Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ATG16L1 T300A Shows Strong Associations With Disease Subgroups in a Large Australian IBD Population: Further Support for Significant Disease Heterogeneity

OBJECTIVES:Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are the two most common forms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), representing a significant health-care burden. A variant in the autophagy gene ATG16L1 (T300A) has been newly identified as a CD susceptibility locus by genome-wide association. Our aim was to assess the contribution of T300A in determining disease susceptibility and phenotype in two independent Australian IBD cohorts and explore the relationship between T300A and known CD risk factors (NOD2[ nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain containing 2] status and smoking). METHODS:In total, 669 CD and 543 UC cases, and 1,244 controls (study 1), 154 CD cases and 420 controls (study 2), and 702 unaffected parents from both groups were genotyped. We conducted case–control and family association analyses, and investigated relationships between T300A and disease subgroups and between NOD2 status and cigarette smoking (CD only). RESULTS:The strong association between CD and T300A was confirmed (P < 0.001), with a two-fold increase in disease risk associated with the GG genotype (odds ratio [OR] 1.96, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.49–2.58), while ileal CD risk was almost three-fold (OR 2.73, CI 1.87–4.0). ATG16L1 and NOD2 were found to contribute independently to CD risk. A greater than seven-fold increased CD risk was observed for current smokers with a GG genotype (vs nonsmoking AA genotype; P < 0.001, OR 7.65, CI 4.21–13.91). A significant inverse association was found between T300A and UC (P= 0.002). This was strongest for patients with extensive, severe disease.CONCLUSIONS:We confirm the strong association between T300A and CD, specifically ileal subphenotype, and also report the first strong association of this variant with UC.
Advancements in EEG source localisation methods

Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals represent the neuronal activity of brain. These signals are recorded by placement of multiple electrodes over the scalp or from cortex of the brain under the skull. These signals have important applications in biomedical and clinical field but most applications fail to take benefit of all the data's available from the information, particularly about the location of dynamic sources in the brain. Localisation of sources of brain signal is important for the study of brain physiological, mental, pathological, and functional abnormalities, and problems related to various body disabilities. Their ultimate aim is to specify the sources of abnormalities such as tumours and epilepsy. This paper provides comprehensive overview of the different traditional and latest methods used for the EEG source localisation.
An Active Fault Tolerant Controller Design Method for Time-delay Systems

In this paper, we propose an active fault tolerant control (FTC) design method for time-delay systems. Based on generalized internal model control (GIMC), the feedback controller architecture includes two parts: one part for performance and the other part for robustness. The feedback control system will be solely controlled by the performance controller when there is no fault and the robustification controller will be active when there are faults.
Latinised Arabic : An overview What is it ?

As software support for non-Latin scripts is becoming more readily available, the continuing use of Latinised forms in online discourse highlights an interesting phenomenon. This paper focuses on Latinised Arabic (LA) as one manifestation of this trend. While there appears to be significant variation in the conventions used to Latinise Arabic in association with regional vernaculars, there is evidence that LA is now being used for more than just online communication. Thus far, researchers have dealt with LA as a form of script-switching. In this paper, LA is examined as a form of code-switching to investigate links to bilingual ability. A statistical comparison between emails from two emailing groups indicates a link between the use of English and LA. A close examination of code-switching sites reveals a number of associated trends, while email content suggests a number of factors that influence language and script choice.
Plasma lipids and lipoproteins in Greenlandic west coast Eskimos.

The plasma lipid and lipoprotein pattern has been examined in 130 Greenlandic west coast Eskimos with a life pattern, and especially with dietary habits, rather close to those of original Eskimos and essentially different from those of West Europeans. The age groups of the persons examined were chosen so as to be comparable with the age groups in which ischaemic heart disease prevails in West Europeans. The results of determination of plasma lipid and lipoproteins in the 130 Greenlandic west coast Eskimos, 69 women and 61 men, were compared with those of a similar examination in Denmark, including 25 female Eskimos living in Denmark. Significantly lower concentrations of total lipids, cholesterol, triglycerides, β-lipoproteins and pre-β-lipoproteins were found in Eskimos compared with Danish controls. The study on the Eskimos living in Denmark revealed plasma lipid values significantly higher than in Eskimos in Greenland and equal to those of Danish controls. This points strongly against a genetic and towards an environmental cause of the low lipid and lipoprotein concentrations in Greenlandic Eskimos. As in other societies with low plasma lipid concentrations, coronary atherosclerosis is rare among Greenlandic Eskimos. The Eskimos have low plasma lipid concentrations in spite of a high dietary intake of fat. This could be explained by the special composition of the Eskimo diet, with low content of saturated and high content of unsaturated fatty acids. Besides coronary atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus is very rare among Eskimos. A correlation of this to the very low concentration of plasma triglycerides and pre-β-lipoproteins is tempting, but purely speculative.
Can the Use of Reconfigurable Antennas Overcome the CSI Bottleneck for FDD Massive MIMO?

Massive MIMO has been proposed as a means of achieving huge spectral efficiency in cellular networks. However, its implementation is usually based on linear precoding schemes using Channel State Information (CSI). For this reason, the use of the Time Division Duplex (TDD) mode is typically assumed since it removes the dependence on the number of antennas at the transmitter to acquire CSI. Unfortunately, most of the cellular network operate in the Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) mode in which the acquisition of CSI depends proportionally to the number of transmit antennas. For this reason, the implementation of Massive MIMO is handicapped to few transmit antennas for the current cellular networks. In this paper we study the use of reconfigurable antennas that can switch among a set of preset modes, i.e., radiation patterns, through Blind Interference Alignment schemes. We show that it is a solution to exploit a very large number of antennas at the transmit side, overcoming the bottleneck that today constitutes the acquisition of CSI in Massive MIMO systems operating in FDD mode.
3D stacking by hybrid bonding with low temperature solder

Three dimensional (3D) IC integration technologies have become essential as the market demands for product with low power consumption, multi functions, smaller size and faster response have been increasing. 3D stacking with conventional high melting temperature solders such as SnAg and Sn may induce high thermal stress to the package. In this paper, chip to chip 3D stacking using no flow underfill material and low temperature solder is demonstrated. The stacking of 100µm thin chips with 7mm×7mm size onto 350µm thin substrate with 10mm×10mm size at 100µm bump pitch was developed. Indium base solder was used to allow low temperature (&#60;200°C) integration. Two types of underfill material were evaluated in terms of their shear strength and interfacial quality through C-SAM results before and after reliability test. Optimization of dispensing process parameters has been performed. The effect of bonding process parameters such as temperature, force and time on bonding strength has been analyzed by design of experiment (DOE) study and optimal bonding condition has been achieved. Quality of solder joints was assessed in terms of shear strength, microstructure and compositional observations of by means of X-Ray inspection, destructive shear test, cross-section analysis and scanning electron microscope (SEM).
Budget-based QoS management infrastructure for All-IP network

This paper proposes a budget-based management infrastructure, BBQ, for All-IP networks to offer end-to-end QoS assurance to their services. In this scheme, the quality bound of each component network is controlled based on a calculated budget plan. End-to-end QoS is assured by a global QoS management agent. The management issues include software architectures in different layers, class based admission and resource reservation policies, as well as resource management infrastructure, policies, and mechanisms. The objective of this infrastructure is to facilitate network operators to tune their networks with a great flexibility and scalability to achieve their own operational objectives
Atopy patch tests with aeroallergens in children aged 0–3 years with atopic dermatitis

SS, Sathe SK, Roux KH. Cloning and characterization of profilin (Pru du 4), a cross-reactive almond (Prunus dulcis) allergen. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2006;118:915–922. 4. Bradford M. A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein-dye binding. Anal Biochem 1976;72:248–254. 5. Towbin H, Staehelin I, Gordon J. Electrophoretic transfer of proteins from polyacrylamide gels to nitrocellulose sheets: procedures and some applications. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1979;76:4350–4354. 6. Cartier A, Malo JL. Occupational challenge tests. In: Bernstein IL, Chan-Yeung M, Malo JL, Bernstein DI, editors. Asthma in the workplace. New York: Marcel Dekker, 1999:211–233.
Origin Recognition Complex (ORC) Mediates Histone 3 Lysine 4 Methylation through Cooperation with Spp1 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae*

The heterohexameric origin recognition complex (ORC) has been implicated in many cellular activities, including DNA replication, transcriptional control, heterochromatin assembly, centromere and telomere function, and so on. Here, we report a new function for ORC in mediating histone methylation. Using the yeast two-hybrid system, we identify a physical interaction between Orc2p and Spp1p, a member of the Set1 complex, and we demonstrate the interaction between the endogenous ORC and Spp1p by co-immunoprecipitation from yeast extracts. Furthermore, we find that Orc2p physically interacts with trimethylated histone 3 lysine 4 (H3K4) on chromatin by co-immunoprecipitation. Finally, we show that the trimethylation of H3K4 is decreased in orc2-1 cells and abolished in orc2-1, spp1Δ double mutants. Our data reveal a novel facet of ORC in mediating histone methylation in collaboration with Spp1p and demonstrate a connection between ORC and chromatin structure via the Set1 complex.
Leptin Induces Hypertrophy via Endothelin-1-Reactive Oxygen Species Pathway in Cultured Neonatal Rat Cardiomyocytes

Background—Obesity is a major risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease. Emerging evidence indicates that leptin, a protein encoded by the obesity gene, is linked with cardiac hypertrophy in obese humans and directly induces cardiomyocyte hypertrophy in vitro. However, the mechanisms by which leptin induces cardiomyocyte hypertrophy are poorly understood. Methods and Results—This study investigated how leptin contributes to cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes were used to evaluate the effects of leptin on hypertrophy. Both endothelin-1 (ET-1) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were elevated in a concentration-dependent manner in cardiomyocytes treated with leptin for 4 hours compared with those cells without leptin treatment. ET-1 stimulated ROS production in a concentration-dependent manner in cardiomyocytes. The augmentation of ROS levels in cardiomyocytes treated with both leptin and ET-1 was reversed by a selective ETA receptor antagonist, ABT-627, and catalase, a hydrogen peroxide–decomposing enzyme. After treatment for 72 hours, leptin or ET-1 concentration-dependently increased total RNA levels, cell surface areas, and protein synthesis in cardiomyocytes, all of which were significantly inhibited by ABT-627 or catalase treatment. ConclusionsThese findings indicate that leptin elevates ET-1 and ROS levels, resulting in hypertrophy of cultured neonatal rat cardiac myocytes. The ET-1–ETA–ROS pathway may be involved in cardiomyocyte hypertrophy induced by leptin. ETA receptor antagonists and antioxidant therapy may provide an effective means of ameliorating cardiac dysfunction in obese humans.
Evaluation of ECG Interpretation Systems: Signal Analysis

Abstract Performance analysis of biosignal processing systems which provide diagnostic statements requires particular care. Besides general accuracy requirements, psychological and legal implications for patient and physician have to be considered on both the development and the user sites. Cybernetics and control engineering have provided the basic methodology for performance analysis of systems: in technical systems often mathematically defined functions and signals can be fed into the system to be tested and its response and output provide the necessary performance characteristics after adequate mathematical analysis. For systems which process biosignals, as for example ECG analysis systems, instead of analytically given signals learning and test sets of data derived from patients have to be applied. The performance analysis is done on a statistical basis. In this paper construction and composition of learning and test data sets as well as methods for performance evaluation of the signal pocessing part of ECG programs are described. Specific reference is made to the European project Common Standards for Quantitative Electrocardiography (CSE) where ten ECG- and nine VCG-programs have been tested. The results of these tests provide reference data and standards for further program development as well as for independent system performance evaluation.
Web usability and self-efficacy in promoting individual Knowledge Sharing

Nowadays, many organization used a Knowledge Sharing (KS) systems that is supported with ICT's. Many previous research used a combination of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) into social capital theory to describe user's KS behavior. This research used a different approach in measuring technology aspect in KS. Technological aspect was measured by usability concept that has five indicator, that are usefulness, efficiency, effectiveness, learnability, satisfaction. The model also considered user's self-efficacy in knowledge sharing. Questionnaire was distributed to 144 academics staff in several university in Bandung. From the final model it can be concluded that both self-efficacy and system's usability has a significant positive correlation with knowledge sharing. The data was divided into three group that represent three different work forces generation. Path analysis was done for each group and the final model showed that each group has different output.
Variation in the use of skull radiographs by emergency physicians in young children with minor head trauma.

BACKGROUND Minor head trauma in young children is a major cause of emergency department visits. Conflicting guidelines exist regarding radiologic evaluation in such cases. OBJECTIVE To determine the practice pattern among Canadian emergency physicians for ordering skull radiographs in young children suffering from minor head trauma. Physicians were also surveyed on their willingness to use a clinical decision rule in such cases. DESIGN/METHODS A self-administered email questionnaire was sent to all members of the Pediatric Emergency Research Canada (PERC) group. It consisted of clinical vignettes followed by multiple-option answers on the management plan. The study was conducted using the principles of the Dillman Tailored Design method and included multiple emailings to maximize the response rate. The research protocol received Institutional Review Board approval. RESULTS A total of 158 of 295 (54%) PERC members responded. Most participants were trained in pediatric emergency medicine and assessed more than 500 children per year. Imaging management for the vignettes was highly variable: 6 of the 11 case scenarios had a proportion of radiograph ordering between 20 and 80%. Ninety-five percent of respondents stated that they would apply a validated clinical decision rule for the detection of skull fracture in young children with minor head trauma. The minimum sensitivity deemed acceptable for such a rule was 98%. CONCLUSION Canadian emergency physicians have a wide variation in skull radiography ordering in young children with minor head trauma. This variation, along with the need expressed by physicians, suggests that further research to develop a clinical decision rule is warranted.
Crustacean zooplankton release copious amounts of dissolved organic matter as taurine in the ocean

Taurine (Tau), an amino acid‐like compound, is present in almost all marine metazoans including crustacean zooplankton. It plays an important physiological role in these organisms and is released into the ambient water throughout their life cycle. However, limited information is available on the release rates by marine organisms, the concentrations and turnover of Tau in the ocean. We determined dissolved free Tau concentrations throughout the water column and its release by abundant crustacean mesozooplankton at two open ocean sites (Gulf of Alaska and North Atlantic). At both locations, the concentrations of dissolved free Tau were in the low nM range (up to 15.7 nM) in epipelagic waters, declining sharply in the mesopelagic to about 0.2 nM and remaining fairly stable throughout the bathypelagic waters. Pacific amphipod–copepod assemblages exhibited lower dissolved free Tau release rates per unit biomass (0.8 ± 0.4 μmol g−1 C‐biomass h−1) than Atlantic copepods (ranging between 1.3 ± 0.4 μmol g−1 C‐biomass h−1 and 9.5 ± 2.1 μmol g−1 C‐biomass h−1), in agreement with the well‐documented inverse relationship between biomass‐normalized excretion rates and body size. Our results indicate that crustacean zooplankton might contribute significantly to the dissolved organic matter flux in marine ecosystems via dissolved free Tau release. Based on the release rates and assuming steady state dissolved free Tau concentrations, turnover times of dissolved free Tau range from 0.05 d to 2.3 d in the upper water column and are therefore similar to those of dissolved free amino acids. This rapid turnover indicates that dissolved free Tau is efficiently consumed in oceanic waters, most likely by heterotrophic bacteria.
Ultramicroelectrode recording from the cardiac pacemaker.

The site of impulse origination in surviving rabbit atria has been localized electrically. With the aid of the ultramicroelectrode, membrane potentials during spontaneous activity were recorded from pacemaker and from non-pacemaker regions. The pacemaker region lies in a flat band of tissue separating the two caval orifices in the right atrium. In contrast to sites elsewhere in the atria, recordings from this area exhibit a diastolic prepotential, relatively slow depolarization and slow repolarization. The magnitude of the resting membrane potential is less in pacemaker cells and overshoot during activity characteristically is diminished or absent. By means of a second microelectrode to establish a time reference, pacemaker cells showing early firing may be located, although all cells associated with a prepotential are not necessarily the site of impulse origination. Shifts in pacemaker locus are demonstrated and often appear following the application of drugs acting on the sinoatrial node. The significance of these results to cardiac pharmacology is discussed.
The use of scintigraphy to detect increased osseous metabolic activity about the knee.

Scintigraphy of human joints with techniques such as technetium imaging can provide a direct assessment of periarticular osseous physiology. Of the imaging modalities that are currently used to evaluate human joints, only scintigraphy requires a living, metabolically functioning organism. Radiography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and ultrasound yield images that reflect primarily structural, rather than physiological, characteristics. As orthopaedic surgeons, our perceptions of injury and disease have been profoundly influenced by the predominance of structural information provided by such anatomical imaging modalities. Our orthopaedic lexicon contains structurally oriented terminology (for example, fracture, ligament rupture, meniscal tear, and disc herniation) that has changed little during this century32”27’. Even our conceptuahization of degenerative osteoarthrosis is replete with structurally descriptive words. Osteophytes, osteosclerosis, subchondral cysts, osteopenia, and joint-space narrowing are characteristics easily seen on plain radiographs, and they reflect macrostructural change that has already occurred. This language does not describe the active pathophysiology of this disease”'7. Over the past twelve years, many independent research efforts in the United States and Europe have concentrated on the use of technetium scintigraphy to assess normal and abnormal joints primarily, the knee. These studies have indicated that a heretofore unrecognized and unappreciated process of increased bone-remodeling and turnover is occurring about the joints of many patients. This osseous remodeling often occurs despite the demonstration of normal findings by current diagnostic methods, including radiography, cornputed tomography, and even magnetic resonance imaging’5. The purpose of this paper is to summarize these findings and to delineate the uses of radionuclide imag-
Counterfactual Models of Neighborhood Effects: The Effect of Neighborhood Poverty on Dropping Out and Teenage Pregnancy1

This article investigates the causal effects of neighborhood on high school dropping out and teenage pregnancy within a counterfactual framework. It shows that when two groups of children, identical at age 10 on observed factors, experience different neighborhoods during adolescence, those in high‐poverty neighborhoods are more likely to drop out of high school and have a teenage pregnancy than those in low‐poverty neighborhoods. Causal inferences from such associations have been plagued by the possibility of selection bias. Using a new method for sensitivity analysis, these effects are shown to be robust to selection bias. Unobserved factors would have to be unreasonably strong to account for the associations between neighborhood and the outcomes.