Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Conversion from Calcineurin Inhibitors to mTOR inhibitors in Renal ￼Transplantation: A Single Centre Experience

resulTs: The study included 20 renal transplant patients, of whom 14 were male and 6 were female. The mean age of the patients was 43.5±8.8 years. The reason for conversion was CNI toxicity in 16 patients (80%), malignancy in 3 patients (15%), and premalignant lesion in 1 patient (5%). Conversion to mTOR inhibitors [(sirolimus (n=14) and everolimus (n=6)] was performed at 62.6±45.7 months after transplantation. The mean follow-up period after administration of mTOR inhibitors was 50.5±29.9 months. The mean proteinuria at the time of conversion was 227.5±147.9 mgr/day and increased to 636.5±388.2 mgr/day after treatment with mTOR inhibitors (p<0.001). There was an increase in the creatinine levels after treatment with mTOR inhibitors, though it was not significant (p=0.126). Everolimus was not discontinued in any patient, but sirolimus had to be discontinued in three patients that was due to proteinuria in two patients and pneumonia in one patient.
Blood pressure and late-life cognitive function change

Objective: To examine the relation of blood pressure (BP) to subsequent decline in cognitive function among persons age 65 or over. Methods: All persons age 65 or over in a geographically defined community were invited to participate in a longitudinal study of problems of the elderly. Interviews were conducted in the participants’ homes and included two BP measures and four tests of cognitive function. Follow-up interviews 3 and 6 years after baseline repeated the cognitive function tests. These analyses included 4,284 individuals who had baseline and at least one follow-up measure of cognitive function. The average of z scores of the individual cognitive function tests was used as a global measure of cognitive function. Results: In random effects analyses controlling for age, sex, education, and race, there was no significant linear association of either systolic or diastolic BP with 6-year change in global cognitive function score. There was no significant curvilinear association with systolic BP. In tests for a curvilinear association with diastolic BP, there was a suggestion of increased decline among those with low or high diastolic BP (p = 0.03 for the quadratic diastolic term). At baseline, 50% of participants took some type of medication affecting BP. Conclusion: In this community population where BP treatment was common, there was no association of either high systolic or high diastolic BP at the beginning of the observation interval with 6-year cognitive decline.
Reducing randomness via irrational numbers

We propose a general methodology for testing whether a given polynomial with integer coefficients is identically zero. The methodology evaluates the polynomial at efficiently com- putable approximations of suitable irrational points. In contrast to the classical technique of DeMillo, Lipton, Schwartz, and Zippel, this methodology can decrease the error probability by increasing the precision of the approximations instead of using more random bits. Consequently, randomized algo- rithms that use the classical technique can generally be improved using the new methodology. To demonstrate the methodology, we discuss two nontrivial applications. The first is to decide whether a graph has a perfect matching in parallel. Our new NC algorithm uses fewer random bits while doing less work than the previously best NC algorithm by Chari, Rohatgi, and Srinivasan. The second application is to test the equality of two multisets of integers. Our new algorithm improves upon the previously best algorithms by Blum and Kannan and can speed up their checking algorithm for sorting programs on a large range of inputs.
Piezoelectric zinc oxide thin film for MEMS application: A comparative study

We report here, the study carried out on piezoelectric thin film for MEMS/Microsensor applications. The study includes characterization of sputtered thin film using indirect methods and comparison of behavior using cantilever technique for the confirmation of piezoelectric property. A suitable experimental setup was designed and fabricated for subjecting the cantilever to vibrate. The data was recorded for piezoelectric thin films deposited with different compositions. It is clearly evident that the direct method is inexpensive and easier for determining the quality of the deposited piezoelectric thin film.
The Psychology of Gratitude

Gratitude is one of the most neglected emotions and one of the most underestimated of the virtues. In most accounts of the emotions, it receives nary a mention. Even in broader surveys of the attitudes, it is often ignored.And in the most prominent lists of the virtues, notably Aristotle’s, it is not included. Gratitude is often included, of course, in Christian treatises on the virtues, but then it is usually directed only toward a single if exceptional object, namely God the Almighty.And yet gratitude is one of those responses that seems essential to and among civilized human beings, and perhaps it is even significant among some social animals, as de Waal and others have persuasively shown.
Observational study of sites of triggered star formation - CO and mid-infrared observations

Context. Bright-rimmed clouds (BRCs) are isolated molecular clouds located on the edges of evolved HII regions. Star formation within these clouds may have been triggered through the propagation of photoionisation-induced shocks driven by the expansion of the HII region. Aims. The main focus of this paper is to investigate the current level of star formation within a sample of southern hemisphere BRCs and evaluate to what extent, if any, star formation may have been triggered. Methods. In this paper we present the results of a programme of position-switched CO observations towards 45 southern BRCs. The 12 CO, 13 CO and C 18 O $J = 1{-}0$ rotational transitions were simultaneously observed using the 22-m Mopra telescope. We complement these observations with archival mid-infrared data obtained from the MSX and Spitzer, as well as submillimetre and radio data previously reported in the literature. Combining all of the available data with the observations presented here allows us to build up a comprehensive picture of the current level of star formation activity within a significant number of BRCs. Results. Analysis of the CO, mid-infrared and radio data result in the clouds being divided into three distinct groups: a) clouds that appear to be relatively unaffected by the photoionisation from the nearby OB star(s); b) clouds that show evidence of significant interaction between the molecular material and the HII regions; c) clouds towards which no CO emission is detected, but are associated with strong ionisation fronts; these are thought to be examples of clouds undergoing an ionisation flash. We refer to these groups as spontaneous, triggered, and zapped clouds, respectively. Comparing the physical parameters of spontaneous and triggered samples we find striking differences in luminosity, surface temperature and column density with all three quantities significantly enhanced for the clouds considered to have been triggered. Furthermore, we find strong evidence for star formation within the triggered sample by way of methanol and H 2 O masers, embedded mid-infrared point sources and CO wings, however, we find evidence of ongoing star formation within only two of the spontaneous sample. Conclusions. We have used CO, mid-infrared and radio data to identify 24 of the 45 southern BRCs that are undergoing a strong interaction with their HII region. We can therefore exclude the other 21 sources (~50%) from future studies of triggered star formation. Fourteen of the 24 interacting BRCs are found to be associated with embedded mid-infrared point sources and we find strong evidence that these clouds are forming stars. The absence of mid-infrared sources towards the remaining ten clouds and the lack of any other evidence of star formation within these clouds leads us to conclude that these represent an earlier evolutionary stage of star formation.
Paraplegia caused by invasive spinal aspergillosis

The accuracy of estimating intracranial pressure in brain tissue (ICPBT) via lumbar space was investigated using preset pressure levels in the interval 0 to 600 mm H2O in patients with communicating hydrocephalus. Lumbar space ICP correlated excellently to ICPBT, demonstrated by a measured mean difference of 10 mm H2O (0.75 mm Hg) and a regression coefficient of 0.98. The concurrence supports the lumbar puncture as an accurate technique to determine ICP in patients with communicating CSF systems.
Wafer-level chip-to-Wafer (C2W) integration of high-sensitivity MEMS and ICs

A new kind of 3D wafer-level (WL) hybrid integration technology, i.e. Chip-to-Wafer (C2W) approach was developed for high sensitivity Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) system. The corresponding technical process flows were designed, and corresponding experiments were conducted. Glass frit bonding method was used to bond the MEMS device wafer with silicon coverplate wafer, and the WL hermetic/vacuum seal was fulfilled. Bare dies (e.g. ASIC etc) were stacked on patterned coverplate by chip-to-Wafer approach. Wirebonding method was used for the multilayer I/O interconnection of MEMS and IC. "Dam & Fill" method was used for the capsulation of MEMS system. Finally, 3D-WL hybrid integration of MEMS device wafer and ASIC was realized. The quality factor Q of MEMS device measured after vacuum packaging reached to 577.41, compared to 301.9 of no vacuum packaging. It turned out that glass frit wafer bonding allows hermetic sealing and a high process yield. In order to obtain low-stress microsystem package, simulation was also completed to investigate the stress of MEMS system package, the effects of the thermo-mechanical properties and curing properties of the encapsulating materials on the microsystem package stress were also studied. It turned out that the "dam and fill" approach is an effective way to decrease the stress of the package of high sensitivity MEMS system package.
Asymmetric simple exclusion model with local inhomogeneity

We study a totally asymmetric simple exclusion model with open boundary conditions and a local inhomogeneity in the bulk. It consists of a one-dimensional lattice with particles hopping stochastically with equal rates to the right at all lattice sites except one where the jump rate is different. Approximate stationary-state solutions and phase diagrams are obtained and compared with Monte Carlo simulation results.
Brain signal-based safety measure activation for robotic systems

In this paper, we present our approach for using EEG signals to activate safety measures of a robot when an error or unexpected event is perceived by the human operator. In particular, we consider brain-based error perception while the operator passively observes the robot performing an action. Our approach consists of monitoring EEG signals and detecting a brain potential called error related negativity (ERN) that spontaneously occurs when the operator perceives an error made by the robot or when an unexpected event occurs. We detect ERN by pre-training two linear classifiers using data collected from a preliminary experiment based on a visual reaction task. We derive the probability of failure in demand (PFD), commonly used to assess functional safety for a two-channel verification system based on the combination of linear classifiers. Functional safety analysis was then performed on a BMI-based robotic framework in which a signal was sent to the robot to active its safety measures in when an ERN was detected. Using brain-based signals, we demonstrate that it is possible to send an emergency stop action during mobile navigation task when unexpected events occur with an accuracy of 75%. Graphical Abstract
BioTxtM 2016 Fifth Workshop on Building and Evaluating Resources for Biomedical Text Mining Proceedings of the Workshop

End-to-end neural network models for named entity recognition (NER) have shown to achieve effective performances on general domain datasets (e.g. newswire), without requiring additional hand-crafted features. However, in biomedical domain, recent studies have shown that handengineered features (e.g. orthographic features) should be used to attain effective performance, due to the complexity of biomedical terminology (e.g. the use of acronyms and complex gene names). In this work, we propose a novel approach that allows a neural network model based on a long short-term memory (LSTM) to automatically learn orthographic features and incorporate them into a model for biomedical NER. Importantly, our bi-directional LSTM model learns and leverages orthographic features on an end-to-end basis. We evaluate our approach by comparing against existing neural network models for NER using three well-established biomedical datasets. Our experimental results show that the proposed approach consistently outperforms these strong baselines across all of the three datasets.
Dodging the Taxman: Firm Misreporting and Limits to Tax Enforcement

Reducing tax evasion is a key priority for many governments, particularly in developing countries. A growing literature argues that cross-checks of taxpayer reports against third-party information are critical for effective tax enforcement. However, such cross-checks may have limited effectiveness if taxpayers can make offsetting adjustments on other margins. We present a simple framework demonstrating conditions under which this occurs and empirical evidence from a natural experiment in Ecuador. When firms are notified about detected revenue discrepancies, they increase reported revenues - but also reported costs (by 96 cents per dollar of revenue adjustment), resulting in minor increases in tax collection.
Division site positioning in bacteria: one size does not fit all

Spatial regulation of cell division in bacteria has been a focus of research for decades. It has been well studied in two model rod-shaped organisms, Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis, with the general belief that division site positioning occurs as a result of the combination of two negative regulatory systems, Min and nucleoid occlusion. These systems influence division by preventing the cytokinetic Z ring from forming anywhere other than midcell. However, evidence is accumulating for the existence of additional mechanisms that are involved in controlling Z ring positioning both in these organisms and in several other bacteria. In some cases the decision of where to divide is solved by variations on a common evolutionary theme, and in others completely different proteins and mechanisms are involved. Here we review the different ways bacteria solve the problem of finding the right place to divide. It appears that a one-size-fits-all model does not apply, and that individual species have adapted a division-site positioning mechanism that best suits their lifestyle, environmental niche and mode of growth to ensure equal partitioning of DNA for survival of the next generation.
Challenging Cultures? Student Conceptions of 'Belonging' and 'Isolation' at a Post-1992 University

Academic culture is not uniformly accessed or experienced. Whilst financial constraints have a major impact on student entry and retention, students from 'non-traditional' backgrounds are also disadvantaged by institutional cultures that place them as 'other'. Individuals do not passively receive these cultural discourses, however, but actively engage with them and attempt to challenge them. This article explores such negotiations by looking at students' conceptions of 'belonging' and 'isolation' at a post-1992 university with a statistically high proportion of 'non-traditional' students in terms of class, maturity and ethnicity. It looks at: the extent to which such students can challenge their positioning as 'other' by choosing a university where they feel they can 'belong'; the extent to which institutional academic cultures work to constrain and disrupt such feelings of 'belonging'; the adoption of alternative discourses of the student-lecturer/student-institution relation, and the extent to which such discourses can challenge feelings of isolation and marginalisation in the academy.
Evidence of Increased Muscle Atrophy and Impaired Quality of Life Parameters in Patients with Uremic Restless Legs Syndrome

Background Restless Legs Syndrome is a very common disorder in hemodialysis patients. Restless Legs Syndrome negatively affects quality of life; however it is not clear whether this is due to mental or physical parameters and whether an association exists between the syndrome and parameters affecting survival. Methodοlogy/Principal Findings Using the Restless Legs Syndrome criteria and the presence of Periodic Limb Movements in Sleep (PLMS/h >15), 70 clinically stable hemodialysis patients were assessed and divided into the RLS (n = 30) and non-RLS (n = 40) groups. Physical performance was evaluated by a battery of tests: body composition by dual energy X ray absorptiometry, muscle size and composition by computer tomography, while depression symptoms, perception of sleep quality and quality of life were assessed through validated questionnaires. In this cross sectional analysis, the RLS group showed evidence of thigh muscle atrophy compared to the non-RLS group. Sleep quality and depression score were found to be significantly impaired in the RLS group. The mental component of the quality of life questionnaire appeared significantly diminished in the RLS group, reducing thus the overall quality of life score. In contrast, there were no significant differences between groups in any of the physical performance tests, body and muscle composition. Conclusions The low level of quality of life reported by the HD patients with Restless Legs Syndrome seems to be due mainly to mental health and sleep related aspects. Increased evidence of muscle atrophy is also observed in the RLS group and possibly can be attributed to the lack of restorative sleep.
Afrontamiento y malestar emocional parental en relación a la calidad de vida del adolescente oncológico en remisión

Objetivo: Explorar si la calidad de vida (CV) de los adolescentes oncologicos en remision, esta relacionada con el afrontamiento y/o el malestar emocional parental. Metodo: A partir de un diseno transversal, se recogio informacion de un total de 62 participantes (31 adolescentes oncologicos en remision y 31 padres de los anteriores). La CV de los adolescentes fue evaluada a traves del Cuestionario de Salud SF-12v2. Para evaluar el estilo de afrontamiento parental se administro el COPE en version disposicional; y para medir su nivel de malestar emocional actual en relacion al cancer, se administraron dos escalas numericas de 5 puntos. Los datos medicos y socio-demograficos se obtuvieron a partir de las historias clinicas. Resultados: El estilo de afrontamiento parental de vinculacion con el problema (engagement) explicaba un 25% de la varianza del componente mental de CV de los adolescentes oncologicos en remision (s = -,500; p = ,004). Conclusiones: La CV del adolescente superviviente a un cancer, no depende unica y exclusivamente de si mismo. El ambito familiar en el que este esta inmerso va a tener un papel muy destacado en su adaptacion. Por ello es necesario atender las necesidades tanto del paciente, como de sus padres; favoreciendo un mayor ajuste a la situacion de remision, ayudando a disminuir el malestar emocional una vez ha finalizado el tratamiento, y de algun modo, fomentando una mejor y mas rapida adaptacion a la normalidad de todo el nucleo familiar.
Market Failure, Government Failure, Leadership and Public Policy

The economic rationale for government intervention in a market economy has traditionally been provided by the theory of market failure. This article reviews the market failure paradigm in the light of the more recent literature on government failure. One implication of the theory of government failure is that a contractualist approach to public service reform is the best method of improving public sector productivity. However, we argue that this view overlooks the potentially crucial role of leadership in public agencies and the ways in which transformational leadership can stimulate efficiency. We argue that communitarian conceptions of leadership can be incorporated into conventional economic approaches, and that this can have significant implications for public policy formulation.
On the Robustness of Stochastic Stealthy Network Against Android App Repackaging *

An unethical developer can download a mobile application, repackage it after making modifications, and then re-distribute it; the process is called application repackaging. Such attacks are rather common in Android markets, posing a severe threat to both app companies and users. Existing defenses against app repackaging attacks are mostly centralized and based on app similarity comparison. Recently, a novel defense, called Stochastic Stealthy Network (SSN) [1], was proposed. Unlike most existing defenses, it performs client-side detection of app repackaging. Our work analyzes the robustness of SSN by analyzing whether and how SSN can be bypassed by attackers. We have identified five different methods of bypassing SSN and present them in this paper. In addition, we give guidelines that on designing a robust client-side defense against app repackaging. Keywords-App repackaging attacks; evasion attacks.
Nifedipine Treatment Reduces Resting Calcium Concentration, Oxidative and Apoptotic Gene Expression, and Improves Muscle Function in Dystrophic mdx Mice

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is a recessive X-linked genetic disease, caused by mutations in the gene encoding dystrophin. DMD is characterized in humans and in mdx mice by a severe and progressive destruction of muscle fibers, inflammation, oxidative/nitrosative stress, and cell death. In mdx muscle fibers, we have shown that basal ATP release is increased and that extracellular ATP stimulation is pro-apoptotic. In normal fibers, depolarization-induced ATP release is blocked by nifedipine, leading us to study the potential therapeutic effect of nifedipine in mdx muscles and its relation with extracellular ATP signaling. Acute exposure to nifedipine (10 µM) decreased [Ca2+]r, NF-κB activity and iNOS expression in mdx myotubes. In addition, 6-week-old mdx mice were treated with daily intraperitoneal injections of nifedipine, 1 mg/Kg for 1 week. This treatment lowered the [Ca2+]r measured in vivo in the mdx vastus lateralis. We demonstrated that extracellular ATP levels were higher in adult mdx flexor digitorum brevis (FDB) fibers and can be significantly reduced after 1 week of treatment with nifedipine. Interestingly, acute treatment of mdx FDB fibers with apyrase, an enzyme that completely degrades extracellular ATP to AMP, reduced [Ca2+]r to a similar extent as was seen in FDB fibers after 1-week of nifedipine treatment. Moreover, we demonstrated that nifedipine treatment reduced mRNA levels of pro-oxidative/nitrosative (iNOS and gp91phox/p47phox NOX2 subunits) and pro-apoptotic (Bax) genes in mdx diaphragm muscles and lowered serum creatine kinase (CK) levels. In addition, nifedipine treatment increased muscle strength assessed by the inverted grip-hanging test and exercise tolerance measured with forced swimming test in mdx mice. We hypothesize that nifedipine reduces basal ATP release, thereby decreasing purinergic receptor activation, which in turn reduces [Ca2+]r in mdx skeletal muscle cells. The results in this work open new perspectives towards possible targets for pharmacological approaches to treat DMD.