Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Decreased Hematocrit-To-Viscosity Ratio and Increased Lactate Dehydrogenase Level in Patients with Sickle Cell Anemia and Recurrent Leg Ulcers

Leg ulcer is a disabling complication in patients with sickle cell anemia (SCA) but the exact pathophysiological mechanisms are unknown. The aim of this study was to identify the hematological and hemorheological alterations associated with recurrent leg ulcers. Sixty-two SCA patients who never experienced leg ulcers (ULC-) and 13 SCA patients with a positive history of recurrent leg ulcers (ULC+) - but with no leg ulcers at the time of the study – were recruited. All patients were in steady state condition. Blood was sampled to perform hematological, biochemical (hemolytic markers) and hemorheological analyses (blood viscosity, red blood cell deformability and aggregation properties). The hematocrit-to-viscosity ratio (HVR), which reflects the red blood cell oxygen transport efficiency, was calculated for each subject. Patients from the ULC+ group were older than patients from the ULC- group. Anemia (red blood cell count, hematocrit and hemoglobin levels) was more pronounced in the ULC+ group. Lactate dehydrogenase level was higher in the ULC+ group than in the ULC- group. Neither blood viscosity, nor RBC aggregation properties differed between the two groups. HVR was lower and RBC deformability tended to be reduced in the ULC+ group. Our study confirmed increased hemolytic rate and anemia in SCA patients with leg ulcers recurrence. Furthermore, our data suggest that although systemic blood viscosity is not a major factor involved in the pathophysiology of this complication, decreased red blood cell oxygen transport efficiency (i.e., low hematocrit/viscosity ratio) may play a role.
Soft tissue sarcoma

#### What you need to know A 45 year old woman presented to her general practitioner several times over nine months with a gradually enlarging, hard lump in her anterior thigh. An ultrasound scan showed a solid intramuscular mass in the anterior compartment of her thigh, prompting a two week wait referral to the regional sarcoma diagnostic clinic. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a large, heterogeneous intramuscular mass. Core biopsy confirmed a high grade soft tissue sarcoma, and staging computed tomography showed lung metastases. The patient underwent chemotherapy for metastatic disease, followed by resection of her primary tumour, but her disease relapsed and she died 16 months after diagnosis. Soft tissue sarcoma is a heterogeneous group of malignancies. They account for 1% of cancers and have a five year survival of approximately 50%. They can occur at any age (although more than 65% occur in people aged over 50 years1) and in any part of the body. #### How common are soft tissue sarcomas?
THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

I am pleased to respond to the comments and recommendations of the Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee (PTAC) regarding proposed models voted on during the September and December 2018 public meetings. 1 I was delighted to join the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Director of CMS's Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMS Innovation Center) and Senior Advisor on Value-Based Transformation and Innovation at the opening of the September public meeting. I recognize and appreciate the role that PT AC plays in supporting the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) commitment to transforming our healthcare system into one that pays for health and wellness rather than sickness and procedures. PTAC provides an important avenue for healthcare providers, associations, coalitions, and others to share their ideas for physician-focused payment models (PFPMs) with HHS and the public, and we appreciate the thoughtful discussions, recommendations, and comments from PTAC.
2D Projections of RNA Folding Landscapes

The analysis of RNA folding landscapes yields insights into the kinetic folding behavior not available from classical structure prediction methods. This is especially important for multi-stable RNAs whose function is related to structural changes, as in the case of riboswitches. However, exact methods such as barrier tree analysis scale exponentially with sequence length. Here we present an algorithm that computes a projection of the energy landscape into two dimensions, namely the distances to two reference structures. This yields an abstraction of the high-dimensional energy landscape that can be conveniently visualized, and can serve as the basis for estimating energy barriers and refolding pathways. With an asymptotic time complexity ofO(n) the algorithm is computationally demanding. However, by exploiting the sparsity of the dynamic programming matrices and parallelization for multi-core processors, our implementation is practical for sequences of up to 400 nt, which includes most RNAs of biological interest.
Globally Consistent Mosaicking for Autonomous Visual Navigation

Mobile robot localization from large-scale appearance mosaics has been showing increasing promise as a low-cost, high-performance and infrastructure-free solution to vehicle guidance in man-made environments. The feasibility of this technique relies on the construction of a highresolution mosaic of the vehicle’s environment. For reliable position estimation, the mosaic must be locally distortion-free as well as globally consistent. The problem of loop closure in cyclic environments that plagues this process is one that is commonly encountered in all map-building procedures, and its solution is often computationally expensive. This document investigates the problem of map-building with observations having low spatial and temporal persistence from sensors having a short sensory horizon. By exploiting the topology of sensor observations, the problem of mosaicking can be formulated as one of constrained optimization whose solution can be obtained efficiently even for the problem scale typical to the application of interest. A basis of the space of constraints in spatial relationships between observations can be easily extracted. Extrinsically available information in the form of survey data can be treated identically to these constraints and incorporated in the map-building process. The developed framework can also be extended to accommodate incremental construction for online implementation. Thesis supervisor: Dr. Alonzo Kelly Research Scientist, Robotics Institute
Three‐Year Continuous Observation of Pure and Polluted Dust Aerosols Over Northwest China Using the Ground‐Based Lidar and Sun Photometer Data

Mineral dust is a dominant aerosol type in northwestern China and can mix with other air pollutants during its long‐range transport, playing an important role in Earth's energy budget and hydrological cycle on both regional and global scales. In this study, the optical properties of pure dust and polluted dust were compared by using ground‐based lidar and sun photometer data at SACOL (Semi‐Arid Climate and Environment Observatory of Lanzhou University) from August 2009 to August 2012. The total attenuated backscattering coefficient at 532 nm, the volume depolarization ratio (VDR) and the color ratio (CR) derived from the L2S‐SM‐II dual‐band polarization lidar and aerosol optical depth (AOD) and Angstrom exponent from sun photometer data were used to identify pure dust and polluted dust. The results showed that AOD at 440 nm of pure dust was widely distributed within the range of 0.4–1.1 but the AOD of polluted dust was generally less than 0.6. The frequency distribution of VDR showed that the mean value of pure dust was greater than that of polluted dust and the peak values were 0.31 and 0.21, respectively. The frequency distribution of CR showed that the mean value of pure dust was larger than that of polluted dust, and it was mostly pure dust aerosol when color ratio was greater than 0.8. The VDR showed a positive correlation with CR. Using the frequency distribution of VDR, a threshold value of 0.25 was proposed to differentiate pure dust from polluted dust. The rates of misclassification were 20.7% and 18.6% for pure dust and polluted dust, respectively. This work will be helpful for the classification of aerosol types in satellite observations and numerical modeling.
Spatially Coupled Repeat-Accumulate Codes

In this paper we propose a new class of spatially coupled codes based on regular repeat-accumulate codes. We show that these codes have several advantages over spatially coupled regular low-density parity-check codes including simpler encoders and slightly higher code rates when the thresholds and decoding complexity (as measured by the Tanner graph edge density) are similar.
Optimal design of dynamic experiments for guaranteed parameter estimation

This paper presents, for the first time in literature, an approach and preliminary results for the design of dynamic experiments in the framework of bounded-error (guaranteed) parameter estimation that determines confidence limits on the identified parameters similarly to a posteriori analysis in standard maximum-likelihood (e.g. least-squares) estimation. As in the classical approaches to the design of experiments, being established for other types of estimation, an essential part of the solution procedure is the approximation of the resulting joint-confidence region. In this contribution, we develop and thoroughly analyze the procedure and different ways of achieving an over-approximation of the set resulting from guaranteed parameter estimation based on the expected values of parameters. Finally we solve the problem of the design of experiments as a bilevel program that is regularized in order to be well-posed. We demonstrate our approach on a case study from the domain of chemical engineering.
Association between self‐rated health and asthma: a population‐based study

Introduction: Self‐rated health (SRH) is a relevant measure of health as it can predict morbidity, mortality and health‐care use. Studies have shown an association between poor SRH and elevated levels of circulating inflammatory cytokines. It is therefore interesting to learn more about the association between asthma, a chronic inflammatory disease with a recognised systemic component and SRH.
Cooperative Wideband Spectrum Detection Based on Maximum Likelihood Ratio for CR Enhanced VANET

Cognitive radio (CR) enhanced vehicular ad hoc network (CR-VANET) is a special VANET that each vehicle could explore local spectrum gap and reduce data congestion by mitigating interference by dynamically accessing spectrum holes. One of the most important challenges for CR-VANET is to identify the presence of primary users (PU) over wideband spectrum at a particular time and specific geographic location. In this paper, maximum likelihood ratio (MLR) detection is proposed as an effective scheme for wideband spectrum detection in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) based overlay CR-VANET. OR fusion rule with square-law selection (SLS) is implemented at roadside to make global detection decision by means of the combination of each vehicle’s local sensing results. Hence, cooperative wideband spectrum detection is implemented in dynamic topology CRVANET to enhance the reliability of spectrum detection. Specifically, robust cooperative sensing technique is investigated with the consideration of sensing channel SNR, reporting channel fading, as well as inter-user error rate, with the purpose of exploiting diversity in multi-vehicle cooperative sensing scenario. Limitations of cooperative wideband spectrum sensing are presented with MLR detection in space-time block code (STBC) and time division multiple access (TDMA) protocols for practical consideration. Simulation results are presented to confirm our theoretical derivations. It is revealed that, compared with conventional energy detection (ED), cooperative wideband spectrum detection with MLR has adaptive detection thresholds. Moreover, robust cooperative sensing by roadside SLS OR rule and its limitations are also performed with receiver operation characteristics (ROC). It is proven that, MLR detection is available in robust cooperative sensing with dynamic threshold variations for CR-VANET practical applications. 
Cell migration strategies in 3‐D extracellular matrix: Differences in morphology, cell matrix interactions, and integrin function

Cell migration in extracellular matrix is a complex process of adhesion and deadhesion events combined with cellular strategies to overcome the biophysical resistance imposed by three‐dimensionally interconnected matrix ligands. Using a 3‐D collagen matrix migration model in combination with computer‐assisted cell tracking for reconstruction of migration paths and confocal microscopy, we investigated molecular principles governing cell‐matrix interactions and migration of different cell types. Highly invasive MV3 melanoma cells and fibroblasts are large and highly polarized cells migrating at low speed (0.1–0.5 μm/min) and at high directional persistence. MV3 melanoma cells utilize adhesive migration strategies as characterized by high β1 integrin surface expression, β1 integrin clustering at interactions with matrix fibers, and β1 integrin‐mediated adhesion for force generation and migration. In contrast, T lymphocytes and dendritic cells are highly mobile cells of lower β1 integrin expression migrating at 10‐ to 40‐fold higher velocities, and directionally unpredictable path profiles. This migration occurs in the absence of focal adhesions and largely independent of β1 integrin‐mediated adhesion. Whereas cell‐matrix interactions of migrating tumor cells result in traction and reorientation of collagen fibers, partial matrix degradation, and pore formation, leukocytes form transient and short‐lived interactions with the collagen lacking structural proteolysis and matrix remodeling. In conclusion, the 3‐D extracellular matrix provides a spatially complex and biomechanically demanding substrate for cell migration, thereby differing from cell migration across planar ligands. Highly adhesive and integrin‐dependent migration strategies detected in morphologically large and slowly migrating cells may result in reorganization of the extracellular matrix, whereas leukocytes favor largely integrin‐independent, rapid, and flexible migration strategies lacking typical focal adhesions and structural matrix remodeling. Microsc. Res. Tech. 43:369–378, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Estudo geocronológico dos skarns mineralizados em apatita da região de Sumé (PB)

The study area is located in the Sumé city (PB). This is a region with important apatite mineral deposits in skarns (potential for Fe-Cu-Au, by treating this type of mineral deposit) of metasomatic origin. Regionally, the area is inserted into the tectonic context of the Alto Moxotó Terrane (AMT), the Paleoproterozoic domain of the Transversal Subprovince of the Borborema Province. The geological unit where the apatite mineralization is hosted is named the Olho d’Água do Cunha Suite, which is formed by a metasienitic-pyroxenitic association intrusive in the Floresta Complex. The mineralization occurs as irregular pockets and lenses within the skarns. The apatite pockets can reach 2 meters in diameter, and these apatite crystals usually have 5-10 centimeters, but there are reports of crystals up to 1 meter in length Literature data show that apatite may contain up to 3.20 wt% F. In these skarns vermiculite has also been described, which in previous work is considered as formed by the biotite alteration. The skarns petrographic study showed a mafic substrate to these skarns, based on the minerals found, which are phlogopite, amphibole (likely pargasite), orthopyroxene (likely enstatite) and serpentinized olivine pseudomorphs. The geochemical data obtained in this work demonstrated that both skarns and apatite have relatively high concentrations of La and Ce (up to 3,530 and 6,200 ppm, respectively). A anomalously green apatite sample showed relatively high concentrations of Th, U and Y (1,950, 138.5 and 421 ppm, respectively) and anomalous concentration of As (245 ppm), which would be important for indicating the possibility of associated gold. The age (U-Pb apatite) obtained in this study was 557.7 ± 1.3 Ma, which demonstrates the influence of Brasiliano fluids in AMT, in this case probably affecting a mafic-ultramafic riaciano-orosiriano magmatism.
Caracterización biofísica y socioeconómica de los huertos caseros en el municipio de Ancuya, Nariño

The characterization of the genetic diversity of home gardens in the district was El Ingenio Ancuya Township, located between the coordinates 1° 16 ‘56 “LN, 77 ° 31’ 63” LO. 120 plots were sampled in 13 villages in the township using semistructured interviews with 31 variables assessed. The information is processed by multicomponent analysis ACM for each component, within which the tool was used as cluster analysis grouping. The study of the floristic composition of the garden kind, was conducted using the methodology of the minimum area described by Matteucci and Colma (1982) to woody species were determined diameter at breast height (DBH) taking species with dbh = 10 cm. We estimated ecological variables as frequency, dominance, abundance and IVI. In ACM characterization of home gardens, five factors explained 30.39% of the variability, one whose predominant factor variables are related to the diversity of species in home gardens or called agrobiodiversity, defined as the component of biodiversity that contributes to agriculture and food production. In the floristic composition of the garden kind, found 142 species, including trees, shrubs, and medicinal food crops belonging to 126 genera and 66 families. The ruling family is the family Lamiaceae with 10 species, followed Asteraceae and Solanaceae families with nine, seven Fabaceae, Poaceae and five Rutaceae, Apiaceae, Euforbiaceae, Malvaceae and Rosaseae with four species each, Acanthaceae, Araceae, Bignoniaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Liliaceae, Lauraceae and Mirtaceae share three species each, other families have one or two species.
Chronic V2 vasopressin receptor stimulation increases basal blood pressure and exacerbates deoxycorticosterone acetate-salt hypertension.

The present study was intended to determine whether the long-term V2 receptor-mediated effects of vasopressin on sodium reabsorption in the renal collecting duct is an aggravating factor in salt-sensitive hypertension. Deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)-salt hypertension was induced in uninephrectomized rats that had been chronically pretreated with a V2 agonist (dDAVP; 1-deamino-8D-arginine vasopressin; 0.6 microg/kg.d) or a V2 antagonist (SR121463, 3 mg/kg.d) or were untreated. Plasma osmolality and natremia were not significantly different in the groups. Blood pressure was significantly increased by dDAVP pretreatment (+11 mm Hg; P = 0.006), and this effect was exacerbated after DOCA-salt-induced hypertension (+17 mm Hg; P = 0.042). The dDAVP-treated rats had a lower hematocrit (40 +/- 2% vs. 47 +/- 1% and 45 +/- 2%) and markedly higher albuminuria (91 +/- 9 vs. 17 +/- 8 and 15 +/- 8 mg/d), mortality rate (50% vs. 0% and 0%), and cardiac and renal hypertrophy than the control and SR121463 groups. Histological renal lesions were worsened by V2 agonism and prevented by V2 antagonism. Renal mRNA expression of beta- and gamma-subunits of the epithelial sodium channel was significantly increased by dDAVP treatment (P < 0.05). These findings provide evidence that chronic stimulation of vasopressin V2 receptor raises basal blood pressure in rats and exacerbates the development of DOCA-salt hypertension, organ damage, and mortality. These effects could be due at least in part to the sustained stimulation of sodium reabsorption by epithelial sodium channel in the distal part of the nephron, which promotes sodium retention.
Large Torsional Oscillations in a Suspension Bridge: Multiple Periodic Solutions to a Nonlinear Wave Equation

We consider a forced nonlinear wave equation on a bounded domain which, under certain physical assumptions, models the torsional oscillation of the main span of a suspension bridge. We use Leray--Schauder degree theory to prove that, under small periodic external forcing, the undamped equation has multiple periodic solutions. To establish this multiplicity theorem, we prove an abstract degree theoretic result that can be used to prove multiplicity of solutions for more general operators and nonlinearities.Using physical constants from the engineers' reports of the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, we solve the damped equation numerically and observe that multiple periodic solutions exist and that whether the span oscillates with small or large amplitude depends only on its initial displacement and velocity. Moreover, we observe that the qualitative properties of our computed solutions are consistent with the behavior observed at Tacoma Narrows on the day of its collapse.
Distinct effects of endosomal escape and inhibition of endosomal trafficking on gene delivery via electrotransfection

A recent theory suggests that endocytosis is involved in uptake and intracellular transport of electrotransfected plasmid DNA (pDNA). The goal of the current study was to understand if approaches used previously to improve endocytosis of gene delivery vectors could be applied to enhancing electrotransfection efficiency (eTE). Results from the study showed that photochemically induced endosomal escape, which could increase poly-L-lysine (PLL)-mediated gene delivery, decreased eTE. The decrease could not be blocked by treatment of cells with endonuclease inhibitors (aurintricarboxylic acid and zinc ion) or antioxidants (L-glutamine and ascorbic acid). Chemical treatment of cells with an endosomal trafficking inhibitor that blocks endosome progression, bafilomycin A1, resulted in a significant decrease in eTE. However, treatment of cells with lysosomotropic agents (chloroquine and ammonium chloride) had little effects on eTE. These data suggested that endosomes played important roles in protecting and intracellular trafficking of electrotransfected pDNA.
Teacher Education Response To Reinventing Agricultural Education for the Year 2020: Use of Concept Mapping to Plan for Change.

Goals for agricultural education outlined in the results of the Reinventing Agricultural Education for the Year 2020projectproposed change at all levels of education including teacher education. For this study, teacher educators and other stakeholders provided input about what changes in preservice programs are needed in order to meet the needs of the future. A web-based statistical program was used to gather, sort, rate, and display the input in the form of a concept map, providing visualization of the concepts through cluster analysis. A group ofparticipants met to examine the results of the project and to determine any desired action based on the results. The group decided to promote the development of national standards for teacher education in agriculture. This decision was adopted by the Program Improvement Committee of the American Association of Agricultural Education as part of its Program of Work and represents a philosophical shift of the organization as it moves toward the next century.
Structural Equation Modelling as Instrument for Water Pollution Factor Analysis Study Case on Surabaya River Indonesia

Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) as a manifestation of multivariate analysis studied to be used as an instrument for decision making in factor analysis of water pollution. Variance based SEM could help with variables of water pollution which consists of qualitative and quantitative variables. Linear structural equation model obtained as a result of the study shows the contribution level among pollution factors. T-statistic values obtained by doing bootstrap model resample show the significances of pollution factors. Study resulted on conclusion that variance based Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) using Partial Least Square method (PLS-SEM) is sufficient enough to help decision making related to water pollution factors. Keywords— factor analysis, structural equation modelling, water pollution