Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tumor cell dormancy: implications for the biology and treatment of breast cancer  

Despite progress made in the therapy of solid tumors such as breast cancer, the prognosis of patients even with small primary tumors is still limited by metastatic relapse often long after removal of the primary tumor. Therefore, it has been hypothesized that primary tumors shed tumor cells already at an early stage into the blood circulation. A subset of these disseminated tumor cells may persist in a state of so‐called “dormancy”. Based on cell culture and animal models, dormancy can occur at two different stages. Single dormant cells are defined as cells with a lack of proliferation and apoptosis with the cells undergoing cell cycle arrest. The micrometastasis model defines tumor cell dormancy as a state of balanced apoptosis and proliferation of micrometastasis resulting in no net increase of tumor mass. Mechanisms leading to a growth activation of dormant tumor cells and the outgrowth of manifest metastases are not completely understood. Genetic predisposition of the dormant cells as well as immunological and angiogenetic influences of the surrounding environment may contribute to this phenomenon. In this review, we summarize findings on different factors for tumor cell dormancy and potential therapeutic implications that should help to reduce metastatic relapse in cancer patients.
The anti‐inflammatory sesquiterpene lactone parthenolide suppresses IL‐4 gene expression in peripheral blood T cells

Sesquiterpene lactones (SL) derived from Mexican India medicinal plants and parthenolide, the major SL from European feverfew, have raised considerable interest because of their anti‐inflammatory and complex pharmacological action. Interleukin‐4 (IL‐4) is a key cytokine that influences the development of T helper 2 cells and plays an important role in the pathogenesis of allergic diseases. We show here that the anti‐inflammatory parthenolide suppresses IL‐4 expression at the mRNA and the protein levels in a dose‐dependent manner. We demonstrate that parthenolide blocks NF‐κB binding to two important IL‐4 promoter regulatory elements and suppresses promoter activity upon T cell activation. Differences regarding the effects of parthenolide on expression levels of IL‐4, IL‐2 and IFN‐γ were observed. Parthenolide (2.5 μM) could completely suppress IL‐4 protein levels secreted in anti‐CD3/CD28‐stimulated peripheral blood T cells from allergic and normal donors.Complete inhibition of IL‐2 and IFN‐γ requires higher doses of parthenolide. So far, drugs directed against IL‐4 expression have not been described. This finding raises the potential to develop parthenolide to treat IL‐4‐mediated allergic‐like inflammation.
Approaches for More Efficient Biological Conversion of Lignocellulosic Feedstocks to Biofuels and Bioproducts

The future bioeconomy promises drop-in or performance-advantaged biofuels and bioproducts derived from lignocellulosic biomass, substantial greenhouse gas emissions reductions in sectors with few or no alternatives, and increased domestic energy production in countries with sufficient biomass resources. Despite the slower than anticipated pace of commercializing next-generation biofuels, the research community continues to make dramatic improvements at every stage of production, from feedstock cultivation through conversion to final products. However, the interdisciplinary nature of bioenergy research, and the need for cross-coordination among biologists, chemists, agronomists, and engineers, make coordinating and optimizing these strategies challenging. This Perspective surveys recent advancements in bioenergy crop engineering, lignocellulosic biomass deconstruction and fractionation, catabolism of biomass-derived sugars and aromatics, and biological conversion to fuels and products. We organize major re.
Normally-off AlGaN/GaN-on-Si MOSHFETs with TaN floating gates and ALD SiO2 tunnel dielectrics

In this work, we have demonstrated a normally-off AlGaN/GaN metal-oxide semiconductor heterojunction field effect transistor (MOSHFET) wherein the enhancement mode operation is enabled by charge storage within a metal floating gate embedded in a dielectric stack and negative charges in the tunnel oxide. By combining ALD SiO2 and TaN floating gate (FG), up to 6V of VT shift after pulse programming (corresponding ∼ 1.2×1013 charges/cm2 stored within the FG) is obtained which results in a normally-off device with low gate leakage and good transconductance.
Temperature Reduction in Cultures of hGM‐CSF‐expressing CHO Cells: Effect on Productivity and Product Quality

We have demonstrated that temperature reduction from 37 to 33 °C in the culture of a CHO cell line producing recombinant human granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (CHO‐K1‐hGM‐CSF) leads to a reduced growth rate, increased cell viability, improved cellular productivity, and decreased cell metabolism. In the present study, CHO‐K1‐hGM‐CSF cells were cultured in a biphasic mode: first, a 37 °C growth phase for achieving a high cell number, followed by a production phase where the culture temperature was shifted to 33 °C. The maximum cell density was not affected after temperature reduction while cell viability remained above 80% for a further 3.7 days in the culture kept at the lower temperature, when compared to the control culture maintained at 37 °C. Furthermore, the total rhGM‐CSF production increased 6 times in the culture shifted to 33 °C. Because the quality and hence the in vivo efficacy of a recombinant protein might be affected by numerous factors, we have analyzed the N‐ and O‐glycosylation of the protein produced under both cell culture conditions using high‐pH anion‐exchange chromatography and complementary mass spectrometry techniques. The product quality data obtained from the purified protein preparations indicated that decreasing temperature had no significant effect on the rhGM‐CSF glycosylation profiles, including the degree of terminal sialylation. Moreover, both preparations exhibited the same specific in vitro biological activity. These results revealed that the employed strategy had a positive effect on the cell specific productivity of CHO‐K1‐hGM‐CSF cells without affecting product quality, representing a novel procedure for the rhGM‐CSF production process.
Driver Sleepiness Assessed by Electroencephalography - Different Methods Applied to One Single Data Set

An overview of several methods of electroencephalography (EEG) analysis in order to assess driver sleepiness is presented. All methods were applied to one single data set obtained from overnight driving simulations in the authors' lab. 10 young adults (age 22.4 ± 4.1 years) participated and drove on rural roads; time on task was 7 x 40 min and time since sleep ranged between 16 and 22 hours. Results show large inter-individual variability of all variables and moderate correlation coefficients to one subjective and one objective independent variable of driver drowsiness. Only one method, the detection of microsleep-like EEG patterns, provides a variable with strong increases immediately before sleepiness related crashes. It is concluded that EEG analysis should attach more importance to short-term- patterns and should renounce the analysis of spectral power in four bands.
An advanced method for pedestrian dead reckoning using BLSTM-RNNs

Location estimation and navigation, especially on smartphones has shown great progress in the past decade due to its low cost and ability to work without additional infrastructure. However, a challenge is the positioning, both in terms of step detection, step length approximation as well as heading estimation, which must be accurate and robust, even when the use of the device is varied in terms of placement or orientation. In this paper, we propose a scheme for retrieving relevant information to detect steps and to estimate the correct step length from raw inertial measurement unit (IMU) data. This approach uses Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory Recurrent Neural Networks (BLSTM-RNNs). Designed to take contextual information into account, the network can process data gathered from different positions, resulting in a system, which is invariant with respect to transformation and distortions of the input patterns. An experimental evaluation on a dataset produced from 10 individuals demonstrates that this new approach achieves significant improvements over previous attempts and increase the current state-of-the-art results even in the presence of variations and degradations. We achieved a mean classification rate of 98.5% and a standard deviation of 0.70 for 10000 different test sequences and an average error of 1.45% regarding the step length. Thus is the best result on the task gathered in the experiments compared with competing techniques.
On the links between real-time optimization, neighboring-extremal control, and self-optimizing control

In the context of process optimization, several techniques have been proposed in order to operate the plant near the economically optimal steady-state operating point. This paper discusses the links and differences between three of these techniques: (i) real-time optimization using the classical two-step approach, (ii) neighboring-extremal control with output feedback, and (iii) self-optimizing control using the null space method. It is argued that, under certain assumptions, the technique (ii) can be viewed as a first-order approximation of (i). Also, while (ii) and (iii) enforce similar optimal operations, their dynamic implementation and design features are very different.
The study of broadband acoustic metamaterials in air

Acoustic metamaterials have been attracting huge research efforts in the last years due to the exotic properties they exhibit that can be exploited to realize innovative tools such as hyperlenses, acoustic cloacking, etc. In this paper we analyze both numerically and experimentally some basic structures that can constitute the building blocks of a broadband acoustic metamaterial for imaging applications.
Duodenal mRNA expression of iron related genes in response to iron loading and iron deficiency in four strains of mice

Background: Although much progress has been made recently in characterising the proteins involved in duodenal iron trafficking, regulation of intestinal iron transport remains poorly understood. It is not known whether the level of mRNA expression of these recently described molecules is genetically regulated. This is of particular interest however as genetic factors are likely to determine differences in iron status among mouse strains and probably also contribute to the phenotypic variability seen with disruption of the haemochromatosis gene. Aims: To investigate this issue, we examined concomitant variations in duodenal cytochrome b (Dcytb), divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1), ferroportin 1 (FPN1), hephaestin, stimulator of Fe transport (SFT), HFE, and transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1) transcripts in response to different dietary iron contents in the four mouse strains C57BL/6, DBA/2, CBA, and 129/Sv. Subjects: Six mice of each strain were fed normal levels of dietary iron, six were subjected to the same diet supplemented with 2% carbonyl iron, and six were fed an iron deficient diet. Methods: Quantification of mRNAs isolated from the duodenum was performed using real time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Results: There was a significant increase in mRNA expression of Dcytb, DMT1, FPN1, and TfR1 when mice were fed an iron deficient diet, and a significant decrease in mRNA expression of these molecules when mice were fed an iron supplemented diet. Strain to strain differences were observed not only in serum transferrin saturations, with C57BL/6 mice having the lowest values, but also in hepatic iron stores and in duodenal mRNA expression of Dcytb, DMT1, FPN1, hephaestin, HFE, and TfR1. Conclusions: The results favour some degree of genetic control of mRNA levels of these molecules.
Komparasi Multilevel Inverter Satu Fasa

Abstract — This paper discusses multilevel single-phase inverters to improve voltage quality by reducing harmonics. In order to see the performance of multilevel single-phase inverters in reducing the output voltage harmonics, a comparison of several single-phase multilevel inverters with a multilevel H-bridge topology is performed. Increasing the voltage level on the multilevel inverter will reduce harmonics such that losses will be significantly reduced. Multilevel single phase inverter simulation is performed for three-level, five-level and seven-level inverters using matlab/simulink software. The simulation results show that the Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) output voltage of five levels single phase inverter is smaller than three-level inverter and THD output voltage of the seven levels inverter is smaller than using a five-level single phase and three-level inverter, where the THD can be reduced to 13 45%. Index Terms — multilevel single phase inverter, harmonics, THD. Abstrak –- Tulisan ini membahas tentang multilevel inverter satu fasa untuk memperbaiki kualitas tegangan dengan mengurangi harmonisa. Untuk melihat kinerja multilevel inverter satu fasa dalam mereduksi harmonisa tegangan keluaran dilakukan perbandingan beberapa multilevel inverter satu fasa dengan topologi jembatan-H bertingkat. Peningkatan level tegangan pada multilevel inverter akan mengurangi harmonisa akibatnya rugi-rugi akan berkurang secara signifikan. Simulasi multilevel inverter satu fasa dilakukan untuk inverter tiga tingkat, limatingkat dan tujuh tingkat menggunkana software matlab/simulink. Hasil simulasi memperlihatkan Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) tegangan keluaran inverter satu fasa lima tingkat lebih kecil dibandingkan dengan inverter tiga tingkat dan THD tegangan keluaran inverter tujuh tingkat lebih kecil dibandingkan menggunakan inverter satu fasa lima tingkat dan tiga tingkat, dimana THD nya dapat direduksi menjadi 13,45%. Kata Kunci — multilevel inverter satu fasa, harmonisa, THD.
Leucocyte activation by collagen-stimulated platelets in whole blood

Interaction between vascular cells plays an important role in the initial phases of the inflammatory process, but the mechanisms responsible for cell--cell communication are not fully understood. In this study, activation of leucocytes and platelets in heparinized whole blood was assessed using lumi-aggregometry. This technique enables simultaneous measurement of aggregation and oxygen radical production by monitoring impedance and luminol-amplified chemiluminescence (CL), respectively. Collagen induced aggregation and CL, depending on dose, and markedly enhanced subsequent aggregation and CL-response triggered by the chemotactic peptide formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMet-Leu-Phe). Collagen stimulation of whole blood down- and upregulated the expression of L-selectin and CD11b, respectively. Monoclonal antibodies against sialyl LewisX and P-selectin caused a pronounced inhibition of the oxidative burst, triggered by collagen itself or by a combination of collagen and fMet-Leu-Phe. Furthermore, the Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser(RGDS)-peptide effectively inhibited collagen-triggered aggregation and CL, and the subsequent enhancement of the fMetLeu-Phe-induced responses. This suggests that fibrinogen plays a part in linking platelet GpIIb/IIIa with CD11b on the leucocyte surface. However, neither anti-CD11b nor the PI-peptide (containing the n -chain motif in fibrinogen that interacts with CD11b) counteracted the stimulatory effects of activated platelets on leucocyte functions. The selectin- and integrin-antagonizing substances were ineffective on the CL-responses induced by fMet-Leu-Phe itself. This study suggests that, through selectin- and integrin-dependent interaction, activated platelets potentiate leucocyte aggregation and oxygen radical production, which might be important for the outcome of inflammatory reactions.
The long march to collaborative democracy and open source planning – public participation in English local governance

Note, June 2015: Four years and a general election later it seems worth putting this paper into the public domain. The book project it was part of nev er materialised, so it has been gathering metaphorical dust on my hard drive ever since. The Conservative/Liberal Democrat Coalition was less than a year old when I wrote the paper, and mu ch has since been written about its localism and planning ‘reforms’. However, this analysis of how we arrived at ‘the Big Society’ in 2010 is still of interest, I believe, even if the ‘Big Society’ itse lf became seen as a ‘toxic brand’ and was rather ra pidly dropped. The ideas live on in current policy and it is important to know that they are part of a long trajectory. I haven’t updated the text –it’s stil l in the present tense about the ‘new’ government o f 2010.
Randomized Trial of Stent versus Surgery for Asymptomatic Carotid Stenosis.

BACKGROUND Previous clinical trials have suggested that carotid-artery stenting with a device to capture and remove emboli ("embolic protection") is an effective alternative to carotid endarterectomy in patients at average or high risk for surgical complications. METHODS In this trial, we compared carotid-artery stenting with embolic protection and carotid endarterectomy in patients 79 years of age or younger who had severe carotid stenosis and were asymptomatic (i.e., had not had a stroke, transient ischemic attack, or amaurosis fugax in the 180 days before enrollment) and were not considered to be at high risk for surgical complications. The trial was designed to enroll 1658 patients but was halted early, after 1453 patients underwent randomization, because of slow enrollment. Patients were followed for up to 5 years. The primary composite end point of death, stroke, or myocardial infarction within 30 days after the procedure or ipsilateral stroke within 1 year was tested at a noninferiority margin of 3 percentage points. RESULTS Stenting was noninferior to endarterectomy with regard to the primary composite end point (event rate, 3.8% and 3.4%, respectively; P=0.01 for noninferiority). The rate of stroke or death within 30 days was 2.9% in the stenting group and 1.7% in the endarterectomy group (P=0.33). From 30 days to 5 years after the procedure, the rate of freedom from ipsilateral stroke was 97.8% in the stenting group and 97.3% in the endarterectomy group (P=0.51), and the overall survival rates were 87.1% and 89.4%, respectively (P=0.21). The cumulative 5-year rate of stroke-free survival was 93.1% in the stenting group and 94.7% in the endarterectomy group (P=0.44). CONCLUSIONS In this trial involving asymptomatic patients with severe carotid stenosis who were not at high risk for surgical complications, stenting was noninferior to endarterectomy with regard to the rate of the primary composite end point at 1 year. In analyses that included up to 5 years of follow-up, there were no significant differences between the study groups in the rates of non-procedure-related stroke, all stroke, and survival. (Funded by Abbott Vascular; ACT I ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00106938.).
Interstitial cells of cajal in reflux esophagitis: role in the pathogenesis of the disease.

BACKGROUND Interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs) are claimed to be involved in gut electromotor activity. We investigated whether absent or diminished ICCs in the esophagogastric junction (EGJ) may be responsible for EGJ incompetence in gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD). MATERIAL/METHODS Endoscopic specimens were obtained from the upper and mid third of the esophagus and from the EGJ of 29 patients (17 men, 12 women, mean age: 46.7 years) with GERD (5 grade A, 5 B, 6 C, and 13 D, Los Angeles classification) and from 8 controls. Sections were prepared for inmunohistochemical investigation using an ICC marker c-kit. Controls had normal rabbit serum substituted for the primary antiserum. RESULTS C-kit-positive branched ICC-like cells were detected in the esophageal and EGJ musculature of the controls. They were distinguishable from the c-kit-negative unbranched smooth muscle cells and from the c-kit-positive unbranched mast cells. Immunoreactivity was absent in the negative controls. ICCs in the esophageal body existed in GERD and in controls, but were absent from the EGJ of 12 patients (2 grade C, 10 D) and occasionally detected in 5 of group A, 5 of B, 4 of C, and 3 of group D patients. CONCLUSIONS ICCs were demonstrated in the esophageal body and EGJ of controls. In GERD patients they were detected in the esophageal body, but were deficient or absent in the EGJ. It is postulated that ICC absence or deficiency is responsible for EGJ incompetence and GER. The cause of ICC deficiency or absence needs to be investigated.
Effect of Intravenous Sildenafil on Pulmonary Hemodynamics and Gas Exchange in the Presence and Absence of Acute Lung Injury in Piglets

Sildenafil is becoming increasingly popular for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension. However, there are potential concerns regarding its effects on oxygenation and systemic hemodynamics that could theoretically reduce its utility in the neonatal population. We performed a prospective cumulative dose-response study of increasing doses of i.v. sildenafil (0.4, 1, and 3 mg/kg) on hemodynamics and oxygenation in 32 anesthetized piglets, of which 17 had meconium-induced pulmonary hypertension and lung injury, and 15 did not. Sildenafil caused a reduction in mean pulmonary artery pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) at all doses, in non–lung-injured animals. There was no difference in pulmonary hemodynamics between doses. Oxygenation index [OI = mean airway pressure (cm H2O) ∗ FiO2 ∗ 100/PaO2 (mm Hg)] did not reach critical levels at any dose. In lung-injured animals, sildenafil also reduced mean pulmonary artery pressure and PVR by 30%. Again, this effect was achieved at the lowest dose, without subsequent changes at higher doses. However, in lung-injured animals, sildenafil produced a dose-related increase in oxygenation index. Sildenafil reduced the systemic vascular resistance (SVR) at the lowest dose in lung-injured animals, but this occurred only at higher doses in non–lung-injured animals. In conclusion, sildenafil is a potent pulmonary vasodilator. However, it should be administered with caution in the presence of lung injury because of a dose-related increase in oxygenation index and concomitant systemic vasodilatation.
Equivalent circuit modeling of dual-slot antenna for terahertz application

Equivalent Circuit Model and Numerical Analysis (Method of Moments) of dual slot antenna is analyzed in this paper. Dual slot antenna is integrated with hetero structure backward diode using Advanced Design System (ADS) software is being developed for terahertz medical imaging application. The result shows the return loss of about -12dB at 100GHz by the lumped component is obtained which is in close agreement with the MOM analysis results.
International Capital Movements from an Australian Perspective

There has been recent interest in the role of capital flows in the process of exchange rate determination given the apparent breakdown of traditional relationships between fundamentals and currencies. This is true of the United States, Euro area and Japan, but also Australia. In this paper we do not attempt to settle the debate as to whether there is a theoretical justification for including capital flows in the analysis of exchange rate movements, nor do we attempt to find a role for capital flows in explaining the recent trends observed in the currency. Rather, the attempt here is to highlight that simplistic analysis of capital flows is unlikely to be helpful in furthering our understanding of exchange rates. While the balance of payments data may not be without information content, the complexity of the economic relationships reflected in the data needs to be appreciated. Some of these complexities are laid out in this paper. Some questions are answered, new questions are raised, and some loose threads are tied together.