Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reference gene validation software for improved normalization

Real-time PCR is the method of choice for expression analysis of a limited number of genes. The measured gene expression variation between subjects is the sum of the true biological variation and several confounding factors resulting in non-specific variation. The purpose of normalization is to remove the non-biological variation as much as possible. Several normalization strategies have been proposed, but the use of one or more reference genes is currently the preferred way of normalization. While these reference genes constitute the best possible normalizers, a major problem is that these genes have no constant expression under all experimental conditions. The experimenter therefore needs to carefully assess whether a certain reference gene is stably expressed in the experimental system under study. This is not trivial and represents a circular problem. Fortunately, several algorithms and freely available software have been developed to address this problem. This chapter aims to provide an overview of the different concepts. Running title: Reference gene validation strategies Corresponding author: Jo Vandesompele Center for Medical Genetics Ghent Ghent University Hospital, Medical Research Building De Pintelaan 185, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium +32 9 240 5187 (phone) | +32 9 240 6549 (fax) Joke.Vandesompele@UGent.be
“The Role Of Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology In Evaluation Of Neck Masses

Background: Fine needle aspiration cytology is a minimally invasive technique used in the initial diagnosis of different types of lesions located in neck region commonly originating from cervical lymph node, thyroid gland, salivary glands and soft tissues. The objective of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of FNAC in various neck lesions in correlation with their histopathological examination.Materials and methods: A hospital based prospective study was conducted among 86 patients with palpable neck region lesions in the Department of Pathology, SPMC BIKANER from JUNE 2011 to December 2013. FNAC weredone from palpable masses of neck regions.Result: There were 86 FNAC cases enrolled, out of which lymph node lesions (n=42) were the most common lesions followed by thyroid (n=26), other miscellaneous lesions (n=2) and salivary gland (n=14) and 2 are unsatisfactory. In the present study,out of the total 86 samples, 46 cases(53.48%)were non–neoplastic, while 40 cases (46.51%)were neoplastic lesions. Among the 40 neoplastic lesions, 13 cases were benign (32.50%)and 27 cases (67.50%) were malignant. High accuracy(95.23%),sensitivity(81.81%) and Specificity(93.93%) were observed in this study. Conclusion: FNAC is a minimally invasive first line investigation with a high sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of various neck lesions
Modeling power consumption at system-level for design of power integrity-aware AMS-circuits

Among many challenges in designing reliable integrated circuits and embedded systems, the power integrity (PI-) issue is a particularly critical one. Researches and CAD tools have been carried out in the last decades. However, all of them address the problem from a circuit-level perspective. Moreover, the PIproblem cannot be completely verified until layout, the final stage of the design phase. In this paper we propose a new approach to model power consumption that allows PI-simulation at the system level of abstraction, by extending the state-machine based power estimation method. For this purpose, we model power consumption in power states which also includes a statistical model, and in state-transitions modeled by transfer function. The proposed approach is implemented as part of a simulation framework, which uses SystemC-AMS, and is applied on a battery management IC design.
Food attractants of Nephrops norvegicus-search for artificial and alternative creel baits

The commercial fishery of the Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) is one of the most economically important fisheries in Europe and Sweden. However, trawling that stands for 74% of the landings in Sweden is very energy demanding and causes vast damage to the seafloor. The creel fishery stands for the last 26% of the landings. While having far less negative impact on the marine environment, the creel fishery needs to get more economically efficient to be able to compete with trawling. About 10% of the cost for creel fishery is due to the fishing for baits, where over 1 kg salted herring (Clupea harengus) is used as bait per kg landed lobster. The aim of this study was to develop an artificial bait as an alternative to herring, to decrease the need to fish for bait and make the N. norvegicus creel fishery more environmentally and economically efficient. A bioassay using a two-choice flowthrough flume was used to test the attraction of N. norvegicus to different fractions of freeze-dried herring. Fractionation was first done by Kupchan extraction. The most attractive fractions: butanol (p=0.035) and hexane (p=0.007) were further separated with SPE-columns. The most attractive fractions methanol 100% and hexane 100% (p=0.035 for both) were thereafter analysed with GC-MS to identify compound constitution. Four of these compounds (phosphoric acid, palmitic acid, myristic acid and pristine) were further tested in the flume, however, without being significantly attractive to the lobsters. In a separate field study, the swimming crab (Liocarcinus depurator) was tested as alternative bait as well to N. norvegicus. The results showed that the swimming crab is repelled by dead conspecifics, while N. norvegicus neither is significantly repelled nor attracted to live or dead swimming crabs, but a trend could be seen towards N. norvegicus being disturbed by live swimming crabs.
Intermittent hypoxia causes insulin resistance in lean mice independent of autonomic activity.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES Although many clinical physiology and epidemiology studies show an association between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and markers of insulin resistance, no causal pathway has been established. The purpose of the current study was to determine if the intermittent hypoxia (IH) stimulus that characterizes OSA causes insulin resistance in the absence of obesity. Furthermore, we assessed the impact of IH on specific metabolic function in liver and muscle. Finally, we examined the potential mechanistic role of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) in mediating insulin resistance in response to IH. METHODS AND RESULTS Hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamps were conducted and whole-body insulin sensitivity, hepatic glucose output, and muscle-specific glucose utilization assessed in conscious, chronically instrumented adult male C57BL/6J mice exposed to (1) IH (achieving a nadir of Fi(O(2)) = 5-6% at 60 cycles/h for 9 h), (2) intermittent air as a control, (3) IH with ANS blockade (hexamethonium), or (4) IA with ANS blockade. IH decreased whole-body insulin sensitivity compared with intermittent air (38.8 +/- 2.7 vs. 49.4 +/- 1.5 mg/kg/min, p < 0.005) and reduced glucose utilization in oxidative muscle fibers, but did not cause a change in hepatic glucose output. Furthermore, the reduction in whole-body insulin sensitivity during IH was not restored by ANS blockade. CONCLUSION We conclude that IH can cause acute insulin resistance in otherwise lean, healthy animals, and that the response is associated with decreased glucose utilization of oxidative muscle fibers, but that it occurs independently of activation of the ANS.
Low knowledge ( > 50 % ) Tool III : Patients ' OAC adherence structured interview questionnaire

Background: Patients with mechanical valve implantation require lifelong oral anticoagulant therapy to allow adequate valve function and prevent thromboembolic risk. Being on such high alert therapy necessitates knowledge and adherence to avoid major complications. Objectives: this study aims to determine the knowledge and adherence to oral anticoagulant therapy among patients with mechanical heart valve prosthesis. Setting: Cardiothoracic Outpatient Clinic of Alexandria Main University Hospital, Alexandria, Egypt. Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive study. Data was collected from 75 mechanical valve prosthesis patients attending the pre-mentioned health setting. A socio demographic, clinical characteristics structured questionnaire, Patients' knowledge about Oral Anticoagulant Therapy structured interview questionnaire and Patient oral anticoagulant therapy adherence structured interview questionnaire were developed by the researchers and used for data collection. Each patient was interviewed individually for about 30 minutes after brief explanation of the study objective and assuring information confidentiality. Results: Female patients (56%) exceeded males (44%), the mean age was 46.48 ± 9.38. Only 41.3% of the studied patients received education regarding oral anticoagulants by their physician. 66.7% of the studied patients had moderate overall knowledge score, while less than half of them had either satisfactory or good adherence levels (42.7%, and 44% respectively). There were positive significant correlations between patients' adherence to Oral Anticoagulants and their level of knowledge (r=0.597*, p=<0.001*). There were significant differences between patient's education, sex, occupation and their level of knowledge, whereas no significance differences between patient's sex/age and their level of adherence were found. Conclusion: The majority of the studied patients had moderate overall knowledge score about Oral Anticoagulants, and less than half of them had either satisfactory or good adherence levels. There were positive significant correlations between patients' adherence to Oral Anticoagulants and their level of knowledge Recommendations: An in-service educational program regarding OAC therapy should be provided for nurses working at the cardiovascular units to update their knowledge and practice about OAC therapy.
AUDITORS’INDEPENDENCE AND AUDITOR ETHICAL JUDGEMENTS: EVIDENCE FROM MALAYSIA

Within the auditing profession, independence and ethical behavior of the auditors are very much related. The auditors’ conduct could determine whether they are seen or perceived to be independent in their action. This study aims to examine the relationship between auditor’s independence and ethical judgment, in Malaysia context. An experiment with 116 auditors and shareholders is conducted to examine whether changes in auditors’ independence threats will consistently increase the auditors’ ethical judgments level. This study includes four types of independence threats namely self-interest, familiarity, self-review and intimidation threats to observe the effects on auditors’ ethical judgments. The findings revealed there is significant negative relationship between intimidation threat and ethical judgment and insignificant positive relationship between other types of auditors’ independence threats on ethical judgments. This study suggests that auditor likely to diminish their independence if they being threaten with dismissal or replacement of the professional accountant in business or relation to a client engagement.
Field Specific Nutrient Management Profitability and Production Risk Analysis : The Case of Cotton Production in Benin

Cotton production is a key export crop factor for the Benin economy. Over the last two decades, the government policies designed to encourage cotton production have resulted in unsustainable agricultural production practices. Properly introduced, field specific nutrition management (FSNM) production techniques could help change current rotation practices that contribute to soil degradation. This paper proposes a method for FSNM adoption for cotton production in Benin. Banikoara, the largest cotton producing county in Northern Benin was chosen for the study. EPIC, a crop growth simulation model was used to estimate crop yield with two levels of fertilizer application. Two mathematical programming models were developed to reproduce the production conditions of a typical cotton farmer using FSNM or conventional production practices. Results show that FSNM is less profitable for the risk neutral farmer but more profitable for the risk averse one when compared to conventional production practices.
A Novel Frequency Reconfigurable Microstrip Patch Antenna based on MEMS Technology

in this paper, a new kind of frequency reconfigurable microstrip patch antenna based on MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) technology is proposed. In fabrication of this antenna, a combination of bulk and surface micromachining is used. Thermal actuation is utilized as driving mechanism. The antenna patch is discretized to facilitate vertical displacement of the patch and as a result decreasing power consumption of actuation mechanism. Downward relocation of discretized patch, toward fixed ground plane, reduces the air gap height, and subsequently operating frequency of the antenna. Operating frequency of the antenna can be shifted continuously from 17.387 GHz to 16.812 GHz in the bandwidth of 680 MHz and 645 MHz respectively. The tuning range of 575MHz is realized by a 2V CMOS compatible voltage and acceptable power consumption. Finite-element analyses show a good microwave performance and mechanical behavior over the tuning range. Keywords-micromachining; reconfigurable microstrip patch antenna; MEMS; thermal actutor
Low-Rank Tensor Decompositions for High Dimensional Uncertainty Quantification in Electromagnetic Field Problems

Recently developed low-rank tensor decompositions offer new tools for high dimensional uncertainty quantification. Such approaches do not inherently suffer from the so-called “curse of dimensionality”, because their convergence rates depend only linearly on the number of parameters. Therefore they have a theoretical advantage over current state-of-the-art methods, e.g. stochastic collocation on sparse grids. In this work, we offer an overview on low-rank tensor decompositions, justify their use for uncertainty quantification purposes and present a relevant numerical example from electromagnetics.
Clinical implications for a treatment algorithm and differential indication to hormone therapy and chemotherapy options in metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer: a personal view

Although docetaxel is still considered a mainstay of treatment in metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), in the last few years, new agents have been developed to improve survival in this setting and reach a possible optimal personalized treatment strategy. In this paper, we provide a personal view and an algorithm for mCRPC patients, according to available evidence, personal opinion and experience. Abiratone acetate, cabazitaxel, radium-223, sipuleucel-T and enzalutamide, together with docetaxel, have demonstrated a survival benefit in these patients. The use of rechallenge with docetaxel in mCRPC patients with disease progression after a first response has been considered. These new agents complicated the scenario and posed the challenge to move from the old sequential to a new algorithm-based approach. At this stage, the algorithm is necessarily based on experts’ opinion, since the efficacy of a single agent in a specific setting has not been validated by sequential trials.
Metastasis stage, adjuvant treatment, and residual tumor are prognostic factors for medulloblastoma in children: conclusions from the Children's Cancer Group 921 randomized phase III study.

PURPOSE From 1986 to 1992, "eight-drugs-in-one-day" (8-in-1) chemotherapy both before and after radiation therapy (XRT) (54 Gy tumor/36 Gy neuraxis) was compared with vincristine, lomustine (CCNU), and prednisone (VCP) after XRT in children with untreated, high-stage medulloblastoma (MB). PATIENTS AND METHODS Two hundred three eligible patients with an institutional diagnosis of MB were stratified by local invasion and metastatic stage (Chang T/M) and randomized to therapy. Median time at risk from study entry was 7.0 years. RESULTS Survival and progression-free survival (PFS) +/- SE at 7 years were 55%+/-5% and 54%+/-5%, respectively. VCP was superior to 8-in-1 chemotherapy, with 5-year PFS rates of 63%+/-5% versus 45%+/-5%, respectively (P = .006). Upon central neuropathology review, 188 patients were confirmed as having MB and were the subjects for analyses of prognostic factors. Children aged 1.5 to younger than 3 years had inferior 5-year estimates of PFS, compared with children 3 years old or older (P = .0014; 32%+/-10% v 58%+/-4%, respectively). For MB patients 3 years of age or older, the prognostic effect of tumor spread (MO v M1 v M2+) on PFS was powerful (P = .0006); 5-year PFS rates were 70%+/-5%, 57%+/-10%, and 40%+/-8%, respectively. PFS distributions at 5 years for patients with M0 tumors with less than 1.5 cm2 of residual tumor, versus > or = 1.5 cm2 of residual tumor by scan, were significantly different (P = .023; 78%+/-6% v 54%+/-11%, respectively). CONCLUSION VCP plus XRT is a superior adjuvant combination compared with 8-in-1 chemotherapy plus XRT. For patients with M0 tumors, residual tumor bulk (not extent of resection) is a predictor for PFS. Patients with M0 tumors, > or = 3 years with < or = 1.5 cm2 residual tumor, had a 78%+/-6% 5-year PFS rate. Children younger than 3 years old who received a reduced XRT dosage had the lowest survival rate.
Rickets in Breast-Fed and Artificially Fed Infants

Rickets is by definition a disorder of growing bones. The disease is characterized by disturbances in calcium and/or phosphorus homeostasis. As a consequence, abnormalities in endochondrial bone formation arise, together with a defect in and/or delay of mineralization of preformed osteoid. It is generally accepted that rickets refers to the characteristic radiological and histological features that develop in the epiphyseal and metaphyseal regions of growing long bones. Osteomalacia, on the other hand, refers to the changes following the delay in mineralization of preformed osteoid and the associated abnormalities in bone remodeling. The latter occur at the trabecular bone surface and within cortical bone (1,2). Although rickets is often regarded as synonymous with vitamin D deficiency, the clinical, radiological, and biochemical syndrome of rickets has numerous different pathogenetic mechanisms and etiologies (Table 1). These may be divided broadly into two large groups, depending on whether the basic defect is a failure to maintain serum ionized calcium or phosphorus concentrations within the normal range for age (3). The present review will not discuss the more complex causes of rickets, but will concentrate on the problems of Vitamin D and substrate (calcium and/or phosphorus) deficiency as seen in breastand artificially fed infants. It will, moreover, highlight some of the controversies concerning prevention, diagnosis, and management.
Stabilizing blood pressure variability : a new therapeutic target in hypertension

MEDICOGRAPHIA, Vol 34, No. 1, 2012 25 B lood pressure variability (BPV), recognized for many years as being a risk for cardiovascular outcome, has recently become a focus of attention because of a number of studies showing that increased variability predicts cardiovascular outcome, especially stroke, and that different drug classes may affect variability, either beneficially, by reducing it, or detrimentally, by increasing it. The recent literature emphasizes the importance of reducing mean blood pressure levels, as is recommended in all the guidelines; however, physicians are now obliged to consider drugs, such as calcium channel blockers, that have been shown to reduce BPV. Prescribing drugs, such as the older -blockers, which increase BPV, should be carefully considered in the context of the overall cardiovascular status of the patient. The recent introduction of flexipills containing combinations of drugs, such as amlodipine/perindopril, that reduce both mean blood pressure levels and BPV provides the practicing physician with the option of achieving two desirable targets of treatment. The measurement of short-term BPV can be readily achieved with ambulatory blood pressure measurement, whereas the measurement of longterm visit-to-visit variability is not so easily achieved in routine practice. Medicographia. 2012;34:25-31 (see French abstract on page 31)
Rapid mesh network setup for indoor RF tracking

In this paper we present a practical system for indoor tracking that is low-cost, quick and simple to setup, and accurate. The system consists of three types of nodes, GPS referenced anchor nodes, static nodes placed at fixed locations within a building, and mobile tags that are attached to objects to be tracked. The network of anchor and static nodes must be setup to be globally rigid which allows a unique determination of the location of the static nodes using cooperative localization. The static and anchor nodes are then used as the reference for tracking the mobile tags. We describe a technique to identify static nodes that cannot be uniquely solved so that they can be augmented or removed, and then present a fast and distributed algorithm for determining the locations of the rigid static nodes. We also present an algorithm based on particle filters for tracking the tags that utilizes the knowledge of the range error distribution. Finally we present results obtained using our WASP (Wireless Ad-hoc System for Positioning) platform in an indoor office environment.
Efficient image warping and super-resolution

This paper introduces a new algorithm for enhancing image resolution from an image sequence. The approach we propose herein uses the integrating resampler proposed by M. Chiang and T. Boult (1996) as the underlying resampling algorithm. Moreover, it is a direct method, which is fundamentally different from the iterative, back-projection approaches proposed in previous work. We show that image warping techniques may have a strong impact on the quality of image resolution enhancement. By coupling the degradation model of the imaging system directly into the integrating resampler, we can better approximate the warping characteristics of real sensors, which also highly improve the quality of super-resolution images. Examples of super-resolutions are given for gray-scale images. Evaluations are made by comparing the resulting images and those using bi-linear resampling and back-projection. Results from our experiments show that integrating resampler outperforms traditional bi-linear resampling.
PREDICTING PERSONALITY TRAITS OF FACEBOOK USERS USING TEXT MINING 1

Currently, social media is used to express the users’ opinion, perception and so on. Status created by social media users describes the characteristics of their personality. This research was conducted to find out the traits of social media users on Facebook by mining the users’ Facebook posts. The texts were categorized and classified using SVM, Naïve Bayes and Logistic Regression in order to get the traits of each user. The data for this case study was taken from Indonesian users of Facebook. The result of this mining was compared to the results of the previous research. To handle the problem of imbalanced user data, synthetic minority over-sampling technique (SMOTE) was used. The results of this study indicated that the results generated using the proposed method successfully outperformed the results of the previous research with an average accuracy of 89.08%.