Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Serum Periostin as a Biomarker for Comorbid Chronic Rhinosinusitis in Patients with Asthma

Rationale: Periostin is a matricellular protein that is involved in the pathophysiology of allergic rhinitis, chronic rhinosinusitis, and asthma. Associations of serum periostin with systemic and airway eosinophilic inflammation and comorbid chronic rhinosinusitis in patients with asthma have been demonstrated. Although serum periostin is positioned as a marker of helper T cell 2 immune responses, its implication regarding the presence of comorbid upper airway diseases in patients with asthma remains unclear. Objectives: To investigate the utility of serum periostin as a diagnostic biomarker for upper airway disease in patients with asthma. Methods: We prospectively enrolled 65 patients with stable asthma, 20 without upper airway disease, 22 with rhinitis, and 23 with chronic rhinosinusitis (13 with nasal polyps, 10 without). Serum periostin, eotaxin, total IgE, fractional exhaled nitric oxide, and blood and sputum eosinophil levels were measured and compared between upper airway disease subtypes. We evaluated the utility of each biomarker in detecting upper airway disease, associations among the biomarkers, and severity of upper airway disease as measured by the Lund‐Mackay score for sinus computed tomography. Results: Serum periostin levels were higher in patients with asthma who had chronic rhinosinusitis (109.6 ± 47.4 ng/ml) than in those without upper airway disease (83.2 ± 22.9 ng/ml) (P = 0.04). Serum periostin levels in patients with asthma who had chronic rhinosinusitis and nasal polyps were significantly higher (130.0 ± 46.6 ng/ml) than in those without nasal polyps (87.9 ± 37.7 ng/ml) (P = 0.001). Serum periostin levels were not associated with the presence or the severity of rhinitis. In contrast, receiver operating characteristic curve analyses showed moderate diagnostic accuracy for detecting chronic rhinosinusitis (area under the curve, 0.71; P = 0.01) and high accuracy for chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (area under the curve, 0.86; P = 0.0002). When we compared patients with asthma who had comorbid chronic rhinosinusitis and nasal polyps with patients with asthma without these comorbidities, we found serum periostin to be the sole biomarker among those tested for detecting the presence of nasal polyps. Serum periostin was also the sole biomarker that significantly correlated with Lund‐Mackay score in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (r = 0.44; P = 0.04). Conclusions: Serum periostin is useful for detecting chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps and predicting radiological chronic rhinosinusitis severity in patients with asthma. Clinical trial registered with the UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN000017533).
Benefits of Beamforming Training Scheme in Distributed Large-Scale MIMO Systems

The downlink training yields rather modest performance gains due to the high degree of channel hardening effect in co-located large-scale multi-input multi-output (MIMO) systems. However, in distributed large-scale MIMO systems, the potential benefits of the downlink training become larger, since there is a high probability that each user is very close to only a part of remote antenna units and is effectively served by them which results in less channel hardening effect. In this paper, we study the benefits of the beamforming training (BT) scheme (users estimate the channel state information by using the received training symbols, which are processed by linear beamforming in advance) in distributed large-scale MIMO systems. We derive accurate and tractable closed-form analytical expressions for the spectral efficiency (SE) of the BT scheme in distributed large-scale MIMO systems with maximum ratio transmission and zero-forcing (ZF) beamforming. Based on these expressions, we analyze the benefits of the BT scheme and investigate how the number of transmit antennas and the length of coherence interval affect the SE of the BT scheme in the co-located and distributed large-scale MIMO systems. The analytical results show that the BT scheme is more suitable for distributed large-scale MIMO systems with ZF beamforming, and a less number of transmit antennas and longer coherence interval can improve the performance gain of BT scheme.
Serum Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factors in Taiwanese Patients with Drug-Naïve First-Episode Major Depressive Disorder: Effects of Antidepressants

Abstract Background: Brain-derived neurotrophic factors are known to be related to the psychopathology of major depressive disorder. However, studies focusing on drug-naïve first-episode patients are still rare. Methods: Over a 6-year period, we examined the serum brain-derived neurotrophic factors levels in patients with ﬁrst-episode drug-naïve major depressive disorder and compared them with sex-matched healthy controls. We also investigated the relationships between serum brain-derived neurotrophic factors levels, suicidal behavior, and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale scores before and after a 4-week antidepressant treatment. Results: The baseline serum brain-derived neurotrophic factors levels of 71 patients were significantly lower than those of the controls (P=.017), and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale scores in 71 patients did not correlate with brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels were significantly lower in 13 suicidal major depressive disorder patients than in 58 nonsuicidal major depressive disorder patients (P=.038). Among 41 followed-up patients, there was no alteration in serum brain-derived neurotrophic factors levels after treatment with antidepressants (P=.126). In receiver operating characteristic curve analysis of using pretreatment brain-derived neurotrophic factors to estimate the response to treatment, the area under the curve was 0.684. The most suitable cut-off point was 6.1 ng/mL (sensitivity=78.6%, specificity = 53.8%). Conclusions: Our data support the serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels in patients with drug-naïve first-episode major depressive disorder were lower than those in the healthy controls, and patients with pretreatment brain-derived neurotrophic factors >6.1 ng/mL were more likely to be responders. Although the relationship of our results to the mechanism of drug action and pathophysiology of depression remains unclear, the measure may have potential use as a predictor of response to treatment. In the future, it needs a large sample to prove these results.
Tensor 2-D DOA Estimation for a Cylindrical Conformal Antenna Array in a Massive MIMO System Under Unknown Mutual Coupling

In this paper, a novel 2-D direction of arrival (DOA) estimation approach based on the tensor technique is proposed for a conformal array in a massive multiple-input-multiple-output system under unknown mutual coupling. By placing sensors uniformly on the cylindrical surface, the received signal expression is formulated with the Khatri–Rao product. An unknown mutual coupling auto-suppression method based on the conformal array is investigated. Then, to utilize the multidimensional information of the received data, a third-order tensor is constructed based on the conformal array signal model, and the signal subspace is provided by higher order singular value decomposition. Finally, the DOAs are estimated by conventional subspace-based algorithms. This approach provides improved DOA estimation performance owing to the utilization of the multidimensional information and the covariance tensor method, with lower SNR and fewer snapshots. The simulation results confirm that the proposed method outperforms the conventional method based on the vector model.
A 515 nW, 0–18 dB Programmable Gain Analog-to-Digital Converter for In-Channel Neural Recording Interfaces

This paper presents a low-area low-power Switched-Capacitor (SC)-based Programmable-Gain Analog-to-Digital Converter (PG-ADC) suitable for in-channel neural recording applications. The PG-ADC uses a novel implementation of the binary search algorithm that is complemented with adaptive biasing techniques for power saving. It has been fabricated in a standard CMOS 130 nm technology and only occupies 0.0326 mm2. The PG-ADC has been optimized to operate under two different sampling modes, 27 kS/s and 90 kS/s. The former is tailored for raw data conversion of neural activity, whereas the latter is used for the on-the-fly feature extraction of neural spikes. Experimental results show that, under a voltage supply of 1.2 V, the PG-ADC obtains an ENOB of 7.56 bit (8-bit output) for both sampling modes, regardless of the gain setting. The amplification gain can be programmed from 0 to 18 dB. The power consumption of the PG-ADC at 90 kS/s is 1.52 μW with a FoM of 89.49 fJ/conv, whereas at 27 kS/s it consumes 515 nW and obtains a FoM of 98.31 fJ/conv .
Secure interrupts on low-end microcontrollers

Embedded devices are increasingly becoming interconnected, sometimes over the public Internet. This poses a major security concern, as these devices handle sensitive information (e.g, banking credentials, personal data) or they are critical for the safety of human lives (e.g, smoke detector, airbag system). Security protocols need to be used in combination with a trusted computing base to ensure that attackers cannot alter the state of the software running on these devices to leak secrets. In this work we focus on the problem of secure interrupt handling, which has not been covered in related work. Our architecture for secure interrupts build on the idea of using simple memory isolation techniques to ensure leakage free processing of secret information on a microcontroller. Three methods of securely handling interrupts are proposed, each exploring a different tradeoff between hardware and software complexity, and interrupt latency. Prototype implementations based on an openMSP430 softcore demonstrate the practical feasibility of our architecture.
The Robyn Barst Memorial Lecture: Differences between the Fetal, Newborn, and Adult Pulmonary Circulations: Relevance for Age-Specific Therapies (2013 Grover Conference Series)

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) contributes to poor outcomes in diverse diseases in newborns, infants, and children. Many aspects of pediatric PAH parallel the pathophysiology and disease courses observed in adult patients; however, critical maturational differences exist that contribute to distinct outcomes and therapeutic responses in children. In comparison with adult PAH, disruption of lung vascular growth and development, or angiogenesis, plays an especially prominent role in the pathobiology of pediatric PAH. In children, abnormalities of lung vascular development have consequences well beyond the adverse hemodynamic effects of PAH alone. The developing endothelium also plays critical roles in development of the distal airspace, establishing lung surface area for gas exchange and maintenance of lung structure throughout postnatal life through angiocrine signaling. Impaired functional and structural adaptations of the pulmonary circulation during the transition from fetal to postnatal life contribute significantly to poor outcomes in such disorders as persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, Down syndrome, and forms of congenital heart disease. In addition, several studies support the hypothesis that early perinatal events that alter lung vascular growth or function may set the stage for increased susceptibility to PAH in adult patients (“fetal programming”). Thus, insights into basic mechanisms underlying unique features of the developing pulmonary circulation, especially as related to preservation of endothelial survival and function, may provide unique therapeutic windows and distinct strategies to improve short- and long-term outcomes of children with PAH.
Analysis of the reliability of the Italian version of the Oral Behaviours Checklist and the relationship between oral behaviours and trait anxiety in healthy individuals

BACKGROUND The Oral Behaviours Checklist (OBC) is a valid 21-item instrument quantifying the self-reported frequency of oral behaviours. An Italian version (OBC-It) has been released recently. Anxiety and oral behaviours are known to be associated in individuals with oro-facial pain due to temporomandibular disorders (TMD). However, information about this relationship in pain-free individuals is still limited. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to test the reliability of the OBC-It and its reduced version (OBC-It 6), focusing on tooth clenching-related wake-time oral behaviours, and the effect of patient instructions on reliability. A second aim was to test the association between trait anxiety and oral behaviours in pain-free individuals. METHODS Two hundred and eighty-two TMD-free students, divided into 2 groups (Group A, n = 139, mean age ± SD = 22.6 ± 5.4 years; Group B, n = 143, 23.7 ± 4.2 years), filled in the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the OBC-It. Group B received instructions about the OBC-It, while Group A did not. After 2 weeks, both groups filled in the OBC-It again. However, Group B was further divided into 2 subgroups, B1 and B2 . The first received the same instructions again, while B2 did not. RESULTS The test-retest reliability of the OBC-It (A: ICC = .87; B1 : ICC = .94; B2 : ICC = .95) and OBC-It 6 (A: ICC = .85; B1 : ICC = .89; B2 : ICC = .93) was excellent in all groups. Trait anxiety was weakly associated with OBC-It only in women (R2 = .043, P = .021). CONCLUSIONS The OBC-It is a reliable tool but further subjects' instructions might be needed. Trait anxiety has a limited effect on oral behaviours in TMD-free subjects.
The Extension of the German CERAD Neuropsychological Assessment Battery with Tests Assessing Subcortical, Executive and Frontal Functions Improves Accuracy in Dementia Diagnosis

Background/Aims: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia. Neuropsychological assessment of individuals with AD primarily focuses on tests of cortical functioning. However, in clinical practice, the underlying pathologies of dementia are unknown, and a focus on cortical functioning may neglect other domains of cognition, including subcortical and executive functioning. The current study aimed to improve the diagnostic discrimination ability of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease - Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (CERAD-NAB) by adding three tests of executive functioning and mental speed (Trail Making Tests A and B, S-Words). Methods: Logistic regression analyses of 594 normal controls (NC), 326 patients with mild AD and 224 patients with other types of dementia (OD) were carried out, and the area under the curve values were compared to those of CERAD-NAB alone. Results: All comparisons except AD-OD (65.5%) showed excellent classification rates (NC-AD: 92.7%; NC-OD: 89.0%; NC-all patients: 91.0%) and a superior diagnostic accuracy of the extended version. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that these three tests provide a sensible addition to the CERAD-NAB and can improve neuropsychological diagnosis of dementia.
Current Trends of Hypertension Treatment in the United States

BACKGROUND To examine current patterns of hypertension (HTN) treatment in the United States, including blood pressure (BP) control, prevalence of different antihypertensive agents, and variations in treatment associated with patient and physician characteristics. METHODS We used data from the National Disease and Therapeutic Index (NDTI), a nationally representative physician survey produced by QuintilesIMS. We selected patients with a diagnosis of HTN and identified those prescribed antihypertensive therapies. We analyzed the type of antihypertensive agents prescribed. Extent of BP control, and associated patient and physician characteristics. We calculated 95% confidence intervals that accounted for the multistage NDTI sampling design. RESULTS Among those treated for HTN in 2014, BP control varied: systolic BP (SBP) ≥160 (15%) vs. SBP 150-159 (9%) vs. SBP 140-149 (19%) vs. SBP 130-139 (26%) vs. SBP <130 (32%). Of those treated for HTN, 29% used of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs); 24%, thiazide-like diuretics; 22%, angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), 21%, calcium-channel blockers (CCBs); and 19% beta-blockers. Newer drugs had very limited uptake; no drugs approved after 2002 were used in more than 5% of patients. Selection of agents varied only modestly by patient and physician characteristics. CONCLUSIONS The treatment of HTN in 2014 predominantly involved older medications in 5 major classes of drugs: ACEIs, thiazide diuretics, ARBs, CCBs, and beta-blockers. Selection of antihypertensive agents showed limited variation by age, gender, race, and insurance type. Although 58% of treated patients had SBP <140, 24% had poorly controlled HTN with SBP ≥150, indicating the need for improved treatment.
Detection of Zika virus in Aedes mosquitoes from Mexico.

Background We report on the results of an entomovirological surveillance system of Aedes populations performed by the Ministry of Health of the central state of San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Methods Indoor adult Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus pools collected at San Martín, Tamazunchale, Ciudad Valles, Metlapa, Ebano, Tamuin and Axtla during the dry season of 2016 were examined for the presence of dengue (DENV), chikungunya (CHIKV) and Zika (ZIKV) viruses using real-time PCR. Results Both Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus were found to be infected with ZIKV in the absence of confirmed symptomatic human cases. Conclusions The entomovirological surveillance system analysed here identified both Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus infected with ZIKV which triggered an immediate aggressive vector control campaign.
Towards Automatically Extracting Story Graphs from Natural Language Stories

This paper presents an approach to automatically extracting and representing narrative information from stories written in natural language. Speciﬁcally, we present our results in extracting story graphs , a formalism that captures the entities (e.g., characters, props, locations) and their interactions in a story. The long-term goal of this research is to automatically extract this narrative information in order to use it in computational narrative systems such as story generators or interactive ﬁction systems. Our approach combines narrative domain knowledge and off-the-shelf natural language processing (NLP) tools into a machine learning framework to build story graphs by automatically identifying entities, actions, and narrative roles. We report the performance of our fully automated system in a corpus of 21 stories and provide examples of the extracted story graphs and their uses in computational narrative systems.
Tunable and Latchable Liquid Microlens with Photopolymerizable Components

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Macrophage metabolism in atherosclerosis

A key aspect of atherosclerosis is the maladaptive inflammatory response to lipoprotein accumulation in the artery. The failure to decrease lipid accumulation, to clear apoptotic cells, and to resolve inflammation ultimately leads to macrophage accumulation within the vascular wall [Thorp EB (2010) Apoptosis 15, 1124–1136; Moore K et al. (2013) Nat Rev Immunol 13, 709–721; Moore KJ and Tabas I (2011) Cell 145, 341–355; Ley K et al. (2011) Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 31, 1506–1516]. Several subsets of macrophages are found inside atherosclerotic plaques [Chinetti‐Gbaguidi G et al. (2015) Nat Rev Cardiol 12, 10–17; Leitinger N and Schulman IG (2013) Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 33, 1120–1126; Mantovani A et al. (2009) Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 29, 1419–1423]: Proinflammatory M1‐like macrophages potentially participate in atherosclerosis initiation and progression; M2‐like macrophages are thought to be protective due to their anti‐inflammatory and profibrotic properties, presumably stabilizing the plaque [Chistiakov DA et al. (2015) Int J Cardiol 184, 436–445; Gordon S (2003) Nat Rev Immunol 3, 23–35]; Mox macrophages develop in response to oxidized phospholipids and present a glutathione‐ and potentially redox‐regulating phenotype [Kadl A et al. (2010) Circ Res 107, 737–746]; Mhem macrophages are found in areas of plaque hemorrhage [Boyle JJ et al. (2009) Am J Pathol 174, 1097–1108; Boyle JJ et al. (2012) Circ Res 110, 20–33] where they are involved in heme clearance. Recent evidence suggests that the relative abundance of these macrophage subsets is a better indicator of plaque progression and stability than the total number of lesion macrophages [Chinetti‐Gbaguidi G et al. (2015) Nat Rev Cardiol 12, 10–17]. Over the last few years, findings in the area of immunometabolism established a link between the metabolic state of the different macrophage phenotypes and their functions [O'Neill LAJ and Pearce EJ (2016) J Exp Med 213, 15–23]. However, the effect of metabolic changes in macrophages on atherosclerotic plaque progression and stability is not well understood and an area of intensive study. In this review, we will summarize and critically discuss recent developments in the field of macrophage metabolism in the context of atherosclerosis to guide future investigation in this area.
Formation and characterization of silica-coated HAP particles

Abstract Nanophase hydroxyapatite (HAP) particles were coated with silica via the hydrolysis of tetraethyl orthosilicate after a dodecyl alcohol based esterification reaction. The nanocomposite particles were characterized by transmission electron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry, sedimentation time and zeta potential (ζ) studies. A sequential change in infrared spectral features characteristic of HAP was accompanied by an increase in features characteristic of silica as revealed by FTIR. The silica coating enhanced the colloidal stability of HAP in aqueous suspensions. This behavior can be explained based on a heterocoagulation coating mechanism in which silica clusters adsorb onto the HAP particle surface.
AnoEST: toward A. gambiae functional genomics.

Here, we present an analysis of 215,634 EST and cDNA sequences of a major vector of human malaria Anopheles gambiae structured into the AnoEST database. The expressed sequences are grouped into clusters using genomic sequence as template and associated with inferred functional annotation, including the following: corresponding Ensembl gene prediction, putative orthologous genes in other species, homology to known proteins, protein domains, associated Gene Ontology terms, and corresponding classification into broad GO-slim functional groups. AnoEST is a vital resource for interpretation of expression profiles derived using recently developed A. gambiae cDNA microarrays. Using these cDNA microarrays, we have experimentally confirmed the expression of 7961 clusters during mosquito development. Of these, 3100 are not associated with currently predicted genes. Moreover, we found that clusters with confirmed expression are nonbiased with respect to the current gene annotation or homology to known proteins. Consequently, we expect that many as yet unconfirmed clusters are likely to be actual A. gambiae genes. [AnoEST is publicly available at http://komar.embl. de, and is also accessible as a Distributed Annotation Service (DAS). ].