Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modifiers of mutant huntingtin aggregation

Protein aggregation is a common hallmark of a number of age-related neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and polyglutamine-expansion disorders such as Huntington’s disease, but how aggregation-prone proteins lead to pathology is not known. Using a genome-wide RNAi screen in a C. elegans-model for polyglutamine aggregation, we previously identified 186 genes that suppress aggregation. Using an RNAi screen for human orthologs of these genes, we here present 26 human genes that suppress aggregation of mutant huntingtin in a human cell line. Among these are genes that have not been previously linked to mutant huntingtin aggregation. They include those encoding eukaryotic translation initiation, elongation and translation factors, and genes that have been previously associated with other neurodegenerative diseases, like the ATP-ase family gene 3-like 2 (AFG3L2) and ubiquitin-like modifier activating enzyme 1 (UBA1). Unravelling the role of these genes will broaden our understanding of the pathogenesis of Huntington’s disease.
An Improved Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing Technique for Thick-Wall Polyethylene Pipe Used in Nuclear Power Plant

With the application of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe with thick wall in nuclear power plant (NPP), great attention has been paid to the safety of the pipeline joints, which can be assessed by phased array ultrasonic testing (PAUT). PAUT creates constructive interference of acoustic waves to generate focused beams according to delay law based on time-of-flight. However, due to the existence of acoustic attenuation and dispersion, waveform distortion occurs when ultrasonic pulse propagates in HDPE, which will accumulate with the increase of propagation distance, and then results in imaging errors. In this paper, the relationship between acoustic attenuation and dispersion in HDPE was obtained by numerical simulation in Field II®, which can be verified by the experiment of our previous work. Then, the investigation of the waveform distortion revealed the linear relation between peak offset and propagation distance. Considering the relation, an improved delay law was proposed to increase the intensity of ultrasonic field. This improved delay law was compared with the conventional one by numerical simulation of ultrasonic field and PAUT experiments, which showed that the improved delay law could increase the image sensitivity.
Determining the effects of electrical stimulation on functional recovery of denervated rat gastrocnemius muscle using motor unit number estimation

The use of electrical muscle stimulation to treat denervated muscle prior to delayed reinnervation has been widely debated. There is evidence showing both positive and negative results following different protocols of electrical stimulation. In this study we investigated the role electrical stimulation has on muscle reinnervation following immediate and delayed nerve repair using motor unit estimation techniques. Rat gastrocnemius muscle was denervated and repaired using the peroneal nerve either immediately or following three-months with and without electrical stimulation. Motor unit counts, average motor unit sizes, and maximum compound action potentials were measured three-months following per-oneal nerve repair. Motor unit counts in animals that were denervated and stimulated were significantly higher than those that were denervated and not stimulated. Both average motor unit sizes and maximum compound action potentials showed no significant differences between denervated and denervated-stimulated animals. These results provide evidence that electrical stimulation prior to delayed nerve repair increases muscle receptivity to regenerating axons and may be a worthwhile treatment for peripheral nerve injuries.
Hard satisfiable 3-SAT instances via autocorrelation

We establish a reduction of a combinatorial problem defined via autocorrelation to an instance of Boolean satisfiability. As a consequence, we obtain a family of hard satisfiable 3-SAT instances. The combinatorial problem that we reduce is the D-optimal matrices problem. We generated a family of 3-SAT instances from the D-optimal matrices problem with the motivation to solve interesting cases using the power of SAT solvers. We give a detailed construction of the generated instances that were submitted to SAT competition 2014. Our reduction techniques is fairly straightforward and can be adapted to various other problems that are defined via autocorrelation.
Argumentation Patterns

Argumentation patterns are general reusable solutions to commonly occurring problems in the design of argumentation frameworks, such as the relation between claim and data in the Toulmin scheme. We introduce a formal approach for the semantics of argumentation patterns describing relationships and interactions among arguments, without instantiating the involved abstract arguments. Argumentation patterns are a multi-labeling of a set of arguments, together with constraints on this labeling. Constraints express the relations among the labels of the arguments of the pattern when they interact with other arguments. Moreover, we define argumentation patterns using a two sorted argumentation framework where focal arguments are distinguished from auxiliary arguments, and we show how to compute their semantics by reusing a semantics introduced by Dung. We show how patterns are applied to design conjunction and disjunction of arguments, accrual, proof standards, and second-order attacks.
Behavior Analysis through Multimodal Sensing for Care of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Patients

The analysis of multimodal data collected by innovative imaging sensors, Internet of Things devices, and user interactions can provide smart and automatic distant monitoring of Parkinsons and Alzheimers patients and reveal valuable insights for early detection and/or prevention of events related to their health. This article describes a novel system that involves data capturing and multimodal fusion to extract relevant features, analyze data, and provide useful recommendations. The system gathers signals from diverse sources in health monitoring environments, understands the user behavior and context, and triggers proper actions for improving the patients quality of life. The system offers a multimodal, multi-patient, versatile approach not present in current developments. It also offers comparable or improved results for detection of abnormal behavior in daily motion. The system was implemented and tested during 10 weeks in real environments involving 18 patients.
GPU‐accelerated backtracking using CUDA Dynamic Parallelism

New GPGPU technologies, such as CUDA Dynamic Parallelism (CDP), can help dealing with recursive patterns of computation, such as divide‐and‐conquer, used by backtracking algorithms. In this paper, we propose a GPU‐accelerated backtracking algorithm using CDP that extends a well‐known parallel backtracking model. The search starts on CPU, processing the search tree until a first cutoff depth. Based on this partial backtracking tree, the algorithm analyzes the memory requirements of subsequent kernel generations. The proposed algorithm performs no dynamic allocation of memory on GPU, unlike related works from the literature. The proposed algorithm has been extensively tested using the N‐Queens Puzzle problem and instances of the Asymmetric Traveling Salesman Problem (ATSP) as test‐cases. The proposed CDP algorithm may, under some conditions, outperform its non‐CDP counterpart by a factor up to 25. But, it may also be up to twice slower. The CDP‐based implementation has much better worst case execution times and makes algorithm's performance less dependent on the tuning of parameters. Compared to other CDP‐based strategies from the literature, the proposed algorithm is on average 8× faster. The proposed algorithm is also hybridized with another CDP‐based strategy from the literature. The combination of strategies is in average 4.5× faster than the related strategy. We also identify some difficulties, limitations, and bottlenecks concerning the CDP programming model which may be useful for helping potential users.
Research on Rapid Diagnosis Technology after the Oil-paper Bushing Insulation Damp

Oil-paper bushing insulation damp at condition in motion, but the moisture content in the diagnosis of bushing damping insulation had no effect at the test site. In this paper, the high voltage and large current and heat energy acting on bushing test platform is established. The dielectric loss frequency characteristics and dielectric loss temperature characteristics are studied on the cooling transient process of bushing body. Research results show that, the bushing is insulated with damp or failure, when cross turning point is greater than 80Hz or 100Hz of the dielectric loss frequency characteristic spectrum within the casing body temperature is decreased from 80 to 40.
A Needs Assessment for the Development of the TIME Anesthesia Handoff Tool

Standardized handoff is critical to providing safe and effective patient care. Limited studies assess the need for developing a handoff tool for anesthesia providers. The purpose of this descriptive study was to assess the need for a standardized anesthesia handoff tool and to identify the most essential components to develop an anesthesia handoff tool. A descriptive survey design was used. Anesthesia providers were asked to complete an online survey. Fifty-three (64%) of 82 respondents did not currently use a systematic process during anesthesia handoff. Most (73%) believed they were given inadequate information, and 40 (48.8%) sometimes discovered information that was not shared by the prior anesthesia provider. The most frequently provided components by respondents were airway type, airway difficulty, analgesia, anesthetic type, invasive lines, patient medical history, procedure, and vital signs. The most frequently received were airway difficulty, invasive lines, medical history, and procedure. Most participants perceived that anesthesia providers currently provide inadequate handoff. Anesthesia providers indicated the most essential components for effective anesthesia handoff were airway difficulty, invasive lines, medical history, procedure and casespecific concerns, allergies, medications, and plan/ goals. The study findings guided the development of the concise and efficient TIME (transaction, induction, maintenance, emergence) anesthesia handoff tool.
Universal characteristics of particle shape evolution by bed-load chipping

Sediments moved by wind, rivers, and waves round in the same way due to geometry. River currents, wind, and waves drive bed-load transport, in which sediment particles collide with each other and Earth’s surface. A generic consequence is impact attrition and rounding of particles as a result of chipping, often referred to in geological literature as abrasion. Recent studies have shown that the rounding of river pebbles can be modeled as diffusion of surface curvature, indicating that geometric aspects of impact attrition are insensitive to details of collisions and material properties. We present data from fluvial, aeolian, and coastal environments and laboratory experiments that suggest a common relation between circularity and mass attrition for particles transported as bed load. Theory and simulations demonstrate that universal characteristics of shape evolution arise because of three constraints: (i) Initial particles are mildly elongated fragments, (ii) particles collide with similarly-sized particles or the bed, and (iii) collision energy is small enough that chipping dominates over fragmentation but large enough that sliding friction is negligible. We show that bed-load transport selects these constraints, providing the foundation to estimate a particle’s attrition rate from its shape alone in most sedimentary environments. These findings may be used to determine the contribution of attrition to downstream fining in rivers and deserts and to infer transport conditions using only images of sediment grains.
The cumulative distance from an observed to a stable age structure.

In a closed, unisexual, age-structured population with age-specific birth and death rates which are constant in time, the vector describing a census by age categories will, as time increases, approach proportionality to the stable age structure implied by the vital rates. This stable age structure is the dominant eigenvector of a demographic projection matrix which carries out the action on a census vector of the age-specific vital rates. We show that the elementwise convergence to zero of the discounted deviations from the stable age structure is complete and exponential. The sum, over all time, of the signed discounted deviations may be easily calculated from a fundamental matrix based on the projection matrix. These results are proved for any primitive nonnegative square matrix. In the demographic context, these results suggest alternatives to an index which has been used to measure the distance from an observed to a stable age structure.
When does the influence of maturation on anthropometric and physical fitness characteristics increase and subside?

The relationships between maturation and anthropometric and physical performance characteristics are dynamic and often asynchronous; confounding the capability to accurately evaluate performance during adolescence. This study aimed to (i) examine the influence of chronological age (CA) and somatic maturation (YPHV) upon anthropometric and physical performance parameters, and (ii) identify the transition/change time points in these relationships using segmental regression. N = 969 soccer players (8‐18 years of age) completed anthropometric and physical test assessments, including a countermovement jump (CMJ), agility T test, 10 and 20 m sprints, and multistage fitness test (MSFT). When modeled against CA and YPHV, results identified time point phases with increased rates of stature (CA‐7.5, YPHV‐8.6 cm/y at 10.7‐15.2 years or −3.2 to +0.8 YPHV) and body mass gain (CA‐7.1, YPHV‐7.5 kg/y at 11.9‐16.1 years or −1.6 to +4.0 YPHV), followed by gain reductions. Increased rates of sprint performance development (31%‐43% gains) occurred at 11.8‐15.8 CA or −1.8 to +1.2 YPHV, with gains subsiding thereafter. CMJ, T test, and MSFT gains appeared relatively linear with no change in developmental rate apparent. Developmental tempos did again, however, subside at circa (CMJ and T test) to post‐PHV (MSFT). Based on our sample and analysis, periods of increased developmental rates (stature, mass, sprint) were apparent alongside progressive gains for other physical measures, before all subsided at particular age and maturation time points. Findings highlight dynamic asynchronous development of players, physical attributes, and the need to account for the influence of maturation on athletic performance until post‐PHV.
Parametric Models for Mutual Kernel Matrix Completion

Recent studies utilize multiple kernel learning to deal with incomplete-data problem. In this study, we introduce new methods that do not only complete multiple incomplete kernel matrices simultaneously, but also allow control of the flexibility of the model by parameterizing the model matrix. By imposing restrictions on the model covariance, overfitting of the data is avoided. A limitation of kernel matrix estimations done via optimization of an objective function is that the positive definiteness of the result is not guaranteed. In view of this limitation, our proposed methods employ the LogDet divergence, which ensures the positive definiteness of the resulting inferred kernel matrix. We empirically show that our proposed restricted covariance models, employed with LogDet divergence, yield significant improvements in the generalization performance of previous completion methods.
Spectral and Temporal Periodicity Representations of Rhythm for the Automatic Classification of Music Audio Signal

In this paper, we study the spectral and temporal periodicity representations that can be used to describe the characteristics of the rhythm of a music audio signal. A continuous-valued energy-function representing the onset positions over time is first extracted from the audio signal. From this function we compute at each time a vector which represents the characteristics of the local rhythm. Four feature sets are studied for this vector. They are derived from the amplitude of the discrete Fourier transform (DFT), the auto-correlation function (ACF), the product of the DFT and the ACF interpolated on a hybrid lag/frequency axis and the concatenated DFT and ACF coefficients. Then the vectors are sampled at some specific frequencies, which represent various ratios of the local tempo. The ability of these periodicity representations to describe the rhythm characteristics of an audio item is evaluated through a classification task. In this, we test the use of the periodicity representations alone, combined with tempo information and combined with a proposed set of rhythm features. The evaluation is performed using annotated and estimated tempo. We show that using such simple periodicity representations allows achieving high recognition rates at least comparable to previously published results.
Novel function of C 5 protein as a metabolic stabilizer of M 1 RNA

Escherichia coli RNase P is a ribonucleoprotein composed of a large RNA subunit (M1 RNA) and a small protein subunit (C5 protein). We examined if C5 protein plays a role in maintaining metabolic stability of M1 RNA. The sequestration of C5 protein available for M1 RNA binding reduced M1 RNA stability in vivo, and its reduced stability was recovered via overexpression of C5 protein. In addition, M1 RNA was rapidly degraded in a temperature-sensitive C5 protein mutant strain at non-permissive temperatures. Collectively, our results demonstrate that the C5 protein metabolically stabilizes M1 RNA in the cell. 2008 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Ovarian Cancer Surgery in Australia and New Zealand: A Survey to Determine Changes in Surgical Practice Over 10 Years

Objective This study aimed to survey all practicing certified gynecological oncologists (CGOs) in Australia and New Zealand to determine their current surgical practice for primary advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) and compare the findings with an identical survey conducted 10 years previously. Methods/Materials A questionnaire was e-mailed to all 53 practicing CGOs in Australia and New Zealand in July 2017 assessing their definition of optimal debulking for EOC, their use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and the surgical procedures they use to achieve cytoreduction. Results were compared with an identical study performed in 2007 using χ2 and logistic regression analysis. Results Response rate was 89% (47/53). A higher percentage of patients received neoadjuvant chemotherapy before surgery in 2017 than in 2007 (43% vs 16%, respectively). In 2017, CGOs were more likely to define optimal debulking as zero residual disease (R0; 21/44 [48%] vs 6/34 [18%], P < 0.001). To achieve this, CGOs were significantly more likely to independently perform stripping/resection of the diaphragm (44/47 [94%] vs 15/34 [44%], P < 0.001) and, with assistance from surgical colleagues, perform resection of upper para-aortic lymph nodes (39/46 [85%] vs 21/34 [62%], P = 0.02) and parenchymal liver metastases (30/46 [65%] vs 13/34 [38%], P = 0.02). They were now less likely to resect/reimplant the ureter without assistance (23% vs 53%, P = 0.01). A surgeon's definition of optimal debulking as R0 was significantly associated with a high use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (in ≥50% of patients). Conclusions Certified gynecological oncologists' definition of optimal debulking for primary EOC is more likely to be R0 in 2017 than in 2007. Radical abdominal surgery was performed more often in 2017, requiring assistance by a surgical colleague in many cases. An increased use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy was the only factor significantly associated with CGOs' definition of optimal debulking as R0.
Integrated CMOS spectrometer for multi-dimensional NMR spectroscopy

This paper reviews our portable multi-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy system combining a 4-mm2 CMOS NMR spectrometer integrated circuit (IC) and a permanent magnet. The work was first reported in [1] with emphases on overall system development and spectroscopy experimentations. Here we pay more attention to the IC design. The scalability of the integrated spectrometer can enable not only portable NMR spectroscopy in conjunction with small permanent magnets for in-field and online applications, but also parallel NMR spectroscopy for high-throughput applications.
Browser Based Platform in Maintaining Clinical Activities – Use of The iPads in Head and Neck Clinics

Purpose: Incompatibility between documentation and clinical workflow causes physician resistance in organized data collection, which in turn complicates the use of data in patient care improvement. To resolve the gap, we developed an iPad compatible in situ browser-based platform that integrates clinical activity with data collection and analysis presentation. The ability to perform in-clinic activities and monitor decision making using the iPad was evaluated. Methods: A browser-based platform that can exchange and present analysed data from the MOSAIQ database was developed in situ, the iPads were distributed in head and neck clinics to present the browser for clinical activities, data collection and assessment monitoring. Performance of the iPads for in-clinic activities was observed. Results: All in-clinic documentation activities can be performed without workstation computers. Accessing patient record and previous assessments was significantly faster without having to open the MOSAIQ application. Patient assessments can be completed with the physician facing the patient. Graphical presentation of toxicity progression and patient radiation plans to the patient can be performed in single interface without patient leaving the seating area. Updates in patient treatment status and medical history were presented in real time without having to move paper charts around. Conclusions: The iPad can be used in clinical activities independent of computer workstations. Improvements in clinical workflow can be critical in reducing physician resistance in data maintenance. Using the iPad in providing real-time quality monitoring is intuitive to both providers and patients.
Smart Conversational Agents for Reminiscence

In this paper we describe the requirements and early system design for a smart conversational agent that can assist older adults in the reminiscence process. The practice of reminiscence has well documented benefits for the mental, social and emotional well-being of older adults. However, the technology support, valuable in many different ways, is still limited in terms of need of co-located human presence, data collection capabilities, and ability to support sustained engagement, thus missing key opportunities to improve care practices, facilitate social interactions, and bring the reminiscence practice closer to those with less opportunities to engage in co-located sessions with a (trained) companion. We discuss conversational agents and cognitive services as the platform for building the next generation of reminiscence applications, and introduce the concept application of a smart reminiscence agent.