Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Longitudinal Diffusion Tensor Imaging Resembles Patterns of Pathology Progression in Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia (bvFTD)

Objective: Recently, the characteristic longitudinal distribution pattern of the underlying phosphorylated TDP-43 (pTDP-43) pathology in the behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) excluding Pick's disease (PiD) across specific brain regions was described. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether in vivo investigations of bvFTD patients by use of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) were consistent with these proposed patterns of progression. Methods: Sixty-two bvFTD patients and 47 controls underwent DTI in a multicenter study design. Of these, 49 bvFTD patients and 34 controls had a follow-up scan after ~12 months. Cross-sectional and longitudinal alterations were assessed by a two-fold analysis, i.e., voxelwise comparison of fractional anisotropy (FA) maps and a tract of interest-based (TOI) approach, which identifies tract structures that could be assigned to brain regions associated with disease progression. Results: Whole brain-based spatial statistics showed white matter alterations predominantly in the frontal lobes cross-sectionally and longitudinally. The TOIs of bvFTD neuroimaging stages 1 and 2 (uncinate fascicle—bvFTD pattern I; corticostriatal pathway—bvFTD pattern II) showed highly significant differences between bvFTD patients and controls. The corticospinal tract-associated TOI (bvFTD pattern III) did not differ between groups, whereas the differences in the optic radiation (bvFTD pattern IV) reached significance. The findings in the corticospinal tract were due to a “dichotomous” behavior of FA changes there. Conclusion: Longitudinal TOI analysis demonstrated a pattern of white matter pathways alterations consistent with patterns of pTDP-43 pathology.
A multiband LTE SAW-less modulator with −160dBc/Hz RX-band noise in 40nm LP CMOS

In FDD cellular standards, the transmitter's out of-band noise leaks into the receive band due to the finite duplexer TX to RX isolation. If this noise is not low enough, a SAW filter is needed before the Power Amplifier to preserve the RX sensitivity. Out-of-band noise is also an important concern for coexistence of cellular transmitters with standards like GPS, WLAN and/or WiMAX on the same smart phone, a very common scenario nowadays. The SAW-less RX-band noise challenge becomes even more acute in the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) standard [1] where transmitters will need to operate in multiple FDD bands, using wider channel bandwidths and higher Peak-to-Average Power Ratios (PAPR).
Draft Genome Sequence of a Tropical Freshwater Cyanobacterium, Limnothrix sp. Strain P13C2

ABSTRACT A nonaxenic unialgal culture of Limnothrix sp. strain P13C2 was obtained through multiple subculturing of an inoculum obtained from a tropical freshwater lake. Here, we report the genome of P13C2 of 4.6 Mbp, extracted from the metagenome of this coculture.
Saliency-based abnormal event detection in crowded scenes

Abstract. Abnormal event detection plays a critical role for intelligent video surveillance, and detection in crowded scenes is a challenging but more practical task. We present an abnormal event detection method for crowded video. Region-wise modeling is proposed to address the inconsistent detected motion of the same object due to different depths of field. Comparing to traditional block-wise modeling, the region-wise method not only can reduce heavily the number of models to be built but also can enrich the samples for training the normal events model. In order to reduce the computational burden and make the region-based anomaly detection feasible, a saliency detection technique is adopted in this paper. By identifying the salient parts of the image sequences, the irrelevant blocks are ignored, which removes the disturbance and improves the detection performance further. Experiments on the benchmark dataset and comparisons with the state-of-the-art algorithms validate the advantages of the proposed method.
Optimized Gauss and Cholesky Algorithms for Using the LMMSE Decoder in MIMO/BLAST Systems with Frequency-Selective Channels - Reduced-Complexity Equalization

The LMMSE (Linear Minimum Mean Square Error) algorithm is one of the best linear receivers for DSCDMA (Direct Sequence-Code Division Multiple Access). However, for the case of MIMO/BLAST (Multiple Input, Multiple Output / Bell Laboratories Layered Space Time), the perceived complexity of the LMMSE receiver is taken as too big, and thus other types of receivers are employed, yielding worse results. In this paper, we investigate the complexity of the solution to the LMMSE and the Zero-Forcing (LMMSE without noise estimation) receiver’s equations. It will be shown that the equation can be solved with optimized Gauss or Cholesky algorithms. Some of those solutions are very computationally efficient and thus, allow for the usage of the LMMSE in fully-loaded MIMO systems.
Using Haloarcula marismortui Bacteriorhodopsin as a Fusion Tag for Enhancing and Visible Expression of Integral Membrane Proteins in Escherichia coli

Membrane proteins are key targets for pharmacological intervention because of their vital functions. Structural and functional studies of membrane proteins have been severely hampered because of the difficulties in producing sufficient quantities of properly folded and biologically active proteins. Here we generate a high-level expression system of integral membrane proteins in Escherichia coli by using a mutated bacteriorhodopsin (BR) from Haloarcula marismortui (HmBRI/D94N) as a fusion partner. A purification strategy was designed by incorporating a His-tag on the target membrane protein for affinity purification and an appropriate protease cleavage site to generate the final products. The fusion system can be used to detect the intended target membrane proteins during overexpression and purification either with the naked eye or by directly monitoring their characteristic optical absorption. In this study, we applied this approach to produce two functional integral membrane proteins, undecaprenyl pyrophosphate phosphatase and carnitine/butyrobetaine antiporter with significant yield enhancement. This technology could facilitate the development of a high-throughput strategy to screen for conditions that improve the yield of correctly folded target membrane proteins. Other robust BRs can also be incorporated in this system.
DNA-programmable particle superlattices: Assembly, phases, and dynamic control

Nanoparticles (NPs) have emerged as new functional blocks for optical, energy, and biomedical applications, opening a new frontier of rational self-assembly of materials. One of the most controllable assembly strategies relies on programming interparticle interactions using the complementarity of DNA strands, providing selective and reversible interactions between particles of different sizes and shapes. Much progress has been achieved in DNA-guided assembly of particle superlattices. By tuning the interactions, sizes, and shapes of NPs, a wide variety of structures have been assembled. This article discusses the most significant achievements and challenges in assembly of DNA-programmable particle superlattices.
Influence of organ donor attributes and preparation characteristics on the dynamics of insulin secretion in isolated human islets

In vitro studies of human pancreatic islets are critical for understanding normal insulin secretion and its perturbations in diabetic β‐cells, but the influence of islet preparation characteristics and organ donor attributes in such experiments is poorly documented. Preparations from normal donors were tested with a standardized protocol evaluating dynamic insulin secretion induced by glucose, tolbutamide, and cAMP (forskolin). Secretion rates, normalized to insulin content (fractional insulin secretion), were analyzed as a function of preparation and donor characteristics. Low purity (25–45%) of the preparation (n = 8) blunted the first phase of insulin secretion induced by glucose or tolbutamide and increased basal secretion, resulting in threefold lower stimulation index than in more pure (55–95%) preparations (n = 43). In these more pure preparations, cold ischemia time (1–13 h) before pancreas digestion did not impact insulin secretion. Islet size (estimated by the islet size index) did not influence the dynamics of secretion, but fractional insulin secretion rates were greater in large than small islets, and positively correlated with islet size. Age of the donors (20–68 years) had no influence on islet size and insulin content or on dynamics and amplitude of insulin secretion, which were also similar in islets from male and female donors. In contrast, islet size and islet insulin content (normalized for size), and basal or stimulated insulin secretion positively correlated with Body‐Mass Index (19–33). These results contradict previous reports on the impact of donor age and islet size and point to possible confounding effects of donor BMI in insulin secretion studies with isolated human islets.
Return to work after young stroke: A systematic review

Background The incidence of stroke in young adults is increasing. While many young survivors are able to achieve a good physical recovery, subtle dysfunction in other domains, such as cognition, often persists, and could affect return to work. However, reported estimates of return to work and factors affecting vocational outcome post-stroke vary greatly. Aims The aims of this systematic review were to determine the frequency of return to work at different time points after stroke and identify predictors of return to work. Summary of review Two electronic databases (Medline and Embase) were systematically searched for articles according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. A total of 6473 records were screened, 68 were assessed for eligibility, and 29 met all inclusion criteria (working-age adults with stroke, return to work evaluated as an outcome, follow-up duration reported, and publication within the past 20 years). Return to work increased with time, with median frequency increasing from 41% between 0 and 6 months, 53% at 1 year, 56% at 1.5 years to 66% between 2 and 4 years post-stroke. Greater independence in activities of daily living, fewer neurological deficits, and better cognitive ability were the most common predictors of return to work. Conclusion This review highlights the need to examine return to work in relation to time from stroke and assess cognition in working age and young stroke survivors. The full range of factors affecting return to work has not yet been explored and further evaluations of return to work interventions are warranted.
Pulmonary delivery of influenza vaccine formulations in cotton rats: site of deposition plays a minor role in the protective efficacy against clinical isolate of H1N1pdm virus

Abstract Administration of influenza vaccines to the lungs could be an attractive alternative to conventional parenteral administration. In this study, we investigated the deposition site of pulmonary delivered liquid and powder influenza vaccine formulations and its relation to their immunogenicity and protective efficacy. In vivo deposition studies in cotton rats revealed that, the powder formulation was mainly deposited in the trachea ( ∼ 65%) whereas the liquid was homogenously distributed throughout the lungs ( ∼ 96%). In addition, only 60% of the antigen in the powder formulation was deposited in the respiratory tract with respect to the liquid formulation. Immunogenicity studies showed that pulmonary delivered liquid and powder influenza formulations induced robust systemic and mucosal immune responses (significantly higher by liquids than by powders). When challenged with a clinical isolate of homologous H1N1pdm virus, all animals pulmonary administered with placebo had detectable virus in their lungs one day post challenge. In contrast, none of the vaccinated animals had detectable lung virus titers, except for two out of eight animals from the powder immunized group. Also, pulmonary vaccinated animals showed no or little signs of infection like increase in breathing frequency or weight loss upon challenge as compared to animals from the negative control group. In conclusion, immune responses induced by liquid formulation were significantly higher than responses induced by powder formulation, but the overall protective efficacy of both formulations was comparable. Thus, pulmonary immunization is capable of inducing protective immunity and the site of antigen deposition seems to be of minor relevance in inducing protection.
HIGH PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY: A SHORT REVIEW

High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is an important qualitative and quantitative technique, generally used for the estimation of pharmaceutical and biological samples. It is the most versatile, safest, dependable and fastest chromatographic technique for the quality control of drug components. This article was prepared with an aim to review different aspects of HPLC, such as principle, types, instrumentation and application.
A cursory discussion of policy alternatives for addressing youth unemployment in Botswana

Abstract There has been growing levels of graduate unemployment in Botswana in the recent past. This is notwithstanding the relatively good performance of the economy. Tertiary institutions are churning out graduates with no corresponding jobs to absorb them. The government has introduced various short-term programmes which the graduates are encourage to take to pass time in. This paper examines the various programmes and policy responses to unemployment in Botswana and gives a broad overview of possible policy alternatives for consideration and adoption by the government of Botswana to help provide more and better-quality jobs for the youth. The paper argues that the rising unemployment is a ticking bomb with the possibility to hampering the peace and stability that the country is reputable of. It further argues that Botswana as a developing state has an obligation to create employment for its citizenry. It is recommended that Botswana should formulate coordinated youth employment strategies according to its comparative advantage over other economies with larger populations. This article concludes that the country should take deliberate steps to address the issue of employability and skills gap that is said to be the main problem amongst youth graduates.
Information Overload and Virtual Public Discourse Boundaries

‘Virtual publics’ are a type of computer mediated discourse space created by using various technologies including email, the USENET, web based bulletin boards, IRC, MUDS, etc. [4]. This paper outlines on-going field research into the stress zones or boundaries to interactive virtual public discourse produced by information overload. It describes initial findings based on an examination of 2.65 million USENET messages, which suggest that information overload impacts on discourse structure. The research in progress outlined addresses issues associated with group level usability of computer mediated communication technologies.
Chill Burn after Cryotherapy in a Thrombocytopenic Recipient: TheAdverse Effect of Thrombocytopenia on Dermal Wounding

Oral cryotherapy is an evidence-proven standard care for cancer patients. The efficacy of oral cryotherapy during chemotherapy is established especially for the treatment using melphalan. However, the patients’ neutrophil and platelet are usually decreased when undergoing cytotoxic chemotherapy, and the influence of which has not been fully evaluated clinically. We experienced the case complicated with chill burn like skin wound by direct damage of cryotherapy and discussed the function of neutrophils and platelets in the process of wound healing.
Explicit CM theory for level 2-structures on abelian surfaces

For a complex abelian surface A with endomorphism ring isomorphic to the maximal order in a quartic CM-field K, the Igusa invariants j1(A), j2(A), j3(A) generate an unramified abelian extension of the reflex field of K. In this paper we give an explicit geometric description of the Galois action of the class group of this reflex field on j1(A), j2(A), j3(A). Our description can be expressed by maps between various Siegel modular varieties, and we can explicitly compute the action for ideals of small norm. We use the Galois action to modify the CRT method for computing Igusa class polynomials, and our run time analysis shows that this yields a significant improvement. Furthermore, we find cycles in isogeny graphs for abelian surfaces, thereby implying that the ‘isogeny volcano’ algorithm to compute endomorphism rings of ordinary elliptic curves over finite fields does not have a straightforward generalization to computing endomorphism rings of abelian surfaces over finite fields.
The S100A10 Pathway Mediates an Occult Hyperfibrinolytic Subtype in Trauma Patients.

OBJECTIVE To determine the characteristics of trauma patients with low levels of fibrinolysis as detected by viscoelastic hemostatic assay (VHA) and explore the underlying mechanisms of this subtype. BACKGROUND Hyperfibrinolysis is a central component of acute traumatic coagulopathy but a group of patients present with low levels of VHA-detected fibrinolysis. There is concern that these patients may be at risk of thrombosis if empirically administered an antifibrinolytic agent. METHODS A prospective multicenter observational cohort study was conducted at 5 European major trauma centers. Blood was drawn on arrival, within 2 hours of injury, for VHA (rotation thromboelastometry [ROTEM]) and fibrinolysis plasma protein analysis including the fibrinolytic mediator S100A10. An outcomes-based threshold for ROTEM hypofibrinolysis was determined and patients grouped by this and by D-dimer (DD) levels. RESULTS Nine hundred fourteen patients were included in the study. The VHA maximum lysis (ML) lower threshold was determined to be <5%. Heterogeneity existed among patients with low ML, with survivors sharing similar clinical and injury characteristics to patients with normal ML values (5-15%). Those who died were critically injured with a preponderance of traumatic brain injury and had a 7-fold higher DD level (died vs. survived: 103,170 vs. 13,672 ng/mL, P < 0.001). Patients with low ML and high DD demonstrated a hyperfibrinolytic biomarker profile, low tissue plasminogen activator levels but high plasma levels of S100A10. S100A10 was negatively correlated with %ML (r = -0.26, P < 0.001) and caused a significant reduction in %ML when added to whole blood ex-vivo. CONCLUSIONS Patients presenting with low ML and low DD levels have low injury severity and normal outcomes. Conversely, patients with low ML but high DD levels are severely injured, functionally coagulopathic and have poor clinical outcomes. These patients have low tissue plasminogen activator levels and are not detectable by ROTEM. S100A10 is a cell surface plasminogen receptor which may drive the hyperfibrinolysis in these patients and which when shed artificially lowers %ML ex-vivo.
Early diagnosis using canonical discriminant analysis of innate immune receptor gene expression profiles in a murine infectious or sterile systemic inflammation model

BACKGROUND Infection in patients with systemic inflammation is difficult to diagnose with a single biomarker. We aimed to clarify the time course of change in the gene expression profile of innate immune receptors in infectious or sterile inflammation and to establish an early diagnostic method using canonical discriminant analysis (CDA) of the gene expression profile. METHODS To compare infectious and sterile inflammation, we used cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) and 20% full-thickness burn injury (Burn) models. C57BL/6 mice underwent sham treatment (n = 9 × three groups), CLP (n = 12 × three groups), or Burn (n = 12 × three groups) injury. Mice were killed at 6, 12, and 24 hours after injury, and total RNA was extracted from whole blood. We used quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction to investigate gene expression of innate immune receptors Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2), TLR4, TLR9, NLRP3 (nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3), and retinoic acid–inducible gene I. To evaluate all gene expression together as patterns, each value was standardized, and CDA was performed at each time point. RESULTS Gene expression of TLR2 and TLR4 was already significantly increased in both CLP and Burn compared with sham mice at 6 hours after injury (p < 0.05). Gene expression of TLR9 was significantly decreased in CLP compared with sham and Burn mice at 12 hours and 24 hours after injury (p < 0.05) but not at 6 hours. Gene expression of NLRP3 was significantly increased in CLP and Burn compared with sham mice at 6 hours and 24 hours after injury (p < 0.05). In the CDA, each group showed distinctive gene expression patterns at only 6 hours after injury. Each group was clearly classified, and the classification error rates were 0% at all of the time points. CONCLUSIONS Canonical discriminant analysis of the gene expression profile of innate immune receptors could be a novel approach for diagnosing the pathophysiology of complicated systemic inflammation from the early stage of injury.
Modeling and Specification of Web Services Composition Using UML-S

As Web services composition arouses a growing interest, most research works address implementation and execution issues. Therefore, many composition languages (BPEL, XLANG, WSFL, WSCI, to name a few of them) have been proposed in the past few years. However, a weakness of these languages is that they are difficult to use in early stages of development, such as specification. In this paper, an extension to UML 2.0 called "UML-S: UML for Services" is introduced. UML-S allows for a Model Driven Engineering (MDE) of Web services and their interactions.
Solutions to Integrals Involving the Marcum $Q$-Function and Applications

Novel analytic solutions are derived for integrals that involve the generalized Marcum Q-function, exponential functions and arbitrary powers. Simple closed-form expressions are also derived for specific cases of the generic integrals. The offered expressions are both convenient and versatile, which is particularly useful in applications relating to natural sciences and engineering, including wireless communications and signal processing. To this end, they are employed in the derivation of the average probability of detection in energy detection of unknown signals over multipath fading channels as well as of the channel capacity with fixed rate and channel inversion in the case of correlated multipath fading and switched diversity.
Can electrocardiogram classification be applied to phonocardiogram data? — An analysis using recurrent neural networks

Both a Phonocardiogram (PCG) and an Electrocardiogram (ECG) are sequential measurements of heart activity used to distinguish normal from abnormal heart function. Although they measure different physical quantities, we show that training a long short-term memory network on the Physionet challenge using only the ECG data available for the MIT heart sounds database still yields a score of 0.74 compared to the reference score of 0.82 for a similar net trained on the PCG data. This finding suggests that it may be valuable to train a transformational neural network to produce an artificial ECG from a PCG. Such a transformational net would allow to harness the know-how of decades of research on ECG classification to improve PCG classification. Unfortunately, this task seems too hard for current state-of-the art architectures for neural networks given the data of the Physionet challenge 2016. However, it may be worthwhile to further pursue this approach using data with less variance in the ECG signals or a specialized network architecture.