Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Circulating erythropoietin levels and prognosis in patients with congestive heart failure: comparison with neurohormonal and inflammatory markers.

BACKGROUND Considerable morbidity and mortality are still associated with congestive heart failure (CHF) syndromes, despite improvement in therapy. Activation of neurohormonal, inflammatory, and oxidative mechanisms has been shown to contribute to the significant morbidity and mortality. Erythropoietin (EPO) is a cytokine known to regulate erythroid proliferation, attenuate apoptosis and oxidative stress, and promote angiogenesis. We prospectively evaluated the predictive value of baseline EPO, N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide, and C-reactive protein levels in patients with clinically controlled chronic CHF. METHODS One hundred eighty-eight outpatients from a CHF clinic had baseline assessment of EPO, N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide, and C-reactive protein levels and a complete clinical data profile. These patients were followed up for 24 months for any hospitalization due to CHF or mortality. RESULTS Circulating EPO levels were higher in CHF patients and increased in subjects with higher New York Heart Association scores. Levels of EPO (at a cutoff of 23 mU/mL) and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (cutoff at the median of 1556 pg/mL) were found to be strong predictors of mortality and CHF hospitalization, whereas C-reactive protein levels (cutoff of 10 mg/L) predicted CHF hospitalizations but not mortality. Left ventricular ejection fraction was found to be a predictor of mortality but not of CHF hospitalizations. Serum levels of EPO were significantly correlated with N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide and C-reactive protein levels but not with left ventricular ejection fraction. CONCLUSION If confirmed in large-scale clinical studies, determination of circulating EPO levels may aid in predicting morbidity and mortality in patients with clinically controlled congestive CHF.
Factors Influencing Sex Differences in Poststroke Functional Outcome

Background and Purpose— Our objective was to identify factors that contribute to or modify the sex difference in poststroke functional outcome. Methods— Ischemic strokes (n=439) were identified from the Brain Attack Surveillance in Corpus Christi (BASIC) Project (2008–2011). Data were ascertained from interviews (baseline and 90 days post stroke) and medical records. Functional outcome was measured as an average of 22 activities of daily living (ADL)/instrumental ADL items (range, 1–4; higher scores worse function). Tobit regression was used to estimate sex differences and to identify confounding and modifying factors. Results— Fifty-one percent were women. Median age was 71 (interquartile range, 59–80) years in women and 64 (interquartile range, 56–77) years in men. Median ADL/instrumental ADL score at 90 days was 2.7 (interquartile range, 1.8–3.6) in women and 2.0 (interquartile range, 1.3–3.1) in men (P<0.01); this difference remained after age-adjustment (P<0.001). Factors contributing to higher ADL/instrumental ADL scores in women included prestroke function, marital status, prestroke cognition, nursing home residence, stroke severity, history of stroke/transient ischemic attack, and body mass index; prestroke function was the largest contributor. Stroke severity modified the sex difference in outcome such that differences were apparent for mild to moderate but not severe strokes. After adjustment, women still had significantly worse functional outcome than men. Conclusions— These findings yield insight into possible strategies and subgroups to target to reduce the sex disparity in stroke outcome; demographics and prestroke and clinical factors explained only 41% of the sex difference in stroke outcome highlighting the need for future research to identify modifiable factors that contribute to sex differences.
Redundant wavelet filter banks on the half-axis with applications to signal denoising with small delays

A wavelet transform on the negative half real axis is developed using an average-interpolation scheme. This transform is redundant and can be used to perform causal wavelet processing, such as signal denoising, without delay. Nonetheless, in practice some boundary effects occur and thus a small amount of delay is required to reduce them. The theory is implemented on a challenging signal with large noise and sharp transients. Results from the experimental implementation of the proposed algorithm for the denoising of a feedback signal for controlling a three-phase permanent-magnet synchronous brushless DC motor are also presented.
Microfluidics for the Rapid Detection of Pathogens Using Giant Magnetoresistance Sensors

This paper presents an integrated solution toward an on-chip microfluidic diagnostic system using the magnetically induced motion of functionalized magnetic microparticles (MPs) in combination with giant magnetoresistance (GMR) sensors. The innovative aspect of the proposed method is that the induced velocity on MPs in suspension, while imposed to a magnetic field gradient, is inversely proportional to their volume. Specifically, a velocity variation of suspended functionalized MPs inside a detection microchannel with respect to a reference velocity, specified in a parallel reference microchannel, indicates an increase in their nonmagnetic volume. This volumetric increase of the MPs is caused by the binding of pathogens (e.g., bacteria) to their functionalized surface. The new formed compounds, which have an increased nonmagnetic volume, are called loaded MPs (LMPs). Experiments with functionalized MPs and LMPs with Escherichia coli attached to their surface were conducted as a proof of concept. Their movement was demonstrated optically by means of a microscope with a mounted CCD camera as well as by measuring the resistance change of the integrated GMR sensors.
Capturing, Documenting and Visualizing Search Contexts for building Multimedia Corpora

In Social Science research, multimedia documents are often collected to answer particular research questions like: "Which of the aesthetic properties of a photo are considered important on the web" or "How has Street Art developed over the past 50 years". Therefore, a researcher generally issues multiple queries to a number of search engines. This activity may span over long time intervals and results in a collection which can be further analyzed. Documenting the collection building process which includes the context of the carried out searches is imperative for social scientists to reproduce their research. Such context documentation consists of several user actions and search attributes like: the issued queries; the results clicked and saved; duration a particular result was viewed for; the set of results that was displayed but neither clicked, nor saved; as well as user annotations like comments or tags. In this work we will describe a search process tracking module and a search history visualization module. These modules can be integrated into keyword based search systems through a REST API which was developed to help capture, document and revisit past search contexts while building a web corpora. Finally, we detail the implementation of how the module was integrated into the LearnWeb2.0 platform - a multimedia web2.0 search and sharing application which can obtain resources from various web2.0 tools such as Youtube, Bing, Flickr, etc using keyword search.
Global precipitation measurement

The quantification of precipitation on a global scale is critical for applications ranging from climate monitoring to water resource management. Conventional observations through surface gauge networks provide the most direct measure of precipitation, although these are very much limited to land areas, with very few in situ measurements over the oceans. Weather radars, although providing a spatial measure of precipitation, are limited in extent and number. Satellite observations offer an unrivalled vantage point to observe precipitation on a global basis. Since precipitation is spatially and temporally highly variable, satellites are able to provide temporal and spatial samples commensurate with many precipitation characteristics. This paper provides an overall review of global precipitation estimation, providing an outline of conventional measurements, the basis of the satellite systems used in the observation of precipitation, and the generation, availability and validation of the derived precipitation products. Finally, future satellite precipitation missions are presented. Copyright © 2011 Royal Meteorological Society
A 1.8-3.2 GHz Doherty Power Ampliﬁer in quasi-MMIC Technology

—This letter presents the design and characterization of a quasi-integrated Doherty power ampliﬁer for base-station applications. The prototype is based on GaN on SiC 0.25 µ m 50V transistors, while the passive matching networks are realized on a GaAs substrate. The design, based on a dual-input Doherty architecture, achieves a CW output power higher than 42dBm and a back-off efﬁciency higher than 38% over the 1.8-3.2GHz frequency band. By using an off-chip coupler, single input operation is also possible with a slight reduction in performance, i.e., CW output power and back-off efﬁciency higher than 41.4dBm and 36%, respectively, on the 1.8-3.2GHz band. System level characterization shows higher peak power achievable than in CW condition as well as the linearizeability of the ampliﬁer under modulated signal conditions.
TRPM7 channel regulates ox‐LDL‐induced proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells via MEK‐ERK pathways

Transient receptor potential melastatin 7 (TRPM7) plays a key role in the pathophysiological response of multiple cell types. However, the role of TRPM7 channels in ox‐LDL‐induced proliferation and migration of VSMC remains unclear. This study used the thoracic aorta VSMCs to explore the effects of ox‐LDL on cell proliferation and migration and to investigate the underlying molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways. Data demonstrated that ox‐LDL significantly increased TRPM7 activity, and induced VSMC proliferation and migration. VSMC proliferation and migration were inhibited by nonspecific TRPM7 blocker 2‐APB or synthetic siRNA targeting TRPM7. Furthermore, the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and MEK1/2 associated with cell proliferation and migration decreased in TRPM7‐deficient VSMC. Therefore, TRPM7 may constitute a useful target for the treatment of atherosclerosis.
Visual guided grasping of aggregates using self-valuing learning

We present a self-valuing learning technique which is capable of learning how to grasp unfamiliar objects and generalize the learned abilities. The learning system consists of two learners which distinguish between local and global grasping criteria. The local criteria are not object specific while the global criteria cover physical properties of each object. The system is self-valuing, i.e. it rates its actions by evaluating sensory information and the usage of image processing techniques. An experimental setup consisting of a PUMA-260 manipulator, equipped with a hand-camera and a force/torque sensor, was used to test this scheme. The system has shown the ability to grasp a wide range of objects and to apply previously learned knowledge to new objects.
Who has life-sustaining therapy withdrawn after injury?

BACKGROUND Trauma scoring systems have been developed to help surgeons predict who will die after injury. However, some patients may not actually die of their injuries but may undergo withdrawal of life-sustaining therapy (WLST). The goal of this study was to determine which factors were associated with WLST among older patients who died. We hypothesized that patients with comorbid illnesses, higher injury severity scores (ISS), complications, and existing advanced directives (AD) would be more likely to have WLST and that patients having WLST would receive more medication for symptom relief in the 24 hours before death. METHODS Data were collected via a retrospective chart review of patients age 55 years and older admitted to the intensive care unit after injury who subsequently died. In addition to demographic and injury information, documentation of family discussions regarding care wishes and formal ADs were evaluated. Patients dying despite curative attempts were compared with those who died after WLST by Student's t test and chi test where appropriate. RESULTS In a 3-year period, of 330 patients age 55 and older admitted to the intensive care unit, 66 (20%) died. Complete records were available for 64 patients. More than half of those who died (n = 35, 54.7%) had WLST. ADs were available for 15 patients (23.4%), and 11 (17.2%) patients had expressed to their families desires to not undergo aggressive curative care. Family discussions were documented for 50 (78%) cases. Comorbid illnesses were present in 46 (71.9%) patients and 35 (54.7%) developed at least one complication. Among people with ADs, 73% had WLST versus 49% of people without ADs (p = 0.09). WLST was independent of comorbid illnesses (p = 0.3), complications (p = 0.8), age (p = 0.5), and ISS (p = 0.2). Patients for whom there was documentation of a family discussion were more likely to have WLST than those without (91.4% versus 62.1%, p = 0.005). Morphine and benzodiazepine dosing in the 24 hours preceding death were greater in the WLST group than the curative therapy group (p = 0.02 and p = 0.05, respectively). CONCLUSIONS Expected associations with WLST such as age, ISS, comorbidities, and complications were not present in this population. Although trends may exist regarding patient wishes and ADs, larger studies are needed to corroborate these findings. Given the percentage of patients having supportive care withdrawn, trauma registries and scoring systems should include WLST.
Channel Financing : The Transformational Paradigm in Supply Chain Management

Channel financing (CF) has emerged as a transformational paradigm in supply chain management. It is an effective tool for managing the interdependencies between the physical and the financial supply chains. It is also a win-win proposition for all the supply chain partners. In this paper, 6 dimensions of CF have been identified. Organizational study has been carried out in 60 Indian companies to find out the challenges faced by them in CF and determine desirable solutions. Perceptual study has been carried out with 300 CF experts to identify and examine the desirable characteristics of CF information technology (IT) platform. It comes out that visibility of entire supply chain financial information; channel collaborations; and leveraging external expertise for financial risk sharing are the cornerstone of value creation. Furthermore, integrated CF IT platform provides better security for financial information exchange as well as better data consistency for process integration over singular optimization.
Inactivation of zinc finger transcription factors provides a mechanism for a gene regulatory role of nitric oxide

Nitric oxide (NO) is known to induce Zn2+ release from the zinc‐storing protein metallothio‐nein and to induce Zn2+ release within the nuclei and cytoplasm of cells. This suggests that zinc finger proteins may be primary targets of NO‐induced stress. In this study, the specific interaction of the heterodimeric complex of two zinc finger transcription factors, 1α,25‐dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1α,25(OH)2D3) receptor (VDR) and retinoid × receptor (RXR) with 1α,25(OH)2D3 response elements (VDREs), was used as a model system. NO was applied to this system via the NO donors SNOC and MAMA/NO and caused a dose‐dependent inhibition of VDR‐RXR‐VDRE complex formation (IC50 values 0.5–0.8 mM). Ligand‐bound or preformed complexes displayed less sensitivity to NO‐induced stress. These in vitro effects of NO were found to be reversible. Functional assays in transiently trans‐fected cells indicated that NO can also act in vivo as a repressor of 1α,25(OH)2D3 signaling (IC50 value of the slow NO donor DETA/NO, 0.5 mM). These findings suggest that NO has a modulatory role on transcription factors depending on their sensitivity to NO‐induced stress, thus providing a mechanism for a gene regulatory function of NO.—Krõncke, K. D. , Carlberg, C. Inactivation of zinc finger transcription factors provides a mechanism for a gene regulatory role of nitric oxide. FASEB J. 13, 166–173 (2000)
Biochemical outcome in metastatic prostate cancer patients following prostate-directed radiotherapy

Background: The role of cytoreductive local radiotherapy (RT) in metastatic prostate cancer (mPCa) has recently been established. This study aimed to evaluate the biochemical outcome of local RT in mPCa. Methods: This randomised controlled phase III study was conducted at the Clinical Oncology Department, Suez Canal University Hospital. Eligible participants were de-novo or metachronous mPCa patients with Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0–2. Participants were randomised to receive either cytoreductive prostate-directed RT in addition to standard care or standard care alone. The conventional radiation schedule of 70 Gy/35 fractions or the hypofractionated schedule of 55 Gy/20 fractions were delivered. The primary endpoint was biochemical progression-free survival (BPFS), and the secondary endpoint was overall survival (OS). Survival and post-hoc analyses were performed using Cox regression and the Kaplan-Meier method with the log-rank test. Results: Between 23 November 2020 and 21 2022, 70 patients were enrolled in this study. Of them, 34 patients were assigned to the prostate RT group, and 29 patients were assigned to the control group. At a median follow-up of 12 months, the median BPFS has not been reached for the prostate RT group compared to 4.067 months for the control group (HR: 0.147, p < 0.001). Subgroup analysis showed that the median BPFS was statistically significantly correlated with low-volume (95% CI, 0.004 to 0.262, p = 0·001) and hormonal-sensitive metastatic disease (95% CI, 0.010 to 0.192, p < 0·001). The median OS was 16.33 months for the prostate-RT group compared to 11.33 months for the con-trol group (HR: 0.313, p = 0.003). Conclusion: Prostate-directed RT improved BPFS and OS in mPCa patients, particularly in those with low volume and hormonal-sensitive disease.
O � -Policy Evaluation for Large Action Spaces via Policy Convolution

Developing accurate o � -policy estimators is crucial for both evaluating and optimizing for new policies. The main challenge in o � -policy estimation is the distribution shift between the logging policy that generates data and the target policy that we aim to evaluate. Typically, techniques for correcting distribution shift involve some form of importance sampling. This approach results in unbiased value estimation but often comes with the trade-o � of high variance. Furthermore, importance sampling relies on the common support assumption, which becomes impractical when the action space is large. To address these challenges, we introduce the Policy Convolution ( PC ) family of estimators for the contextual bandit setting. These methods leverage latent structure within actions—made available through action embeddings—to strategically convolve the logging and target policies. This convolution introduces a unique bias-variance trade-o � , that can be controlled via the amount of convolution . Our experiments on synthetic and benchmark datasets demonstrate remarkable mean squared error (MSE) improvements when using PC , especially when either the action space or policy mismatch becomes large, with gains of up to 5 � 6 orders of magnitude over existing estimators.
Quercetin suppresses lung cancer growth by targeting Aurora B kinase

aurora B kinase is highly expressed in several cancer cells and promotes tumorigenesis and progression, and therefore, it is an important target for drug to treat tumors. Quercetin was identified to be an antitumor agent. Herein, we report for the first time that quercetin inhibited aurora B activities by directly binding with aurora B in vitro and in vivo. Ex vivo studies showed that quercetin inhibited aurora B activities in JB6 Cl41 cells and A549 lung cancer cells. Moreover, knockdown of aurora B in A549 cells decreased their sensitivities to quercetin. In vivo study demonstrated that injection of quercetin in A549 tumor‐bearing mice effectively suppressed cancer growth. The phosphorylation of histone 3 in tumor tissues was also decreased after quercetin treatment. In short, quercetin can suppress growth of lung cancer cells as an aurora B inhibitor both in vitro and in vivo.
A ferroelectric capacitor macromodel and parameterization algorithm for SPICE simulation

A compact equivalent circuit model, or macromodel, is presented which reproduces both the DC charge storage and transient switching current responses of a ferroelectric capacitor. The macromodel circuit element values are rigorously linked to physical quantities which are readily characterized with simple electrical measurements. A software package is described which both parameterizes and optimizes the model to measured data and outputs a SPICE input file. Together, the macromodel and parameterization software form a complete linkage between material characterization and circuit design which is largely transparent to the design engineer. Optimization results lend insight into the underlying theory of ferroelectric switching and the sources of nonideal charge storage. SPICE simulations demonstrate the utility of the macromodel for VLSI circuit simulation. <<ETX>>
Assessment of Food Safety with Reference to E. coli in Broiler Chicken Meat

According to WHO, one person in three in industrialized countries may be affected by foodborne illness each year. Escherichia coli O157:H7, more commonly referred to as E. coli , is an emerging cause of foodborne illness, and children and the elderly are at greatest risk for complications. An investigation was conducted at retail chicken markets from various areas at Namakkal of Tamilnadu to identify the broiler meat contamination by E. coli which might result in food intoxication in humans. Out of 210 meat samples collected, 32.38 % were positive by culture with a microbial load of 2.38 ± 0.19 log 10 cfu/g for E. coli . All cultures of positives were confirmed by recommended biochemical and motility tests.