Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Erythropoietin: Physiology and Pharmacology Update 2

This minireview is an update of a 1997 review on erythropoletin (EPO) in this journal (1). EPO is a 30,400-dalton glycoprotein that regulates red cell production. In the human, EPO is produced by peritubular cells in the kidneys of the adult and in hepatocytes in the fetus. Small amounts of extra-renal EPO are produced by the liver in adult human subjects. EPO binds to an erythroid progenitor cell surface receptor that includes a p66 chain, and, when activated, the p66 protein becomes dimerized. EPO receptor activation induces a JAK2 tyrosine kinase, which leads to tyrosine phosphorylation of the EPO receptor and several proteins. EPO receptor binding leads to intracellular activation of the Ras/mitogen-activated kinase pathway, which is involved with cell proliferation, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, and STATS 1, 3, 5A, and 5B transcriptional factors. EPO acts primarily to rescue erythroid cells from apoptosis (programmed cell death) to increase their survival. EPO acts synergistically with several growth factors (SCF, GM-CSF, 1L-3, and IGF-1) to cause maturation and proliferation of erythroid progenitor cells (primarily colony-forming unit-E). Oxygen-dependent regulation of EPO gene expression is postulated to be controlled by a hypoxia-inducible transcription factor (HIF-1α). Hypoxia-inducible EPO production is controlled by a 50-bp hypoxia-inducible enhancer that is approximately 120 bp 3' to the polyadenylation site. Hypoxia signal transduction pathways involve kinases A and C, phospholipase A2, and transcription factors ATF-1 and CREB-1. A model has been proposed for adenosine activation of EPO production that involves protein kinases A and C and the phospholipase A2 pathway. Other effects of EPO include a hematocrit-independent, vasoconstriction-dependent hypertension, increased endothelin production, upregulation of tissue renin, change in vascular tissue prostaglandins production, stimulation of angiogenesis, and stimulation of endothelial and vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation. Recombinant human EPO (rHuEPO) is currently being used to treat patients with anemias associated with chronic renal failure, AIDS patients with anemia due to treatment with zidovudine, nonmyeloid malignancies in patients treated with chemotherapeutic agents, perioperative surgical patients, and autologous blood donation. A novel erythropolesis-stimulating factor (NESP, darbepoetin) has been synthesized and when compared with rHuEPO, NESP has a higher carbohydrate content (52% vs 40%), a longer plasma half-life, the amino acid sequence differs from that of native human EPO at five positions, and has been reported to maintain hemoglobin levels just as effectively in patients with chronic renal failure as rHuEPO at less frequent dosing. The use of rHuEPO and darbepoetin to enhance athletic performance is officially banned by most sports-governing bodies because the excessive erythrocytosis can lead to increased thrombogenicity and can cause deep vein, coronary, and cerebral thromboses.
Photoacoustic Imaging Based on Limited-Aperture of Transducer

The influence of the aperture of transducer on the photoacoustic imaging was analyzed in this paper. We used different lengths of the same absorber for experiments, and these results demonstrated that the signal intensity would become stronger with the increasing of length of the absorber. But it will remain the same when its length over a certain value.
Socioeconomic Status, Structural and Functional Measures of Social Support, and Mortality

The authors examined the associations of social support with socioeconomic status (SES) and with mortality, as well as how SES differences in social support might account for SES differences in mortality. Analyses were based on 9,333 participants from the British Whitehall II Study cohort, a longitudinal cohort established in 1985 among London-based civil servants who were 35–55 years of age at baseline. SES was assessed using participant's employment grades at baseline. Social support was assessed 3 times in the 24.4-year period during which participants were monitored for death. In men, marital status, and to a lesser extent network score (but not low perceived support or high negative aspects of close relationships), predicted both all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Measures of social support were not associated with cancer mortality. Men in the lowest SES category had an increased risk of death compared with those in the highest category (for all-cause mortality, hazard ratio = 1.59, 95% confidence interval: 1.21, 2.08; for cardiovascular mortality, hazard ratio = 2.48, 95% confidence interval: 1.55, 3.92). Network score and marital status combined explained 27% (95% confidence interval: 14, 43) and 29% (95% confidence interval: 17, 52) of the associations between SES and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, respectively. In women, there was no consistent association between social support indicators and mortality. The present study suggests that in men, social isolation is not only an important risk factor for mortality but is also likely to contribute to differences in mortality by SES.
USAT: An Integrated Platform for Satisfiability Solving and Model Checking

A platform named USAT that integrates several gate-level and RTL satisfiability solvers is described. USAT has a unified circuit model that can represent both gate-level and RTL circuits. USAT integrates other solvers by translating between various circuit formats via the unified circuit model. USAT also includes a circuit generator that can generate RTL circuits with specific features specified by users. USAT also has a native ATPG-based solver that can solve satisfiability problem at both gate-level and RTL. The effectiveness of USAT is demonstrated by applications in bounded model checking.
On the energy components governing molecular recognition in the framework of continuum approaches

Molecular recognition is a process that brings together several biological macromolecules to form a complex and one of the most important characteristics of the process is the binding free energy. Various approaches exist to model the binding free energy, provided the knowledge of the 3D structures of bound and unbound molecules. Among them, continuum approaches are quite appealing due to their computational efficiency while at the same time providing predictions with reasonable accuracy. Here we review recent developments in the field emphasizing on the importance of adopting adequate description of physical processes taking place upon the binding. In particular, we focus on the efforts aiming at capturing some of the atomistic details of the binding phenomena into the continuum framework. When possible, the energy components are reviewed independently of each other. However, it is pointed out that rigorous approaches should consider all energy contributions on the same footage. The two major schemes for utilizing the individual energy components to predict binding affinity are outlined as well.
Effect of Intra-Arterial Papaverine on Regional Cerebral Blood Flow in Hemodynamically Relevant Cerebral Vasospasm

Background and Purpose — It remains controversial whether the intra-arterial administration of papaverine (IAP) is effective in reversing vasospasm-associated cerebral hypoperfusion after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. The aim of the present study was to continuously assess regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) during and after IAP with the use of quantitative, bedside thermal diffusion flowmetry. Methods — Eight patients with cerebral vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage (mean flow velocity >120 cm/s; angiographic vessel constriction >33%; hemispheric cerebral blood flow [CBF] <32 mL/100 g per minute) were prospectively entered into the study. Before IAP, thermal diffusion microprobes were implanted into the white matter of each affected vascular territory (n=10) for rCBF monitoring. During and after IAP (300 mg papaverine/50 mL saline over 1 hour), mean arterial blood pressure, intracranial pressure, cerebral perfusion pressure, thermal diffusion rCBF (TD-rCBF), and cerebrovascular resistance (CVR) were recorded continuously. Results — IAP significantly increased TD-rCBF from 7.3±1.6 to 37.9±6.6 mL/100 g per minute (mean±SEM), indicating reversal of cerebral hypoperfusion. This TD-rCBF response was dependent on the degree of cerebral vasospasm and reduced perfusion within the vascular territory. Long-term analysis of TD-rCBF, however, demonstrated that this beneficial effect of IAP on cerebral hypoperfusion was only transient: within 3 hours after treatment, TD-rCBF and CVR returned to baseline values. Furthermore, a lack of correlation between transcranial Doppler sonography and thermal diffusion flowmetry suggested that transcranial Doppler sonography is not suited for CBF-based neuromonitoring after IAP. Conclusions — IAP is not effective in permanently reversing cerebral hypoperfusion in patients with cerebral vasospasm. The need to validate alternative therapeutic strategies that seek to improve cerebral perfusion in vasospasm warrants continued development of CBF-based neuromonitoring strategies.
Development of side branching in dendritic crystal growth.

The growth of dendritic crystals of NH4Br from supersaturated solution has been studied in a way that allows high-resolution measurements of the early stages of side branching. The branches are found to be nonperiodic at any distance from the tip, with apparently random variations in both phase and amplitude. Side branches on opposite sides of the dendrite are imperfectly correlated. The rms side-branch amplitude is an exponential function of distance from the tip, with no apparent onset. The implications of these results for several theories of the stability of growing dendrites are discussed. PACS numbers: 68.70. +w, 61.50. Cj, 81.30. Fb
Intelligence on top of the networks: SIP based service control layer signaling

In order to support the integration of heterogeneous networks and diverse access devices, we have developed a server architecture that provides integrated telecommunications and data services spanning heterogeneous networks. The server architecture interfaces to the networks via adaptation units to provide a network independent service control on top of the networks. We have structured the architecture according to the principles of the TINA service architecture in a user control part, a service control part and a communication control part. We have adopted the IETF session initiation protocol (SIP) to serve as a service control layer signaling protocol. Our session control protocol (SesCP) supports the setup and control of complex multimedia communication services and provides flexibility in order to support a wide range of new services. In particular, SesCP provides signaling mechanisms that support different levels of the service description, starting with the service called 'called-by-name' and finally coming to a precise connection description that is realized in the networks. SesCP also supports the negotiation of service description parameters.
The reproducibility of bronchial circumference measurements using computed tomography.

Objective measurement of bronchial damage in patients with bronchiectasis is needed to identify progressive disease. This study evaluates the inter- and intraobserver variation in computed tomography (CT) measurements of bronchial wall circumference and examines the precision with which CT measurements of the bronchi can be repeated in patients with bronchiectasis. Twelve patients were scanned and the circumferences of 61 subsegmental bronchi were measured independently on two occasions, by three observers, using a tracing facility on the CT console. To determine the accuracy with which previously acquired sections could be repeated, five patients were scanned on two separate occasions. The mean bronchial circumference measured by the three observers was 16.1 +/- 8.3 mm. The standard deviations of differences between first and second measurements of bronchial circumference for the three observers (intraobserver variability) were: 0.60 mm, 0.67 mm and 0.40 mm. The standard deviation of readings for interobserver variability was 0.71 mm. The standard deviations of differences (and coefficients of variation) for measurements of bronchial circumference following rescanning were: 1.82 mm, 1.40 mm and 1.74 mm (9.9%, 7.6% and 9.3%, respectively). The reproducibility of measurements of wall circumference, between and within observers and between examinations, indicates that such measurements may be clinically useful in demonstrating the progression of bronchiectasis.
NMPC based on Huber penalty functions to handle large deviations of quadrature states

Nonlinear Model Predictive Control for mechanical applications is often used to perform the tracking of time-varying reference trajectories, and is typically implemented using penalty functions based on L2 norms. Controllers for mechanical systems, however, are often required to handle large deviations from the reference trajectory. In such cases, it has been observed that NMPC schemes based on L2 norms can have undesirably aggressive behaviors. Heuristics can be developed to tackle these issues, but they require intricate and non-systematic tuning procedures. This paper proposes an NMPC scheme based on Huber penalty functions to handle large deviation of quadrature state from its reference, offering an intuitive and easy-to-tune alternative. The behavior of the proposed NMPC scheme is analysed, and the conditions for its nominal stability are established. The control scheme is illustrated on a simulated crane.
Scheduling on uplink of CDMA packet data network with successive interference cancellation

Uplink scheduling in wireless systems is gaining importance due to arising uplink intensive data services, which could be hampered by the currently in-built asymmetry in favor of the downlink. In prior work, (K. Kumaran and L. Qian, 2002, Apr. 2003), we proposed optimal algorithms for uplink scheduling in a CDMA cell that does not employ any form of interference cancellation. In this work, we modify the approach to incorporate successive interference cancellation (SIC), which has been shown to be optimal in an information theoretic sense (G. Caire and S. Shamai, 2000). As in K. Kumaran and L. Qian ( 2002, Apr. 2003), no statistical assumptions are made about channel or traffic behavior, but feedback to communicate current channel state and queue state is assumed. Our results demonstrate that the throughput optimal scheduling strategy takes a particularly simple form with SIC as compared to without, (K. Kumaran and L. Qian, 2002, Apr. 2003), apart from providing some level of performance improvement. A reasonable alternative algorithm based purely on received power can be constructed based on early work on SIC (P. Patel and J. Holtzman, June 1994). Considering decoding errors, only strongly received users can benefit from SIC. Our simulation experiments suggest that our throughput optimal scheduling improves performance over the alternative when users have similar received power. Combining the above observation, we also propose a hybrid scheduling algorithm that performs SIC for strong users and simultaneous transmission for weak users.
User matching game in virtualized 5G cellular networks

Recently, wireless virtualization has attracted more and more attentions from research communities. With virtualization, resource utilization is higher, system performance is improved and the investment capital is lower. However, there are remaining challenges to be addressed before wireless virtualization is widespread deployed. One challenge is user association which has great influence on the performance of the wireless virtualization network. Traditionally, user associates to the base station (BS) who provides the highest signal to interference plus noise ratio (max-SINR). However, this scheme may not guarantee the quality of service (QoS) of users and backhaul constraint of infrastructure providers (InPs). This motivates us to investigate the user association problem in virtualized cellular networks in this paper. We formulate the user-BS association as a matching game. We show that the preferences used to rank one another are independent and affected by the existing matching. Therefore, this game can be classified as the one-to-many matching game with externalities. In addition, we present a distributed algorithm to find the stable outcome of this game. Simulation results show that the presented association scheme is better than traditional scheme.
Effect of Fiber on Tensile Properties of Moso Bamboo

Bamboo is a natural bio-composite that has outstanding mechanical properties. Fibers are the structural building block of bamboo. Understanding the effect of fiber area on tensile properties of moso bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens Mazei ex. H. Lebaie) will shed light on natural efficient design of bamboo. In this paper, fiber area and tensile properties of bamboo were tested on four bamboo slices, and a relationship found between fiber area and tensile properties. The results indicated that fiber volume increased exponentially in the radial direction from the inside to the outside of the culm wall. Bamboo tensile strength and MOE were linearly proportional to the fiber area. Fiber area also influenced bamboo fracture modes.
Defect Sizing and Location by Lock-in Photo-Infrared Thermography

In lock-in thermography, a phase difference between the defect area and the healthy area indicates the qualitative location and size of the defect. To accurately estimate these parameters, the shearing-phase technique has been employed which gives the shearing-phase distribution. The shearing-phase distribution has maximum, minimum, and zero points that help determine quantitatively the size and location of the subsurface defect. In experiment, the proposed technique is verified with artificial specimen and these related factors are analyzed.
Dystrophin colocalizes with beta-spectrin in distinct subsarcolemmal domains in mammalian skeletal muscle

Duchenne's muscular dystrophy (DMD) is caused by the absence or drastic decrease of the structural protein, dystrophin, and is characterized by sarcolemmal lesions in skeletal muscle due to the stress of contraction. Dystrophin has been localized to the sarcolemma, but its organization there is not known. We report immunofluorescence studies which show that dystrophin is concentrated, along with the major muscle isoform of beta-spectrin, in three distinct domains at the sarcolemma: in elements overlying both I bands and M lines, and in occasional strands running along the longitudinal axis of the myofiber. Vinculin, which has previously been found at the sarcolemma overlying the I bands and in longitudinal strands, was present in the same three structures as spectrin and dystrophin. Controls demonstrated that the labeling was intracellular. Comparison to labeling of the lipid bilayer and of the extracellular matrix showed that the labeling for spectrin and dystrophin is associated with the intact sarcolemma and is not a result of processing artifacts. Dystrophin is not required for this lattice- like organization, as similar domains containing spectrin but not dystrophin are present in muscle from the mdx mouse and from humans with Duchenne's muscular dystrophy. We discuss the possibility that dystrophin and spectrin, along with vinculin, may function to link the contractile apparatus to the sarcolemma of normal skeletal muscle.
Nonepileptic seizures under levetiracetam therapy: a case report of forced normalization process

Nonepileptic seizures (NES) apparently look like epileptic seizures, but are not associated with ictal electrical discharges in the brain. NES constitute one of the most important differential diagnoses of epilepsy. They have been recognized as a distinctive clinical phenomenon for centuries, and video/electroencephalogram monitoring has allowed clinicians to make near-certain diagnoses. NES are supposedly unrelated to organic brain lesions, and despite the preponderance of a psychiatric/psychological context, they may have an iatrogenic origin. We report a patient with NES precipitated by levetiracetam therapy; in this case, NES was observed during the disappearance of epileptiform discharges from the routine video/electroencephalogram. We discuss the possible mechanisms underlying NES with regard to alternative psychoses associated with the phenomenon of the forced normalization process.
Structural, Electrical, and Electromagnetic Properties of Cotton Fabrics Coated with Polyaniline and Polypyrrole

In this study, the structural, electrical, and electromagnetic properties of cotton fabrics coated with polyaniline (PAni) and polypyrrole (PPy) were investigated and compared. For the aims, anilin and pyrrole were used as monomers, and in situ polymerization on cotton fabric by chemical oxidative polymerization was performed. After production, the structural properties of the fabrics were determined with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. In addition, ultraviolet (UV) permeability, tensile strength, colorfastness, and electrical and electromagnetic measurements of the fabric samples were carried out. The resistance values of the cotton fabrics coated with PAni and PPy were found to be 350 and 512 Ω, respectively. The average electromagnetic shielding efficiency and average absorption values of the cotton fabrics coated with PAni were determined to be 3.8 dB and 48%, respectively, and these values for the cotton fabrics coated with PPy were 6 dB and 50%, respectively. Consequently, a significant difference was not observed between the resistance values and electromagnetic parameters of the fabrics coated with PAni and PPy, although the intact textile characteristics of the fabric coated with PPy were protected and improved, whereas the characteristics of the fabric coated with PAni were inferior. Moreover, we first report that the fabrics coated with conductive polymers had excellent UV-protection properties. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009