Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Ageing Brain: Effects on DNA Repair and DNA Methylation in Mice

Base excision repair (BER) may become less effective with ageing resulting in accumulation of DNA lesions, genome instability and altered gene expression that contribute to age-related degenerative diseases. The brain is particularly vulnerable to the accumulation of DNA lesions; hence, proper functioning of DNA repair mechanisms is important for neuronal survival. Although the mechanism of age-related decline in DNA repair capacity is unknown, growing evidence suggests that epigenetic events (e.g., DNA methylation) contribute to the ageing process and may be functionally important through the regulation of the expression of DNA repair genes. We hypothesize that epigenetic mechanisms are involved in mediating the age-related decline in BER in the brain. Brains from male mice were isolated at 3–32 months of age. Pyrosequencing analyses revealed significantly increased Ogg1 methylation with ageing, which correlated inversely with Ogg1 expression. The reduced Ogg1 expression correlated with enhanced expression of methyl-CpG binding protein 2 and ten-eleven translocation enzyme 2. A significant inverse correlation between Neil1 methylation at CpG-site2 and expression was also observed. BER activity was significantly reduced and associated with increased 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2′-deoxyguanosine levels. These data indicate that Ogg1 and Neil1 expression can be epigenetically regulated, which may mediate the effects of ageing on DNA repair in the brain.
Recent treatment guidelines for managing adult patients with sickle cell disease: challenges in access to care, social issues, and adherence

ABSTRACT Introduction: Advances in research, medical care, and public health practice have led to individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD) living into adulthood. However, premature mortality persists in youth and young adults with SCD, and adults with SCD are subjected to increased disease burden, organ damage, pain, and disruptions in family and work life. Areas covered: These issues have led to inappropriate utilization of hospital resources, significantly increasing costs related to prolonged inpatient stays, high readmission rates, and increased emergency room visits. Expert commentary: Steps are being taken to address these challenges to improve care, including development of evidence-based guidelines targeted to primary care providers, innovative care models, and programs to prepare adolescents for transition to adult care. Previous and current guidelines, as well as health-care policies and practices, for treatment of adults with SCD are reviewed.
Does radiation dose matter in thyroid cancer?: Patterns of local‐regional failure in recurrent and metastatic well‐differentiated thyroid cancers treated with dose‐painted intensity‐modulated radiation therapy

Due to complex multimodal treatments and a lengthy natural history of disease, the impact of radiation therapy for well‐differentiated thyroid cancer (WDTC) is challenging to evaluate. We analysed the effect of dose escalation, as enabled by intensity‐modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), on preventing local‐regional failure (LRF) of microscopic and macroscopic WDTC.
Properties of Cassava Starch based Bioplastic Reinforced by Nanoclay

Synthetic Synthetic plastic is chemical materials which cause severe environmental problems. Incinerating plastic waste leads to release of hazardous gases, which is not good for humans. Bioplastic can help reduce the dependence on fossil fuels and petroleum, that bioplastic can solve the problem of synthetic plastic use. This research aims to define the properties of the cassava starch-based bioplastic reinforced by nanoclay. Methods were experimental with bioplastic component of cassava starch, glycerol as plasticizer and nanoclay as reinforcement. The bioplastic was analyzed using XRD, tensile test, moisture absorption, biodegradability, and compared with another bioplastic. The results show that the addition of nanoclay into bioplastic results increasing the tensile strength of bioplastic also increases from 5.2 MPa to 6.3 MPa. This research revealed that complete degradation of nanoclay reinforced bioplastic could be achieved on the 6th day.
Corrosion Behavior of Recycling Al- Alloy Based Metal Matrix Composites Reinforced by Nano particles

The present work aims to preparation and investigation of the corrosion behavior of recycling Al alloy based metal matrix composite reinforced with nano SiC with weight percentage (2%, 4%, 6%, and 8%) and particle size 52 nm were evaluated. The composites were fabricated using liquid metallurgy (stir casting process). The corrosion rates of composites were calculated using potentiostatic measurements in 3.5% NaCl solution. The results showed that Al/SiC nanocomposites have higher corrosion resistance than aluminum matrix.The corrosion resistance was found to be increased by increasing of the weight percentage of the nanoparticles The Al/8% nano (SiC)P composites exhibited the highest corrosion resistance among all the investigated nanocomposites. The microstructure indicate that the strong interfacial bonding between the matrix alloy and reinforcement.
Accurate area and delay estimators for FPGAs

We present an area and delay estimator in the context of a compiler that takes in high level signal and image processing applications described in MATLAB and performs automatic design space exploration to synthesize hardware for a field programmable gate array (FPGA) which meets the user area and frequency specifications. We present an area estimator which is used to estimate the maximum number of configurable logic blocks (CLBs) consumed by the hardware synthesized for the Xilinx XC4010 from the input MATLAB algorithm. We also present a delay estimator which finds out the delay in the logic elements in the critical path and the delay in the interconnects. The total number of CLBs predicted by us is within 16% of the actual CLB consumption and the synthesized frequency estimated by us is within an error of 13% of the actual frequency after synthesis through Synplify logic synthesis tools and after placement and routing through the XACT tools from Xilinx. Since the estimators proposed by us are fast and accurate enough, they can be used in a high level synthesis framework like ours to perform rapid design space exploration.
Robust measurement of the blocking artefact

A method is presented to measure the intensity of the blocking artefact in compressed pictures or video frames. First, a way is devised to artificially introduce pure blocking, which closely resembles the real one subsequent to JPEG compression. Then a modified no-reference measurement is proposed that requires less computations than other formerly presented methods, permits to take into account the whole image or frame area, and is not affected by interlaced video. Some first experiments indicate that the measured values relate closely to the introduced blockiness effect. The robustness of the metric to the influence of other typical JPEG artefacts is also checked. Further, the effect on blockiness of some enhancement strategies is measured. Pictures enhanced with methods introducing the most severe blockiness are found to have the highest value of the proposed metric. Finally the problem of blockiness measurement in video sequences is addressed. In this case the blocking grid is no longer regular. In fact, blocks of different size could be used in encoding, and single blocks could be shifted in referenced (P and B) frames due to motion compensation. A method is devised for grid detection.
Treatment options for vasomotor symptoms in menopause: focus on desvenlafaxine

Vasomotor symptoms (VMS), including hot flashes and night sweats, occur in as many as 68.5% of women as a result of menopause. While the median duration of these symptoms is 4 years, approximately 10% of women continue to experience VMS as many as 12 years after their final menstrual period. As such, VMS have a significant impact on the quality of life and overall physical health of women experiencing VMS, leading to their pursuance of treatment to alleviate these symptoms. Management of VMS includes lifestyle modifications, some herbal and vitamin supplements, hormonal therapies including estrogen and tibolone, and nonhormonal therapies including clonidine, gabapentin, and some of the serotonin and serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors. The latter agents, including desvenlafaxine, have been the focus of increased research as more is discovered about the roles of serotonin and norepinephrine in the thermoregulatory control system. This review will include an overview of VMS as they relate to menopause. It will discuss the risk factors for VMS as well as the proposed pathophysiology behind their occurrence. The variety of treatment options for VMS will be discussed. Focus will be given to the role of desvenlafaxine as a treatment option for VMS management.
Assessment of MANET broadcast schemes in the application context of multiplayer video games

Taking into consideration the popularity of multiplayer games and the tremendous success of wireless networks, we strongly believe that future game engines will benefit from the integration of MANET (Mobile Ad hoc NETworks) technology [1]. Indeed, in addition to the social interests of playing with close located persons, MANET technology will allow players, like a group of kids in a playground, to easily improvise a LAN multiplayer party without any need for an existing wireless network infrastructure. In order to make such scenario a common based reality, several issues still have to be addressed. Among which is the MANET's broadcast problem. In fact, broadcast is a fundamental network service for multiplayer LAN mode. But up to now, the most used scheme for broadcasting in MANET relies on flooding. Unfortunately, this simple scheme leads to high redundancy and collisions. In the context of a multiplayer party supported by mobile terminals, this broadcast storm problem [10], could result into a dramatic reduction of the network energy-based lifetime and to a high variability of the transmission delay. The latter one is know to be a crucial QoS parameter which can significantly affect the game play. In this paper, we evaluate the performance of different MANET broadcast schemes in the context of multiplayer video games. We analyze the capacity of simple flooding, distance based, probability based and self pruning broadcast schemes to satisfy the QoS constraints required by multiplayer games like FPS. Assessment simulations are conducted for both Client/Server and P2P network game architectures.
Behavior of PWM Active Front Ends in the Presence of Parallel Thyristor Converters

This paper investigates the effects of grid voltage distortions caused by thyristor converters on the steady-state performance of a pulsewidth modulation (PWM) rectifier with dc voltage link for low-voltage applications. The disturbance transfer function of the current control loop is used to analyze the effects of grid distortions. Influences of the current controller, the phase-locked loop parameters, and the filter inductance on the generated current harmonics are presented. For existing grid voltage harmonics, the amplitude of the corresponding current harmonics are determined and compared to measured current harmonics using a 400-V 40-kW test bench consisting of a PWM rectifier with voltage dc link parallel to a 40-kW thyristor converter.
Periodic phenomena in Proteus mirabilis swarm colony development

Proteus mirabilis colonies exhibit striking geometric regularity. Basic microbiological methods and imaging techniques were used to measure periodic macroscopic events in swarm colony morphogenesis. We distinguished three initial phases (lag phase, first swarming phase, and first consolidation phase) followed by repeating cycles of subsequent swarming plus consolidation phases. Each Proteus swarm colony terrace corresponds to one swarming-plus-consolidation cycle. The duration of the lag phase was dependent upon inoculation density in a way that indicated the operation of both cooperative and inhibitory multicellular effects. On our standard medium, the second and subsequent swarm phases displayed structure in the form of internal waves visible with reflected and dark-field illumination. These internal waves resulted from organization of the migrating bacteria into successively thicker cohorts of swarmer cells. Bacterial growth and motility were independently modified by altering the composition of the growth medium. By varying the glucose concentration in the substrate, it was possible to alter biomass production without greatly affecting the kinetics of colony surface area expansion. By varying the agar concentration in the substrate, initial bacterial biomass production was unaffected but colony expansion dynamics were significantly altered. Higher agar concentrations led to slower, shorter swarm phases and longer consolidation phases. Thus, colony growth was restricted by higher agar concentrations but the overall timing of the swarming-plus-consolidation cycles remained constant. None of a variety of factors which had significant effects on colony expansion altered terracing frequencies at 32 degrees C, but the length of the swarming-plus-consolidation cycle was affected by temperature and medium enrichment. Some clinical isolates displayed significant differences in terracing frequencies at 32 degrees C. Our results defined a number of readily quantifiable parameters in swarm colony development. The data showed no connection between nutrient (glucose) depletion and the onset of different phases in swarm colony morphogenesis. Several observations point to the operation of density-dependent thresholds in controlling the transitions between distinct phases.
Strike a Pose: Image-Based Pose Synthesis

In this paper, our objective is to facilitate the creation of novel human poses by synthesizing images. Existing approaches commonly deform one single image, which often results in a distorted image due to texture and illumination artefacts. We present a novel image-based pose synthesis technique that accurately reconstructs texture details by combining information from multiple photographs. Given a user-specified 2D target pose, our solution merges different parts of the input photographs in order to conform to the desired pose, solely using 2D operations. We illustrate how novel poses can be generated from only a few example images, requiring little user intervention. CR Descriptors: Image-based, pose, 2D, synthesis
G-protein coupled receptor BAI3 promotes myoblast fusion in vertebrates

Significance Myoblast fusion is essential for multinucleated muscle fiber formation. Regulators of fusion have been identified in Drosophila, but the molecular mechanisms controlling vertebrate myoblast fusion are poorly understood. We describe here previously unidentified in vivo functional evidence that the G-protein coupled receptor brain-specific angiogenesis inhibitor (BAI3) is a receptor controlling myoblast fusion in developing vertebrate muscles. We show that BAI3 binds the intracellular effector of myoblast fusion ELMO/DOCK1 and that this binding is obligatory for fusion. Using in vivo manipulations in the chicken embryo, we demonstrate that BAI3 binding to ELMO is essential for myoblast fusion. These experiments identify BAI3 as a long-sought-after receptor controlling vertebrate myoblast fusion. Muscle fibers form as a result of myoblast fusion, yet the cell surface receptors regulating this process are unknown in vertebrates. In Drosophila, myoblast fusion involves the activation of the Rac pathway by the guanine nucleotide exchange factor Myoblast City and its scaffolding protein ELMO, downstream of cell-surface cell-adhesion receptors. We previously showed that the mammalian ortholog of Myoblast City, DOCK1, functions in an evolutionarily conserved manner to promote myoblast fusion in mice. In search for regulators of myoblast fusion, we identified the G-protein coupled receptor brain-specific angiogenesis inhibitor (BAI3) as a cell surface protein that interacts with ELMO. In cultured cells, BAI3 or ELMO1/2 loss of function severely impaired myoblast fusion without affecting differentiation and cannot be rescued by reexpression of BAI3 mutants deficient in ELMO binding. The related BAI protein family member, BAI1, is functionally distinct from BAI3, because it cannot rescue the myoblast fusion defects caused by the loss of BAI3 function. Finally, embryonic muscle precursor expression of a BAI3 mutant unable to bind ELMO was sufficient to block myoblast fusion in vivo. Collectively, our findings provide a role for BAI3 in the relay of extracellular fusion signals to their intracellular effectors, identifying it as an essential transmembrane protein for embryonic vertebrate myoblast fusion.
Effect of surface on the dissociation of perfect dislocations into Shockley partials describing the herringbone Au(1 1 1) surface reconstruction

Abstract In the framework of the continuum elastic theory, the equilibrium positions of Shockley partial dislocations have been determined as a function of their distance from the free surface. It is found that the dissociation width decreases with the decreasing depth, except for a depth range very close to the free surface for which the dissociation width is enlarged. A similar behaviour is also predicted when Shockley dislocation pairs are regularly arranged, whatever the wavelength. These results derived from the elastic theory are compared to STM observations of the reconstructed (1 1 1) surface in gold, which is usually described by a Shockley dislocations network.
Effects of epilepsy and antiepileptic medication on reproductive function

Epilepsy is associated with reproductive disorders and decreased fertility. The role of antiepileptic medication and type of epilepsy in development of these disorders has been widely debated. The effects of oxcarbazepine on reproductive function in women and the effects of antiepileptic medication on male fertility have not been previously studied, and only a few studies have evaluated fertility in subjects with epilepsy in a population based setting. This study aimed to analyze predictors of reproductive disorders and the effects of oxcarbazepine on reproductive function in women. Moreover, the effects of antiepileptic medication on male reproductive health were also evaluated, and finally, the reproductive health of patients with epilepsy and the normal population was compared in a population based setting. The study was conducted in the Departments of Neurology, Gynecology and Obstetrics and Public Health Science and General Practice in the University of Oulu. Studies I–III were cross-sectional studies consisting of 249 subjects with epilepsy and 247 control subjects. Study IV was a retrospective study; the data was based on Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966(NFBC1966), consisting of 12,058 subjects, of which 222 had epilepsy. In studies I–III all subjects were interviewed, clinical examinations were done, blood samples were analyzed and ovarian ultrasound examination or testicular ultrasound examination and sperm samples were studied. In study IV all subjects with epilepsy were identified from NFBC1966 and patient files were reviewed. Fertility analyses were based on information obtained from the Finnish Population Center and Finnish Birth Register. Reproductive disorders were more common in women with idiopathic generalized epilepsy and in women taking valproate. Also young age increased the risk of these disorders. Oxcarbazepine was associated with reproductive disorders in women with epilepsy. In men all antiepileptic drugs studied were associated with sperm abnormalities, and sperm abnormalities in men taking valproate were associated with decreased testicular volume. In a population based setting active epilepsy and antiepileptic medication during adulthood decreased fertility. The reproductive endocrine effects of AEDs should be taken into consideration when prescribed to fertile aged men and women, especially, if the anticipated duration of treatment is long.
Power Estimation of Cell-Based CMOS Circuits

PPP is a Web-based simulation and synthesis environment for low-power design. In this paper we describe the gate-level simulation engine of PPP, that achieves accuracy always within 6% from SPICE, while keeping performance competitive with traditional gate-level simulation. This is done by using advanced symbolic models of the basic library cells, that exploit the physical understanding of the main power-consuming phenomena. VERILOG-XL is used as simulation platform to maintain compatibility with design environments. The Web-based interface allows the user to remotely access and execute the simulator using his/her own Web-browser (without the need of any software installation).
Comment on falling status epilepticus mortality rates in England and Wales: 2001–2013

or displayed significant symptoms of depression, and so on? Without such anchors, which are empirically derived, the CDI-2 would not provide clinical significance. Both clinical and research study designs utilizing the CDI-2 have reported the percentage of their samples scoring above the threshold to demonstrate the level of depressive symptom severity. Yes, the NDDI-E-Y should be evaluated for its ability to predict clinical diagnoses of depression, but that future step does not discount the use of the CDI-2 as a gold standard self-report questionnaire to assess depressive symptom severity level.
The intrinsic asymmetry and inhomogeneity of Teichmüller space

Let S = Sg,n be a connected, orientable surface of genus g ≥ 0 with n ≥ 0 punctures. Let Teich(S) denote the corresponding Teichmuller space, and let Mod(S) denote the mapping class group of S. Understanding the analogy of Teich(S) with symmetric spaces is a wellknown theme. Recall that a complete Riemannian manifold X is symmetric if it is symmetric at each point x ∈ X: the map γ(t) 7→ γ(−t) which flips geodesics about x is an isometry. Symmetric spaces X are homogeneous: the isometry group Isom(X) acts transitively on X. In his famous paper [Ro], Royden studied the possible symmetry and homogeneity of Teich(S), endowed with the Teichmuller metric.
The New Jersey Voting-machine Lawsuit and the AVC Advantage DRE Voting Machine

As a result of a public-interest lawsuit, by Court order we were able to study, for one month, the hardware and source code of the Sequoia AVC Advantage direct-recording electronic voting machine, which is used throughout New Jersey (and Louisiana), and the Court has permitted us to publicly describe almost everything that we were able to learn. In short, these machines are vulnerable to a wide variety of attacks on the voting process. It would not be in the slightest difficult for a moderately determined group or individual to mount a vote-stealing attack that would be successful and undetectable.
Frequency Dependence of Spatial Cues and Its Implication in Spatial Stereo Coding

Subjective listening tests of the spatial cues interaural time difference (ITD), interaural level difference (ILD), and interaural coherence (IC) from 20 Hz to 15500 Hz are presented. To obtain the just noticeable difference (JND) of the cues, which is an indication of spatial hearing significance, we expand raw test data by the bootstrap method. The tests show the spatial cues have frequency dependence at different extent, implying a frequency-aware cue selection scheme is more economic in spatial stereo coding.
Green Materials for Electronics

With contributions from top-notch editors and authors, in one focus, the book covers a collection of natural materials suited for electronics applications such as paper, silk, melanin, DNA and nucleobases, resins, gums, saccharides, cellulose, gelatine and peptides. In another thrust, the book focuses on device fabrication based on these materials, including processing aspects, and applications such as sensors, signal transducers, transient, implantable and digestible electronics.