly applicable to tracking applications in camera networks mainly due to this naivety issue. In our work, we propose generalized distributed algorithms for state estimation in a sensor network taking the naivety issue into account. For multi-target tracking, along with the tracking framework, a data association step is necessary where the measurements in each camera's view are associated with the appropriate targets' tracks. At first, under the assumption that the data association is given, we develop distributed state estimation algorithms addressing the naivety issue. In this process, first, we propose the Generalized Kalman Consensus Filter (GKCF) where an information-weighting scheme is utilized to account for the naivety issue. Next, we propose the Information-weighted Consensus Filter (ICF) which can achieve optimal centralized performance while also accounting for naivety. This is the core contribution of this thesis. Next, we introduce the aspect of multi-target tracking where a probabilistic data association scheme is incorporated in the distributed tracking scheme resulting the Multi-Target Information Consensus (MTIC) algorithm. The incorporation of the probabilistic data association mechanism makes the MTIC algorithm very robust to false measurements/clutter. The aforementioned algorithms are derived under the assumption that the measurements are related to the state variables using a linear relationship. However, in general, this is not true for many sensors including camera sensors. Thus, to account for the non-linearity in the observation model, we propose non-linear extensions of the previous algorithms which we denote as the Extended ICF (EICF) and the Extended MTIC (EMTIC) algorithms. In-depth theoretical and experimental analysis are provided to compare these algorithms with existing ones.
Structure of HinP1I endonuclease reveals a striking similarity to the monomeric restriction enzyme MspI

HinP1I, a type II restriction endonuclease, recognizes and cleaves a palindromic tetranucleotide sequence (G↓CGC) in double-stranded DNA, producing 2 nt 5′ overhanging ends. Here, we report the structure of HinP1I crystallized as one protein monomer in the crystallographic asymmetric unit. HinP1I displays an elongated shape, with a conserved catalytic core domain containing an active-site motif of SDX18QXK and a putative DNA-binding domain. Without significant sequence homology, HinP1I displays striking structural similarity to MspI, an endonuclease that cleaves a similar palindromic DNA sequence (C↓CGG) and binds to that sequence crystallographically as a monomer. Almost all the structural elements of MspI can be matched in HinP1I, including both the DNA recognition and catalytic elements. Examining the protein–protein interactions in the crystal lattice, HinP1I could be dimerized through two helices located on the opposite side of the protein to the active site, generating a molecule with two active sites and two DNA-binding surfaces opposite one another on the outer surfaces of the dimer. A possible functional link between this unusual dimerization mode and the tetrameric restriction enzymes is discussed.
Gear2D: an extensible component-based game engine

Game engines boost software reuse during development activities by centralizing commonly used domain abstractions within a set of coherent application programming interfaces. Most current game engines focus on class hierarchies, which is the intuitive way to model entity taxonomies but may lead to naming conflicts and code duplication. Component based engines, conversely, minimize this problem by exposing features through components instead. However, due to strong coupling that can still be introduced when using direct access to provide component communication, dynamic entity adaptability may be hindered. Gear2D is a game engine that uses a different approach, providing dynamic entity adaptability through decoupled components. This design results in greater flexibility for creating games, a characteristic discussed through a superficial comparison with a well known game engine and through the development of two nontrivial components: an AI pathfinder and a Lua proxy.
Program-ing finger trees in Coq

Finger Trees (Hinze & Paterson, 2006) are a general purpose persistent data structure with good performance. Their genericity permits developing a wealth of structures like ordered sequences or interval trees on top of a single implementation. However, the type systems used by current functional languages do not guarantee the coherent parameterization and specialization of Finger Trees, let alone the correctness of their implementation. We present a certified implementation of Finger Trees solving these problems using the Program extension of Coq. We not only implement the structure but also prove its invariants along the way, which permit building certified structures on top of Finger Trees in an elegant way.
Neutrophil migration across cultured intestinal epithelial monolayers is modulated by epithelial exposure to IFN-gamma in a highly polarized fashion

Neutrophil, or polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN), migration across intestinal epithelial barriers, such as occurs in many disease states, appears to result in modifications of epithelial barrier and ion transport functions (Nash, S., J. Stafford, and J. L. Madara. 1987. J. Clin. Invest. 80:1104-1113; Madara, J. L., C. A. Parkos, S. P. Colgan, R. J. MacLeod, S. Nash, J. B. Matthews, C. Delp, and W. I. Lencer. 1992. J. Clin. Invest. 89:1938-1944). Here we investigate the effects of epithelial exposure to IFN-gamma on PMN migration across cultured monolayers of the human intestinal epithelial cell line T84. Transepithelial migration of PMN was initially assessed in the apical- to-basolateral direction, since previous studies indicate general qualitative similarities between PMN migration in the apical-to- basolateral and in the basolateral-to-apical directions. In the apical- to-basolateral direction, epithelial exposure to IFN-gamma markedly upregulated transepithelial migration of PMN in a dose- and time- dependent fashion as measured by both electrical and myeloperoxidase assays. This IFN-gamma-elicited effect on transmigration was specifically due to a IFN-gamma effect on epithelial cells and was not secondary to IFN-gamma effects on epithelial tight junction permeability. Moreover, this IFN-gamma effect was dependent on epithelial protein synthesis, and involved a pathway in which CD11b/18, but not ICAM-1 or CD11a/18, appeared to play a crucial role in PMN- epithelial adhesion. IFN-gamma also substantially modified PMN transepithelial migration in the natural, basolateral-to-apical direction. The IFN-gamma effect on naturally directed transmigration was also specifically due to an IFN-gamma effect on epithelial cells, showed comparable time and dose dependency to that of oppositely directed migration, was CD11b/18 dependent, and required epithelial protein synthesis. Additionally, however, important qualitative differences existed in how IFN-gamma affected transmigration in the two directions. In contrast to apical-to-basolateral directed migration, IFN-gamma markedly downregulated transepithelial migration of PMN in the natural direction. This downregulation of PMN migration in the natural direction, however, was not due to failure of PMN to move across filters and into monolayers. Indeed, IFN-gamma exposure to epithelia increased the number of PMN which had moved into the basolateral space of the epithelium in naturally directed transmigration. These results represent the first detailed report of influences on PMN transepithelial migration by a cytokine, define conditions under which a qualitative difference in PMN transepithelial migration exists, and suggest that migration of PMN across epithelia in the natural direction may involve multiple steps which can be differentially regulated by cytokines. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Prevalence and Coexistence of Cardiovascular Comorbidities among the US Dyslipidemic Population Aged ≥ 65 Years by Lipid-Lowering Medication Use Status

Abstract Using data from the 2001–2002, 2003–2004, and 2005–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, we generated current estimates of the prevalence and overlap of cardiovascular comorbidities among older US adults (aged ≥ 65 years) with dyslipidemia, stratified by lipid-lowering medication use. We estimated that among the 32.5 million older US adults, 67% (21.8 million) are dyslipidemic. Among these subjects, the prevalence of congestive heart failure (CHF) is 9.9% (2.2 million); coronary heart disease (CHD): 27.0% (5.9 million); history of stroke: 10.4% (2.3 million); diabetes: 26.5% (5.8 million); and ≥ 1 of these comorbidities: 51.2% (11.1 million). Among dyslipidemic subjects who are receiving lipid-lowering medication (10.4 million), these figures are CHF: 10.1% (1.0 million); CHD: 29.6% (3.1 million); history of stroke: 12.3% (1.3 million); diabetes: 31.5% (3.3 million); and ≥ 1 of these comorbidities: 55.3% (5.7 million); compared with those who are not receiving lipid-lowering medication (11.4 million), CHF: 9.8% (1.1 million); CHD: 24.7% (2.8 million); history of stroke: 8.6% (1 million); diabetes: 21.9% (2.5 million); and ≥ 1 of these comorbidities: 47.5% (5.4 million). Among older US adults with dyslipidemia, 51.2% have ≥ 1 of the cardiovascular conditions studied. Among those who are receiving lipid-lowering medication, 55.3% report having comorbidities that put them at high risk for new or recurring cardiovascular events. Even more noteworthy is that 47.5% of dyslipidemic older adults who are not taking statins also have significant comorbidities. This highlights a critical unmet medical need for this growing population, which, solely based on age, is more likely to be at risk for cardiovascular events.
Non‐myelin‐forming perisynaptic Schwann cells express protein zero and myelin‐associated glycoprotein

Perisynaptic Schwann cells (PSCs) envelop axonal terminals and are physiologically distinct from the nearby myelinating Schwann cells (MSCs), which surround the same innervating motor axons. PSCs have special functions at the neuromuscular synapse, where they detect and can modulate neurotransmitter release. Although PSCs are similar to non‐myelinating Schwann cells in that they do not form multiple myelin wrappings around nerve terminals, they do wrap around single nerve terminals. These differences, as well as others, lead us to question whether PSCs are truly of Schwann cell origin. We thus characterized the expression of molecules, classically associated with myelin and Schwann cells, in PSCs at the frog neuromuscular junction. We wondered whether PSCs express the Schwann cell marker protein zero (P0) and whether their lack of myelination was related to an absence of myelin‐associated glycoprotein (MAG), a protein found in myelinating cells that is considered important in myelination. Instead, we found that PSCs express both P0 and MAG, and other myelinating glial markers such as galactocerebroside and 2′,3′‐cyclic nucleotide 3′‐phosphodiesterase. In denervated preparations, P0 and MAG expression persisted, including at newly formed PSC extensions. Because PSCs do not myelinate, it is clear that expression of these proteins alone is not sufficient for myelin formation. It is possible that factors present at synapses may prevent myelination, while P0 and MAG may mediate adhesion between nerve terminals and the surrounding PSCs. The results indicate that PSCs are of Schwann cell origin. GLIA 27:101–109, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Study of Enhancement Technology of Color Image Based on Adaptation and Nonlinear

Loss of image features are leaded by Regions with too bright or too dark of image with noise. An adaptive and nonlinear algorithm for color image enhancement is proposed in the paper. which consists of five stages: Converting color images to grayscale images; Threshold value is ascertained by HVS and position of noise is ascertained by method of Sliding Window; According to local characteristic of position of noise, median filtering is executed by weighted template; The following thing is that image is separated into apart; At last image is adaptively enhanced according to idea of Retinex and color of image is reverted. Experiments show that ability of de-noising can be effectively improved by the algorithm and contrast of image can be improved.
Solving Cubics With Creases: The Work of Beloch and Lill

Abstract Margharita P. Beloch was the first person, in 1936, to realize that origami (paperfolding) constructions can solve general cubic equations and thus are more powerful than straightedge and compass constructions. We present her proof. In doing this we use a delightful (and mostly forgotten? ) geometric method due to Eduard Lill for finding the real roots of polynomial equations.
Elevated Plasma Growth Differentiation Factor-15 Correlates with Lymph Node Metastases and Poor Survival in Endometrial Cancer

Purpose: The study objective was to investigate and validate plasma growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) as a predictor of lymph node metastasis and a poor prognosis in primary endometrial cancer. Experimental Design: Plasma samples from 510 women treated for endometrial cancer in a primary investigation cohort (n = 44) and a secondary validation cohort (n = 466) were analyzed for GDF-15. Plasma from healthy premenopausal (n = 20) and postmenopausal (n = 20) women, women with borderline (n = 43), benign (n = 144), and malignant ovarian tumors (n = 125) were used for comparison. Results: Median plasma GDF-15 concentration for the endometrial cancer group was elevated (1,077 ng/L) as compared with pre- and postmenopausal controls (590 and 684 ng/L) and women with benign (591 ng/L) or borderline ovarian tumors (718 ng/L; all P < 0.001), but similar to the ovarian cancer group. In the large validation cohort of endometrial carcinomas, high plasma GDF-15 was significantly associated with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage III/IV disease, nonendometrioid histology, high grade, older age, postmenopausal status, and lymph node metastases (all P ≤ 0.001). High GDF-15 was also an independent predictor of poor disease-specific and recurrence-free survival. Conclusions: Based on findings indicated in a primary investigation set and confirmed in the large secondary validation set, we report for the first time plasma GDF-15 as a biomarker for endometrial cancer phenotype, including presence of lymph node metastasis and reduced survival. Its applicability as a predictor of metastatic nodes and in monitoring treatment of endometrial cancer needs to be further studied. Clin Cancer Res; 17(14); 4825–33. ©2011 AACR.
CXC Chemokine Receptor 4 Expression and Function in Human Astroglioma Cells1

Chemokines constitute a superfamily of proteins that function as chemoattractants and activators of leukocytes. Astrocytes, the major glial cell type in the CNS, are a source of chemokines within the diseased brain. Specifically, we have shown that primary human astrocytes and human astroglioma cell lines produce the CXC chemokines IFN-γ-inducible protein-10 and IL-8 and the CC chemokines monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and RANTES in response to stimuli such as TNF-α, IL-1β, and IFN-γ. In this study, we investigated chemokine receptor expression and function on human astroglioma cells. Enhancement of CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) mRNA expression was observed upon treatment with the cytokines TNF-α and IL-1β. The peak of CXCR4 expression in response to TNF-α and IL-1β was 8 and 4 h, respectively. CXCR4 protein expression was also enhanced upon treatment with TNF-α and IL-1β (2- to 3-fold). To study the functional relevance of CXCR4 expression, stable astroglioma transfectants expressing high levels of CXCR4 were generated. Stimulation of cells with the ligand for CXCR4, stromal cell-derived factor-1α (SDF-1α), resulted in an elevation in intracellular Ca2+ concentration and activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade, specifically, extracellular signal-regulated kinase 2 (ERK2) mitogen-activated protein kinase. Of most interest, SDF-1α treatment induced expression of the chemokines monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, IL-8, and IFN-γ-inducible protein-10. SDF-1α-induced chemokine expression was abrogated upon inclusion of U0126, a pharmacological inhibitor of ERK1/2, indicating that the ERK signaling cascade is involved in this response. Collectively, these data suggest that CXCR4-mediated signaling pathways in astroglioma cells may be another mechanism for these cells to express chemokines involved in angiogenesis and inflammation.
Neural network based approach to study the effect of feature selection on document summarization

As the amount of textual Information increases, we experience a need for Automatic Text Summarizers. In Automatic summarization a text document or a larger corpus of multiple documents are reduced to a short set of words or paragraph that conveys the main meaning of the text. In this paper we proposed various features of Summary extraction. In the proposed approach during training phase, the feature vector is computed for a set of sentences using the feature extraction technique. After that, the feature vector and their corresponding feature scores are used to train the neural network optimally. Later in the testing phase, the input document is subjected to pre-processing and feature extraction techniques. Finally, by making use of sentence score, the most important sentences are extracted from the input document. The experimentation is performed with the DUC 2002 dataset. The features that are to be applied depending upon the size of the Document are also analyzed. The comparative results of the proposed approach and that of MS-Word are also presented here.
On the importance of breaking ties in the relaxed plan heuristic

The relaxed plan heuristic is a domain-independent heuristic for automated planning that computes an estimate of the cost for achieving the goals from a given state. This heuristic is based on the idea of solving a relaxed version of the planning task. Due to the great size of the state space, most heuristic search algorithms in planning suffer from scalability problems. These algorithms have to evaluate a great amount of states, and the time devoted to heuristic evaluations is one of the causes of the scalability problems. We argue that one way to lighten this problem is breaking ties in the heuristic value using additional information computed during the relaxed plan construction. We add a complementary value to the heuristic, allowing algorithms to discriminate between states with relaxed plans of the same length but with a different difficulty. The experimental evaluation in some planning benchmarks shows that the modification to the original heuristic can reduce the number of evaluated nodes for the most common algorithms used in heuristic planning.
Misfit dislocation formation in stressed nanofilms

The nucleation of a dipole of edge dislocations is theoretically investigated in a layer embedded in a nanofilm when the nanostructure is submitted to misfit stress. The effect of stress and nanofilm dimensions has been characterized on the introduction of the dipole of misfit dislocations, from the free surfaces to the centre of the layer. A stability diagram for the nanostructure is finally provided with respect to this particular defect nucleation.