Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterization of Antibodies Induced by Human Factor VIII in a Murine Knockout Model of Hemophilia A

Summary To investigate the usefulness of factor VIII (FVIII) knockout mice as an animal model of hemophilia A, we characterized the antibody response in FVIII knockout mice to recombinant human FVIII, administered intravenously or subcutaneously with or without adjuvant, and compared results to those in normal mice. Anti-factor VIII antibodies were detected after both intravenous and subcutaneous administration, with the highest titers after subcutaneous administration plus adjuvant. Depending on the administration strategy, knockout mice formed antibodies more rapidly and developed higher titers of inhibitory antibodies (Bethesda) than normal mice, suggesting differences in epitope specificity. Blotting thrombin cleavage products separated by gel electrophoresis showed that both strains developed antibodies against the nonfunctional B domain as well as against functional domains of factor VIII. The antibodies were mainly of the IgG1 subclass and resembled type I antibodies in hemophilia A.
Inhibition of Hepadnavirus Reverse Transcriptase-ε RNA Interaction by Porphyrin Compounds

ABSTRACT The hepatitis B virus (HBV) reverse transcriptase (RT) plays a multitude of fundamental roles in the viral life cycle and is the key target in the development of anti-HBV chemotherapy. We report here that the endogenous small molecule iron protoporphyrin IX (hemin) and several related porphyrin compounds potently blocked a critical RT interaction with the viral RNA packaging signal/origin of replication, called ε. As RT-ε interaction is essential for the initiation of viral reverse transcription, which is primed by RT itself (protein priming), the porphyrin compounds dramatically suppressed the protein-priming reaction. Further studies demonstrated that these compounds could target the unique N-terminal domain of the RT protein, the so-called terminal protein. Hemin and related porphyrin compounds thus represent a novel class of agents that can block HBV RT functions through a mechanism and target that are completely distinct from those of existing anti-HBV drugs.
Studying rotor eddy current loss of PM machines using nonlinear FEM including rotor motion

This paper studies distribution of eddy currents and eddy current losses in the rotor of concentrated winding exterior rotor permanent magnet machines in flywheels. The two-dimension nonlinear transient finite element method (FEM) model including rotor motion was used. Influence of slot opening on the eddy current loss in magnets and rotor back iron is investigated. Segmented magnets for reducing the eddy current loss are also surveyed. The proposed approach and results can be used to select the slot opening that minimizes rotor eddy current losses while maximizing the internal voltage. The used method allows monitoring of the eddy current losses in rotor as function of time, rotor speed, operating mode and stator slot opening. It therefore constitutes an indispensable tool in the design of PM machines taking the eddy current losses in the rotor into account.
Vision-based robotic system for polyhedral object grasping using kinect sensor

Since the introduction of the Microsoft Kinect sensor, real-time 3D perception of objects in a close-range scene has become one of the major trends in the current research on robotics and computer vision domain. As part of a long-term goal to develop a robust object recognition system for industrial applications, this paper focuses on the research topic of 3D planes recognition and separation for polyhedral object grasping using industrial manipulators and Kinect as a 3D vision system. Since the data acquired by the vision sensor such as Kinect are invariably noisy, a pipeline of algorithms has been implemented to reduce the noise and clustering the data points properly. With the feature vectors computed for each data point that represent the object of interest given, a split and merge algorithm has been developed to cluster the data exploiting the flexibility and robustness of the fuzzy logic inference system and then fitting each segment to a planar model using RANSAC. This work mainly uses the eye-to-hand Kinect-based vision system to retrieve the 3D position and normal vectors of the planar faces of the object and then give instructions to a robotic arm for grasping. Experimental results indicate that the proposed pipeline of algorithms written in C# for plane segmentation can successfully segment the polyhedral object, and the Kinect-based robotic vision system developed in this work can achieve real-time automatic polyhedral object grasping with high precision.
Peer Victimization Among Children and Adolescents

Peer victimization among children and adolescents has been the central issue of hundreds of studies over the past 3 decades. Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have explored the relationship between peer victimization and emotional adjustment, and provide robust evidence that peer victimization is linked to emotional adjustment difficulties. However, some studies failed to examine the correlation between peer victimization and individual indicators of emotional maladjustment. Moreover, the strength of this link varies greatly between studies. For example, the correlation between peer victimization and anxiety ranges between 0.11 and 0.61. Past research concentrated on overt victimization, whereas relational victimization has only recently been recognized. However, this type of peer victimization may have potentially strong deleterious effects on emotional adjustment. Since the beginning of the 21st century, a large number of empirical studies considered the different types of peer victimization, including relational victimization, and their effect on emotional adjustment. The aim of the current study was to provide a quantitative review of these studies, examining the linkages between peer victimization and emotional maladjustment in children and adolescents as well as the factors moderating this relationship.
psub guard ring design and modeling for the purpose of substrate noise isolation in the SOC era

This letter reports the effect of using a p-minus substrate guard ring (psub GR) structure to reduce substrate noise coupling. A corresponding equivalent lump circuit model that predicts the substrate noise isolation behavior of this structure versus distance is also presented. For this particular study, it was found that integrating the psub GR into conventional GR designs can improve substrate noise isolation capabilities of conventional p+ guard rings and n-well guard rings by -15 dB and -5 dB, respectively. This scheme requires no extra masks or processes, and no special substrate material.
Factors Associated with Knowledge of and Willingness for Adult Male Circumcision in Changsha, China

Background Male circumcision (MC) has been shown to reduce the risk of male genital diseases. MC is not commonly practiced among Chinese males and little is known about the factors associated with their knowledge of and willingness for MC. This study was to explore the knowledge regarding the foreskin among Chinese males and to identify factors associated with their willingness to undergo circumcision. Methods A total of 237 patients with redundant prepuce/phimosis were interviewed through face-to-face interviews. The items on the questionnaire included: demographics, an objective scale assessing knowledge about the foreskin, willingness to have MC, the attitudes of sexual partners and doctors toward redundant prepuce/phimosis, and the approaches that patients used to acquire knowledge regarding the prepuce. Univariate analysis and multiple logistic regression analysis were performed to identify factors that are associated with willingness to be circumcised (WTC). Results A total of 212 patients completed the interview. Multivariable logistic regression showed that three factors were significantly associated with WTC: being married (OR = 0.43), perceiving redundant prepuce/phimosis as a disease (OR = 1.93), and if a patient’s partner supported MC (OR = 1.39). 58% (n = 122) had received information about the foreskin from another party: 18% (n = 37) from school, 8% (n = 17) from family, 17% (n = 36) from friends, 27% (n = 57) from health care providers. About 4% (n = 8) believed that their partners disliked their redundant prepuce/phimosis. 20% (n = 42) had received doctors’ advice to undergo circumcision. Conclusion Knowledge about the foreskin was low among Chinese males. Our study elucidates the factors associated with WTC and suggests that more education of the population about the foreskin can help improve the recognition of a correctible abnormality and help patients assess the potential role of MC in their health.
Development of a generalized switched-capacitor DC/DC converter with bi-directional power flow

This paper presents the generalized circuit structure of a switched-capacitor DC/DC converter that can offer features of voltage step-down, voltage step-up, and bi-directional power flow, Starting with the derivation of a single-capacitor bidirectional converter cell, a converter string is created by cascading a required number of cells, which is determined by the input and output conversion ratio for optimizing the conversion efficiency. The input current is made continuous by operating two strings in parallel and in anti-phase. State-space averaging technique is applied to study the static and dynamic behaviors.
Going to scale: a nonrandomized nationwide trial of the KiVa antibullying program for grades 1-9.

OBJECTIVE The effects of school-based antibullying programs have typically been examined on small samples, with number of schools ranging from 1 to 78 (Farrington & Ttofi, 2009). This study investigated the effectiveness of the KiVa antibullying program in the beginning of its nationwide implementation in Finland. METHOD At each time point, the participants included 888 schools with approximately 150,000 students in 11,200 classrooms in Grades 1-9 (8-16 years of age; 51% boys and 49% girls). Victims and bullies were identified with the global questions from the Revised Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire (Olweus, 1996), utilizing the criteria suggested by Solberg and Olweus (2003). The program effects were examined by calculating odds ratios based on a cohort-longitudinal design, correcting the standard errors for clustering. RESULTS During the first 9 months of implementation, the KiVa program reduced both victimization and bullying, with a control/intervention group odds ratio of 1.22 (95% CI [1.19, 1.24]) for victimization and 1.18 (95% CI [1.15, 1.21]) for bullying. CONCLUSIONS Generalized to the Finnish population of 500,000 students, this would mean a reduction of approximately 7,500 bullies and 12,500 victims.
The Schizosaccharomyces pombe casein kinase II alpha and beta subunits: evolutionary conservation and positive role of the beta subunit

Casein kinase II is a key regulatory enzyme involved in many cellular processes, including the control of growth and cell division. We report the molecular cloning and sequencing of cDNAs encoding the alpha and the beta subunits of casein kinase II of Schizosaccharomyces pombe. The deduced amino acid sequence of Cka1, the alpha catalytic subunit, shows high sequence similarity to alpha subunits identified in other species. The amino acid sequence of Ckb1, the S. pombe beta subunit, is 57% identical to that of the human beta subunit. Cka1 overexpression results in no detectable phenotype. In contrast, Ckb1 overexpression inhibits cell growth and cytokinesis, with formation of multiseptated cells. Disruption of the ckb1+ gene causes a cold-sensitive phenotype and abnormalities in cell shape. In these cells, the casein kinase II activity is reduced to undetectable levels, demonstrating that Ckb1 is required for enzyme activity in vivo. In agreement with this, the activity measured in a strain expressing high levels of Cka1 is enhanced only when the Ckb1 protein is coexpressed. Altogether, our data suggest that Ckb1 is a positive regulator of the enzyme activity, and that it plays a role in mediating the interaction of casein kinase II with downstream targets and/or with additional regulators.
DRT: A Unified Framework for Text Detection, Recognition and Tracking in Video

: The successful analysis of video data is currently in great demand because a video is a major source of data in our lives. The text is a direct source information, while recent surveys on the detection of and recognition in imagery mainly focuses on extracting text scene pictures. Here, this work presents an implementation of text detection, video tracking and recognition with three Contributions. First, a unified generic framework is proposed for video text extraction that consistently implementing detection, recognition and tracking. Secondly, this framework is implemented recognize caption text and scene text.This work proposes a new generic framework that successively implements text detection, recognition and tracking in videos, the text can be of any type, both caption text and scene text.
Molecular Genetics of Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus (Human Herpesvirus 8) Epidemiology and Pathogenesis

SUMMARY Kaposi's sarcoma had been recognized as unique human cancer for a century before it manifested as an AIDS-defining illness with a suspected infectious etiology. The discovery of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), also known as human herpesvirus-8, in 1994 by using representational difference analysis, a subtractive method previously employed for cloning differences in human genomic DNA, was a fitting harbinger for the powerful bioinformatic approaches since employed to understand its pathogenesis in KS. Indeed, the discovery of KSHV was rapidly followed by publication of its complete sequence, which revealed that the virus had coopted a wide armamentarium of human genes; in the short time since then, the functions of many of these viral gene variants in cell growth control, signaling apoptosis, angiogenesis, and immunomodulation have been characterized. This critical literature review explores the pathogenic potential of these genes within the framework of current knowledge of the basic herpesvirology of KSHV, including the relationships between viral genotypic variation and the four clinicoepidemiologic forms of Kaposi's sarcoma, current viral detection methods and their utility, primary infection by KSHV, tissue culture and animal models of latent- and lytic-cycle gene expression and pathogenesis, and viral reactivation from latency. Recent advances in models of de novo endothelial infection, microarray analyses of the host response to infection, receptor identification, and cloning of full-length, infectious KSHV genomic DNA promise to reveal key molecular mechanisms of the candidate pathogeneic genes when expressed in the context of viral infection.
Ultrasonic resonator technology as a new quality control method evaluating gelatin nanoparticles

Nanomedicine is a quickly evolving field where more and more possible applications become evident and start entering clinical trials or even the market. However, the analytic methods are not always able to keep pace with the new formulations’ demands. One example of a promising medical implementation is oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) delivery by gelatin nanoparticles (GNPs). Currently, quality control is dependent on either some time consuming or destructive spectrometric, chromatographic or electrophoretic methods. A possible enlargement of the portfolio by Ultrasonic Resonator Technology (URT) is investigated here by subjecting plain GNPs in various sizes and concentrations as well as ODN-loaded GNPs to URT analysis. If calibrated by photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS) and other spectroscopy methods for each single nanoparticle system parameter, URT is an efficient and non-destructive technique and serves as a broad characterization method. URT is emphasized to play a possible future part in the size, concentration and ODN loading monitoring, e.g. of gelatin nanoparticles in the course of formulation development.
Sophisticated Architecture is Required for the Sinoatrial Node to Perform Its Normal Pacemaker Function

Structure‐Function Relationships of the SA Node. The heart's pacemaker, the sinoatrial node, does not consist of a group of uniform sinoatrial node cells embedded in atrial muscle. Instead, it is a heterogeneous tissue with multiple cell types and a complex structure. Evidence suggests that from the periphery to the center of the sinoatrial node, there is a gradient in action potential shape, pacemaking, ionic current densities, connexin expression, Ca2+ handling, myofilament density, and cell size. This complexity may be necessary for the sinoatrial node to pacemake under diverse conditions, drive the more hyperpolarized atrial muscle, and resist proarrhythmic perturbations.
Integrating the effects of angular momentum and changing center of mass height in bipedal locomotion planning

The majority of methods developed for generating locomotion plans for bipedal robots are based upon the linear inverted pendulum model. While this simplified model has proven useful, it possesses certain theoretical limitations such as the inability to account for changes in the height of the center of mass or the effects of angular momentum, the latter of which can be useful for recovering from disturbances and in balancing. It is shown in this paper that if we assume that the robot is closely following a known reference signal for the center of mass height, the equations of motion are linear in the position of the center of pressure and the rate of change of angular momentum about the center of mass. With the dynamics linear in these particular quantities, model predictive control is used to solve for control inputs over a receding horizon resulting in reference trajectories for the center of pressure and the rate of change of angular momentum about the center of mass. Examples are presented for undisturbed walking, double support push recovery, and one leg balancing that utilize the effects of angular momentum while remaining dynamically consistent with a reference signal for the height of the center of mass and regulating critical ground reference points for ensuring the maintenance of postural stability.
Induction of apoptosis in cultured colon cancer cells by transfection with human interferon beta gene.

The growth of SW480 colon cancer cells following the transfection with the human interferon beta (hIFNbeta) gene entrapped in cationic multilamellar liposomes was effectively inhibited, but not that of the cells transfected with the gene from which the secretion signal sequence of hIFNbeta had been deleted. The amount of hIFNbeta secreted in the medium from SW480 cells transfected with hIFNbeta gradually increased and became maximum 3 days after the transfection, but no hIFNbeta was detected in the medium of the cells transfected with the secretion signal-deleted hIFNbeta. These findings indicate that the growth inhibition of SW480 cells after the transfection with hIFNbeta was caused by hIFNbeta secreted from the transfected cells. At that time, SW480 cells were induced to undergo apoptosis, which was identified by morphological aspects, viz., chromatin condensation, nuclear segmentation, and nucleosomal DNA fragmentation. The hIFNbeta-induced apoptosis was found to be linked to the activation of caspases 3 and 8 as evidenced by immunoblot, enzymological, and cell death inhibition analyses.
A Microfluidic-based Tactile Sensor for Palpating Mice Tumor Tissues

In light of the need of tissue palpation for Robotics-assisted Minimally Invasive Surgery (RMIS), this paper presents a microfluidic-based tactile sensor for palpating mice tissues for tumor localization. The core of the sensor is a 3x3 sensing-plate/transducer array built into a single polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microstructure, with a transducer spacing of 3.75mmx1. 5mm. Mounted on a robot, the sensor is pressed against a tissue region with a pre-defined indentation depth pattern, and consequently the stiffness distribution across the tissue region translates to the deflection distribution of the sensing-plate array and is captured by the transducer array underneath as resistance changes. Thus, the recorded data on a tissue region is the sensor deflection as a function of the indentation depth. While the continuous manner of the sensor interacting with a tissue region alleviates the error resulting from non-ideal normal contact between the sensor and the tissue region, the error related to uncertainty in contact point is removed by interpreting the palpation results in terms of the slope of the sensor deflection versus the indentation depth. Two mice tumor tissues are palpated using the sensor. After their noise being removed, the raw data on the two tissues are processed to obtain their slope distribution, the slope error and the percentage error in the slope. The slope distribution of each tissue clearly illustrates the location of a tumor. The palpation results also indicate that this sensor can be integrated into a robotic-assisted system for tumor localization.
Poisson Growth Mixture Modeling of Intensive Longitudinal Data: An Application to Smoking Cessation Behavior

Intensive longitudinal data (ILD) have become increasingly common in the social and behavioral sciences; count variables, such as the number of daily smoked cigarettes, are frequently used outcomes in many ILD studies. We demonstrate a generalized extension of growth mixture modeling (GMM) to Poisson-distributed ILD for identifying qualitatively distinct trajectories in the context of developmental heterogeneity in count data. Accounting for the Poisson outcome distribution is essential for correct model identification and estimation. In addition, setting up the model in a way that is conducive to ILD measures helps with data complexities—large data volume, missing observations, and differences in sampling frequency across individuals. We present technical details of model fitting, summarize an empirical example of patterns of smoking behavior change, and describe research questions the generalized GMM helps to address.
On Optimal Structural Remodeling 1

We present the problem of remodeling a given structure such as to improve structural performance optimally within a specified available resource. The development pertains to all types of problems where the mode of structural response is governed by an extremum principle. A variational formulation is used, and the idea is illustrated for maximum-stiffness remodeling of single-purpose structures.