Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Differential Private Noise Adding Mechanism and Its Application on Consensus Algorithm

Differential privacy is a formal mathematical framework for quantifying the degree of individual privacy in a statistical database.To guarantee differential privacy, a typical method is to add random noise to the original data for data release. In this paper, we investigate the conditions of differential privacy (single-dimensional case) considering the general random noise adding mechanism, and then apply the obtained results for privacy analysis of the privacy-preserving consensus algorithm. Specifically, we obtain a necessary and sufficient condition of <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\epsilon$</tex-math></inline-formula>-differential privacy, and the sufficient conditions of <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$(\epsilon, \delta)$</tex-math></inline-formula>-differential privacy. We apply them to analyze various random noises. For the special cases with known results, our theory not only matches with the literature, but also provides an efficient approach to the privacy parameters’ estimation; for other cases that are unknown, our approach provides a simple and effective tool for differential privacy analysis. Applying the obtained theory on privacy-preserving consensus algorithm, we obtain the necessary condition and the sufficient condition to ensure differential privacy.
Biological aspects of breath-alcohol analysis.

We studied several relevant biological aspects of breath-alcohol analysis in 55 healthy men and women, after alcohol ingestion and during breath-alcohol analysis with a typical 4th-generation instrument. We measured breath volumes, delivery pressures, and end-expiratory temperatures, with the following findings: End-expiratory temperature, 32.41-35.69 °C (mean, 34.53 °C); forced vital capacity, 1825-6550 ml (mean, 4038 ml); maximum expiration after normal inspiration, 1180-4550 ml ( mean, 2730 ml); breath delivery pressure into a prototype Borg-Warner Model P-7 breath-alcohol apparatus, 8-50 inches H2O (mean, 21.3). These data and other pertinent findings from this study should assist in more rational design of breath-sampling systems in forthcoming breath-alcohol instruments and in developing valid procedures for their use.
Efficient frame-level bit allocation algorithm for H.265/HEVC

Rate control (RC) plays a critical role in video coding for regulating the coded bit-stream to achieve the target bitrate, which involves two basic steps: bit allocation (BA) and quantisation parameter selection. Here, the former is a key element to directly affect the performance of RC. So, in this study, an efficient frame-level BA algorithm is proposed for the latest video coding standard H.265/high-efficiency video coding (HEVC). First, by analysing the optimisation problem of the frame-level BA, two factors have been found to be related to the frame-level BA, which are inter-frame dependency and the target bitrate. Then, a measure of inter-frame dependency is put forward to reflect the correlation among consecutive frames. Finally, according to the results of allocation weights through the dynamic programming method, the relationships among the allocation weights and the two factors are investigated, and based on which the efficient BA model is established. Experimental results show that in comparison with the original RC scheme in HM-14.0, the proposed frame-level BA algorithm reduces, on average, BD-rate by 5.19% with negligible encoding time increase. In addition, the proposed algorithm also achieves higher GOP-level RC accuracy compared with the original RC scheme in HM.
A Novel Mutation in Type II Methemoglobinemia

Type II methemoglobinemia is a somatic deficiency of cytochrome b5 reductase with severe global neurologic impairment. We report a novel mutation in exon 3 of the CYB5R3 gene on chromosome 22 consisting of homozygous 1-base pair (bp) deletion noted as c.215delG; p.Gly72AlafsX100. The patient had improvement of gross motor skills, chewing, and swallowing that may be due to the initiation of daily ascorbic acid therapy. We hypothesize that a possible response to ascorbic acid may be related to the effect of making additional ferrous iron available for its role as a cofactor in carnitine synthesis.
Ginsenoside Rb1 reduces fatty liver by activating AMP-activated protein kinase in obese rats

Ginsenoside Rb1 (Rb1), a natural compound extracted from ginseng, exerts anti-obesity activity and improves insulin sensitivity in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese rats. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the protective effect of Rb1 on fatty liver in HFD-induced obese rats and to elucidate underlying mechanisms. After chronic intraperitoneal administration, Rb1 (10 mg/kg) significantly ameliorated hepatic fat accumulation in HFD-induced obese rats, as demonstrated by reduced liver weight, hepatic triglyceride content, and histological evaluation of liver sections by hematoxylin and eosin and Oil Red O staining. Using primary cultured rat hepatic cells, we found that the rate of fatty acid oxidation and the activity of carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (CPT1), a key enzyme in fatty acid β-oxidation, were significantly elevated in Rb1-treated hepatocytes compared with those of vehicle-treated cells. HPLC analysis revealed that Rb1 increased the cellular AMP/ATP ratio, which is associated with elevated activation of hepatic AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and phosphorylated acetyl-CoA carboxylase. Consistent with the activation of AMPK, Rb1 stimulated the expression of genes encoding fatty acid oxidative enzymes and proteins, and suppressed the expression of genes encoding enzymes or proteins that function in lipogenesis, assessed by quantitative PCR. We conclude that Rb1 has a potent ability to reduce hepatic fat accumulation and might be useful as a therapeutic agent for fatty liver disorder.
Finding global icebergs over distributed data sets

Finding icebergs–items whose frequency of occurrence is above a certain threshold–is an important problem with a wide range of applications. Most of the existing work focuses on iceberg queries at a single node. However, in many real-life applications, data sets are distributed across a large number of nodes. Two naïve approaches might be considered. In the first, each node ships its entire data set to a central server, and the central server uses single-node algorithms to find icebergs. But it may incur prohibitive communication overhead. In the second, each node submits local icebergs, and the central server combines local icebergs to find global icebergs. But it may fail because in many important applications, globally frequent items may not be frequent at any node. In this work, we propose two novel schemes that provide accurate and efficient solutions to this problem: a sampling-based scheme and a counting-sketch-based scheme. In particular, the latter scheme incurs a communication cost at least an order of magnitude smaller than the naïve scheme of shipping all data, yet is able to achieve very high accuracy. Through rigorous theoretical and experimental analysis we establish the statistical properties of our proposed algorithms, including their accuracy bounds.
Carotid intima-media thickness and apolipoproteins in patients of ischemic stroke in a rural hospital setting in central India: A cross-sectional study

Context: Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and apolipoproteins have been found as a risk factor for ischemic stroke Objective: The objective was to study the carotid intima-media thickness, apolipoproteins, and their relation in patients of ischemic stroke in central rural India. Settings and Design: A cross-sectional study was performed in a rural hospital in central India. Materials and Methods: In all patients of ischemic stroke proven by computerized tomography (CT), CIMT, apolipoprotein A-I (ApoA-I), and apolipoprotein B(ApoB) were measured. Statistical Analysis Used: We used Student's t-test to compare means, a chi-square test to compare proportions, and a Mann-Whitney test to compare medians. A P value <0.05 was considered significant. Results: The mean age of our study population (N=106) was 61 years. The mean CIMT was 0.83 mm ranging from a minimum of 0.45 mm to a maximum of 1.096 mm. Mean CIMT was significantly higher than expected 0.67 values, which was calculated according to the age of the study population. The association of decreased ApoA-I < 100 mg/dl and increased ApoB > 90 mg/dl with CIMT > 0.7 mm was statistically significant with P<0.001. Conclusions: The CIMT in computerized tomography-proven ischemic stroke was significantly higher than expected for the age of the study population. The relation of decreased ApoA-I and increased ApoB with CIMT > 0.7 mm was also statistically significant.
A paradoxical teratogenic mechanism for retinoic acid

Retinoic acid, an active metabolite of vitamin A, plays essential signaling roles in mammalian embryogenesis. Nevertheless, it has long been recognized that overexposure to vitamin A or retinoic acid causes widespread teratogenesis in rodents as well as humans. Although it has a short half-life, exposure to high levels of retinoic acid can disrupt development of yet-to-be formed organs, including the metanephros, the embryonic organ which normally differentiates into the mature kidney. Paradoxically, it is known that either an excess or a deficiency of retinoic acid results in similar malformations in some organs, including the mammalian kidney. Accordingly, we hypothesized that excess retinoic acid is teratogenic by inducing a longer lasting, local retinoic acid deficiency. This idea was tested in an established in vivo mouse model in which exposure to excess retinoic acid well before metanephric rudiments exist leads to failure of kidney formation several days later. Results showed that teratogen exposure was followed by decreased levels of Raldh transcripts encoding retinoic acid-synthesizing enzymes and increased levels of Cyp26a1 and Cyp26b1 mRNAs encoding enzymes that catabolize retinoic acid. Concomitantly, there was significant reduction in retinoic acid levels in whole embryos and kidney rudiments. Restoration of retinoic acid levels by maternal supplementation with low doses of retinoic acid following the teratogenic insult rescued metanephric kidney development and abrogated several extrarenal developmental defects. This previously undescribed and unsuspected mechanism provides insight into the molecular pathway of retinoic acid-induced teratogenesis.
Exercise training and inspiratory muscle training in patients with bronchiectasis

Evidence for effectiveness of pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with bronchiectasis Pulmonary rehabilitation is now recommended by many professional respiratory societies as the standard of care for patients with chronic lung disease.1–3 This has occurred because well designed prospective randomised controlled trials using valid responsive and interpretable outcome measures have convinced clinicians of its effectiveness. Benefits of pulmonary rehabilitation include improved health related quality of life, increased functional exercise capacity, and reduced healthcare resource utilisation.4–6 The key determinant of the success of rehabilitation, and the one best supported by clinical evidence, is exercise training. A frequently encountered challenge in respiratory medicine is that of extending the clinical application of treatment modalities, for which evidence was derived from one clinical circumstance, to other circumstances or diagnostic categories. For example, we recognise that long term oxygen therapy is life extending for patients with stable severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who have resting hypoxaemia, but still wrestle with the challenge of whether it should be provided for those with transient exercise or sleep hypoxaemia, or those with other diagnoses not involved in landmark multicentre clinical trials. Such decisions are made using a combination of scientific evidence and clinical judgement, the latter being a less well defined entity that includes knowledge, experience, and common sense. The paper by Newall and colleagues7 in this issue of Thorax obliges us to consider the evidence in …
Impact of an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program on the Use of Carbapenems in a Tertiary Women's and Children's Hospital, Singapore

Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) promote the judicious use of antimicrobials by limiting inappropriate use. This article evaluates the impact of a prospective‐audit‐and‐feedback ASP implementation on the appropriate utilization of carbapenems in a tertiary pediatrics and obstetrics/gynecology hospital in Singapore (KKH) after the establishment of an ASP in July 2011.
Studies on the Mechanism of Crossing over.

NE of the major objections to the torsion theory of crossing over as pro0 posed by DARLINGTON (1935) is that it is difficult to comprehend why a break in one chromatid should cause a break to occur in exactly the same position in a chromatid from the homologous chromosome. This objection holds for any mechanism which postulates that crossing over occurs after the duplication of the chromosome into chromatids. However, as will be discussed, the localization of the crossover at identical loci offers no difficulty if it is postulated that crossing over is the result of an exchange between the new chromatids during the process of their formation (BELLING 1931 ). Such crossing over, of course, will give rise to only the 2-strand type of multiple crossovers, and the hypothesis requires exchanges between sister chromatids to explain the 3-strand and 4-strand multiple crossovers as was pointed out by LINDEGREN and LINDEGREN (1937), In the face of strong objections to assuming the occurrence of sister-strand crossing over, BELLING modified his original theory, thereby weakening it considerably (BELLING 1933). However, in view of evidence which has recently been presented supporting crossing over between sister strands ( SCHWARTZ 1953), we should reconsider the hypothesis that crossing over between homologous chromosomes involves only the newly formed or daughter chromatids. On such a hypothesis, two crossovers between homologous chromosomes will give rise to a 2-strand type of double exchange. A double exchange associated with a sister-strand crossover in one of the chromosomes, in the region between the two non-sister crossovers, will be converted into a 3-strand double. A sister-strand crossover in each of the homologous chromosomes will result in four single exchange chromatids, a 4-strand double. This is shown diagrammatically in figure 1. If the frequency of sister-strand crossing over is high, as was shown to be the case from the study of ring-rod heterozygotes in maize (SCHWARTZ 1953), and there is an equal probability of an even or odd number of sister-strand exchanges occurring in the region between the two non-sister-strand exchanges, the four double crossover classes would appear in a 1 : 1 : 1 : 1 ratio, that which is also expected (in the absence of chromatid interference) as a consequence of crossing over which involves exchanges between any of the chromatids of the homologous chromosomes. We are thus confronted' with the problem of distinguishing between these two hypotheses, each of which yields the same end result as far as mei'otic
Teduglutide (ALX-0600), a dipeptidyl peptidase IV resistant glucagon-like peptide 2 analogue, improves intestinal function in short bowel syndrome patients

Background and aims: Glucagon-like peptide 2 (GLP-2) may improve intestinal absorption in short bowel syndrome (SBS) patients with an end jejunostomy. Teduglutide (ALX-0600), a dipeptidyl peptidase IV resistant GLP-2 analogue, prolongs the intestinotrophic properties of GLP-2 in animal models. The safety and effect of teduglutide were investigated in SBS patients with and without a colon in continuity. Methods: Teduglutide was given subcutaneously for 21 days once or twice daily to 16 SBS patients in the per protocol investigational group, 10 with end jejunostomy (doses of 0.03 (n = 2), 0.10 (n = 5), or 0.15 (n = 3) mg/kg/day), one with <50% colon in continuity (dose 0.03 mg/kg/day), and five with ≥50% colon in continuity (dose 0.10 mg/kg/day). Nutrient balance studies, D-xylose tests, and intestinal mucosa biopsies were performed at baseline, on the last three days of treatment, and after three weeks of follow up. Pre-study fasting native GLP-2 levels were determined for the five patients with ≥50% colon in continuity. Results: Pooled across groups and compared with baseline, teduglutide increased absolute (+743 (477) g/day; p<0.001) and relative (+22 (16)%; p<0.001) wet weight absorption, urine weight (+555 (485) g/day; p<0.001), and urine sodium excretion (+53 (40) mmol/day; p<0.001). Teduglutide decreased faecal wet weight (−711 (734) g/day; p = 0.001) and faecal energy excretion (−808 (1453) kJ/day (−193 (347) kcal/day); p = 0.040). In SBS patients with end jejunostomy, teduglutide significantly increased villus height (+38 (45)%; p = 0.030), crypt depth (+22 (18)%; p = 0.010), and mitotic index (+115 (108)%; p = 0.010). Crypt depth and mitotic index did not change in colonic biopsies from SBS patients with colon in continuity. The most common side effects were enlargement of the stoma nipple and mild lower leg oedema. The improvements in intestinal absorption and decreases in faecal excretion noted after treatment had reversed after the drug free follow up period. A controlled study with a more robust design is ongoing in order to determine the optimal dosage of teduglutide for SBS patients to achieve the maximal effect and utility of this drug in clinical practice. Conclusion: Teduglutide, at three dose levels for 21 days, was safe and well tolerated, intestinotrophic, and significantly increased intestinal wet weight absorption in SBS patients with an end jejunostomy or a colon in continuity.
A nanowatt Wake-Up Receiver for industrial production line

Power consumption is a critical constraint for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) since they are battery powered devices and by definition, deployed in out-of-reach environment. In real world, most WSNs application scenarios expect from wireless sensor nodes (WSns) to be often inactive and to remain idle when no communication is present. Accordingly, this inactivity is completely useless and brings nothing but wasting energy. It has been agreed that the very first scope focused on reducing the power consumption is to handle this loss. The waste of power is mainly due to the idle listening of the main transceiver. Turning it off disconnects the node from the network and makes it inaccessible. That's how the challenge is raised. To cope with that, several solutions have been conducted in the recent years. One of which, suggests using an ultra-low power radio receiver referred as Wake-Up Receiver (WuRx). Its purpose is to handle the idle listening while keeping the main radio completely off. The reason behind, is the power consumption of the WuRx, which goes up to hundred thousand times less than the main transceiver. That way, we impressively gain power and that, therefore, extends sensor nodes lifetime. Specific scenarios of WSNs such as On-demand or Event-Triggered applications are adequate candidates for WuRx. In this paper we introduce a nanowatt WuRx and we evaluate its performance when embedded into a WSn.
Ieee Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics 1 Skeleton Cuts -an Efficient Segmentation Method for Volume Rendering

—Volume rendering has long been used as a key technique for volume data visualization, which works by using a transfer function to map color and opacity to each voxel. Many volume rendering approaches proposed so far for voxels classification have been limited in a single global transfer function, which is in general unable to properly visualize interesting structures. In this paper, we propose a localized volume data visualization approach which regards volume visualization as a combination of two mutually related processes: the segmentation of interesting structures and the visualization using a locally designed transfer function for each individual structure of interest. As shown in our work, a new interactive segmentation algorithm is advanced via skeletons to properly categorize interesting structures. In addition, a localized transfer function is subsequently presented to assign visual parameters via interesting information such as intensity, thickness and distance. As can be seen from the experimental results, the proposed techniques allow to appropriately visualize interesting structures in highly complex volume medical data sets.
A 100 MHz-to-1 GHz Fast-Lock Synchronous Clock Generator With DCC for Mobile Applications

This brief presents an all-digital synchronous clock generator with an open-loop architecture, which achieves a fast lock and a wide range for mobile applications. The proposed architecture based on a clock-synchronized delay adopts a multipath delay line, which provides a high resolution and a low deterministic jitter with calibration circuits. A frequency range selector with a locking range moving technique achieves a wide-range operation. The proposed clock generator operates from 100 MHz to 1 GHz with a 14-ps peak-to-peak jitter performance at 1 GHz. The measured lock time is three to ten clock cycles depending on the operating frequency. The clock generator is implemented in a 0.18-μm CMOS process.
Diterpene production in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Diterpenes are a structurally diverse class of molecules common in plants, although they are very rarely found in bacteria. We report the identification in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) of three diterpenes proposed to promote phagolysosome maturation arrest. MS analysis reveals that these diterpenes are novel compounds not previously identified in other organisms. The diterpene with highest abundance in Mtb has a mass fragmentation pattern identical to edaxadiene, which is produced in vitro from geranylgeranyl diphosphate by the enzymes Rv3377c and Rv3378c. A second diterpene found in Mtb has a similar mass spectrum, and is always observed in the same proportion relative to edaxadiene, indicating that it is a side product of the Rv3378c reaction in vivo. We name this second diterpene olefin edaxadiene B. The least abundant of the three diterpenes in Mtb extracts is tuberculosinol, a dephosphorylated side‐product of the edaxadiene pathway intermediate produced by Rv3377c. A frameshift in Rv3377c in Mtb completely eliminates diterpene production, whereas expression of Rv3377c and Rv3378c in the nonpathogenic M. smegmatis is sufficient to produce edaxadiene and edaxadiene B. These studies define the pathway of edaxadiene and edaxadiene B biosynthesis in vivo. Rv3377c and Rv3378c are unique to Mtb and M. bovis, making them candidates for selective therapeutics and diagnostics.
Noninvasive prenatal detection of sex chromosomal aneuploidies by sequencing circulating cell‐free DNA from maternal plasma

Whole‐genome sequencing of circulating cell free (ccf) DNA from maternal plasma has enabled noninvasive prenatal testing for common autosomal aneuploidies. The purpose of this study was to extend the detection to include common sex chromosome aneuploidies (SCAs): [47,XXX], [45,X], [47,XXY], and [47,XYY] syndromes.