Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Genotype Modulates Pulmonary Function and Exercise Capacity in Treated Patients With Congestive Stable Heart Failure

Background—The gene encoding ACE exhibits an insertion/deletion polymorphism resulting in 3 genotypes (DD, ID, and II), which affects serum and tissue ACE activity as well as other vasoactive substances. Pulmonary function is frequently abnormal in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF), the mechanism of which has not been completely characterized. ACE inhibition has been shown to improve diffusion across the alveolar-capillary membrane and to improve exercise capacity and gas exchange in CHF. The aim of the current study was to determine if ACE genotype is associated with altered pulmonary function and exercise intolerance in patients with treated CHF. Methods and Results—Fifty-seven patients (stratified according to ACE genotype as17 DD, 28 ID, 12 II) with ischemic and dilated cardiomyopathy, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) <35%, and <10 pack-years of smoking history were studied. All patients were receiving standard therapy for left ventricular systolic dysfunction. Pulmonary function, LVEF, serum ACE, plasma angiotensin II, atrial natriuretic peptide, and brain natriuretic peptide were measured at baseline. Peak &OV0312;o2 and gas exchange measurements were assessed with graded exercise. Resting LVEF was similar among the genotype groups (25% to 28%), and no differences were observed in diastolic function or pulmonary artery pressures (P >0.05). Mean peak &OV0312;o2 and forced vital capacity (% Pred) were significantly reduced (P <0.05), whereas mean serum ACE activity and plasma angiotensin II concentration were highest in DD homozygotes. Subjects homozygous for the D-allele also demonstrated higher mean ventilatory equivalents for carbon dioxide (&OV0312;e/&OV0312;co2) during exercise (P <0.05). Conclusions—ACE DD genotype is associated with decreased exercise tolerance in CHF, possibly mediated by altered pulmonary function. Pharmacological strategies effecting more complete inhibition of serum and tissue ACE and/or potentiation of bradykinin may improve exercise capacity in patients with CHF and ACE DD genotype.
FUNCTION OF MACROPHAGES IN ANTIGEN RECOGNITION BY GUINEA PIG T LYMPHOCYTES

Antigen activation of DNA synthesis in immune thymus-derived lymphocytes of guinea pigs requires the cooperation of macrophages and lymphocytes. We have investigated the role of histocompatibility determinants in this macrophage-lymphocyte interaction using cells from inbred strain 2 and 13 guinea pigs. The data demonstrate that efficient presentation of macrophage-associated antigen to the lymphocyte requires identity between macrophage and lymphocyte at some portion of the major histocompatibility complex. The failure of allogeneic macrophages to effectively initiate immune lymphocyte proliferation was not the result of the presence of an inhibitor of blastogenesis released in mixtures of allogeneic cells, peculiarities of the antigen or lymphoid cells employed, nor differing kinetics of activation by allogeneic macrophages. In addition, data were presented that demonstrated that alloantisera inhibit lymphocyte DNA synthesis by functional interference with macrophage-lymphocyte interaction.
Patients with Glioblastoma Multiforme Prognostic Value of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor in Updated

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) frequently involves amplification and alteration of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene, resulting in overexpression of varied mutations, including the most common mutation, EGFRvIII, as well as wild-type EGFR (EGFRwt). To test the prognostic value of EGFR, we retrospectively analyzed the relationship between treatment outcomes and the EGFR gene in 87 newly diagnosed adult patients with supratentorial GBM enrolled in clinical trials. The EGFR gene status was assessed by Southern blots and EGFR expression by immunohistochemistry using three monoclonal antibodies (EGFR.25 for EGFR, EGFR.113 for EGFRwt, and DH8.3 for EGFRvIII). EGFR amplification was detected in 40 (46%) of the 87 GBM patients; in 39 (97.5%) of these, EGFR was overexpressed. On the other hand, in 46 of 47 patients without EGFR amplification (97.9%), no EGFR overexpression was present. There was a close correlation between EGFR amplification and EGFR overexpression (P < 0.0001). EGFRwt was overexpressed in 27 of the 40 (67.5%) patients with, and in none without, EGFR amplification (P < 0.0001). Similarly, EGFRvIII was overexpressed in 18 (45.0%) of 40 patients with and in 4 (8.5%) of 47 patients without EGFR amplification (P < 0.0001). The finding that 8 (20%) of the patients with EGFR amplification/EGFR overexpression manifested overexpression of neither EGFRwt nor EGFRvIII indicates that they overexpressed other types of EGFR. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that EGFR amplification was an independent, significant, unfavorable predictor for overall survival (OS) in all patients (P 0.038, HR 1.67). With respect to the relationship of age to EGFR prognostication, the EGFR gene status was a more significant prognosticator in younger patients, particularly in those <60 years (P 0.0003, HR 3.15), whereas not so in older patients. EGFRvIII overexpression, on the other hand, was not predictive for OS. However, in patients with EGFR amplification, multivariate analysis revealed that EGFRvIII overexpression was an independent, significant, poor prognostic factor for OS (P 0.0044, HR 2.71). This finding indicates that EGFRvIII overexpression in the presence of EGFR amplification is the strongest indicator of a poor survival prognosis. In GBM patients, EGFR is of significant prognostic value for predicting survival, and the overexpression of EGFRvIII with amplification plays an important role in enhanced tumorigenicity.
Resistive Coupling Efficiency Criterion for Evaluating Substrate Shielding Structures of Transformers

This letter presents a new way to evaluate the transformer substrate effect by computing its resistive coupling efficiency coefficient etaKr. To assess etaKr, a set of transformers with and without shielding structures was fabricated using standard 0.18-mum CMOS process. The resistive coupling factor etaKr and efficiency etaKr were extracted. It was found that substrate and shielding effects are better quantified with etaKr than with Gmax and S parameters. The larger the relative shielding dimensions, the higher the etaKr is. With etaKr as a figure of merit, we see clearly that a large 3-D patterned floating shield improves transformer performance more than a 2-D one. It was also found that shielding efficiency is correlated with shielding structure dimensions and that the performance of shielded transformers is less sensitive to temperature variations.
Impact of Interfering Bluetooth Piconets on a Collocated  $p$-Persistent CSMA-Based WLAN

In this paper, the effect of cochanneled Bluetooth (BT) piconets on a carrier-sense multiple-access (CSMA)-based wireless local area network (WLAN) is investigated. Specifically, the p-persistent CSMA protocol is considered for WLANs, and the probability of error of a WLAN packet is calculated in the presence of interfering BT packets of different lengths and variable piconet traffic loads and as a function of the BT's frequency-hopping guard time. The probability derivation is then used in conjunction with the p-persistent CSMA throughput and delay formulations to examine its net performance in the presence of BT interference. Simulations have been used to corroborate the analytical results, which indicate that the presence of just one fully loaded interfering BT piconet reduces the peak CSMA throughput by 42%. Furthermore, we show that under fully loaded BT traffic conditions, the effect of more shorter BT packet transmissions on the CSMA delay performance can outweigh the interference impact of a higher number of BT piconets with longer packet transmissions.
L-Asparaginase inhibits the rapamycin-targeted signaling pathway.

L-Asparaginase is widely used in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. L-Asparaginase preparation derived from E. coli converts asparagine (Asn) and glutamine (Gln) to aspartate (Asp) and glutamate (Glu), respectively, and causes rapid depletion of Asn and Gln. It thus suppresses growth of malignant cells that are more dependent on an exogenous source of Asn and Gln than are normal cells. It remains unclear, however, which signaling events in leukemic cells are affected by L-asparaginase. Recently, amino acid sufficiency has been demonstrated to selectively regulate p70 S6 kinase (p70(s6k)) and eukaryotic initiation factor 4E-binding protein 1 (4E-BP1), both of which are targeted by the anti-proliferative drug rapamycin. Here we demonstrate that addition of L-asparaginase to human leukemic cells inhibits activity of p70(s6k) and phosphorylation of 4E-BP1, but not activities of other cell growth-related serine/threonine kinases. The rate and kinetics of p70(s6k) inhibition by L-asparaginase were comparable to those seen by deprivation of Asn and/or Gln from cell culture media, suggesting that the effect of L-asparaginase on p70(s6k) is explained by depletion of Asn and/or Gln. Moreover, L-Asparaginase as well as rapamycin selectively suppressed synthesis of ribosomal proteins at the level of mRNA translation. These data indicate that L-asparaginase and rapamycin target a common signaling pathway in leukemic cells.
Comparative Effects of Hypoxia and Ischemia in the Isolated, Blood‐Perfused Dog Heart: Evaluation of Left Ventricular Diastolic Chamber Distensibility and Wall Thickness

To compare the effects of hypoxia and ischemia on left ventricular (LV) diastolic function, we studied 17 isolated, isovolumic dog hearts by measuring LV diastolic chamber distensibility (LV end diastolic pressure at constant volume), wall thickness, and myocardial pH in response to hyporia at constant coronary flow or pressure versus global ischemia (zero coronary blood flow). Hypoxic perfusates consisted of methemoglobin-containing red blood cells suspended in lactated Ringer's solution. Brief cross-clamping of the coronary perfusion line was used to assess the contribution of coronary turgor to chamber distensibility and wall thickness. With hypoxia, left ventricles showed a significant early (5 minutes) decrease in diastolic distensibility and an increase in wall thickness, at either constant coronary perfusion pressure or flow. The increase in wall thickness was independent of hypoxia-induced changes in coronary turgor. In contrast, global ischemia produced an early increase in LV diastolic chamber distensibility and a decrease in wall thickness. When global ischemia was continued beyond 60 minutes, a decrease in LV chamber distensibility developed. This diastolic contracture was not associated with an increase in LV wall thickness. Myocardial pH decreased slightly during 15 minutes of hypoxia and markedly with 15 minutes of global ischemia. Thus, LV diastolic chamber distensibility decreased during 15 minutes of hypoxia, while an increase in distensibility was seen during global ischemia of similar duration. During hypoxia, these changes were associated with increased LV wall thickness, at either constant coronary perfusion pressure or constant coronary flow. Prolonged ischemia led to diastolic contracture without an increase in wall thickness. The differences in wall thickness with hypoxia versus ischemic contracture suggest differing mechanisms for these two types of diastolic dysfunction.
Stress alters immune function and disease resistance in chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha).

We examined the effects of acute stress on the immune system and disease resistance of juvenile chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in laboratory and clinical trials. Immune function, as measured by the ability of lymphocytes from the anterior kidney to generate specific antibody-producing cells (APC) in vitro, was depressed 4 h after stress, when plasma cortisol levels were highest. At the same time, resistance to the fish pathogen, Vibrio anguillarum, was also depressed. Compared with controls, plasma cortisol and APC of stressed fish were unchanged after 24 h, and disease resistance was enhanced as evidenced by higher survival rate and longer mean time to death of mortalities. After 7 days, even though numbers of APC were depressed, plasma cortisol concentration and disease resistance did not differ from controls. This pattern was generally the same, independent of the type of stress applied: i.e. being held out of water in a dipnet for 30 s, manipulation during hatchery operations for 4 h, or transportation for 9 h. These and earlier findings suggest that similar endocrine-immune interactions operate in the mammalian and salmonid systems during acute stress.
Labour Market Adjustment: Evidence on Interstate LabourMobility

In this paper, we investigate the behaviour of the Australian state labour markets, focusing on the role of geographic labour mobility. We find that interstate migration does play an important role in reducing differences in labour market conditions between states, although permanent (or very persistent) differences between state unemployment rates remain. We also find that out-migration from a state resulting from a relative downturn in its labour market occurs slowly and steadily. Most of the migration takes place, on average, within four years, and the process of adjustment is complete after seven years.
Data Staging for On-Demand Broadcast

:A>@<b_DCGAdPBEG>R<:c\A8:Q@L]J.A8<0H(L[MOz:CTL0PBc:zbP[<bc4EGADCG ? >@_DA8EHGbP[HP[CTA>@<::ADCTAD<. HTQRJz:CTL0PBcb_DPBEwHw_DPBbP[zbQRA bP0EqPBc\A>Uc\ADPBCGAdP$c:P]HFP z:CGL.PBc:_8PBEwHP[<P]HGHGCFPB_ HG>@? BA4c:P]HFP c\A8QR>@? BA8CGJ P[QRHGA8CG<kP]HG>@? BA2MSLBCQ@PBCG0A&_Q@>RA8<. H  LB:a:QUP]HT>RL0<bE8`v:ADCTAbP0Evz ADAD<Ew>@B<:>Rk_8P[<. HvyL0CGZ HGL]P[CFc:EOc\A8? BA8QRL0:>R<b$LB<\QR>@<:Az:CTL0P0c:_DP0EKHET_F:Adc\a:QR >@<:P[Q@BLBCT>RHG:E MSLBCEGJ\EKHTADE :ADCTA! P[Q@Q c:P]HFP >RHGADEOPBCGAyCGAdPBc\>@QRJPY? ]PB>RQUP[z:Q@A>@<¡HG:AEGADCT? BADCd¢ E6P[>@< ADLBCTJB` :A8EGA£EwHGabc:>RAdE(>@B<bLBCTA HG:Ac:P]HFP2P[<: P[0ADAD<. H>UETEwa:AdEOHTbP]HP[CT>@EGA:A8<HG:A c:P[HTP HTL£z A z:CTL0P0c:_DP0EKH£akEKH&z A L0z\HTPB>R<bA8c MSCGL0¤EGA8_DLB<bcbP[CTJ EwHGLBCFP[0A LBC,CTADL[HTA Q@L\_DP]HT>RL0<bE8`¥<¦HT:>@E4bPBkA8C8V  A§:CTLB L0EGA HG:CTADA_LB:Q@ADA8<0HFP[CTJ ̈EGLBQ@a\HG>@LB<kE HGL EGab_F ̈©Ba[«a ¬­«aD®B ̄±°. ®_L0<b_A8CG<kED2§L0: LBCGHGa:<:>UEw HG>U_ ET_F:A8c:a:QR>@<:kVEGADCT? BA8C2_DP0_F:>R<bbVP[<bc bCGADMSAHT_F: >@<:b`&bA8EGAHGA8_Fb<:>@3.a:AdE$A ́\:Q@LB>RH:>@<. HTE$:CTL]? >@c:A8c z J,HG:AET_F:A8c\abQR>@<:,P[Q@BLBCT>RHG:,`$μ¶c:AHTPB>RQ@A8c kA8Cw MSLBCTP[<b_DA AD? ]P[Q@abP]HT>RL0< akEw>@<:P[<·¥K ̧o1 a:QRHG>U_DPBEwHw zbP0EwAdc HGAdEKHTzkAdc EG:L]vE$HTbP]HHG:AdEwA4c:P]HFP EwHTPBB>@<: HGAd_F:<:>U3.a:A8Ev_8P[< c\CFP[P]HT>@_8P[Q@QRJA8<:bPB<b_A HT:A$kA8Cw MSLBCTP[<b_DA L[M£P Q@PBCG0AEG_8P[Q@A,LB<\c\ADPB<bcz:CTL0P0c  _DP0EKHvEGJ\EKHTAD,`
"Nearer to Being Characters in a Book": How Older People Make Sense of Online Communities and Social Networking Sites

This study looked at the relationship between local and online forms of community engagement for a small group of older people in the South of England. Interviews and a focus group were used to establish their understandings of online community and social networking sites (SNS) within the context of existing relationships in local communities. Past experiences of local community influenced expectations for online community and its authenticity. At the same time four catalysts were identified which motivated engagement with community resources both online and locally. These were: 'spaces and places', family, roles and loss. A sense of 'real' community was maintained through meeting people face to face with online communities and SNS being used predominantly as tools for achieving this aim. Exploration of the catalysts offers ways that greater community involvement might be further facilitated through design initiatives that make online community feel more 'real' to older users.
A new interleaved three-level Boost converter and neutral-point potential balancing

Due to a voltage imbalance of the divided capacitors in the output side of three-level Boost photovoltaic grid-connected inverter, a new topology of interleaved three-level Boost converters is presented. The proposed topology can balance the voltage of the divided capacitors through adjusting the duty cycle of the power switches. The operational principle is detailed and the work modes are analyzed. The neutral point drift problem of the inverter has been solved within the first level three-level Boost converter. The prototype has been verified both by a PSPICE simulation and a new topology inverter platform. Simulation and experimental results show that the current ripple of the converter equals to 1/8 of the traditional Boost converter current ripple, and the converter can well solve the neutral point drift problem of the inverter with voltage divided capacitors to obtain good dynamic and steady-state performance.
A monolithic three-axis silicon capacitive accelerometer with micro-g resolution

A monolithic three-axis silicon capacitive accelerometer utilizing a combined surface and bulk micromachining technology is demonstrated with micro-g resolution. The accelerometer consists of three individual single-axis accelerometers. All three devices have full-wafer thick silicon proof-mass, large area polysilicon sense/drive electrodes, and small sensing gap (<1.5 /spl mu/m) formed by a sacrificial oxide layer. The fabricated accelerometer system is 7/spl times/9 mm/sup 2/ in size, has >5pF/g measured sensitivity and sub-/spl mu/g//spl radic/Hz mechanical noise floor for all three axes. The total measured noise floor of the accelerometer hybrid assembled with CMOS interface circuit is 1.60 /spl mu/g//spl radic/Hz, 1.08 /spl mu/g//spl radic/Hz for in-plane and out-of-plane devices, respectively.
Dynamic Programming of Partial Parses

The last years have seen a renewal of interest in applying dyn amic programming to natural language processing. The main advan tage is the compactness of the representations, which is turning this para digm into a common way of dealing with highly redundant computations related t o phenomena such as non-determinism. Natural language parsing adds another challenge, since gra mmatical information is often insufficient. We describe an extension of parsing te chniques for partial parsing in dynamic programming. Our aim is to obtain as much i nformation as possible, that is incomplete parses, while preserving comp actness of the representations.
Developing a Multiagent System for Mobile Devices

The development of applications distributed partly on handheld devices is becoming more and more important. This paper shows the use of mobile agents technology in the development of a distributed system, called SAIPE. It makes easier the reading of user e-mail from different accounts and the searching of documents in Internet with a PDA. SAIPE has been developed following the INGENIAS Agent Oriented Methodology and implemented using JADELEAP software framework.
Noise Enhanced Hypothesis-Testing in the Restricted Bayesian Framework

Performance of some suboptimal detectors can be enhanced by adding independent noise to their observations. In this paper, the effects of additive noise are investigated according to the restricted Bayes criterion, which provides a generalization of the Bayes and minimax criteria. Based on a generic M-ary composite hypothesis-testing formulation, the optimal probability distribution of additive noise is investigated. Also, sufficient conditions under which the performance of a detector can or cannot be improved via additive noise are derived. In addition, simple hypothesis-testing problems are studied in more detail, and additional improvability conditions that are specific to simple hypotheses are obtained. Furthermore, the optimal probability distribution of the additive noise is shown to include at most M mass points in a simple M -ary hypothesis-testing problem under certain conditions. Then, global optimization, analytical and convex relaxation approaches are considered to obtain the optimal noise distribution. Finally, detection examples are presented to investigate the theoretical results.
Updates in a Rule-Based Language for Objects

The integration of object-oriented concepts into deductive databases has been investigated for a certain time now. Various approaches to incorporate updates into deduction have been proposed. The current paper presents an approach which is based on object versioning; different versions of one object may be created and referenced during an update-process. By means of such versions it becomes possible to exert explicit control on the update process during bottom-up evaluation in a rather intuitive way. The units for updates are the result sets of base methods, i.e. methods, whose results are stored in the object-base and are not defined by rules. However, the update itself may be defined by rules. Update-programs have fixpoint semantics; the fixpoint can be computed by a bottom-up evaluation according to a certain stratification.
Predicting IC Defect Level Using Diagnosis

Predicting defect level (DL) using fault coverage is an extremely difficult task but if can be accomplished ensures high quality while controlling test cost. Because IC testing now involves generating and combining tests from multiple fault models, it is important to understand how the coverage from each fault model relates to the overall DL. In this work, a new model is proposed which learns the effectiveness of fault models from the diagnostic results of defective chips, and predicts defect level using the derived measures of effectiveness and fault coverages of multiple fault models. The model is verified using fail data from an IBM ASIC and virtual fail data created through simulation. Experiment results demonstrate that this new model can predict DL more reliably than conventional approaches.
Range Image Segmentation Using the Numerical Description of Mean Curvature Values

In this paper we present a new efficient edge detection algorithm for the extraction of linear features in range image data. In the proposed algorithm the distinguished points, which will comprise the edges, depend on the spatial analysis of the numerical description of the mean curvature values. The work was motivated by the fact that the optimality of edge detectors for range images has not been considered in the literature, some algorithms are limited to synthetic range images and will totally fail in the presence of noise, others which have been tested in real range images are complicated with large numbers of parameters. As it will be demonstrated, the algorithm features computational efficiency, high accuracy in the localization of the edge points, easy implementation, and robustness against noise. The generality and robustness of the algorithm is illustrated on complex scene images with different range sensors. ∗ Corresponding author
Transport spin polarization in SrRuO3 measured through point-contact Andreev reflection

We report a study in which Andreev reflection using a Nb point contact is used to measure the transport spin polarization of the 4d itinerant ferromagnet SrRuO 3 in the ballistic limit of transport. The degree of transport spin polarization is comparable to that of the hole-doped rare-earth manganites. We conclude that the large transport spin polarization results mainly from a difference in the Fermi velocities between the majority- and minority-spin channels in this material.