Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A high-throughput, metastability-free GALS channel based on pausible clock method

Synchronization issues such as metastability in multi-clock domain systems have become a big problem, reducing data transmission throughput between domains. In this paper, a high-throughput, metastability-free data transmission channel based on pausible clock method in Globally-Asynchronous Locally-Synchronous (GALS) systems is proposed. This channel can be used as the interconnection of mixed-clock synchronous IP cores without having concerns about their synchronization. We show that the probability of metastability in our design is practically zero; and this without loss of throughput and latency, allowing the transmitter and receiver to operate with their own maximum clock frequency. The proposed channel is simulated in 90nm CMOS process using Predictive Technology Model (PTM) library. Gate delays and power parameters are extracted from Spice simulations and are back annotated into our channel HDL code. The throughput, latency and power are analyzed and compared with existing designs.
Les mécanismes de maintien de l'information verbale en mémoire de travail

La memoire de travail est un systeme permettant de retenir des informations tout en realisant simultanement un traitement. La repetition subvocale (Baddeley, 1986) et le rafraichissement attentionnel (Barrouillet et al., 2007) sont deux mecanismes ayant ete identifies comme jouant un role dans le maintien de l’information verbale en memoire de travail. Cependant, la nature exacte de la relation qu’entretiennent ces deux mecanismes a peu ete etudiee et reste incertaine. Pour cette raison, le but de notre travail etait dans un premier temps d’etudier la relation entre la repetition et le rafraichissement. Dans plusieurs etudes realisees chez le jeune adulte, l’utilisation de la repetition et l’utilisation du rafraichissement ont ete respectivement manipulees a travers la suppression articulatoire et la demande attentionnelle du traitement concurrent. Dans la continuite des travaux precedents de Camos, Lagner et Barrouillet (2009), les donnees de nos etudes permettent de conclure que les deux mecanismes sont independants et qu’ils peuvent etre utilises conjointement pour le maintien de mots. Des etudes supplementaires suggerent que la repetition et le rafraichissement sont egalement independants chez l’enfant de 7-8 ans, mais qu’ils ne sont pas utilises conjointement. Le second but vise par nos travaux etait de tester la nature des representations impliquees dans le maintien par repetition et par rafraichissement. Pour cela, les proprietes phonologiques des mots a memoriser ont ete manipulees a travers la similarite phonologique et la longueur des mots, tandis que la mise en œuvre de la repetition et du rafraichissement variait. Les donnees ont revele que la repetition reposait sur les representations phonologiques, alors que le rafraichissement etait independant de telles representations. Les resultats de deux experiences exploratoires ont montre que le rafraichissement ne reposait pas sur les connaissances a long terme (telles que la frequence et la lexicalite) et laissent ouverte la question des representations impliquees par ce mecanisme. Les donnees de nos recherches apportent des arguments en faveur des modeles de memoire de travail qui supposent l’implication a la fois d’un mecanisme general et d’un mecanisme specifique pour le maintien de l’information verbale.
Sitagliptin Successfully Ameliorates Glycemic Control in Werner Syndrome With Diabetes

Werner syndrome (WS) is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by a mutation in the WRN gene, and it is considered to be a representative type of progeroid syndrome (1). Patients with WS often exhibit insulin resistance, which is associated with the accumulation of visceral fat and disadipocytokinemia. We and others have previously reported that pioglitazone, a peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor γ ligand, improved glycemic control and insulin sensitivity with normalization of disadipocytokine levels in patients with WS (2,3). Here we describe a diabetic subject with WS that had good glycemic control with pioglitazone initially but worsened because of abdominal obesity and increasing visceral fat area. Sitagliptin, an inhibitor of dipeptidyl peptidase-4, was then administered, which resulted in successful improvement of …
Topics in Chemical Reaction Network Theory

Under the assumption of mass-action kinetics, systems of chemical reactions can give rise to a wide variety of dynamical behaviour, including stability of a unique equilibrium concentration, multistability, periodic behaviour, chaotic behaviour, switching behaviour, and many others. In the canonical papers [25,30,33], M. Feinberg, F. Horn and R. Jackson developed so-called Chemical Reaction Network theory which drew a strong connection between the topological structure of the reaction graph and the dynamical behaviour of mass-action systems. A significant amount of work since that time has been conducted expanding upon this connection and fleshing out the theoretical underpinnings of the theory. In this thesis, I focus on three topics within the scope of Chemical Reaction Network theory: 1. Linearization: It is known that complex balanced systems possess within each invariant space of the system a unique positive equilibrium concentration and that that concentration is locally asymptotically stable. F. Horn and R. Jackson determined this through the use of an entropy-like Lyapunov function [33]. In Chapter 4, I approach this problem through the alternative approach of linearizing the mass-action system about its equilibrium points. I show that this approach reproduces the results of F. Horn and R. Jackson and has the advantage of being able to give explicit exponential bounds on the convergence near equilibria. 2. Persistence: A well-known limitation of the theory introduced in [33] is that the stabilities of the positive equilibrium concentrations guaranteed by the theory are locally limited. The conjecture that the equilibrium concentrations of complex balanced systems are global attractors of their respective invariant spaces has become known as the Global Attractor Conjecture and has received significant attention recently. This theory has been significantly aided by the realization that trajectories not tending toward the set of positive equilibria must tend toward the boundary of the positive orthant; consequently, persistence is a sufficient condition to affirm the conjecture. In Chapter 5, I present my contributions to this problem. 3. Linear Conjugacy : It is known that under the mass-action assumption two reaction networks with disparate topological structure may give rise to the same set of differential equations and therefore exhibit the same qualitative dynamical behaviour. In Chapter 6, I expand the scope of networks which exhibit the same behaviour to include ones which are related by a non-trivial linear mapping. I have called this theory Linear Conjugacy theory. I also show how networks exhibiting a linear conjugacy can be found using the mixed integer linear programming (MILP) framework introduced by G. Szederkényi [58].
Statistical Approaches to Question Answering in Watson

Introduction The ability to understand and communicate in natural languages, such as English or Chinese, is a hallmark of human intelligence, and one of the core challenges in the field of Artificial Intelligence. Despite decades of AI research, the goal of building machines with human-level conversational fluency, as depicted by HAL and C3PO in science fiction, remains elusive and daunting. Nevertheless, a burst of recent progress in the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP) has been enabled by the explosive growth in machine-readable language data (primarily in text or hypertext form) available from sources such as the World Wide Web. Furthermore, increasingly powerful computer hardware makes it feasible to apply complex analysis to these large volumes of text. Consequently, researchers have made exciting progress in automated Question Answering (QA), which aims to find a specific answer to a user’s natural language question.
How Reliable is Reported Sleeping Position in Cases of Unexpected Infant Death?

Abstract: Examination of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) deaths in South Australia over a 7‐year period from 2000 to 2006 was undertaken. There were 32 out of 35 cases where details of position when found were known. The data confirmed a marked decline in deaths in the prone position over the past decade, but showed no significant decline in cases reportedly found dead in the supine position. Posterior lividity was present in most cases (n = 30), 10 of whom also had anterior lividity. Posterior lividity was attributable either to the position of the body after death or to the effect of supine postmortem storage. In six cases, however, fixed anterior lividity indicated that death had occurred in the prone position despite statements that the infants had been found on the side (n = 1) and in the supine position (n = 5). This contradiction indicates that caregivers’ descriptions of terminal sleeping positions may not be supported by autopsy findings. The numbers of SIDS deaths reported in the supine position in South Australia may not, therefore, represent a genuine tally, but instead may be a function of inaccurate reporting. This may act as a confounding factor in studies attempting to link sleeping position with other risk factors.
Salt intake, stroke, and cardiovascular disease: meta-analysis of prospective studies

Objective To assess the relation between the level of habitual salt intake and stroke or total cardiovascular disease outcome. Design Systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies published 1966-2008. Data sources Medline (1966-2008), Embase (from 1988), AMED (from 1985), CINAHL (from 1982), Psychinfo (from 1985), and the Cochrane Library. Review methods For each study, relative risks and 95% confidence intervals were extracted and pooled with a random effect model, weighting for the inverse of the variance. Heterogeneity, publication bias, subgroup, and meta-regression analyses were performed. Criteria for inclusion were prospective adult population study, assessment of salt intake as baseline exposure, assessment of either stroke or total cardiovascular disease as outcome, follow-up of at least three years, indication of number of participants exposed and number of events across different salt intake categories. Results There were 19 independent cohort samples from 13 studies, with 177 025 participants (follow-up 3.5-19 years) and over 11 000 vascular events. Higher salt intake was associated with greater risk of stroke (pooled relative risk 1.23, 95% confidence interval 1.06 to 1.43; P=0.007) and cardiovascular disease (1.14, 0.99 to 1.32; P=0.07), with no significant evidence of publication bias. For cardiovascular disease, sensitivity analysis showed that the exclusion of a single study led to a pooled estimate of 1.17 (1.02 to 1.34; P=0.02). The associations observed were greater the larger the difference in sodium intake and the longer the follow-up. Conclusions High salt intake is associated with significantly increased risk of stroke and total cardiovascular disease. Because of imprecision in measurement of salt intake, these effect sizes are likely to be underestimated. These results support the role of a substantial population reduction in salt intake for the prevention of cardiovascular disease.
Strategies to Improve Outcome after Transplantation of Extended Criteria Donor Livers

To reduce the current imbalance between available donor livers and patients waiting for a new liver graft, suboptimal donor livers are increasingly accepted for liver transplantation. Examples of suboptimal donor livers are livers derived from elderly donors or donors with a fatty liver due to overweight. Unfortunately, these suboptimal donor livers are more prone for the period of ischemia, which occurs when the donor liver is transported between the donation and transplantation hospital. Because of this higher vulnerability for ischemia, suboptimal donor livers are related to a higher degree of tissue injury and subsequently poorer postoperative outcomes. The subject of Andrie Westerkamp’s PhD thesis was to examine different strategies to improve the outcome after transplantation of suboptimal donor livers. First, the PhD candidate concluded that a short cold ischemia time is necessary when elderly and fatty donor livers are accepted for transplantation. Nowadays, no methods are available that can examine the degree of fat quickly and accurately in the short time frame of a donation procedure. Westerkamp and co-workers demonstrated that spectrometry is able to measure the degree of liver fat very accurately and in-real time. Finally, Westerkamp showed that machine perfusion, a new potential preservation technique, improves the quality of suboptimal donor livers compared to the current preservation method, static cold storage. Moreover, the PhD candidate concluded that independent of the perfusion temperature, machine perfusion is also able to reduce the degree of ischemic injury to the bile ducts.
Model for end‐stage liver disease (MELD) exception for polycystic liver disease

Polycystic liver disease (PLD) is commonly associated with polycystic kidney disease, but is unaccompanied by renal cysts in 10% of cases. Symptomatic PLD is mainly limited to adults and rarely, if ever, presents in childhood. There is currently no effective medical therapy for PLD. Most patients who have PLD require no medical or surgical intervention. Patients with PLD rarely, if ever, experience biochemical hepatic deterioration, and classic symptoms of hepatic failure such as ascites, variceal hemorrhage, or encephalopathy are unusual. 1-3 Although there is a typical lowering of the quality of life in these patients, to date, quality of life (although not well studied) has not been associated with decreased survival. Serious, life-threatening complications related to multiple hepatic cysts may occur, including cyst infection, hepatic vein outflow obstruction, portal hypertension, refractory ascites after cyst fenestration, cyst carcinoma, cholangiocarcinoma, and most importantly, pain and/or chronic wasting with malnutrition. 2-4 Symptomatic PLD only occurs in patients with massive hepatic cystic disease in which the total cyst: parenchyma ratio is 1. 5 Patients with PLD on hemodialysis are at greatest risk of life-threatening complications due to hepatic cysts complicated by infection, hemorrhage, and carcinoma. In one center, 10% of the mortality in patients with PLD on hemodialysis was attributed to these complications. However, this observation has not been confirmed by other centers. Nontransplant interventions that can relieve symptoms of massive hepatic cystic disease include percutaneous cyst puncture and sclerotherapy, laparoscopic cyst decompression, open laparotomy with fenestration, and liver resection. 3,6-10 These interventions can provide temporary or prolonged relief of symptoms but may be associated with significant morbidity and even mortality. Open surgical decompression is associated with a very low mortality rate but is associated with substantial morbidity. Laparoscopic decompression reduces hospital length of stay but is also associated significant morbidity. 6 Liver resection is indicated only in highly selected patients and is associated with the potential for frequent morbidity and significant mortality.
La estrategia de marketing como instrumento competitivo en las empresas de alta tecnología

Las empresas de alta tecnologia operan en sectores caracterizados por niveles de incertidumbre muy elevados y en los que la innovacion constante es un imperativo para no perder la posicion competitiva en el mercado. En este contexto, la excesiva orientacion tecnologica es un fenomeno frecuente pero que puede llevar a perder contacto con las necesidades y preferencias de los clientes y a medio plazo, hacer que las empresas que operan sobre esta base sean desbancadas por competidores mas habiles en el plano comercial. Asi, en esta investigacion se reflexiona sobre el sentido y la importancia de la orientacion al mercado en las empresas de alta tecnologia; se identifican, desde la perspectiva empirica, diversos grupos estrategicos con diferentes niveles de adopcion de la filosofia del Marketing; y se analiza la repercusion de dicha orientacion sobre los resultados de empresariales y de la innovacion.
Long‐term reaction to bone cement in osteoporotic bone: new bone formation in vertebral bodies after vertebroplasty

Elderly patients frequently suffer from osteoporotic vertebral fractures resulting in the need of vertebroplasty or kyphoplasty. Nevertheless, no data are available about the long‐term consequences of cement injection into osteoporotic bone. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the long‐term tissue reaction on bone cement injected to osteoporotic bone during vertebroplasty. The thoracic spine of an 80‐year‐old female was explanted 3.5 years after vertebroplasty with polymethylmethacrylate. The treatment had been performed due to painful osteoporotic compression fractures. Individual vertebral bodies were cut in axial or sagittal sections after embedding. The sections were analysed using contact radiography and staining with toluidine blue. Furthermore, selected samples were evaluated with scanning electron microscopy and micro‐compted tomography (in‐plane resolution 6 µm). Large amounts of newly formed callus surrounding the injected polymethylmethacrylate were detected with all imaging techniques. The callus formation almost completely filled the spaces between the vertebral endplate, the cancellous bone, and the injected polymethylmethacrylate. In trabecular bone microfractures and osteoclast lacuna were bridged or filled with newly formed bone. Nevertheless, the majority of the callus formation was found in the immediate vicinity of the polymethylmethacrylate without any obvious relationship to trabecular fractures. The results indicate for the first time that, contrary to established knowledge, even in osteoporosis the formation of large amounts of new bone is possible.
Copy number variation of beta-defensins and relevance to disease

Beta-defensins are multifunctional proteins that have an important role in the innate immune system. A cluster of beta-defensin genes shows common and extensive variation in copy number in humans. This copy number has been associated with differing susceptibility to Crohn’s disease and psoriasis. In this review, I summarise what is currently known about copy number variation (CNV) of beta-defensins, and discuss practical considerations when studying these genes, and copy number variation in general. I also suggest future directions for research, with an emphasis on improvement of methods for accurately typing CNV.
Rationalizing blood transfusion in cardiac surgery: preliminary findings with a red cell volume‐based model

Background and Objectives Cardiac surgery, utilizing extracorporeal circulation, is associated with a heavy fluid load that may significantly depress haemoglobin concentration. Thus, considering haemoglobin alone may be an inaccurate method of replacing red cell volume loss. This study was designed to examine the impact on red cell transfusion of a red cell volume‐based guideline.
Understanding the development of the respiratory glands

Background: The submucosal glands (SMGs) of the respiratory system are specialized structures essential for maintaining airway homeostasis. The significance of SMGs is highlighted by their involvement in respiratory diseases such as cystic fibrosis, asthma and chronic bronchitis, where their phenotype and function are severely altered. Uncovering the normal development of the airway SMGs is essential to elucidate their role in these disorders, however, very little is known about the cellular mechanisms and intracellular signals involved in their morphogenesis. Results: This review describes in detail the embryonic developmental journey of the nasal SMGs and the postnatal development of the tracheal SMGs in the mouse. Current knowledge of the genes and signalling molecules involved in SMG organogenesis is also explored. Conclusion: Here we review the temporal localisation and development of the murine respiratory glands in the hope of stimulating further research into the mechanisms required for successful SMG patterning and function. Developmental Dynamics 244:525–539, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Potential of Human Bone Marrow Stromal Cells to Accelerate Wound Healing in Vitro

The purpose of this pilot study was to compare proliferation, collagen synthesis, and growth factor production, which are important contributing factors for wound healing, of the bone marrow stromal cells (BSCs) with those of dermal fibroblasts in vitro. Cultured human BSCs and dermal fibroblasts from the same patients were seeded in 96-well culture plates. At 1, 3, and 5 days postincubating, cell proliferation, collagen synthesis, and secretion of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and transforming growth factor β (TFG-β) were compared. We did not observe great differences in cell proliferation and TFG-β secretion. In contrast, the amount of collagen synthesis and the levels of the bFGF and the VEGF were much higher in the BSC group than the fibroblast group at each time interval (P < 0.05). Our results suggest that the BSCs may have superior potential to accelerate wound healing than the fibroblasts.
Investigating a Second Thymus in Mice

In the Report “Evidence for a functional second thymus in mice” (14 Apr., p. [284][1]; published online 1 Mar.), G. Terszowski et al. provide definitive evidence that, as in a number of other species, the mouse has a cervical thymus in addition to the conventional thoracic one. In this regard,
The Role of Social Desirability, Negative Affectivity, and Female Reproductive System Symptoms in Differences in Reporting Symptoms by Men and Women

52 women and 38 men completed the Inventory of Health Status, Version 2, a measure of somatic health, and the Cornell Medical Index which provided separate scores for somatic and emotional health. The Personal Style Inventory was given, from which measures of Social Desirability and Negative Affectivity were utilized. Multiple regressions were done separately with scores on the Inventory of Health Status and the Cornell Emotional component, and scores on Social Desirability, Negative Affectivity, and sex as predictors. Scores on Social Desirability and Negative Affectivity were forced into the equation first. For the Inventory of Health Status, sex alone contributed significantly to the final equation. For scores on the Cornell Index's emotional component both sex and scores on negative affectivity had significant beta weights. Analysis of items from the Inventory of Health Status was done to examine the role of symptoms pertaining to women's reproductive system, and almost all the items that differed by sex were either clearly or possibly specific female reproductive items, e.g., “Abnormal menstruation. ” Similar analyses were not possible for the organic component of the Cornell Index, which has different items for reproductive systems of men and women. The complexity of the female reproductive system may play a central role in sex differences in symptom reporting and perhaps of emotional distress, but other interpretations are discussed.