Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Autocorrelation algorithm for determining a pulse wave delay

This article concerns an autocorrelation algorithm for determining a pulse wave delay. The pulse wave delay is defined as difference between the characteristic points i.e. the difference between the R wave in the electrocardiogram signal (ECG) and distinctive point in the photoplethysmogram (PPG) waveform. Obtaining values of the characteristic points (time stamps) are realized by correlation function. The known values of the time stamps can be used to estimate change of blood pressure. In the proposed algorithm using the autocorrelation function is calculated signal pattern. Then, this pattern is used for further correlation calculations. In the algorithm all the time is analysed the quality of the measured signal. In the next part of article was described method of measurement and the results calculated the time of the characteristic points to determine the pulse wave delay.
Hyperparameters estimation for the Bayesian localization of the EEG sources with TV priors

In this work we propose a new Bayesian method for the non-invasive localization of EEG sources. For this problem, most of the existing methods assume that the sources are distributed throughout the brain volume according to smooth 3D patterns. However, this assumption might fail in pathological conditions, such as in an epileptic brain, where it can occur that the neurophysiological generators are localized in a narrow region, highly compacted, what originates abrupt profiles of electrical activity. This new method incorporates a Total Variation (TV) prior which has been used before in image processing for edge detection and applies variational methods to approximate the probability distributions to estimate the unknown parameters and the sources. The procedure is tested and validated on synthetic EEG data.
Stereo-selective metabolism of methadone by human liver microsomes and cDNA-expressed cytochrome P450s: a reconciliation.

In vitro metabolism of methadone was investigated in cytochrome P450 (CYP) supersomes and phenotyped human liver microsomes (HLMs) to reconcile past findings on CYP involvement in stereo-selective metabolism of methadone. Racaemic methadone was used for incubations; (R)- and (S)-methadone turnover and (R)- and (S)-EDDP formation were determined using chiral liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. CYP supersome activity for methadone use and EDDP formation ranked CYP2B6 > 3A4 > 2C19 > 2D6 > 2C18, 3A7 > 2C8, 2C9, 3A5. After abundance scaling, CYP3A4, 2B6 and 2C19 accounted for 63-74, 12-32 and 1. 4-14% of respective activity. CYP2B6, 2D6 and 2C18 demonstrated a preference for (S)-EDDP formation; CYP2C19, 3A7 and 2C8 for (R)-EDDP; 3A4 none. Correlation analysis with 15 HLMs supported the involvement of CYP2B6 and 3A. The significant correlation of S/R ratio with CYP2B6 activity confirmed its stereo-selectivity. CYP2C19 and 2D6 inhibitors and monoclonal antibody (mAb) did not inhibit EDDP formation in HLM. Chemical and mAb inhibition of CYP3A in high 3A activity HLM reduced EDDP formation by 60-85%; inhibition of CYP2B6 in 2B6 high-activity HLM reduced (S)-EDDP formation by 80% and (R)-EDDP formation by 55%. Inhibition changed methadone metabolism in a stereo-selective manner. When CYP3A was inhibited, 2B6 mediated (S)-EDDP formation predominated; S/R stereo-selectivity increased. When 2B6 was inhibited (S)-EDDP formation fell and stereo-selectivity decreased. The results confirmed the primary roles of CYPs 3A4 and 2B6 in methadone metabolism; CYP2C8 and 2C9 did not appear involved; 2C19 and 2D6 have minimal roles. CYP2B6 is the primary determinant of stereo-selective metabolism; stereo-selective inhibition might play a role in varied plasma concentrations of the two enantiomers.
Bird migration flight altitudes studied by a network of operational weather radars

A fully automated method for the detection and quantification of bird migration was developed for operational C-band weather radar, measuring bird density, speed and direction as a function of altitude. These weather radar bird observations have been validated with data from a high-accuracy dedicated bird radar, which was stationed in the measurement volume of weather radar sites in The Netherlands, Belgium and France for a full migration season during autumn 2007 and spring 2008. We show that weather radar can extract near real-time bird density altitude profiles that closely correspond to the density profiles measured by dedicated bird radar. Doppler weather radar can thus be used as a reliable sensor for quantifying bird densities aloft in an operational setting, which—when extended to multiple radars—enables the mapping and continuous monitoring of bird migration flyways. By applying the automated method to a network of weather radars, we observed how mesoscale variability in weather conditions structured the timing and altitude profile of bird migration within single nights. Bird density altitude profiles were observed that consisted of multiple layers, which could be explained from the distinct wind conditions at different take-off sites. Consistently lower bird densities are recorded in The Netherlands compared with sites in France and eastern Belgium, which reveals some of the spatial extent of the dominant Scandinavian flyway over continental Europe.
Marketing Genetic Tests: Empowerment or Snake Oil?

Genetic tests are currently being offered to the general public with little oversight and regulation as to which tests are allowed to be sold clinically and little control over the marketing and promotion of sales and use. This article provides discussion and data to indicate that the general public holds high opinions of genetic testing and that current media outlets for public education on genetic testing are not adequate to increase accurate knowledge of genetics. The authors argue that more regulation is needed to control and correct this problem in the United States.
Qa-1b Binds Conserved Class I Leader Peptides Derived from Several Mammalian Species

Qa-1b binds a peptide (AMAPRTLLL), referred to as Qdm (for Qa-1 determinant modifier), derived from the signal sequence of murine class Ia molecules. This peptide binds with high affinity and accounts for almost all of the peptides associated with this molecule. Human histocompatibility leukocyte antigen (HLA)-E, a homologue of Qa-1b, binds similar peptides derived from human class Ia molecules and interacts with CD94/NKG2 receptors on natural killer cells. We used surface plasmon resonance to determine the ability of Qa-1b to bind related ligands representing peptides derived from the leaders of class I molecules from several mammalian species. All of the peptides reported to bind HLA-E bound readily to Qa-1b. In addition, peptides derived from leader segments of different mammals also bound to Qa-1b, indicating a conservation of this “Qdm-like” epitope throughout mammalian evolution. We have attempted to define a minimal peptide on a polyglycine backbone that binds Qa-1b. Our previous findings showed that P2 and P9 are important but not sufficient for binding to Qa-1b. Although a minimum peptide (GMGGGGLLL) bound Qa-1b, its interaction was relatively weak, as were peptides sharing five or six residues with Qdm, indicating that multiple native residues are required for a strong interaction. This finding is consistent with the observation that this molecule preferentially binds this single ligand.
Uncertainty propagation in criticality measures for driver assistance

Active safety systems employ surround environment perception in order to detect critical driving situations. Assessing the threat level, e.g. the risk of an imminent collision, is usually based on criticality measures which are calculated from the sensor measurements. However, these metrics are subject to uncertainty. Probabilistic modelling of the uncertainty allows for more informed decision making and the derivation of sensor requirements. This work derives closed-form expressions for probability distributions of criticality measures under both state estimation and prediction uncertainty. The analysis is founded on uncertainty propagation in non-linear motion models. Finding the distribution of model-based criticality metrics is then performed using closed-form expressions for the collision probability and error propagation in implicit functions. All results are illustrated and verified in Monte-Carlo simulations.
Remembering Components of Food in Drosophila

Remembering features of past feeding experience can refine foraging and food choice. Insects can learn to associate sensory cues with components of food, such as sugars, amino acids, water, salt, alcohol, toxins and pathogens. In the fruit fly Drosophila some food components activate unique subsets of dopaminergic neurons (DANs) that innervate distinct functional zones on the mushroom bodies (MBs). This architecture suggests that the overall dopaminergic neuron population could provide a potential cellular substrate through which the fly might learn to value a variety of food components. In addition, such an arrangement predicts that individual component memories reside in unique locations. DANs are also critical for food memory consolidation and deprivation-state dependent motivational control of the expression of food-relevant memories. Here, we review our current knowledge of how nutrient-specific memories are formed, consolidated and specifically retrieved in insects, with a particular emphasis on Drosophila.
4D unconstrained real-time face recognition using a commodity depth camera

Robust unconstrained real-time face recognition still remains a challenge today. The recent addition to the market of lightweight commodity depth sensors brings new possibilities for human-machine interaction and therefore face recognition. This article accompanies the reader through a succinct survey of the current literature on face recognition in general and 3D face recognition using depth sensors in particular. Consequent to the assessment of experiments performed using implementations of the most established algorithms, it can be concluded that the majority are biased towards qualitative performance and are lacking in speed. A novel method which uses noisy data from such a commodity sensor to build dynamic internal representations of faces is proposed. Distances to a surface normal to the face are measured in real-time and used as input to a specific type of recurrent neural network, namely long short-term memory. This enables the prediction of facial structure in linear time and also increases robustness towards partial occlusions.
Thermal analysis of ultrafine wool powder

Wool powder was produced from wool fiber by pretreatment and then ground by a specially designed machine. Scanning electron micrograph (SEM) photos show that ultrafine wool powder around 2 μm in diameter can be produced from fiber around 25 μm in the diameter, and most of the powder is in the form of needles. The powder can be widely applied in new biomedical material development and cosmetic products. Thermal analysis of thermogravimetry (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) show that the temperature for moisture evaporation in the powder was elevated to around 150°C from the control wool fiber, which was around 120°C. As the powder particle size decreases, the temperature corresponding to the crystal cleavage and the destruction of the crosslinkages increased, which is perhaps mostly due to the new crosslinks and new crystal that were produced during powder processing. The temperature for the liquefaction was also elevated and the relative TG results show that the last residue of the powder after 600°C is higher than that of the control sample. The thermal results show that as the powder particle size decreases, the thermal stability increases slightly. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 87: 2372–2376, 2003
Low-Memory Adaptive Prefix Coding

In this paper we study the adaptive prefix coding problem in cases where the size of the input alphabet is large. We present an online prefix coding algorithm that uses $O(\sigma^{1 / \lambda + \epsilon}) $ bits of space for any constants $\eps≫0$, $\lambda≫1$, and encodes the string of symbols in $O(\log \log \sigma)$ time per symbol \emph{in the worst case}, where $\sigma$ is the size of the alphabet. The upper bound on the encoding length is $\lambda n H (s) +(\lambda / \ln 2 + 2 + \epsilon) n + O (\sigma^{1 / \lambda} \log^2 \sigma)$ bits.
Toxicity of Compound A in Rats: Effect of Increasing Duration of Administration

BackgroundAn olefin called compound A (CF2 == C(CF3)OCH2F) results from the action of soda lime or Baralyme on sevoflurane. We have demonstrated that rats exposed to the olefin for 3 h died at or were injured by olefin concentrations lower than those previously reported to produce these effects. The present report examines the impact of duration of exposure to the olefin on such effects. MethodsTwenty-three groups of ten Wistar rats breathed 0, 12.5, 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175, 200, 225, and 250 ppm of the olefin in oxygen for 6 or 12 h. Rats that survived were killed on day 1 or day 4 after breathing the olefin, and specimens of brain, kidney, lung, liver, and small intestine were obtained from all rats for examination by microscopy using hematoxylin and eosin stain and a stain (proliferating cell nuclear antigen) for cell growth (regeneration). ResultsThe lethal concentrations in 50% of rats equaled 203 ± 4 ppm (mean ± SE) for a 6-h exposure period and 127 ± 9 ppm for a 12-h exposure period, and both values were less than the previously determined value of 331 ± 7 ppm for a 3-h exposure period. Compared with results from control rats (those breathing oxygen for 6 h or 12 h), only renal and pulmonary injury were found. Pulmonary injury only occurred at near-lethal concentrations. Renal injury (defined as necrosis of the outer stripe of the outer medullary layer or corticomedullary junction necrosis) occurred at and above 25–50 ppm for 6-h and 12-h exposures, respectively, a result similar to that previously obtained with a 3-h exposure. Exposure to 25–50 ppm stimulated cell regeneration in a dose-related manner. ConclusionsIn rats, lethal concentrations of the olefin and concentrations producing severe renal injury are inversely related to the duration of exposure to the olefin, exceeding by two- to fourfold peak concentrations that can be obtained in clinical practice. The threshold concentrations for nephrotoxicity (i.e., minimal toxicity) equal concentrations that can be produced in clinical practice. However, even if these threshold effects in rats apply to humans, they probably would not alter renal function. Although dose-related, neither the lethal nor the toxic effects are simply a function of cumulative dose (concentration-time).
Patterns of transfer in labour and birth in rural New Zealand.

INTRODUCTION For many women, and particularly rural women, birthing locally and within their own community is important for personal, social and/or cultural reasons. If concerns about the woman or her baby mean transfer to a secondary or tertiary facility is necessary, this can be disruptive and stressful, especially if road transfer is complicated by terrain, weather or distance, as is often the case in rural New Zealand. The objective of this study was to explore the number of and reason for transfers during labour and birth for well women, close to full term, from primary rural maternity facilities to specialist care in rural New Zealand. METHODS This retrospective survey of 45 rural maternity units in the North and South Islands of New Zealand was conducted over a 2 year period ending on 30 June 2006. The participants were the 4678 women who began labour in a rural facility during this time period. RESULTS The survey response rate was 66.6%. The data revealed that 16.6% of women who commenced labour in a rural unit were transferred in labour or within 6 hours of birth; 3% of babies born in rural units were transferred after birth and up to 7 days post-birth. The primary reason for maternal transfer was slow progress in labour (49.67%). Of the 123 babies transferred, this was most often due to respiratory problems (43%). Key features of the rural context (times and distances to be travelled, geological and climatic characteristics, types of transport systems and availability of local assistance) influenced the timeliness of the decision to transfer. CONCLUSIONS Within New Zealand's regionalised perinatal system, midwives make cautious decisions about transfer, taking into account the local rural local circumstances, and also the topography as it impacts on transport.
Blimp‐1 over‐expression abrogates IL‐4‐ and CD40‐mediated suppression of terminal B cell differentiation but arrests isotype switching

Following stimulation, primary B cells either directly undergo terminal differentiation to IgM‐secreting plasma cells or enter the memory pathway characterized by affinity maturation and isotype switching. Which of the various fates is adopted by B cells is determined by the strength and duration of the antigenic signal, the availability and quality of T cell help and additional signals derived from the germinal center milieu. High rate secretion is correlated with endogenous Blimp‐1 levels and can be caused by ectopic expression of Blimp‐1. Using cultures of resting primary mouse B cells stimulated in vitro in various combinations with IL‐4, anti‐μ F(ab')2 or anti‐CD40 in the absence or presence of lipopolysaccharide, we show that IgM secretion and the expression of Blimp‐1 is either not induced or even suppressed by B cell receptors (BCR) or CD40 ligation and by IL‐4. Additional treatment with IL‐2 and IL‐5 induces Blimp‐1 expression and facilitates IgM and IgG1 secretion, which can also be achieved by retroviral transduction of Blimp‐1. On the other hand, the drastic increase in membrane IgG1+ cells with time in cultures treated with IL‐4is greatly diminished in cells forced to express Blimp‐1. We conclude that suppression of Blimp‐1 by antigen‐BCR interaction and T helper cell‐dependent CD40 and IL‐4 signaling are necessary to facilitate entrance into the memory pathway and to prevent terminal differentiation.
Metal nanoparticle direct inkjet printing for low-temperature 3D micro metal structure fabrication

Inkjet printing of functional materials is a key technology toward ultra-low-cost, large-area electronics. We demonstrate low-temperature 3D micro metal structure fabrication by direct inkjet printing of metal nanoparticles (NPs) as a versatile, direct 3D metal structuring approach representing an alternative to conventional vacuum deposition and photolithographic methods. Metal NP ink was inkjet-printed to exploit the large melting temperature drop of the nanomaterial and the ease of the NP ink formulation. Parametric studies on the basic conditions for stable 3D inkjet printing of NP ink were carried out. Furthermore, diverse 3D metal microstructures, including micro metal pillar arrays, helices, zigzag and micro bridges were demonstrated and electrical characterization was performed. Since the process requires low temperature, it carries substantial potential for fabrication of electronics on a plastic substrate.
Introduction to the special section on incremental validity and utility in clinical assessment.

This special section focuses on the incremental validity and utility of clinical assessment data. The lack of replicated incremental validity research limits the ability of psychologists to establish their assessment practices on a solid empirical footing. The articles in this section deal with conceptual, methodological, and content issues in the development and use of clinical measures. The authors addressed several aspects of incremental validity research, including (a) the evaluation of the magnitude of validity increments, (b) the use of incremental validity data for test development and validation, (c) the costs of assessment, (d) the use of multi-informant and multimethod assessments, and (e) the treatment utility of assessment. Obstacles limiting the use of incremental validity research to inform and guide clinical practice are also emphasized.
The Cross-Breeding of Dictionaries

Especially for English, the number of hand-coded electronic resources available to the Natural Language Processing Community keeps growing: annotated corpora, treebanks, lexicons, wordnets, etc. Unfortunately, initial funding for such projects is much easier to obtain than the additional funding needed to enlarge or improve upon such resources. Thus once one proves the usefulness of a resource, it is difficult to make that resource reach its full potential. We discuss techniques for combining dictionary resources and producing others by semi-automatic means. The resources we created using these techniques have become an integral part of our work on NomBank, a project with the goal of annotating noun arguments in the Penn Treebank II corpus (PTB).
Role of Antiphospholipid Antibodies in Unexplained Recurrent Abortion and Intrauterine Fetal Death

Background: Women with antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) have a significant risk of reproductive failure and adverse pregnancy outcomes, the recurrent miscarriages, intrauterine fetal deaths, and intrauterine fetal growth restriction is significant among these patients. Women with a history of recurrent abortion and unexplained fetal death or a history of recurrent thrombotic episodes should be screened for the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies. We studied the incidence of anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL) and lupus anticoagulant (LA) factor in recurrent unexplained miscarriages and intrauterine fetal deaths. Subjects and Methods: We performed a cohort study among women who attended the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Assiut University hospitals, Assiut, Egypt, between October 2007 and October 2011 after being referred due to recurrent miscarriage (≥ 2 consecutive pregnancy losses). All women underwent a standardized investigation sequence. Women with other reasons for recurrent miscarriage were excluded. Lupus anticoagulants and Anticardiolipin antibodies were performed for all cases. Results: A total of 927 women met the selection criteria, 164 women were selected for this study by virtue of having unexplained recurrent fetal wastage. These comprised 140 cases of recurrent ( 3) mainly first and sometimes second trimester abortions and 24 cases of recurrent ( 2) late intrauterine fetal death. An increased incidence of anticardiolipin antibodies was found in women with unexplained recurrent fetal loss. Lupus anticoagulants was found in forty five (45) cases (27.4%) anticardiolipin antibodies IgM and or IgG positive cases shows prevalence of fifty eight (58)cases (35.4%). The prevalence of APS in the studied group was seventy eight (78) cases (47.6%). Conclusions: All women with recurrent first-trimester miscarriage and all women with one or more second-trimester miscarriage should be screened before pregnancy for aPL. [Alaa El-Deen M. Ismail, Ebtesam M El-Gezawy, Tahra Sherif and Khalid A Nasif. Role of Antiphospholipid Antibodies in Unexplained Recurrent Abortion and Intrauterine Fetal Death. Life Sci J 2013;10(1):999-1003]. (ISSN: 1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite. com. 155