Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
β-Carotene–vitamin A equivalence in Chinese adults assessed by an isotope dilution technique

The present study was carried out to determine the conversion factor of synthetic 2H-labelled β-carotene to vitamin A in Chinese adults by using a stable-isotope dilution technique. Fifteen healthy volunteers aged 50–60 years were recruited for a 55 d experiment. The volunteers (nine males and six females) were each given a physiological dose of [2H8]β-carotene (6 mg) in oil on the first day of the experiment, and a reference dose of [2H8]retinyl acetate (3 mg) in oil was given on the fourth day. Serum samples were collected at 0, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13 h on the first and the fourth days of the study, daily for 10 d, and then weekly from days 14 to 56. β-Carotene and retinol were extracted from serum and isolated by HPLC, and their enrichments were respectively determined by using GC–electron capture negative chemical ionisation-MS and LC–atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation interface-MS. Four of the subjects exhibited β-carotene to vitamin A conversion factors of >29·0:1 on a molar basis and were termed ‘poor converters’. In the eleven normal converters (seven males and four females), the calculated conversion factors of β-carotene to retinol ranged from 2·0:1 to 12·2:1 with an average of 4·8 (sd 2·8):1 on a molar basis, and from 3·8:1 to 22·8:1 with an average of 9·1 (sd 5·3):1 on a weight basis. The 52 d post-intestinal absorption conversion was estimated to be about 30 % of the total converted retinol.
Chronic stress parameters in pigs: indicators of animal welfare?

s De Jong, I.C. , Lambooij, E. 1997. Effects of isolation stress on body temperature and heart rate in pigs. In: Proceedings of the 31st congress of the International Society for Applied Ethology. P.H. Hemsworth, M. Spinka and L. Kostal (eds). Prague, Czech Republic: Research Institute for Animal Production: p. 139. De Jong, I.C. , Sgoifo, A. , Lambooij, E. , Korte, S.M. , Koolhaas, J.M. , Blokhuis, H.J. 1998. Biotelemetric measurements of the ECG in growing pigs: effects of social stress on heart rate, heart rate variability and occurrence of cardiac arrhythmia's. In: Proceedings Measuring Behavior '98. L.P.J.J. Noldus (ed). Groningen: Noldus Information Technology: p. 174. De Jong, I.C. , Sgoifo, A. , Lambooij,E. , Korte, S.M. , Koolhaas, J.M. , Blokhuis, H.J. 1998. Effects of social stress on heart rate and heart rate variability in growing pigs. In: Proceedings of the 32nd congress of the International Society for Applied Ethology. I. Veissier and A. Boissy (eds). Clermond- Ferrand, France: Insitut National de la Recherche Agronomique: p. 144.
Quantified Impacts of Guardband Reduction on Design Process Outcomes

The value of guardband reduction is a critical open issue for the semiconductor industry. For example, due to competitive pressure, foundries have started to incent the design of manufacturing-friendly ICs through reduced model guardbands when designers adopt layout restrictions. The industry also continuously weighs the economic viability of relaxing process variation limits in the technology roadmap [2]. Our work gives the first-ever quantification of the impact of modeling guardband reduction on outcomes from the synthesis, place and route (SP&R) implementation flow. We assess the impact of model guard- band reduction on various metrics of design cycle time and design quality, using open-source cores and production (specifically, ARM/TSMC) 90 nm and 65 nm technologies and libraries. Our experimental data clearly shows the potential design quality and turnaround time benefits of model guardband reduction. For example, we typically (i.e., on average) observe 13% standard-cell area reduction and 12% routed wirelength reduction as the consequence of a 40% reduction in library model guardband; 40% is the amount of guardband reduction reported by IBM for a variation-aware timing methodology [8]. We also assess the impact of guardband reduction on design yield. Our results suggest that there is justification for the design, EDA and process communities to enable guardband reduction as an economic incentive for manufacturing-friendly design practices.
Intrapatient and Interpatient Comparison of Tumor Size and Monoclonal Antibody Uptake in Melanoma

In two panels totaling 52 patients with melanoma who were imaged with In-111 labeled 96.5 or ZME-018 (ZME) monoclonal antibodies (MoAb), four patients demonstrated numerous metastases (≥20) in the subcutaneous tissues and peripheral lymph nodes. These constituted four intrapatient groups of tumors. These were selected for an intrapatient comparison of tumor size and uptake. Data on 16 additional patients imaged with 96.5 MoAb with fewer (≤11) such tumor foci were pooled and used as an interpatient control group of tumors. Uptake was graded 0–5+ (liver = 4+). The data were similar in all live groups. All tumors with a diameter less than 0.7 cm were not detected. All large tumors were demonstrated, usually with high uptake. Small tumors (≥ 0.7 cm in diameter), however, showed variable uptake, from 0–4+. Thus, tumors within one patient were as variable in uptake as tumors between patients. Immunologic studies of melanoma tumor antigens have shown a similar variability. It is suggested that antigenic heterogeneity is responsible for the variable scintigraphic demonstration of such tumors.
Buckling and force propagation along intracellular microtubules

Motivated by recent experiments showing the compressive buckling of microtubules in cells, we study theoretically the mechanical response of and force propagation along elastic filaments embedded in a non-linear elastic medium. We find that embedded microtubules buckle when their compressive load exceeds a critical value fc, and that the resulting deformation is restricted to a penetration depth that depends on both the non-linear material properties of the surrounding cytoskeleton, as well as the direct coupling of the microtubule to the cytoskeleton. The deformation amplitude depends on the applied load f>fc as (f-fc)1/2. This work shows how the range of compressive force transmission by microtubules can be tens of microns and is governed by the mechanical coupling to the surrounding cytoskeleton.
Resolving Multi-path Interference in Time-of-Flight Imaging via Modulation Frequency Diversity and Sparse Regularization

Time-of-flight (ToF) cameras calculate depth maps by reconstructing phase shifts of amplitude-modulated signals. For broad illumination of transparent objects, reflections from multiple scene points can illuminate a given pixel, giving rise to an erroneous depth map. We report here a sparsity-regularized solution that separates K interfering components using multiple modulation frequency measurements. The method maps ToF imaging to the general framework of spectral estimation theory and has applications in improving depth profiles and exploiting multiple scattering.
Synthetic furanones inhibit quorum-sensing and enhance bacterial clearance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa lung infection in mice.

INTRODUCTION Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections by killing the bacteria or inhibiting their growth, but resistance to antibiotics can develop readily. The discovery that bacterial quorum-sensing regulates bacterial virulence as well as the formation of biofilms opens up new ways to control certain bacterial infections. Furanone compounds capable of inhibiting bacterial quorum-sensing systems have been isolated from the marine macro alga Delisea pulchra. OBJECTIVES Two synthetic furanones were tested for their ability to attenuate bacterial virulence in the mouse models of chronic lung infection by targeting bacterial quorum-sensing without directly killing bacteria or inhibiting their growth. METHODS Study I. Mice with Escherichia coli MT102 [luxR-PluxI-gfp(ASV)] lung infection were injected intravenously with N-acyl homoserine lactones with or without furanones to test the interference of furanones with quorum-sensing. Study II. Mice with lung infection by Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 [dsred, lasR-PlasB-gfp(ASV)] were injected intravenously with furanones to evaluate their inhibiting effects on quorum-sensing. Study III. Mice with P. aeruginosa PAO1 lung infection were treated with different doses of furanones to evaluate the therapeutic effects of furanones on the lung infection. RESULTS Furanones successfully interfered with N-acyl homoserine lactone and suppressed bacterial quorum-sensing in lungs, which resulted in decreases in expression of green fluorescent protein. Furanones accelerated lung bacterial clearance, and reduced the severity of lung pathology. In a lethal P. aeruginosa lung infection, treatment with furanone significantly prolonged the survival time of the mice. CONCLUSION Synthetic furanone compounds inhibited bacterial quorum-sensing in P. aeruginosa and exhibited favourable therapeutic effects on P. aeruginosa lung infection.
Non-invasive evaluation of the myocardial substrate of cardiac amyloidosis by gadolinium cardiac magnetic resonance

Objective: To investigate the prevalence and distribution of gadolinium (Gd) enhancement at cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging in patients with cardiac amyloidosis (CA) and to look for associations with clinical, morphological, and functional features. Patients and design: 21 patients with definitely diagnosed CA (nine with immunoglobulin light chain amyloidosis and 12 transthyretin related) underwent Gd-CMR. Results: Gd enhancement was detected in 16 of 21 (76%) patients. Sixty six of 357 (18%) segments were enhanced, more often at the mid ventricular level. Transmural extension of enhancement within each patient significantly correlated with left ventricular (LV) end systolic volume (r = 0.58). The number of enhanced segments correlated with LV end diastolic volume (r = 0.76), end systolic volume (r = 0.6), and left atrial size (r = 0.56). Segments with > 50% extensive transmural enhancement more often were severely hypokinetic or akinetic (p = 0.001). Patients with > 2 enhanced segments had significantly lower 12 lead QRS voltage and Sokolow-Lyon index. No relation was apparent with any other clinical, morphological, functional, or histological characteristics. Conclusion: Gd enhancement is common but not universally present in CA, probably due to expansion of infiltrated interstitium. The segmental and transmural distribution of the enhancement is highly variable, and mid-ventricular regions are more often involved. Enhancement appears to be associated with impaired segmental and global contractility and a larger atrium.
Network Imprecision: A New Consistency Metric for Scalable Monitoring

This paper introduces a new consistency metric, Network Imprecision (NI), to address a central challenge in largescale monitoring systems: safeguarding accuracy despite node and network failures. To implement NI, an overlay that monitors a set of attributes also monitors its own state so that queries return not only attribute values but also information about the stability of the overlay--the number of nodes whose recent updates may be missing and the number of nodes whose inputs may be double counted due to overlay reconfigurations. When NI indicates that the network is stable, query results are guaranteed to reflect the true state of the system. But when the network is unstable, NI puts applications on notice that query results should not be trusted, allowing them to take corrective action such as filtering out inconsistent results. To scalably implement NI's introspection, our prototype introduces a key optimization, dual-tree prefix aggregation, which exploits overlay symmetry to reduce overheads by more than an order of magnitude. Evaluation of three monitoring applications demonstrates that NI flags inaccurate results while incurring low overheads, and monitoring applications that use NI to select good information can improve their accuracy by up to an order of magnitude.
Switching Adaptive Control of Time-Varying Plants

We study the problem of adaptively stabilizing time-varyin g plants using supervisory control, which employs multiple controllers and a supervisory unit that or chestrates switching among the controllers. We show that for bounded disturbances and noise, all the closed -loop signals remain bounded provided that the plant varies slowly enough and the unmodeled dynamics ar e mall enough. Slow variation is quantified by a new class of switching signals which are characterized b y well-time as well as average dwell-time. In proving stability of the closed loop, we also derive a new r sult on stability of interconnected switched systems in which the states and the switching signals of two s witched systems are mutually constrained.
A MAXIMAL Lp-INEQUALITY FOR STATIONARY SEQUENCES AND ITS APPLICATIONS

The paper aims to establish a new sharp Burkholder-type maximal inequality in Lp for a class of stationary sequences that includes martingale sequences, mixingales and other dependent structures. The case when the variables are bounded is also addressed, leading to an exponential inequality for a maximum of partial sums. As an application we present an invariance principle for partial sums of certain maps of Bernoulli shifts processes.
A SELF-POWERED WIRELESS SENSOR FOR INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING

Wireless sensor networks are an emerging technology with a number of potential applications. One such application is the monitoring of indoor environments to facilitate more efficient use of energy for climate control. Such an application necessitates an infinite-life power source that will work in low-light conditions. This paper details the design, fabrication, and testing of a self-powered wireless temperature sensor node. The sensor node, mounted on a wooden staircase, uses a piezoelectric bimorph to generate electricity from vibrations in the staircase. This generator powers a thermistor and wireless radio to transmit temperature readings to a remote computer. Vibrations generated by continuous traffic on the staircase produced 30μW from the piezoelectric generator, sufficient to power the sensor and radio hardware.
Evaluating Focused Retrieval Tasks

Focused retrieval, identified by question answering, passage retrieval, and XML element retrieval, is becoming increasingly important within the broad task of information retrieval. In this paper, we present a taxonomy of text retrieval tasks based on the structure of the answers required by a task. Of particular importance are the in context tasks of focused retrieval, where not only relevant documents should be retrieved but also relevant information within each document should be correctly identified. Answers containing relevant information could be, for example, best entry points, or non-overlapping passages or elements. Our main research question is: How should the effectiveness of focused retrieval be evaluated? We propose an evaluation framework where different aspects of the in context focused retrieval tasks can be consistently evaluated and compared, and use fidelity tests on simulated runs to show what is measured. Results from our fidelity experiments demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed evaluation framework, and show its ability to measure different aspects and model different evaluation assumptions of focused retrieval.
Making wireless sensor network simulators cooperate

The development and testing of wireless sensor networks is a cumbersome and tedious task. Therefore, a number of simulators, testbeds and other tools have been developed. Unfortunately, these tools are not able to cooperate since they have not been designed with cooperation in mind. In this paper, we present an approach to make simulation tools cooperate that is based on common input and output format. Using the recently developed WiseML format, we show that our approach is a viable solution for making simulators cooperate.
Flux backgrounds in 2 D string theory

We study RR flux backgrounds in two dimensional type 0 string theories. In particular, we study the relation between the 0A matrix model and the extremal black hole in two dimensions. Using T-duality we find a dual flux background in type 0B theory and propose its matrix model description. When the Fermi level μ is set to zero this system remains weakly coupled and exhibits a larger symmetry related to the structure of flux vacua. Finally, we construct a two dimensional type-IIB background as an orbifold of the 0B background.
Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce Factors Influencing Electronic Business Technologies Adoption and Use by Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (smes) in a Nigerian Municipality

This study examined the adoption of e-business technologies by SMEs in Ibadan a metropolitan city in South West Nigeria. It aimed at finding out the factors that promote and inhibit the adoption of e-business technologies, the kinds of e-business technologies adopted and used and their extent of use. It also identified the challenges faced by SMEs with regard to e-business technologies use. Descriptive survey research design was adopted. Data were collected with structured questionnaires administered among-2-sixty SMEs (30 adopters and 30 non-adopters). Four hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Data were analyzed using frequency and percentage distributions, t-test and multiple regression. Results showed that majority of the firms were smaller firms with 0-9 employees and not less than 1-5 years of establishment. The respondents cited perceived benefits as the major factor for adopting e-business technologies in their firms while 83.4% of non-adopters agreed that low capital base was the major reason inhibiting them from adoption. Hundred percent of the firms each have adopted internet technology and electronic mail which are daily used by all the firms. The major service provided with the use of these technologies was e-mail to communicate with customers and suppliers. On the benefit and challenges of e-business, all the organizations affirmed that e-business have benefited them in the sharing and exchange of information and improving market share. About 96.7% of them affirmed inadequate technical manpower as the major challenge. Further results revealed that the age of the SMEs had significant relationship on the adoption of e-business while size had no significant relationship. Independent variables jointly correlated significantly with the adoption of electronic business (R=0.162) and they contributed (22%) to the variance of the dependent variables. Their significant contributions were as follows: perceived benefit (β=0.568, p<0.05), nature of organization's business (β=0.533, p<0.05); owner's awareness of the technology (β=-0.577, p<0.05); and (β=0.725, p<0.05) while other variables were not significant. The results clearly indicate the necessity to provide support to SMEs to enable them to successfully adopt and use e-business technologies. The results have implications not only for managers of SMEs but also for government bodies in developing countries such as Nigeria.
Lipid remodeling in Rhodopseudomonas palustris TIE‐1 upon loss of hopanoids and hopanoid methylation

The sedimentary record of molecular fossils (biomarkers) can potentially provide important insights into the composition of ancient organisms; however, it only captures a small portion of their original lipid content. To interpret what remains, it is important to consider the potential for functional overlap between different lipids in living cells, and how the presence of one type might impact the abundance of another. Hopanoids are a diverse class of steroid analogs made by bacteria and found in soils, sediments, and sedimentary rocks. Here, we examine the trade‐off between hopanoid production and that of other membrane lipids. We compare lipidomes of the metabolically versatile α‐proteobacterium Rhodopseudomonas palustris TIE‐1 and two hopanoid mutants, detecting native hopanoids simultaneously with other types of polar lipids by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. In all strains, the phospholipids contain high levels of unsaturated fatty acids (often >80 %). The degree to which unsaturated fatty acids are modified to cyclopropyl fatty acids varies by phospholipid class. Deletion of the capacity for hopanoid production is accompanied by substantive changes to the lipidome, including a several‐fold rise of cardiolipins. Deletion of the ability to make methylated hopanoids has a more subtle effect; however, under photoautotrophic growth conditions, tetrahymanols are upregulated twofold. Together, these results illustrate that the ‘lipid fingerprint’ produced by a micro‐organism can vary depending on the growth condition or loss of single genes, reminding us that the absence of a biomarker does not necessarily imply the absence of a particular source organism.
The retinal phenotype of Grk1−/− is compromised by a Crb1rd8 mutation

Purpose Well-established laboratory mouse lines are important in creating genetically engineered knockout mouse models; however, these routinely used inbred strains are prone to spontaneous and deleterious mutations. One of these strains, the commonly used C57BL/6N (B6N), was discovered to carry a point mutation in the Crumbs homolog 1 (Crb1rd8) gene, which codes for a developmental protein involved in tight junction formation at the outer limiting membrane (OLM). This mutation disrupts photoreceptor polarity and leads to retinal degeneration. It was hypothesized that the G-protein receptor kinase 1 knockouts (Grk1−/−), which were based on the B6N strain, would exhibit abnormal morphological phenotypes in their offspring not related to GRK1’s major phosphorylation function. The hypothesis was tested by examining Grk1−/− with or without the Crb1rd8 mutation. Methods The mice strains tested were C57BL/6J (B6J), B6N, and Grk1−/− on either a B6J (Grk1−/−;B6J) or B6N background (Grk1−/−;B6N) and were verified with PCR genotype analysis for Grk1−/− and Crb rd8. The mice were bred and raised in complete darkness until 1 or 3 months of age and then exposed to 1,000 lux light for 24 h, followed by processing for immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis on the retinal structure to investigate the morphological effects of light exposure. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) was performed to detect photoreceptor apoptosis. Results The microanatomy of the retinal sections revealed disorganization of the outer nuclear layer (ONL) in the B6N and Grk1−/−;B6N mice and a significant decrease in the thickness of the ONL in the 3-month-old Grk1−/−;B6N mice. The adherens-junction-associated protein, Zona occludens-1 (ZO-1), formed a continuous line at the OLM in the 1- and 3-month-old control B6J and Grk1−/−;B6J mice. In contrast, the B6N and Grk1−/−;B6N retinas showed discontinuous and fragmented staining for ZO-1 at the OLM at both ages. After the mice were exposed to light, TUNEL analysis showed a significant increase in photoreceptor cell death in the Grk1−/−;B6J and Grk1−/−;B6N retinas versus either the B6J or B6N retinas at 1 and 3 months of age and a small significant difference between the Grk1−/−;B6J and Grk1−/−;B6N retinas at 1 month. In addition, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression was enhanced in the Grk1−/−;B6J and Grk1−/−;B6N retinas at 1 and 3 months. Occasional sprouting processes of rod bipolar cells were detected in the B6N and Grk1−/−;B6N retinas, but sprouting was not detected in the B6J or Grk1−/−;B6J retinas at either age. Conclusions The B6N strain background exhibited abnormal phenotypes in the Grk1−/−;B6N retina. This study demonstrates that the B6N background can influence the phenotype of a genetic mouse knockout and introduces potential visual functional consequences of the Crb1 mutation.