Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Theoretical model for myocardial trabeculation

During the morphogenetic process of myocardial trabeculation, most of the cardiac jelly of the initially smooth‐walled heart is replaced by sponge‐like muscle. The mechanisms that drive and regulate this important process are poorly understood. Using a theoretical model, we examined the possible role that cytoskeletal contraction plays during the initial stages of trabeculation. The myocardium is modeled as a thin viscoelastic membrane consisting of contractile (stress) fibers embedded in an isotropic incompressible matrix, with the interaction of myocardial cells and cardiac jelly fibers providing long‐range mechanical effects. The stress fibers are assumed to behave like smooth muscle and to normally operate on the descending limb of their stress‐stretch curve. Mechanical instability due to the effectively negative stiffness then leads to the creation of pattern. As a first approximation, computations were carried out for a flat rectangular membrane with stress fibers aligned along a single direction. The computed deformation patterns depend strongly on the magnitude and anisotropy of the long‐range effects. Given plausible assumptions about the mechanical properties of the embryonic heart, the model predicts trabecular patterns similar to those observed in the embryo, including the development of circumferential ridges and relatively thin regions (“holes”) in the trabecular sheets. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Factors influencing serum cystatin C levels other than renal function and the impact on renal function measurement.

BACKGROUND It is well known that serum creatinine may be used as a marker of renal function only if taking into account factors that influence creatinine production, such as age, gender, and weight. Serum cystatin C has been proposed as a potentially superior marker than serum creatinine, because serum cystatin C level is believed to be produced at a constant rate and not to be affected by such factors. However, there are limited data on factors that may influence serum cystatin C levels, and there are limited data comparing cystatin C-based estimates of renal function with creatinine-based estimates that adjust for such factors, especially in individuals with normal, or mildly reduced, renal function. METHODS This was a cross-sectional study of 8058 inhabitants of the city of Groningen, The Netherlands, 28 to 75 years of age. Serum cystatin C and serum creatinine levels were measured, and creatinine clearance was determined from the average of two separate 24-hour urine collections. We performed multivariate analyses to identify factors independently associated with serum cystatin C levels after adjusting for creatinine clearance. Then, partial Spearman correlations were obtained after adjusting for factors that may influence serum cystatin C and creatinine levels. We also compared the goodness-of-fit (R(2)) of different multivariate linear regression models including serum cystatin C level and serum creatinine level for the outcome of creatinine clearance. RESULTS Older age, male gender, greater weight, greater height, current cigarette smoking, and higher serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were independently associated with higher serum cystatin C levels after adjusting for creatinine clearance. After adjusting for age, weight, and gender, the partial Spearman correlations between creatinine and, respectively, serum cystatin C level and serum creatinine level were -0.29 (P < 0.001) and -0.42 (P < 0.001), respectively. The R(2) values for serum cystatin C level and serum creatinine level adjusted for age, weight, and gender were 0.38 and 0.42, respectively. The addition of cigarette smoking and serum CRP levels did not improve the R(2) value for the multivariate serum cystatin C-based model. CONCLUSION Serum cystatin C appears to be influenced by factors other than renal function alone. In addition, we found no evidence that multivariate serum cystatin C-based estimates of renal function are superior to multivariate serum creatinine-based estimates.
Structural diversity in the HLA-A10 family of alleles: correlations with serology.

The HLA-A10 crossreacting group consists of the A25, A26, A34, A43 and A66 antigens. Here, we report allelic sequences for A43 and for 2 subtypes of both A26 and A34. Combining these results with previously determined sequences for A25, A26 and A66 enables molecular comparison of all the serologically defined A10 antigens. They form a closely related and well-defined group of alleles which may have originated with A*2601. Patterns of serological crossreactivity are correlated with sequence and a public epitope shared by A33 and members of the A10 family is localized to residues R62 and N63. The A*2501, A*4301 and A*6601 alleles appear to have derived from A*2601 by single gene conversion events with other HLA-A alleles. In the case of A*4301, the donor allele was probably an A29 allele as A*4301 has a small element of sequence in the alpha 1 helix (residues L62 and Q63) uniquely shared with A29. The chimaeric structure of A43 explains the reactivity of A43 molecules with both A10 and A29 alloantisera. The rare Oriental variant of A26 (A26v*) is encoded by an allele (A*2602) that differs from A*2601 by a unique nucleotide substitution which changes aspartate to asparagine at position 116 in the floor of the peptide binding groove. Thus A*2602 is a functionally distinct allele that originated by a point mutation. Alleles encoding A34 and A66 antigens are found to have very similar structures, explaining the difficulty in their serological definition. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Object tracking through RSSI measurements in wireless sensor networks

The localisation of moving and transceiver-free objects is addressed by processing the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) available at the nodes of a wireless sensor network. Starting from the RSSI measurements, the probability of the presence of unknown mobile objects is determined by means of a customised classification approach based on a support vector machine. Experimental results assess the feasibility of the proposed approach.
Chunk Segmentation of Chinese Sentences Using a Combined Statistical and Rule-Based Approach (Csra)

Deep parsing of Chinese sentences is a very challenging task due to their complexity such as ambiguous word boundaries and meanings. An alternative mode of Chinese language processing is to perform shallow parsing of Chinese sentences in which chunk segmentation plays an important role. In this paper, we present a chunk segmentation algorithm using a combined statistical and rule-based approach (CSRA). The decision rules for refining chunk segmentation are generated from incorrectly segmented chunks from a statistical model which is built on a training corpus. Experimental results show that the CSRA works well and produces satisfactory chunk segmentation results for subsequent processes such as chunk tagging and chunk collocation extraction.
The Effect of a Ferromagnetic Medium on the Field of YBCO Trapped Field Magnets

Trapped field magnets (TFMs) are characterized by the maximum field they can retain when they are activated in air (~vacuum). In some applications however, TFMs are partially embedded in a ferromagnetic medium. We consider, experimentally and theoretically, some simple geometries involving contact between TFMs and ferromagnetic media. We find: an increase in maximum TFM field exceeding a factor of 2.53; a change in field profile from the well-known conical TFM field to a uniform field in the ferromagnetic material; and fields produced by present day TFMs capable of saturating Hyperco-50 alloy. The observed flux creep rate of the TFM field was found to be the same in air and in contact with ferromagnetic material.
A Business Model for Transforming Nanotechnology to Nanobusinesses: The Chinese dualistic philosophy perspective

Nanotechnology has been recognized as an emerging technology driver critical for the competitive advantage of the firms in the near future. Many technological and market efforts have been done in practical world to explore the applications of nanotechnology in the existing or new businesses. New business model has become a critical concern for the business managers and entrepreneurs in dealing with the emerging technology. Owning to the increasing importance and the unique characteristics of nanotechnology, this paper draws on an extensive review of business model literature and Chinese dualistic philosophy to outline a nanobusiness model. The proposed nanobusiness model include two central parts (strategy and tactics), four components (strategic scanning, strategic positioning, knowledge management, and risk management) and eight elements (take multiple bets, regularly validate the commercial opportunity, "business targeting, value proposition, open innovation, core technologies platform, managing the customer's purchasing process, and harvesting the low hanging fruits. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed
distribution factors : implications and identi cation .

This paper provides an exhaustive characterization of testability and identi ability issues in the collective framework in the absence of price variation; it thus provides a theoretical underpinning for a number of empirical works that have been developped recently. We rst provide a simple and general test of the Pareto e¢ ciency hypothesis, which is consistent with all possible assumptions on the private or public nature of goods, all possible consumption externalities between household members, and all types of interdependent individual preferences and domestic production technology; moreover, the test is proved to be necessary and su¢ cient. We then provide a complete analysis of the identi cation problem; we show under which assumptions it is possible to identify, from the observation of the household consumption of private goods, the allocation of these goods within the household as well as the Engel curves of individual household members. JEL classi cation: D13 Keywords: intrahousehold allocation, collective models, identi cation, sharing. We thank G. Becker, A. Deaton, J. Heckman, Y. Weiss and participants at conferences and seminars in Paris, Cambridge, Chicago and Milan for useful comments and suggestions. Browning thanks the Danish National Research Foundation for support through its grant to CAM. Errors are ours. yWorld Bank zCAM, University of Copenhagen xDepartment of Economics, University of Chicago and Columbia University. Email: pc2167@columbia.edu
Zero-Value Register Attack on Elliptic Curve Cryptosystem

Differential power analysis (DPA) might break implementations of elliptic curve cryptosystem (ECC) on memory constraint devices. Goubin proposed a variant of DPA using a point (0, y), which is not randomized in Jacobian coordinates or in an isomorphic class. This point often exists in standardized elliptic curves, and we have to care this attack. In this paper, we propose zero-value register attack as an extension of Goubin's attack. Note that even if a point has no zero-value coordinate, auxiliary registers might take zero value. We investigate these zero-value registers that cannot be randomized by the above randomization. Indeed, we have found several points P = (x, y) which cause the zero-value registers, e.g., (1) 3x 2 +a = 0, (2) 5x 4 + 2ax 2 -4bx + a 2 = 0, (3) P is y-coordinate self-collision point, etc. We demonstrate the elliptic curves recommended in SECG that have these points. Interestingly, some conditions required for zero-value register attack depend on explicit implementation of addition formulae - in order to resist this type of attacks, we have to care how to implement the addition formulae. Finally, we note that Goubin's attack and the proposed attack assume that a base point P can be chosen by attackers and a secret scalar d is fixed, so that they are not applicable to ECDSA.
Isometric exercise training lowers resting blood pressure.

Both rhythmic and "resistive" (weight lifting) exercise training can produce modest decreases in resting blood pressure. The next logical point along an exercise continuum consisting of different proportions of rhythmic and isometric efforts is a strictly isometric effort. The purpose of these studies was to assess the effects of isometric, handgrip exercise training on resting blood pressure. To avoid the extreme pressor responses elicited by fatiguing isometric efforts, the isometric exercise training used in this study consisted of brief handgrip contractions separated by rest periods. Modest repeated rises in systolic and diastolic pressures therefore served as the putative stimuli for training adaptations in resting blood pressures. Human subjects in study 1 trained with four, 2-min isometric handgrip contractions with 3-min rests between contractions. The intensity of the contractions was equal to 30% of their maximal effort for each day. The bouts of isometric exercise were performed three times per week for 8 wk. Study 2 training consisted of four contractions of 50% of maximum effort held for a duration of 45 s with 1-min rests. These were performed 5 d.wk-1 for 5 wk. In Study 1, all eight trained subjects had a significant decline in both systolic and diastolic resting blood pressures, with group averages of 12.5 and 14.9 mm Hg, respectively. Seven matched control subjects who did not train had no change in resting pressures. In study 2, subjects were trained in their home or workplace and experienced significant mean declines in resting systolic and diastolic pressures of 9.5 and 8.9 mm Hg. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Combining Stochastic Models with Experiments to Understand the Dynamics of Monarch Butterfly Colonization

Stochastic models are of increasing importance in ecology but are usually only applied to observational data. Here we use a stochastic population model to combine experimental and observational data to understand the colonization of old fields by monarch butterflies Danaus plexippus. We experimentally tested for density dependence in oviposition rates when predators were excluded, and we measured predation rates under natural conditions. Significance tests on the resulting data showed that both oviposition and predation were density dependent but could not show how oviposition and mortality combine to determine egg densities in nature. We therefore used our data to calculate the Akaike Information Criterion to choose between a nested suite of stochastic models that differed in their oviposition and mortality terms. When we simply fit the models to the observational data, the best model assumed density independence in both oviposition and predation. When we instead first estimated the oviposition rate at low density from experimental data, however, the best model included density dependence in oviposition, and a model that included density dependence in both oviposition and predation performed nearly as well. This result is consistent with our experiments and suggests that experiments can enhance the usefulness of stochastic models in ecology.
Compensation, Work Status, and Disability in Low Back Pain Patients

Study Design A prospectively designed study was performed to assess the influence of employment status and a compensation claim on patients experiencing low back pain. Objectives To determine the factor that most influences disability arising from low back pain, unemployment or a compensation claim. Summary of Background Data Two hundred sixtynine consecutive patients were assessed from a low back pain clinic. Methods Disability was assessed using the Oswestry Disability Score, and employment, and compensation status were recorded. Results Both unemployment and patients involved in compensation had higher disability scores. However, by controlling the data for employment and assessing only the compensation group it was found that those claiming compensation, but still working had significantly less disability than those claiming compensation who were unemployed. Conclusions Both unemployment and compensation claims influence disability, but employment status is the most important factor.
Advanced Player Activity Recognition by Integrating Body Posture and Motion Information

: Human action recognition is an important research area in the ﬁeld of computer vision having a great number of real-world applications. This paper presents a multi-view action recognition framework able to extract human silhouette clues from different synchronized static cameras and then to validate them introducing advanced reasonings about scene dynamics. Two different algorithmic procedures have been introduced: the ﬁrst one performs, in each acquired image, the neural recognition of the human body conﬁguration by using a novel mathematic tool named Contourlet transform. The second procedure performs, instead, 3D ball and player motion analysis. The outcomes of both procedures are then properly merged to accomplish the ﬁnal player activity recognition task. Experimental results were carried out on several image sequences acquired during some matches of the Italian Serie A soccer championship.
Interaction of West Nile Virus with αvβ3 Integrin Mediates Virus Entry into Cells*

The functional receptor for the flavivirus West Nile (WNV) infection has been characterized in this study with a combination of biochemical and molecular approaches. A 105-kDa protease-sensitive glycoprotein that binds WNV was isolated from the plasma membrane of cells permissive to WNV infection. The protein was subjected to peptide sequencing, and this glycoprotein was identified as a member of the integrin superfamily. Infection of WNV was shown to be markedly inhibited in Vero cells pretreated with blocking antibodies against αvβ3 integrin and its subunits by receptor competition assay. It was also noted that cells pretreated with antibodies against αvβ3 integrin can effectively inhibit flavivirus Japanese encephalitis but to a lesser extent flavivirus dengue infections. West Nile virus entry is independent of divalent cations and is not highly blocked by arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) peptides, suggesting that the interaction between the virus and αvβ3 integrin is not highly dependent on the classical RGD binding motif. In addition, gene silencing of the β3 integrin subunit in cells has resulted in cells largely resistant to WNV infection. In contrast, expression of recombinant human β3 integrin substantially increased the permissiveness of CS-1 melanoma cells for WNV infection. Soluble αvβ3 integrin can also effectively block WNV infection in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, WNV infection also triggered the outside-in signaling pathway via the activation of integrin-associated focal adhesion kinase. The identification of αvβ3 integrin as a receptor for WNV provides insight into virus-receptor interaction, hence creating opportunities in the development of anti-viral strategies against WNV infection.
Steroid sulfatase (STS) expression in the human temporal lobe: enzyme activity, mRNA expression and immunohistochemistry study

Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its sulfate (DHEAS) are suggested to be important neurosteroids. We investigated steroid sulfatase (STS) in human temporal lobe biopsies in the context of possible cerebral DHEA(S) de novo biosynthesis. Formation of DHEA(S) in mature human brain tissue has not yet been studied. 17α‐Hydroxylase/C17‐20‐lyase and hydroxysteroid sulfotransferase catalyze the formation of DHEA from pregnenolone and the subsequent sulfoconjugation, respectively. Neither their mRNA nor activity were detected, indicating that DHEA(S) are not produced within the human temporal lobe. Conversely, strong activity and mRNA expression of DHEAS desulfating STS was found, twice as high in cerebral neocortex than in subcortical white matter. Cerebral STS resembled the characteristics of the known placental enzyme. Immunohistochemistry revealed STS in adult cortical neurons as well as in fetal and adult Cajal‐Retzius cells. Organic anion transporting proteins OATP‐A, ‐B, ‐D, and ‐E showed high mRNA expression levels with distinct patterns in cerebral neocortex and subcortical white matter. Although it is not clear whether they are expressed at the blood–brain barrier and facilitate an influx rather than an efflux, they might well be involved in the transport of steroid sulfates from the blood. Therefore, we hypothesize that DHEAS and/or other sulfated 3β‐hydroxysteroids might enter the human temporal lobe from the circulation where they would be readily converted via neuronal STS activity.
On the Applicability of Onion Routing on Predictable Delay-Tolerant Networks

In this paper we analyze the applicability of onion routing on Predictable Delay-Tolerant Networks. We show that a simple approach for providing anonymity through the application of a simple onion routing can be feasible in some scenarios. To that end we evaluate our proposal on a network based on a city public bus transportation network.
The evolutionary history of an invasive species : alligator weed , Alternanthera philoxeroides

The eco-evolutionary mechanisms of biological invasions are still not thoroughly understood. Alligator weed, Alternanthera philoxeroides (Martius) Gisebach (Amaranthaceae), is a plant native to South America and a weed in Australia and other countries. To better understand its success as an invader, we assessed the morphological and cytogenetic variability of 12 Argentine populations and the cytogenetic variability of seven Australian populations. We found differences in leaf shape (width-tolength ratio) and stem architecture in the Argentine populations, in reproduction (sexual with regular meiosis in two Argentine populations vs completely asexual with irregular meiosis and low pollen viability in all other populations) and ploidy level (tetraploids with sexual reproduction and seed production vs hexaploids with or without sexual reproduction). We propose a hypothesis about the mechanism that drove alligator weed to form highly invasive hybrid populations with vegetative reproduction from diploid ancestors, and we consider the implications for plant–herbivore interactions and biological control of this weed.
The Optimal Timing of Unemployment Benefits: Theory and Evidence from Sweden

This paper provides a simple, yet robust framework to evaluate the time profile of benefits paid during an unemployment spell. We derive sufficient-statistics formulae capturing the marginal insurance value and incentive costs of unemployment benefits paid at different times during a spell. Our approach allows us to revisit separate arguments for inclining or declining profiles put forward in the theoretical literature and to identify welfare-improving changes in the benefit profile that account for all relevant arguments jointly. For the empirical implementation, we use administrative data on unemployment, linked to data on consumption, income, and wealth in Sweden. First, we exploit duration-dependent kinks in the replacement rate and find that, if anything, the moral hazard cost of benefits is larger when paid earlier in the spell. Second, we find that the drop in consumption affecting the insurance value of benefits is large from the start of the spell, but further increases throughout the spell. In trading off insurance and incentives, our analysis suggests that the at benefit profile in Sweden has been too generous overall. However, both from the insurance and the incentives side, we find no evidence to support the introduction of a declining tilt in the profile.