Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vertebral fracture and intervertebral discs

We were interested to read the recent article by Wang and colleagues, which showed that vertebral bone mineral density (BMD) increases with intervertebral disc degeneration in male spines aged 21 to 64 years. The authors imply that a similar relationship would persist in older spines. We write to suggest that such extrapolation is unwarranted, because old and severely degenerated discs behave rather differently from the middleaged discs in Wang and colleagues’ study. In middle-aged men, severe disc narrowing is uncommon, and this may explain why Wang and colleagues used evidence of internal disruption rather than disc narrowing to infer disc degeneration. Also in middle-aged men, levels of peak spinal loading and bone strength often remain high. Under these circumstances, dense vertebral bone could possibly threaten the adjacent discs by increasing pressure in the disc nucleus, or by interfering with metabolite transport through the vertebral endplate, as suggested by Wang and colleagues. Another mechanism operates, however, in old age. Degenerated discs typically lose height at a rate of 3% per year, and can become very narrowed, especially in the oldest women. Adjacent neural arches then move so closely together that they can resist more than 50% of the compressive force acting down the long axis of the spine, in upright postures. Abnormally high load-bearing by the neural arches causes the anterior vertebral body to be stress-shielded, leading to focal anterior bone loss, which has been quantified in cadaveric spines aged 62 to 94 years. This mechanism explains several features of vertebral fracture in the elderly: why vertebral strength is reduced in flexion when loading is concentrated on weak anterior bone, and why vertebral fracture most commonly involves anterior wedge-shape deformity, and is associated with severe disc narrowing in old women. Two distinct mechanisms can be contrasted as follows. In middle age, dense vertebral bone may promote disc degeneration, especially in men. In old age, severe disc narrowing leads to weakening of the anterior vertebral body, predisposing it to ‘‘wedge’’ fracture, especially in women. Evidently, interactions between vertebrae and their adjacent discs depend on age and gender, and can not be summarized as simply as Wang and colleagues suggest.
Cell type dependent morphological adaptation in polyelectrolyte hydrogels governs chondrogenic fate

Repair of critical-size articular cartilage defects typically involves delivery of cells in biodegradable, 3D matrices. Differences in the developmental status of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and terminally differentiated mature chondrocytes might be a critical factor in engineering appropriate 3D matrices for articular cartilage tissue engineering. This study examined the relationship between material-driven early cell morphological adaptations and chondrogenic outcomes, by studying the influence of aligned collagen type I (Col I) presentation on chondrocytes and MSC in interfacial polyelectrolyte complexation (IPC)-based hydrogels. In the absence of Col I, both chondrocytes and MSCs adopted rounded cell morphology and formed clusters, with chondrocyte clusters favoring the maintenance of hyaline phenotype, while MSC clusters differentiated to fibro-superficial zone-like chondrocytes. Encapsulated chondrocytes in IPC-Col I hydrogel adopted a fibroblastic morphology forming fibro-superficial zone-like phenotype, which could be reversed by inhibiting actin polymerization using cytochalasin D (CytD). In contrast, adoption of fibroblastic morphology by encapsulated MSCs in IPC-Col I facilitated superior chondrogenesis, generating a mature, hyaline neocartilage tissue. CytD treatment abrogated the elongation of MSCs and brought about a single cell-like state, resulting in insignificant chondrogenic differentiation, underscoring the essential requirement of providing matrix environments that are amenable to cell–cell interactions for robust MSC chondrogenic differentiation. Our study demonstrates that MSCs and culture-expanded chondrocytes favour differential microenvironmental niches and emphasizes the importance of designing biomaterials that meet cell type-specific requirements, in adopting chondrocyte or MSC-based approaches for regenerating hyaline, articular cartilage.
Weighted measurement fusion Kalman filter based on linear unbiased minimum variance criterion

For the multisensor systems with correlated noises and identical measurement matrices, based on linear unbiased minimum variance (LUMV) criterion, a weighted measurement fusion (WMF) Kalman filter is presented, where the optimal weights is given by the Lagrange multiplier method. By using the information filter, it is proved that it is functionally equivalent to the centralized fusion Kalman filter, i.e. it is numerically identical to the centralized fusion Kalman filter, so that they have the global optimality. In order to reduce the computational burden, another simple algorithm for computing the optimal weights is also derived, and comparison of computational counts of two algorithms for computing optimal weights is given. A numerical simulation example verifies their functional equivalence. The proposed results can be applied to solve the information fusion filtering problem for the autoregressive moving average (ARMA) signals.
Weight-RSS: A Calibration-Free and Robust Method for WLAN-Based Indoor Positioning

Wi-Fi fingerprinting has become a promising solution for indoor positioning with the rapid deployment of WLAN and the growing popularity of mobile devices. In fingerprint-based positioning, the received signal strengths (RSS) from WLAN access points (APs) usually are regarded as positioning fingerprint to label physical location. However, the RSS variance caused by heterogeneous devices and dynamic environmental status will significantly degrade the positioning accuracy. In this paper, we first show the RSS variance based on a real dataset and analyze the relation existing in the RSS raw values. Then, we utilize both the raw RSS values and their relation to construct a new stable and robust fingerprint for indoor positioning. Experiment results indicate that our method can solve the RSS variance problem without any manual calibration.
Optimization of V/sub DD/ and V/sub TH/ for low-power and high-speed applications

Closed-form formulas are presented for optimum supply voltage (V/sub DD/) and threshold voltage (V/sub TH/) that minimize power dissipation when technology parameters and required speed are given. The formulas take into account short-channel effects and the variation of V/sub TH/ and temperature. Using typical device parameters, it is shown that a simple guideline to optimize the power consumption is to set the ratio of maximum leakage power to total power about 30%. Extending the analysis, the future VLSI design trend is discussed. The optimum V/sub DD/ coincides with the SIA roadmap and the optimum V/sub TH/ for logic blocks at the highest temperature and at the lowest process variation corner is in the range of 0 V-0.1 V over generations.
Ongoing In Vivo Immunoglobulin Class Switch DNA Recombination in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia B Cells1

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) results from the expansion of malignant CD5+ B cells that usually express IgD and IgM. These leukemic cells can give rise in vivo to clonally related IgG+ or IgA+ elements. The requirements and modalities of this process remain elusive. Here we show that leukemic B cells from 14 of 20 CLLs contain the hallmarks of ongoing Ig class switch DNA recombination (CSR), including extrachromosomal switch circular DNAs and circle transcripts generated by direct Sμ→Sγ, Sμ→Sα, and Sμ→Sε as well as sequential Sγ→Sα and Sγ→Sε CSR. Similar CLL B cells express transcripts for activation-induced cytidine deaminase, a critical component of the CSR machinery, and contain germline IH-CH and mature VHDJH-CH transcripts encoded by multiple Cγ, Cα, and Cε genes. Ongoing CSR occurs in only a fraction of the CLL clone, as only small proportions of CD5+CD19+ cells express surface IgG or IgA and lack IgM and IgD. In vivo class-switching CLL B cells down-regulate switch circles and circle transcripts in vitro unless exposed to exogenous CD40 ligand and IL-4. In addition, CLL B cells that do not class switch in vivo activate the CSR machinery and secrete IgG, IgA, or IgE upon in vitro exposure to CD40 ligand and IL-4. These findings indicate that in CLL at least some members of the malignant clone actively differentiate in vivo along a pathway that induces CSR. They also suggest that this process is elicited by external stimuli, including CD40 ligand and IL-4, provided by bystander immune cells.
Oncogenic Human Papillomavirus Infection : Epidemiology in Local High-Risk Women

As mentioned earlier, several types of HPVs with different phenotypes have been associated with specific types of cancer. The so-called high-risk HPV types 16 and 18 are more frequently isolated in cervical cancer tissue than either intermediate (31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 58) or low-risk types (6, 11, 42, 43, 44). However, not all infections with HPV type 16 or 18 progress to cervical cancer. Within the single HPV type 16, specific variants are associated with different oncogenic potential.
The replication activation potential of selected RNA polymerase II promoter elements at the simian virus 40 origin

Binding sites for cellular transcription factors were placed near the simian virus 40 origin of replication, and their effect on replication and TATA-dependent transcription was measured in COS cells. The hierarchy of transcriptional stimulation changed when the plasmids replicated. Only one of seven inserted sequences, a moderately weak transcription element, stimulated replication detectably. However, when two nonstimulatory sites were present in multiple copies they did activate replication. Multiple sites for the chimeric activator GAL4-VP16 did not stimulate replication even though transcription was stimulated strongly. The results indicate that the ability of a binding site to stimulate replication from the simian virus 40 ori is not based on its transcriptional activation potential but is instead related to a separate replication activation potential that can be increased by having multiple sites.
Mechanisms underlying the induction of the putative human tumor suppressor GPRC5A by Retinoic acid

Retinoic acid regulates the expression of genes involved in cell proliferation, differentiation, and survival by direct control of gene transcription via activation of nuclear retinoid receptors bound to response elements in the promoters of target genes or by indirect mechanisms. Herein, we investigated the mechanism by which retinoic acid induces the expression of the human tumor suppressor GPRC5A. The proximal 5’ upstream region of the GPRC5A gene was found to contain two potential RAR/RXR binding sites (RAREs) and one VDR/RXR binding site with direct repeat 5 (DR5) motifs designated DR5I (-489 to -473), DR5II (-136 to -120), and DR5III (-81 to -65). DR5II and DR5III but not DR5I were conserved among vertebrates. However, only DR5III (5’- TGTCCCTCTGCTCACCC-3’) was found to be the functional RARE for mediating induction of GPRC5A as indicated by electrophoretic mobility shift assay using wild type and mutated synthetic oligonucleotides representing different fragments of the promoter for competition with retinoic acid receptor β RARE. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assay confirmed the binding of retinoic acid receptors α and γ and retinoid X receptors α and β to DR5III in intact cells. These results demonstrate the importance of functional analysis for validating the activity of predicted response elements.
Quickest Time Herding and Detection for Optimal Social Learning

This paper considers social learning amongst rational agents (for example, sensors in a network). We consider three models of social learning in increasing order of sophistication. In the first model, based on its private observation of a noisy underlying state process, each agent selfishly optimizes its local utility and broadcasts its action. This protocol leads to a herding behavior where the agents eventually choose the same action irrespective of their observations. We then formulate a second more general model where each agent is benevolent and chooses its sensor-mode to optimize a social welfare function to facilitate social learning. Using lattice programming and stochastic orders, it is shown that the optimal decision each agent makes is characterized by a switching curve on the space of Bayesian distributions. We then present a third more general model where social learning takes place to achieve quickest time change detection. Both geometric and phase-type change time distributions are considered. It is proved that the optimal decision is again characterized by a switching curve We present a stochastic approximation (adaptive filtering) algorithms to estimate this switching curve. Finally, we present extensions of the social learning model in a changing world (Markovian target) where agents learn in multiple iterations. By using Blackwell stochastic dominance, we give conditions under which myopic decisions are optimal. We also analyze the effect of target dynamics on the social welfare cost.
FIRST RESULTS FROM THE NOAO SURVEY OF THE OUTER LIMITS OF THE MAGELLANIC CLOUDS

We describe the first results from the Outer Limits Survey, an NOAO survey designed to detect, map, and characterize the extended structure of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC and SMC). The survey consists of deep images of 55 0. °6 × 0. °6 fields distributed at distances up to 20° from the Clouds, with 10 fields at larger distances representing controls for contamination by Galactic foreground stars and background galaxies. The field locations probe the outer structure of both the LMC and SMC, as well as exploring areas defined by the Magellanic Stream, the Leading Arm, and the LMC orbit as recently measured from its proper motion. The images were taken with C, M, R, I, and DDO51 filters on the CTIO Blanco 4 m telescope and Mosaic2 camera, with supporting calibration observations taken at the CTIO 0.9 m telescope. The CRI images reach depths below the oldest main-sequence (MS) turnoffs at the distance of the Clouds, thus yielding numerous probes of structure combined with good ability to measure stellar ages and metallicities. The M and DDO51 images allow for discrimination of LMC and SMC giant stars from foreground dwarfs, allowing us to use giants as additional probes of Cloud structure and populations. From photometry of eight fields located at radii of 7°–19° north of the LMC bar, we find MS stars associated with the LMC out to 16° from the LMC center, while the much rarer giants can only be convincingly detected out to 11°. In one field, designated as a control, we see the unmistakable signature of the Milky Way (MW) globular cluster NGC 1851, which lies several tidal radii away from the field center. The color–magnitude diagrams show that while at 7° radius LMC populations as young as 500 Myr are present, at radii ≳11° only the LMC's underlying old metal-poor ([M/H] ∼−1) population remains, demonstrating the existence of a mean population gradient at these radii. Nevertheless, even at extreme large distances, the dominant age is significantly younger than that of the Galactic globular clusters. The MS star counts follow an exponential decline with distance with a scale length of 1.15 kpc, essentially the same scale length as gleaned for the inner LMC disk from prior studies. While we cannot rule out the existence of undetected tidal features elsewhere in the LMC periphery, the detection of an ordered structure to 12 disk scale lengths is unprecedented and adds to the puzzle of the LMC's interaction history with the SMC and the MW. Our results do not rule out the possible existence of an LMC stellar halo, which we show may only begin to dominate over the disk at still larger radii than where we have detected LMC populations.
Web Server Application Server Data Management System Data Blocks Dispatcher / Load Balancer Presentation Tier Logic Tier Data Management Tier Storage Tier Dispatcher / Load Balancer

Today’s Cloud applications are dominated by composite applications comprising multiple computing and data components with strong communication correlations among them. Although Cloud providers are deploying large number of computing and storage devices to address the ever increasing demand for computing and storage resources, network resource demands are emerging as one of the key areas of performance bottleneck. This paper addresses networkaware placement of virtual components (computing and data) of multi-tier applications in data centers and formally defines the placement as an optimization problem. The simultaneous placement of Virtual Machines and data blocks aims at reducing the network overhead of the data center network infrastructure. A greedy heuristic is proposed for the on-demand application components placement that localizes network traffic in the data center interconnect. Such optimization helps reducing communication overhead in upper layer network switches that will eventually reduce the overall traffic volume across the data center. This, in turn, will help reducing packet transmission delay, increasing network performance, and minimizing the energy consumption of network components. Experimental results demonstrate performance superiority of the proposed algorithm over other approaches where it outperforms the stateof-the-art network-aware application placement algorithm across all performance metrics by reducing the average network cost up to 67% and network usage at core switches up to 84%, as well as increasing the average number of application deployments up to 18%.
Affect and achievement goals in physical activity: a meta‐analysis

Achievement goal orientation theory has been the subject of extensive research in recent years. In view of the importance of identifying the motivational antecedents of affect in physical activity, this study examined through meta‐analysis the conflicting evidence regarding the links between different achievement goals and emotions. Using the formulas of Hunter and Schmidt (1), correlations were gathered from 41 independent samples and were corrected for both sampling and measurement errors. The results showed that task orientation and positive affect were moderately‐to‐highly correlated and in a positive fashion, whereas the relationship between task orientation and negative affect was negative and moderate to small. Both correlations were found to be heterogeneous, and so moderators were sought. The relationships between ego orientation and positive and negative affect were positive but very small, with the former being heterogeneous. Moderators coded were the time frame of affect (independent of context vs. after an athletic event), the physical activity setting (school physical education vs. recreation vs. competitive sport), age (university vs. school students), nationality (British vs. American), nature of negative affect (high vs. low arousal), and the publication status of the studies (published vs. unpublished). Lastly, a subset of the corrected correlations were inserted into a structural equation modelling analysis in order to look concurrently at the relationships among all the variables.
Poverty impacts of foot-and-mouth disease and the poverty reduction implications of its control

Foot-and-mouth disease (fmd) remains one of the most important livestock diseases of the world, given its highly infectious nature, its broad economic impacts on animal wellbeing and productivity, and its implications for successful access to domestic and export markets for livestock and products. The impacts of the disease vary markedly between developed and developing countries, and also within many developing countries. These differences in impact shape some markedly heterogeneous incentives for fmd control and eradication, which become of particular importance when setting priorities for poverty reduction in developing countries. Some consider that the benefits from fmd control accrue only to the better off in such societies and, as such, may not be a priority for investments targeted at poverty reduction. But is that view justified? Others see the control of fmd as a major development opportunity in a globalised environment. In this paper, Brian Perry and Karl Rich summarise the differential impacts of fmd and its control, and link these findings with the growing understanding of how the control of this globally important disease may contribute to the processes of pro-poor growth in certain countries of the developing world.
The Social Structure of the Army

The bases of the Army's socia structure are held to be (1) the modern American democratic tradition; (2) the medieval feudal tradition; and (3) the formal, written rules, regulations, and directives. An examination of situations where these three come into conflict with one another shows that the feudal tradition is still the strongest of the three. But the other two modify the effects of the feudal tradition in various ways, and the long-run trend seems to be in favor of their ultimate ascendancy.
Efficient Calculation of Jackknife Confidence Intervals for Rank Statistics

An algorithm is presented for calculating concordance-discordance totals in a time of order N log N , where N is the number of observations, using a balanced binary search tree. These totals can be used to calculate jackknife estimates and confidence limits in the same time order for a very wide range of rank statistics, including Kendall's tau, Somers' D, Harrell's c, the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, the Gini coefficient, and the parameters underlying the sign and rank-sum tests. A Stata package is introduced for calculating confidence intervals for these rank statistics using this algorithm, which has been implemented in the Mata compilable matrix programming language supplied with Stata.
Adaptive MCS level selection scheme for HSDPA in W-CDMA system

In this paper, an effective method is proposed to compensate effect of Doppler spread on High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA). First, the effect of Doppler spread on channel estimation method is described. Next, the approximate function for estimating threshold shifts is proposed. Simulation results show that the proposed method can effectively estimate the threshold shifts caused by Doppler spread.