Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quantitative assessment of the multiple processes responsible for bilirubin homeostasis in health and disease

Serum bilirubin measurements are commonly obtained for the evaluation of ill patients and to screen for liver disease in routine physical exams. An enormous research effort has identified the multiple mechanisms involved in the production and metabolism of conjugated (CB) and unconjugated bilirubin (UB). While the qualitative effects of these mechanisms are well understood, their expected quantitative influence on serum bilirubin homeostasis has received less attention. In this review, each of the steps involved in bilirubin production, metabolism, hepatic cell uptake, and excretion is quantitatively examined. We then attempt to predict the expected effect of normal and defective function on serum UB and CB levels in health and disease states including hemolysis, extra- and intrahepatic cholestasis, hepatocellular diseases (eg, cirrhosis, hepatitis), and various congenital defects in bilirubin conjugation and secretion (eg, Gilbert’s, Dubin–Johnson, Crigler–Najjar, Rotor syndromes). Novel aspects of this review include: 1) quantitative estimates of the free and total UB and CB in the plasma, hepatocyte, and bile; 2) detailed discussion of the important implications of the recently recognized role of the hepatic OATP transporters in the maintenance of CB homeostasis; 3) discussion of the differences between the standard diazo assay versus chromatographic measurement of CB and UB; 4) pharmacokinetic implications of the extremely high-affinity albumin binding of UB; 5) role of the enterohepatic circulation in physiologic jaundice of newborn and fasting hyperbilirubinemia; and 6) insights concerning the clinical interpretation of bilirubin measurements.
Semantic understanding by combining extended CFG parser with HMM model

This paper presents a method for extracting both syntactic and semantic tags. An extended CFG parser works in conjunction with an HMM model, which handles unknown words and partially known words, to yield a complete syntactic and semantic interpretation of the utterance. Four experiments and applications were performed using the paradigm to show the usefulness of the approach in processing spoken sentences.
Mining gene expression datasets using density-based clustering

Given the recent advancement of microarray technologies, we present a density-based clustering approach for the purpose of co-expressed gene cluster identification. The underlying hypothesis is that a set of co-expressed gene clusters can be used to reveal a common biological function. By addressing the strengths and limitations of previous density-based clustering approaches, we present a novel clustering algorithm that utilizes a neighborhood defined by <i>k</i>-nearest neighbors. Experimental results indicate that the proposed method identifies biologically meaningful and co-expressed gene clusters.
Health Knowledge Insufficiency Motivates Health Information Seeking

Health information on the Internet is available to help people increase their knowledge and take more responsibility for their health. This study explored how people that vary in severity of health anxiety search for online health information. A cross-sectional research design was employed to evaluate the relationship between online health information seeking and health anxiety. This study surveyed 275 male and 234 female participants aged 15–67 years living in New Taipei City. The results showed that health anxiety is an effective predictor of health information seeking and that health information seeking is motivated by a health knowledge insufficiency. They also showed a difference between the frequency of online health information seeking and the number of websites visited. In conclusion, online health information seeking is a purposive behavior that can be affected by health anxiety.
Distribution of Node Characteristics in Transfractal Network Systems and Additive Scale Invariance

For studies of distribution of node characteristics, this paper supplies a random descriptive frame including assertive matrices and the bivariate Gaussian distribution of dyad variables. Based on the frame, we firstly find from numerical experiment that there exists the novel additive scale invariance in total (D,H)-phase diagrams of the Tran fractal network(DGM model), and compute the transfinite dimensionalities of semi major, semi minor axis and area in the region of (D,H)-phase diagram with an ellipse boundary. Additionally the compressive g-effect and the stationary T-effect of the total phase diagram in the Park-Barabasi's network model systems are obtained.
Incremental Processing and the Hierarchical Lexicon

Hierarchical lexicon structures are not only of great importance for the nonredundant representation of lexical information, they may also contribute to the efficiency of the actual processing of natural language. Two parsing techniques that render the parsing process efficient are presented. Windowing is a technique for incrementally accessing the hierarchical lexicon. Lexical preferencing implements preferences within the parsing process as a natural consequence of the hierarchical structure of the lexicon. Within a proof-theoretic approach to Categorial Grammar it is possible to implement these techniques in a formal and principled way. Special attention is paid to idiomatic expressions.
Peak Cardiac Power Output, Measured Noninvasively, Is a Powerful Predictor of Outcome in Chronic Heart Failure

Background—The cardiac output (CO) response to exercise and other invasively derived hemodynamic variables has been variably described to provide better prognostication than peak Vo2 in patients with chronic heart failure. Using noninvasive measurements of CO during exercise, we compared the prognostic value of peak CO and cardiac power to peak Vo2 in chronic heart failure patients. Method and Results—One hundred seventy-one consecutive patients with chronic heart failure underwent symptom limited bicycle exercise with noninvasive estimation of CO using an inert gas rebreathing method. An accurate measure of peak CO was obtained in 148 patients (85% of patients; mean age, 53±14 years; 80% male; left ventricular ejection fraction, 24±12%; ischemic etiology, 34%). Peak cardiac power was derived from the product of the peak mean arterial blood pressure and CO divided by 451. End points consisted of death, urgent heart transplant, or left ventricular assist device implantation. Duration of follow-up averaged 337±252 days (median, 295 days). Univariate and multivariate analysis were performed. The variables analyzed included peak Vo2, peak CO, peak cardiac power, Ve/Vco2 slope, and Vo2 at anaerobic threshold. Event-free survival for the entire cohort was 83% with 5 deaths, 4 left ventricular assist device implants, and 16 urgent transplants. Peak Vo2 was 12.9±4.5 mL/kg per min, and peak cardiac power was 1.7±0.9 W. Peak Vo2, peak CO, peak cardiac power, Ve/Vco2 slope, and Vo2 at anaerobic threshold were predictive of outcome on univariate analysis. On multivariate analysis, peak cardiac power and peak CO were predictive of outcome with peak cardiac power being the most powerful independent predictor of outcome (P=0.01). Conclusions—Peak cardiac power, measured noninvasively, is an independent predictor of outcome that can enhance the prognostic power of peak Vo2 in the evaluation of patients with heart failure.
Equivariant Euler characteristics and $K$–homology Euler classes for proper cocompact $G$–manifolds

Let G be a countable discrete group and let M be a smooth proper cocompact G-manifold without boundary. The Euler operator defines via Kasparov theory an element, called the equivariant Euler class, in the equivariant K-homology of M. The universal equivariant Euler characteristic of M, which lives in a group U^G(M), counts the equivariant cells of M, taking the component structure of the various fixed point sets into account. We construct a natural homomorphism from U^G(M) to the equivariant KO-homology of M. The main result of this paper says that this map sends the universal equivariant Euler characteristic to the equivariant Euler class. In particular this shows that there are no `higher' equivariant Euler characteristics. We show that, rationally, the equivariant Euler class carries the same information as the collection of the orbifold Euler characteristics of the components of the L-fixed point sets M^L, where L runs through the finite cyclic subgroups of G. However, we give an example of an action of the symmetric group S_3 on the 3-sphere for which the equivariant Euler class has order 2, so there is also some torsion information.
Smooth and iteratively Restore: A simple and fast edge-preserving smoothing model

In image processing, it can be a useful pre-processing step to smooth away small structures, such as noise or unimportant details, while retaining the overall structure of the image by keeping edges, which separate objects, sharp. Typically this edge-preserving smoothing process is achieved using edge-aware filters. However such filters may preserve unwanted small structures as well if they contain edges. In this work we present a novel framework for edge-preserving smoothing which separates the process into two different steps: First the image is smoothed using a blurring filter and in the second step the important edges are restored using a guided edge-aware filter. The presented method proves to deliver very good results, compared to state-of-the-art edge-preserving smoothing filters, especially at removing unwanted small structures. Furthermore it is very versatile and can easily be adapted to different fields of applications while at the same time being very fast to compute and therefore well-suited for real time applications.
Estimation of cardiac and respiratory rhythms based on an AMFM demodulation and an adaptive eigenvector decomposition

In a context of sleep researches, we need to estimate cardiac and respiratory rhythms on 20-second epochs of a signal giving the variations in radial arterial pressure. This signal is amplitude and frequency modulated by cardiac and respiratory contributions. The technique we developed combines an amplitude and frequency (AMFM) demodulation using The Teager energy operator and an adaptive eigenvector decomposition. The interest of the method lies in its independence from artefacts obtained for reasonable calculation and memory costs. Experimental results indicate a close correspondence between estimated and reference values both for cardiac and respiratory rhythms.
Sustainability of Irrigating Winter Wheat in the East of England—Adaptation at What Cost?

Climate change is “the challenge” of our times and for the next upcoming decades. The biggest impacts are likely to affect the sustainability of agricultural and food systems; both highly vulnerable to continuously changing climatic patterns. Wheat is a strategic crop for food security. It is widely grown worldwide as a rainfed (unirrigated) crop; but the latest research shows that recent world wheat price increases and increasing weather variability are making supplemental irrigation marginally profitable. The proposed study combines the outputs from a general circulation model (GCM), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) crop growth model (AquaCrop), and economic modelling to assess the sustainability of irrigated wheat production compared to rainfed crop production both under current climate conditions and in the future under different climate scenarios. The AquaCrop model has been calibrated and validated for winter wheat grown on a sandy loam soil in the East of England (Bedfordshire). Long-term observed climate data (1970–2006) in Cambridge (Cambridgeshire) were used to validate the projected climate data from the GCM. Structural characteristics of the case study were representative of a typical farm of the area, and irrigation costs and wheat prices for the economic model were calculated assuming current market prices. In the longer term, a sensitivity analysis was used to assess the expected variations due to the increase in world wheat prices and the energy costs involved. Results of the study show that the impacts of climate change on winter wheat grown in the East of England would be a reduction in the rainfed yield (between −5.4% and −32.9%) and that the projected economic losses from rainfed winter wheat production would be expected to range between −24.3% and −36.0%. Irrigation, which does not seem to be an economic option under the current climate conditions, could be a future adaptation measure for yield increase (3.9–6.1 t·ha−1) and to improve the financial appraisal of irrigation investment, which would raise between 41 and 519 £·ha−1. However, negative externalities are increasing pressures on water and air resources, for example, an increase of the irrigation water requirements between 25.0% an 39.1% and global warming potential increases between 2.5% and 21.5%. Finally, the study suggests further research to incorporate a life cycle assessment model into the framework for an integrated and comprehensive approach for sustainability assessment of wheat in particular and agricultural systems in general.
Neurotransmitter Receptor Trafficking and the Regulation of Synaptic Strength

Modulation of the strength of synapses is thought to be one of the mechanisms that underlies learning and memory and is also likely to be important in processes of neuropathology and drug tolerance. This review focuses on the emerging role of postsynaptic neurotransmitter receptor trafficking as an essential mechanism underlying the dynamic regulation of synaptic strength.
Knowledge Representation and Reasoning in the Design of Composite Systems

The design process that spans the gap between the requirements acquisition process and the implementation process, in which the basic architecture of a system is defined, and functions are allocated to software, hardware, and human agents. is studied. The authors call this process composite system design. The goal is an interactive model of composite system design incorporating deficiency-driven design, formal analysis, incremental design and rationalization, and design reuse. They discuss knowledge representations and reasoning techniques that support these goals for the product (composite system) that they are designing, and for the design process. To evaluate the model, the authors report on its use to reconstruct the design of two existing composite systems rationally. >
Synthesis and Antimicrobial Activity of Silver-Doped Hydroxyapatite Nanoparticles

The synthesis of nanosized particles of Ag-doped hydroxyapatite with antibacterial properties is of great interest for the development of new biomedical applications. The aim of this study was the evaluation of Ca10−xAgx(PO4)6(OH)2 nanoparticles (Ag:HAp-NPs) for their antibacterial and antifungal activity. Resistance to antimicrobial agents by pathogenic bacteria has emerged in the recent years and became a major health problem. Here, we report a method for synthesizing Ag doped nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite. A silver-doped nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite was synthesized at 100°C in deionised water. Also, in this paper Ag:HAp-NPs are evaluated for their antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and fungal strains. The specific antimicrobial activity revealed by the qualitative assay is demonstrating that our compounds are interacting differently with the microbial targets, probably due to the differences in the microbial wall structures.
PMSTCOM: A Novel Replication Consistency Maintenance Strategy in Cloud Storage System

Replication technology can be used in cloud storage system to ensure reliability and availability, but it also brings replica inconsistency. To solve this problem, we propose a novel hybrid replication consistency maintenance strategy called PMSTCOM. Inspired by Bluetooth network, we introduce the concept of Piconet and master-slave node to make a more detailed partition of network topology. Then we comprehensively consider factors which affect replica consistency, construct a consistency tree which is composed of master node, and propose a replication consistency maintenance strategy based on push and adaptive pull. Experiment results show that PMSTCOM significantly reduce redundant message in a replication consistency maintenance process. With nodes offline rate increasing, our strategy has lower false valid ratio compared with the push and pull methods, and can still work well in dynamic network.
Influence of Annealing and Bulk Hydrogenation on Lifetime-Limiting Defects in Nitrogen-Doped Floating Zone Silicon

A recombination active defect is found in as-grown high-purity floating zone n-type silicon wafers containing grown-in nitrogen. In order to identify the properties of the defect, injection-dependent minority carrier lifetime measurements, secondary ion mass spectroscopy measurements, and photoluminescence lifetime imaging are performed. The lateral recombination center distribution varies greatly in a radially symmetric way, while the nitrogen concentration remains constant. The defect is shown to be deactivated through high temperature annealing and hydrogenation. We suggest that a nitrogen-intrinsic point defect complex may be responsible for the observed recombination.
BRST-BFV, Dirac and Projection Operator Quantizations: Correspondence of States

The correspondence between BRST-BFV, Dirac and projection operator approaches to quantize constrained systems is analyzed. It is shown that the component of the BFV wave function with maximal number of ghosts and antighosts in the Schrodinger representation may be viewed as a wave function in the projection operator approach. It is shown by using the relationship between different quantization techniques that the Marnelius inner product for BRST-BFV systems should be in general modified in order to take into account the topology of the group; the Giulini-Marolf group averaging prescription for the inner product is obtained from the BRST-BFV method. The relationship between observables in different approaches is also found.
Assessing the Efficiency of Stream Reuse Techniques in Peer-to-Peer Video-on-Demand Systems

Many works have reported simulated performance benefits of stream reuse techniques such as chaining, batching, and patching to the scalability of VoD systems. However, the relative contribution of such techniques have been rarely evaluated in practical implementations of scalable VoD servers. In this work, we investigate the efficiency of representative stream reuse techniques on the GloVE system, a low-cost scalable VoD platform whose resulting performance depends on the combination of the stream techniques it uses. More specifically, we evaluated performance of the GloVE system on delivering multiple 2-hour MPEG-1 videos to clients connected to the server through a 100 Mbps Ethernet switch, and arrival rates varying from 6 to 120 clients/min. We present experimental results including startup latency, occupancy of server’s channels, and aggregate bandwidth that GloVE demands for several combinations of stream reuse techniques. Overall, our results reveal that stream reuse techniques in isolation offer limited performance scalability to VoD systems and only balanced combination of chaining, batching, and patching explains the scalable performance of GloVE on delivering highly popular videos with low startup latency while using the smallest number of server’s channels.
Accuracy of four commercial systems for identification of Burkholderia cepacia and other gram-negative nonfermenting bacilli recovered from patients with cystic fibrosis

Burkholderia cepacia has recently been recognized as an important pathogen in chronic lung disease in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Because of the social, psychological, and medical implications of the isolation of B. cepacia from CF patients, accurate identification of this organism is essential. We compared the accuracies of four commercial systems developed for the identification of nonfermenting, gram-negative bacilli with that of conventional biochemical testing for 150 nonfermenters including 58 isolates of B. cepacia recovered from respiratory secretions from CF patients. The accuracies of the four systems for identifying all nonfermenters ranged from 57 to 80%, with the RapID NF Plus system being most accurate. The accuracies of these systems for identifying B. cepacia ranged from 43 to 86%, with the Remel system being most accurate. Depending on the commercial system, from two to seven isolates were misidentified as B. cepacia. The relatively poor performance of the commercial systems requires that identification of certain nonfermenters be confirmed by conventional biochemical testing. These organisms include B. cepacia, Burkholderia sp. other than B. cepacia, and infrequently encountered environmental species (Pseudomonas and Flavobacterium species). In addition, conventional biochemical testing should be done if a commercial system fails to assign an identification to an organism. Confirmatory testing should preferably be performed by a reference laboratory with experience in working organisms isolated from CF patients.
A new technique for modeling and analysis of electromagnetic interference in three-phase inverter system

A novel frequency-domain EMC modeling technique is proposed to predict the conducted electromagnetic interference (EMI) in a three-phase inverter system. The proposed model can predict the conducted emissions up to 30MHz. Moreover, the proposed model can analysis noise source and the noise propagation respectively. Based on the model, the influence of the IGBT stray capacitance on total EMI noise are analysed. In addition, it is found that the load current can influence the total EMI noise on LISN by affecting the DM noise source. The analysis is confirmed with simulation and experiment results.
Automated boundary-scan diagnostics: adding value to interconnect testing

The author presents a cohesive set of heuristic algorithms that can be used with boundary-scan logic to diagnose interconnect faults. The terms that are used, a brief overview of the boundary-scan architecture, and the boundary-scan test generator requirements are given. The interconnect diagnostics and the heuristic algorithms that are used during the processing are discussed. A well-thought-out test generator which meets the outlined requirements is essential. The diagnostic program performs best when it acquires as much information as it can during initialization. <<ETX>>
Information Extraction Under Privacy Constraints

A privacy-constrained information extraction problem is considered where for a pair of correlated discrete random variables $(X,Y)$ governed by a given joint distribution, an agent observes $Y$ and wants to convey to a potentially public user as much information about $Y$ as possible without compromising the amount of information revealed about $X$. To this end, the so-called {\em rate-privacy function} is introduced to quantify the maximal amount of information (measured in terms of mutual information) that can be extracted from $Y$ under a privacy constraint between $X$ and the extracted information, where privacy is measured using either mutual information or maximal correlation. Properties of the rate-privacy function are analyzed and information-theoretic and estimation-theoretic interpretations of it are presented for both the mutual information and maximal correlation privacy measures. It is also shown that the rate-privacy function admits a closed-form expression for a large family of joint distributions of $(X,Y)$. Finally, the rate-privacy function under the mutual information privacy measure is considered for the case where $(X,Y)$ has a joint probability density function by studying the problem where the extracted information is a uniform quantization of $Y$ corrupted by additive Gaussian noise. The asymptotic behavior of the rate-privacy function is studied as the quantization resolution grows without bound and it is observed that not all of the properties of the rate-privacy function carry over from the discrete to the continuous case.