Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interaction of Alkaline Earth Metal Ions with Acetic and Lactic Acid in Aqueous Solutions Studied by 13C NMR Spectroscopy

Abstract Interaction of alkaline earth metal (magnesium, calcium, strontium and barium) ions with acetic and lactic acid in aqueous media was investigated by 13C NMR spectroscopy. In the acetate systems, signals whose chemical shifts were the averages of those of the free and bound acetate ions were observed. Downfield shifts of the carboxylate carbon signals with increasing metal ion concentration indicated that the acetate ion acted as a monodentate ligand coordinating to the metal ion using the carboxylate group. The metal ion concentration dependence of the peak positions of the methine and carboxylate carbon signals of the lactate ion in the lactate systems suggested that the lactate ion coordinated to a metal ion using the carboxylate and hydroxyl groups. Unique upfield shifts upon complexation in the magnesium lactate systems suggested that the lactate ion coordinated to the magnesium ion from outside the primary hydration sphere. The present results were consistent with the isotope effects of the alkaline earth metals observed in cation exchange chromatography.
Endocrine Regulation of the Growth Plate

Longitudinal bone growth occurs at the growth plate by endochondral ossification. Within the growth plate, chondrocyte proliferation, hypertrophy, and cartilage matrix secretion result in chondrogenesis. The newly formed cartilage is invaded by blood vessels and bone cells that remodel the newly formed cartilage into bone tissue. This process of longitudinal bone growth is governed by a complex network of endocrine signals, including growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor I, glucocorticoid, thyroid hormone, estrogen, androgen, vitamin D, and leptin. Many of these signals regulate growth plate function, both by acting locally on growth plate chondrocytes and also indirectly by modulating other endocrine signals in the network. Some of the local effects of hormones are mediated by changes in paracrine factors that control chondrocyte proliferation and differentiation. Many human skeletal growth disorders are caused by abnormalities in the endocrine regulation of the growth plate. This review provides an overview of the endocrine signals that regulate longitudinal bone growth, their interactions, and the mechanisms by which they affect growth plate chondrogenesis.
A Decomposition Algorithm for the Sparse Generalized Eigenvalue Problem

The sparse generalized eigenvalue problem arises in a number of standard and modern statistical learning models, including sparse principal component analysis, sparse Fisher discriminant analysis, and sparse canonical correlation analysis. However, this problem is difficult to solve since it is NP-hard. In this paper, we consider a new effective decomposition method to tackle this problem. Specifically, we use random or/and swapping strategies to find a working set and perform global combinatorial search over the small subset of variables. We consider a bisection search method and a coordinate descent method for solving the quadratic fractional programming subproblem. In addition, we provide some theoretical analysis for the proposed method. Our experiments on synthetic data and real-world data have shown that our method significantly and consistently outperforms existing solutions in term of accuracy.
Genetic polymorphisms of mTOR and cancer risk: a systematic review and updated meta-analysis

mTOR regulates several cellular processes that are critical for tumorigenesis. However, previous studies on the association of mTOR polymorphisms with predisposition to different cancer types are somewhat contradictory. Therefore, we performed a systematic review and updated meta-analysis of the available evidence regarding the relationship between mTOR single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and cancer risk. Up to November 2015, 23 original publications were identified covering 20 mTOR SNPs, of which seven SNPs (rs2536, rs2295080, rs1883965, rs1034528, rs17036508, rs3806317 and rs1064261) were included in the final meta-analysis. We estimated the summary odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for mTOR polymorphisms and cancer risk, and used the model-free approach to investigate the biological effect of each polymorphism. Our meta-analysis found that rs1883965, rs1034528, and rs17036508 were correlated with increased cancer risk in the complete over-dominant model (rs1883965 GA versus GG/AA: fixed-effects OR=1.15, 95% CI 1.02-1.29; rs1034528 GC versus GG/CC: fixed-effects OR=1.30, 95% CI 1.13-1.48; rs17036508 TC versus CC/TT: fixed-effects OR=1.23, 95% CI 1.06-1.43). Stratifying analyses by cancer type, we found that the rs2295080 G allele was associated with a significantly higher risk of acute leukemia in the recessive model (GG versus GT/TT: fixed-effects OR=2.08, 95% CI 1.34-3.22) and a lower risk of genitourinary cancers in the dominant model (TG/GG versus TT: fixed-effects OR=0.77, 95% CI 0.68-0.86). Interestingly, further expression analysis showed that homozygous variant genotype carriers of rs1883965, rs1034528 and rs17036508 had lower mTOR transcript levels, based on HapMap data.
Novel Bidirectional Snubberless Naturally Commutated Soft-Switching Current-Fed Full-Bridge Isolated DC/DC Converter for Fuel Cell Vehicles

A novel naturally clamped zero-current commutated soft-switching bidirectional current-fed full-bridge isolated dc/dc converter is proposed. This proposed secondary-modulation technique naturally clamps the voltage across the primary-side devices with zero-current commutation, eliminating the necessity for active-clamp circuit or passive snubbers. Switching losses are reduced significantly owing to zero-current switching of primary-side devices and zero-voltage switching of secondary-side devices. Soft switching and voltage clamping are inherent and load independent. The voltage across primary-side devices is independent of duty cycle with varying input voltage and output power and clamped at rather low reflected output voltage, enabling the use of semiconductor devices of low voltage rating. These merits make the converter promising for fuel cell vehicles application, front-end dc/dc power conversion for fuel cell inverters, and energy storage. Steady-state operation, analysis, design, simulation results using PSIM 9.0. 4, and experimental results are presented.
SpliceTrap: a method to quantify alternative splicing under single cellular conditions

MOTIVATION Alternative splicing (AS) is a pre-mRNA maturation process leading to the expression of multiple mRNA variants from the same primary transcript. More than 90% of human genes are expressed via AS. Therefore, quantifying the inclusion level of every exon is crucial for generating accurate transcriptomic maps and studying the regulation of AS. RESULTS Here we introduce SpliceTrap, a method to quantify exon inclusion levels using paired-end RNA-seq data. Unlike other tools, which focus on full-length transcript isoforms, SpliceTrap approaches the expression-level estimation of each exon as an independent Bayesian inference problem. In addition, SpliceTrap can identify major classes of alternative splicing events under a single cellular condition, without requiring a background set of reads to estimate relative splicing changes. We tested SpliceTrap both by simulation and real data analysis, and compared it to state-of-the-art tools for transcript quantification. SpliceTrap demonstrated improved accuracy, robustness and reliability in quantifying exon-inclusion ratios. CONCLUSIONS SpliceTrap is a useful tool to study alternative splicing regulation, especially for accurate quantification of local exon-inclusion ratios from RNA-seq data. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION SpliceTrap can be implemented online through the CSH Galaxy server http://cancan.cshl. edu/splicetrap and is also available for download and installation at http://rulai.cshl. edu/splicetrap/. CONTACT michael.zhang@utdallas.edu. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Do we need inhaled anaesthetics to blunt arousal, haemodynamic responses to intubation after i.v. induction with propofol, remifentanil, rocuronium?

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to determine whether, after propofol, rocuronium and remifentanil rapid sequence induction, inhaled anaesthetic agents should be started before intubation to minimize autonomic and arousal response during intubation. METHODS One hundred ASA I and II patients were randomized to receive 1 MAC of desflurane or sevoflurane during manual ventilation or not. Anaesthesia was induced with an effect-site-controlled infusion of remifentanil at 2 ng ml(-1) for 3 min. Patients then received propofol to induce loss of consciousness (LOC). Rocuronium (0.6 mg kg(-1)) was given at LOC and the trachea was intubated after 90 s of manual breathing support (=baseline) with or without inhaled anaesthetics. Vital signs and bispectral index (BIS) were recorded until 10 min post-intubation to detect autonomic and arousal response. RESULTS A significant increase in BIS value after intubation was seen in all groups. The increases were mild, even in those not receiving pre-intubation inhaled anaesthetics. However, in contrast to sevoflurane, desflurane appeared to partially blunt the arousal response. Heart rate, systolic and diastolic pressure increase similarly in all groups. CONCLUSIONS Desflurane and sevoflurane were unable to blunt the arousal reflex completely, as measured by BIS, although the reflex was significantly less when desflurane was used. Rapid sequence induction with remifentanil, propofol and rocuronium and without inhaled anaesthetics before intubation can be done without dangerous haemodynamic and arousal responses at intubation after 90 s.
Influence of the Distribution of Tag IDs on RFID Memoryless Anti-Collision Protocols

In recent years, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has become very popular. The main feature of this technology is that RFID tags do not require close handling and no line of sight is required between the reader and the tags. RFID is a technology that uses radio frequencies in order to identify tags, which do not need to be positioned accurately relative to the reader. Tags share the communication channel, increasing the likelihood of causing a problem, viz., a message collision. Tree based protocols can resolve these collisions, but require a uniform tag ID distribution. This means they are very dependent of the distribution of the IDs of the tags. Tag IDs are written in the tag and contain a predefined bit string of data. A study of the influence of the tag ID distribution on the protocols’ behaviour is proposed here. A new protocol, called the Flexible Query window Tree (FQwT) is presented to estimate the tag ID distribution, taking into consideration the type of distribution. The aim is to create a flexible anti-collision protocol in order to identify a set of tags that constitute an ID distribution. As a result, the reader classifies tags into groups determined by using a distribution estimator. Simulations show that the FQwT protocol contributes to significant reductions in identification time and energy consumption regardless of the type of ID distribution.
A Large State Medicaid Outpatient Advanced Imaging Utilization Management Program

A decade of rapidly rising outpatient advanced imaging utilization ended toward the end of the past decade, with slow growth since. This has been attributed to repetitive reimbursement cuts, medical radiation exposure concerns, increasing deductibles and patient copayments, and the influence of radiology benefit management companies. State Medicaid programs have been reluctant to institute radiology benefit management preauthorization programs since the time burden for obtaining test approval could cause providers to drop out. Also, these patients may lack the knowledge to appeal denials, and medically necessary tests could be denied with adverse outcomes. Little data exist demonstrating the efficacy of such programs in decreasing utilization and cost. We report a 2-year experience with an outpatient advanced imaging prior notification program for a large state Medicaid fee-for-service population. The program did not allow any denials, but nevertheless the data reveal a large, durable decrease in advanced imaging utilization and cost.
An allocation scheme for IEEE 802.15.4-ZigBee cluster-tree networks

The IEEE 802.15. 4/ZigBee standards support the implementation of cluster-tree networks, which are a suitable topology to deploy wide-scale networks. In this type of topology, an important issue is the configuration of the superframe duration that is allocated to each of the network clusters. In this paper, we propose an allocation scheme for setting-up these superframe duration values. The proposed scheme allocates adequate duration values for each cluster coordinator, based on the message load originated from its child nodes (including child coordinators and its descendants). The target of the proposed allocation scheme is to improve the network throughput and to reduce network congestion and dropped messages. Its main advantages are: 1) to have a balanced allocation of network resources to the different clusters; 2) the message generation at the application layer does not need to be synchronised with the beacon arrival; and 3) the message periods do not need to be multiple of the beacon interval.
Development and Verification of a Novel Robot-Integrated Fringe Projection 3D Scanning System for Large-Scale Metrology

Large-scale surfaces are prevalent in advanced manufacturing industries, and 3D profilometry of these surfaces plays a pivotal role for quality control. This paper proposes a novel and flexible large-scale 3D scanning system assembled by combining a robot, a binocular structured light scanner and a laser tracker. The measurement principle and system construction of the integrated system are introduced. A mathematical model is established for the global data fusion. Subsequently, a robust method is introduced for the establishment of the end coordinate system. As for hand-eye calibration, the calibration ball is observed by the scanner and the laser tracker simultaneously. With this data, the hand-eye relationship is solved, and then an algorithm is built to get the transformation matrix between the end coordinate system and the world coordinate system. A validation experiment is designed to verify the proposed algorithms. Firstly, a hand-eye calibration experiment is implemented and the computation of the transformation matrix is done. Then a car body rear is measured 22 times in order to verify the global data fusion algorithm. The 3D shape of the rear is reconstructed successfully. To evaluate the precision of the proposed method, a metric tool is built and the results are presented.
An Incremental Phylogenetic Tree Algorithm Based on Repeated Insertions of Species

In this paper, we introduce a new phylogenetic tree algorithm that generates phylogenetic trees by repeatedly inserting species one-by-one. The incremental phylogenetic tree algorithm can work on proteins or DNA sequences. Computer experiments show that the new algorithm is better than the commonly used UPGMA and Neighbor Joining algorithms. Keywords—Data structure, Distance matrix, Phylogenetic tree, Protein.
Supervised topic regression via experts

This paper focuses on the research issue of supervised topic models. Traditionally, an unsupervised topic model is typically supervised by incorporating a supervised linear operator. Although this kind of methods has successfully achieved supervised topic representations, as well as tractable computational complexity, the main limitation lies in that it assumes the topic data is linearly distributed. Therefore, when the practical data does not follow the linear property, the model cannot perform well. To solve this problem, a non-linear supervised topic model is proposed in this paper. Specifically, the mixture of experts (ME), as a kind of "divide and conquer", is utilized to deal with the regression of non-linear of topic data. We integrate the mixture of experts and unsupervised latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) in a Bayesian manner. The proposed model can also reduce overfitting problem of ME with inputting high-dimensional data. An elegant learning algorithm is derived based on variational expectation maximization algorithm. Experimental results show that the proposed model has better predictive performances compared with usupervised topic models, and some state-of-the-art supervised topic regression models (including sLDA model and MedLDA model), on two textual datasets and one image dataset.
Comparison of indirect calorimetry, the Fick method, and prediction equations in estimating the energy requirements of critically ill patients.

BACKGROUND Accurate measurement of resting energy expenditure (REE) is helpful in determining the energy needs of critically ill patients requiring nutritional support. Currently, the most accurate clinical tool used to measure REE is indirect calorimetry, which is expensive, requires trained personnel, and has significant error at higher inspired oxygen concentrations. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to compare REE measured by indirect calorimetry with REE calculated by using the Fick method and prediction equations by Harris-Benedict, Ireton-Jones, Fusco, and Frankenfield. DESIGN REEs of 36 patients [12 men and 24 women, mean age 58+/-22 y and mean Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score 22+/-8] in a hospital intensive care unit and receiving mechanical ventilation and total parenteral nutrition (TPN) were measured for > or = 15 min by using indirect calorimetry and compared with REEs calculated from a mean of 2 sets of hemodynamic measurements taken during the metabolic testing period with an oximetric pulmonary artery catheter. RESULTS Mean REE by indirect calorimetry was 8381+/-1940 kJ/d and correlated poorly with the other methods tested (r = 0.057-0.154). This correlation did not improve after adjusting for changes in respiratory quotient (r2 = 0.28). CONCLUSIONS These data do not support previous findings showing a strong correlation between REE determined by the Fick method and other prediction equations and indirect calorimetry. In critically ill patients receiving TPN, indirect calorimetry, if available, remains the most appropriate clinical tool for accurate measurement of REE.
Automatic Obligation Generation and Monitor System for Privacy Policy to DBMS

Data stored in the database includes personnel and sensitive data. Privacy policies in the database management system can control collection, access and disclosure of data. Policies are used to specify obligation. Obligation is certain actions or condition which has to be satisfied for accessing data. The main objective this project is to enable a monitor for implementing privacy policies which specifies obligations. Based on the obligations monitor can control the SQL code execution. The approach is automated, systematic and can work with most of the relational DBMS.
Jammer detection algorithm for wide-band radios using spectral correlation and neural networks

Cognitive radio (CR) is a promising technology for future wireless spectrum allocation to improve the use of licensed bands. However, security challenges faced by cognitive radio technology are still a hot research topic. One of prevailing challenges is the radio frequency jamming attack, where adversaries are able to exploit on-the-fly reconfigurability potentials and learning mechanism of cognitive radios in order to devise and deploy advanced jamming tactics. Jamming attacks can significantly impact the performance of wireless communication systems and lead to significant overheads in terms of retransmission and increment of power consumption. In this context, a novel jammer detection algorithm is proposed using cyclic spectral analysis and artificial neural networks (ANN) for wide-band (WB) cognitive radios. The proposed approach assumes a WB spectrum occupied by various narrow-band (NB) signals, which can be either legitimate or jamming signals. The second order statistics, namely, the spectral correlation function (SCF) and ANN are used to classify each NB signal as a legitimate or jamming signal. The algorithm performance is shown with the help of simulations.
Estimating relative risk of a log‐transformed exposure measured in pools

Pooling biospecimens prior to performing laboratory assays is a useful tool to reduce costs, achieve minimum volume requirements and mitigate assay measurement error. When estimating the risk of a continuous, pooled exposure on a binary outcome, specialized statistical techniques are required. Current methods include a regression calibration approach, where the expectation of the individual‐level exposure is calculated by adjusting the observed pooled measurement with additional covariate data. While this method employs a linear regression calibration model, we propose an alternative model that can accommodate log‐linear relationships between the exposure and predictive covariates. The proposed model permits direct estimation of the relative risk associated with a log‐transformation of an exposure measured in pools. Published 2016. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA
Comparison of SiC Voltage Source Inverters Using Synchronous Rectification and Freewheeling Diode

For power converters with inductive loads, a freewheeling path is needed for the current due to reactive power. The <sc>MOSFET</sc> synchronous rectification (SR) is widely used to reduce the conduction loss during the freewheeling period. Due to the wide band gap of silicon carbide (SiC), the intrinsic body diode of SiC <sc>MOSFET</sc> exhibits a high voltage drop. Hence, an antiparallel SiC Schottky diode is normally implemented to eliminate its conduction. However, the external SiC Schottky diode is not fully utilized as it only works during the dead time. In this paper, the hard-switching SR is investigated in an SiC three-phase inverter and compared with a conventional inverter using freewheeling diode (FWD). An improved power loss model for the two inverters has been developed. It is found that the inverter using SR has higher efficiency due to the smaller switching loss. A 7-kW prototype of SiC three-phase inverter is built, which achieves a peak efficiency of 98.8% (<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\pm$ </tex-math></inline-formula>0.15%) and 98.5% (<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\pm$</tex-math> </inline-formula>0.15%) at 40 kHz using SR and FWD, respectively. This paper confirms that the SiC <sc> MOSFET</sc> is an ideal candidate for the SR.
Simplified current minimizing algorithm for direct torque controlled IPM motor

Current minimization is the widely used optimization technique for control of IPM motors that optimizes the torque per current ratio and the copper losses of the motor. In this paper a simplified current minimization technique for direct torque controlled IPM drives is proposed by utilizing a normalized look up table that is independent of motor parameters. The implementation strategy also includes the effect of field weakening, both due to the operation of the the motor above rated speed and due to a reduction in the dc-link voltage. The control strategy is supported by simulation results and demonstrated experimentally using a 2.5 KW IPM motor.