Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Defective Calcium Transport by Cardiac Sarcoplasmic Reticulum in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

Ca2+ uptake and binding and Ca2+-ATPase activity of cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) from spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were compared- to that obtained from normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats. Ca2+ uptake (172 ± 3.7 nmol/mg of protein per min in WKY vs. 112 ± 2.6 in the SHR, P <0.001) and binding (154 ± 3.0 nmol/mg per min in WKY vs. 101 ± 1.8 in the SHR, P< 0.01) were decreased in the SHR. Ca2+-ATPase activity, however, was significantly higher in the SHR (118 ± 3.1 nmolof P per mg of protein per min vs. 86 ± 1.1 in the WKY, P <0.001), suggesting "uncoupling" of the ATPase to calcium transport. Cyclic AMP-dependent phosphorylation of SR was significantly decreased in SHR (0.71 ± 0.05 vs. 0.32 ± 0.07 nmol of P/mg of protein per 10 min, P< 0.001) and there was an excellent correlation between cyclic AMP-induced phosphorylation of SR and Ca2+ uptake (r = 0.81). Differences in both cyclic AMP-dependent phosphorylation and Ca2+ uptake between the two groups were evident at 10 weeks and increased progressively to 22 weeks of age. Differences in endogenous cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase activity may partly explain the decreased Ca2+ transport in SHR.
Virus diversity and an outbreak of group C rotavirus among infants and children with diarrhea in Maizuru city, Japan during 2002–2003

A total of 236 fecal specimens collected from infants and children with gastroenteritis in Maizuru city, Japan from July 2002 to June 2003, were tested for the presence of rotaviruses, noroviruses, sapoviruses, astroviruses, and adenoviruses by RT‐PCR, PAGE, RPHA, and latex agglutination methods. Among diarrheal viruses detected, group A rotavirus was the most prevalent (32.2%; 76 of 236) followed by norovirus GII (21.2%; 50 of 236), group C rotavirus (10.2%; 24 of 236), adenovirus (3.8%; 9 of 236), sapovirus (2.5%; 6 of 236), astrovirus (1.3%; 3 of 236), and norovirus GI (0.8%; 2 of 236), respectively. It is noteworthy that group C rotavirus infection was apparently confined only within the period of 5 months (December 2002 through April 2003). This pattern of infection implied that the outbreak of group C rotavirus in these patients, which was the first outbreak of gastroenteritis attributed to group C rotavirus in Maizuru city. Moreover, about half (12 of 24) of group C rotavirus infected cases were confined to infants and young children less than 3 years old. Another interesting feature of the study was the demonstration of the mixed infections with group C rotavirus and group A rotavirus, as well as group C rotavirus and norovirus GII in 20.8% (5 of 24) and 8.3% (2 of 24), respectively. This is the first report of gastroenteritis associated with the mixed infections with group C rotavirus and other viral enteropathogens such as norovirus. The results indicate that group C rotavirus could infect not only older children and adults but also infants and young children under 3 years old. J. Med. Virol. 74:173–179, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Customer Referral Incentives and Social Media

We study how to optimally attract new customers using a referral program. Whenever a consumer makes a purchase, the firm gives her a link to share with friends, and every purchase coming through that link generates a referral payment. The firm chooses the referral payment function and consumers play an equilibrium in response. The optimal payment function is nonlinear and not necessarily monotonic in the number of successful referrals. If we approximate the optimal policy using a linear payment function, the approximation loss scales with the square root of the average consumer degree. Using a threshold payment, the approximation loss scales proportionally to the average consumer degree. Combining the two, using a linear payment function with a threshold bonus, we can achieve a constant bound on the approximation loss.
Increased case-fatality rate associated with outbreaks of Neisseria meningitidis infection, compared with sporadic meningococcal disease, in the United States, 1994-2002.

BACKGROUND Outbreaks of meningococcal disease are infrequent but important public health events. We characterize outbreak-associated cases in the United States and compare them with sporadic disease. METHODS Outbreaks of meningococcal disease that occurred during the period of 1 July 1994 through 30 June 2002 were identified through state health departments, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention records, and a review of newspapers and the medical literature. Cases associated with outbreaks were compared with sporadic cases identified through population-based surveillance. RESULTS We identified 69 outbreaks of Neisseria meningitidis infection (median, 9.5 outbreaks per year; range, 3-14 outbreaks per year), which involved 229 patients from 30 states. Forty-three (62%) of the outbreaks involved N. meningitidis serogroup C, 17 (25%) involved serogroup B, and 9 (13%) involved serogroup Y. Twenty-five outbreaks (36%) occurred in communities, and 44 (64%) were organization based, including 12 that occurred in colleges and universities, 19 that occurred in primary and secondary schools, and 8 that occurred in nursing homes. Vaccination campaigns (with the A/C/Y/W-135 meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine) were conducted for 31 outbreaks (28 involving serogroup C and 3 involving serogroup Y). After controlling for age, serogroup, and clinical presentation, outbreak-associated cases were associated with a higher case-fatality rate than were sporadic cases (21% vs. 11%; odds ratio, 3.3; 95% confidence interval, 2.0-5.5). CONCLUSIONS Outbreaks remain an important but infrequent public health issue, representing <2% of all cases of meningococcal disease. However, given the increased case-fatality rate found among outbreak-related cases of N. meningitidis infection, additional investigation of factors that favor the transmission and virulence of outbreak-related strains is warranted.
SRTTU UWB Mixer improvement with Regulated Voltage Source Babak

ARTICLE HISTORY: Received 22 July 2014 Revised 15 August 2014 Accepted 30 August 2014 This paper presents a design of an UWB downconversion integrated CMOS resistive ring mixer with Linear Voltage Regulator (LVR), to supply required biasing voltages for the mixer section. The designed mixer circuit has been optimized for using in heart rate extraction system with microwave Doppler radar at 2.4GHz frequency. This mixer needs 2 DC bias voltages equal to 0.5 and 1 volts for its best operation. The designed LVR circuit would supply needed bias voltages. This mixer is called UWB and the changes in its necessary bias voltages would result in its weak operation. The design has been implemented in TSMC 0. 18μm CMOS technology and simulated by Advanced Design System (ADS) software. Simulation results indicate good operation of regulator and mixer output during input changes.
Multi-server scheduling for high speed optical switches

High performance switching systems of the future employs optical switching matrices to provide the required speed and capacity at competitive costs. Optical WDM technologies coupled with the need to. concentrate data flow capacity at the switch matrix interface introduce the requirement for multiple queue servers at each input and output port. Such a multiserver architecture necessitates the development of novel scheduling algorithms. We developed and tested four iterative scheduling algorithms to assess their performance with respect to existing schedulers for mono-server architectures. A problem that arises because of multiservers in iterative scheduling algorithms is the proper matching of servers and grants after each iteration. We show an effective method to solve this problem and show the feasibility of the multiserver schedulers. The performance of these algorithms is comparable to or better than existing implementations. Switch speedup factors of one and two in combination with configurations of one, two, four, eight, and sixteen servers per port are demonstrated.
Decreasing cardiac chamber sizes and associated heart dysfunction in COPD: role of hyperinflation.

BACKGROUND Little is known about the role of abnormal lung function in heart size and heart dysfunction in patients with COPD. We studied the relationship of lung function with heart size and heart dysfunction and associated consequences for 6-min walk distance (6MWD) in patients with COPD of different severitites. METHODS In 138 patients with COPD (Global Initiative for Obstructive Lung Disease [GOLD] I-IV), we measured the size of all cardiac chambers, left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (relaxation and filling), and global right ventricular dysfunction (Tei-index) by echocardiography. We also measured lung function (spirometry, body plethysmography, and diffusion capacity) and 6MWD. RESULTS The size of all cardiac chambers decreased with increasing GOLD stage. Overall, moderate relationships existed between variables of lung function and cardiac chamber sizes. Static hyperinflation (inspiratory-to-total lung capacity ratio [IC/TLC], functional residual capacity, and residual volume) showed stronger associations with cardiac chamber sizes than airway obstruction or diffusion capacity. IC/TLC correlated best with cardiac chamber sizes and was an independent predictor of cardiac chamber sizes after adjustment for body surface area. Patients with an IC/TLC < or = 0.25 had a significantly impaired left ventricular diastolic filling pattern and a significantly impaired Tei-index compared with patients with an IC/TLC > 0.25. An impaired left ventricular diastolic filling pattern was independently associated with a reduced 6MWD. CONCLUSIONS An increasing rate of COPD severity is associated with a decreasing heart size. Hyperinflation could play an important role regarding heart size and heart dysfunction in patients with COPD.
Crew Resource Management in Healthcare: The Evolution of Teamwork Training and MedTeams®

The crew resource management training program was developed by the aviation industry in response to critical and fatal errors by the flight team. This article examines the evolution and application of crew resource management to the healthcare industry. The goal of this evolution was to increase patient safety through better communication and teamwork. To accomplish this goal, teamwork training programs, such as MedTeams, are being introduced to healthcare professionals. Clinical studies have yet to show conclusive results of these training programs. Further studies are ongoing and necessary.
Intergroup Trust in Northern Ireland

Although prominent political agendas have placed a great deal of importance on building trust in postconflict areas, there has been a lack of empirical research on its role in areas of intergroup conflict. The authors conducted two studies to examine the relationship between trust and intergroup behavioral tendencies—and the potential for intergroup contact to build trust in Northern Ireland. Study 1 showed that outgroup trust mediates the impact of intergroup contact on behavioral tendencies toward the outgroup. Study 2 revealed the importance of trusting the outgroup over simply liking the outgroup; establishing outgroup trust is crucial, as trust is a stronger predictor of behavioral tendencies toward the outgroup than positive attitudes are. Results also demonstrated two mechanisms for increasing outgroup trust—through both direct and extended intergroup contact. These studies further our understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying the formation of intergroup trust and behavior in areas of conflict.
Research on ring-based routing for wireless mesh network

The author puts forward a ring-based routing approach, which reduces the load of the mechanism of the central node in a wireless mesh network. This routing mechanism can evenly allocate the load from the area close to the center of the network to the network perimeter area. This paper analyzes the ring-based routing method from the outlined principles, method descriptions and emulation of the method. Adopting of this time scheduling approach is mainly to save energy, so the network can significantly decrease average power consumption, but the average power consumption reduction is based on the cost of network latency, because the dormant node cannot forward the packet. It cannot continue working until the corresponding super-frame period arrives.
Permeation Properties and Differential Expression across the Auditory Receptor Epithelium of an Inward Rectifier K+ Channel Cloned from the Chick Inner Ear (*)

The auditory receptor epithelium is an excellent model system for studying the differential expression of ion channel genes. An inward rectifier potassium current is among those which have been measured in only subsets of chick cochlear hair cells. We have cloned and characterized an inward rectifier potassium channel (cIRK1) from the chick cochlear sensory epithelium. cIRK1 functional properties are similar to those of the native channel, and the transcript encoding cIRK1 is limited to the low frequency half of the epithelium. This localization is in agreement with the distribution of the native hair cell current, suggesting that the differential current expression is transcriptionally regulated. The primary structure of cIRK1 is highly homologous to the mouse inward rectifier IRK1. However, we found that cIRK1 exhibited reduced single-channel conductance (17 picosiemens) and lower sensitivity to Ba2+ block (K = 12 μM). We identified Gln-125 near the putative pore region as being responsible for these differences. Site-directed mutagenesis was used to change Gln-125 to Glu (the residue in IRK1), resulting in a channel with a single-channel conductance of 28 picosiemens and a Ba2+ block of K = 2 μM. We propose that Gln-125 may form part of the external vestibule of the pore.
Peripheral motor action of glucagon‐like peptide‐1 through enteric neuronal receptors

Background Glucagon‐like peptide‐1 (GLP‐1) is a proglucagon‐derived peptide expressed in the enteroendocrine‐L cells of small and large intestine and released in response to meal ingestion. Glucagon‐like peptide‐1 exerts inhibitory effects on gastrointestinal motility through vagal afferents and central nervous mechanisms; however, no data is available about a direct influence on the gastrointestinal wall. Our aim was to investigate the effects of GLP‐1 on the spontaneous and evoked mechanical activity of mouse duodenum and colon and to identify the presence and distribution of GLP‐1 receptors (GLP‐1R) in the muscle coat.
Speaking rate consistency and variability in spontaneous speech by native and non-native speakers of English

The suprasegmental characteristics of non-native speech are generally described as differing from those of native speech. Recent work has shown that in addition to speaking at overall slower rates, non-native speakers in a reading task are more variable than native speakers in their speaking rate across utterances [1]. However, read speech may contain sources of variability that are specific to processing difficulties associated with reading. In the present study, we examined speaking rate in spontaneous utterances by native speakers of Korean and Mandarin speaking English, and compared them to spontaneous utterances of native English speakers. We measured mean speaking rate within utterances, as well as the amount of rate change (slowing or speeding up of speaking rate) from utterance to utterance. Results indicate that spontaneous speech exhibits the opposite pattern of read speech; non-native speakers are less variable than native speakers in spontaneous speech. These findings are attributed to factors involving speaking style and language proficiency, and have implications for understanding the role of suprasegmental variability in speech perception and production.
PCR-Based Assay To Quantify Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 DNA in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells

ABSTRACT An assay that quantifies the amount of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) DNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells has been developed. PCR amplification of the HIV-1 DNA is performed in the presence of an internal quantitation standard, and colorimetric detection of the amplified product is performed with microwell plates. The copies of HIV-1 DNA are normalized to total genomic DNA input. The assay has an analytical sensitivity of 10 input copies per amplification reaction and a three-log detection range. In an analysis of sequential samples from patients on combination therapy, HIV-1 DNA was quantifiable for all individuals tested, including those with undetectable plasma HIV-1 RNA. In a separate study, a comparison of HIV-1 DNA levels was made with a group of long-term survivors and progressors. The mean HIV-1 DNA levels were lower in the long-term survivors than in the progressors (P, 0.04). The mean HIV-1 RNA levels were also lower, but the difference was not statistically significant (P, 0.164). A quantitative DNA assay will provide an additional tool to gain insight into the natural history of infection and the continued efficacy of potent antiretroviral therapies.
Superfluid phase slippage in 3He flow through a narrow channel.

An investigation of phase slippage in flowing superfluid $^{3}\mathrm{He}$ is presented, based on the numerical integration of time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equations. The quantum-dynamical phase-slip processes in $^{3}\mathrm{He}$ are found to be associated with superfluid-core phase-slip centers\char22{}in contrast with the resistive state for superconductors where phase-slip centers have normal cores.
Temporal Aspects of Dichotic Listening in Brain‐Damaged Subjects

Thirteen cortically injured subjects were tested in a dichotic temporal order judgment task using speech and nonspeech stimuli. Subjects were required only to judge which ear was stimulated first on each trial. All were young men and neurologically normal before receiving missile wounds. Subjects with injuries outside the temporal and frontal lobes performed the dichotic tasks at levels comparable to that of neurologically normal subjects. In contrast, subjects with temporal lobe lesions performed at near chance levels on all of the conditions. Individuals with frontal lobe damage showed moderate impairment on the dichotic tasks.
Meniscus Status at Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Associated with Radiographic Signs of Osteoarthritis at 5- to 10-Year Follow-Up – A Systematic Review

The development of premature osteoarthritis after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction is a significant cause of morbidity in young, active individuals. Meniscal injuries are frequently noted at the time of reconstruction, and the critical role of an intact meniscus in the prevention of osteoarthritis has been well documented. The purpose of this review is to evaluate the effects of meniscal status at ACL reconstruction on the subsequent development of osteoarthritis. A systematic review of the literature identified 11 studies with > or = 2 years of follow-up that compared patients' radiographic outcomes based on meniscus status at the time of ACL reconstruction. Patients undergoing partial meniscectomy at the time of ACL reconstruction were significantly more likely to develop radiographic evidence of osteoarthritis than those with normal menisci. Meniscal repair resulted in inconsistent findings. Virtually all patients who underwent complete meniscectomy at the time of ACL reconstruction had radiographic evidence of osteoarthritis at follow-up.
An Efficient Approach for Agile Web Based Project Estimation: AgileMOW

There exist numerous sophisticated models and methods for estimating the size, cost and schedule of software projects. However, the ability to accurately predict the software cost of web based software for agile software projects is still dubious. The most appropriate web based software cost estimation in an agile software development environment is a big problem due to varying levels of customer requirement and different individual personnel capabilities. Also, the need to develop a separate model to estimate web based project is rising. In this research paper, we present AgileMOW, an approach to model a software cost estimation process which will evaluate effort and cost of software development for web based projects developed using Agile methodology with a number of constraints imposed by stakeholders and environmental characteristics, thereby satisfying multitudinous criteria by making use of COCOMO II model, a famous traditional algorithmic technique. Most importantly, the paper identifies the difference between conventional and web projects. The proposed estimation model enhances the level of visibility in the planning stages.
Lopsidependency in the Moser-Tardos Framework

The Lopsided Lovász Local Lemma (LLLL) is a powerful probabilistic principle that has been used in a variety of combinatorial constructions. While this principle began as a general statement about probability spaces, it has recently been transformed into a variety of polynomial-time algorithms. The resampling algorithm of Moser and Tardos [2010] is the most well-known example of this. A variety of criteria have been shown for the LLLL; the strongest possible criterion was shown by Shearer, and other criteria that are easier to use computationally have been shown by Bissacot et al. [2011], Pegden [2014], Kolipaka and Szegedy [2011], and Kolipaka et al. [2012]. We show a new criterion for the Moser-Tardos algorithm to converge. This criterion is stronger than the LLLL criterion, and, in fact, can yield better results even than the full Shearer criterion. This is possible because it does not apply in the same generality as the original LLLL; yet, it is strong enough to cover many applications of the LLLL in combinatorics. We show a variety of new bounds and algorithms. A noteworthy application is for k-SAT, with bounded occurrences of variables. As shown in Gebauer et al. [2011], a k-SAT instance in which every variable appears L ≤ 2/k+1e(k+1) times, is satisfiable. Although this bound is asymptotically tight (in k), we improve it to L ≤ 2/k+1 (1 − 1/k)kk−1 − 2/k, which can be significantly stronger when k is small. We introduce a new parallel algorithm for the LLLL. While Moser and Tardos described a simple parallel algorithm for the Lovász Local Lemma and described a simple sequential algorithm for a form of the Lopsided Lemma, they were not able to combine the two. Our new algorithm applies in nearly all settings in which the sequential algorithm works—this includes settings covered by our new, stronger LLLL criterion.