Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nupr1-Aurora Kinase A Pathway Provides Protection against Metabolic Stress-Mediated Autophagic-Associated Cell Death

Purpose: The limited supply of oxygen and nutrients is thought to result in rigorous selection of cells that will eventually form the tumor. Experimental Design: Nupr1 expression pattern was analyzed in human tissue microarray (TMA) and correlated with survival time of the patient. Microarray analysis was conducted on MiaPaCa2 cells subjected to metabolic stress in Nupr1-silenced conditions. DNA repair and cell cycle–associated gene expression was confirmed by real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR). Nupr1 and AURKA protective role were analyzed using RNA interference (RNAi) silencing or overexpression. DNA damage and autophagy were analyzed by Western blot analysis and immunofluorescence. Results: We showed that both Nupr1 and HIF1α are coexpressed in human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) samples and negatively correlate with survival time. PDAC-derived cells submitted to hypoxia and/or glucose starvation induce DNA damage–dependent cell death concomitantly to the overexpression of stress protein Nupr1. Affymetrix-based transcriptoma analysis reveals that Nupr1 knockdown enhances DNA damage and alters the expression of several genes involved in DNA repair and cell-cycle progression. Expression of some of these genes is common to hypoxia and glucose starvation, such as Aurka gene, suggesting that Nupr1 overexpression counteracts the transcriptional changes occurring under metabolic stress. The molecular mechanism by which hypoxia and glucose starvation induce cell death involves autophagy-associated, but not caspase-dependent, cell death. Finally, we have found that AURKA expression is partially regulated by Nupr1 and plays a major role in this response. Conclusions: Our data reveal that Nupr1 is involved in a defense mechanism that promotes pancreatic cancer cell survival when exposed to metabolic stress. Clin Cancer Res; 18(19); 5234–46. ©2012 AACR.
Preparation of Large Monodisperse Vesicles

Preparation of monodisperse vesicles is important both for research purposes and for practical applications. While the extrusion of vesicles through small pores (∼100 nm in diameter) results in relatively uniform populations of vesicles, extrusion to larger sizes results in very heterogeneous populations of vesicles. Here we report a simple method for preparing large monodisperse multilamellar vesicles through a combination of extrusion and large-pore dialysis. For example, extrusion of polydisperse vesicles through 5-µm-diameter pores eliminates vesicles larger than 5 µm in diameter. Dialysis of extruded vesicles against 3-µm-pore-size polycarbonate membranes eliminates vesicles smaller than 3 µm in diameter, leaving behind a population of monodisperse vesicles with a mean diameter of ∼4 µm. The simplicity of this method makes it an effective tool for laboratory vesicle preparation with potential applications in preparing large monodisperse liposomes for drug delivery.
A 900 MHz RF energy harvesting system in 40 nm CMOS technology with efficiency peaking at 47% and higher than 30% over a 22dB wide input power range

A 900 MHz RF energy harvesting system is proposed for a far-field wireless power transfer application. The topology of a single-stage CMOS rectifier loaded with an integrated boost DC-DC converter is implemented in a 40 nm CMOS technology. The co-design of a cross-coupled CMOS rectifier and an impedance matching network is described to optimize RF-DC conversion efficiency for the target input power. Two tuning techniques are employed to improve the power conversion efficiency of the entire system over a wide input power range, which include using an input-regulated DC-DC converter to control the rectifier with an optimal output voltage, and tuning an impedance matching network to compensate the input impedance variation of the rectifier. The measurement results show the proposed system can achieve an end-to-end power conversion efficiency higher than 30% over a 22dB input power range (−10 to 12 dBm) with a peak value of 47% at 0 dBm for a 1.5 V output voltage. The maximum output voltage of the system is 2.45V with a sensitivity of −15 dBm.
Segmental folding of chromosomes: A basis for structural and regulatory chromosomal neighborhoods?

We discuss here a series of testable hypotheses concerning the role of chromosome folding into topologically associating domains (TADs). Several lines of evidence suggest that segmental packaging of chromosomal neighborhoods may underlie features of chromatin that span large domains, such as heterochromatin blocks, association with the nuclear lamina and replication timing. By defining which DNA elements preferentially contact each other, the segmentation of chromosomes into TADs may also underlie many properties of long‐range transcriptional regulation. Several observations suggest that TADs can indeed provide a structural basis to regulatory landscapes, by controlling enhancer sharing and allocation. We also discuss how TADs may shape the evolution of chromosomes, by causing maintenance of synteny over large chromosomal segments. Finally we suggest a series of experiments to challenge these ideas and provide concrete examples illustrating how they could be practically applied.
A 900MHz RF energy harvesting module

This paper presents a guideline to design and optimize a RF energy harvester operating in ISM Band at 902 MHz. The circuit is implemented on a standard FR4 board with commercially available off-the-shelf devices. The topology of the impedance transformation block is selected to reduce the losses which improves the overall performances of the system. The characterization of the harvesting module shows sensitivity of -22.5 dBm for a dc output voltage of 200 mV up to -11 dBm for 1.08 V. A wireless power transmission in an indoor environment is measured with a radiated source power of 16.8 dBm. The harvester exhibits a DC rectified voltage of 1.25 V at 0.5 meter and still 500 mV at 1.5 meter.
Intelligent mind-mapping

Current computer based mind-mapping tools are much slower to use than pen and paper because users are distracted by tool operations such as finding and arranging widgets. The shift in focus from brainstorming to tool management interrupts the rapid brainstorming process that mind maps are intended to support. Our pen based mind-mapping software that includes intelligent ink recognition, editing and export alleviates these intrusions as the user only has to worry about writing on the canvas, yet usual digital document support is provided. The digital ink recognition and manipulation techniques described here will be of interest to others working with informal documents.
Nitrogen digestion in sheep given poor-quality indigenous hill herbages

1. In two experiments, the sites of digestion of non-ammonia nitrogen (NAN) and the amounts of urea N recycled to the rumen were measured in mature wether sheep given diets of indigenous hill herbage (Agrostis–Festuca and heather). 2. Duodenal and ileal flow values were obtained using 103Ru-phenanthroline and 51Cr-EDTA markers in animals prepared with simple (T-shaped) cannuals. Amounts of urea N recycled to the rumen were estimated from measurements of the transfer of plasma urea carbon into rumen bicarbonate and the production rate of rumen bicarbonate using 14C-labelled urea and bicarbonate respectively. 3. The flows of NAN at the duodenum and ileum were linearly related to the intake of herbage (P < 0.001). There was a net gain of non-ammonia N anterior to the duodenum on both diets (at an intake of 460 g organic matter (OM)/d, 3.7 g NAN/d on Agrostis–Festuca and 3.3 g NAN/d on heather). 4. Net digestibility of NAN entering the small intestine was within a normal range on the Agrostis–Festuca (0.58 at 460 g OM intake) diet but low on the heather diet (0.043 at 460 g OM intake). 5. It was calculated that at 460 g OM intake only 0.9 and 1.1 g/d respectively of the duodenal NAN on the Agrostis-Festuca and heather diets could have been derived from urea-N recycled to the rumen. Thus 2.8 g and 2.2 g/d had to be accounted for as non-urea endogenous NAN.
A Telemedicine Management Model Based on Message-Trigger Service

Abstract: A telemedicine system model, based on a message-trigger service, is described. This model distributes system applications on multiple computers and establishes a communication platform to exchange messages among all applications. By broadcasting event messages, an application is able to trigger a set of local and remote services. At the same time, a protocol for message exchange is proposed to fulfill cooperation of applications. To validate the model, a teleconsultation system is designed. The results indicate that the model has good compatibility and that the characteristics are easy to implement.
Rapid Redistribution of Synaptic PSD-95 in the Neocortex In Vivo

Most excitatory synapses terminate on dendritic spines. Spines vary in size, and their volumes are proportional to the area of the postsynaptic density (PSD) and synaptic strength. PSD-95 is an abundant multi-domain postsynaptic scaffolding protein that clusters glutamate receptors and organizes the associated signaling complexes. PSD-95 is thought to determine the size and strength of synapses. Although spines and their synapses can persist for months in vivo, PSD-95 and other PSD proteins have shorter half-lives in vitro, on the order of hours. To probe the mechanisms underlying synapse stability, we measured the dynamics of synaptic PSD-95 clusters in vivo. Using two-photon microscopy, we imaged PSD-95 tagged with GFP in layer 2/3 dendrites in the developing (postnatal day 10–21) barrel cortex. A subset of PSD-95 clusters was stable for days. Using two-photon photoactivation of PSD-95 tagged with photoactivatable GFP (paGFP), we measured the time over which PSD-95 molecules were retained in individual spines. Synaptic PSD-95 turned over rapidly (median retention times τ r ~ 22–63 min from P10–P21) and exchanged with PSD-95 in neighboring spines by diffusion. PSDs therefore share a dynamic pool of PSD-95. Large PSDs in large spines captured more diffusing PSD-95 and also retained PSD-95 longer than small PSDs. Changes in the sizes of individual PSDs over days were associated with concomitant changes in PSD-95 retention times. Furthermore, retention times increased with developmental age (τ r ~ 100 min at postnatal day 70) and decreased dramatically following sensory deprivation. Our data suggest that individual PSDs compete for PSD-95 and that the kinetic interactions between PSD molecules and PSDs are tuned to regulate PSD size.
A normal genetic variation modulates synaptic MMP‐9 protein levels and the severity of schizophrenia symptoms

Matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP‐9) has recently emerged as a molecule that contributes to pathological synaptic plasticity in schizophrenia, but explanation of the underlying mechanisms has been missing. In the present study, we performed a phenotype‐based genetic association study (PGAS) in > 1,000 schizophrenia patients from the Göttingen Research Association for Schizophrenia (GRAS) data collection and found an association between the MMP‐9 rs20544 C/T single‐nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) located in the 3′untranslated region (UTR) and the severity of a chronic delusional syndrome. In cultured neurons, the rs20544 SNP influenced synaptic MMP‐9 activity and the morphology of dendritic spines. We demonstrated that Fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) bound the MMP‐9 3′UTR. We also found dramatic changes in RNA structure folding and alterations in the affinity of FMRP for MMP‐9 RNA, depending on the SNP variant. Finally, we observed greater sensitivity to psychosis‐related locomotor hyperactivity in Mmp‐9 heterozygous mice. We propose a novel mechanism that involves MMP‐9‐dependent changes in dendritic spine morphology and the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, providing the first mechanistic insights into the way in which the single base change in the MMP‐9 gene (rs20544) influences gene function and results in phenotypic changes observed in schizophrenia patients.
Determining relevant model elements for the verification of UML/OCL specifications

Modeling languages such as UML or SysML received significant attention over the last years. They allow for an abstract description of systems already in the absence of a precise implementation or a hardware/software partitioning. Additionally considering textual constraints, for example provided by means of OCL, enables to automatically check the specified systems e.g. for consistency of the structure or reachability of certain system states. However, for the majority of verification tasks, not the entire model has to be considered. In this work, we propose an approach that automatically determines reduced system models, i.e. system descriptions that only include model elements which are relevant for the considered verification task. Considering reduced models eases the access by the designer and supports incremental design and verification schemes. But most important, they improve the efficiency of the applied formal verification engine. Experiments demonstrate that already small reductions in the model lead to significant accelerations in the run-time of the verification engine.
How a Traditional Project Manager Transforms to Scrum

Transitioning from a traditional project manager to Scrum is challenging. The PMI Project Manager manages the project by ensuring that intermediate deliverables are delivered at various stages of the project. Agile development emphasizes the need for producing tangible results as soon as possible and as often as possible. The resulting role of an Agile project manager is fundamentally different from a PMI Project Manager. We have provided a mapping between the PMI responsibilities to Scrum and show a project manager how to more easily make the transition to an agile practice
Personal Fitness Trainer: the effect of feedback Presentation Formats

This paper explores the effect of feedback presentation formats in mobile fitness apps. Drawing from computers are social actors (CASA) paradigm, cognitive load theory (CLT), and social presence literature in this study, we conceptualize that when a user is involved in different types of exercise (aerobic or anaerobic) the exposure to more humanized feedback can create differential influence in user’s cognitive load and user engagement. This differential influence subsequently affects the fitness performance of the user. This conceptualization will be validated through an experiment. The outcomes of this study can help fitness app developers to design effective fitness apps. Similarly the findings can assist users in choosing the most appropriate fitness app that can enhance their fitness.
3D shape measurement of a convex free-form curved inner surface producing interreflection using laser rangefinder

Active triangulation methods assume that points in a scene are only illuminated by the sources of light. However, this assumption is valid only when the light is reflected at one time from a single convex surface. Actual objects often include concave surfaces where points reflect light between themselves. In the presence of these inter-reflections, active triangulation methods produce erroneous estimates of shape. In this paper, an approach is proposed to recover the shape of a specular object in the presence of inter-reflection, with prior knowledge on the shape information of specular object or not. Both simulation and experiment results proved that the proposed approach was effective.
Robust Value Function Approximation by Working

In this paper, we examine the intuition that TD() is meant to operate by approximating asynchronous value iteration. We note that on the important class of discrete acyclic stochastic tasks, value iteration is in-eecient compared with the DAG-SP algorithm, which essentially performs only one sweep instead of many by working backwards from the goal. The question we address in this paper is whether there is an analogous algorithm that can be used in large stochastic state spaces requiring function approximation. We present such an algorithm, analyze it, and give comparative results to TD on several domains. LEARNING CONTROL BACKWARDS Computing an accurate value function is the key to dynamic-programming-based algorithms for optimal sequential control in Markov Decision Processes. The optimal value function V (x) speciies, for each state x in the state space X, the expected cumulative reward when starting in state x and acting optimally thereafter. It is also the unique solution to the Bellman equations (using the notation of 11]): 8x 2 X, V (x) = n R(x) if x is a terminal state max a2A(x) ? R(x; a) + P y2X Prob(x a ! y)V (y) otherwise (1) The Bellman equation at x also reveals the optimal control from x: any action which instantiates the max is an optimal choice 2]. For small discrete problems, the value function can be stored in a lookup table and computed by iterative algorithms such as value iteration (VI) 2]. VI computes V by repeatedly sweeping over the state space, applying Equation 1 as an assignment statement (this is called a \one-step backup") at each state in parallel. If the lookup table is initialized with all 0's, then after i sweeps of VI, the table will represent the maximum expected return of a path of length i from each state. For certain goal-oriented domains, this corresponds to the intuition that VI works by propagating correct V values backwards, by one step per iteration, from the terminal states. More precisely, there are two classes of MDPs for which correct V values can be assigned by working strictly backwards from terminal states: 1. deterministic domains with no positive-reward cycles and with every state able to reach at least one terminal state. This class includes shortest-path and minimum cost-to-go problems. 2. stochastic, acyclic domains: domains where no legal trajectory can pass through the same state twice. Many domains naturally have this property (e.g. games …
The effect of mirthful laughter on stress and natural killer cell activity.

CONTEXT A recent survey of rural Midwestern cancer patients revealed that humor was one of the most frequently used complementary therapies. Psychoneuroimmunology research suggests that, in addition to its established psychological benefits, humor may have physiological effects on immune functioning. OBJECTIVE To determine the effect of laughter on self-reported stress and natural killer cell activity. DESIGN Randomized, pre-post test with comparison group. SETTING Indiana State University Sycamore Nursing Center, which is a nurse-managed community health clinic in a mid-sized, Midwestern city. PARTICIPANTS 33 healthy adult women. INTERVENTION Experimental subjects viewed a humorous video while subjects in the distraction control group viewed a tourism video. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Self-reported stress and arousal (Stress Arousal Check List), mirthful laughter (Humor Response Scale), and immune function (chromium release natural killer [NK] cell cytotoxicity assay). RESULTS Stress decreased for subjects in the humor group, compared with those in the distraction group (U32 = 215.5; P = .004). Amount of mirthful laughter correlated with postintervention stress measures for persons in the humor group (r16 = -.655; P = .004). Subjects who scored greater than 25 on the humor response scale had increased immune function postintervention (t16 = 2.52 P = .037) and compared with the remaining participants (t32 = 32.1; P = .04). Humor response scale scores correlated with changes in NK cell activity (r16 = .744; P = 001). CONCLUSION Laughter may reduce stress and improve NK cell activity. As low NK cell activity is linked to decreased disease resistance and increased morbidity in persons with cancer and HIV disease, laughter may be a useful cognitive-behavioral intervention.
Effect of welding parameters on nugget zone microstructure and properties in high strength aluminium alloy friction stir welds

Abstract Theeffects ofthemainwelding variables,apart form tool design,on themicrostructureandproperties ofthenugget zone in friction stir welds have been investigated for a typical high strength Al alloy (AA7010). It has been found that there is an optimum rotational speed, for a given travel speed, that gives the highest strength and ductility for the nugget zone. As the travel speed is increased, it is necessary to increase the spindle speed to maintain this condition, although the optimum condition does notdirectlyrelatetoa constantratioof rotationalto travel speed. This condition coincides with a heat input, for a given travel speed, that gives the maximum level of solute in solution in the nugget and the lowest density of coarse second phase particles. For low travel speeds, this is limited at excessive heat inputs by reprecipitation occurringduringtheweldcoolingcycles,whereas for high travel speeds incipient melting within the nugget appears to be an important factor.
On Outage Probability and Diversity-Multiplexing Tradeoff in MIMO Relay Channels

Fading MIMO relay channels are studied analytically, when the source and destination are equipped with multiple antennas and the relays have a single one. Compact closed-form expressions are obtained for the outage probability under i.i. d. and correlated Rayleigh-fading links. Low-outage approximations are derived, which reveal a number of insights, including the impact of correlation, of the number of antennas, of relay noise and of relaying protocol. The effect of correlation is shown to be negligible, unless the channel becomes almost fully correlated. The SNR loss of relay fading channels compared to the AWGN channel is quantified. The SNR-asymptotic diversity-multiplexing tradeoff (DMT) is obtained for a broad class of fading distributions, including, as special cases, Rayleigh, Rice, Nakagami, Weibull, which may be non-identical, spatially correlated and/or non-zero mean. The DMT is shown to depend not on a particular fading distribution, but rather on its polynomial behavior near zero, and is the same for the simple "amplify-and-forward" protocol and more complicated "decode-and-forward" one with capacity achieving codes, i.e. the full processing capability at the relay does not help to improve the DMT. There is however a significant difference between the SNR-asymptotic DMT and the finite-SNR outage performance: while the former is not improved by using an extra antenna on either side, the latter can be significantly improved and, in particular, an extra antenna can be traded-off for a full processing capability at the relay. The results are extended to the multi-relay channels with selection relaying and typical outage events are identified.
Probability of encapsulation of paclitaxel and doxorubicin into carbon nanotubes

Understanding the encapsulation and expulsion of drug molecules from nano-carriers is vital for the development of nanoscale drug delivery. In a previous paper, the authors investigate the acceptance and suction behaviour of the anti-cancer drug cisplatin entering a carbon nanotube. The previous work presented by the authors is extended and the encapsulation of two further anti-cancer drugs that have far more complicated molecular structures, namely paclitaxel and doxorubicin is investigated. Since these complicated molecular structures may enter the tube at any orientation, the results obtained for both drug molecules are represented in the form of the probability of encapsulation. The numerical data obtained displays an apparent periodicity and can be very accurately approximated by the first few terms of a Fourier series. Thus, a more sophisticated approach than previously detailed, which is applicable to far more complicated drug molecules is presented. The highest probability of achieving both encapsulation and maximum uptake (or suction energy) for paclitaxel occurs in the radii range 9.134 < a < 12.683 Aring, while for doxorubicin this occurs in the range 8.855 < a < 10.511 Aring. In addition, specific data is included for each orientation which might be useful in future experimental and molecular dynamics studies by medical scientists.