Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genetic aspects of multiple endocrine neoplasia types 1 and 2.

Multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) type 1 is an autosomal, dominantly inherited predisposition to develop neoplastic lesions of the parathyroid glands, the neuroendocrine pancreas-duodenum, and the anterior pituitary. The genetic defect was mapped to the centromeric part of the long arm of chromosome 11 based on studies of somatic deletions in MEN-1-associated tumors and linkage analysis in families in whom the disease is segregated. Combined family and tumor analysis has shown that tumorigenesis in MEN-1 involves loss of the wild-type chromosome, indicating that the putative MEN-1 gene is a tumor suppressor gene. Similar deletions are also seen in a proportion of sporadic parathyroid and pancreatic tumors, suggesting that tumorigenesis involves related mechanisms in both sporadic and familial cases. Based on results from linkage analysis in more than 40 MEN-1 families, predictive testing for MEN-1 using DNA polymorphisms can now be performed with high accuracy. Hence, biochemical screening programs can focus on individuals at risk to identify early signs of tumor development. MEN-2, an autosomal dominant cancer syndrome of variable expressivity, has previously been localized to chromosome 10q11.2 by positional cloning tactics. The RET protooncogene mapping to the MEN2 susceptibility locus has recently emerged as a candidate gene for MEN-2A. RET, a transmembrane receptor protein, has a large glycosylated extracellular domain containing clustered cysteine residues and calcium-binding motifs, a single hydrophobic transmembrane domain, and a cytoplasmic domain with tyrosine kinase catalytic activity. Several germline missense mutations in a codon specifying one of these highly conserved cysteine residues have been detected in patients affected with MEN-2A. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
An Efficient Somewhat HE scheme over Integers and Its Variation

In 2010, Dijk et al. demonstrated a simple somewhat homomorphic encryption (HE) scheme over the integers of which this simplicity came at the cost of a public key size in O(λ 10 ). Although in 2011 Coron et al. reduced the public key size to O(λ 7 ), it is still too large for practical applications, especially for the cloud computing. In this paper, we propose a new form of somewhat HE scheme to reduce further the public key size and a variation of the scheme to optimize the ciphertext size. First of all, we propose a new somewhat HE scheme which is built on the hardness of the approximate greatest common divisor (GCD) problem of two integers, where the public key size in the scheme is reduced to O(λ 3 ). Furthermore, we can reduce the length of the ciphertext of the new somewhat HE scheme by applying the modular reduction technique. Additionally, we give simulation results for evaluating ability of the proposed scheme.
Ankle brachial index measurement in primary care: are we doing it right?

BACKGROUND The reference standard for diagnosing peripheral arterial disease in primary care is the ankle brachial index (ABI). Various methods to measure ankle and brachial blood pressures and to calculate the index are described. AIM To compare the ABI measurements performed in primary care with those performed in the vascular laboratory. Furthermore, an inventory was made of methods used to determine the ABI in primary care. DESIGN OF STUDY Cross-sectional study. SETTING Primary care practice and outpatient clinic. METHOD Consecutive patients suspected of peripheral arterial disease based on ABI assessment in primary care practices were included. The ABI measurements were repeated in the vascular laboratory. Referring GPs were interviewed about method of measurement and calculation of the index. From each patient the leg with the lower ABI was used for analysis. RESULTS Ninety-nine patients of 45 primary care practices with a mean ABI of 0.80 (standard deviation [SD] = 0.27) were included. The mean ABI as measured in the vascular laboratory was 0.82 (SD = 0.26). A Bland-Altman plot demonstrated great variability between ABI measurements in primary care practice and the vascular laboratory. Both method of blood pressure measurements and method of calculating the ABI differed greatly between primary care practices. CONCLUSION This study demonstrates that the ABI is often not correctly determined in primary care practice. This phenomenon seems to be due to inaccurate methods for both blood pressure measurements and calculation of the index. A guideline for determining the ABI with a hand-held Doppler, and a training programme seem necessary.
Purification and Properties of a Maltotetraose- and Maltotriose-Producing Amylase from Chloroflexus aurantiacus

A maltotetraose- and maltotriose-producing amylase which is stable at alkaline pHs and high temperatures was detected in the culture filtrate of a strain of Chloroflexus aurantiacus J-10-F1, a thermophilic, green, photosynthetic bacterium. The enzyme was purified to homogeneity, as demonstrated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, by means of ultrafiltration, ammonium sulfate fractionation, and DEAE-cellulose, hydroxyapatite, and high-performance liquid chromatographies. The molecular mass of the purified enzyme was estimated to be about 210,000 Da. The isoelectric point of the enzyme was estimated to be 6.24 by polyacrylamide gel electrofocusing. The amylase was stable up to 55°C and at alkaline pHs of up to 12.0. The optimum pH and temperature of the enzyme activity were 7.5 and 71°C, respectively. Metal ions such as Hg2+, Zn2+, Cu2+, Mn2+, and Ni2+ strongly inhibited the enzyme activity. The enzyme activity was reactivated specifically by Ca2+ after the enzyme was treated with 1 mM EDTA. This enzyme could digest various kinds of raw-starch granules from corn, cassava, and potato. Both maltotetraose and maltotriose were formed as the main enzymatic products from soluble starch.
Models for selecting the marketing promotional modes of new energy vehicles financial leasing with fuzzy number intuitionistic fuzzy information

In this paper, we study on the multiple attribute decision making problems for selecting the marketing promotional modes of new energy vehicles financial leasing with the fuzzy number intuitionistic fuzzy information. We first introduce some operations on the fuzzy number intuitionistic fuzzy sets. To determine the attribute weights, a model based on the information entropy, by which the attribute weights can be determined, is established. We utilize the fuzzy number intuitionistic fuzzy Hamacher weighted geometric (FNIFHWG) operator to aggregate the fuzzy number intuitionistic fuzzy information corresponding to each alternative, and then rank the alternatives and select the most desirable one(s) according to the score function and accuracy function. Finally, to show the effectiveness of the proposed method, we give an example to select the marketing promotional modes of new energy vehicles financial leasing with the fuzzy number intuitionistic fuzzy information.
Controlling the parasitic parameters to improve EMI filter performance

This paper firstly reviewed the parasitic parameters in EMI filters and then introduced many methods to reduce and control these parasitic parameters. Three important methods of controlling parasitic couplings are analyzed in detail. Experiments show the filter performance is significantly improved using these three methods. A novel method is then proposed to reduce the parasitic parameters of capacitors. The experiment shows the proposed method can effectively reduce the ESL and ESR of capacitors and thus improve the EMI filter performance significantly.
Mechanisms of immune system activation in mammalians by small interfering RNA (siRNA)

Abstract RNA interference (RNAi) guided by small interfering RNAs (siRNA), because of its potential to target and silence the expression of specific genes is utilized as an effective tool in a variety of biological applications. RNAi guided by siRNAs is a powerful tool to attain gene silencing in mammalian cells. One of the features which make siRNA as an amazing biological tool is extremely specific knockdown of target genes by degradation of analogous mRNAs. However, various non-specific effects limit the use of RNAi including the activation of innate immunity and inhibition of inadvertent target genes. One of the most common non-specific effects is inducing the innate immune system including cytoplasmic and endosomal activation of innate immune system, potentially offending the single in mammals. This activation is mainly interceded by immune cells, regularly through a Toll-like receptor (TLR) pathway. The siRNA sequence association of these pathways changes with the sort and position of the TLR involved. In contrast, non-immune cell activation can also arise generally siRNAs which enter into cytoplasm interacting with cytoplasmic RNA sensors such as retinoic acid-inducible gene I. Here, we explain the off-target effects of siRNAs that activate innate immune system and methods to alleviate them, to help enable impressive application of this exciting technology, Also we bold the aspect of molecular strategies permitting the design of therapeutic siRNAs with minute off-target effects.
Fundamental limits on symbol rate in frequency selective continuous fading channels

We consider fundamental limits on the symbol rate in frequency selective continuous fading channels. We show the relationship between the upper and lower bounds on the symbol rate set by the delay spread and the Doppler frequency of the channel respectively. We assume training-based channel estimation without tracking, and coherent detection without equalization. An approximation is derived for simulating channels with small delay spread using symbol period spaced samples. Simulation results with a two-path channel model are presented, including bit error rate (BER) and maximum throughput as functions of normalized delay spread for fixed products of delay spread and Doppler frequency. We also discuss the general implications of these results.
Medical Tourism in the Caribbean

Although travel for medical reasons has a long history, it has more recently evolved from a cottage industry to a worldwide enterprise. A number of countries are positioning themselves to attract visitors who are willing to travel to obtain health services that are more accessible, less expensive, or more available than in their countries of origin. This has in turn given rise to medical packages that combine tourism with health. Several Caribbean nations—including Cuba, Barbados, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico—hope to expand their revenues in this new market. Each country has selected specific service niches and promotes its services accordingly. While Cuba has been promoting its services to other countries for several decades, medical tourism is just beginning in the other islands. Ultimately, these nations’ economic success will hinge on their comparative advantage vis‐à‐vis other options, while their success in terms of improving their own health care depends on the extent to which the services for tourists are also available to the islands’ populations.
Data aggregation and routing scheme for smart city public utility services using WSN

With the recent initiatives to upgrade the existing public utility services to automated smart public utility services in smart city. There has been a significant research scope in the design and development of an efficient smart city communication infrastructure. This involves connecting different components of the smart city utilities like Electricity, Water and Gas smart meters using wireless sensor network. Based on the smart utility data requirements, new challenges have arisen at the protocol stack with respect to data aggregation and routing in smart utility network using wireless sensors. Data aggregation and routing in this scenario appears to be key element in reducing the amount of traffic in the smart utility grid network to reduce power and extend lifetime of network. In this paper protocol for efficient data aggregation and routing scheme using efficient packet format, protocol and statistical models has been proposed for improving public utility usage efficiency and increasing the lifetime of integrated smart utility grid using wireless sensor network.
Attenuation of Cardiac Dysfunction in Polymicrobial Sepsis by MicroRNA-146a Is Mediated via Targeting of IRAK1 and TRAF6 Expression

Cardiac dysfunction is a major consequence of sepsis/septic shock and contributes to the high mortality of sepsis. Innate and inflammatory responses mediated by TLRs play a critical role in sepsis-induced cardiac dysfunction. MicroRNA-146 (miR-146) was first identified as a negative regulator in innate immune and inflammatory responses induced by LPS. This study examined whether miR-146a will have a protective effect on sepsis-induced cardiac dysfunction. Lentivirus-expressing miR-146a (LmiR-146a) or lentivirus-expressing scrambled miR (LmiR-control) was delivered into the myocardium via the right carotid artery. Seven days after transfection, mice were subjected to cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). Untransfected mice were also subjected to CLP-induced sepsis. Cardiac function was examined by echocardiography before and 6 h after CLP. In vitro studies showed that increased miR-146a levels suppress LPS-induced IκBα phosphorylation and inflammatory cytokine production in both H9C2 cardiomyocytes and J774 macrophages. In vivo transfection of LmiR-146a attenuated sepsis-induced cardiac dysfunction. The values for percent ejection fraction and percent fractional shortening in LmiR-146a–transfected CLP mice were significantly greater than in untransfected CLP control. LmiR-146a transfection prevented sepsis-induced NF-κB activity, suppressed IRAK and TRAF6 expression in the myocardium, and attenuated sepsis-induced inflammatory cytokine production in both plasma and peritoneal fluid. In addition, LmiR-146a transfection decreased sepsis-induced infiltration of neutrophils and macrophages into the myocardium. LmiR-146a can also transfect macrophages in the periphery. We conclude that miR-146a attenuates sepsis-induced cardiac dysfunction by preventing NF-κB activation, inflammatory cell infiltration, and inflammatory cytokine production via targeting of IRAK and TRAF6 in both cardiomyocytes and inflammatory monocytic cells.
Crystal structure of non-centrosymmetric bis(4-methoxybenzylammonium) tetrachloridozincate

The crystal structure of the new non-centrosymmetric organic–inorganic hybrid salt (C8H12NO)2[ZnCl4], consists of 4-methoxybenzylammonium cations sandwiched between tetrachloridozincate anionic layers running parallel to the ac plane.
Phase III randomized study of bendamustine compared with chlorambucil in previously untreated patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

PURPOSE This randomized, open-label, parallel-group, multicenter study was designed to compare the efficacy and safety of bendamustine and chlorambucil in previously untreated patients with advanced (Binet stage B or C) chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients (<or= 75 years of age) were randomly assigned to receive bendamustine 100 mg/m(2)/d intravenously on days 1 to 2, or chlorambucil 0.8 mg/kg (Broca's normal weight) orally on days 1 and 15; treatment cycles were repeated every 4 weeks for a maximum of six cycles. The response to treatment was assessed according to National Cancer Institute Working Group criteria, and the final determination of response was made by a blinded independent review committee. RESULTS A total of 319 patients were randomly assigned (162 bendamustine, 157 chlorambucil). Complete or partial responses were achieved in 110 (68%) of 162 bendamustine-treated and 48 (31%) of 157 chlorambucil-treated patients (P < .0001). More patients showed complete responses with bendamustine than with chlorambucil (31% v 2%). Median progression-free survival was 21.6 months with bendamustine and 8.3 months with chlorambucil (P < .0001). Bendamustine was also associated with an improvement in duration of remission, compared with chlorambucil (median, 21.8 v 8.0 months). Hematologic National Cancer Institute Common Toxicity Criteria grade 3 to 4 adverse events were more common with bendamustine than with chlorambucil (occurring in 40% v 19% of patients). Severe infections (grade 3 to 4) occurred in 8% of bendamustine-treated patients and 3% of chlorambucil-treated patients. CONCLUSION Bendamustine offers significantly greater efficacy than chlorambucil, and a manageable toxicity profile, when used as first-line therapy in patients with advanced CLL.
Clinical virology of Lassa fever in hospitalized patients.

We measured levels of virus in sequential specimens from 137 patients with Lassa fever. The probability of fatal disease increased significantly with the level of viremia measured either on admission or during the course of illness. The odds ratio of death in patients with viremia greater than 10 TCID50/ml was 3.7 (90% confidence interval, 1.9-7.2). The same ratio in patients with viremia greater than 10 TCID50/ml and with levels of aspartate aminotransferase greater than or equal to 150 IU/liter was 21.5 (95% confidence interval, 5.2-99.0). Virus was found in throat cultures from 39% of viremic patients, compared with 14% of nonviremic patients (P less than .002); however, the level of virus was usually less than or equal to TCID50/ml. Fewer than 3% of patients were viruric during acute illness, and virus was isolated from three of three samples of cerebrospinal fluid. On admission, 53% of patients had IgG antibodies, and 67% had IgM antibodies. Recovery was not associated with the presence of either IgG or IgM. Virus was isolated from greater than 100 serum specimens that also contained high titers of IgG. Clinical Lassa fever was shown to be a disseminated systemic, primary viral infection, with an outcome highly associated with viremia but not with development of antibody.
Scanning laser ultrasonics experiments for in situ nondestructive analysis of integrated circuits

Scanning experiments on a very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuit are presented using the picosecond ultrasonics technique. This optical nondestructive technique is based on ultrasound generation and detection by ultrashort laser pulses. The experimental setup and methodology are described. The influence of the protection layer for passivated circuits on the experimental results is described and illustrated by experimental data. In order to help in the interpretation of the experimental analysis of microelectronic devices, a simulation tool was developed.
Formal verification of combinational circuits

With the increase in the complexity of present day systems, proving the correctness of a design has become a major concern. Simulation based methodologies are generally inadequate to validate the correctness of a design with a reasonable confidence. More and more designers are moving towards formal methods to guarantee the correctness of their designs. In this paper we survey some state-of-the-art techniques used to perform automatic verification of combinational circuits. We classify the current approaches for combinational verification into two categories functional and structural. The functional methods consist of representing a circuit as a canonical decision diagram. Two circuits are equivalent if and only if their decision diagrams are equal. The structural methods consist of identifying related nodes in the circuit and using them to simplify the problem of verification. We briefly describe some of the methods in both the categories and discuss their merits and drawbacks.
eSYSID: A proposal for a flexible electronic SYStem IDentification test bench

The experimental verification of identification techniques is the ultimate step in showing its qualities and weaknesses. For research purposes, the main problem is the reproduction of measurements done by other groups to validate a new method or excitation. For teaching purposes, on the other hand, it is extremely important that the students can put the system and/or method under study into different configurations. Having a realistic, reproducible and flexible test bench is, however, not an easy mission. This motivates the development of an electronic SYStem IDentification test bench (eSYSID). This paper provides a first architectural study of a digitally-programmable analog test bench. The analog system basically describes the nonlinear state-space equations using nonlinear functions and integrators. The initial architectural structure is described to give the potential users the ability to evaluate the possible use of the test bench. Hence, this paper can be seen as a study of the eSYSID under development, with the intention to gather realistic use-cases from various research groups in the field of instrumentation, measurement and identification.
Design, Synthesis, Molecular Docking Analysis, and Carbonic Anhydrase IX Inhibitory Evaluations of Novel N-Substituted-β-d-Glucosamine Derivatives that Incorporate Benzenesulfonamides

A series of novel N-substituted-β-d-glucosamine derivatives that incorporate benzenesulfonamides were designed using a fragment-based drug design strategy. Each derivative was synthesized and evaluated in vitro for its inhibitory activity against human carbonic anhydrase (hCA) IX; several derivatives displayed desirable potency profiles against this enzyme. The molecular docking studies provided the design rationale and predicted potential binding modes for carbonic anhydrase (CA) IX and three target compounds, including the most potent inhibitor, compound 7f (IC50 = 10.01 nM). Moreover, the calculated Log P (cLog P) values showed that all the compounds tended to be hydrophilic. In addition, topological polar surface area (TPSA) value-based predictions highlighted the selectivity of these carbohydrate-based inhibitors for membrane-associated CA IX.
Four-phase orthogonal code design for MIMO radar systems

MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) Radars have received considerable attention over the last decade due to their enhanced performance potential. Unlike phased array radar, MIMO radar transmits orthogonal waveforms via its transmitting antennas to improve separability of individual returns at the receiver elements. In this paper, an alternate method for generating four-phase sequences with good autocorrelation and cross correlation properties is proposed. The advantages of the proposed scheme include constant envelope, finite alphabet, large family and efficient structure for generation.