Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Integrated circuit amplifiers for multi-electrode intracortical recording

Significant progress has been made in systems that interpret the electrical signals of the brain in order to control an actuator. One version of these systems senses neuronal extracellular action potentials with an array of up to 100 miniature probes inserted into the cortex. The impedance of each probe is high, so environmental electrical noise is readily coupled to the neuronal signal. To minimize this noise, an amplifier is placed close to each probe. Thus, the need has arisen for many amplifiers to be placed near the cortex. Commercially available integrated circuits do not satisfy the area, power and noise requirements of this application, so researchers have designed custom integrated-circuit amplifiers. This paper presents a comprehensive survey of the neural amplifiers described in publications prior to 2008. Methods to achieve high input impedance, low noise and a large time-constant high-pass filter are reviewed. A tutorial on the biological, electrochemical, mechanical and electromagnetic phenomena that influence amplifier design is provided. Areas for additional research, including sub-nanoampere electrolysis and chronic cortical heating, are discussed. Unresolved design concerns, including teraohm circuitry, electrical overstress and component failure, are identified.
Plasma Membrane CFTR Regulates RANTES Expression via Its C-Terminal PDZ-Interacting Motif

ABSTRACT Despite the identification of 1,000 mutations in the cystic fibrosis gene product CFTR, there remains discordance between CFTR genotype and lung disease phenotype. The study of CFTR, therefore, has expanded beyond its chloride channel activity into other possible functions, such as its role as a regulator of gene expression. Findings indicate that CFTR plays a role in the expression of RANTES in airway epithelia. RANTES is a chemokine that has been implicated in the regulation of mucosal immunity and the pathogenesis of airway inflammatory diseases. Results demonstrate that CFTR triggers RANTES expression via a mechanism that is independent of CFTR's chloride channel activity. Neither pharmacological inhibition of CFTR nor activation of alternative chloride channels, including hClC-2, modulated RANTES expression. Through the use of CFTR disease-associated and truncation mutants, experiments suggest that CFTR-mediated transcription factor activation and RANTES expression require (i) insertion of CFTR into the plasma membrane and (ii) an intact CFTR C-terminal PDZ-interacting domain. Expression of constructs encoding wild-type or dominant-negative forms of the PDZ-binding protein EBP50 suggests that EBP50 may be involved in CFTR-dependent RANTES expression. Together, these data suggest that CFTR modulates gene expression in airway epithelial cells while located in a macromolecular signaling complex at the plasma membrane.
Reduced naive and increased activated CD4 and CD8 cells in healthy adult Ethiopians compared with their Dutch counterparts

To assess possible differences in immune status, proportions and absolute numbers of subsets of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were compared between HIV− healthy Ethiopians (n = 52) and HIV− Dutch (n = 60). Both proportions and absolute numbers of naive CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were found to be significantly reduced in HIV− Ethiopians compared with HIV−Dutch subjects. Also, both proportions and absolute numbers of the effector CD8+ T cell population as well as the CD4+ CD45RA− CD27− and CD8+ CD45RA− CD27− T cell populations were increased in Ethiopians. Finally, both proportions and absolute numbers of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells expressing CD28 were significantly reduced in Ethiopians versus Dutch. In addition, the possible association between the described subsets and HIV status was studied by comparing the above 52 HIV− individuals with 32 HIV+ Ethiopians with CD4 counts > 200/μl and/or no AIDS‐defining conditions and 39 HIV+ Ethiopians with CD4 counts < 200/μl or with AIDS‐defining conditions. There was a gradual increase of activated CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, a decrease of CD8+ T cells expressing CD28 and a decrease of effector CD8+ T cells when moving from HIV− to AIDS. Furthermore, a decrease of naive CD8+ T cells and an increase of memory CD8+ T cells in AIDS patients were observed. These results suggest a generally and persistently activated immune system in HIV−Ethiopians. The potential consequences of this are discussed, in relation to HIV infection.
High School and Community College Dual Enrollment: Issues of Rigor and Transferability.

In December 1993, the University of Florida issued a report that found that the vast majority of students who had taken chemistry courses in dual enrollment programs at a community college and who did not meet standard admissions requirements were required to retake their courses at the University. In response to the report, the state's Community College Board undertook a study to determine the effectiveness of the dual enrollment program. Findings were examined from studies completed by Pensacola Junior College (PJC) and Tallahassee Community College (TCC) of former dual enrollment students from 1991 and 1992 who did meet standard admissions requirements and who took English and history dual enrollment courses. In addition, systemwide data were collected on former dual enrollment students' performance at their university, as well as the frequency with which courses were repeated. The study found that former dual enrollment students from PJC had the same average grade point average (GPA) at the University of West Florida as all transfers to that university, while former TCC dual enrollment students at the UF had a slightly higher GPA than TCC transfers to the UF in general. Systemwide, of 51,382 dual enrollments for 1991-92, only 140 classes had to be retaken by students between 1992 and 1995, indicating that the program is providing a viable acceleration mechanism for students. Data tables are included. (BCY) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** HIGH SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY COLLEGE DUAL ENROLLMENT: ISSUES OF RIGOR AND TRANSFERABILITY Patricia Windham, Ph.D. Director of Educational Effectiveness and Research State Board of Community Colleges 325 West Gaines Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0400 (904) 488-0555 ext 172 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) is document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy.
Simulations of lightning impulse residual voltage test of surge arresters in matlab-simulink

Assessment of the dynamic characteristics of surge arrester is an important aspect of insulation coordination. Computer simulation of residual impulse voltage test of surge arrester models have been done using Alternative Transients Program (ATP) and Power systems computer aided design (PSCAD) design softwares. In this paper, the models have been developed in MATLAB Simulink. The accuracy of the models are ascertained by comparing the results with the manufacturer's design data.
The effect of platelet factor 4 (PF4) on assays of plasma heparin

Summary. Platelet factor 4 (PF4) is a potent antiheparin in vitro. In view of the large amount of PF4 secreted from platelet α‐granules during routine blood collection and processing techniques, the potential significance of this release was investigated using three measurements of heparin activity: the activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), the thrombin time, and factor Xa inactivation using the chromogenic substrate S2222 for assay of factor Xa. The results demonstrate that purified PF4 neutralizes heparin activity when added in increasing amounts to normal platelet‐poor plasma containing a fixed concentration of commercial porcine gut mucosal heparin. This effect was seen when assaying heparin activity by all three methods. In addition, when heparin was added in increasing concentrations to pooled plasma samples that were collected from normal volunteers, there was neutralization of heparin activity in blood samples collected by routine citrate anticoagulation (CIT60) in comparison to blood samples collected simultaneously with platelet secretion inhibiting agents added to the anticoagulant (CIT+). This effect was seen when assaying heparin by the aPTT and thrombin time. These data confirm that both purified and secreted PF4 have significant antiheparin activity when heparin is added in vitro to normal plasma.
Object-Oriented Software: Design and Maintenance

Part 1 Object-oriented concepts: characterisation of an object-oriented model philosophy of object-oriented design. Part 2 Classification of object-oriented methodologies: classification of methodologies survey of existing methodologies. Part 3 A methodology for object-oriented design: the context of mood the steps for object-oriented design the suitability of MOOD a CASE environment for MOOD. Part 4 Reusability and software life cycle issues: reusability during object-oriented design an object-oriented software life cycle model general issues related to MOOD. Part 5 Software maintenance concepts: documentation for software maintenance software configuration management. Part 6 Software maintenance models: characeristics of software maintenance modelling. Part 7 Maintenance of software systems: the SCM discipline applied to COMFORM the version control in COMFORM. Part 8 Conclusions: the OO paradigm for software maintenance final remarks on the object-oriented approach final remarks on MOOD and COMFORM.
Emergent ECLS for life-threatening severe cardiac dysfunction as presentation of H1N1-flu.

The H1N1-flu affected primary young and female patients without major comorbidities (1-3). Although most of the confirmed cases have been self-limited and uncomplicated febrile respiratory illness, there have been severe infection with complications or mortality as well. In some cases, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was commenced for the treatment of refractory hypoxemia, hypercapnia, or both, which occurred despite mechanical ventilation and rescue conventional therapies (4). Here, we report the first case of atypical clinical presentation of H1N1-infection that was successfully treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in Florence. The study protocol was approved by the Ethic committee of the institution. The patient parents read and signed the disclosure information form. Case Report
A Game Theoretic Model for the Optimal Location of Integrated Air Defense System Missile Batteries

We examine the optimal location of Integrated Air Defense System (IADS) missile batteries to protect a country’s assets, formulated as a Defender-Attacker-Defender three-stage sequential, perfect information, zero-sum game between two opponents. We formulate a trilevel nonlinear integer program for this Defender-Attacker-Defender model and seek a subgame perfect Nash equilibrium (i.e., a set of attacker and defender strategies from which neither player has an incentive to deviate). Such a trilevel formulation is not solvable via conventional optimization software, and an exhaustive enumeration of the game tree based on the discrete set of strategies is only tractable for small instances. We develop and test a customized heuristic over a set of small instances having deliberate parametric variations in a designed experiment, comparing its performance to an exhaustive enumeration algorithm. Testing results indicate the enumeration approach to be severely limited for realistically sized instances, so we demonstrate the heuristic on a larger instance from the literature for which it maintains computational efficiency.
Participatory IT Design: Designing for Business and Workplace Realities

This book concerns the process of designing IT systems for large, complex purposes. It is structured as a textbook-style introduction to the processes required for use in university teaching and for self-study purposes by people working in the field of IT system development. The content of the book is the fruit of a decade of research by the authors in their pursuit of a method to plan and design IT projects that will provide sustainable, useful solutions to the needs of the companies for which they are commissioned.
Electromagnetic wave scattering by a small impedance body of an arbitrary shape

It is proved that electromagnetic wave scattering problem for a small impedance body D of an arbitrary shape is uniquely solvable and the scattered field can be found in the form e = ∇× ∫<sub>s</sub> g(x, t)J(t)dt, where S is the smooth surface of the small body D, J is a tangential field on S, and g(x, t):= e<sup>ik|x-t|</sup>/4π|x-t|. The full field is E = E<sub>0</sub> + e, where E<sub>0</sub> is the incident field. The scattering amplitude is A(α, β, k) = -ζ|S|/4π √ϵ/μ [β, τ∇×E<sub>0</sub>(O)], where the origin O is assumed to be inside D, β := x/|x|,|x| →∞, τ := τ<sub>pq</sub> := δ<sub>pq</sub> - 1/|S| ∫<sub>s</sub> N<sub>p</sub>(t)N<sub>q</sub>(t)dt, α is the unit vector in the direction of the incident plane wave, ϵ and μ are dielectric and magnetic constants of the medium, and δ<sub>pq</sub> is the unit tensor.
Do Physicians Have Lower Risk of Severe Sepsis and Associated Mortality? A Matched Cohort Study*

Objectives:Physicians generally have higher disease awareness and easier access to medical care, which may help them reduce risk of developing severe sepsis and associated mortality when they suffer from acute infection. However, the opposite situation may occur due to the presence of potential barriers to healthcare in physicians. We aim to examine the risk of severe sepsis and associated mortality in physicians. Design:A matched cohort study. Setting:Registry of medical professionals and inpatient and outpatient claims data from Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database. Subjects:Physicians (n = 29,697) in Taiwan and a group of persons who were demographically and socioeconomically matched (1:1 ratio) and without any medical education and background. All subjects were followed from the index date (January 1, 2000) to the occurrence of endpoint, withdrawal, or December 31, 2008, whichever date came first. Interventions:None. Measurements and Main Results:Primary outcome was development of severe sepsis. Secondary outcome was 90-day mortality following severe sepsis. The overall incidence density of severe sepsis was lower in physicians than in controls (3.25 vs 3.90 per 1,000 person-years, p < 0.001). According to the Cox regression model, severe sepsis develops in physicians 24% less likely than controls after baseline covariates were adjusted (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.68–0.85). The 90-day mortality rates were similar between physicians and controls with severe sepsis (46.5% vs 45.7%, p = 0.72). However, after controlling for the baseline and additional covariates, the risk of death was significantly lower in physicians than in controls (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.71–0.95). Conclusions:These findings support the hypothesis that physicians are less likely than controls to develop or die of severe sepsis, implying that medical knowledge, higher disease awareness, and easier healthcare access in physicians may help reduce their risk of severe sepsis and associated mortality.
Intrathecal nalbuphine after cesarean delivery: are we ready?

T his issue of Anesthesia and Analgesia contains an article by Culebras et al. (1) reporting on the effects of intrathecal nalbuphine plus bupivacaine for cesarean delivery. While we applaud the study of novel drugs and techniques, the issue of the safety of this and other new intrathecally administered drugs, especially in the obstetric population, is of concern. Although the authors have included a disclaimer about the relative lack of safety data about intrathecal nalbuphine, one reviewer has suggested that any article that investigates an intrathecal drug before it has adequate safety data should be automatically rejected for publication. Ultimately, the decision was made to publish this article along with an accompanying editorial so that the relevant issues of neurotoxicity and ethical concerns could be brought into perspective. Although the publication of this paper might be considered by some as condoning safety lapses, we believe that this publication will provide an important forum for alerting the clinical community to several important issues. This editorial will stress two areas of concern with the Culebras et al. (1) article. First, do we know enough about the safety of intrathecal nalbuphine to study it in humans? Second, what information needs to be available before we study new spinal drugs in pregnant patients?
Classification of visual field abnormalities in the ocular hypertension treatment study.

OBJECTIVES (1) To develop a classification system for visual field (VF) abnormalities, (2) to determine interreader and test-retest agreement, and (3) to determine the frequency of various VF defects in the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study. METHODS Follow-up VFs are performed every 6 months and are monitored for abnormality, indicated by a glaucoma hemifield test result or a corrected pattern SD outside the normal limits. As of January 1, 2002, 1636 patients had 2509 abnormal VFs. Three readers independently classified each hemifield using a classification system developed at the VF reading center. A subset (50%) of the abnormal VFs was reread to evaluate test-retest reader agreement. A mean deviation was calculated separately for the hemifields as an index to the severity of VF loss. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES A 97% interreader hemifield agreement. RESULTS The average hemifield classification agreement (between any 2 of 3 readers) for 5018 hemifields was 97% and 88% for the 1266 abnormal VFs that were reread (agreement between the first and second classifications). Glaucomatous patterns of loss (partial arcuate, paracentral, and nasal step defects) composed the majority of VF defects. CONCLUSION The Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study classification system has high reproducibility and provides a possible nomenclature for characterizing VF defects.
Proteomics Links the Redox State to Calcium Signaling During Bleaching of the Scleractinian Coral Acropora microphthalma on Exposure to High Solar Irradiance and Thermal Stress

Shipboard experiments were each performed over a 2 day period to examine the proteomic response of the symbiotic coral Acropora microphthalma exposed to acute conditions of high temperature/low light or high light/low temperature stress. During these treatments, corals had noticeably bleached. The photosynthetic performance of residual algal endosymbionts was severely impaired but showed signs of recovery in both treatments by the end of the second day. Changes in the coral proteome were determined daily and, using recently available annotated genome sequences, the individual contributions of the coral host and algal endosymbionts could be extracted from these data. Quantitative changes in proteins relevant to redox state and calcium metabolism are presented. Notably, expression of common antioxidant proteins was not detected from the coral host but present in the algal endosymbiont proteome. Possible roles for elevated carbonic anhydrase in the coral host are considered: to restore intracellular pH diminished by loss of photosynthetic activity, to indirectly limit intracellular calcium influx linked with enhanced calmodulin expression to impede late-stage symbiont exocytosis, or to enhance inorganic carbon transport to improve the photosynthetic performance of algal symbionts that remain in hospite. Protein effectors of calcium-dependent exocytosis were present in both symbiotic partners. No caspase-family proteins associated with host cell apoptosis, with exception of the autophagy chaperone HSP70, were detected, suggesting that algal loss and photosynthetic dysfunction under these experimental conditions were not due to host-mediated phytosymbiont destruction. Instead, bleaching occurred by symbiont exocytosis and loss of light-harvesting pigments of algae that remain in hospite. These proteomic data are, therefore, consistent with our premise that coral endosymbionts can mediate their own retention or departure from the coral host, which may manifest as “symbiont shuffling” of Symbiodinium clades in response to environmental stress.
Saccharomyces cerevisiae LIF1: a function involved in DNA double‐strand break repair related to mammalian XRCC4

Saccharomyces cerevisiae DNA ligase IV (LIG4) has been shown previously to be involved in non‐homologous DNA end joining and meiosis. The homologous mammalian DNA ligase IV interacts with XRCC4, a protein implicated in V(D)J recombination and double‐strand break repair. Here, we report the discovery of LIF1, a S.cerevisiae protein that strongly interacts with the C‐terminal BRCT domain of yeast LIG4. LIG4 and LIF1 apparently occur as a heterodimer in vivo. LIF1 shares limited sequence homology with mammalian XRCC4. Disruption of the LIF1 gene abolishes the capacity of cells to recircularize transformed linearized plasmids correctly by non‐homologous DNA end joining. Loss of LIF1 is also associated with conditional hypersensitivity of cells to ionizing irradiation and with reduced sporulation efficiency. Thus, with respect to their phenotype, lif1 strains are similar to the previously described lig4 mutants. One function of LIF1 is the stabilization of the LIG4 enzyme. The finding of a XRCC4 homologue in S.cerevisiae now allows for mutational analyses of structure–function relationships in XRCC4‐like proteins to define their role in DNA double‐strand break repair.
GaN Based HEMTs for High Voltage Operation. Design, Technology and Characterization

Cuvillier Verlag Jun 2012, 2012. Taschenbuch. Book Condition: Neu. 208x147x14 mm. Neuware Gallium nitride (GaN)-based High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTs) for high voltage, high power switching and regulating for space applications are studied in this work. Efficient power switching is associated with operation in high OFF-state blocking voltage while keeping the ON-state resistance, the dynamic dispersion and leakage currents as low as possible. The potential of such devices to operate at high voltages is limited by a chain of factors such as subthreshold leakages and the device geometry. Blocking voltage enhancement is a complicated problem that requires parallel methods for solution; epitaxial layers design, device structural and geometry design, and suitable semiconductor manufacturing technique. In this work physical-based device simulation as an engineering tool was developed. An overview on GaN-based HEMTs physical based device simulation using Silvaco-ôATLASö is given. The simulation is utilized to analyze, give insight to the modes of operation of the device and for design and evaluation of innovative concepts. Physical-based models that describe the properties of the semiconductor material are introduced. A detailed description of the specific AlGaN/GaN HEMT structure definition and geometries are given along with the complex fine meshing requirements. Nitride-semiconductor specific material.