Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Computational synchronization improves the consistency of gene expression patterns over multiple experiments

Gene expression level is measured on a population of cells in the microarray experiments. Due to the inevitable decay of cell synchrony, the intrinsic gene expression patterns are blurred in the observed time-series microarray data. Furthermore, slight differences in the experimental condition could be amplified as the experiments continue, and eventually considerably influence the cell synchrony, which dominates the way how the intrinsic expression patterns are blurred in the observed microarray data. Therefore, the decay of cell synchrony can cause variability between different experiments. In this paper, we demonstrate how to utilize computational synchronization approach to eliminate the variability caused by cell synchrony between different microarray experiments of Plasmodium falciparum. Specifically, The intrinsic expression patterns are respectively reconstructed for each microarray data set. The preliminary evaluations conducted on synthetic data suggest that computational synchronization could be a useful approach to improve the consistency of gene expression patterns over multiple experiments.
The Role of Adenosine and Adenosine Transport in Ethanol‐Induced Cellular Tolerance and Dependence

Acute exposure to ethanol in culture inhibits adenosine uptake into cells, thereby increasing the concentration of extracellular adenosine. Extracellular adenosine then reacts with adenosine A2 receptors to stimulate intracellular cAMP production. During prolonged exposure to ethanol, the increase in cAMP is followed by the development of heterologous desensitization of receptors coupled to adenylyl cyclase via Gs, the stimulatory GTP-binding protein. Ethanol-induced heterologous desensitization appears to be due to a reduction in mRNA and protein for G alpha s, a subunit of Gs. This is an example of cellular dependence on ethanol. The important implication of these findings is that a selective inhibitory effect of ethanol on adenosine uptake can lead to desensitization of diverse receptors coupled to cAMP production. Such changes could contribute to the pleiotropic effects of ethanol in the brain and other organs. Prolonged exposure to ethanol also alters the nucleoside transport system. While ethanol inhibits adenosine uptake into naive cells, ethanol no longer inhibits adenosine uptake into cells that have adapted to ethanol. This resistance to ethanol inhibition appears to be a form of cellular tolerance to ethanol. Thus, there appears to be a synergism between ethanol-induced heterologous desensitization of receptor-stimulated cAMP production (cellular dependence) and resistance to ethanol inhibition of adenosine uptake (cellular tolerance), because both lead to reduced intracellular levels of cAMP. Our studies on cAMP signal transduction in cell culture are directly relevant to the pathophysiology of human alcoholism. Heterologous desensitization of cAMP production is demonstrable in lymphocytes taken from actively drinking alcoholics; this measurement appears to be a biologic marker of active alcohol consumption. In addition, regulation of adenosine receptor-dependent cAMP production may be altered in patients at risk to develop alcoholism because of genetic factors. Thus, lymphocytes from alcoholics cultured many generations in the absence of ethanol show increased adenosine receptor-dependent cAMP production and increased sensitivity to ethanol-induced heterologous desensitization. These persistent phenotypic abnormalities in cell culture could be used as genetic markers for alcoholism. Studies are under way to test this possibility.
Pattern and Predictors of False Positive Lymph Node Involvement on Positron Emission Tomography in Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Abstract Objectives The aim of this study was to elucidate the optimal parameters for diagnosing false positive (FP) lymph nodes (LNs) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Methods We reviewed 292 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) imaging was performed at 1 hour (early) post-FDG injection and repeated 2 hours (delayed) after injection. We analyzed the relationship between the pathology of LNs and the results of PET, and the percent change in the standardized uptake value (%ΔSUV) between the two time-points. Results Eighteen of 46 cases (39.1%) in the FP group showed higher SUVs for their LNs compared with those for primary tumor, whereas 13.2% in the true positive group (p = 0.032) had higher SUVs for their LNs. Thirty-four of 36 cases in the true positive group had %ΔSUV ranging from 0% to 61.5% compared with only 13 of 33 in the FP group. Twenty out of 22 cases (90.9%) where %ΔSUV was over 61.5% or under 0% were considered as FP. Conclusions Patients with higher SUVs for LNs than for primary tumors and patients with extremely high or low %ΔSUVs tended to have FP LNs.
Distribution and environmental risk factors for paratuberculosis in dairy cattle herds in Michigan.

OBJECTIVE To determine prevalence of paratuberculosis among dairy cattle herds and to identify associated soil-related risk factors. SAMPLE POPULATION Serum and soil samples for 121 Michigan dairy herds. PROCEDURE Blood samples were collected from cows at each farm and tested for Mycobacterium paratuberculosis, using an antibody ELISA. Soil samples were collected from pastures and exercise lots; pH and available iron content were determined. A questionnaire was administered to collect data regarding farm management practices and productivity. RESULTS 55% of the herds tested had > or = 2 M paratuberculosis-positive cattle. Adjusting sample prevalence for distribution of herd size strata yielded a statewide herd prevalence of 54%. Of 3,886 cattle tested, 267 had positive results. Prevalence of test-positive cattle was 6.9%. For every part per million (ppm) increase in soil iron content, there was a 1.4% increase in the risk of a herd being test-positive. An increase in soil pH of 0.1 was associated with a 5% decrease and an increase in soil iron content of 10 ppm was associated with a 4% increase in the number of test-positive cattle. Application of lime to pasture areas was associated with a herd being only 10% as likely to be paratuberculosis positive and with a 72% reduction in number of test-positive cattle. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Prevalence of paratuberculosis-positive dairy herds in Michigan (54%) was greater than expected, but prevalence of paratuberculosis-positive cattle (6.9%) was within anticipated values. These prevalences were associated positively with acidic soil and increased soil iron content. Application of lime to pasture areas was associated with reduced risk of paratuberculosis.
Optimization of thermoelectric cooling for microelectronics

The electronics industry has traditionally cooled critical components using a simple fan/heat sink assembly. Each advance in IC fabrication technology has resulted in the need for a higher performance thermal solution, stressing the limits of conventional fan/heat sink technology. A possible solution to relieve the pressure being placed on future fan/heat sink technology is to incorporate thermoelectric (TE) cooling into the configuration. It has been established that when using TE technology in electronic applications the entire system needs to be optimized simultaneously. This study is an expansion of previous work as it provides an analytic expression for the TE element geometry that minimizes the junction temperature in an electronic application. Further, it is shown that a minimum junction temperature and a maximum COP can be simultaneously achieved by optimizing both the applied current and the TE geometry. Experimental measurements on commercial TE modules are presented that validate the 1-dimensional thermal-electric models. The measurements precisely match predictions if temperature dependent material properties are used in the models. A model based case study suggests that up to ~100 W can be dissipated using a 0.4 K/W heat sink and an optimized bismuth-telluride TE module while maintaining a 85 degC junction temperature
Random walk in random and non-random environments

Simple Symmetric Random Walk in ℤ1: Introduction of Part I Distributions Recurrence and the Zero-One Law From the Strong Law of Large Numbers to the Law of Iterated Logarithm Levy Classes Wiener Process and Invariance Principle Increments Strassen Type Theorems Distribution of the Local Time Local Time and Invariance Principle Strong Theorems of the Local Time Excursions Frequently and Rarely Visited Sites An Embedding Theorem A Few Further Results Summary of Part I Simple Symmetric Random Walk in ℤd: The Recurrence Theorem Wiener Process and Invariance Principle The Law of Iterated Logarithm Local Time The Range Heavy Points and Heavy Balls Crossing and Self-crossing Large Covered Balls Long Excursions Speed of Escape A Few Further Problems Random Walk in Random Environment: Introduction of Part III In the First Six Days After the Sixth Day What Can a Physicist Say About the Local Time ξ(0,n)? On the Favourite Value of the RWIRE A Few Further Problems Random Walks in Graphs: Introduction of Part IV Random Walk in Comb Random Walk in a Comb and in a Brush with Crossings Random Walk on a Spider Random Walk in Half-Plane-Half-Comb.
Six-Sigma implementation through Competency Based Perspective (CBP)

Abstract The popularity of six-sigma has given rise to the question: can any company adopt this rigid data driven approach to achieve higher levels of quality? This research suggests that a company must develop a unique combination of resources and competencies to realize the benefits of six-sigma. According to the competency based perspective (CBP), a company first needs to have the assets, skills, and resources to launch the six-sigma program, and second, it needs to have the expertise to integrate these assets to orchestrate a cohesive implementation of this program. The paper makes the case that most successful six-sigma adopters had initially implemented Total Quality Management (TQM), Baldridge, or some other quality initiative, preparing them to launch this data driven, process oriented approach. For companies that have emphasized quality function deployment (QFD), innovation and problem solving, statistical process control, process capability studies, etc. a transition to six-sigma would be a natural course of action. For others where these practices are at an incipient stage, six-sigma progress can be extremely slow and frustrating. The paper validates these comments with the help of a case study. It was easy for the study company to make the transition to six-sigma because it had captured enough process performance data, customer requirements, infrastructure and leadership development through its long history of quality initiatives.
Pulmonary cavitation and hydropneumothorax associated with pulmonary embolism.

A 70-year-old woman, with no addictions presented with sudden onset of breathlessness and dry cough to a local hospital. A chest radiograph (postero-anterior view; Figure 1) showed a right-sided hydropneumothorax for which an intercostal chest drain (ICD) was inserted and the patient was referred to us for further assessment. She had a history of rightsided femur neck fracture following a trivial trauma about a month ago and was operated 15 days ago with a right bipolar hemiarthroplasty. There was no complaint of chest pain or fever and there was no remarkable past history. On general examination, the patient was afebrile with a pulse of 117 per minute, blood pressure of 100/70 mmHg, a respiratory rate of 34 per minute with usage of accessory muscles of respiration and a pulse oximetry saturation of 90 percent. Jugular venous pulse was not raised. The right lower limb revealed swelling. On systemic examination with the ICD in situ, breath sounds were decreased in intensity over the right hemithorax and
Capitalisation des connaissances et aide décisionnelle en phase d’industrialisation : le cas de Sony Alsace

Dans un contexte économique mondial de plus en plus concurrentiel, l’efficience de l’ensemble des services, en particulier de ceux supports de la production, est un facteur clé de succès. D’un point de vue managérial, la capitalisation des connaissances est un élément central dans l’amélioration des performances, grâce à la réalisation d’une base de ressources fiable complétée par un outil informatique adapté et capable de fournir une aide décisionnelle pertinente. Ceci oblige les entreprises a accroître et affiner leur connaissance du contexte global de l’étude, afin d’identifier les éléments clés et les spécificités à recenser pour la constitution de la base de connaissances. Les travaux scientifiques dans le domaine de la gestion des connaissances sont en pleine explosion depuis la fin des années 1990 et un grand nombre de théories, méthodologies et outils a été proposé et développé (Dieng et Hug, 1998). Cependant, beaucoup de ces outils et solutions se révèlent inadaptés car trop lourds à mettre en place dans une petite structure (Rose et al., 2006). Une des problématiques liée à cette thématique est de trouver le bon compromis entre les efforts et moyens engagés en regard de l’efficacité escomptée. L’étude présentée dans cet article est la première du genre chez Sony Alsace à s’intéresser à la capitalisation des connaissances. Elle présente, dans le cadre d’un projet pilote, les différentes étapes qui ont conduit à la mise en place d’un outil de capitalisation des connaissances au sein du service d’industrialisation. Nous retracerons ainsi la démarche qui fut la notre pour concevoir un outil pour la capitalisation et réutiliser au mieux les connaissances inhérentes aux processus incontournables du montage automatique de cartes électroniques de l’usine Sony Alsace (située à Ribeauvillé-68). L’intérêt de cette étude est d’apporter une réponse en accord avec les besoins des utilisateurs, efficace et validée en terme de capitalisation des connaissances. Cette capitalisation, via l’utilisation de notre application informatique accroît la fiabilité du résultat final et par là même fournit une aide à la décision pertinente.
Adaptive Clutter Filtering Using Autogressive Spectral Estimation

A new adaptive filter to reject clutter is derived using autoregressive spectral analysis techniques. The adaptive filter performs open. Ioop processing, resulting in a shorter transient response, and is therefore suitable for radar waveforms containing only a small number of samples. A number of examples including application to ballistic missile defense are presented to demonstrate the performance capabilities of the new adaptive filter.
Apparent change of masking functions with compression-type digital hearing aid

Signal perception ability under conditions of a narrow band masker in subjects with hearing aids was examined using a theoretical model of the auditory nerve fibre (ANF) with a deteriorated tuning curve in addition to measurements of actual masking function in subjects wearing hearing aids. The results obtained indicate that the apparent masking function could be affected by the frequency-gain character as well as by the degree of compression. Usually, the compression-type of amplification with flat and/or high-frequency weighted characteristics improves not only the apparent thresholds but also the apparent masked thresholds under conditions of lower frequency masking. On the other hand, a low-frequency masker amplified by a higher gain with low-frequency weighted amplification could cause larger upward-masking effects on the signal perception of the higher frequency signal in some conditions. The present study may contribute to our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of the effects of different amplification by the aid.
Epidemiological Characteristics and Clinical Outcome of HIV-Related Tuberculosis in a Population of TB Patients in South-western Nigeria

Tuberculosis (TB) is the second leading cause of death from infectious disease globally with its impact more dramatic in resource limited settings. Individuals with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection who also develop tuberculosis represent a significant challenge to TB control. This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of TB–HIV coinfection and pattern of infection among TB patients. We also compared treatment outcome among coinfected patients with those not coinfected. A six-year retrospective review of records of patients managed at the Tuberculosis Treatment Center of the LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, South-Western Nigeria from January 2009 to December 2014 was carried out. One hundred and five (26.3%) of the 399 TB patients seen in the study period were coinfected with HIV. About 10% of the subjects had extrapulmonary tuberculosis. Treatment failure was significantly worse among patients who had both HIV and TB compared with those who had TB only (49.5% vs. 32%, p = 0.001). Death rate was also higher in the coinfected individuals implying a poorer clinical outcome. High prevalence of TB–HIV coinfection and poor treatment outcome in this group of individuals, though predictable, calls for a more concerted effort in the management of TB–HIV coinfection.
Falsification of the ionic channel theory of hair cell transduction

The hair cell provides the transduction of mechanical vibrations in the balance and acoustic sense of all vertebrates that swim, walk, or fly. The current theory places hair cell transduction in a mechanically controlled ion channel. Although the theory of a mechanical input modulating the flow of ions through an ion pore has been a useful tool, it is falsified by experimental data in the literature and can be definitively falsified by a proposed experiment.
Decisive path scheduling: a new list scheduling method

Scheduling parallel tasks represented as a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG), on a multiprocessor system has been an important research area in the past decades. One of the critical aspects of a class of scheduling algorithms, called "List Scheduling", is how to decide which task is to be scheduled next. This is achieved by assigning priorities to the nodes or the edges of the input DAG, and thus the task with the highest priority will be scheduled next. This paper proposes a low complexity scheduling algorithm to improve the priority node selection criteria in list scheduling algorithms. The worst case performance of the proposed algorithm is analyzed for general input DAGs. Also, the worst case performance and the optimality conditions are obtained for free structured input DAGs. The performance comparison study shows that the proposed algorithm outperforms existing scheduling algorithms especially for input DAGs with high communication overheads. The performance improvement over existing algorithms becomes larger as the input DAG becomes more dense and the level of parallelism in the DAG is increased.
Technological innovation and productivity in late-transition Estonia: econometric evidence from innovation surveys

There is growing interest in modelling the relationship between innovation and productivity in developing and transition economies due to their attempts to establish knowledge-based economies and to increase business R&D. Our paper investigates whether there is a significant relationship between technological innovation and productivity in the manufacturing sector of Estonia. We use firm-level data for the analysis from two waves of Community Innovation Surveys (CIS3 and CIS4) from 1998–2000 and 2002–2004, which is then combined with lead financial data about firms from the Estonian Business Register in order to study the effect of innovation on future performance. We apply a structural model that involves a system of equations on innovation expenditure, innovation outcome and productivity. Our results show that during 1998–2000 only product innovation increased productivity, while in 2002–2004 only process innovation had a positive effect on productivity. This can probably be explained by the different macroeconomic conditions in the two periods.Il existe un intérêt croissant à la modélisation des relations entre innovation et productivité dans les pays en développement et en transition qui cherchent à promouvoir l'économie de la connaissance et la R&D dans les entreprises. Notre article s'interroge sur l'importance de la relation entre innovation technologique et productivité dans le secteur manufacturier en Estonie Nous utilisons des données d'entreprises pour analyser deux vagues d'enquêtes communautaires d'innovation (C3S3 et CIS4), celles de 1998–2000 et de 2002–2004, qui sont ensuite combinées avec des données financières avancées du registre des entreprises estoniennes, dans le but d'étudier les effets de l'innovation sur les performances futures. Nous appliquons un modèle structurel qui comporte un système d'équations sur les dépenses d'innovation, le revenu de l'innovation et la productivité. Nos résultats montrent que durant la période 1998–2000, seule l'innovation concernant les produits a un effet positif sur la productivité alors qu'en 2002–2004, seul le processus d'innovation a un effet positif sur la productivité. Ceci s'explique probablement par des conditions macroéconomiques différentes entre les deux périodes.
Effect of a Computerized Referral at Hospital Discharge on Cardiac Rehabilitation Participation Rates

PURPOSE We evaluated the effectiveness of a computerized cardiac rehabilitation (CR) recruiting strategy instituted during the hospital discharge process after acute myocardial infarction (MI) or coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. The computerized referral was designed to enhance an already-established nurse-based recruiting strategy that included personalized, in-hospital visits. METHODS We determined CR participation rates before and after the implementation of the computerized referral process. The computerized intervention included a personalized letter at hospital discharge and a scheduled group introductory visit at the CR center. Data sources for the study included hospital electronic medical records, the hospital discharge summary, and the CR enrollment database RESULTS Before the study intervention, 47% (171/364) of patients participated in the CR program, whereas, in year 2, this increased to 53% (231/440) (adjusted P < .01, odds ratio of participation = 1.49, 95% confidence interval = 1.11–1.99). Participation rates increased more in patients after MI (39%–48%, P < .05) than after CABG surgery (63%–67%, P = .69). During each time period, enrollment was higher after CABG surgery than after MI. CONCLUSIONS Despite an aggressive baseline recruiting strategy, the addition of a computerized referral process during hospital discharge planning resulted in increased CR participation rates. These results strongly support the institution of computerized referral processes to CR during the hospital discharge planning process.
Quantum control landscapes with dynamic symmetry

This paper analyzes the topology of quantum control landscapes with dynamic symmetry, which is referred to as the optimization objective as a functional of control fields. We find that the ruggedness of the landscape, which determines the search efficiency for global optima, is dependent with the dynamic symmetry. This effect is demonstrated via the gate fidelity control landscape of a system whose controllability is restricted on a SU(2) dynamic symmetry group. We show that multiple local false traps (i.e., non-global suboptima) exist even if the target gate is realizable and that the number of these traps is increased by the loss of controllability, while the controllable systems are always devoid of false traps.