Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exploring the Association of Hemoglobin Level and Adverse Events in Children with Cancer Presenting with Fever in Neutropenia

Background In children and adolescents with fever in neutropenia (FN) during chemotherapy for cancer, hemoglobin ≥90 g/L at presentation with FN had been associated with adverse events (AE). This analysis explored three hypothetical pathophysiological mechanisms potentially explaining this counterintuitive finding, and further analyzed the statistical association between hemoglobin and AE. Methods Two of 8 centers, reporting on 311 of 421 FN episodes in 138 of 215 patients participated in this retrospective analysis based on prospectively collected data from three databases (SPOG 2003 FN, transfusion and hematology laboratories). Associations with AE were analyzed using mixed logistic regression. Results Hemoglobin was ≥90 g/L in 141 (45%) of 311 FN episodes, specifically in 59/103 (57%) episodes with AE, and in 82/208 (39%) without (OR, 2.3; 99%CI, 1.1–4.9; P = 0.004). In FN with AE, hemoglobin was bimodally distributed with a dip around 85 g/L. There were no significant interactions for center, age and sex. In multivariate mixed logistic regression, AE was significantly and independently associated with leukopenia (leukocytes <0.3 G/L; OR, 3.3; 99%CI, 1.1–99; P = 0.004), dehydration (hemoglobinPresentation/hemoglobin8–72 hours ≥1.10 in untransfused patients; OR, 3.5; 99%CI, 1.1–11.4; P = 0.006) and non-moderate anemia (difference from 85 g/L; 1.6 per 10 g/L; 1.0–2.6; P = 0.005), but not with recent transfusion of packed red blood cells (pRBC), very recent transfusion of pRBC or platelets, or with hemoglobin ≥90 g/L as such. Conclusions Non-moderate anemia and dehydration were significantly and relevantly associated with the risk of AE in children with cancer and FN. These results need validation in prospective cohorts before clinical implementation.
A Describing Function Study of Saturated Quantization and Its Application to the Stability Analysis of Multi-Bit Sigma Delta Modulators

Just as their single-bit counterparts, multi-bit sigma delta modulators exhibit nonlinear behavior due to the presence of the quantizer in the loop. In the multi-bit case this is caused by the fact that any quantizer has a limited output range and hence gives an implicit saturation effect. Due to this, any multi-bit modulator is prone to modulator overloading. Unfortunately, until now, designers had to rely on extensive time-domain simulations to predict the overloading level, because there is no adequate analytical theory to model this effect.
Interactions in Syntrophic Associations of Endospore-Forming, Butyrate-Degrading Bacteria and H2-Consuming Bacteria

Butyrate is an important intermediate in the anaerobic degradation of organic matter. In sulfate-depleted environments butyrate is oxidized to acetate and hydrogen by obligate proton reducers, in syntrophic association with hydrogen-consuming methanogens. This paper describes two enrichments of endospore-forming bacteria degrading butyrate in consortia with methanogens. The isolates are readily established in coculture with H2-consuming, sulfate-reducing bacteria by pasteurizing the culture. The two original enrichments differed in that one grew to an optically dense culture while the second grew in clumps. Examination by scanning electron microscopy showed that clumping resulted from the production of large amounts of extracellular polymer. Several H2-consuming methanogens were identified in the enrichments. Some of them grew closely associated to the butyrate degraders. This attachment to the hydrogen producer may permit some methanogens to compete for the growth substrate against other bacteria having higher substrate affinity.
Promiscuity resolves constraints on social mate choice imposed by population viscosity

Population viscosity can have major consequences for adaptive evolution, in particular for phenotypes involved in social interactions. For example, population viscosity increases the probability of mating with close kin, resulting in selection for mechanisms that circumvent the potential negative consequences of inbreeding. Female promiscuity is often suggested to be one such mechanism. However, whether avoidance of genetically similar partners is a major selective force shaping patterns of promiscuity remains poorly supported by empirical data. Here, we show (i) that fine‐scale genetic structure constrains social mate choice in a pair‐bonding lizard, resulting in individuals pairing with genetically similar individuals, (ii) that these constraints are circumvented by multiple mating with less related individuals and (iii) that this results in increased heterozygosity of offspring. Despite this, we did not detect any significant effects of heterozygosity on offspring or adult fitness or a strong relationship between pair relatedness and female multiple mating. We discuss these results within the context of incorporating the genetic context dependence of mating strategies into a holistic understanding of mating system evolution.
Promoting Reasonable Expectations: Aligning Student and Institutional Views of the College Experience

Preface The Authors 1. Introduction (Thomas E. Miller) 2. Why Should We Care About Student Expectations? (Jeffrey A. Howard) 3. What Students Expect from College and What They Get (George D. Kuh, Robert M. Gonyea, and Julie M. Williams) 4. When Expectations and Realities Collide: Environmental Influences on Student Expectations and Student Experiences (Larry Moneta and George D. Kuh) 5. Campus Services: What Do Students Expect? (Frank P. Ardaiolo, Barbara E. Bender, and Gregory Roberts) 6. Student Expectations About Paying for College: Are They Reasonable? (John H. Schuh and Leah Ewing Ross) 7. Student Persistence and Degree Attainment (Thomas E. Miller) 8. Life After College (Susan R. Komives and Elizabeth M. Nuss) 9. The Influence of Selected Students' Characteristics on Their Expectations of College (Gwendolyn J. Dungy, Patricia A. Rissmeyer, and Gregory Roberts) 10. Institutional Type and Students' Expectations (Wilma J. Henry, Penelope H. Wills, and Harold L. Nixon) 11. Expectations of Multiple Publics (Barbara E. Bender, John Wesley Lowery, and John H. Schuh) 12. Perspectives from the Field (Thomas E. Miller and Barbara E. Bender) 13. Conclusion (Thomas E. Miller)
The Effects of Resistance Training and Walking on Functional Fitness in Advanced Old Age

The authors assessed the effects of resistance training and walking exercise on measures of functional fitness. Sixty-four volunteers (average age 83.5 years) from an independent-living facility were randomly assigned to walking, resistance training, or control groups. Participants in the walking and resistance-training groups engaged in two exercise sessions per week for 16 weeks. Measures of functional fitness included upper and lower body strength, hip and shoulder flexibility, agility and balance, coordination, blood pressure, and resting heart rate. Repeated measures analysis of variance was used to examine pretest to posttest differences. Both exercise groups showed significant improvements relative to control group in upper and lower body strength, shoulder flexibility, and agility and balance exercise. Findings demonstrate that exercise can lead to improvements in multiple domains of functional fitness even among very old, previously sedentary individuals, possibly making activities of daily living easier to perform.
Identification of unbalance faults in rotors with unknown input observers using classical and LMI based approaches

Fault diagnosis in rotating machines have been attempted by researchers with many different techniques. The common fault occurring in a rotor system is the unbalance. Different techniques exist to determine their magnitude and location in circumferential and axial direction. In this paper, an attempt is made to identify and locate unbalance faults on a rotor system using an Unknown Input Observer (UIO). Its matrices are constructed by two methods, first is a classical method by solving the algebraic Riccatti equations and other by solving a set of Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI) equations. This has the advantage of designing a stable observer without facing the problem of pole placement. Both the methods have been simulated with the model of a rotor test bench. The results are found to be accurate in a simulation environment.
Stability issues in OSPF routing

We study the stability of the OSPF protocol under steady state and perturbed conditions. We look at three indicators of stability, namely, (a) network convergence times, (b) routing load on processors, and (c) the number of route flaps. We study these statistics under three different scenarios: (a) on networks that deploy OSPF with TE extensions, (b) on networks that use subsecond HELLO timers, and (c) on networks that use alternative strategies for refreshing link-state information. Our results are based on a very detailed simulation of a real ISP network with 292 nodes and 765 links.
Zero Energy States of Reduced Super Yang-Mills Theories in $d+1 = 4,6$ and 10 dimensions are necessarily $Spin(d)$ invariant

We consider reduced Super Yang-Mills Theory in $d+1$ dimensions, where $d=2,3,5,9$. We present commutators to prove that for $d=3,5$ and 9 a possible ground state must be a $Spin(d)$ singlet. We also discuss the case $d=2$, where we give an upper bound on the total angular momentum and show that for odd dimensional gauge group no $Spin(d)$ invariant state exists in the Hilbert space.
Evaluating Preceptors: A Methodological Study

The purpose of this study was to develop and test the Baptist Health Lexington Performance and Proficiency Assessment for validity and reliability. Twelve expert nurse educators evaluated the instrument for content validity. The sample for test–retest included nurse administrators (5), preceptors (9), and new graduates (10). To evaluate internal consistency, administrators (12), preceptors (66), and new graduates (43) responded. Strong validity and reliability were found for all subscales on the preceptor and new graduate versions.
ConSurf: an algorithmic tool for the identification of functional regions in proteins by surface mapping of phylogenetic information.

Experimental approaches for the identification of functionally important regions on the surface of a protein involve mutagenesis, in which exposed residues are replaced one after another while the change in binding to other proteins or changes in activity are recorded. However, practical considerations limit the use of these methods to small-scale studies, precluding a full mapping of all the functionally important residues on the surface of a protein. We present here an alternative approach involving the use of evolutionary data in the form of multiple-sequence alignment for a protein family to identify hot spots and surface patches that are likely to be in contact with other proteins, domains, peptides, DNA, RNA or ligands. The underlying assumption in this approach is that key residues that are important for binding should be conserved throughout evolution, just like residues that are crucial for maintaining the protein fold, i.e. buried residues. A main limitation in the implementation of this approach is that the sequence space of a protein family may be unevenly sampled, e.g. mammals may be overly represented. Thus, a seemingly conserved position in the alignment may reflect a taxonomically uneven sampling, rather than being indicative of structural or functional importance. To avoid this problem, we present here a novel methodology based on evolutionary relations among proteins as revealed by inferred phylogenetic trees, and demonstrate its capabilities for mapping binding sites in SH2 and PTB signaling domains. A computer program that implements these ideas is available freely at: http://ashtoret.tau. ac.il/ approximately rony
A Histogram Separation and Mapping Framework for Image Contrast Enhancement

: In this paper, an adaptive framework based on histogram separation and mapping for image contrast enhancement is presented. In this framework, the histogram is separated by binary tree structure with the proposed adaptive histogram separation strategy. Generally, histogram equalization (HE) is an e ﬀ ective technique for contrast enhancement. However, the conventional HE usually gives the processed image with unnatural look and artifacts by excessive enhancement. For overcoming this shortage, the adaptive histogram separation unit (AHSU) is proposed to convert the global enhancement problem into local. And for mapping the histogram partitions into more optimal ranges, the exact histogram separation is discussed. Finally, an adaptive histogram separation and mapping framework (AHSMF) for contrast enhancement is presented, and the experimental results show better e ﬀ ectiveness than other histogram based methods.
Measurement of average decoding rates of the 61 sense codons in vivo

Most amino acids can be encoded by several synonymous codons, which are used at unequal frequencies. The significance of unequal codon usage remains unclear. One hypothesis is that frequent codons are translated relatively rapidly. However, there is little direct, in vivo, evidence regarding codon-specific translation rates. In this study, we generate high-coverage data using ribosome profiling in yeast, analyze using a novel algorithm, and deduce events at the A- and P-sites of the ribosome. Different codons are decoded at different rates in the A-site. In general, frequent codons are decoded more quickly than rare codons, and AT-rich codons are decoded more quickly than GC-rich codons. At the P-site, proline is slow in forming peptide bonds. We also apply our algorithm to short footprints from a different conformation of the ribosome and find strong amino acid-specific (not codon-specific) effects that may reflect interactions with the exit tunnel of the ribosome. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.03735. 001
Improved Genetic Algorithm Based Energy Efficient Routing in Two-Tiered Wireless Sensor Networks

In this paper, we have proposed a two-tiered wireless sensor network (WSN) in which sensor nodes transmit data packets to their connected relay nodes (cluster heads). Each sensor node is associated with at least one relay node in the network. The proposed strategy determines the best set of relay nodes for upper-tier communication. These relay nodes are periodically reselected on the basis of residual energy information of sensor nodes. Relay node reselection mechanism balances the energy consumption of sensor nodes in a network. Moreover, greedy algorithm is used to create a set of possible routing solutions. With the help of genetic algorithm (GA), we find a best routing path from a set of possible routing solutions.
PERCEIVED QUALITIES OF SMART WEARABLES Determinants of User Acceptance

Wearable computers are one of the new technologies that are expected to be a part of users’ lives extensively in near future. While some of the users have positive attitudes towards these new products, some users may reject to use them due to different reasons. User experience is subjective, and effected by various parameters. Among these the first impression, namely the perceived qualities has an important impact on product acceptance. This paper aims to explore the perceived qualities of wearables and define the relations between them. An empirical study is conducted, to find out the hierarchy and meaningful relationships between the perceived qualities of smart wearables. The study is based on personal construct theory and data is presented by Cross-Impact Analysis. The patterns behind affection and affected qualities are explored to understand the design requirements for the best integration of wearables into daily lives.
$2^{(\log N)^{1/4-o(1)}}$ Hardness for Hypergraph Coloring

We show that it is quasi-NP-hard to color 2-colorable 8-uniform hypergraphs with $2^{(\log N)^{1/10-o(1)}}$ colors, where $N$ is the number of vertices. There has been much focus on hardness of hypergraph coloring recently. Guruswami, H{\aa}stad, Harsha, Srinivasan and Varma showed that it is quasi-NP-hard to color 2-colorable 8-uniform hypergraphs with $2^{2^{\Omega(\sqrt{\log\log N})}}$ colors. Their result is obtained by composing standard Label Cover with an inner-verifier based on Low Degree Long Code, using Reed-Muller code testing results by Dinur and Guruswami. Using a different approach, Khot and Saket constructed a new variant of Label Cover, and composed it with Quadratic Code to show quasi-NP-hardness of coloring 2-colorable 12-uniform hypergraphs with $2^{(\log N)^c}$ colors, for some $c$ around 1/20. Their construction of Label Cover is based on a new notion of superposition complexity for CSP instances. The composition with inner-verifier was subsequently improved by Varma, giving the same hardness result for 8-uniform hypergraphs. Our construction uses both Quadratic Code and Low Degree Long Code, and builds upon the work by Khot and Saket. We present a different approach to construct CSP instances with superposition hardness by observing that when the number of assignments is odd, satisfying a constraint in superposition is the same as "odd-covering" the constraint. We employ Low Degree Long Code in order to keep the construction efficient. In the analysis, we also adapt and generalize one of the key theorems by Dinur and Guruswami in the context of analyzing probabilistically checkable proof systems.
Spectral characteristics of heart rate variability before and during postural tilt. Relations to aging and risk of syncope.

Fourier analysis of heart rate (HR) may be used to characterize overall HR variability as well as low- and high-frequency components attributable to sympathetic and vagal influences, respectively. We analyzed HR spectral characteristics of 12 healthy young (18-35 years) and 10 healthy old (71-94 years) subjects before and during 60 degrees head-up tilt. Total spectral power in the 0.01-0.40-Hz frequency range and low-frequency (0.06-0.10 Hz) and high-frequency (0.15-0.40 Hz) components of the HR power spectrum were significantly lower in old than in young subjects in supine and upright positions. To characterize and compare overall HR variability in young and old subjects, we computed the regression lines relating the log amplitude to the log frequency of the supine HR spectra (l/fx plots). The regression lines for old subjects were lower and steeper (mean slope, -0.78 [5%, 95% confidence limits (CL), -0.73, -0.83]) than in young (mean slope, -0.67 [CL, -0.62, -0.72]), indicating not only reduced overall spectral amplitude but also relatively greater attenuation of high-frequency HR components in the old subjects. This finding illustrates a novel way to quantify the loss of autonomic influences on HR regulation as a function of age. During postural tilt, HR variability was unchanged in the old subjects. For the entire group of young subjects, total HR variability increased during tilt. Six young subjects developed vasovagal syncope during tilt, enabling us to examine differences in the HR spectra of these subjects while they were asymptomatic before syncope. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Chronic Ethanol Exposure: Pathogenesis of Pulmonary Disease and Dysfunction

Ethanol (EtOH) is the world’s most commonly used drug, and has been widely recognized as a risk factor for developing lung disorders. Chronic EtOH exposure affects all of the organ systems in the body and increases the risk of developing pulmonary diseases such as acute lung injury and pneumonia, while exacerbating the symptoms and resulting in increased mortality in many other lung disorders. EtOH and its metabolites inhibit the immune response of alveolar macrophages (AMs), increase airway leakage, produce damaging reactive oxygen species (ROS), and disrupt the balance of antioxidants/oxidants within the lungs. In this article, we review the role of EtOH exposure in the pathogenesis and progression of pulmonary disease.
The PEROXIN11 Protein Family Controls Peroxisome Proliferation in Arabidopsis[W]

PEROXIN11 (PEX11) is a peroxisomal membrane protein in fungi and mammals and was proposed to play a major role in peroxisome proliferation. To begin understanding how peroxisomes proliferate in plants and how changes in peroxisome abundance affect plant development, we characterized the extended Arabidopsis thaliana PEX11 protein family, consisting of the three phylogenetically distinct subfamilies PEX11a, PEX11b, and PEX11c to PEX11e. All five Arabidopsis PEX11 proteins target to peroxisomes, as demonstrated for endogenous and cyan fluorescent protein fusion proteins by fluorescence microscopy and immunobiochemical analysis using highly purified leaf peroxisomes. PEX11a and PEX11c to PEX11e behave as integral proteins of the peroxisome membrane. Overexpression of At PEX11 genes in Arabidopsis induced peroxisome proliferation, whereas reduction in gene expression decreased peroxisome abundance. PEX11c and PEX11e, but not PEX11a, PEX11b, and PEX11d, complemented to significant degrees the growth phenotype of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae pex11 null mutant on oleic acid. Heterologous expression of PEX11e in the yeast mutant increased the number and reduced the size of the peroxisomes. We conclude that all five Arabidopsis PEX11 proteins promote peroxisome proliferation and that individual family members play specific roles in distinct peroxisomal subtypes and environmental conditions and possibly in different steps of peroxisome proliferation.
Expérimentations sur un modèle de recherche d'information utilisant les liens hypertextes des pages Web

Résumé. La fonction de correspondance, qui permet de sélectionner et de classer les documents par rapport à une requête est un composant essentiel dans tout système de recherche d'information. Nous proposons de modéliser une fonction de correspondance prenant en compte à la fois le contenu et les liens hypertextes des pages Web. Nous avons expérimenté notre système sur la collection de test TREC-9, et nous concluons que pour certains types de requêtes, inclure le texte ancre associé aux liens hypertextes des pages dans la fonction de similarité s'avère plus efficace.
Method for Rapid Purification of Class IIa Bacteriocins and Comparison of Their Activities

ABSTRACT A three-step method was developed for the purification of mesentericin Y105 (60% yield) from the culture supernatant ofLeuconostoc mesenteroides Y105. The same procedure was successfully applied to the purification of five other anti-Listeria bacteriocins identified by mass spectrometry. Specific activities of the purified bacteriocins were compared.
Towards a Unified View of Model Mapping and Transformation

In the last period, there’s an increasing demand for ”model transformation” techniques (e.g. to support the Model Driven Development proposed by OMG). Tools and techniques for model mapping, model transformation and model merging are developed in several domains (from software engineering to ontology building); however the various initiatives often diverge in terminology or in the overall view of the mapping/transformation process, hindering the clear understanding or the reuse of the techniques themselves. With this paper we aim to propose a number of formal definitions of relevant concepts in the model mapping/transformation domain; we argue that this effort will be useful both for the user of transformation/mapping tools (for a better understanding of the task to be achieved) and for the tool’s developer (allowing better and unambiguous description of the tool’s functionalities).