Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Soluble factors regulated by epithelial–mesenchymal transition mediate tumour angiogenesis and myeloid cell recruitment

Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) programmes provide cancer cells with invasive and survival capacities that might favour metastatic dissemination. Whilst signalling cascades triggering EMT have been extensively studied, the impact of EMT on the crosstalk between tumour cells and the tumour microenvironment remains elusive. We aimed to identify EMT‐regulated soluble factors that facilitate the recruitment of host cells in the tumour. Our findings indicate that EMT phenotypes relate to the induction of a panel of secreted mediators, namely IL‐8, IL‐6, sICAM‐1, PAI‐1 and GM‐CSF, and implicate the EMT‐transcription factor Snail as a regulator of this process. We further show that EMT‐derived soluble factors are pro‐angiogenic in vivo (in the mouse ear sponge assay), ex vivo (in the rat aortic ring assay) and in vitro (in a chemotaxis assay). Additionally, conditioned medium from EMT‐positive cells stimulates the recruitment of myeloid cells. In a bank of 40 triple‐negative breast cancers, tumours presenting features of EMT were significantly more angiogenic and infiltrated by a higher quantity of myeloid cells compared to tumours with little or no EMT. Taken together, our results show that EMT programmes trigger the expression of soluble mediators in cancer cells that stimulate angiogenesis and recruit myeloid cells in vivo, which might in turn favour cancer spread. Copyright © 2015 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
S-duality and topological strings

In this paper we show how S-duality of type-IIB superstrings leads to an S-duality relating A- and B-model topological strings on the same Calabi-Yau as had been conjectured recently: D-instantons of the B-model correspond to A-model perturbative amplitudes and D-instantons of the A-model capture perturbative B-model amplitudes. Moreover this confirms the existence of new branes in the two models. As an application we explain the recent results concerning A-model topological strings on Calabi-Yau and its equivalence to the statistical mechanical model of melting crystal.
End-stage renal disease and primary hypogonadism associated with a 46,XX karyotype.

OBJECTIVE To determine the cause of absent sexual development in a 17-year-old girl with end-stage renal disease. DESIGN Case study. PARTICIPANT Seventeen-year-old girl with end-stage renal failure. INTERVENTIONS None. MEASUREMENTS/MAIN RESULTS The patient had phenotypically normal external female genitalia, müllerian duct hypoplasia, and no ovaries. Her serum gonadotropin levels were in the castrate range at baseline and after gonadotropin-releasing hormone stimulation. Her karyotype, in lymphocytes and cultured fibroblasts, was 46,XX. Analysis of genomic DNA, following polymerase chain reaction-amplication with oligonucleotide primers corresponding to the Y-encoded zinc finger protein ZFY and the testis-determining SRY gene, showed Y chromosome material in a male control but none in the patient. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest a diagnosis of Frasier syndrome, a disorder characterized by true gonadal dysgenesis and end-stage renal disease occurring in normal phenotypic girls. Although previously reported only in individuals with a 46,XX karyotype, our studies indicate that Frasier syndrome may also occur in 46,XX girls. Delayed puberty is not uncommon in renal failure. This case illustrates the importance of measuring gonadotropin levels in teenage girls with delayed puberty and renal failure, particularly if the origin of the renal disease is obscure.
T‐bet and pSTAT‐1 expression in PBMC from coeliac disease patients: new markers of disease activity

Coeliac disease (CD) is considered a T cell‐mediated autoimmune disease, and up‐regulation of T‐bet and phosphorylated signal transducers and activators of transcription (pSTAT)1, key transcription factors for the development of T helper type 1 (Th1) cells, has been described in the mucosa of patients with untreated CD. Using transcription factor analysis, we investigated whether T‐bet and pSTAT1 expressions are up‐regulated in the peripheral blood of CD patients and correlate with disease activity. Using flow cytometry, we analysed T‐bet, pSTAT1 and pSTAT3 expression in CD4+, CD8+ T cells, CD19+ B cells and monocytes from peripheral blood of 15 untreated and 15 treated CD patients and 30 controls, and longitudinally in five coeliac patients before and after dietary treatment. We evaluated using enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), interferon (FN)‐γ, interleukin (IL)‐17 and IL‐10 production by peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) cultures. T‐bet expression in CD4+, CD8+ T cells, CD19+ B cells and monocytes and IFN‐γ production by PBMC was higher in untreated than in treated CD patients and controls. pSTAT1 expression was higher in CD4+T cells, B cells and monocytes from untreated than from treated CD patients and controls. pSTAT3 was increased only in monocytes from untreated patients compared with CD‐treated patients and controls. The data obtained from the longitudinal evaluation of transcription factors confirmed these results. Flow cytometric analysis of pSTAT1 and T‐bet protein expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells could be useful and sensible markers in the follow‐up of CD patients to evaluate disease activity and response to dietary treatment.
Ulnar Osteotomy with 2-Pin Unilateral Gradual Distraction for Treatment of Chronic Monteggia Fracture: A Case Report

Missed Monteggia fracture leading to chronic radial head dislocation is a known complication. The surgical treatment options remain challenging. The aim of treatment is to reduce the radial head and to maintain the stability of the elbow in all ranges of motion. A few surgical techniques have been described with complications. We report the case of a 13 years old boy with chronic radial head dislocation as a result of an unrecognised Monteggia fracture-dislocation for eight years. We successfully reduced the radial head and corrected the cubital valgus from 45 degrees to 10 degrees with a proximal ulna osteotomy and gradual distraction with 2-pin Monotube external fixator. The correction was uneventful with good functional outcome.
Movie and video scale-time equalization application to flicker reduction

Image flicker is a general film effect, which can be observed in videos as well as in old films, and consists of fast variations of the frame contrast and brightness. Reducing flicker of a sequence improves its visual quality and can be an essential first treatment before ulterior manipulations. This paper presents an axiomatic analysis of the problem, which leads to a global and fast method of "de-flicker," based on the scale-space theory. The stability of this process, called scale-time equalization, is ensured by the scale-time framework. Results on different sequences are given and show great visual improvement.
Subtle Regulation of Potato Acid Invertase Activity by a Protein Complex of Invertase, Invertase Inhibitor, and SUCROSE NONFERMENTING1-RELATED PROTEIN KINASE1

Invertase activity is affected by a protein complex to modulate accumulation of reducing sugars in cold-stored potato tubers. Slowing down cold-induced sweetening (CIS) of potato (Solanum tuberosum) tubers is of economic importance for the potato industry to ensure high-quality products. The conversion of sucrose to reducing sugars by the acid invertase StvacINV1 is thought to be critical for CIS. Identification of the specific StvacINV1 inhibitor StInvInh2B and the α- and β-subunits of the interacting protein SUCROSE NONFERMENTING1-RELATED PROTEIN KINASE from the wild potato species Solanum berthaultii (SbSnRK1) has led to speculation that invertase activity may be regulated via a posttranslational mechanism that remains to be elucidated. Using bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays, this study confirmed the protein complex by pairwise interactions. In vitro kinase assays and protein phosphorylation analysis revealed that phosphorylation of SbSnRK1α is causal for StvacINV1 activity and that its active form blocks the inhibition of StInvInh2B by SbSnRK1β, whereas its inactive form restores the function of SbSnRK1β that prevents StInvInh2B from repressing StvacINV1. Overexpression of SbSnRK1α in CIS-sensitive potato confirmed that SbSnRK1α has significant effects on acid invertase-associated sucrose degradation. A higher level of SbSnRK1α expression was accompanied by elevated SbSnRK1α phosphorylation, reduced acid invertase activity, a higher sucrose-hexose ratio, and improved chip color. Our results lend new insights into a subtle regulatory mode of invertase activity and provide a novel approach for potato CIS improvement.
Calibration and Power of Probability Estimation Trees on Unbalanced Data

Probabilistic decision trees have found a wide array of applications, including but not limited to finance, medicine, and risk management. These applications, particularly medicine, can impose exacting requirements on the calibration of the classifier and the quality of the resulting estimates. It can be important for the classifier not only to produce efficient rank-ordering, but also robust probability estimates. Moreover, cost-sensitive learning can also require that the estimates produced be sound. In this paper, we comprehensively assess and evaluate the quality of probability estimates produced by decision trees learned on unbalanced datasets, particularly within an ensemble setting. We use negative cross entropy, brier score, and 0/1 loss to evaluate the accuracy of point predictions and quality of estimates. We also juxtapose the losses with the rank-ordering produced by the classifiers. We further provide the decomposition of brier score into calibration and refinement losses to comment on the calibration and power of the ensemble of PETs. Lastly, we study the effect of sampling methods for countering class imbalance on PETs.
Properties of Rank Metric Codes

This paper investigates general properties of codes with the rank metric. We first investigate asymptotic packing properties of rank metric codes. Then, we study sphere covering properties of rank metric codes, derive bounds on their parameters, and investigate their asymptotic covering properties. Finally, we establish several identities that relate the rank weight distribution of a linear code to that of its dual code. One of our identities is the counterpart of the MacWilliams identity for the Hamming metric, and it has a different form from the identity by Delsarte.
Factors affecting employment at initiation of dialysis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Half the individuals who reach ESRD are working age (< 65 years old) and many are at risk for job loss. Factors that contribute to job retention among working-age patients with chronic kidney disease before ESRD are unknown. The purpose of the study is to understand factors associated with maintaining employment among working-age patients with advanced kidney failure. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS In this retrospective study we reviewed the United States Renal Data System database (1992 through 2003) and selected all patients (n = 102,104) who were working age and employed 6 months before dialysis initiation. Factors that were examined for an association with maintaining employment status included demographics, comorbid conditions, ESRD cause, insurance, predialysis erythropoietin use, and dialysis modality. RESULTS Maintaining employment at the same level during the final 6 months before dialysis was more likely among (1) white men ages 30 to 49 years; (2) patients with either glomerulonephritis, cystic, or urologic causes of renal failure; (3) patients choosing peritoneal dialysis for their first treatment; (4) those with employer group or other health plans; and (5) erythropoietin usage before ESRD. Maintaining employment status was less likely among patients with congestive heart failure, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and other chronic illnesses. CONCLUSIONS The rate of unemployment in working-age patients with chronic kidney disease and ESRD is high compared with that of the general population. Treating anemia with erythropoietin before kidney failure and educating patients about work-friendly home dialysis options might improve job retention.
A design method of zero ripple input current DC-DC converter assisted by constrained GA&PSO algorithms to minimize power losses

The paper presents a constrained optimization procedure to design a DC-DC converter with coupled inductors for minimizing the power losses. Two algorithms have been used, Genetic and Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm, and the results have been compared. In particular, with the proposed technique, the electrical, magnetic and geometrical characteristics of the coupled inductors have been obtained and the values of duty cycle and frequency have been defined in order to obtain the maximum efficiency.
Associations of moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity and body mass index with glycated haemoglobin within the general population: a cross-sectional analysis of the 2008 Health Survey for England

Objectives To investigate the associations of objectively measured moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) and body mass index (BMI) with glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) in a national sample of English adults. Methods The 2008 Health Survey for England data were used with 1109 participants aged ≥18 providing complete data. MVPA time was assessed using an accelerometer. Weighted linear regression models, adjusted for several confounders, quantified the associations between continuous measures of MVPA and BMI with HbA1c. Interaction analyses were implemented to observe whether the association of MVPA with HbA1c was modified by BMI or vice versa. Further weighted linear regression models examined the differences in HbA1c across four mutually exclusive categories of MVPA and BMI: (1) ‘physically active and non-obese’, (2) ‘physically active and obese’, (3) ‘physically inactive and non-obese’ and (4) ‘physically inactive and obese’. ‘Physically active’ was defined as: ≥150 min/week of MVPA. ‘Obese’ was defined as: BMI ≥30.0 kg/m2. A wide range of sensitivity analyses were also implemented. Results Every 30 min/day increment in MVPA was associated with a 0.7 mmol/mol (0.07% (p<0.001)) lower HbA1c level. Each 1 kg/m2 increment in BMI was associated with a 0.2 mmol/mol (0.02% (p<0.001)) higher HbA1c level. The association of MVPA with HbA1c was stronger in obese individuals (−1.5 mmol/mol (−0.13% (p<0.001))) than non-obese individuals (−0.7 mmol/mol (−0.06% (p<0.001))); p=0.004 for interaction. The association of BMI with HbA1c remained stable across MVPA categories. Compared with individuals categorised as ‘physically inactive and obese’, only those categorised as ‘physically active and obese’ or ‘physically active and non-obese’ had lower HbA1c levels by 2.1 mmol/mol (0.19% (p=0.005)) and 3.5 mmol/mol (0.32% (p<0.001)), respectively. Sensitivity analyses indicated robustness and stability. Conclusions This study emphasises the importance of physical activity as a determinant of HbA1c, and suggests that the associations may be stronger in obese adults.
Replica plating of colonies from Listeria-selective agars to blood agar to improve the isolation of Listeria monocytogenes from foods

Bacterial colonies from Listeria-selective agars were replica plated to sheep blood agar to screen for beta-hemolysis. By using the replica plating method to test for the beta-hemolytic characteristic of all the colonies growing on Listeria-selective agars instead of picking 3 to 10 suspected colonies for further testing, we recovered Listeria monocytogenes from 59 of 142 Listeria-selective agar plates which contained colonies of hemolytic and nonhemolytic Listeria species and were negative when tested by conventional colony picks.
The Art Affinity Index (AAI)

The interplay of knowledge and art perception has been investigated over the past decades in various disciplines such as art sociology and aesthetic education. We present a brief overview of methodological approaches that investigated the effect of knowledge and expertise on the perception and appreciation of art. We then describe in detail the construction of the empirically grounded Art Affinity Index (AAI), which was formulated using exploratory factor analysis of questionnaire data received from 288 visitors to a fine arts museum in Switzerland. Subsequent confirmatory factor analysis in 289 other visitors showed the reliability and stability of the two AAI factors: Art relation and Art knowledge. The AAI was found to possess satisfactory validity and correlated meaningfully with visitors’ age and gender. These psychometric properties suggest the AAI is a convenient measure of art affinity. It provides a useful instrument for researchers in art sociology, visitor studies, and empirical aesthetics.
Varieties of Delinquent Youth

Those who have read Dr. Sheldon's earlier works, Varieties of Human Physique and Varieties of Human Temperament, will be acquainted with his general approach to psychological problems. He aims at discovering correlations between physical characteristics and psychological qualities? a sort of neoKretschmerism, but with the addition of a rating scale which makes it possible to describe that majority of us who are neither this, or that, or the
Nanocomputing Block based Multi-Context FPGA

As the minimum dimensions of CMOS transistors shrink down to 90 nm and below, some physical obstacles have been observed which prevent rigidly this miniaturization. For example, high transistor leakage currents lead to an important increase of the 'idle' power consumption of CMOS memory arrays (e.g. SRAM). This limits a number of applications, especially for FPGA circuit as its configuration data should be hold even it is in ‘idle’ state. Many emerging nano-devices are therefore the subject of research and development to help CMOS technology continue to down-scale. Among them, the twoterminal Memory Resistor (Nanomemristor) is one of the most promising candidates thanks to its non-volatility, small dimension and reasonable compatibility with CMOS process etc. The integration of emerging nano-devices requires some novel circuits and architectures. In this paper, we present a NAnocomputing Block (NAB) based on hybrid Nanomemristor/CMOS technology to address the FPGA logic applications. Benefiting from the NAB architecture, Multicontext FPGA can be realized easily in low area. Some special techniques for hybrid Nanomemristor/CMOS design and simulations are as well as shown by using STMicroelectronics CMOS65nm design kit.
Changes in genetic and environmental effects on growth during infancy.

BACKGROUND Accelerated infant growth is a possible explanation for the relation between birth weight and adult diseases. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to estimate the heritability of infant growth and to examine whether the genetic contribution changes with increasing or decreasing birth weight and gestational age. DESIGN Growth (change in weight z score) was analyzed in 522 infants from the East Flanders Prospective Twin Survey for age windows of 0-1, 1-6, 6-12, and 12-24 mo. Structural equation modeling was performed to estimate the relative importance of additive genetic, shared environmental, and unique environmental sources of variance. RESULTS We showed no genetic contribution to growth in the 0-1-mo growth period. However, at later ages, the heritability of growth was high at 94% (95% CI: 90%, 96%) from 1 to 6 mo, 85% (95% CI: 80%, 89%) from 6 to 12 mo, and 86% (95% CI: 77%, 91%) in the 12-24-mo growth period. Nevertheless, in the last age window, a model without genetic factors was also statistically plausible. From 0 to 1 mo, the genetic contribution to growth was low in the average birth weight range but higher at both extremes of birth weight. The genetic contribution from 0 to 1 mo increased with increasing gestational age from 36 wk of gestation onward. CONCLUSIONS This study shows that genetic factors are not important in early infant growth (0-1 mo), whereas heritability is high after 1 mo. Because many (nutritional) interventions are aimed at influencing early postnatal growth, to target long-term health, these interventions may be most successful if implemented in the first month of postnatal growth.
Generic evolutionary design of solid objects using a genetic algorithm

This thesis investigates the novel idea of using a computer to create and optimise conceptual designs of a range of differently-shaped three-dimensional solid objects from scratch. An extensive literature review evaluates all related areas of research and reveals that no such system exists. The development of a generic evolutionary design system, using a genetic algorithm (GA) as its core, is then presented. The thesis describes a number of significant advances necessitated by the development of this system. Firstly, a new low-parameter spatial-partitioning representation of solid objects is introduced, which allows a wide range of solid objects to be appropriately defined and easily manipulated by a GA. Secondly, multiobjective optimisation is investigated to allow users to define design problems without fine-tuning large numbers of weights. As a result of this, the new concepts of acceptability, range-independence and importance are introduced and a new multiobjective ranking method is identified as being most appropriate. Thirdly, variable-length chromosomes in GAs are addressed, to allow the number of primitive shapes that define a design to be variable. This problem is overcome by the use of a new hierarchical crossover operator, which uses the new concept of a semantic hierarchy to reference chromosomes. Additionally, the thesis describes how the performance of the GA is improved by using an explicit mapping stage between genotypes and phenotypes, steady-state reproduction with preferential selection, and a new lifespan limiter. A library of modular evaluation software is also presented, which allows a user to define new design problems quickly and easily by picking combinations of modules to guide the evolution of designs. Finally, the feasibility of the generic evolutionary design of solid objects is demonstrated by presenting the successful evolution of both conventional and unconventional designs for fifteen different solid-object design tasks, e.g. tables, heatsinks, penta-prisms, boat hulls, aerodynamic cars.
Investigation of RLS beamforming algorithm interms of energy efficiency

This work investigates the energy efficiency of Recursive Least Square (RLS) beamforming algorithm by developing a new energy model, which is a function of beam width, range, instantaneous signal to noise plus interference ratio (SNIR) and inter element spacing. It analyzes the effect of varying inter element spacing on linear array geometry for energy efficient beam formation. We evaluated the amount of energy saved and showed the advantage of selecting a better inter-element spacing for smart antenna installation. We also showed the advantage of checking the SNIR status of the user signal before releasing the beam energy from the base station antenna system. The result show that, installing antenna elements with 0. 5λ separation has better energy efficiency than smaller separation distance (0.1λ) or wider separation distance (1λ). Furthermore, it indicates that knowledge of the status of the user signal SNIR, facilitates for the base station to adaptively control the release of energy and to reduce the linear increment of energy per range.