Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
In vitro contractile and relaxant responses of human resistance placental stem villi arteries of healthy parturients: role of endothelium

Summary— As feto‐placental vessels in humans are not innervated, regulation of vascular tone in the fetal extracorporeal circulation most likely depends on either circulating hormones or local paracrine mechanisms. However, the latter have not yet been fully investigated. The aim of our study was to characterize vasomotor behaviour of resistance stem villi arteries when challenged with various constrictor and dilator agents, with special emphasis on the physiological importance of endothelium. The latter is poorly characterized in this particular vascular bed in humans. Villous stem arterial rings (internal diameter 182 ± 6 μm) were isolated under microscopy from term human placentae obtained after cesarean section. The vessels were mounted as ring preparations in an isometric myograph for tension measurements. Endothelium was removed from some of the rings by gentle insertion of a knotted human hair into the vascular lumen. Of the three vasoconstrictors tested, endothelin‐1 (ET‐1) showed the greatest potency, being 1,000 times more potent than serotonin and phenylephrine. The classical endothelium‐dependent vasodilators, acetylcholine, adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and histamine, caused dose‐dependent relaxation of the rings; an effect which was completely abolished by the removal of endothelium. Pre‐treatment with the nitric oxide (NO) synthase inhibitor, Nω‐nitro‐L‐arginine, also markedly reduced the endotheliumdependent relaxant responses to ADP. By contrast, the vasodilatory response to sodium nitroprusside was not affected by endothelial removal. We conclude that i) ET‐1 is a potent vasoconstrictor of the human placental vascular bed and ii) placental villous endothelial cells synthesize and release relaxing factor(s) which could possibly be NO.
The Anti-Proliferative Effects of the CHFR Depend on the Forkhead Associated Domain, but not E3 Ligase Activity Mediated by Ring Finger Domain

The CHFR protein comprises fork head associated- (FHA) and RING-finger (RF) domain and is frequently downregulated in human colon and gastric cancers up to 50%. The loss of CHFR mRNA expression is a consequence of promoter methylation, suggesting a tumor suppressor role for this gene in gastrointestinal carcinogenesis. In terms of the biological functions of CHFR, it has been shown to activate cell cycle checkpoint when cells are treated with microtubule depolymerizing agents. Furthermore, CHFR was reported to have E3 ligase activity and promote ubiquitination and degradation of oncogenic proteins such as Aurora A and polo-like kinase 1. However, molecular pathways involved in the tumor suppressive function of CHFR are not yet clear since the two established roles of this protein are likely to inhibit cell growth. In this study, we have identified that the FHA domain of CHFR protein is critical for growth suppressive properties, whereas the RF and cysteine rich domains (Cys) are not required for this function. In contrast, the RF and Cys domains are essential for E3 ligase activity of CHFR. By the use of a cell cycle checkpoint assay, we also confirmed that the FHA domain of CHFR plays an important role in initiating a cell cycle arrest at G2/M, indicating a functional link exists between the anti-proliferative effects and checkpoint function of this tumor suppressor protein via this domain. Collectively, our data show that the checkpoint function of the FHA domain of CHFR is a core component of anti-proliferative properties against the gastrointestinal carcinogenesis.
Use and Performance of the Melody Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve in Native and Postsurgical, Nonconduit Right Ventricular Outflow Tracts

Background—Melody Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve (TPV) replacement therapy represents an important advance in congenital cardiovascular interventions. The off-label extension of the Melody TPV to patients with nonconduit outflow tracts (right ventricular outflow tract [RVOT]) has the potential to vastly expand the population of patients eligible to benefit from nonsurgical restoration of RVOT function. However, knowledge on the performance of the Melody TPV in this setting is limited. Methods and Results—This is a multicenter, retrospective review of the Melody TPV when placed in nonconduit RVOTs, in which at least a portion of the circumference was composed of native tissue. Five centers contributed data on 31 patients. The median age at implantation was 24 years (range, 7–66). At a median follow-up of 15 months, all patients were alive. No patient had greater than mild TPV insufficiency, and the median maximum instantaneous gradients across the RVOT was 23 mm Hg. Stent fracture occurred in 32%. Eight patients developed more than mild TPV obstruction, of whom 6 were associated with identified stent fracture. Three patients developed blood stream infections. There were 5 reinterventions in 3 patients, including 3 repeat TPV implantations and 2 TPV explantations. Conclusions—Melody TPV implantation is feasible in selected patients with RVOTs comprised solely or predominantly native tissue and has the potential to expand the population of patients eligible to benefit from nonsurgical restoration of RVOT function. In early follow-up, valve competency seems preserved. The dominant mechanism of valve dysfunction seems to be related to stent fracture with recurrent obstruction. Additional data are necessary to better understand how to safely expand TPV therapy to this population.
Turbo-SMT: Accelerating Coupled Sparse Matrix-Tensor Factorizations by 200x

How can we correlate the neural activity in the human brain as it responds to typed words, with properties of these terms (like 'edible', 'fits in hand')? In short, we want to find latent variables, that jointly explain both the brain activity, as well as the behavioral responses. This is one of many settings of the Coupled Matrix-Tensor Factorization (CMTF) problem. Can we accelerate any CMTF solver, so that it runs within a few minutes instead of tens of hours to a day, while maintaining good accuracy? We introduce TURBO-SMT, a meta-method capable of doing exactly that: it boosts the performance of any CMTF algorithm, by up to 200×, along with an up to 65 fold increase in sparsity, with comparable accuracy to the baseline. We apply TURBO-SMT to BRAINQ, a dataset consisting of a (nouns, brain voxels, human subjects) tensor and a (nouns, properties) matrix, with coupling along the nouns dimension. TURBO-SMT is able to find meaningful latent variables, as well as to predict brain activity with competitive accuracy.
Adaptive optics imaging of low and intermediate redshift quasars

We present the results of AO imaging (H and K bands) of 12 low and intermediate redshift (z 15. 0) themselves as reference for the correction, have typical spatial resolution of FWHM ~ 0. 3 arcsec before deconvolution. The deconvolved H-band image of PG 1700+514 has a spatial resolution of 0. 15 arcsec and reveals a wealth of details on the companion and the host-galaxy.
Magnetostriction in thin ferromagnetic layers for applications in data-heads

Disclaimer This document contains a student thesis (bachelor's or master's), as authored by a student at Eindhoven University of Technology. Student theses are made available in the TU/e repository upon obtaining the required degree. The grade received is not published on the document as presented in the repository. The required complexity or quality of research of student theses may vary by program, and the required minimum study period may vary in duration.
Air conditioning and source-specific particles as modifiers of the effect of PM(10) on hospital admissions for heart and lung disease.

Studies on acute effects of particulate matter (PM) air pollution show significant variability in exposure-effect relations among cities. Recent studies have shown an influence of ventilation on personal/indoor-outdoor relations and stronger associations of adverse effects with combustion-related particles. We evaluated whether differences in prevalence of air conditioning (AC) and/or the contribution of different sources to total PM(10) emissions could partly explain the observed variability in exposure-effect relations. We used regression coefficients of the relation between PM(10) and hospital admissions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cardiovascular disease (CVD), and pneumonia from a recent study in 14 U.S. cities. We obtained data on the prevalence of AC from the 1993 American Housing Survey and data on PM(10) emissions by source category, vehicle miles traveled (VMT), and population density from the U.S. EPA. We analyzed data using meta-regression techniques. PM(10) regression coefficients for CVD and COPD decreased significantly with increasing percentage of homes with central AC when cities were stratified by whether their PM(10) concentrations peaked in winter or non-winter months. PM(10) coefficients for CVD increased significantly with increasing percentage of PM(10) emission from highway vehicles, highway diesels, oil combustion, metal processing, decreasing percentage of PM(10) emission from fugitive dust, and increasing population density and VMT/mile(2). In multivariate analysis, only percentage of PM(subscript)10(/subscript) from highway vehicles/diesels and oil combustion remained significant. For COPD and pneumonia, associations were less significant but the patterns of the associations were similar to that for CVD. The results suggest that air conditioning and proportion of especially traffic-related particles significantly modify the effect of PM(10) on hospital admissions, especially for CVD.
Dielectrophoretic transport of fluoride into enamel.

PURPOSE To compare both quantitatively and qualitatively, the efficacy of dielectrophoresis to diffusion on the uptake of fluoride by enamel. METHODS A 1.23% APF gel was applied to 16 bovine incisor specimens for 20 minutes by dielectrophoresis or diffusion. Absorption and penetration were evaluated by wavelength dispersive spectrometry. RESULTS Fluoride concentrations in the diffusion group were significantly higher than baseline readings at 10 and 20 microm depths; fluoride concentration in dielectrophoretically treated teeth was significantly higher than the diffusion group at 10, 20, and 50 microm (ANOVA/Student-Newman-Keuls post hoc, P = 0.05). Significantly higher fluoride uptake was found with dielectrophoresis compared to passive diffusion at 10, 20, and 50 microm depths (paired t-test, P = 0.05). Dielectrophoresis doubled fluoride uptake in the superficial layers compared to passive diffusion, and drove the fluoride significantly deeper with an uptake six times higher than diffusion at 50 microm depth. Dielectrophoresis enhanced penetration and increased uptake of fluoride on average by 600% at 50 microm. The amount of fluoride delivered at 50 microm was equivalent to long-term exposure of prophylactic fluoride. With proper polarizing frequencies, dielectrophoresis could enhance fluoride delivery into tooth enamel at higher penetration depths and concentrations than diffusion.
Mobile Model and Location Management for PCS Systems

The fluid-flow model is suitable for vehicle traffic on highways but not for pedestrian movements with frequent "stop-and-go" behavior. Considering the change of a mobile's velocity within a short time is limited due to physical restrictions, therefore a mobile user's future velocity is likely to be correlated with its past and current velocity. Since Gauss-Markov model captures the essence of the correlation of a mobile's velocity in time, we propose a Gauss-Markov process based fluid model that it is suitable for both vehicle traffic on highways and pedestrian in street, and presents the total cost of location management for the Gauss-Markov process based fluid model. The performance evaluation and comparison of the Gauss-Markov process based fluid model location update scheme and existing fluid model based location update scheme are studied
A Practical Distributed String Matching Algorithm Architecture and Implementation

Traditional parallel single string matching algorithms are always based on PRAM computation model. Those algorithms concentrate on the cost optimal design and the theoretical speed. Based on the distributed string matching algorithm proposed by CHEN, a practical distributed string matching algorithm architecture is proposed in this paper. And also an improved single string matching algorithm based on a variant Boyer-Moore algorithm is presented. We implement our algorithm on the above architecture and the experiments prove that it is really practical and efficient on distributed memory machine. Its computation complexity is O(n/p + m), where n is the length of the text, and m is the length of the pattern, and p is the number of the processors. Keywords—Boyer-Moore algorithm, distributed algorithm, parallel string matching, string matching.
Genetic algorithm with multi-colony dynamic reproduction

In this paper, a new paradigm for genetic algorithms that makes use of the dynamic-system-model-based reproduction with the concept of multiple colonies is introduced. In the reproduction operator based on dynamic system model, information about location and fitness of the best individual within the current population is utilized to guide candidate solutions towards new locations closer to the best according to a dynamic-system-model-based guidance technique. This operator is designed to be favorable for exploitation. In order to overcome the loss of diversity and premature convergence issues, a multiple colonies version of the reproduction based on dynamic system model is introduced. Preliminary results from experimental study demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
American Society of Clinical Oncology recommendations on adjuvant chemotherapy for stage II colon cancer.

PURPOSE To address whether all medically fit patients with curatively resected stage II colon cancer should be offered adjuvant chemotherapy as part of routine clinical practice, to identify patients with poor prognosis characteristics, and to describe strategies for oncologists to use to discuss adjuvant chemotherapy in practice. METHODS An American Society of Clinical Oncology Panel, in collaboration with the Cancer Care Ontario Practice Guideline Initiative, reviewed pertinent information from the literature through May 2003. RESULTS A literature-based meta-analysis found no evidence of a statistically significant survival benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy for stage II patients. Recommendations The routine use of adjuvant chemotherapy for medically fit patients with stage II colon cancer is not recommended. However, there are populations of patients with stage II disease that could be considered for adjuvant therapy, including patients with inadequately sampled nodes, T4 lesions, perforation, or poorly differentiated histology. CONCLUSION Direct evidence from randomized controlled trials does not support the routine use of adjuvant chemotherapy for patients with stage II colon cancer. Patients and oncologists who accept the relative benefit in stage III disease as adequate indirect evidence of benefit for stage II disease are justified in considering the use of adjuvant chemotherapy, particularly for those patients with high-risk stage II disease. The ultimate clinical decision should be based on discussions with the patient about the nature of the evidence supporting treatment, the anticipated morbidity of treatment, the presence of high-risk prognostic features on individual prognosis, and patient preferences. Patients with stage II disease should be encouraged to participate in randomized trials.
Social fishes and single mothers: brain evolution in African cichlids

As with any organ, differences in brain size—after adequate control of allometry—are assumed to be a response to selection. With over 200 species and an astonishing diversity in niche preferences and social organization, Tanganyikan cichlids present an excellent opportunity to study brain evolution. We used phylogenetic comparative analyses of sexed adults from 39 Tanganyikan cichlid species in a multiple regression framework to investigate the influence of ecology, sexual selection and parental care patterns on whole brain size, as well as to analyse sex-specific effects. First, using species-specific measures, we analysed the influence of diet, habitat, form of care (mouthbrooding or substrate guarding), care type (biparental or female only) and intensity of sexual selection on brain size, while controlling for body size. Then, we repeated the analyses for male and female brain size separately. Type of diet and care type were significantly correlated with whole brain size. Sex-specific analyses showed that female brain size correlated significantly with care type while male brain size was uncorrelated with care type. Our results suggest that more complex social interactions associated with diet select for larger brains and further that the burden of uniparental care exerts high cognitive demands on females.
Analyzing the Effectiveness of a Frame-Level Redundancy Scrubbing Technique for SRAM-based FPGAs

Radiation effects such as soft errors are the major threat to the reliability of SRAM-based FPGAs. This work analyzes the effectiveness in correcting soft errors of a novel scrubbing technique using internal frame redundancy called Frame-level Redundancy Scrubbing (FLR-scrubbing). This correction technique can be implemented in a coarse grain TMR design. The FLR-scrubbing technique was implemented on a mid-size Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGA device used as a case study. The FLR-scrubbing technique was tested under neutron radiation and fault injection. Implementation results demonstrated minimum area and energy consumption overhead when compared to other techniques. The time to repair the fault is also improved by using the Internal Configuration Access Port (ICAP). Neutron radiation test results demonstrated that the proposed technique is suitable for correcting accumulated SEUs and MBUs.
Novel Isolated High-Step-Up DC–DC Converter With Voltage Lift

A novel two-switch high-step-up isolated converter with voltage lift is proposed in this paper. The proposed isolated converter utilizes a transformer with low turn ratio to achieve high step-up gain. The secondary winding charges two boosting capacitors in parallel as switches during the switch-on period, and two boosting capacitors are discharged in series during the switch-off period. Thus, the converter has high voltage gain with appropriate duty ratio. In addition, by using two clamping diodes and a capacitor on the primary side, leakage energy is recycled, and the voltage spikes of the two active switches are clamped, thereby improving conversion efficiency. Finally, experimental results based on a prototype implemented in the laboratory with an input voltage of 24 V, an output voltage of 200 V, and an output power of 200 W verify the performance of the proposed isolated converter; full-load efficiency is nearly 93%.
The Factors Influencing Transit Ridership: A Review and Analysis of the Ridership Literature

What explains transit ridership? The answer to this simple question is both obvious and complex. Public transit systems carry large shares of person travel in older, larger metropolitan areas around the globe, but in most places – old and new, large and small – transit is losing market share to private vehicles. Nationally, only 2.1 percent of all trips were on public transit in 2001, compared to 85.8 percent by private vehicle, 9.9 percent by foot and bicycle, and 2.2 percent by other means (2001 National Household Travel Survey). Even the most casual observer of cities can offer informed speculation on why the share of year 2000 commuters using public transit in metropolitan San Francisco (19 percent) in nearly five times higher than in metropolitan Atlanta (4 percent). Population density, levels of private vehicle ownership, topography, freeway network extent, parking availability and cost, transit network extent and service frequency, transit fares, transit system safety and cleanliness, and so on all surely play a role. But the relatively importance of these various factors, and the interaction between them is not well understood. Yet understanding the relative influence of these factors is central to public policy debates over transportation system investments and the pricing and deployment of transit services. But the research literature on explaining transit ridership is surprisingly uneven, in some cases poorly conceived, and the results are often ambiguous or contradictory. The goal of this paper is to review the literature on explaining transit ridership, critique the sometimes significant weaknesses in previous studies, draw conclusions from the more rigorous studies on the factors which most influence transit use, and recommendations on the steps needed to better understand and explain transit ridership. To do this, we begin by offering a taxonomy of public transit ridership research.
Cognitive approaches to delusions: a critical review of theories and evidence.

PURPOSE To review critically the evidence for three contemporary theories of delusions. METHODS The theoretical approaches to delusions proposed by Frith and colleagues ('theory of mind' deficits), Garety and colleagues (multi-factorial, but involving probabilistic reasoning biases) and Bentall and colleagues (attributional style and self-discrepancies) are summarised. The findings of empirical papers directly relevant to these proposals are critically reviewed. These papers were identified by computerised literature searches (for the years 1987-1997) and a hand search. RESULTS The evidence does not unequivocally support any of the approaches as proposed. However, strong evidence is found to support modifications of Garety and colleagues' and Bentall and colleagues' theories. Studies have replicated a 'jumping to conclusions' data-gathering bias and an externalising attributional bias in people with delusions. There is preliminary evidence for a 'theory of mind' deficit, as proposed by Frith, although possibly related to a more general reasoning bias. Evidence for an underlying discrepancy between ideal and actual self-representations is weaker. CONCLUSIONS A multi-factorial model of delusion formation and maintenance incorporating a data-gathering bias and attributional style, together with other factors (e.g. perceptual processing, meta-representation) is consistent with the current evidence. It is recommended that these findings be incorporated into cognitive therapy approaches. However, there are limitations to existing research. Future studies should incorporate longitudinal designs and first episode studies, and should not neglect the co-morbidity of delusions, including affective processes, or the multi-dimensional nature of delusions.
Risk-Taking Behaviour and Criminal Offending: An Investigation of Sensation Seeking and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire

This study investigated relationships between hostility, Zuckerman’s sensation seeking, and Eysenck and Eysenck’s personality scales within a prison population, to explore whether they could be conceptualized in terms of two socialized and unsocialized sensation seeking factors. Participants included 79 incarcerated adult male offenders (age range = 18- 62). Findings support the distinction between socialized and unsocialized sensation seeking and suggest that these factors represent more overarching personality factors. Psychoticism was a clear marker of the more broad impulsive, unsocialized sensation seeking factor, rather than representing a supertrait in its own right. This factor was also represented by lie, disinhibition, and boredom susceptibility scales. Findings relating to hostility also supported such a reformulation, as unsocialized scales did cluster together to predict the unsocialized hostility factor, whereas unsocialized scales did not. The results demonstrate the need for a theoretical reformulation of the two given theories of personality.