Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
High-sensitivity differential fringe-field MEMS accelerometers

Fringe-field capacitive sensing has a potential interest for the inertial MEMS community as it decouples the sensing direction from the pull-in direction, and it is therefore intrinsically immune from this issue. This paper presents a MEMS accelerometer based on fringe-field sensing, that exploits a surface micromachining process with very thin planar interconnections (<; 4 μm). As these interconnections are exploited to create the fringe fields used for sensing, the possibility to increase their density directly increases the sensitivity. The experimental results demonstrate a value of about 6 fF/g with a device resonance frequency around 850 Hz and a quality factor around 4, for a device area of (450 × 600) μm2.
Extending engineering data model for web-based fuzzy information modeling

Being an information modeling language to support the STEP Standard for Exchange of Product Model Data, \linebreak EXPRESS has been developed to share and exchange product design, manufacturing and production data in product life cycle. Also being the de-facto standard of data representation and exchange over the Web, XML eXtensible Markup Language has been widely applied in Web-based engineering applications for product data exchange and share. It is essential to integrate EXPRESS data model and XML data model in engineering data modeling. EXPRESS-G is the graphical representation of EXPRESS and can serve as the conceptual design of Web-based engineering data models. Fuzzy engineering information is inherent in many engineering activities. In order to explicitly represent and handle fuzzy engineering information, this paper introduces an extended EXPRESS-G data model for different kinds of fuzziness modeling. After presenting the formal descriptions and corresponding representations of the fuzzy EXPRESS-G data model, the paper investigates the formal transformation from the fuzzy EXPRESS-G data model to the fuzzy XML model. The formal transformation approaches proposed in the paper are demonstrated with engineering application examples.
Study on monitoring technology of UAV aerial image enhancement for burning straw

One of the important factors of air pollution is straw burning. It is a good method to use unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV) image to monitor straw burning. But the UAV aerial image quality will be deteriorated by the suspended particles produced by straw incineration. In order to solve this problem, a new image enhancement algorithm is proposed. Based on the traditional single image dehazing method, the large gray area of image is detected through histogram. Then, the area to obtain modified coefficients is calculated and the dark channel prior algorithm is corrected by it. Finally Adaptive contrast enhancement is used to improve the quality of aerial image. The experimental results show that the new method achieves good image quality of fog environment and low luminance environment. It has better practical value in the field of aerial image recognition.
Synthesis and antifungal activity of some azetidinones.

Ethyl-1H-benzotriazol-1-acetate 2 was prepared by reacting 1H-benzotriazole 1 in alcohol with ethyl bromoacetate in presence of anhydrous potassium carbonate, which was treated with hydrazine hydrate under reflux for 1824 hours to obtain the intermediate 1H-benzotriazole-1-acetic acid hydrazide 3. This compound on Schiff’s reaction with aromatic aldehydes in presence of solvent mixture yielded 2-(1H-benzotriazol-1-yl)-N'-(substituted phenyl/heteroaryl methylidene) acetohydrazide 4a-4j. This on reaction with monochloroacetyl chloride and triethylamine in dioxane at low temperature followed by heating at more than 100C temperature gave N-substituted--2-azetidinones 5a-5j and were characterized. The synthesized compounds exhibited moderate to good antifungal activity when tested in vitro against C.albicans. Compounds 5g and 5h were found to be the most active among all the compounds. To understand their interaction with receptor, these were docked into active site of CYT P-450(PDB-code:1EA1).
Complications after acute stroke.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE We sought to observe the type, timing, and frequency of complications occurring in hospitalized patients after an acute stroke. METHODS In a single hospital, we prospectively identified a consecutive cohort of patients who were either admitted after an acute stroke or who suffered a stroke while already an inpatient (n=613). We retrieved the case notes for 607 (99%) of these strokes, and a single observer, using predefined diagnostic criteria, reviewed the notes and recorded the type, timing, and frequency of complications that occurred during the inpatient period. We also measured the reliability of complication identification from case note review by comparing two observers on a sample of records. RESULTS Complications were recorded after 360 strokes (59%); the most common individual complications were falls (complicating 22% of all strokes), skin breaks (18%), and urinary tract (16%) or chest (12%) infections. Miscellaneous "other" complications complicated 32% of strokes. Seizures and chest infections occurred early, whereas depression and painful shoulder were later problems. Complications were more common in older patients, who were more disabled before their stroke and had suffered more severe strokes. We demonstrated moderate to good agreement between the two observers for most complications. CONCLUSIONS Complications after acute stroke are common, confirming that stroke rehabilitation requires active and knowledgeable medical input. Knowing the nature and timing of complications, together with the identification of high-risk patients, may be useful to those planning stroke services. The differences in our results and those previously reported, most notably for skin breaks, are probably due to the different methods used, in particular patient selection and diagnostic criteria for complications. Although complications may be useful as a measure of outcome in comparative studies (eg, therapeutic trials and audit), the methodological difficulties in accurately and reliably measuring them must be addressed.
Parametric Analysis of Silicon Nanowire Optical Rectangular Waveguide Sensor

A silicon nanowire optical rectangular waveguide (SNORW) on 220-nm silicon-on-insulator platform is proposed for optical sensing of gases. Analysis and interdependence of critical parameters of SNORW are evaluated. Overall performance in terms of power confinement, waveguide sensitivity, and compactness is compared with that of conventional slot and ridge slot waveguides. Exploratory results on SNORW application as methane sensor are also discussed.
A PROLIFERATION-INDUCING LIGAND: A NEW BIOMARKER FOR NON-SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER

To identify a proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL) expression profile in tumor tissue and sputum of lung cancer, and evaluate the possibility of an assistant diagnosis of lung cancer by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RTQ-PCR) in sputum as well, the authors analyzed the expression of APRIL mRNA in 75 tissue samples and 71 corresponding sputum samples of lung cancer by RTQ-PCR and analyzed their correlation. APRIL protein expression was also observed in tumor tissues by Western blot and immunohistochemistry. The expression analysis revealed APRIL expression was elevated in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and the expression of APRIL protein was located in the membrane and cytoplasm of tumor cells by immunohistochemiscal staining. Compared to benign pulmonary disease and healthy volunteers, the expression of APRIL mRNA in sputum of lung cancer was elevated (both P <. 001). When cut-off values for positivity were set at the mean + 2SD of mRNA expression in healthy volunteers, the positive rate for APRIL mRNA expression was 81.7% (58/71) in sputum samples of lung cancer, 3.2% (2/62) in benign pulmonary disease, and 1.5% (1/65) in healthy volunteers. The correlation was evident between the expression level of APRIL mRNA of tissue samples and that of sputum samples (P <. 001, r =. 702). These results support the possibility that the APRIL gene may play a key role in lung cancer, especially in NSCLC. The elevated expression level of APRIL mRNA in sputum of NSCLC suggested that APRIL mRNA may serve as an effective and convenient diagnostic biomarker for NSCLC.
Truncated NF2 proteins are not detected in meningiomas and schwannomas

Neurofibromatosis type 2 is caused by mutations in the NF2 tumor suppressor gene. The NF2 gene encodes a 595‐aminoacid protein, presumably functioning as a membrane‐organizing element. Theoretically, the majority of mutations found in the NF2 gene should lead to a truncated protein product. Using immunoprecipitation with an antibody raised to N‐terminal sequences of the NF2 protein, the authors sought to demonstrate the presence of truncated NF2 proteins in tumors. From 17 of 19 tumors (14 meningiomas and five schwannomas), 12 of which have previously been shown to harbor truncating NF2 mutations, wild‐type NF2 protein was immunopreci‐pitated. From two tumors no protein was precipitated. Truncated NF2 proteins were not observed. The authors conclude that mutant NF2 proteins are unstable and undergo accelerated degradation.
Modification and testing of a battery-inductor repetitive pulsed power supply for a small railgun

Pulsed power supplies for electromagnetic launch have unique requirements, including very low impedance, relatively long pulse discharge times, and high stored energy. The three primary types of pulsed power systems for electromagnetic launch have been capacitive, inductive, and rotating machine. This paper describes recent results in the design, construction, and testing of a pulsed power system based on an inductor that is charged by batteries.
Analysis of the Bipolar Current Mirror Including Electrothermal and Avalanche Effects

An experimental and numerical study of the bipolar current mirror characteristics under strong self-heating and avalanche conditions is presented, and a theoretical model to describe the observed behavior is proposed. It is shown that both electrothermal effects and impact ionization may lead to a marked degradation of the mirroring action, eventually resulting in an instability phenomenon which limits the usable operating range of the circuit. Both the separate and combined actions of these positive-feedback mechanisms are investigated. The model compares favorably with experimental data measured on silicon-on-glass and GaAs current mirrors and allows deriving a theoretical relation for the critical condition corresponding to the onset of the instability. The impact of the most significant technology and design parameters is discussed, and design criteria are given in order to ensure an unconditionally stable behavior.
A homologue of the transcriptional repressor Ssn6p antagonizes cAMP signalling in Ustilago maydis

In Ustilago maydis, cAMP signalling is crucial for successful infection of maize plants. Strains are non‐pathogenic if mutated in any of the currently identified components of this signalling pathway, such as the α‐subunit of a heterotrimeric G protein Gpa3, the adenylate cyclase Uac1 and the regulatory and catalytic subunit of protein kinase A Ubc1 and Adr1 respectively. Deletion of gpa3, uac1 or adr1 triggers filamentous growth, and certain point mutations in gpa3 and ubc1 that mimic a high cAMP level display a glossy colony phenotype. Screening an autonomously replicating U. maydis library in such a background (gpa3Q206L), we identified sql1 as a suppressor of the glossy colony phenotype. Interestingly, only alleles carrying C‐terminal truncations of Sql1 were able to complement the mutant phenotype, suggesting a gain‐of‐function by these variants. Sql1 is a functional homologue of the yeast transcriptional repressor Ssn6p and contains 10 tetratricopeptide repeats (TPRs), of which the first six are important for suppressor function. Truncated sql1 alleles that suppress the glossy colony phenotype of gpa3Q206L strains induce filamentous growth when introduced in wild type. Filamentation of these strains is reversed in the presence of cAMP. We present a model in which Sql1 is part of an evolutionary conserved Sql1–Tup1 transcriptional repressor complex that antagonizes cAMP signalling by repressing cAMP‐regulated genes.
The Carcinoma-Associated Fibroblast Expressing Fibroblast Activation Protein and Escape from Immune Surveillance

The fibroblastic element of the tumor microenvironment has been of great interest to cancer biologists but less so to cancer immunologists. Yet, the sharing of a common mesenchymal cell type in the stroma of tumors and at sites of chronic inflammatory lesions, some of which have an autoimmune basis, has been a strong hint that this cellular component of the tumor microenvironment may have an immunologic function. Recent studies have confirmed this possibility. These fibroblast-like cells, which are termed carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAF), can be identified by their expression of the membrane protein, fibroblast activation protein-α (FAP). The conditional depletion of the FAP+ CAF permits immune control not only of an artificial, transplanted tumor, but also of an autochthonous model of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) that replicates the molecular, histologic, clinical, and immunologic characteristics of the human disease. Immune suppression by the FAP+ CAF is mediated by CXCL12, the chemokine that binds to cancer cells and excludes T cells by a mechanism that depends on signaling by the CXCL12 receptor CXCR4. Inhibition of CXCR4 leads to the elimination of cancer cells by enabling the rapid, intratumoral accumulation of preexisting, PDA-specific CD8+ T cells, and reveals the antitumor efficacy of the T-cell checkpoint antagonist anti–PD-L1. Recent studies have also shown that the FAP+ CAF is related to FAP-expressing stromal cells of normal tissues, demonstrating that cancers recruit a member of an essential stromal cell lineage that is involved not only in wound repair but also in normal tissue homeostasis. These findings extend the concept introduced by cancer biologists that the fibroblastic component of tumors has a critical role in the adaptation of the cancer to the host. Cancer Immunol Res; 2(3); 187–93. ©2014 AACR.
Migrainous Vertigo: Mutation Analysis of the Candidate Genes CACNA1A, ATP1A2, SCN1A, and CACNB4

Background. —Migrainous vertigo (MV) is increasingly recognized as a common cause of episodic vertigo. MV displays several clinical similarities with familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM) and episodic ataxia type 2 (EA‐2), which have been linked to mutations in 3 genes, CACNA1A, encoding a neuronal calcium channel α subunit, ATP1A2, encoding a catalytic subunit of a Na+/K+‐ATPase, and most recently the voltage‐gated sodium channel SCN1A. The present study explored the hypothesis that mutations in CACNA1A, ATP1A2, SCN1A, and the calcium channel β4 subunit CACNB4 confer susceptibility to MV.
Illusory Figures Induced by Complete Figures: Individual Differences

We investigated individual differences in the perception of three attributes, that is, illusory contour, brightness change, and depth stratification, of illusory figures induced by an incomplete figure (four pacmen) and by a complete figure (four crosses), respectively. Individual differences were mainly due to relatively lower perceptual strength of brightness change and depth stratification, especially with the complete inducing figure. With the incomplete inducing figure almost all the observers perceived all the three attributes. With the complete inducing figure, however, the illusory contour was predominant over the other two attributes, and as much as about a quarter of the observers perceived no attributes. These results suggest that the illusory figure induced by the complete figure looks quite different from that induced by the incomplete figure.
Comparative analysis of staphylococcal plasmids carrying three streptogramin-resistance genes: vat-vgb-vga.

Several staphylococcal plasmids (26-45 kb) carry all three streptogramin-resistance (Sg(R)) genes, vat, vgb, and vga. Seven such plasmids harbored by independent strains belonging to three taxa (Staphylococcus aureus, S. simulans, and S. cohnii subsp. urealyticum) were compared and the deleted derivative of one of them, pIP680 (11.3 kb), carrying the three streptogramin-resistance genes was sequenced. The seven native plasmids had in common a 12.1-kb part cocarrying the three Sg(R) genes. Sequence analysis of pIP680 revealed that the simultaneous presence of these three genes has probably resulted from cointegration of two plasmids: (i) a pAMbeta1-like plasmid harboring vat-vgb and whose replication gene has been inactivated by an IS257 insertion and (ii) a functional vga plasmid whose replication is similar to that of two staphylococcal plasmids, pSX267 and pSK41.
Analysis of b-globin Chromatin MicroEnvironment Using a Novel 3 C Variant , 4 Cv

Higher order chromatin folding is critical to a number of developmental processes, including the regulation of gene expression. Recently developed biochemical techniques such as RNA TRAP and chromosome conformation capture (3C) have provided us with the tools to probe chromosomal structures. These techniques have been applied to the b-globin locus, revealing a complex pattern of interactions with regions along the chromosome that the gene resides on. However, biochemical and microscopy data on the nature of b-globin interactions with other chromosomes is contradictory. Therefore we developed a novel 4C variant, Complete-genome 3C by vectorette amplification (4Cv), which allows an unbiased and quantitative method to examine chromosomal structure. We have used 4Cv to study the microenvironment of the b-globin locus in mice and show that a significant proportion of the interactions of b-globin are inter-chromosomal. Furthermore, our data show that in the liver, where the gene is active, b-globin is more likely to interact with other chromosomes, compared to the brain where the gene is silent and is more likely to interact with other regions along the same chromosome. Our data suggest that transcriptional activation of the b-globin locus leads to a change in nuclear position relative to the chromosome territory. Citation: Pink RC, Eskiw CH, Caley DP, Carter DRF (2010) Analysis of b-globin Chromatin Micro-Environment Using a Novel 3C Variant, 4Cv. PLoS ONE 5(9): e13045. doi:10.1371/journal.pone. 0013045 Editor: Art J. Lustig, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, United States of America Received May 12, 2010; Accepted September 7, 2010; Published September 29, 2010 Copyright: 2010 Pink et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Funding: Ryan Pink is supported by a grant from Action Medical Research; Daniel Caley is supported by a grant from The Dunhill Medical Trust; David Carter is supported by a grant from the British Society for Haematology. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. * E-mail: dcarter@brookes.ac. uk ¤ Current address: Laboratory of Chromatin and Gene Expression, The Babraham Institute, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Pathogenesis of Sendasi virus infection in mice. On the possible role of interferon on the development of disease.

Intraperitoneally (i.p.) injected interferon prolonged the survival time of mice inoculated intranasally (i.n.) with Sendai virus and reduced the mortality in mice inoculated i.n. with Haemophilus influenzae. Moderate concentrations of interferon were demonstrated in homogenized lungs of Sendai virus infected mice as long as the virus was present. Similar concentrations could be produced by i.p. injection of Sendai virus or interferon. Alveolar macrophages from mice treated i.p. with interferon or Sendai virus phagocytized more actively than control macropages. From the present and earlier data it is concluded that interferon may have a direct effect on the Sendai virus infection. The total effect of virus pneumonia is a reduction of the lung macrophage antimicrobial activity, and therefore the phagocytosis-modifying effect of interferon produced in the lungs is probably of minor importance for the outcome of the disease.
Plant Species Classification Using Leaf Shape and Texture

It is of vital importance as well as a great challenge to recognize plant species on the earth planet, from which human beings can benefit much. Thus it would be useful to design a convenient and effective image classification method to automatically classify different species. To reach this goal, in this paper we propose a new method to generate the feature space that combines local texture features using wavelet decomposition and co-occurrence matrix statistics and global shape features to describe the collected plant leaves. Finally, experiments are conducted using SVM (Support Vector Machine) classifiers to classify the different species. Experimental results show that our proposed methods achieve accuracy over 93.8% using a data set with over 1900 leaves from 32 species, exceeding most approaches that have been proposed.
Stimulation of T cell autoreactivity by anomalous expression of NKG2D and its MIC ligands in rheumatoid arthritis

Effector T cell responses can be modulated by competing positive or negative signals transduced by natural killer (NK) cell receptors. This raises the possibility that dominant T cell stimulation might promote autoimmune reactions. In rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the severity of autoimmune and inflammatory joint disease correlates with large numbers of CD4+CD28– T cells, which are scarce in healthy individuals. For poorly defined reasons, these T cells are autoreactive, implying that they may contribute to disease manifestations. CD4+CD28– T cells in peripheral blood and synovial tissue of RA patients were found to express NKG2D, a costimulatory receptor that is absent on normal CD4 T cells. NKG2D was induced by tumor necrosis factor α and IL-15, which are abundant in inflamed synovia and RA patient sera. RA synoviocytes aberrantly expressed the stress-inducible MIC ligands of NKG2D, which stimulated autologous CD4+CD28– T cell cytokine and proliferative responses. Peripheral blood serum samples of RA patients contained substantial amounts of synoviocyte-derived soluble MICA, which failed to induce down-modulation of NKG2D because of the opposing activity of tumor necrosis factor α and IL-15. These results suggest that a profound dysregulation of NKG2D and its MIC ligands may cause autoreactive T cell stimulation, thus promoting the self-perpetuating pathology in RA and possibly other autoimmune diseases.
An E-Retailer’s Dilemma: The Dual Influence of Information Presentation

This study addresses the question of which information presentation format e-retailers should choose to encourage consumers to use their websites. The study proposes a model built on three conceptual foundations: the technology acceptance model (TAM), the theory of cognitive fit, and the trade-off effort-accuracy model. The model posits that consumers’ perceived cognitive effort mediates the relationship between cognitive fit and consumer perceived the perceived usefulness of the website interface for selecting the best product alternative. An online experiment was conducted with 599 e-shoppers. The results suggest that e-retailers encounter a dilemma when selecting the information presentation format for their website interface. Indeed, while cognitive fit is positively related to perceived ease of use of the website, it is negatively related to perceived effort. In turn, perceived effort is positively related to perceived usefulness conceptualized as perceived decision accuracy.