Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efficient Refolding of Aggregation-prone Citrate Synthase by Polyol Osmolytes

Efficient refolding of proteins and prevention of their aggregation during folding are of vital importance in recombinant protein production and in finding cures for several diseases. We have used citrate synthase (CS) as a model to understand the mechanism of aggregation during refolding and its prevention using several known structure-stabilizing cosolvent additives of the polyol series. Interestingly, no parallel correlation between the folding effect and the general stabilizing effect exerted by polyols was observed. Although increasing concentrations of polyols increased protein stability in general, the refolding yields for CS decreased at higher polyol concentrations, with erythritol reducing the folding yields at all concentrations tested. Among the various polyols used, glycerol was the most effective in enhancing the CS refolding yield, and a complete recovery of enzymatic activity was obtained at 7 m glycerol and 10 μg/ml protein, a result superior to the action of the molecular chaperones GroEL and GroES in vitro. A good correlation between the refolding yields and the suppression of protein aggregation by glycerol was observed, with no aggregation detected at 7 m. The polyols prevented the aggregation of CS depending on the number of hydroxyl groups in them. Stopped-flow fluorescence kinetics experiments suggested that polyols, including glycerol, act very early in the refolding process, as no fast and slow phases were detectable. The results conclusively demonstrate that both the thermodynamic and kinetic aspects are critical in the folding process and that all structure-stabilizing molecules need not always help in productive folding to the native state. These findings are important for the rational design of small molecules for efficient refolding of various aggregation-prone proteins of commercial and medical relevance.
On Spectrum Sensing for TV White Space in China

In the field of wireless communications the idea of cognitive radio is of utmost interest. Due to its advantageous propagation properties, the TV white space can be considered to become the first commercial application of cognitive radio. It allows the usage of secondary communication systems at non-occupied frequency bands. Within this paper, spectrum sensing algorithms are introduced for the three predominant Chinese TV standards DTMB, CMMB, and PAL-D/K. A prototype platform is presented and its underlying architecture based on a combination of DSP and FPGA is illustrated including the setup of the cognitive radio application. Furthermore, the performance of the sensing algorithms implemented on the prototype platform is shown in comparison to simulation results.
Discrete vs. Continuous Approach in Crowd Dynamics Modeling Using GPU Computing

The aim of the study is threefold: firstly to compare the possibilities of using general-purpose computing on graphics processing units (GPGPU) in continuous and discrete crowd dynamics simulation; secondly, to compare selected properties of analogical implementations of crowd dynamics using a central processing unit (CPU) and a graphics processing unit (GPU), and thirdly, to draw conclusions on the applicability of GPUs in engines of professional crowd simulations. For this purpose, the authors have implemented two models of pedestrian dynamics: continuous Social Forces model and discrete, cellular automata–based Social Distances model. The presented simulations refer to outdoor, large-area pedestrian movement.
Thermal properties of oxide free nano non noble metal for low temperature interconnect technology

Tin (Sn) nanoparticles with various sizes were synthesized from a chemical reduction method. Their morphological and thermal characterizations were studied. The high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) study showed that significantly low level of oxides was formed. The thermal characterization by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) exhibited the size dependency of the melting points
Worldwide trends in incidence rates for oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancers.

PURPOSE Human papillomavirus (HPV) has been identified as the cause of the increasing oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) incidence in some countries. To investigate whether this represents a global phenomenon, we evaluated incidence trends for OPCs and oral cavity cancers (OCCs) in 23 countries across four continents. METHODS We used data from the Cancer Incidence in Five Continents database Volumes VI to IX (years 1983 to 2002). Using age-period-cohort modeling, incidence trends for OPCs were compared with those of OCCs and lung cancers to delineate the potential role of HPV vis-à-vis smoking on incidence trends. Analyses were country specific and sex specific. RESULTS OPC incidence significantly increased during 1983 to 2002 predominantly in economically developed countries. Among men, OPC incidence significantly increased in the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, and Slovakia, despite nonsignificant or significantly decreasing incidence of OCCs. In contrast, among women, in all countries with increasing OPC incidence (Denmark, Estonia, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland, and United Kingdom), there was a concomitant increase in incidence of OCCs. Although increasing OPC incidence among men was accompanied by decreasing lung cancer incidence, increasing incidence among women was generally accompanied by increasing lung cancer incidence. The magnitude of increase in OPC incidence among men was significantly higher at younger ages (< 60 years) than older ages in the United States, Australia, Canada, Slovakia, Denmark, and United Kingdom. CONCLUSION OPC incidence significantly increased during 1983 to 2002 predominantly in developed countries and at younger ages. These results underscore a potential role for HPV infection on increasing OPC incidence, particularly among men.
Hemodynamic effects of intravenous pyruvate in the intact, anesthetized dog

ObjectivesThere is evidence from human studies that pyruvate improves skeletal muscle endurance, and from isolated heart preparations that pyruvate is a positive inotrope. We examined the hemodynamic effects of intravenous pyruvate in an intact, anesthetized dog preparation in order to test its effects in an intact animal. Our hypothesis was that pyruvate is a positive inotrope in the intact dog. DesignProspective, randomized, controlled trial. SettingAnimal laboratory. SubjectsTen mongrel dogs. InterventionsTwo groups of animals were anesthetized with chloralose and urethane, mechanically ventilated, and hemodynamically monitored. The experimental group (n = 6) received an infusion of calcium pyruvate and sodium pyruvate, while the control group (n = 4) received an infusion of calcium chloride and sodium chloride. Measurements and Main ResultsThe intravenous infusion of calcium and sodium pyruvate resulted in increased cardiac output, left ventricular contractility, and mixed venous oxygen saturation values in the experimental group compared with the control group of four dogs. There were no significant detrimental effects except an increase in the mean serum calcium concnetrations in both groups. ConclusionsThese data suggest that intravenous pyruvate may be a useful in vivo positive inotrope. (Crit Care Med 1994; 22:844–850)
Prevalence, incidence and lifetime risk of atrial fibrillation: the Rotterdam study.

AIMS We aimed to investigate the prevalence and incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) in a large European population-based study. METHODS AND RESULTS The study is part of the Rotterdam study, a population-based prospective cohort study among subjects aged 55 years and above. The prevalence at baseline was assessed in 6808 participants. Incidence of AF was investigated during a mean follow-up period of 6.9 years in 6432 persons. We identified 376 prevalent and 437 incident cases. Overall prevalence was 5.5%, rising from 0.7% in the age group 55-59 years to 17.8% in those aged 85 years and above. The overall incidence rate was 9.9/1000 person-years. The incidence rate in the age group 55-59 years was 1.1/1000 person-years, rose to 20.7/1000 person-years in the age group 80-84 years and stabilized in those aged 85 years and above. Prevalence and incidence were higher in men than in women. The lifetime risk to develop AF at the age of 55 years was 23.8% in men and 22.2% in women. CONCLUSION In this prospective study in a European population, the prevalence and incidence of AF increased with age and were higher in men than in women. The high lifetime risk to develop AF was similar to North American epidemiological data.
Closed‐ and open‐loop handwriting performance in patients with multiple sclerosis

Normal subjects use an open‐loop motor control strategy in handwriting, but they are able to switch to closed‐loop motor control when the demands on accuracy increase. These closed‐loop handwriting movements of normal subjects resemble the inefficient movements found in writing‐impaired patients. The hypothesis that such movement deficits may in fact reflect the use of a closed‐loop strategy was tested in a group of writing‐impaired patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). The handwriting movements of 10 MS patients and 20 control subjects were examined with a digitizing tablet. Three conditions were used: a standard writing task (expt 1), a closed‐loop condition (expt 2), and an open‐loop condition (expt 3). Individual stroke movements were analysed. Stroke duration and segmentation were increased for MS patients in the standard writing task. The same was found for control subjects when they wrote under closed‐loop conditions. However, under open‐loop conditions, the handwriting movements of the MS patients were as fast and fluent as that of control subjects. The results support the hypothesis that the movement characteristics of the writing‐impaired MS patients reflect an inadequate use of a closed‐loop motor control strategy.
Impact of Single-Breath Mindfulness Technique on Physician Burnout and Stress

Introduction: Stress and burnout among health care providers can have serious repercussions. Mindfulness techniques, particularly when delivered by abbreviated training programs, have been studied for their success in managing symptoms and perceptions of stress and burnout among health care workers serving at the bedside, in clinic, as specialists, and in administration. Materials and Methods: Our suburban community hospital system introduced an eight week, video-module based, single-breath mindfulness technique training program to a group of 23 physicians with a range of experience (0-38 years; 48% primary care). Repeated measures ANOVA were used to evaluate changes across the study period (baseline, end of study, and 8 weeks post-intervention). Multiple linear regression was used to assess the relationship between burnout/stress measures at baseline and provider sex, age, years in practice, and field of practice (primary care or specialty). Results: 19 (83%) providers completed the program and 12 (52%) completed assessments at each time point. Significant improvements were observed across the study period in emotional exhaustion (p=0.01), personal accomplishment (p=0.007), and stress (p<0.001). The extent to which providers depersonalize their patients was not significantly impacted (p=0.14). No significant associations were observed between provider characteristics and burnout/stress metrics at baseline. However, at the α=0.10 level, primary care providers reported a significantly lower sense of personal accomplishment (-6.0 points, 95% CI: -12.2, 0.2 points; p=0.08) at baseline. Conclusions: Symptoms of stress and burnout are equally likely to be observed in providers across discipline, age, sex, and experience. A flexible, easy to use, single-breath based mindfulness program can yield significant improvements for these professionals.
Extraction of a nonlinear amplifier model from measured characteristics

In this paper a mathematical analysis to extract a nonlinear amplifier model from measured characteristics was developed and verified on a case study. Two methods were proposed. The first can be used to extract a fifth order polynomial model by inserting a sine wave at the amplifier input and measuring the output harmonics at different input power levels. It can be used to estimate other nonlinear behaviors of the amplifier; such as intermodulation and desensitization. The other model can be extracted by measuring the two-tone intermodulation spectrum and deduce other amplifier characteristics. Both methods were mathematically analyzed and experimentally verified.
Electromyograph Analysis of the Popliteus Muscle in Level and Downhill Walking

It has been proposed that the popliteus muscle is a source of lateral knee pain, typically after downhill activities. Electromyography of the popliteus muscle was recorded in 9 normal subjects during level walking, downhill walking, and walking downhill wearing a 40-Ib backpack (to simulate hiking). Popliteal muscle intensity during the midstance phase of walking downhill with weights increased significantly over that of level walking (30% versus 13%, respectively) (p < 0.05). There was a nonsignificant trend (p = 0.07) for a similar increase at terminal swing (51 % versus 36%). Significantly greater knee flexion was recorded at loading response, midstance, and terminal stance (p < 0.01) during both downhill trials as compared with level walking. Initial contact position showed no differences. Velocities for downhill walking (72.9 m/min) and downhill walking with weights (71.1 m/min) were significantly less than those of level walking (83.9 m/min) (p < 0.01). Stride analysis showed no significant difference in stance phase duration or in initial double-limb support times between level walking and either downhill condition. These data suggest that increased popliteal muscle activity during midstance in downhill walking with weights is in response to weight bearing with an increased load on a flexed knee. Increased Electromyographic activity may be associated with overuse of the popliteus muscle.
Intravenous Alteplase in Ischemic Stroke Patients not Fully Adhering to the Current Drug License in Central and Eastern Europe

Background The current European license for alteplase in acute ischemic stroke excludes from treatment large groups of patients. Nevertheless, in everyday practice, many patients receive off-label thrombolysis at the physician's discretion. Aim Our aim was to evaluate safety and effectiveness of intravenous alteplase in patients not fully adhering to the drug license compared with those treated strictly according to the license in Central and Eastern Europe. Methods We analyzed the data contributed to Safe Implementation of Thrombolysis in Stroke registry from nine countries between February 2003 and February 2010. Statistical analysis included multivariate logistic regression. Results Of 5594 consecutive patients, 1919 patients (34·3%) not fully adhered to the license. The most frequent deviations were: time-to-treatment >3 h (13·1%), use of intravenous antihypertensives (8·3%), age >80 years (7·3%), oral anticoagulation (4·2%), a previous stroke with concomitant diabetes (3·9%), and previous stroke <three-months (2·7%). The off-label group showed a significantly higher rate of symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage, which was not confirmed in the multivariate analysis. License nonadherence significantly increased the risk of death or dependency (odds ratio 1·26; 95% confidence interval: 1·08–1·48), with a trend for increased mortality (odds ratio 1·17; 95% confidence interval: 0·97–1·42). Isolated time-to-treatment >3 h was an independent predictor of unfavorable outcome (odds ratio 1·32; 95% confidence interval: 1·01–1·71). Conclusion Our findings show that patients not fully adhering to the European license are not at increased risk of symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage but achieve less favorable outcome. Some contraindications appear more redundant than others. However, the final conclusions about safety and effectiveness should be based on the results of ongoing randomized trials.
UREA TRANSPORT BY HEPATOCYTES AND RED BLOOD CELLS OF SELECTED ELASMOBRANCH AND TELEOST FISHES

Although urea transport is receiving increased attention in mammalian systems, very little is known about urea transport in fish tissues. This study examined mechanisms of urea transport in red blood cells and hepatocytes from the lesser spotted dogfish (Scyliorhinus canicula), Atlantic stingray (Dasyatis sabina), turbot (Scopthalmus maximus), redfish (Scianops ocellatus), gulf toadfish (Opsanus beta) and oyster toadfish (Opsanus tau). Urea appeared to be passively distributed in both tissues (i.e. there was no difference between plasma and tissue urea concentrations). Additionally, a number of in vitro experiments examining [14C]urea flux were performed. In red blood cells from all species except redfish, urea transport occurred via simple passive diffusion, but redfish red blood cells showed a small (25 %) phloretin-sensitive uptake component. In hepatocytes of the two elasmobranch species (dogfish and stingray), urea efflux was also by simple passive diffusion. However, urea efflux in toadfish (both O. beta and O. tau) hepatocytes exhibited a marked phloretin-sensitivity, and O. beta hepatocytes were used in further experiments with other inhibitors and treatments. Urea transport in O. beta had a relatively high specificity for urea compared with the urea analogues acetamide, thiourea and N-methylurea, was unaffected by phloridzin and extracellular Na+ removal, and was not inhibited by physiological levels of glucose (0.5­10 mmol l-1). A phloretin-sensitive glucose transport, that was not inhibited by physiological levels of urea, was discovered in O. beta hepatocytes. The results are discussed in terms of patterns of species distribution and similarities between urea and glucose transport.
Extraction et analyse de l'impact émotionnel des images

Cet article propose une methode d'extraction de l'impact emotionnel des images a partir de descripteurs recents. Tres souvent, on associe les emotions a l'expression du visage, mais nous avons decide de ne pas faire de cette information la principale information emotionnelle des images naturelles, qui en general ne contiennent pas de visages. Nous avons ainsi effectue nos tests sur une base diversifiee, construite a partir d'images a faible contenu semantique. La complexite des emotions a ete prise en compte en integrant, au processus de classification, les resultats de tests psycho-visuels que nous avons mis en place. Vingt cinq observateurs ont participe aux tests. Ils ont evalue la nature et la puissance des emotions ressenties. Nous avons choisi un reseau de neurones multicouches pour la classification. Le taux de reussite moyen obtenu lors de la classification est de 56,15% ; ce qui est encourageant au regard des resultats de la litterature.
Characterization and modeling of sub-nH integrated inductances

This paper presents the characterization and modeling of sub-nH radial patterned around shield circular inductors fabricated in a silicon bipolar technology for RF applications. The accuracy of experimental data in the range 0.3-0.8 nH is first validated by comparing the measured low-frequency inductance with 2D/sup 1///sub 2/ EM simulations. Based on the above results, the well-known current sheet expression for circular spirals is revised and modified to improve its accuracy at lower inductance values. Finally, the original and modified expressions are employed in a lumped scalable model for integrated inductors. Comparisons between simulations and measurements revealed that the modified expression allows error reductions as large as 20% with respect to the original one on both the inductance and quality factor.
Advancement of MEMS into RF-filter applications

RF-MEMS filters will substitute conventional filters in mobile communication under certain technical and commercial conditions. Key performance parameters and requirements are discussed in detail. Two different approaches for RF-MEMS filters are reviewed and compared: Electric field driven MEMS-resonators and piezoelectric MEMS resonators. State-of-the-art RF-MEMS filters based on bulk-acoustic-wave (BAW) resonators are presented.
MIC‐1 is a novel TGF‐β superfamily cytokine associated with macrophage activation

As part of a study to identify novel genes associated with macrophage activation, we have cloned a new member of the transforming growth factor β (TGF‐β) superfamily designated macrophage inhibitory cytokine 1 (MIC‐1). MIC‐1 is synthesized as a 62‐kDa intracellular protein, which, after cleavage by a furin like protease, is secreted as a 25‐kDa disulfide‐linked dimeric protein. Sequence analysis indicates that it does not cluster within any existing TGF‐β families, suggesting it may be the first member of a new grouping within the TGF‐β superfamily. Tissue Northern blots show that MIC‐1 transcripts are only found abundantly in placenta, although smaller amounts are seen in a limited number of other adult and fetal tissues. MIC‐1 is not expressed in resting macrophages but is induced by a number of different activation agents, including phorbol myristate acetate, interleukin 1, tumor necrosis factor α, and macrophage colony‐stimulating factor but not by lipopolysaccharide or interferon‐γ. We have hypothesized that it may be an autocrine inhibitor of macrophage activation but its major biological role is still uncertain. J. Leukoc. Biol. 65: 2–5; 1999.
Combination of target scattering decomposition with the optimum degree of polarization for improved classification of boreal peatlands in the Athabasca region

Target scattered wave polarization signature is introduced for the representation of the variations of the main scattered wave parameters as a function of the transmitting antenna polarization. It is shown that the signature of the degree of polarization (DoP) and the total scattered intensity (R0) provide important information that is complementary to the Van Zyl conventional received intensity polarization signatures. As a result, the DoP optimization is used as an additional source of information in complement with target scattering decomposition for optimum characterization of peatlands and their surrounding upland forests. The study is conducted using polarimetric L-band PALSAR data collected over boreal peatlands in the Athabasca oil sand exploration region (near Fort McMurray, Alberta). The potential of polarimetric L-band PALSAR and the Touzi decomposition for monitoring water flow beneath the peat surface is confirmed. The scattering type phase permits an enhanced discrimination of poor fen from bogs; two wetland classes that can hardly be discriminated by optic and conventional SAR sensors. The complementary information provided by the DoP optimization permits better discrimination of burned from healthy forests. The DoP dynamic range as well as the scattering phase, which is sensitive to peatland subsurface water flow, permit the right assessment of peat health in burned black-spruce bogs.