Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Frequency of BRCA mutations in primary peritoneal carcinoma in Israeli Jewish women.

OBJECTIVE The aim of the present study was to compare demographic and clinical characteristics of primary peritoneal carcinoma (PPC) to ovarian carcinoma (OvC) with regard to BRCA mutation frequencies. METHODS Incident cases of histologically confirmed cancer of the ovary or peritoneum diagnosed in Israeli Jewish women between March 1, 1994, and June 30, 1999, were identified within the framework of an ongoing nationwide epidemiological study of these neoplasms in Israel. The present study comprises 609 (81.5% of 747) Jewish women with epithelial stage III-IV OvC and 68 (77.3% of 88) Jewish women with PPC who were genetically tested for the BRCA mutations. Data from each patient were collected by the aid of a prestructured questionnaire and medical records. Blood samples or tumor tissue was tested for the 185delAG and 5382insC mutations in BRCA1 and the 6174delT mutations in BRCA2. RESULTS A carrier rate of 28% of any BRCA 1/2 mutation was observed among the PPC group and of 30% among the invasive stage III-IV OvC. No differences were found between PPC and OvC neither in the overall distribution of BRCA1/2 mutation carrier rates nor according to type of mutation, age, ethnic origin, and histologic subtype. Among women with a positive family history, a higher rate of mutation carriers was observed in the PPC group compared to the OvC group (72.7 vs 43.8%, respectively, P = 0.07). CONCLUSIONS The similar frequency distribution of BRCA1/2 mutations in PPC and OvC observed in the present study indicates that these mutations may predispose to PPC as well and that this neoplasm is part of the hereditary breast-ovarian cancer syndrome.
Generalized predictive control for microbial desalination cells

As a new energy technology, microbial desalination cell (MDC) can not only purify the wastewater, but also can produce electricity. It has attracted the attention of researchers in the field of control in recent years. In this paper, the generalized predictive control (GPC) algorithm for MDC is proposed to control the output current. A linear regression model of MDC is identified based on the recursive least square method, and the generalized predictive controller is designed for the identification model. Finally, the controller described above is applied to the actual device to verify the validity of the GPC controller. The simulation and application results show that GPC can make the system quickly reach the set value, and optimize the MDC dynamic performance.
Using deep learning to recognize biomedical entities

With the rapid growth of the high-throughput biological technology, it brings biomedical big omics' data containing literature and annotated data. Especially, a wealth of relevant information exists in various types of biomedical literature. Text mining has emerged as a potential solution to achieve knowledge for bridging between the free text and structured representation of biomedical information. In this work, we used deep learning to recognize biomedical entities. We obtained 84.0% precision, 69.5% recall, and 76.1% F-score aiming at the GENIA corpus, and obtained 91.3% precision, 91.1% recall, and 91.2% F-score aiming at the BioCreAtIvE II Gene Mention corpus. Experimental results show that our proposed approach is promising for developing biomedical text mining technology in biomedical entity recognition.
Effect of long-term intake of milk products on blood pressure in hypertensive rats

The effect of long-term intake of two fermented milk products on the development of hypertension was compared in young spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). The products contained tripeptides isoleucine-proline-proline (IPP) and valine-proline-proline (VPP), which have been shown to possess angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity. Six-week-old SHR were divided into four groups to receive orally ad libitum water, skim milk or two fermented milk products (fermented milk A or fermented milk B; the latter is commercially available in Japan with trade name Calpis®) for 14 weeks. The calculated intake of IPP was 0·4 mg/d and 0·2 mg/d in the groups receiving fermented milk A and B, respectively, whereas the corresponding amounts for VPP were 0·6 mg/d and 0·3 mg/d. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) was monitored weekly by tail-cuff method. The development of hypertension was significantly attenuated in both groups receiving fermented milk products, whereas skim milk did not affect blood pressure. The effect was detectable after 6 weeks of treatment. At the end of the experiment, the lowest blood pressure level was found in the group receiving fermented milk A: the SBP was 21 mm Hg lower than in the group receiving water and 10 mm Hg lower than in the group receiving fermented milk B. This difference could be explained by larger intake of ACE inhibitory tripeptides in the group receiving fermented milk A as compared with fermented milk B.
Reliability challenges in design of memristive memories

The demand for highly scalable and low power memory has led to research in emerging technologies and devices. Among these devices, memristors has attracted increased attention as being a promising storage device. However, due to its nano-scale size it faces various types of reliability issues. In this study, we have reviewed the memristive mechanisms and reliability concerns existing in memristor memory design. Then, we have simulated the ionic drift memristor model in presence of the process variability. Next, by considering a normal distribution for the resistive distribution of memristors in LRS and HRS state we have shown the instabilities and probability of failure in read and write procedure of memristive memories, and highlighted the requisite and motivation for the reliability aware memristive circuit design.
Influence of degraded visual acuity from light-scattering goggles on obstacle gait

This study examined the effect on gait of de-grading visual input by simulation on a course with obstacles. Thirty healthy, young adult males walked on a 6 m path with three obstacles (height: 5, 10, 20 cm, width: 10 cm) set at inter-vals of 150 cm with and without degraded visual input from light-scattering goggles. Gait was examined with respect to time, length, angle and walk speed parameters. Gait changed signifi-cantly in the degraded visual input condition. The distances between the obstacles and foot before the obstacles were significantly larger in 10 and 20 cm obstacles under the degraded visual input condition, but distances after passing the obstacle had no significant difference among obstacle height. We therefore conclude that a decrease of visual function alters the perception of an obstacle’s height, particularly the 5 cm height obstacle.
Requirement of Math1 for Secretory Cell Lineage Commitment in the Mouse Intestine

The mouse small intestinal epithelium consists of four principal cell types deriving from one multipotent stem cell: enterocytes, goblet, enteroendocrine, and Paneth cells. Previous studies showed that Math1, a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor, is expressed in the gut. We find that loss ofMath1 leads to depletion of goblet, enteroendocrine, and Paneth cells without affecting enterocytes. Colocalization ofMath1 with Ki-67 in some proliferating cells suggests that secretory cells (goblet, enteroendocrine, and Paneth cells) arise from a common progenitor that expresses Math1, whereas absorptive cells (enterocytes) arise from a progenitor that isMath1-independent. The continuous rapid renewal of these cells makes the intestinal epithelium a model system for the study of stem cell regeneration and lineage commitment.
Paraspinal muscle denervation and balance impairment in lumbar spinal stenosis

Introduction: Denervation of the paraspinal muscles may impair posture and displace the center of gravity. Therefore, we assessed balance impairment in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) with and without paraspinal denervation. Methods: Thirty‐two women with LSS (15 symptomatic, 17 asymptomatic), aged 42–78 years, were assessed for disability, pain, and mobility, and underwent masked mini‐paraspinal mapping (mPSM). Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and device‐assisted balance (DAB) tests were used for balance assessment. Results: The symptomatic group had worse balance and higher mPSM scores than the asymptomatic group. Among DAB tests, limit of stability (LOS) had the highest correlations with BBS and mPSM in the symptomatic group. Conclusions: Paraspinal denervation correlated highly with static and dynamic balance in symptomatic patients. We recommend paraspinal mapping, balance assessment, rehabilitation, and follow‐up with the LOS test for symptomatic patients. Muscle Nerve 53: 422–430, 2016
Noise Modeling For Charge Amplification and Sampling

A new cyclostationarity-based analytical model for noise analysis of a charge amplifier followed by a correlated double sampling (CDS) circuit is proposed. It determines output noise (power spectral density and squared voltage) resulting from input noise voltages and currents. Model validation is performed by comparing the obtained results with those of temporal noise simulations. This model allows analysis of consequences of CDS and integration duration on noise contributions. It predicts that CDS does not suppress or attenuate effect of input current sources. In the case of 1/f input noise current, the SNR can not be improved by increasing the integration duration.
Clinical findings in mosaic carriers of hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia.

BACKGROUND Hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (HED) is a severe developmental disorder in which nonallelic genetic heterogeneity has been demonstrated. Even though X-linked and autosomal recessive forms are phenotypically similar, identification of the way of transmission is mandatory to give reliable genetic counseling to the family and to address molecular studies. Complete examination of relatives of patients with HED and identification of carriers of partial forms of the disorder in their families is the key to clarifying intrafamilial genetic transmission. OBSERVATIONS Seven patients diagnosed as having HED and their first-degree relatives were carefully examined and tested with starch-iodine. Useful signs for identifying possible carriers of and postzygotic mosaics for X-linked HED and for finding distinctive features between the X-linked and the autosomal recessive forms of the disorder were recorded. Of these, the most striking finding was the clinical evidence of the distribution of normal and abnormal skin along Blaschko lines in heterozygous and postzygotic mutation carriers of X-linked HED. Six heterozygous female carriers of X-linked HED, 2 males with postzygotic mutations for X-linked HED, and 1 female with autosomal recessive HED were clinically identified. At the end, 6 families had a diagnosis of X-linked HED, while 1 had a diagnosis ofautosomal recessive HED. Clinical data, family history, and starch-iodine test results were never in conflict in the 7 families. CONCLUSIONS Careful clinical examination is the best way to detect heterozygous carriers and postzygotic mutation of X-linked HED. Heterozygous parents of patients with autosomal recessive HED show no features of the disorder. The starch-iodine test is not superior to a clinical examination in heterozygous carrier detection but may play a confirmative role and be of help in differentiating X-linked and autosomal recessive HED in isolated patients.
Thermolysin in human cultured keratinocyte isolation.

BACKGROUND When treating extensively burned patients using cultured epidermal sheets, the main problem is the time required for its production. Conventional keratinocyte isolation is usually done using Trypsin. We used a modification of the conventional isolation method in order to improve this process and increase the number of colonies from the isolated epidermal cell population. PURPOSE To compare the action of trypsin and thermolysin in the keratinocyte isolation using newborn foreskin. METHODS This method used thermolysin as it selectively digests the dermo-epidermal junction. After dermis separation, the epidermis was digested by trypsin in order to obtain a cell suspension. RESULTS Compared to the conventional procedure, these experiments demonstrated that in the thermolysin group, the epidermis was easily detached from the dermis, there was no fibroblast contamination and there were a larger number of keratinocyte colonies which had a significant statistical difference. CONCLUSION The number of colonies in the thermolysin group was significantly greater than in the trypsin group.
Rough querying

This paper discusses the development and implementation of a rough relational database system by students in a junior level information systems course. Team work skills as well as software engineering life cycle models are emphasized throughout the course. Students learn vital software engineering skills while developing a real world system that incorporates rough set uncertainty management in the querying of data.
A new hierarchical clustering technique for restructuring software at the function level

Ill-structured code is difficult to understand and thereby is costly to maintain and reuse. Software restructuring techniques based on hierarchical agglomerative clustering (HAC) algorithms have been widely used to restructure large modules with low cohesion into smaller modules with high cohesion, without changing the overall behaviour of the software. These techniques generate clustering trees, of modules, that are sliced at different cut-points to obtain desired restructurings. Choosing appropriate cut-points has always been a difficult problem in clustering. Previous HAC techniques generate clustering trees that have large number of cut-points. Moreover, many of those cut-points return clusters of which only a few lead to a meaningful restructuring of the software. In this paper, we give a new hierarchical clustering technique, the (k, w)-Core Clustering ((k, w)-CC) technique, for restructuring software at the function level that generates clustering trees with lower number of cut-points, which yield a lower number of redundant clusters. (k, w)-CC gives good restructurings. To establish this, we provide an experimental comparison of (k, w)-CC with four previous HAC techniques: single linkage algorithm (SLINK), complete linkage algorithm (CLINK), weighted pair group method of arithmetic averages (WPGMA), and adaptive k-nearest neighbour algorithm (A-KNN). In the experiments, the techniques were implemented on Java functions extracted from real-life industrial programs.
Pathogenesis of age-related bone loss in humans.

BACKGROUND Although data from rodent systems are extremely useful in providing insights into possible mechanisms of age-related bone loss, concepts evolving from animal models need to ultimately be tested in humans. METHODS This review provides an update on mechanisms of age-related bone loss in humans based on the author's knowledge of the field and focused literature reviews. RESULTS Novel imaging, experimental models, biomarkers, and analytic techniques applied directly to human studies are providing new insights into the patterns of bone mass acquisition and loss as well as the role of sex steroids, in particular estrogen, on bone metabolism and bone loss with aging in women and men. These studies have identified the onset of trabecular bone loss at multiple sites that begins in young adulthood and remains unexplained, at least based on current paradigms of the mechanisms of bone loss. In addition, estrogen appears to be a major regulator of bone metabolism not only in women but also in men. Studies assessing mechanisms of estrogen action on bone in humans have identified effects of estrogen on RANKL expression by several different cell types in the bone microenvironment, a role for TNF-α and IL-1β in mediating effects of estrogen deficiency on bone, and possible regulation of the Wnt inhibitor, sclerostin, by estrogen. CONCLUSIONS There have been considerable advances in our understanding of age-related bone loss in humans. However, there are also significant gaps in knowledge, particularly in defining cell autonomous changes in bone in human studies to test or validate concepts emerging from studies in rodents. Decision Editor: Luigi Ferrucci, MD, PhD.
Incorporating Environmental Issues in Product Design and Realization

In this paper, a number of options and issues are illustrated which companies and organizations seeking to incorporate environmental issues in product design and realization should consider. A brief overview and classification of a number of approaches for reducing the environmental impact is given, as well as their organizational impact. General characteristics, representative examples, and integration and information management issues of design tools supporting environmentally conscious product design are provided as well. 1 From Design for Manufacture to Design for the Life Cycle and Beyond One can argue that the “good old days” where a product was being designed, manufactured and sold to the customer with little or no subsequent concern are over. In the seventies, with the emergence of life-cycle engineering and concurrent engineering in the United States, companies became more aware of the need to include serviceability and maintenance issues in their design processes. A formal definition for Concurrent Engineering is given in (Winner, et al., 1988), as “a systematic approach to the integrated, concurrent design of products and their related processes, including manufacturing and support. This approach is intended to cause the developers, from the outset, to consider all elements of the product life cycle from conception through disposal, including quality, cost, schedule, and user requirements. ” Although concurrent engineering seems to span the entire life-cycle of a product according to the preceding definition, its traditional focus has been on design, manufacturing, and maintenance. Perhaps one of the most striking areas where companies now have to be concerned is with the environment. The concern regarding environmental impact stems from the fact that, whether we want it or not, all our products affect in some way our environment during their life-span. In Figure 1, a schematic representation of a system’s life-cycle is given. Materials are mined from the earth, air and sea, processed into products, and distributed to consumers for usage, as represented by the flow from left to right in the top half of Figure 1.
Adaptive Autoregressive Modeling used for Single-trial EEG Classification - Verwendung eines Adaptiven Autoregressiven Modells für die Klassifikation von Einzeltrial-EEG-Daten

An adaptive autoregressive (AAR) model is used for analyzing event-related EEG changes. Such an AAR model is applied to single EEG trials of three subjects, recorded over both sensorimotor areas during imagination of left and right hand movements. It is found that discrimination between both types of motor-imagery is possible using linear discriminant analysis, but the time point for optimal classification is different in each subject. For the estimation of the AAR parameters, the Least-mean-squares and the Recursive-least-squares algorithms are compared. In both methods, the update coefficient plays a key role: it determines the adaptation ratio as well as the estimation accuracy. A new method, based on minimizing the prediction error, is introduced for determining the update coefficient.
Hormesis: Biphasic Dose-Responses to Fungicides in Plant Pathogens and Their Potential Threat to Agriculture

© 2013 Garzon and Flores, licensee InTech. This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Hormesis: Biphasic Dose-Responses to Fungicides in Plant Pathogens and Their Potential Threat to Agriculture
Wnt7A Identifies Embryonic γ-Motor Neurons and Reveals Early Postnatal Dependence of γ-Motor Neurons on a Muscle Spindle-Derived Signal

Motor pools comprise a heterogeneous population of motor neurons that innervate distinct intramuscular targets. While the organization of motor neurons into motor pools has been well described, the time course and mechanism of motor pool diversification into functionally distinct classes remains unclear. γ-Motor neurons (γ-MNs) and α-motor neurons (α-MNs) differ in size, molecular identity, synaptic input and peripheral target. While α-MNs innervate extrafusal skeletal muscle fibers to mediate muscle contraction, γ-MNs innervate intrafusal fibers of the muscle spindle, and regulate sensitivity of the muscle spindle in response to stretch. In this study, we find that the secreted signaling molecule Wnt7a is selectively expressed in γ-MNs in the mouse spinal cord by embryonic day 17.5 and continues to molecularly distinguish γ-from α-MNs into the third postnatal week. Our data demonstrate that Wnt7a is the earliest known γ-MN marker, supporting a model of developmental divergence between α- and γ-MNs at embryonic stages. Furthermore, using Wnt7a expression as an early marker of γ-MN identity, we demonstrate a previously unknown dependence of γ-MNs on a muscle spindle-derived, GDNF-independent signal during the first postnatal week.
Effects of dopamine D(1-like) and D(2-like) agonists in rats that self-administer cocaine.

The reinforcing effects of D(1-like) and D(2-like) agonists, and their capacity to modify cocaine self-administration, were compared in rats with extensive cocaine self-administration experience. Cocaine (0.01-1.0 mg i.v.) dose-dependently maintained responding under a fixed ratio (FR) 5 schedule of reinforcement, and an inverted U-shaped function characterized the relationship between unit dose and self-administration behavior. When substituted for cocaine, the D(1-like) agonists SKF 82958 (0.001-0.032 mg i.v.) and SKF 77434 (0.001-0.1 mg i.v.) did not maintain responding above levels observed during saline substitution. In contrast, the D(2-like) agonists quinelorane (0.001-0.1 mg i.v.) and 7-hydroxy-dipropylaminotetralin (7-OH-DPAT; 0.01-0.32 mg i.v.) reliably maintained i.v. self-administration behavior that was characterized by inverted U-shaped dose-effect functions. Pretreatment with the D(1-like) agonists SKF 82958 and SKF 77434 (0.1-1.0 mg/kg i.p.) shifted the dose-effect function for cocaine self-administration downward, whereas pretreatment with the D(2-like) agonists quinelorane (0.01 mg/kg i.p.) and 7-OH-DPAT (0.32-1.0 mg/kg i.p.) shifted the cocaine dose-effect function to the left. Effects of D(1-like) and D(2-like) agonists on patterns of responding maintained by cocaine (0.32 mg i.v.) also differed: D(1-like) agonists increased the latency to the first response but did not otherwise alter patterns of cocaine self-administration, whereas D(2-like) agonists increased the intervals between self-administered cocaine injections. The results suggest that D(2-like) agonists, but not D(1-like) agonists, have prominent reinforcing effects and enhance the effects of self-administered cocaine in rats with extensive cocaine self-administration experience. Consequently, D(2) receptor-related neuronal mechanisms may be especially important in mediating the abuse-related effects of cocaine.