Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
L-type Ca2+ channel alpha 1c subunit isoform switching in failing human ventricular myocardium.

UNLABELLED The objectives of this study were to determine the relative abundance of the L-type Ca channel alpha 1c IVS3 isoforms that result from alternative splicing in normal human ventricular myocytes and to measure the changes in isoform expression in end stage heart failure. METHODS mRNA was isolated from left ventricular tissue and myocytes from non-failing and failing human hearts. RT-PCR with isoform-specific primers was used to obtain cDNAs that were then mutated for use in competitive PCR reactions. An RNase protection assay was also used to confirm the presence of one of the novel isoforms. RESULTS Four different alpha 1c IVS3 isoforms were found in non-failing human ventricular myocytes using RT-PCR. Two isoforms contained exon 31 (termed IVS3A isoforms) and two isoforms contained exon 32 (termed IVS3B isoforms). One of these isoforms has not been observed previously and contains exon 31 and all but the last six base pairs of exon 32. In non-failing human ventricular myocytes the IVS3A isoform is 2.5 times more abundant than the IVS3B isoform. There were significant changes in the relative abundance of these isoforms in failing hearts, with the IVS3B isoform being twice as abundant as the IVS3A isoform. All isoforms were confirmed by RNase protection analysis. CONCLUSIONS These experiments show that there are at least four L-type Ca channel mRNA isoforms in the normal human heart and that the relative abundance of these isoforms changes significantly in heart failure. These alpha 1c isoform changes in heart failure are associated with dysfunctional electromechanical disturbances, but the specific physiological role of each L-type Ca channel isoform in normal and failing hearts needs to be defined.
Rapid Changes in the Size of Different Functional Organ and Muscle Groups during Refueling in a Long‐Distance Migrating Shorebird

The adaptive value of size changes in different organ and muscle groups was studied in red knots (Calidris canutus islandica) in relation to their migration. Birds were sampled on five occasions: at arrival in Iceland in May 1994, two times during subsequent refueling, at departure toward, and on return from, the high arctic breeding grounds. During their 24‐d stopover in May, body mass increased from 144.3 to 214.5 g. Mass gains were lowest over the first week (0.85 g/d, only fat‐free tissue deposited). Over the subsequent 10 d, average mass increased by 5.0 g/d (fat contributing 78%), and over the last week before takeoff, it increased by 2.0 g/d (fat contributing over 100% because of loss of lean components). There were no sex differences in body and fat mass gains. Over the first interval, lean masses of heart, stomach, and liver increased. During the middle 10 d, sizes of leg muscle, intestine, liver, and kidneys increased. Stomach mass decreased over the same interval. In the last interval before takeoff, the stomach atrophied further and the intestine, leg muscles, and liver became smaller too, but pectoral muscles and heart increased in size. Sizes of “exercise organs” such as pectoral muscle and heart were best correlated with body mass, whereas sizes of organs used during foraging (leg muscles) and nutrient extraction (intestine, liver) were best correlated with rate of mass gain. Kidneys changed little before takeoff, which suggests that they are needed as much during flight as during refueling.
Dynamics of Dissolved Oxygen in Relation to Saturation and Health of an Aquatic Body: A Case for Chilka Lagoon, India

Dissolved oxygen (DO) is essential for an aquatic ecosystem since it controls the biological productivity. Here, we propose a unidimensional dynamic model for DO by incorporating biological (photosynthesis, respiration, and mineralization), physical (atmospheric reaeration) and chemical (nitrification) processes so characteristic of shallow coastal water bodies. The analytical study of the proposed model is focussed on supersaturation and undersaturation of oxygen in the water body. The controllability of the ecosystem health has also been investigated. Model results indicate that, while undersaturation of oxygen is largely governed by nitrification and Net Ecosystem Metabolism (NEM), the supersaturation is controlled by photosynthetic activity. The model results are corroborated with observed data collected from Chilka lagoon, India. Subsequently, a biogeochemical model to study the DO variations in Chilka lagoon has been constructed. The model is properly calibrated and validated with observed data. Two independent sets of data (2004-2005 and 2005-2006) were used for model calibration and validation and Chi-square tests supported its robustness ( and 0.987; ). The model was used to evaluate independently the influence of individual taxa (diatoms, microphytobenthos, and cyanophyceans) on DO variations. Simulations indicate the vital role of microphytobenthos in lagoon DO dynamics and the overall wellbeing.
Classification of Images Based on Hidden Markov Models

We propose to use hidden Markov models (HMMs) to classify images. Images are modeled by extracting symbols corresponding to 3x3 binary neighborhoods of interest points, and by ordering these symbols by decreasing saliency order, thus obtaining strings of symbols. HMMs are learned from sets of strings modeling classes of images. The method has been tested on the SIMPLIcity database and shows an improvement over competing approaches based on interest points. We also evaluate these approaches for classifying thumbnail images, i.e., low resolution images.
Phenotypic correlates and consequences of dispersal in a metapopulation of house sparrows Passer domesticus.

1. We examine causes and consequences of natal dispersal within a metapopulation of house sparrows Passer domesticus in an archipelago in Northern Norway where a large proportion of the individuals is colour-ringed. 2. Less than 10% of the fledglings dispersed, i.e. left their natal island. 3. Dispersal was female biased and almost exclusively performed by juveniles. 4. The probability of natal dispersal was not related either to the body condition or the body mass of the juvenile. Similarly, neither clutch size nor hatching date explained a significant proportion of the variance in the probability of dispersal. 5. The probability of male natal dispersal was related to the rank of the fledgling in the size-hierarchy within the brood. Low ranking individuals that hatched early in the season were more likely to disperse. 6. In both sexes, the survival of dispersers at the island of establishment was higher than among the residents on that island. Similarly, dispersers survived better than adults that remained on their island of birth. 7. These results suggest that dispersal may be an adaptive strategy to avoid poor conditions in the natal area.
Geophone‐ground coupling with flat bases

Seismic acquisition can be costly and inefficient when using spiked geophones. In most cases, such as the desert, the most practical solution is the use of flat bases, where geophone‐ground coupling is based on an optimal choice of the mass and area of contact between the receiver and the ground. This optimization is necessary since areas covered by sand are loose sediments and poor coupling occurs. Other cases include ground coupling in stiff pavements, for instance urban areas and ocean‐bottom nodes. We consider three different approaches to analyse coupling and model the geophone with a flat base (plate) resting on an elastic half‐space. Two existing models, based on the full‐wave theory, which we refer to as the Wolf and Hoover‐O'Brien models, predict a different behaviour with respect to the novel method introduced in this work. This method is based on the transmission coefficient of upgoing waves impinging in the geophone‐ground contact, where the ground is described as an anelastic half‐space. The boundary conditions at the contact have already been used to model fractures and are shown here to provide the equation of the damped oscillator. This fracture‐contact model depends on the stiffness characteristic of the contact between the geophone base plate and the ground. The transmission coefficient from the ground to the plate increases for increasing weight and decreasing base plate area. The new model predicts that the resonant frequency is independent of the geophone weight and plate radius, while the recorded energy increases with increasing weight and decreasing base plate area (as shown from our own experiments and measurements by Krohn) which is contrary to the theories developed by Wolf and Hoover‐O'Brien. The transient response is obtained by an inverse Fourier transform. Optimal geophone‐ground coupling and energy transmission are required, the first concept meaning that the geophone is following the motion of the ground and the second one that the signal is detectable. As a final example, we simulate seismic acquisition based on the novel theory, showing the differences between optimal and poor ground‐to‐geophone energy transmission.
HARMONY: Efficiently Mining the Best Rules for Classification

Many studies have shown that rule-based classiers perform well in classifying categorical and sparse high-dimensional databases. However, a fundamental limitation with many rule-based classiers is that they nd the rules by employing various heuristic methods to prune the search space, and select the rules based on the sequential database covering paradigm. As a result, the nal set of rules that they use may not be the globally best rules for some instances in the training database. To make matters worse, these algorithms fail to fully exploit some more eectiv e search space pruning methods in order to scale to large databases. In this paper we present a new classier, HARMONY, which directly mines the nal set of classication rules. HARMONY uses an instance-centric rule-generation approach and it can assure for each training instance, one of the highest-condence rules covering this instance is included in the nal rule set, which helps in improving the overall accuracy of the classier. By introducing several novel search strategies and pruning methods into the rule discovery process, HARMONY also has high eciency and good scalability. Our thorough performance study with some large text and categorical databases has shown that HARMONY outperforms many well-known classiers in terms of both accuracy and computational eciency , and scales well w.r. t. the database size.
A Novel RNA-Binding Protein Involves ABA Signaling by Post-transcriptionally Repressing ABI2

The Stress Associated RNA-binding protein 1 (SRP1) repressed by ABA, salt and cold encodes a C2C2-type zinc finger protein in Arabidopsis. The knock-out mutation in srp1 reduced the sensitivity of seed to ABA and salt stress during germination and post-germinative growth stages. In contrast, SRP1-overexpressing seedlings were more sensitive to ABA and salt compared to wild type plants. In the presence of ABA, the transcript levels of ABA signaling and germination-related genes including ABI3. ABI5. EM1 and EM6 were less induced in srp1 compared to WT. Interestingly, expression of ABI2 encoding a protein phosphatase 2C protein were significantly up-regulated in srp1 mutants. By in vitro analysis, SRP1 was identified as a novel RNA-binding protein directly binding to 3′UTR of ABI2 mRNA. Moreover, transient expression assay proved the function of SRP1 in reducing the activity of luciferase whose coding sequence was fused with the ABI2 3’UTR. Together, it is suggested that SRP1 is involved in the ABA signaling by post-transcriptionally repressing ABI2 expression in Arabidopsis.
Millimeter-Wave Beam Training Acceleration Through Low-Complexity Hybrid Transceivers

Millimeter-wave (mm-wave) communication systems can provide much higher data rates than systems operating at lower frequencies, but achieving such rates over sufficiently large distances requires highly directional beamforming at both the transmitter and receiver. These antenna beams have to be aligned very precisely in order to obtain sufficient link margin. In this paper, we first propose a parallel-adaptive beam training protocol, which significantly accelerates the link establishment between mm-wave devices by exploiting the ability of hybrid analog-digital beamforming antennas to scan multiple spatial sectors simultaneously. Second, we deal with practical constraints of the mm-wave transceivers and design a novel greedy geometric algorithm to synthesize sector beam patterns featuring configurable beamwidth and multi-beam radiation as required by the proposed beam training protocol. These multi-beam patterns are then also used for concurrent data communication over multiple paths, in case several suitable directions are found during the beam training. Simulation results show that our algorithm is able to shape antenna patterns very close to those attained by a fully digital beamforming architecture, yet requires lower complexity hardware compared with the state-of-the-art solutions. Exploiting such multi-beam antenna patterns, our parallel beam training protocol can provide up to 82% effective rate increase and 70% search time decrease compared with existing sequential protocols. The acceleration of the beam training phase shifts the optimum balance between the search overhead and the achieved directivity gain so that the best performance is reached with a training load 30% to 60% lower than that of the sequential beam training.
Effect of Alternating Passage on Adaptation of Sindbis Virus to Vertebrate and Invertebrate Cells

ABSTRACT Mosquito-borne alphaviruses, which replicate alternately and obligately in mosquitoes and vertebrates, appear to experience lower rates of evolution than do many RNA viruses that replicate solely in vertebrates. This genetic stability is hypothesized to result from the alternating host cycle, which constrains evolution by imposing compromise fitness solutions in each host. To test this hypothesis, Sindbis virus was passaged serially, either in one cell type to eliminate host alteration or alternately between vertebrate (BHK) and mosquito (C6/36) cells. Following 20 to 50 serial passages, mutations were identified and changes in fitness were assessed using competition assays against genetically marked, surrogate parent viruses. Specialized viruses passaged in a single cell exhibited more mutations and amino acid changes per passage than those passaged alternately. Single host-adapted viruses exhibited fitness gains in the cells in which they specialized but fitness losses in the bypassed cell type. Most but not all viruses passaged alternately experienced lesser fitness gains than specialized viruses, with fewer mutations per passage. Clonal populations derived from alternately passaged viruses also exhibited adaptation to both cell lines, indicating that polymorphic populations are not required for simultaneous fitness gains in vertebrate and mosquito cells. Nearly all passaged viruses acquired Arg or Lys substitutions in the E2 envelope glycoprotein, but enhanced binding was only detected for BHK cells. These results support the hypothesis that arbovirus evolution may be constrained by alternating host transmission cycles, but they indicate a surprising ability for simultaneous adaptation to highly divergent cell types by combinations of mutations in single genomes.
Topic Detection Based on User Intention

Topic detection always plays an important role in social network analysis. In this paper, we focus on a very simple question that how to choose the terms that can represent a topic better before topic detection. To tackle this problem, we propose an effective model named Topic Model based on Entropy and LDA (TMELDA). The model is built on the user intention, which means different users have different knowledge for topic detection. What's more, the choice of terms in TMELDA is not only based on semantic relevance but also on the consideration of evenness extent of term distribution. An extensive empirical study using real Sina Weibo data clearly demonstrates that our method has a better performance in topic detection.
Evaluation of a development framework for a mobile gaming platform with financial transfers

Mobile gaming is a research field of growing interest due to increasing usage numbers and revenue rates. The increases are mostly caused by improvements of mobile devices and networks that enable better performance and usability of mobile games. In this paper a new framework for the development in a mobile gaming platform environment is presented. The gaming platform includes financial transfers that require specific precautions in the development process as well as in the maintenance of the platform. The development framework is evaluated in a comparative research design against other available frameworks that also meet most of these specific requirements. Evaluation criteria applied in the comparative setting are efficiency and effectiveness in form of development effort and expenses. As a result we present the differences between frameworks as well as disadvantages and advantages of our framework regarding economic as well as technical target values.
Assessment: Botulinum neurotoxin in the treatment of autonomic disorders and pain (an evidence-based review)

Objective: To perform an evidence-based review of the safety and efficacy of botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) in the treatment of autonomic and urologic disorders and low back and head pain. Methods: A literature search was performed including MEDLINE and Current Contents for therapeutic articles relevant to BoNT and the selected indications. Authors reviewed, abstracted, and classified articles based on the quality of the study (Class I–IV). Conclusions and recommendations were developed based on the highest level of evidence and put into current clinical context. Results: The highest quality literature available for the respective indications was as follows: axillary hyperhidrosis (two Class I studies); palmar hyperhidrosis (two Class II studies); drooling (four Class II studies); gustatory sweating (five Class III studies); neurogenic detrusor overactivity (two Class I studies); sphincter detrusor dyssynergia in spinal cord injury (two Class II studies); chronic low back pain (one Class II study); episodic migraine (two Class I and two Class II studies); chronic daily headache (four Class II studies); and chronic tension-type headache (two Class I studies). Recommendations: Botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) should be offered as a treatment option for the treatment of axillary hyperhidrosis and detrusor overactivity (Level A), should be considered for palmar hyperhidrosis, drooling, and detrusor sphincter dyssynergia after spinal cord injury (Level B), and may be considered for gustatory sweating and low back pain (Level C). BoNT is probably ineffective in episodic migraine and chronic tension-type headache (Level B). There is presently no consistent or strong evidence to permit drawing conclusions on the efficacy of BoNT in chronic daily headache (mainly transformed migraine) (Level U). While clinicians’ practice may suggest stronger recommendations in some of these indications, evidence-based conclusions are limited by the availability of data.
PVU II POLYMORPHISM OF LST‐1 (LEUCOCYTE SPECIFIC TRANSCRIPT‐1) IN TYPE I DIABETES MELLITUS, GRAVES’ DISEASE AND HEALTHY CONTROLS

The polymorphism of the LST‐1 gene (the human homologue of the mouse B144 gene) can be identified by Pvu II restriction enzyme digestion. We investigated the contribution of this RFLP to disease susceptibility in 117 patients with type I diabetes mellitus (IDDM), 110 with Graves’ disease (GD) and 93 healthy controls. The distribution of the different LST‐1 alleles (LST‐1*1:1323bp, LST‐1*2:610bp/713) was similar among IDDM and GD patients as well as in controls. The combination of DQA1*0501, DQB1*0201 and DQB1*0301, all predisposing to endocrine autoimmune disease, with LST‐1*1 or LST‐1*2 was not increased in patients. Analysis of two informative families with IDDM demonstrated cosegregation of DQA1 and DQB1 alleles with LST‐1 alleles. No association of LST‐1 polymorphisms with IDDM nor GD could be demonstrated.
Novel Approaches for Improving the Power Consumption Models in Correlation Analysis

Differential Power Analysis (DPA) is a powerful technique for revealing secret data of cryptographic algorithms such as DES, AES and RSA implemented on a specific platform. In recent years, Correlation Power Analysis (CPA) allowed to better formalize the differential approaches of DPA with the use of a power model. We propose here two methods in order to optimize the power model for the targeted bits of the analysed algorithm. We will consider that all the targeted bits do not give the same contribution to the power consumption. Our first method consists in finding out the optimal ratio among the bits of a specific device. The second method is based on a statistical analysis of attack results while applying different possible ratios among the bits. The experimental electromagnetic radiation signals intercepted from an ASIC during DES operations show that our proposed methods allow to improve significantly the attack performance.
TraceMixer: Privacy-preserving crowd-sensing sans trusted third party

Crowd-sensing promises cheap and easy large scale data collection by tapping into the sensing and processing capabilities of smart phone users. However, the vast amount of fine-grained location data collected raises serious privacy concerns among potential contributors. In this paper, we argue that crowd-sensing has unique requirements w.r. t. privacy and data utility which renders existing protection mechanisms infeasible. We hence propose TraceMixer, a novel location privacy protection mechanism tailored to the special requirements in crowd-sensing. TraceMixer builds upon the well-studied concept of mix zones to provide trajectory privacy while achieving high spatial accuracy. First in this line of research, TraceMixer applies secure two-party computation technologies to realize a trustless architecture that does not require participants to share locations with anyone in clear. We evaluate TraceMixer on real-world datasets to show the feasibility of our approach in terms of privacy, utility, and performance. Finally, we demonstrate the applicability of TraceMixer in a real-world crowd-sensing campaign.
FGF23 in Acute and Chronic Illness

FGF23 is a bone-derived phosphaturic hormone that may become a useful biomarker for the identification of high-risk patients in chronic but also acute disease. It rises early in chronic kidney disease and is strongly and independently associated with excess morbidity and mortality. Emerging data suggest that FGF23 is also elevated in different scenarios of acute illness. In this review, we give an overview on the role of this interesting disease marker and potential and proven interventional strategies and discuss a blueprint for future research.
Towards a General Multi-View Registration Technique

We present an algorithm that reduces significantly the level of the registration errors between all pairs in a set of range views. This algorithm refines initial estimates of the transformation matrices obtained from either the calibrated acquisition setup or a crude manual alignment. It is an instance of a category of registration algorithms known as iterated closest-point (ICP) algorithms. The algorithm considers the network of views as a whole and minimizes the registration errors of all views simultaneously. This leads to a well-balanced network of views in which the registration errors are equally distributed, an objective not met by previously published ICP algorithms which all process the views sequentially. Experimental results show that this refinement technique improves the calibrated registrations and the quality of the integrated model for complex multi-part objects. In the case of scenes comprising man-made objects of very simple shapes, the basic algorithm faces problems common to all ICP algorithms and so must be extended.