Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Left Ventricular Mass in Cardiac Disease ffects of Ramipril on Left Ventricular ass and Function in Cardiovascular atients With Controlled Blood Pressure and ith Preserved Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction Substudy of the Heart Outcomes Prevention Evaluation ( HOPE )

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of ramipril on left ventricular mass (LVM) and function in vascular disease patients with controlled blood pressure (BP) and with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). BACKGROUND Increased LVM and left ventricular (LV) volume and decreased LVEF predict clinical events. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors reduce LVM and LV volume and preserve LVEF in patients with hypertension and/or LV dysfunction, but have not been studied in patients with controlled BP and preserved LVEF. METHODS We compared the effects of two doses of ramipril (10 mg/day and 2.5 mg/day) versus placebo in 506 patients with vascular disease on echocardiographic measures of LVM and LV function. RESULTS Baseline BP and LVEF were similar, 131/76 mm Hg and 58%, in all treatment groups. After four years, LVM index increased by 3.98 2.08 g/m in the placebo and by 4.16 1.86 g/m in the ramipril 2.5 mg/day groups and decreased by 2.02 2.25 g/m in the ramipril 10 mg/day group (p 0.02). The changes in LV end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes were 4.16 2.55 ml and 5.31 1.67 ml in the placebo, 0.43 2.75 ml and 2.90 1.45 ml in the ramipril 2.5 mg/day, and 5.90 2.93 ml and 1.90 1.55 ml in the ramipril 10 mg/day groups (p 0.02 and p 0.001). The changes in LVEF were 2.02 0.72%, 1.54 0.74%, and 0.17 0.72%, respectively (p 0.01). CONCLUSIONS Ramipril has beneficial effects on LV structure and function in vascular patients with controlled BP and with preserved LVEF. (J Am Coll Cardiol 2004;43:2200–6) © 2004 by the American College of Cardiology Foundation
Parallel Particle Swarm Optimization Optimized LDI Controller with Lyapunov Stability Criterion for Nonlinear Structural Systems

— In this paper, we present a neural-network (NN) based approach to represent a nonlinear Tagagi-Sugeno (T-S) system. A linear differential inclusion (LDI) state-space representation is utilized to deal with the NN models. Taking advantage of the LDI representation, the stability conditions and controller design are derived for a class of nonlinear structural systems. Moreover, the concept of utilizing the Parallel Particle Swarm Optimization (PPSO) algorithm to solve the common P matrix under the stability criteria is given in this paper.
Equalization in aeronautical telemetry using multiple transmit antennas

This paper introduces a generalized time-reversed space-time block code (GTR-STBC) for single-carrier systems employing multiple transmit antennas and operating over frequency-selective multipath fading channels. The generalization involves unequal power allocation parameterized by ρ. The criteria for selecting the optimum ρ is minimizing the postequalizer mean-squared error for a minimum mean-squared error (MMSE) equalizer. GTR-STBC is applied to measured channel impulse responses and a simple statistical channel model. The results show that the optimum value of ρ gives the best trade-off between signal-to-noise ratio and intersymbol interference (ISI); equal power allocation may not be the optimum power allocation when channel state information is available; and the optimum profile of ρ over measured channels is significantly different than from that in statistical channel models.
Management of verbally disruptive behaviors in nursing home residents.

BACKGROUND Verbally disruptive behaviors (VDB) are verbal or vocal behaviors that are inappropriate to the circumstances in which they are manifested. These behaviors are a source of concern because they disturb persons around the older person and may be an indicator of distress. METHODS Three interventions were tried and compared to a control no-intervention phase. The interventions were: (1) Presentation of a videotape of a family member talking to the older person, (2) in vivo social interaction, and (3) use of music. RESULTS Thirty-two nursing home residents suffering from dementia and manifesting VDB were observed before, during, and after the interventions, and the duration of VDB was recorded. The behaviors decreased by 56% during the social interaction, 46% during the videotape, 31% during the music, and 16% during the no-intervention. CONCLUSIONS The effects of the interventions were clinically and statistically significant, indicating the importance of providing stimulating activities and a richer environment to cognitively impaired nursing home residents.
GaInAsP/InP quantum-wire lasers

The advancement in the research of GaInAsP/InP 1.5 /spl mu/m wavelength quantum-wire lasers by 2-step organo-metallic vapor-phase-epitaxy and electron-beam-lithography is presented. By using a wet-chemical etching, higher performance as well as narrower material gain spectrum of single-layer quantum-wire lasers over quantum-film lasers was obtained at a temperature below 200 K. In order to realize a high density multiple-layered quantum-wire structure, a low-damage CH/sub 4//H/sub 2/ reactive-ion-etching followed by a wet-cleaning process was developed and was characterized by PL intensity dependence on the wire width. Using this fabrication process, very low threshold current density operation (330 k/cm/sup 2/: @RT) of 5-quantum-well distributed feedback lasers as well as a double-layered quantum-wire laser with the threshold current density lower than the single-layer quantum-wire laser fabricated by the wet-chemical etching was obtained.
Mechanisms producing coordinated function across the breadth of a large biarticular thigh muscle

SUMMARY We examined the hypothesis that structural features of the iliotibialis lateralis pars postacetabularis (ILPO) in guinea fowl allow this large muscle to maintain equivalent function along its anterior–posterior axis. The ILPO, the largest muscle in the hindlimb of the guinea fowl, is a hip and knee extensor. The fascicles of the ILPO originate across a broad region of the ilium and ischium posterior to the hip. Its long posterior fascicles span the length of the thigh and insert directly on the patellar tendon complex. However, its anterior fascicles are shorter and insert on a narrow aponeurosis that forms a tendinous band along the anterior edge of the muscle and is connected distally to the patellar tendon. The biarticular ILPO is actively lengthened and then actively shortened during stance. The moment arm of the fascicles at the hip increases along the anterior to posterior axis, whereas the moment arm at the knee is constant for all fascicles. Using electromyography and sonomicrometry, we examined the activity and strain of posterior and anterior fascicles of the ILPO. The activation was not significantly different in the anterior and posterior fascicles. Although we found significant differences in active lengthening and shortening strain between the anterior and posterior fascicles, the differences were small. The majority of shortening strain is caused by hip extension and the inverse relationship between hip moment arm and fascicle length along the anterior–posterior axis was found to have a major role in ensuring similar shortening strain. However, because the knee moment arm is the same for all fascicles, knee flexion in early stance was predicted to produce much larger lengthening strains in the short anterior fascicles than our measured values at this location. We propose that active lengthening of the anterior fascicles was lower than predicted because the aponeurotic tendon of insertion of the anterior fascicles was stretched and only a portion of the lengthening had to be accommodated by the active muscle fascicles.
Uso del salvado de sorgo en alimentación de ganado lechero

Se evaluaron tres fuentes de energia en el concentrado de ganado lechero: salvado de sorgo, sorgo grano y salvado de maiz (63%), usando 12 vacas Holstein en lactacion en un Cuadro Latino 3 x 3, con tres periodos de 20 dias. Se evaluo la digestibilidad in vitro de las raciones y la cinetica de desaparicion de la materia seca de los tres ingredientes energeticos. No se encontraron diferencias en la produccion de leche con sorgo grano (17.18 kg/d), salvado de sorgo (18.09 kg/d) o salvado de maiz (17.46 kg/d) en el concentrado. La digestibilidad in vitro tampoco fue diferente para las tres raciones ni tampoco las tasas de degradacion de la materia seca de los ingredientes evaluados. Los resultados muestran que el salvado de sorgo puede sustituir el grano de sorgo en el concentrado de ganado lechero sin afectar la produccion de leche y que tiene una digestibilidad in vitro similar a la del grano de sorgo y del salvado de maiz
Comparison of familial and sporadic chronic lymphocytic leukaemia using high resolution array comparative genomic hybridization

Approximately 10% of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) have a family history of the disease or a related lymphoproliferative disorder, yet the relationship of familial CLL to genomic abnormalities has not been characterized in detail. We therefore studied 75 CLL patients, half familial and half sporadic, using high‐resolution array comparative genomic hybridization (CGH), in order to better define the relationship of genomic abnormalities to familial disease and other biological prognostic factors. Our results showed that the most common high‐risk deletion in CLL, deletion 11q, was significantly associated with sporadic disease. Comparison of familial to sporadic disease additionally identified a copy number variant region near the centromere on 14q, proximal to IGH@, in which gains were associated both with familial CLL, and with mutated IGHV and homozygous deletion of 13q. Homozygous deletion of 13q was also found to be associated with mutated IGHV and low expression of ZAP‐70, and a significantly longer time to first treatment compared to heterozygous deletion or lack of alteration. This study is the first high resolution effort to investigate and report somatic genetic differences between familial and sporadic CLL.
Low-Frequency Noise Assessment of Different Ge pFinFET STI Processes

An experimental low-frequency noise (LFN) assessment of long channel Ge pFinFET devices fabricated in different shallow trench isolation (STI) processes is presented, taking into consideration devices with fin widths from 100 nm (planar-like) down to 20 nm. In addition, the correlation among LFN parameters, hole mobility and threshold voltage, is also evaluated. The carrier number fluctuation (AN) model is confirmed as dominant mechanism for all studied Ge pFinFETs and there is no correlation with the used STI process. From the LFN, it is evidenced that the Coulomb scattering mobility mechanism plays an important role for STI-first process, resulting in a mobility degradation.
A novel variable-impedance microstrip circuit and its application to direct antenna modulation

In this paper, we proposed a variable-impedance microstrip circuit using varactor diode as a control device. The proposed variable-impedance transmission line with a simple planar antenna can change the resonant frequency and the input impedance of antenna to achieve the DAM (Direct Antenna Modulation). As an application of the variable-impedance microstrip circuit, we have implemented the ASK modulation of RF signal for the low-power consumption RFID applications. The experimental results show that a patch antenna with a resonant frequency of 2.45GHz and a 30MHz bandwidth can transmit a 1Mbps digital modulated signal with the ultra low-power consumption.
The shape of large Galton‐Watson trees with possibly infinite variance

Let T be a critical or subcritical Galton‐Watson family tree with possibly infinite variance. We are interested in the shape of T conditioned to have a large total number of vertices. For this purpose we study random trees whose conditional distribution given their size is the same as the respective conditional distribution of T. These random family trees have a simple probabilistic structure if decomposed along the lines of descent of a number of distinguished vertices chosen uniformly at random. The shape of the subtrees spanned by the selected vertices and the root depends essentially on the tail of the offspring distribution: While in the finite variance case the subtrees are asymptotically binary, other shapes do persist in the limit if the variance is infinite. In fact, we show that these subtrees are Galton‐Watson trees conditioned on their total number of leaves. The rescaled total size of the trees is shown to have a gamma limit law. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg. , 2004
Bazı Patlıcan Anaçlarının Tuzluluk Stresi Koşullarındaki Gelişmelerinin Karşılaştırılması

Bu calismada, ticari patlican anaclarindan bazilarinin tuz stresine karsi gostermis oldugu tepkiler incelenmistir. AGR-703, Vista-306, Koksal F1 ve Yula F1 anaclarina ait tohumlar 2:1 oraninda torf:perlit karisimi iceren viyollere ekilmis, 2-3 gercek yaprakli fideler besin cozeltisi iceren hidroponik sisteme alinmislardir. Bitkiler 4-5 gercek yaprakli asamaya ulastiginda 100 mM NaCl uygulamasi gerceklestirilmistir. Stres sonunda olusan etkilerin ortaya konulabilmesi amaci ile bitkilerde 0-5 gorsel skala degerlendirmesi, yesil aksam yas ve kuru agirligi, kok yas ve kuru agirligi, kok-govde uzunlugu, yaprak alani, yesil aksamda ve kokte Na, K, Ca ve Cl iyonlarinin ve klorofilin miktari, lipid peroksidasyonu duzeyi ve antioksidatif enzim aktiviteleri bakimindan degerlendirmeler yapilmistir. Calisma sonucunda Turkiye’de patlican anaci olarak kullanilan bazi ticari cesitlerin tuz stresi karsisinda farkli tepkiler gosterdigi belirlenmistir. Koksal F1 cesidi, tuz stresine oldukca iyi duzeyde dayanim gostermis, AGR-703 ve Yula F1 bu cesitleri izlemistir.
A Reliability Analysis for Successful Execution of Parallel DAG Tasks

Large scale parallel computing system is becoming more and more failure-prone due to the increasing number of computational nodes. This results in serious reliability problems in parallel computing. To ensure successfully running of parallel tasks such as Meta tasks and DAG tasks, it is necessary to perform reliability analysis before scheduling parallel tasks. For Meta tasks, some key factors are discussed that affect and impede successful execution of a single task. Then, the reliability formula of Meta tasks is presented. For DAG tasks, hardware failures, software failures, network link failures and subtask execution order are all taken into account. We shall calculate not only the reliability of subtasks, but also the reliability of network communication. Then two reliability algorithms of DAG tasks are designed. Finally, some experiments are conducted. Experimental results show that our reliability analysis methods are more effective and comprehensive.
Biochemical Markers of Aquatic Environment Contamination - Cytochrome P450 in Fish. A Review

·iroká Z. , J . Drast ichová: Biochemical Markers of Aquatic Environment Contamination Cytochrome P450 in Fish. A Review. Acta Vet. Brno 2004, 73: 123-132. The paper reviews the most recent data on the role of cytochrome P450 as a biochemical marker of aquatic environment pollution. The important chemical characteristics of cytochrome P450, classification of its isoforms, its functions and involvement in the metabolism of endogenous and xenobiotic agents are described as well as methods for assessment of cytochrome P450 in biological materials. The main attention is paid to the CYP 1A isoform whose detection in fish is used in toxicological monitoring of ecosystems. Monooxygenase, EROD, pesticide, PCB, TCDD The fish, as a bioindicator species, plays an increasingly important role in the monitoring of water pollution because it responds with great sensitivity to changes in the aquatic environment. The sudden death of fish indicate heavy pollution; the effects of exposure to sublethal levels of pollutants can be measured in terms of biochemical, physiological or histological responses of the fish organism (Mondon at al. 2001). Changes in age and species distribution in a stock fish population are general indicators of water pollution, but there are also responses specific to a single pollutant or a group of contaminants (Svobodová 1997). Biochemical markers are biochemical responses induced in the presence of a specific group of contaminants that have the same mechanism of toxic activity.
Energy Harvesting-Based D2D Communications in the Presence of Interference and Ambient RF Sources

This paper considers a device-to-device (D2D) network with time-splitting protocol, where a D2D transmitter (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$ \text {T}_{\text {x}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) first harvests energy from a multiple-antenna power beacon (PB) and ambient radio frequency sources, and then uses that harvested energy to transmit data to the D2D receiver (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$ \text {R}_{\text {x}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>). To improve the energy transfer efficiency, the PB is equipped with multiple antennas for energy transfer, and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$ \text {T}_{\text {x}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> is equipped with multiple antennas for energy harvesting. Two beamforming techniques, called best antenna-based beamforming and optimal beamforming vector, are proposed to use at the PB. We derive novel analytical expressions for the average harvested energy, power outage probability, and the outage probability of the information transfer link, considering the effect of co-channel interference from homogeneous Poison distributed interferes and the short-range propagation model for the path loss. We show that by deploying multiple harvesting energy antennas at <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$ \text {T}_{\text {x}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and by implementing optimal beamforming vector scheme at the PB, the system performance improves substantially. Furthermore, Monte-Carlo simulations are provided and verify the accuracy of our analytical results.
Gastroesophageal Reflux and Respiratory Symptoms: Is There an Association? Proposed Mechanisms and Treatment

Gastroesophageal reflux (GER) is a dysfunction of the distal esophagus causing movement of stomach contents into the esophagus. Patients may develop heartburn, regurgitation, dysphagia, odynophagia, and hemorrhage. Respiratory symptoms occur in 10-60 percent of patients with GER or hiatal hernia. Although there is evidence associating pulmonary symptoms and GER, causality has not been proven. The appropriate use of antireflux therapy or surgery to treat GER may consequently alleviate respiratory symptoms.
Associations of 5HTTLPR polymorphism with major depressive disorder and alcohol dependence: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: The neurotransmitter serotonin is understood to control mood and drug response. Carrying a genetic variant in the serotonin transporter gene (5HTT) may increase the risk of major depressive disorder and alcohol dependence. Previous estimates of the association of the S allele of 5HTTLPR polymorphism with major depressive disorder and alcohol dependence have been inconsistent. Methods: For the systematic review, we used PubMed MEDLINE and Discovery of The University of Melbourne to search for all relevant case-control studies investigating the associations of 5HTTLPR polymorphism with major depressive disorder and alcohol dependence. Summary odds ratios (OR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated. To investigate whether year of publication, study population or diagnostic criteria used were potential sources of heterogeneity, we performed meta-regression analyses. Publication bias was assessed using Funnel plots and Egger’s statistical tests. Results: We included 23 studies of major depressive disorder without alcohol dependence containing 3392 cases and 5093 controls, and 11 studies of alcohol dependence without major depressive disorder containing 2079 cases and 2273 controls. The summary OR for homozygote carriers of the S allele of 5HTTLPR polymorphism compared with heterozygote and non-carriers combined (SS vs SL+LL genotype) was 1.33 (95% CI = [1.19, 1.48]) for major depressive disorder and 1.18 (95% CI = [1.01, 1.38]) for alcohol dependence. The summary OR per S allele of 5HTTLPR polymorphism was 1.16 (95% CI = [1.08, 1.23]) for major depressive disorder and 1.12 (95% CI = [1.01, 1.23]) for alcohol dependence. Meta-regression models showed that the associations did not substantially change after adjusting for year of publication, study population and diagnostic criteria used. There was no evidence for publication bias of the studies included in our meta-analysis. Conclusions: Our meta-analysis confirms that individuals with the homozygous S allele of 5HTTLPR polymorphism are at increased risks of major depressive disorder as well as alcohol dependence. Further studies are required to investigate the association between 5HTTLPR polymorphism and the comorbidity of major depressive disorder and alcohol dependence as well as gene × environmental interactions.
Filtering Memory References to Increase Energy Efficiency

Most modern microprocessors employ one or two levels of on-chip caches in order to improve performance. Caches typically are implemented with static RAM cells and often occupy a large portion of the chip area. Not surprisingly, these caches can consume a significant amount of power. In many applications, such as portable devices, energy efficiency is more important than performance. We propose sacrificing some performance in exchange for energy efficiency by filtering cache references through an unusually small first level cache. We refer to this structure as the filter cache. A second level cache, similar in size and structure to a conventional first level cache, is positioned behind the filter cache and serves to mitigate the performance loss. Extensive experiments indicate that a small filter cache still can achieve a high hit rate and good performance. This approach allows the second level cache to be in a low power mode most of the time, thus resulting in power savings. The filter cache is particularly attractive in low power applications, such as the embedded processors used for communication and multimedia applications. For example, experimental results across a wide range of embedded applications show that a direct mapped 255-byte filter cache achieves a 58 percent power reduction while reducing performance by 21 percent. This trade-off results in a 51 percent reduction in the energy-delay product when compared to a conventional design.
Die spätglaziale Vegetationsgeschichte im oberen Illergebiet (Allgäu/Bayern)

Anhand dreier 14C-datierter Pollendiagramme kann erstmals die spatglaziale Vegetationsentwicklung im ehemals vergletscherten sudlichen Allgau rekonstruiert werden. Die vorliegenden Pollendiagramme wurden mit anderen Untersuchungen aus dem Alpenvorland und den nordlichen Alpen verglichen und entsprechenden Biozonen zugeordnet. Im Bolling breitet sich in den tieferen Lagen Pinus aus und wird zur dominanten Baumart. In hoheren Lagen findet die Ausbreitung verzogert statt. Die Warmphase des Allerods fuhrt im Vergleich zum Bolling zur Entwicklung dichterer Walder. Die klimatische Abkuhlung der Jungeren Dryas zeigt sich in einer Auflichtung der Walder. Desweiteren konnten moglicherweise erstmals im Allgau die Gerzensee-Schwankung im Allerod und das Rammelbeek im Praboreal pollenanalytisch nachgewiesen werden.