Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Protofibrils within fibrin fibres are packed together in a regular array

Summary The inner structure of fibrin fibres grown from fibrinogen solution activated by human α-thrombin was investigated by means of an Energy Dispersive X-ray Diffraction technique. The experiments show evidence for the well-characterized 22.5 nm repeat distance, which indicates the high order of protofibril arrangement in the longitudinal direction of fibres. The diffraction pattern also manifested a further pronounced peak at 18.1 nm (and its second order reflection at 18.1/√2) demonstrating the existence in fibrin of a high degree of lateral order. The reported results directly confirm, on unperturbed wet samples, that protofibrils closely associate giving rise to a crystalline axial and equatorial packing according to the conclusions of the multibundle model. Theme paper: Part of this work was originally presented at the joint meetings of the 16th International Congress of the International Society of Fibrinolysis and Proteolysis (ISFP) and the 17th International Fibrinogen Workshop of the International Fibrinogen Research Society (IFRS) held in Munich, Germany, September, 2002.
Remote Access to Wireless Communications Systems Laboratory--New Technology Approach.

Technology nowadays enables the remote access to laboratory equipment and instruments via Internet. This is especially useful in engineering education, where students can conduct laboratory experiment remotely. Such remote laboratory access can enable student to use expensive laboratory equipment, which is not usually available to students. In this paper, we present a method of creating a Web-based Remote Laboratory Experimentation in the master degree course “Wireless Communications Systems” which is part of “ICS (Information and Communication Systems)” and “Investment Management in Telecommunications” curriculums. This is done within the RIPLECS Project (Retrieved from http://riplecs.dipseil.net/) and the NI2011 FF005 Research Project “Implementation of Project-Based Learning in an Interdisciplinary Master Program”.
Day ahead hourly load and price forecast in ISO New England market using ANN

In restructured daily power markets, forecasting electricity price and load are most essential tasks and basis for any decision making. Short-term load forecasting is an essential instrument in power system planning, operation, and control. Also, the accurate day ahead electricity price forecasting provides crucial information for power producers and consumers to develop accurate bidding strategies in order to maximize their profit. In this paper artificial intelligence (AI) has been applied in short-term load and price forecasting that is, the day-ahead hourly forecast of the electricity market parameters (load and price) over a week. Neural network fitting tool of MATLAB Software has been used to compute the forecasted load and price in ISO New England market. The data used in the forecasting are hourly historical data of the temperature, electricity load and natural gas price of ISO New England market. The ANN was trained on hourly data from the 2007 to 2011 and tested on out-of-sample data from 2012. The simulation results have shown highly accurate day-ahead forecasts with very small error in load and price forecasting.
Mechanical Conditions That Accelerate Intervertebral Disc Degeneration: Overload Versus Immobilization

Study Design. A review of the literature on macromechanical factors that accelerate disc degeneration with particular focus on distinguishing the roles of immobilization and overloading. Objective. This review examines evidence from the literature in the areas of biomechanics, epidemiology, animal models, and intervertebral disc physiology. The purpose is to examine: 1) what are the degeneration-related alterations in structural, material, and failure properties in the disc; and 2) evidence in the literature for causal relationships between mechanical loading and alterations in those structural and material properties that constitute disc degeneration. Summary of Background Data. It is widely assumed that the mechanical environment of the intervertebral disc at least in part determines its rate of degeneration. However, there are two plausible and contrasting theories as to the mechanical conditions that promote degeneration: 1) mechanical overload; and 2) reduced motion and loading. Results. There are a greater number of studies addressing the “wear and tear” theory than the immobilization theory. Evidence is accumulating to support the notion that there is a “safe window” of tissue mechanical conditions in which the discs remain healthy. Conclusions. It is concluded that probably any abnormal loading conditions (including overload and immobilization) can produce tissue trauma and/or adaptive changes that may result in disc degeneration. Adverse mechanical conditions can be due to external forces, or may result from impaired neuromuscular control of the paraspinal and abdominal muscles. Future studies will need to evaluate additional unquantified interactions between biomechanics and factors such as genetics and behavioral responses to pain and disability.
Augmentation and impulsive behaviors in restless legs syndrome: Coexistence or association?

Editors' Note: In WriteClick this week, Dr. Nirenberg responds to “Augmentation and impulsive behaviors in restless legs syndrome: Coexistence or association? ” with the hypothesis that augmentation in restless legs syndrome may be a forme fruste of dopamine agonist withdrawal syndrome. Authors Djamshidian et al. report no association between augmentation and medication nonadherence, but agree with monitoring these patients closely for addictive behaviors. In reference to “Spatial-temporal functional mapping of language at the bedside with electrocorticography,” Drs. Babajani-Feremi et al. and authors Wang et al. discuss the use of high-gamma …
Methanogen Diversity in Indigenous and Introduced Ruminant Species on the Tibetan Plateau

Host factors are regarded as important in shaping the archaeal community in the rumen but few controlled studies have been performed to demonstrate this across host species under the same environmental conditions. A study was designed to investigate the structure of the methanogen community in the rumen of two indigenous (yak and Tibetan sheep) and two introduced domestic ruminant (cattle and crossbred sheep) species raised and fed under similar conditions on the high altitude Tibetan Plateau. The methylotrophic Methanomassiliicoccaceae was the predominant archaeal group in all animals even though Methanobrevibacter are usually present in greater abundance in ruminants globally. Furthermore, within the Methanomassiliicoccaceae family members from Mmc. group 10 and Mmc. group 4 were dominant in Tibetan Plateau ruminants compared to Mmc. group 12 found to be highest in other ruminants studied. Small ruminants presented the highest number of sequences that belonged to Methanomassiliicoccaceae compared to the larger ruminants. Although the methanogen community structure was different among the ruminant species, there were striking similarities between the animals in this environment. This indicates that factors such as the extreme environmental conditions and diet on the Tibetan Plateau might have a greater impact on rumen methanogen community compared to host differences.
Human Mast Cell Transcriptome Project

After draft reading of the human genome sequence, systemic analysis of the transcriptome (the whole transcripts present in a cell) is progressing especially in commonly available cell types. Until recently, human mast cells were not commonly available. We have succeeded to generate a substantial number of human mast cells from umbilical cord blood and from adult peripheral blood progenitors. Then, we have examined messenger RNA selectively transcribed in these mast cells using high-density oligonucleotide probe arrays. Many unexpected but important transcripts were selectively expressed in human mast cells. We discuss the results obtained from transcriptome screening by introducing our data regarding mast-cell-specific genes.
Numerical Modeling of Cryogenic Temperature Sensors Based on Plasmonic Oscillations in Metallic Nanoparticles Embedded Into Photonic Crystal Fibers

We perform a numerical investigation on the operation of an inline temperature sensor based on the inclusion of metallic nanoparticles into photonic crystal fibers (PCFs). This creates a simple, yet robust, platform which can be used to investigate the properties of nanoparticles, for sensing, spectroscopy, and optical switching applications. The optical response of gold nanoparticles embedded in the PCF matrix was evaluated as a function of temperature and the use of the structure as an inline fiber-optic temperature sensor is theoretically described. A blue-shift in the localized surface plasmon resonance related peak, as well as narrowing of the plasmon resonance, was observed upon decreasing the temperature of the nanoparticle embedded into the PCF at very low temperatures, thus permitting the operation of this sensing platform at cryogenic temperatures
Electrical Stability of Acutely Ischemic Myocardium: Influences of Heart Rate and Vagal Stimulation

Previous investigations have shown that a slower heart rate (HR) and myocardial ischemia independently diminish the electrical stability of the heart. It therefore was suggested that increasing heart rate during myocardial infarction might diminish the incidence of serious ventricular arrhythmias. However, since increased HR during experimental acute myocardial ischemia augments the degree of ischemia, an evaluation of the presumed “protective” effects of increased HR on the electrical stability of acutely ischemic myocardium was undertaken. The differences in refractory periods (RP) of eight contiguous areas of the left ventricle were determined as a function of HR. In nonischemic myocardium, the disparity of RP was less at an HR of 180 than 60. However, in ischemic myocardium the disparity increased in three of six animals as the HR was increased from 60 to 90, in seven of 10 animals as HR was increased from 60 to 120, and in all animals when the HR was increased from 60 to 180. The increased disparity of RP is believed to favor development of reentrant arrhythmia. The vulnerability of the heart to develop ventricular fibrillation was assessed by determining ventricular fibrillation threshold (VFT). During ischemia, VFT was not only an inverse function of HR but also was found to be independently influenced by electrical stimulation of the cervical vagus nerves. In the absence of vagal stimulation VFT was lowered in only one of four dogs as HR was increased from 50 to 90, but decreased 30% (P < 0.01) as HR reached 120 and 74% at 180 beats/min. When vagal stimulation was used to control HR VFT was lowered 37% as HR was increased from 50 to 60 to 90 (P < 0.05). We conclude that increasing HR within a physiologic range by diminishing vagal tone during myocardial ischemia decreases electrical stability of the ventricle by (1) increasing ischemia consequent to the rate-induced increase in myocardial oxygen requirements, and (2) a direct electrophysiologic action of the vagus on the ventricular myocardium.
Talking Places: Modelling and Analysing Linguistic Content in Foursquare

The advent of online social media and the growing popularity of sensor-equipped mobile devices have created a vast landscape of location-aware applications and services. This goldmine of data, including temporal and spatial information of unprecedented granularity, can help researchers gain insights into the behavioural patterns of people at a global scale. Here we analyse the textual content of millions of comments published alongside Foursquare user check-ins. For this, we extend a standard topic modelling approach so that it explicitly takes into account geographic and temporal side information. The framework is applied to Foursquare data and used to detect the dominant topics in the neighbourhoods of a city. In particular, we present the most prominent topics discussed by Foursquare users in New York, London, Chicago and San Francisco. We characterize the topics' spatial coverage and temporal evolution, and we also highlight some cultural idiosyncrasies. Finally, we evaluate the novel spatio-temporal topic model quantitatively. We believe that our model may be a useful tool for social scientists and application developers.
Detection of Newly Described Astrovirus MLB1 in Stool Samples from Children

To the Editor: We read with interest the article by Finkbeiner et al. describing an epidemiologic survey of newly described astrovirus MLB1 (AstV-MLB1) conducted in the United States in 2008 (1). This study was an extension of recently published reports of characterization of AstVMLB1 from a fecal sample obtained in Australia in 1999 (2,3). These studies provide evidence of a divergent group of astroviruses and their etiologic association with human disease. However, the occurrence of a MLB1-like AstV in humans has already been documented. Walter identifi ed a novel AstV in an 8-month-old child with diarrhea in Mexico in 1991 (4). In that study, Walter screened fecal samples for AstVs by using a variety of techniques. Sequencing of selected PCR products identifi ed a unique virus that had typical AstV morphologic appearance, but was nonreactive with human AstV-specifi c monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies. Phylogenetic analysis of fragments of open reading frame 1a (ORF1a) and ORF2 genome regions of this virus strain (M3363) showed that it was only distantly related to other mammalian AstVs, including human AstVs (4). This sequence divergence from canonical human AstVs suggested that M3363 might have been transmitted from an animal reservoir (4,5). When we reanalyzed ORF1a of M3363, we found that this strain was actually an MLB1-like AstV with >98% amino acid similarity to prototype and strains from the United States (Figure) that dated back to 1991. The fact that such closely related viruses were found in a scattered temporal and spatial pattern in children may indicate that MLB1-like AstVs represent a true human enteric virus, which was probably overlooked in the absence of adequate diagnostic reagents and protocols.
Altered trabecular architecture induced by Corticosteroids: A Bone Histomorphometric Study

Prolonged corticosteroid (CS) therapy induces osteoporosis and fractures. Osteoporosis is characterized at the histomorphometric level by reduced bone volume (BV/TV) and disruption of the three‐dimensional (3D) trabecular architecture. Several stereological methods have been proposed to characterize these alterations: measurements of trabecular thickness and trabecular number, star volumes, interconnectivity index (ICI) of the bone marrow spaces, and trabecular bone pattern factor (TBPf). These methods were computerized with a single program running on an image analyzer to evaluate the bone changes in a series of iliac biopsies performed on 31 male patients. All of them were asthmatic and had received CS for a long period of time. BV/TV was reduced when compared with age‐matched controls. In the CS‐treated population, exponential relationships were obtained between bone volume and the different connectivity parameters. The various methods used to measure connectivity were well correlated. When the population was divided into two groups (BV/TV greater or less than an 11% threshold), the architectural disturbances were found to imply two mechanisms. A progressive decline in trabecular thickness was noted in both groups versus controls. Trabecular perforations were not established in the group with BV/TV > 11% with the star volume or ICI, although some alterations were detected by trabecular bone pattern factor measurement. However, perforations were revealed in the group with BV/TV < 11% by all the different methods. Perforations seemed to occur when the trabecular thickness was below 70 μm. This strongly suggests that bone histomorphometry should take into consideration bone volume in combination with detailed 3D descriptors of the trabecular architecture. Several histological methods need to be used in combination to appreciate the 3D architecture of trabecular bone.
Robotic-assisted, body-weight-supported treadmill training in individuals following motor incomplete spinal cord injury.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Performance of therapist-assisted, body-weight-supported treadmill training (BWSTT) to enhance walking ability of people with neurological injury is an area of intense research. Its application in the clinical setting, however, is limited by the personnel and labor requirements placed on physical therapists. Recent development of motorized ("robotic") rehabilitative devices that provide assistance during stepping may improve delivery of BWSTT. CASE DESCRIPTION This case report describes the use of a robotic device to enhance motor recovery and ambulation in 3 people following motor incomplete spinal cord injury. INTERVENTIONS Changes in motor impairment, functional limitations, and locomotor disability were monitored weekly during robotic-assisted BWSTT and following transition to therapist-assisted BWSTT with the assistance of one therapist. OUTCOMES Following this training, 2 patients recovered independent over-ground walking and another improved his gait speed and endurance. DISCUSSION The use of robotic devices may assist physical therapists by providing task-specific practice of stepping in people following neurological injury.
Fuzzy strength-based XCS: An application on multi-step environment problems

This paper proposes an algorithm to perform an online fuzzy system construction was called FsXCS (Fuzzy Strength-Based XCS). FsXCS is the extended XCS system combining XCS with fuzzy logic theory to tackle the multi-step continuous input-output problems. Indeed, XCS is a great attention discrete-valued system considering from the rule generalization system. However, it becomes more difficult when extending to continuous-valued systems, and even more difficult when addressed in multi-step continuous input-output problems. In order to develop FsXCS, we propose new computation details on some XCS components while these changes do not affect the original XCS's learning procedures. The performance of FsXCS was tested on simulation classical continuous problems; n-Environment, and automatically back driving a truck. The experimental results ware compared to the tabular Q-Learing with high discretization.
A Fault Tolerant Mobile Agent Information Retrieval System

Problem statement: Most of the information retrieval systems used only client-server architectures. The client-server model though powerful, had some limitations. In mobile computing environment which has both wired network and wireless networks with limited communication capabilities, the performance of the system was very low. Approach: Mobile agents are considered a suitable technology to develop applications such as information retrieval system for mobile computing environment. Mobile agents are autonomous and dynamic entities that can migrate between various nodes in the network. They offer many advantages over traditional design methodologies like: reduction in network load, overcoming network latency and disconnected operations. Since the mobile agents do not need continuous communication with the mobile host, they are not affected by the sudden disconnection of wireless network and the situation of turning mobile host off for power saving. In order to get the complete benefit of mobile agent system, the system must be fault tolerant. In the context of mobile agents, fault-tolerance prevents a partial or complete loss of the agent. Results: Our system in mobile computing environment ensured that the agent arrived at its destination with result and performance of the system improved by the way of reduction in the response time. And also, the system allowed sending more requests by the way of creating many mobile agents without affecting the performance. Conclusion: Our research compared the performance of client-server architecture and fault tolerant mobile agent information retrieval system and proved that our system solved the limitations faced by the client server architecture. The system can also be extended to adhoc networks.
Area Deprivation Across the Life Course and Physical Capability in Midlife: Findings From the 1946 British Birth Cohort

Physical capability in later life is influenced by factors occurring across the life course, yet exposures to area conditions have only been examined cross-sectionally. Data from the National Survey of Health and Development, a longitudinal study of a 1946 British birth cohort, were used to estimate associations of area deprivation (defined as percentage of employed people working in partly skilled or unskilled occupations) at ages 4, 26, and 53 years (residential addresses linked to census data in 1950, 1972, and 1999) with 3 measures of physical capability at age 53 years: grip strength, standing balance, and chair-rise time. Cross-classified multilevel models with individuals nested within areas at the 3 ages showed that models assessing a single time point underestimate total area contributions to physical capability. For balance and chair-rise performance, associations with area deprivation in midlife were robust to adjustment for individual socioeconomic position and prior area deprivation (mean change for a 1-standard-deviation increase: balance, −7.4% (95% confidence interval (CI): −12.8, −2.8); chair rise, 2.1% (95% CI: −0.1, 4.3)). In addition, area deprivation in childhood was related to balance after adjustment for childhood socioeconomic position (−5.1%, 95% CI: −8.7, −1.6). Interventions aimed at reducing midlife disparities in physical capability should target the socioeconomic environment of individuals—for standing balance, as early as childhood.
Logic-Based Analysis and Verification of Software Product Line Variant Requirement Model

Software Product Line SPL provides the facility to systematically reuse of software improving the efficiency of software development regarding time, cost and quality. The main idea of SPL is to identify the common core functionality that can be implemented once and reused afterwards. A variant model has also to be developed to manage the variants of the SPL. Usually, a domain model consisting of the common and variant requirements is developed during domain engineering phase to alleviate the reuse opportunity. The authors present a product line model comprising of a variant part for the management of variant and a decision table to depict the customization of decision regarding each variant. Feature diagrams are widely used to model SPL variants. Both feature diagram and our variant model, which is based on tabular method, lacks logically sound formal representation and hence, not amenable to formal verification. Formal representation and verification of SPL has gained much interest in recent years. This chapter presents a logical representation of the variant model by using first order logic. With this representation, the table based variant model as well as the graphical feature diagram can now be verified logically. Besides applying first-order-logic to model the features, the authors also present an approach to model and analyze SPL model by using semantic web approach using OWL-DL. The OWL-DL representation also facilitates the search and maintenance of feature models and support knowledge sharing within a reusable engineering context. Reasoning tools are used to verify the consistency of the feature configuration for both logic-based and semantic web-based approaches.