Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Schizosaccharomyces pombeRetrotransposon Tf2 Mobilizes Primarily through Homologous cDNA Recombination

ABSTRACT The Tf2 retrotransposon, found in the fission yeastSchizosaccharomyces pombe, is nearly identical to its sister element, Tf1, in its reverse transcriptase-RNase H and integrase domains but is very divergent in the gag domain, the protease, the 5′ untranslated region, and the U3 domain of the long terminal repeats. It has now been demonstrated that aneo-marked copy of Tf2 overexpressed from a heterologous promoter can mobilize into the S. pombe genome and produce true transposition events. However, the Tf2-neomobilization frequency is 10- to 20-fold lower than that of Tf1-neo, and 70% of the Tf2-neo events are homologous recombination events generated independently of a functional Tf2 integrase. Thus, the Tf2 element is primarily dependent on homologous recombination with preexisting copies of Tf2 for its propagation. Finally, production of Tf2-neo proteins and cDNA was also analyzed; surprisingly, Tf2 was found to produce its reverse transcriptase as a single species in which it is fused to protease, unlike all other retroviruses and retrotransposons.
Parental and school correlates of binge drinking among middle school students.

OBJECTIVES We examined the prevalence and dynamics of binge drinking among middle school students. METHODS We analyzed data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The sample was composed of approximately 5300 seventh-and eighth-grade students who were interviewed at 2 points in time. RESULTS Approximately 8% of seventh graders and 17% of eighth graders reported engaging in binge drinking during the past 12 months. These rates varied as a function of school characteristics. Low scores on the parenting variables-communication quality, use of reasoning, and control and supervision-and binge drinking during middle school also were predictive of binge drinking during high school. CONCLUSIONS Binge drinking among middle school students is an important phenomenon that for many students forecasts future binge drinking during high school.
Neutrophils as a Novel Source of Eosinophil Cationic Protein in IgE-Mediated Processes1

The production of eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) in IgE-mediated diseases has been associated mainly with eosinophils, although no IgE-dependent ECP release has been observed in these cells. Because there is increasing evidence of neutrophil participation in allergic processes, we have examined whether human neutrophils from allergic patients were able to produce ECP by an IgE-dependent mechanism. After challenge with specific Ags to which the patients were sensitized, ECP release was detected in the culture medium. Furthermore, intracellular protein was detected by flow cytometry, immunofluorescence staining, and Western blotting. Expression at both mRNA and de novo protein synthesis were detected, respectively, by RT-PCR and radiolabeling with 35S. Ag effect was mimicked by cell treatment with anti-IgE Abs or Abs against FcεRI and galectin-3 (FcεRI>galectin-3), but not against FcεRII. These observations represent a novel view of neutrophils as possible source of ECP in IgE-dependent diseases.
An Eight-week, Multicentric, Randomized, Interventional, Open-label, Phase 4, Parallel Comparison of the Efficacy and Tolerability of the Fixed Combination of Timolol Maleate 0.5%/Brimonidine Tartrate 0.2% Versus Fixed Combination of Timolol Maleate 0.5%/Dorzolamide 2% in Patients With Elevated Intr

PurposeTo compare the efficacy and tolerability of the fixed combination of timolol maleate 0.5%/brimonidine tartrate 0.2% versus fixed combination of timolol maleate 0.5%/dorzolamide 2% in patients with elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) over 8 weeks. Patients and MethodsThis 8-week, multicentric, interventional, randomized, open-label, parallel group study was conducted at 4 centers in Brazil and 1 center in Argentina. Patients with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension were randomized to receive bilaterally fixed combination of brimonidine/timolol maleate 0.5% or fixed combination of dorzolamide 2%/timolol 0.5% twice daily at 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM. A modified diurnal tension curve (8:00 AM, 10:30 AM, 02:00 PM, and 4:00 PM) followed by the water drinking test (WDT), which estimates IOP peak of diurnal tension curve, were performed in the baseline and week-8 visits. Adverse events data were recorded at each visit. ResultsA total of 210 patients were randomized (brimonidine/timolol, n=111; dorzolamide/timolol, n=99). Mean baseline IOP was 23.43±3.22 mm Hg and 23.43±4.06 mm Hg in the patients treated with brimonidine/timolol and dorzolamide/timolol, respectively (P=0.993). Mean diurnal IOP reduction after 8 weeks were 7.02±3.06 mm Hg and 6.91±3.67 mm Hg, respectively (P=0.811). The adjusted difference between groups (analysis of covariance) at week 8 was not statistically significant (P=0.847). Mean baseline WDT peak was 27.79±4.29 mm Hg in the brimonidine/timolol group and 27.68±5.46 mm Hg in the dorzolamide/timolol group. After 8 weeks of treatment, mean WDT peaks were 20.94±3.76 mm Hg (P<0.001) and 20.98±4.19 (P<0.001), respectively. The adjusted difference between groups (analysis of covariance) was not statistically significant (P=0.469). No statistical difference in terms of adverse events was found between groups. ConclusionsBoth fixed combinations were capable of significantly reducing the mean diurnal IOP, mean diurnal peak, and mean WDT peak after 8 weeks of treatment. Also, both fixed combinations are well tolerated with few side effects.
Touch Based Localization for High-Precision Manufacturing

In traditional automated manufacturing, the motions of an industry robot are programmed step by step by humans for a specific task, which is costly and timeconsuming. This greatly limits the application of industry robot when the production is relatively small. This thesis proposes two touch-based localization approaches extended from the importance-sampling particle filter for a potentially large and complex object in 3D workspace, both of which can achieve high precision and real-time localization speed and can be potentially used for automated manufacturing. The rigid-body particle filter assumes that an accurate geometry model of the object is provided, while the datum particle filter takes the engineering tolerance for manufactured part into consideration and provides a method to localize a task location defined by datums on an object with internal degrees of freedom. Both approaches have been evaluated in simulation. Our results show that the proposed approaches can quickly reduce the estimation accuracy in both translational and rotational dimensions within 10 measurements.
Reliability of high I/O count wafer level packages

Thermomechanical fatigue and drop performance of wafer level packages (WLP) are two main reliability requirements that prevent the WLPs from scaling up. A comprehensive investigation into the methods that would enable such transition was undertaken. The current qualification involved a package with 5.2 mm times 5.2 mm die and 144 l/Os. The packages were supplied by four vendors who are the leading suppliers of WLPs. One package design was based on the Cu post technology and the other three utilized double polymer layer for enhanced compliance. In addition to standard WLP designs that have been used on smaller packages, a design of experiments (DOE) also included novel designs which aimed at enhancing the package reliability. The main package modifications included a redesigned under bump metallurgy (UBM) structure with changes made to the polymer opening and the shape of the UBM pad. The packages were manufactured with lead-free SAC105 and LF35 solder balls. The second level reliability was assessed by thermal cycling, drop testing and cyclic bend testing, all according to governing JEDEC specifications. The results obtained from the reliability testing allowed for direct comparison between different vendors and also between different package designs from the same vendors. The failures were examined using a dye stain penetrant method and cross-sectional SEM/EDX. The failure modes and Weibull failure statistics are presented with the emphasis on the qualitative understanding of the results. Recommendations as to the preferred package type, solder ball alloy and package design are also included.
Patient density, nurse-to-patient ratio and nosocomial infection risk in a pediatric cardiac intensive care unit.

BACKGROUND An investigation of a Serratia marcescens outbreak in a pediatric cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) suggested that understaffing or overcrowding might have been underlying risk factors. OBJECTIVE To assess the effect of fluctuations in CICU nurse staffing levels and patient census on CICU nosocomial infection rate (NIR). METHODS The monthly CICU nursing hours, patient days and nosocomial infections were obtained from retrospective review of administrative, patient and microbiology records during December, 1994, through December, 1995 (study period). The NIR and nursing hours:patient day ratio were then calculated. The correlations between NIR vs. nursing hours, patient days and nursing hours:patient day ratio were determined. RESULTS The median monthly CICU NIR was 6.9 (range, 0 to 15.2) infections per 1000 patient days; the median number of hours worked per month by CICU registered nurses was 7754 (range, 7133 to 8452) hours; the median number of patient days treated per month was 507 (range, 381 to 590) patient days; and the median monthly nursing hours:patient day ratio was 15.2:1 (range, 13.2:1 to 19.9:1). The strongest linear correlation was observed between the monthly NIR and patient days (r = 0.89, P = 0.0001). There was an inverse correlation between the monthly NIR and nursing hours:patient day ratio (r = -0.77, P = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS The NIR was most strongly correlated with patient census but also was strongly associated with the nursing hours:patient day ratio. These factors may influence the infection rate because of breaks in health care worker aseptic technique or decreased hand washing. Increased patient census alone may increase the risk of cross-transmission of nosocomial infections. As hospitals proceed with cost containment efforts the effect of fluctuations in patient census and nurse staffing on patient outcomes needs evaluation.
Three-Dimensional Beam Scan Using Ferrite-Loaded Circular Waveguide Antenna

Phased or parasitic array antennas with complex feed mechanism are widely used to realize beam scanning. This letter presents a simple magnetized ferrite-loaded circular waveguide antenna with three-dimensional (3-D) scan characteristics. Professional software is used to optimize the dimension and biasing requirement of the antenna. The required magnetizing fields (H0) are tabulated to realize 60° of maximum beam scan in elevation plane for eight different azimuth regions covering 360°. A prototype of the high-power waveguide antenna is fabricated to experimentally verify some of the simulated scan characteristics. Using LTCC technique, embedding the biasing coils within the ferrite cylinder can considerably reduce the H0 values needed for 3-D beam scan.
A Multi-Focus Image Fusion Algorithm Based on Contrast Pyramids

This paper proposes a new approach for multi-focus images fusion based on Region Mosaicing on Contrast Pyramids (REMCP). A density-based region growing method is developed to construct a focused region mask for multi-focus images. The segmented focused region mask is decomposed into a mask pyramid, which is then used for supervised region mosaicking on a contrast pyramid. In this way, the focus measurement and the continuity of focused regions are incorporated and the pixel level pyramid fusion is improved at the region level. Objective and subjective experiments show that the proposed REMCP is more robust to noise than compared algorithms and can fully preserves the focus information of the multi-focus images meanwhile reducing distortions of the fused images.
Disseminated Intravascular Coagulopathy during Experimental Pneumococcal Sepsis: Studies in Normal and Asplenic Rhesus Monkeys 1

Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) was induced in both normal and asplenic rhesus monkeys by intravenous challenge with Streptococcus pneumoniae. Our observations in the infected monkeys have led us to conclude that (1) pneumococcal capsular polysaccharide (PCP), immune complexes and complement may not have primary roles in the initiation of DIC; (2) intact pneumococci may be catalysts for the development of DIC; (3) the initial event in DIC may be activation of Hageman factor; and (4) evidence of activation of Hageman factor‐dependent systems is present regardless of severity of infection.
Evidence from Opportunity's Microscopic Imager for Water on Meridiani Planum

The Microscopic Imager on the Opportunity rover analyzed textures of soils and rocks at Meridiani Planum at a scale of 31 micrometers per pixel. The uppermost millimeter of some soils is weakly cemented, whereas other soils show little evidence of cohesion. Rock outcrops are laminated on a millimeter scale; image mosaics of cross-stratification suggest that some sediments were deposited by flowing water. Vugs in some outcrop faces are probably molds formed by dissolution of relatively soluble minerals during diagenesis. Microscopic images support the hypothesis that hematite-rich spherules observed in outcrops and soils also formed diagenetically as concretions.
Implementation of Self Time Adder Using Recursive Approach

A brief presents a parallel single-rail self-timed adder. It is based on a recursive formulation for performing multibit binary addition. The operation is parallel for those bits that do not need any carry chain propagation. Thus, the design attains logarithmic performance over random operand conditions without any special speedup circuitry or look-ahead schema. A practical implementation is provided along with a completion detection unit. The implementation is regular and does not have any practical limitations of high fanouts. A high fan-in gate is required though but this is unavoidable for asynchronous logic and is managed by connecting the transistors in parallel. Simulations have been performed using industry standard toolkits that verify the practicality and superiority of the proposed approach over existing asynchronous adders.
Field-oriented vector control of synchronous motors with additional field winding

This paper presents a new method to control a synchronous motor in such a way to resemble the characteristics of a DC motor. The method suggests including a second field winding to the rotor of a voltage-source-inverter-fed synchronous motor. The angular frequency of the inverter is made equal to the angular rotor speed, (of a self-controlled synchronous motor drive). The added field winding is in space quadrature to the main field winding and is properly excited in such a way as to diminish the direct axis component of the stator current at every load conditions. The motor is controlled to operate with zero power angle from the inverter side and zero direct axis current from the rotor excitation side. Therefore, it operates with minimum stator current and with unity power factor. The addition of the second field winding will not complicate the design because it is just a control winding. This winding may be made with smaller wire cross-section and a larger number of turns. The control on this winding is not complicated and it can be easily created. The synchronous motor along with the added field and the required control loops are simulated and tested extensively. The test results show excellent motor performance in motoring and regenerating modes of operation.
Progress in research of liver surgery in China.

Liver surgery, was started in the late 1950s in China and has developed rapidly in the past 40 years[1]. The study on the diagnosis and treatment of primary liver cancer in China underwent four stages: ① In the 1950s, the anatomical study of the liver lay a solid foundation for liver resection[2]. ② In the 1960s and 1970s, studies mainly focused on the detecting methods of AFP and other tumor markers, clinical and pathologic characterion of small liver cancer and epidemiology of liver cancer. ③ In the 1980s, imaging diagnostic techniques, such as CT, MRI, DSA, Doppler ultrasonography, etc., and new therapeutics[3], such as hepatic artery chemo-embolization, percutaneous intra-tumoral ethanol injection, hepatic artery ligation with targeted chemotherapy[4], and some new concepts such as radical regional resection, re-operation of the recurrent liver cancer, two-stage resection, the combined surgical management of liver cancer complicated with hepatic duct thrombus, splenomegaly and portal hypertension were introduced. These comprehensive treatment further improved the liver cancer surgery. ④ In the 1990s, attention was mainly focused on the biotherapy and liver transplantation. The progress in the diagnosis and treatment of primary liver cancer in recent years are summarized as follows.
Correlation between the structural and optical properties of spontaneously formed GaN nanowires: a quantitative evaluation of the impact of nanowire coalescence

We investigate the structural and optical properties of spontaneously formed GaN nanowires with different degrees of coalescence. This quantity is determined by an analysis of the cross-sectional area and perimeter of the nanowires obtained by plan-view scanning electron microscopy. X-ray diffraction experiments are used to measure the inhomogeneous strain in the nanowire ensembles as well as the orientational distribution of the nanowires. The comparison of the results obtained for GaN nanowire ensembles prepared on bare Si ( 111 ) ? > and AlN buffered 6H-SiC ( 000 1 ¯ ) ? > reveals that the main source of the inhomogeneous strain is the random distortions caused by the coalescence of adjacent nanowires. The magnitude of the strain inhomogeneity induced by nanowire coalescence is found not to be determined solely by the coalescence degree, but also by the mutual misorientation of the coalesced nanowires. The linewidth of the donor-bound exciton transition in photoluminescence spectra does not exhibit a monotonic increase with the coalescence degree. In contrast, the comparison of the root mean square strain with the linewidth of the donor-bound exciton transition reveals a clear correlation: the higher the strain inhomogeneity, the larger the linewidth.
The structure of the satellite cells in skeletal muscle.

The numerous nuclei enclosed by the sheath of a single skeletal muscle fibre are usually all considered to be contained within the sarcoplasm of the long muscle cell. Mauro (1961) shows, however, that a proportion of these nuclei belong to small separate cells, which in his preliminary communication are designated 'satellite cells'. These discrete, fusiform cells, applied to the inner surface of the basement membrane component of the sarcolemma, are stated by AMauro to be present in the tibialis anterior, sartorius and iliofibularis muscles of the frog and in the sartorius and tibialis anterior muscles of the white rat. From studies on the muscles of two other vertebrates, the fruit bat and white mouse, a more detailed description of the distribution and cytological structure of these satellite cells is now. presented. Since single electron microscope sections cannot exclude the presence of limited areas of continuity between the cytoplasm of the muscle fibre and its satellite cells, an experimental method is used to show that these cells are osmotically independent. The possible roles of the satellite cells in muscle regeneration and in the establishment of tissue culture preparations of skeletal muscle are discussed.
Materials design and development of functional materials for industry

It is now well recognized that we are witnessing a golden age of innovation with novel materials, with discoveries that are important for both basic science and industry. With the development of theory along with computing power, quantum materials design—the synthesis of materials with the desired properties in a controlled way via materials engineering on the atomic scale—is becoming a major component of materials research. Computational prediction based on first-principles calculations has helped to find an efficient way to develop materials that are much needed for industry, as we have seen in the successful development of visible-light sensitized photocatalysts and thermoelectric materials. Close collaboration between theory and experiment is emphasized as an essential for success.
Automated removal of ghost noise from SAR images using wavelet packet transform

Due to interference caused by ground transmitters, so-called ghost noise occurs on images obtained from synthetic aperture radar (SAR). This letter proposes a scheme based on the wavelet packet transform to remove this ghost noise from the SAR image. The wavelet packet transform is employed to decompose the SAR image with the ghost noise both in the spatial and in the spatial frequency domain. To automatically detect and remove the ghost noise, an energy detection method is developed in this letter. The performance of the proposed scheme is demonstrated by some experimental results on real SAR images. In addition, we point out that the proposed scheme is also useful for other applications of image processing and analysis.
The changing landscape for clinical research.

The authors review the history of U.S. clinical research and identify the profound changes stemming from advancements in the biomedical sciences, the recent transformation in the organization and financing of health care delivery, and the increasing application of information technologies. They observe that the enterprise must reorganize to account for the changed landscape, but there is a lack of the data necessary to monitor change and determine the extent to which clinical research is successfully realigning and sustaining itself. The authors discuss the evolving definition, scope, and venues for clinical research, and review previous analyses of clinical research's difficulties and remedies proposed: shared responsibility in the financing of academic medicine, support by federal and private health insurers for routine costs of patient care in clinical trials, and strengthened collaboration between and among industry, academia, insurers, and government. The authors conclude by describing two major initiatives to foster clinical investigation in the new landscape. The first is the Clinical Research Summit Project, a convocation of representative stakeholders from the health care system with an interest in clinical research, whose charge will be to formulate a national agenda for clinical research that has the broad-based support of the stakeholders. Among the challenges of this undertaking are the needs to identify new and stable sources of support for clinical research infrastructure, assess the future workforce needs for clinical investigation, and devise new methods to ensure the continued vitality and account-ability of clinical research. The second is the Clinical Research Task Force, an initiative of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), which is already exploring and advising on how AAMC member organizations can best strengthen their capacity to support clinical research programs in the current scientific, health care delivery, and financial environment.