Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical characteristics of chronic idiopathic intestinal pseudo-obstruction in adults

Background—Chronic idiopathic intestinal pseudo-obstruction, a syndrome of ineffectual motility due to a primary disorder of enteric nerve or muscle, is rare. Aims—To determine the clinical spectrum, underlying pathologies, response to treatments, and prognosis in a consecutive unselected group of patients. Methods—Cross sectional study of all patients with clinical and radiological features of intestinal obstruction in the absence of organic obstruction, associated with dilated small intestine (with or without dilated large intestine), being actively managed in one tertiary referral centre at one time. Results—Twenty patients (11 men and nine women, median age 43 years, range 22–67) fulfilled the diganostic criteria. Median age at onset of symptoms was 17 years (range two weeks to 59 years). Two patients had an autosomally dominant inherited visceral myopathy. Major presenting symptoms were pain (80%), vomiting (75%), constipation (40%), and diarrhoea (20%). Eighteen patients required abdominal surgery, and a further patient had a full thickness rectal biopsy. The mean time interval from symptom onset to first operation was 5.8 years. Histology showed visceral myopathy in 13, visceral neuropathy in three, and was indeterminate in three. In the one other patient small bowel motility studies were suggestive of neuropathy. Two patients died within two years of symptom onset, one from generalised thrombosis and the other from an inflammatory myopathy. Of the remaining 18 patients, eight were nutritionally independent of supplements, two had gastrostomy or jejunostomy feeds, and eight were receiving home parenteral nutrition. Five patients were opiate dependent, only one patient had benefited from prokinetic drug therapy, and five patients required formal psychological intervention and support. Conclusions—In a referral setting visceral myopathy is the most common diagnosis in this heterogeneous syndrome, the course of the illness is usually prolonged, and prokinetic drug therapies are not usually helpful. Ongoing management problems include pain relief and nutritional support.
Supporting software distributed shared memory with an optimizing compiler

To execute a shared memory program efficiently, we have to manage memory consistency with low overheads, and have to utilize communication bandwidth of the platform as much as possible. A software distributed shared memory (DSM) can solve these problems via proper support by an optimizing compiler. The optimizing compiler can detect shared write operations, using interprocedural points-to analysis. It also coalesces shared write commitments onto contiguous regions, and removes redundant write commitments, using interprocedural redundancy elimination. A page based target software DSM system can utilize communication bandwidth, owing to coalescing optimization. We have implemented the above optimizing compiler and a run time software DSM on AP1000+. We have obtained a high speed-up ratio with the SPLASH-2 benchmark suite. The result shows that using an optimizing compiler to assist a software DSM is a promising approach to obtain a good performance. It also shows that the appropriate protocol selection at a write commitment is an effective optimization.
Building Communities Through Role Models, Mentors, and Hands-on-Science.

The use of community resources in science education, as a means to expand students’ educational opportunities, is particularly important in urban areas serving mostly low-income students. This paper describes an after-school science program intended to provide a group of minority middle school girls with science experiences related to one of the largest industries in the area—the automobile industry. The program was implemented by a group of women engineers who served as role models and mentors and guided the girls through hands-on science activities related to automobile engineering. The program was successful in improving the students’ attitudes toward science, engineering, and mathematics.
Ionic mechanism of electroresponsiveness in cerebellar granule cells implicates the action of a persistent sodium current.

Although substantial knowledge has been accumulated on cerebellar granule cell voltage-dependent currents, their role in regulating electroresponsiveness has remained speculative. In this paper, we have used patch-clamp recording techniques in acute slice preparations to investigate the ionic basis of electroresponsiveness of rat cerebellar granule cells at a mature developmental stage. The granule cell generated a Na+-dependent spike discharge resistant to voltage and time inactivation, showing a linear frequency increase with injected currents. Action potentials arose when subthreshold depolarizing potentials, which were driven by a persistent Na+ current, reached a critical threshold. The stability and linearity of the repetitive discharge was based on a complex mechanism involving a N-type Ca2+ current blocked by omega-CTx GVIA, and a Ca2+-dependent K+ current blocked by charibdotoxin and low tetraethylammonium (TEA; <1 mM); a voltage-dependent Ca2+-independent K+ current blocked by high TEA (>1 mM); and an A current blocked by 2 mM 4-aminopyridine. Weakening TEA-sensitive K+ currents switched the granule cell into a bursting mode sustained by the persistent Na+ current. A dynamic model is proposed in which the Na+ current-dependent action potential causes secondary Ca2+ current activation and feedback voltage- and Ca2+-dependent afterhyperpolarization. The afterhyperpolarization reprimes the channels inactivated in the spike, preventing adaptation and bursting and controlling the duration of the interspike interval and firing frequency. This result reveals complex dynamics behind repetitive spike discharge and suggests that a persistent Na+ current plays an important role in action potential initiation and in the regulation of mossy fiber-granule cells transmission.
Melanocytes in long-standing sun-exposed skin: quantitative analysis using the MART-1 immunostain.

OBJECTIVE To help distinguish early melanoma from normal sun-damaged skin by quantifying the density, confluence, and depth of follicular penetration of melanocytes in long-standing sun-exposed skin of the face and neck. DESIGN Case series. SETTING Referral center. PATIENTS Random selection of 149 patients undergoing Mohs surgery for basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas of the face and neck. INTERVENTION Frozen-section slides were made from long-standing sun-exposed normal skin and stained with MART-1 (melanoma antigen recognized by T cells 1 staining) immunostain. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The number, confluence, and depth of penetration of melanocytes along the follicular epithelium were quantified per high-power field (original magnification x 400, equivalent to 0.5 mm of skin). Confluence was categorized by the number of adjacent melanocytes (none, 0-1; mild, 2; moderate, 3-6; and severe, >6). RESULTS The mean number of melanocytes per high-power field was 15.6 (range, 6-29). Confluence was severe in 1.0% of the specimens, moderate in 34.0%, mild in 54.0%, and absent in 11.0%. Focal areas of increased melanocyte density occurred in 24.2% of the specimens; in these areas, the mean number of melanocytes per high-power field was 20.3 (range, 7-36) and the confluence of melanocytes was severe in 13.0%, moderate in 50.0%, and mild in 37.0%. The mean depth of follicular epithelium penetration by melanocytes was 0.38 mm. Pagetoid spread and nesting of melanocytes were not seen. Nonspecific scattered MART-1-staining dermal cells were in half of the slides. CONCLUSIONS Melanocytes in long-standing sun-exposed skin have an increased density and a confluence that is often moderate (3-6 adjacent melanocytes), but they do not exhibit pagetoid spread or nesting. Nonspecific MART-1-staining dermal cells should not be interpreted as invasive melanoma.
Scattering by multilayered periodic structures containing asymmetric dielectric and metallic components

Studies of wave scattering by structures that exhibit a multilayered geometry along the vertical axis and a periodic variation along the horizontal one have been stimulated by problems relevant to radio-wave propagation in urban environments, light-beam processing in optoelectronic devices, antenna arrays and other areas. However, most studies have considered situations having symmetric periodicity cells only, or asymmetric cells that contain either dielectric or metallic materials, but not both. To explore a wider class of such configurations, we have extended a previously developed modal transmission line approach so that asymmetric cells that include both dielectric and metallic components can now also be treated. The metallic portions are assumed to be perfectly conducting but they can be thick and may have arbitrary forms. Our approach can address structures having any number of layers, but we illustrate it by considering a geometry that models the cross-section of a building wall.
Dynamic Markers: UAV Landing Proof of Concept

In this paper, we introduce a dynamic fiducial marker which can change its appearance according to the spatiotemporal requirements of the visual perception task of a mobile robot using a camera as the sensor. We present a control scheme to dynamically change the appearance of the marker in order to increase the range of detection and to assure a better accuracy on the close range. The marker control takes into account the camera to marker distance (which influences the scale of the marker in image coordinates) to select which fiducial markers to display. Hence, we realize a tight coupling between the visual pose control of the mobile robot and the appearance of the dynamic fiducial marker. Additionally, we discuss the practical implications of time delays due to processing time and communication delays between the robot and the marker. Finally, we propose a real-time dynamic marker visual servoing control scheme for quadcopter landing and evaluate the performance on a real-world example.
Tiger beetles pursue prey using a proportional control law with a delay of one half-stride

Tiger beetles are fast diurnal predators capable of chasing prey under closed-loop visual guidance. We investigated this control system using statistical analyses of high-speed digital recordings of beetles chasing a moving prey dummy in a laboratory arena. Correlation analyses reveal that the beetle uses a proportional control law in which the angular position of the prey relative to the beetle's body axis drives the beetle's angular velocity with a delay of about 28 ms. The proportionality coefficient or system gain, 12 s−1, is just below critical damping. Pursuit simulations using the derived control law predict angular orientation during pursuits with a residual error of about 7°. This is of the same order of magnitude as the oscillation imposed by the beetle's alternating tripod gait, which was not factored into the control law. The system delay of 28 ms equals a half-stride period, i.e. the time between the touch down of alternating tripods. Based on these results, we propose a physical interpretation of the observed control law: to turn towards its prey, the beetle on average exerts a sideways force proportional to the angular position of the prey measured a half-stride earlier.
Platelet GPIb-IX has suppressive effects on septic inflammation.

Platelets are normally responsible for the arrest of bleeding but this function, for example, their ability to aggregate can contribute to pathological states, such as atherosclerosis and heart disease. In addition to their obvious role in hemostasis/thrombosis, platelets also seem to be firmly rooted with a great deal of other tasks primarily related to inflammatory/immune mechanisms.1 In particular, platelets express many important immune molecules such as T- and B-lymphocyte costimulatory CD154/CD40 molecules, bactericidal proteins, and most of the members of the Toll-like receptor family.1 It is becoming increasingly recognized that these types of molecules empower platelets with the ability to play critical proinflammatory immune-like roles in infectious states such as sepsis. Toll-like receptors are germline pattern recognition receptors and probably the most important immune sentinels of infectious attack, and all 13 members contain a common structural motif in the form of leucine-rich repeat units. Similarly, the GPIb-IX complex on the platelet also contains leucine-rich repeat; however, whether this shared sequence with Toll-like receptors confers anti-infectious properties to GPIb-IX is not clear.2,3 In this issue, Corken …
Sparse imaging for fast electron microscopy

Scanning electron microscopes (SEMs) are used in neuroscience and materials science to image centimeters of sample area at nanometer scales. Since imaging rates are in large part SNR-limited, large collections can lead to weeks of around-the-clock imaging time. To increase data collection speed, we propose and demonstrate on an operational SEM a fast method to sparsely sample and reconstruct smooth images. To accurately localize the electron probe position at fast scan rates, we model the dynamics of the scan coils, and use the model to rapidly and accurately visit a randomly selected subset of pixel locations. Images are reconstructed from the undersampled data by compressed sensing inversion using image smoothness as a prior. We report image fidelity as a function of acquisition speed by comparing traditional raster to sparse imaging modes. Our approach is equally applicable to other domains of nanometer microscopy in which the time to position a probe is a limiting factor (e.g., atomic force microscopy), or in which excessive electron doses might otherwise alter the sample being observed (e.g., scanning transmission electron microscopy).
Capacity-Fading Model of Lithium-Ion Battery Applicable to Multicell Storage Systems

This paper proposes a capacity-fading model of a lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery. The model includes two capacity fade mechanisms, i.e., loss of lithium and increased cell resistance. It is based on a conventional model consisting of a voltage source and three internal resistances. The voltage source is a function of the amount of lithium in the positive electrode. The shape of voltage curve is affected by the discharging current. Its effect is larger than that of internal resistances, and is included in the model. Some parameters vary with the cumulative charge involved in the cycling. A closed form of the capacity is derived. The model reproduces variation in voltage curve due to the capacity fading. The model is applied to a pack of four parallel-connected batteries. It is degraded as a single battery, but some unevenness exists among batteries. The model accurately expresses their behaviors.
Interrelations Between Brachial Endothelial Function and Carotid Intima-Media Thickness in Young Adults: The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study

Background—Endothelial vasodilator dysfunction and carotid intima-media thickening (IMT) are 2 indicators of subclinical cardiovascular disease. We examined their correlation and interaction with risk factors in a large, community-based cohort of young adults. Methods and Results—As part of the longitudinal Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study, we measured endothelium-dependent brachial artery flow–mediated dilatation (FMD) and carotid artery IMT by ultrasound in 2109 healthy adults aged 24 to 39 years. FMD was inversely associated with IMT (P≤0.001) in a multivariate model adjusted for age, sex, brachial vessel size, and several risk variables. The subjects with age- and sex-specific FMD values in the extreme deciles were classified into groups of impaired (n=204, FMD=1.1±1.4%, mean±SD) and enhanced (n=204, FMD=16.3±2.9%) FMD response. The number of risk factors was correlated with increased IMT in subjects with an impaired FMD response (P<0.05) but not in subjects with an enhanced FMD response (P>0.2). Conclusions—Brachial FMD is inversely associated with carotid IMT. The number of risk factors in young adults is correlated with increased IMT in subjects with evidence of endothelial dysfunction, but not in subjects with preserved endothelial function. These observations suggest that endothelial dysfunction is an early event in atherosclerosis and that the status of systemic endothelial function may modify the association between risk factors and atherosclerosis.
Personalización estructural basada en criterios de usabilidad

El filtrado personalizado en aplicaciones Web consiste basicamente en la seleccion un subconjunto de los elementos de un gran conjunto de objetos, de acuerdo a las caracteristicas del usuario. Las tecnicas mas habituales para realizarlo, como son el filtrado basado en contenidos o el basado en las preferencias de grupos, utilizan de manera directa o indirecta informacion sobre el dominio de la aplicacion, y tienen en cuenta el contenido de los objetos filtrados. En este trabajo, se presenta el filtrado estructural como una tecnica complementaria, en la cual el filtrado es independiente del contenido de los objetos, y que trata de adaptar caracteristicas propias de los mismos, como su tamano o forma, teniendo en cuenta criterios de usabilidad. Como ambito de aplicacion y estudio se ha utilizado el marco del aprendizaje en Internet, y se describen tecnicas de agregacion y cuantificacion borrosa que pueden aplicarse en los procesos de adaptacion estructural.
The Journal of Experimental Medicine

The concept of tumor surveillance implies that specific and non-specific components of the immune system eliminate tumors in the early phase of malignancy. Understanding the biochemical mechanisms of tumor immunosurveillance is of paramount significance because it might allow one to specifically modulate spontaneous anti-tumor activity. Here we report that inactivation of the E3 ligase Cbl-b confers spontaneous in vivo rejection of tumor cells that express Human Papilloma Virus antigens. Moreover, cbl-b -/- mice develop significantly fewer UVB-induced skin malignancies and reject UVB-induced skin tumors. CD8 + T cells were identified as key players in the spontaneous tumor rejection response. Loss of Cbl-b not only enhances anti-tumor reactivity of CD8 + T cells but also occurs in the absence of CD4 + T cells. Mechanistically, cbl-b -/- CD8 + T cells are resistant to Treg mediated suppression and exhibit enhanced activation and rapid tumor infiltration. Importantly, therapeutic transfer of naïve cbl-b -/- CD8 + T cells is sufficient to mediate rejection of established tumors. Even up to one year after the first encounter with the tumor cells, cbl-b -/- mice carry an “anti-cancer memory”. These data identify Cbl-b as a key signaling molecule that controls spontaneous anti-tumor activity of cytotoxic T cells in different cancer models. Inhibition of Cbl-b is a novel approach to stimulate long-lasting immunity against cancer. fixed in acetone according to standard methods. Slides were incubated in the appropriate dilution of anti-CD8 (clone 53-6.7; Becton Dickinson) and an Alexa-488 labeled secondary antibody (Molecular Probes) and examined using a Zeiss 200M confocal microscope and the LSM510Meta software. Statistical differences for the development of tumors between the two strains of mice were determined using a log-rank test. Re-stimulation and intracellular cytokine staining. Cells were isolated from spleens and lymph nodes of tumor bearing cbl-b -/- and cbl-b +/+ mice as well as naïve controls of each genotype and CD8 + T cells were purified using positive magnetic bead sorting (Miltenyi Biotec). CD8 + cells (2x10 5 /well) were stimulated in vitro for 3 days with HPV16-E7 49–57 peptide-loaded splenocytes (10μg/ml peptide; 20Gy irradiated; 2x10 5 APCs per well) in complete medium. Golgi plug was added for the last 4h and the cells were stained for CD8β and CD3 surface expression. Following fixation, intracellular IFNγ levels were then determined using a cytoperm/cytofix kit from BD Pharmingen (according to the manufacturer’s protocol). Cells were FACS (BD).
A 1.9-GHz wide-band IF double conversion CMOS receiver for cordless telephone applications

A monolithic 1.9-GHz, 198-mW, 0.6-/spl mu/m CMOS receiver which meets the specifications of the Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) standard is described. All of the RF, IF, and baseband receiver components, with the exception of the frequency synthesizers, have been integrated into a single chip solution. A description is given of a wide-band IF with double conversion architecture which eliminates the need for the discrete-component noise and IF filters in addition to facilitating the eventual integration of the frequency synthesizer blocks with on-chip VCO's. The prototype device utilizes a 3.3-V supply and includes a low noise amplifier, an image-rejection mixer, and two quadrature baseband signal paths each of which includes a second-order Sallen and Key anti-alias filter, an eighth-order switched-capacitor filter network followed by a 10-b pipelined analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The experimental device has a measured receiver reference sensitivity of -90 dBm, an input referred IP3 of -7 dBm, a P/sub -1 dB/ of -24 dBm, and an image-rejection ratio of -55 dBc across the DECT bands.
The Appeal of Image Advertisements

Past research with adults has shown that image advertisements are especially appealing and persuasive to adults with high social-image concerns. In this study the appeal of such advertisements to young adolescents as a function of age, gender and imaginary audience ideation was assessed. One hundred fifty-six males and females 8 through 16 years of age rated the appeal of image and quality oriented advertisements for alcohol, tobacco, clothing, and personal care products, and completed the Imaginary Audience Scale. Major findings include a differential effect of imaginary audience ideation by age and by product, and gender differences among the 11- through 13-year-olds. A stronger preference for image oriented alcohol and tobacco advertisements was shown among 14- through 16-year-olds and 11- through 13-year-old girls than among 11- through 13-year-old boys and 8- through 10-year-olds.
Associations Between Early Social Communication and Play Skills and Conversation Quality in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Background: Children with ASD frequently display deficits in pragmatic language skills and social communication. Research on early skills that are associated with later conversation skills in children with ASD may inform targets for early intervention. Methods: This longitudinal study includes 23 children with ASD. At ages 3-4, play skills and joint attention skills were assessed. At age 8-9, children were given a conversation quality rating from ADOS, Module 3 interviews and interviews were coded for pragmatic skills using the Yale Adaptation of the Pragmatic Rating Scale (Y-PRS). Results: Analyses revealed significant associations between symbolic play type (p = .387) and frequency (p = .388). Other play skills and early social communication variables were non-significant. Conclusions: Symbolic play skills represent flexibility in play skills. The flexibility in play may allow children to further develop their representational, and social conversational abilities through multiple interactions with adults and peers.