Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impairment of Endothelium‐Dependent Pulmonary Artery Relaxation in Children With Congenital Heart Disease and Abnormal Pulmonary Hemodynamics

BackgroundEndothelial injury may be an important event in the pathophysiology of pulmonary hypertension. We therefore investigated whether endothelial dysfunction occurs early in children with congenital heart defects who are at risk of developing pulmonary vascular disease. Methods and ResultsIn 25 children aged 3-16 years, we studied the response of the pulmonary circulation to graded infusions of acetylcholine (an endothelium-dependent vasodilator) and nitroprusside (a dilator not dependent on endothelial function). Diameter of a bronchopulmonary segment artery and pulmonary blood flow velocity were measured using quantitative angiography and intra-arterial Doppler catheters in 10 children aged 4-16 years with normal pulmonary hemodynamics (controls), seven children aged 3-12 years with left-to-right shunt lesions resulting in increased pulmonary flow, and eight children aged 3-14 years with established pulmonary vascular disease. In the controls, there was a dose-dependent increase in flow velocity in response to acetylcholine (maximal increase, 93±7%) and in response to nitroprusside (51±8%). In contrast, in patients with pulmonary vascular disease, the response of flow velocity to similar doses of acetylcholine (33±7%, p<0.01) and nitroprusside (7±13%, p<0.01) were impaired. In the patients with high pulmonary flow, there was an impaired response to acetylcholine (46+9%, v p<0.Ol), but response to nitroprusside was preserved (42±8%, p>0.10), consistent with endothelial dysfunction. Arterial diameter was unchanged during acetylcholine infusion in all subjects and increased only modestly in response to nitroprusside (10%), indicating that the major site of action of each agent is distal to the segmental pulmonary arteries. ConclusionEndothelium-dependent pulmonary artery relaxation can be demonstrated in vivo and is impaired in young patients with increased pulmonary flow secondary to congenital heart disease. This impairment may be an important early event in the pathogenesis of pulmonary vascular disease.
Modularity for Uncertainty

Uncertainty can appear in all aspects of software development: uncertainty in requirements analysis, design decisions, implementation, and testing. As the research on uncertainty is so young, there are many issues to be tackled. Modularity for Uncertainty is one of them. If uncertainty can be dealt with modularly, we can add or delete uncertain concerns to/from models, code, and tests whenever these concerns arise or are fixed to certain concerns. To deal with this challenging issue, we propose a modularization mechanism for uncertainty. Agile methods embrace change to accept changeable user requirements. On the other hand, our approach embraces uncertainty to support exploratory development. This paper sets out a focused research agenda for uncertainty in terms of the new modularity vision.
Fracture Analysis of Thick Plate for Partial Penetration Multi-Pass Weldment Using Ĵ-Integral

Partial penetration welding joint defines the groove welds that applies the one side welding which does not use steel backing and both side welding without back gouging, that is, the partial penetration welding joint leaves an unwelded portion at the root of the welding area. In this study, we analyzed the residual stress and fracture on the thick metal plates that introduced the partial penetration welding method. We performed the fracture behavior evaluation on the partial penetration multi pass welding with 25.4mm thick plate by using the Ĵ-integral, which finally led us the conclusion that the partial penetration multi-pass welding method is more applicable and effective in handling the root face with less than 6.35mm.
Modeling wave propagation and scattering from impact damage for structural health monitoring of composite sandwich plates

Results of modeling of the wave propagation, impact, and damage detection in a sandwich honeycomb plate using piezoelectric actuator/sensor scheme are reported. A finite element model of honeycomb sandwich panel that reproduces accurately experimental setup and takes into account main characteristic features of the real composite panel, impactor, lead zirconate titanate actuator, and sensors is developed. The impact is simulated to obtain damage with parameters close to those observed in the experiment. Both in simulations and in experiment, the voltage signal of a given shape is applied to the lead zirconate titanate actuators to excite acoustic wave, and the electrical signals collected from the lead zirconate titanate sensors mounted to the panel are used to study wave propagation in the sandwich panel. The results of simulation are shown to be in good agreement with the experimental results both before and after the impact. Properties of acoustic wave propagating in composite sandwich honeycomb panels are discussed.
Bounds the conductivity of some two-component compositesJohan

Calculation of third-order bounds to the conductivity of isotropic two-component composites is discussed. Coincidence of the Beran bounds and bounds derived using trial elds based on the solution of a single-body elec-trostatic boundary-value problem is demonstrated for a random distribution of impenetrable ellipsoids. This extends a proof of Beasley and Torquato J. A structural parameter related to third-order bounds is calculated for a face-centered cubic array of cubes in a matrix. For an array of rectangular blocks an upper bound in one direction is derived. This bound, and its two-dimensional analogues, become very sharp in the limit of strong inhomogeneity. Improved third and fourth-order bounds for the three-dimensional checkerboard are presented.
Application of Coordinated Regulation in Ensuring the Sustainability of China’s Power Sector

A new methodology-coordinated electricity regulation is presented with coordination theory and multi-principal theory. Then a new coordinated regulation scheme is designed based on the new methodology and the status quo of China’s electricity regulation. At last, paper gives further recommends on improving China’s electricity regulation, such as establishing and ensuring the competitive electricity market, protecting environment, promoting energy efficiency, protecting social interests, etc.
(E)-N′-(4-Isopropylbenzylidene)isonicotinohydrazide monohydrate

In the title compound, C(16)H(17)N(3)O·H(2)O, the isonicotinohydrazide mol-ecule adopts an E conformation about the central C=N double bond. The dihedral angle between the pyridine and the benzene rings is 54.56 (15)°. In the crystal, mol-ecules are connected via N-H⋯O, O-H⋯N and O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming a three-dimensional network.
Cortical Up and Activated States: Implications for Sensory Information Processing

The neocortex generates spontaneous slow oscillations that consist of up and down states during quiescence. Up states are short epochs of persistent activity that resemble the state of cortical activation during arousal and cognition. The excitability of cortical cells and synaptic networks is impacted by up states. This review describes the characteristics and putative functional role of up states and their similarity with activated states.
Light factorization for mixed-frequency shadows in augmented reality

Integrating animated virtual objects with their surroundings for high-quality augmented reality requires both geometric and radio-metric consistency. We focus on the latter of these problems and present an approach that captures and factorizes external lighting in a manner that allows for realistic relighting of both animated and static virtual objects. Our factorization facilitates a combination of hard and soft shadows, with high-performance, in a manner that is consistent with the surrounding scene lighting.
Trade liberalization and the allocation over domestic and foreign supplies: a case study for Spanish manufacturing

The purpose of the paper is to investigate whether Spain's accession to the European Union in 1986 caused a structural break in the allocation of total supplies of manufactures over domestic and foreign supplies. To that end the homogeneity-constrained Almost Ideal Demand System is used to specify the long-run equilibrium relationships between the shares in total supplies and total real demand and relative prices and a first-order error correction mechanism in order to describe the adjustment process to equilibrium. Using a formal statistical test, it turns out that a structural break actually occurred and led to a rather sharp decrease in the share of Spain and an increase in the shares of the other members of the European Union.
Determinants of Anemia among Preschool Children in Rural, Western Kenya

Although anemia in preschool children is most often attributed to iron deficiency, other nutritional, infectious, and genetic contributors are rarely concurrently measured. In a population-based, cross-sectional survey of 858 children 6–35 months of age in western Kenya, we measured hemoglobin, malaria, inflammation, sickle cell, α-thalassemia, iron deficiency, vitamin A deficiency, anthropometry, and socio-demographic characteristics. Anemia (Hb < 11 g/dL) and severe anemia (Hb < 7 g/dL) prevalence ratios (PRs) for each exposure were determined using multivariable modeling. Anemia (71.8%) and severe anemia (8.4%) were common. Characteristics most strongly associated with anemia were malaria (PR: 1.7; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.5–1.9), iron deficiency (1.3; 1.2–1.4), and homozygous α-thalassemia (1.3; 1.1–1.4). Characteristics associated with severe anemia were malaria (10.2; 3.5–29.3), inflammation (6.7; 2.3–19.4), and stunting (1.6; 1.0–2.4). Overall 16.8% of anemia cases were associated with malaria, 8.3% with iron deficiency, and 6.1% with inflammation. Interventions should address malaria, iron deficiency, and non-malarial infections to decrease the burden of anemia in this population.
Association among genetic predisposition, gut microbiota, and host immune response in the etiopathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which includes Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), is a chronic disorder that affects thousands of people around the world. These diseases are characterized by exacerbated uncontrolled intestinal inflammation that leads to poor quality of life in affected patients. Although the exact cause of IBD still remains unknown, compelling evidence suggests that the interplay among immune deregulation, environmental factors, and genetic polymorphisms contributes to the multifactorial nature of the disease. Therefore, in this review we present classical and novel findings regarding IBD etiopathogenesis. Considering the genetic causes of the diseases, alterations in about 100 genes or allelic variants, most of them in components of the immune system, have been related to IBD susceptibility. Dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiota also plays a role in the initiation or perpetuation of gut inflammation, which develops under altered or impaired immune responses. In this context, unbalanced innate and especially adaptive immunity has been considered one of the major contributing factors to IBD development, with the involvement of the Th1, Th2, and Th17 effector population in addition to impaired regulatory responses in CD or UC. Finally, an understanding of the interplay among pathogenic triggers of IBD will improve knowledge about the immunological mechanisms of gut inflammation, thus providing novel tools for IBD control.
Drosophila Ataxin 2-binding protein 1 marks an intermediate step in the molecular differentiation of female germline cysts

In the Drosophila ovary, extrinsic signaling from the niche and intrinsic translational control machinery regulate the balance between germline stem cell maintenance and the differentiation of their daughters. However, the molecules that promote the continued stepwise development of ovarian germ cells after their exit from the niche remain largely unknown. Here, we report that the early development of germline cysts depends on the Drosophila homolog of the human ataxin 2-binding protein 1 (A2BP1) gene. Drosophila A2BP1 protein expression is first observed in the cytoplasm of 4-, 8- and 16-cell cysts, bridging the expression of the early differentiation factor Bam with late markers such as Orb, Rbp9 and Bruno encoded by arrest. The expression of A2BP1 is lost in bam, sans-fille (snf) and mei-P26 mutants, but is still present in other mutants such as rbp9 and arrest. A2BP1 alleles of varying strength produce mutant phenotypes that include germline counting defects and cystic tumors. Phenotypic analysis reveals that strong A2BP1 alleles disrupt the transition from mitosis to meiosis. These mutant cells continue to express high levels of mitotic cyclins and fail to express markers of terminal differentiation. Biochemical analysis reveals that A2BP1 isoforms bind to each other and associate with Bruno, a known translational repressor protein. These data show that A2BP1 promotes the molecular differentiation of ovarian germline cysts.
A survey of Opportunities for Microbial Conversion of Biomass to Hydrocarbon Compatible Fuels

Biomass is uniquely able to supply renewable and sustainable liquid transportation fuels. In the near term, the Biomass program has a 2012 goal of cost competitive cellulosic ethanol. However, beyond 2012, there will be an increasing need to provide liquid transportation fuels that are more compatible with the existing infrastructure and can supply fuel into all transportation sectors, including aviation and heavy road transport. Microbial organisms are capable of producing a wide variety of fuel and fuel precursors such as higher alcohols, ethers, esters, fatty acids, alkenes and alkanes. This report surveys liquid fuels and fuel precurors that can be produced from microbial processes, but are not yet ready for commercialization using cellulosic feedstocks. Organisms, current research and commercial activities, and economics are addressed. Significant improvements to yields and process intensification are needed to make these routes economic. Specifically, high productivity, titer and efficient conversion are the key factors for success.
Finding a Closed Boundary by Growing Minimal Paths from a Single Point on 2D or 3D Images

In this paper, we present a new method for segmenting closed contours and surfaces. Our work builds on a variant of the Fast Marching algorithm. First, an initial point on the desired contour is chosen by the user. Next, new keypoints are detected automatically using a front propagation approach. We assume that the desired object has a closed boundary. This a-priori knowledge on the topology is used to devise a relevant criterion for stopping the keypoint detection and front propagation. The final domain visited by the front will yield a band surrounding the object of interest. Linking pairs of neighboring keypoints with minimal paths allows us to extract a closed contour from a 2D image. Detection of a variety of objects on real images is demonstrated. Using a similar same idea, we can extract networks of minimal paths from a 3D image called Geodesic Meshing. The proposed method is applied to 3D data with promising results.
Sample Complexity of Classifiers Taking Values in ℝ Q , Application to Multi-Class SVMs

Bounds on the risk play a crucial role in statistical learning theory. They usually involve as capacity measure of the model studied the VC dimension or one of its extensions. In classification, such “VC dimensions” exist for models taking values in {0, 1}, [[1, Q]], and ℝ. We introduce the generalizations appropriate for the missing case, the one of models with values in ℝ Q . This provides us with a new guaranteed risk for M-SVMs. For those models, a sharper bound is obtained by using the Rademacher complexity.
Multi-Stage Non-cooperative Game for Pricing and Connection Admission Control in Wireless Local Area Networks

This paper focuses on learning the economic behaviour of the access point (AP) and users in wireless local area networks (WLANs), and using a game theoretic approach to analyze the interactions among them. Recent studies have shown that the AP would adopt a simple, yet optimal, fixed rate pricing strategy when the AP has an unlimited uplink bandwidth to the Internet and the channel capacity of WLAN is unlimited. However, the fixed rate strategy fails to be optimal if a more realistic model with limited capacity is considered. A substitute pricing scheme for access service provisioning is hence proposed. In particular, the AP first estimates the probable utility degradation of existing users consequent upon the admission of an incoming user. Second, the AP decides: (i) whether the incoming user should be accepted; and (ii) the price to be announced in order to try to maximize the overall revenue. The condition, under which the proposed scheme results in a perfect Bayesian equilibrium (PBE), is investigated. key words: connection admission control, pricing, game theory, equilibrium, PBE
Replication of Norovirus in Cell Culture Reveals a Tropism for Dendritic Cells and Macrophages

Noroviruses are understudied because these important enteric pathogens have not been cultured to date. We found that the norovirus murine norovirus 1 (MNV-1) infects macrophage-like cells in vivo and replicates in cultured primary dendritic cells and macrophages. MNV-1 growth was inhibited by the interferon-αβ receptor and STAT-1, and was associated with extensive rearrangements of intracellular membranes. An amino acid substitution in the capsid protein of serially passaged MNV-1 was associated with virulence attenuation in vivo. This is the first report of replication of a norovirus in cell culture. The capacity of MNV-1 to replicate in a STAT-1-regulated fashion and the unexpected tropism of a norovirus for cells of the hematopoietic lineage provide important insights into norovirus biology.
Locating the eyes Facial Feature Tracking for Eye-Head Controlled Human Computer Interface

In this paper, we propose a robust, fast and cheap scheme for locating the eyes, lip-corners, and nostrils for Eye-Head Controlled Human Computer Interface on a facial image with non-constrained background. Many researchers have presented eye tracking methods. But the methods are not both robust and fast, and they also have many limitations. The method we propose uses complete graph matching from thresholded images. That is, after labeling the binarized image that is separated by a proper threshold value, the algorithm computes the similarity of between all pairs of objects. After that, the two objects that have the greatest similarity are selected as eyes. The average computing time of the image(360*240) is within 0.2(sec) and if the search window is reduced by estimation, the average computing time is within 0.1(sec). It has been tested on several sequential facial images with different illuminating conditions and varied head poses, It returned quite a satisfactory performance in both speed and accuracy. The algorithm is highly cost effective.
The landscape of metastatic progression patterns across major human cancers

The majority of patients with solid malignancies die from metastatic burden. However, our current understanding of the mechanisms and resulting patterns of dissemination is limited. Here, we analyzed patterns of metastatic progression across 16 major cancer types in a cohort of 1008 patients with metastatic cancer autopsied between 2000 and 2013 to assess cancer specific progression patterns of disease and related risk predictions. The frequency and location of metastases were evaluated in and across 1) 16 major cancers, 2) smoking- and non-smoking-related cancers and 3) adeno- and squamous cell carcinoma. Associations between primary and secondary sites were analyzed by the fractional and the relative risk methods. We detected significantly different cancer specific patterns of metastatic progression with specific relative risk profiles for secondary site involvement. Histology and smoking etiology influenced these patterns. Backward analysis showed that metastatic patterns help to predict unknown primary sites. Solid malignancies maintain a unique and recurrent organ tropism to specific secondary sites which does not appear to be strongly influenced by advances in cancer medicine as shown by comparison with previous data sets. The delineated landscape of metastatic progression patterns is a comprehensive data resource to both clinical and basic scientists which aids fostering new hypotheses for cancer research and cancer therapies.
Distribution of NTS3 receptor/sortilin mRNA and protein in the rat central nervous system

The neurotensin (NT) receptor, NTS3, originally identified as the intracellular sorting protein sortilin, is a member of a recently discovered family of receptors characterized by a single transmembrane domain. The present study provides the first comprehensive description of the distribution of NTS3/sortilin mRNA and protein in adult rat brain using in situ hybridization and immunocytochemistry. Both NTS3/sortilin mRNA and immunoreactivity displayed a widespread distribution throughout the brain. High levels of NTS3/sortilin expression and immunoreactivity were found in neuronal cell bodies and dendrites of allocortical areas such as the piriform cortex and hippocampus. Regions expressing both high levels of NTS3/sortilin mRNA and protein also included several neocortical areas, the islands of Calleja, medial and lateral septal nuclei, amygdaloid nuclei, thalamic nuclei, the supraoptic nucleus, the substantia nigra, and the Purkinje cell layer of the cerebellar cortex. In the brainstem, all cranial nerve motor nuclei were strongly labeled. NTS3/sortilin mRNA and immunoreactivity were also detected over oligodendrocytes in major fiber tracts. Subcellularly, NTS3/sortilin was predominantly concentrated over intracytoplasmic membrane‐bound organelles. Many of the areas exhibiting high levels of NTS3/sortilin (e.g., olfactory cortex, medial septum, and periaqueductal gray) have been documented to contain high concentrations of NT nerve cell bodies and axons, supporting the concept that NTS3/sortilin may play a role in NT sorting and/or signaling. Other areas (e.g., hippocampal CA fields, cerebellar cortex, and cranial nerve motor nuclei), however, are NT‐negative, suggesting that NTS3/sortilin also exerts functions unrelated to NT signaling. J. Comp. Neurol. 461:483–505, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
An Infrastructure for Integrated Management of Urban Railway Crossing Areas

In this work, we present SIMPLE, an integrated platform that offers simultaneous and coordinated management of both railway level crossing and surrounding road traffic. The platform features a new radar sensor that provides superior safety in detecting lost loads or vehicles trapped in the level crossing barriers as well as a road monitoring system, based on novel paradigms for the IoT and including an ETSI M2M compliant Smart Camera Network (SCN) and Gateway. On the base of the data collected by the sensor deployed on the field, a suitable computational unit performs simulations and provides forecast both on railway circulation (and thus level crossing closing times) and on road circulation. Results collected during a field test are reported and discussed.