Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hepatitis C Virus Nonstructural Protein 5A: Biochemical Characterization of a Novel Structural Class of RNA-Binding Proteins

ABSTRACT Hepatitis C virus (HCV) nonstructural protein 5A (NS5A) exhibits a preference for G/U-rich RNA in vitro. Biological analysis of the NS5A RNA-binding activity and its target sites in the genome will be facilitated by a description of the NS5A-RNA complex. We demonstrate that the C-4 carbonyl of the uracil base and, by inference, the C-6 carbonyl of the guanine base interact with NS5A. U-rich RNA of 5 to 6 nucleotides (nt) is sufficient for high-affinity binding to NS5A. The minimal RNA-binding domain of NS5A consists of residues 2005 to 2221 (referred to as domain I-plus). This region of the protein includes the amino-terminal domain I as well as the subsequent linker that separates domains I and II. This linker region is the site of adaptive mutations. U-rich RNA-binding activity is not observed for an NS5A derivative containing only residues 2194 to 2419 (domains II and III). Mass spectrometric analysis of an NS5A-poly(rU) complex identified domains I and II as sites for interaction with RNA. Dimerization of NS5A was demonstrated by glutaraldehyde cross-linking. This dimerization is likely mediated by domain I-plus, as dimers of this protein are trapped by cross-linking. Dimers of the domain II-III protein are not observed. The monomer-dimer equilibrium of NS5A shifts in favor of dimer when U-rich RNA is present but not when A-rich RNA is present, consistent with an NS5A dimer being the RNA-binding-competent form of the protein. These data provide a molecular perspective of the NS5A-RNA complex and suggest possible mechanisms for regulation of HCV and cellular gene expression.
Systematic Derivation of a Family of Output-Impedance Shaping Methods for Power Converters—A Case Study Using Fuel Cell-Battery-Powered Single-Phase Inverter System

For power converters used in renewable energy systems, output-impedance design has become an important design consideration for minimizing the impacts of low-frequency harmonic current on the lifetime of ripple-sensitive energy sources such as fuel cells and photovoltaic cells. In the literature, various methods are proposed to tackle this design issue but they are frequently treated in isolation from each other and specific to the systems being discussed. In this paper, a systematic derivation of four basic modes of output-impedance shaping method is presented. These basic modes can be directly inferred from the Mason's gain formula and other methods are in essence derivatives or combinations of these basic modes. By using a fuel-cell-battery-powered single-phase inverter as an implementation example, their characteristics are discussed thoroughly and their performances in shaping converter's output impedance are evaluated experimentally.
Design and characterization of wideband high-efficiency unit cells for frequency selective surfaces in 10GHz-band

This paper investigates two new unit cells featuring wideband low loss characteristics for frequency selective surfaces (FSS) in X-band applications. The FSS is realized as a uniform array of the proposed unit cells. Each unit cell is a three layer structure consisting of two back-to-back microstrip patch antennas and a non-radiating resonator in the common ground plane. These proposed FSS elements have been designed and optimized using the finite element method simulation. A waveguide measurement system (WGMS) has been used to characterize the first cell (symmetric) and a free space Gaussian optics measurement system (GOMS) has been used to characterize the second cell (asymmetric). An excellent agreement has been obtained between the simulation and measurement in terms of impedance matching (S11<;-10 dB, 7.3% and 8.5% around 10 GHz for the two cells, respectively) and insertion loss (<; 0.4 dB at 10 GHz).
Ocular phenotypes of three genetic variants of Bardet–Biedl syndrome

Bardet–Biedl syndrome is a genetically heterogeneous multisystem disorder that causes severe visual impairment. Retinitis pigmentosa (RP), hypogonadism, digit and renal anomalies, obesity, and a variable degree of mental retardation characterize the disorder. Eight different loci have been identified on 2q31(BBS5), 3p13 (BBS3), 4q27 (BBS7), 11q13 (BBS1), 14q32 (BBS8), 15q22.3 (BBS4), 16q21 (BBS2), and 20p12 (BBS6). The ocular manifestations of Bardet–Biedl syndrome include an early and severe rod‐cone dystrophy causing legal blindness in the second decade. Features of systemic phenotypic variability were proposed to distinguish patients mapped to either the BBS2, BBS3, or BBS4 loci but no phenotype–genotype correlation has been established for the ocular phenotype. We studied the three original families used for the identification of BBS2, BBS3, and BBS4 loci to define the ocular phenotypes of patients (n = 34) and obligate carriers (n = 32) using clinical examination and electroretinography (ERG). RP was severe and early in all cases. Myopia was associated with BBS3 and BBS4, but not BBS2. One patient with Bardet–Biedl syndrome also had iris and chorioretinal colobomata, features suggestive of Biemond syndrome. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Solar keratoses

Solar keratoses are premalignant epidermal lesions that rarely transform to squamous cell carcinoma and occur even in temperate European climates much more frequently than has been previously supposed. Some lesions of solar keratosis may spontaneously regress due to immune rejection, but immunological influences do not appear to be responsible for keeping them from progressing to frank malignancy. Their frequency, accessibility and various morphological forms provide the basis of excellent models for carcinogenesis.
Becoming connected: the lived experience of yoga participation after stroke

Purpose. To investigate the personal experiences and perceived outcomes of a yoga programme for stroke survivors. Method. This article reports on a preliminary study using qualitative methods to investigate the personal experiences and perceived outcomes of a yoga programme. Nine individuals who had experienced stroke were interviewed following a 10-week yoga programme involving movement, breathing and meditation practices. An interpretative phenomenological approach was used to determine meanings attached to yoga participation as well as perceptions of outcomes. Results. Interpretative themes evolving from the data were organised around a bio-psychosocial model of health benefits from yoga. Emergent themes from the analysis included: greater sensation; feeling calmer and becoming connected. These themes respectively revealed perceived physical improvements in terms of strength, range of movement or walking ability, an improved sense of calmness and the possibility for reconnecting and accepting a different body. Conclusion. The study has generated original findings that suggest that from the perspective of people who have had a stroke yoga participation can provide a number of meaningful physical, psychological and social benefits and support the rationale for incorporating yoga and meditation-based practices into rehabilitation programmes.
Correlative study on risk factors of depression among acute stroke patients.

BACKGROUND The causes of post-stroke depression (PSD) were complex, and it is hard to identify the consistent risk factors because the correlation may change along with time. AIM To study the prevalence and multiple correlation factors of PSD in acute stroke patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS The patients within over 2-6 weeks after stroke were collected and divided into depression group, depressive symptom group, and control group according to the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale for Depression. The NIH (National Institute of Health) Stroke Scale, the Barthel index (BI), the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL), and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) were respectively used to evaluate the neurologic impairment, Ability of Daily Life, and cognitive function of patients. RESULTS PSD was associated with lower incomes (p < 0.05), but not associated with education level, medical insurance, and nature of the acute stroke (p > 0.05). The lesion location in the left hemisphere of the brain had a higher morbidity than that in the right hemisphere or both sides. There was a significant difference in the incidence of PSD between multifocal lesions and single lesion (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS Lower income, cognitive dysfunctions, poor activities of daily life, poor social support, and history of hypertension and previous stroke were risk factors for the acute stroke patients to get depression. Stroke survivors with left hemisphere of the brain and more lesions (≥ 2) have more chance to get the PSD.
Estimating Reading Growth Attributable to Accelerated Reader at One American School in the Caribbean

This article provides a statistical analysis of the reading gains observed at one American school in the Caribbean that was using Accelerated Reader. It provides an estimate of the number of hours students needed to read to advance their reading performance an additional year. The authors estimate how much Accelerated Reader contributed to the advancement and determine how many points per grade a student needs to earn to make a year of reading growth. When points are converted to hours of time, the data show that it takes about 800 hours of time each year for students in grade 3 through grade 12 to achieve a year of growth. It is the conclusion then that students who read this much would spend about 9,600 total hours reading during their first 12 years of schooling.
A Motivation for Context-Aware Scheduling in Wireless Networks

Mobile phones offer a large range of different communicating applications, e.g. pure voice services, web surfing, video downloads. Most of this traffic does not have real-time delay requirements. By serving all flows under equal delay constraints, transmission resources are used very inefficiently. In this paper, we propose a scheduling framework which allows balancing the diverse application requirements by exploitation of the current users’ context. First results demonstrate the feasibility and flexibility of our approach.
Efficacy of duloxetine in patients with fibromyalgia: pooled analysis of 4 placebo-controlled clinical trials.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the efficacy of duloxetine in the treatment of pain and improvement in functional impairment and quality of life in patients with fibromyalgia from a pooled analysis of 4 placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized trials. METHOD Patients were eligible for inclusion in the studies if they were at least 18 years of age, met criteria for fibromyalgia as defined by the American College of Rheumatology, and had specified minimum pain severity scores. Across all studies, 797 patients received duloxetine 60-120 mg/d and 535 patients received placebo. Pain was assessed by the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) 24-hour average pain severity score; other efficacy measures included the Clinical Global Impressions-Severity of Illness scale (CGI-S), Patient Global Impressions-Improvement scale (PGI-I), 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS-17), Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) total score, BPI pain interference items, Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS), and Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) mental and physical components. Changes from baseline to endpoint (last observation carried forward) for most of the above efficacy measures were analyzed using an analysis-of-covariance model. RESULTS After 12 weeks of treatment, pain was significantly reduced in patients treated with duloxetine (P < .001) compared with placebo. In addition, duloxetine was superior to placebo in improving CGI-S (P < .001); PGI-I (P < .001); FIQ total (P < .001); HDRS-17 total (P = .003); SDS global functioning (P < .001), work/school (P = .018), and family life (P < .001); SF-36 mental (P < .001) and physical (P = .026) component; and BPI pain interference (P < .001) scores. Treatment-by-subgroup interactions were not significant for sex (P = .320), age (P = .362), or race (P = .180). CONCLUSIONS This pooled analysis provides evidence that 12 weeks of treatment with duloxetine 60-120 mg/d effectively improves fibromyalgia symptoms and may offer benefits beyond pain relief.
GDNF enhances the synaptic efficacy of dopaminergic neurons in culture

Glial cell line‐derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is known to promote the survival and differentiation of dopaminergic neurons of the midbrain. GDNF also causes an enhancement of dopamine release by a mechanism which is presently unclear. Using isolated dopaminergic neurons of the rat ventral tegmental area in culture, we have tested the hypothesis that GDNF regulates the establishment and functional properties of synaptic terminals. Previous studies have shown that single dopaminergic neurons in culture can co‐release glutamate in addition to dopamine, leading to the generation of a fast excitatory autaptic current via glutamate receptors. Using excitatory autaptic currents as an assay for the activity of synapses established by identified dopaminergic neurons, we found that chronically applied GDNF produced a threefold increase in the amplitude of excitatory autaptic currents. This action was specific for dopaminergic neurons because GDNF had no such effect on ventral tegmental area GABAergic neurons. The enhancement of excitatory autaptic current amplitude caused by GDNF was accompanied by an increase in the frequency of spontaneous miniature excitatory autaptic currents. These observations confirmed a presynaptic locus of change. We identified synaptic terminals by using synapsin‐1 immunofluorescence. In single tyrosine hydroxylase‐positive neurons, the number of synapsin‐positive puncta which represent putative synaptic terminals was found to be approximately doubled in GDNF‐treated cells at 5, 10 and 15 days in culture. The number of such morphologically identified terminals in isolated GABAergic neurons was unchanged by GDNF. These results suggest that one mechanism through which GDNF may enhance dopamine release is through promoting the establishment of new functional synaptic terminals.
The Stroke P.O.R.T.: secondary and tertiary prevention of ischemic stroke. Stroke Prevention Patient Outcomes Research Team.

The Stroke Prevention Patient Outcomes Research Team (PORT) is a five-year, multidisciplinary project designed to identify, evaluate and disseminate strategies for the secondary and tertiary prevention of ischemic stroke. The project has several major subcomponents: a formal literature review and synthesis; an analysis of the costs of specific diagnostic and therapeutic strategies; the identification of variations in clinical preventive practice through a national survey of physicians; an analysis of quality of life and patient preferences though a national computer assisted telephone survey of patients; the synthesis and development of recommendations through the use of both a formal decision/cost-effectiveness model and an expert consensus panel using a modified Delphi approach; and the dissemination of the recommendations through an intervention-demonstration trial. The Stroke PORT provides a formal structure for the evaluation and synthesis of complex interrelated levels of evidence for clinical stroke prevention strategies, a cost-benefit analysis, and a survey of patient and physician attitudes. The dissemination portion of the Stroke PORT remains in a planning phase awaiting the results of earlier parts of the project.
Speech Synthesis: A Review

Attempts to control the quality of voice of synthesized speech have existed for more than a decade now. Several prototypes and fully operating systems have been built based on different synthesis technique. This article reviews recent research advances in R&D of speech synthesis with focus on one of the key approaches i.e. statistical parametric approach to speech synthesis based on HMM, so as to provide a technological perspective. In this approach, spectrum, excitation, and duration of speech are simultaneously modeled by context –dependent HMMs, and speech waveforms are generated from the HMMs themselves. This paper aims to give an overview of what has been done in this field, summarize and compare the characteristics of various synthesis techniques used. It is expected that this study shall be a contribution in the field of speech synthesis and enable identification of research topic and applications which are at the forefront of this exciting and challenging field.
Mean-Variance Portfolio Selection With the Ordered Weighted Average

Portfolio selection is the theory that studies the process of selecting the optimal proportion of different assets. The first approach was introduced by Harry Markowitz and was based on a mean-variance framework. This paper introduces the ordered weighted average (OWA) in the mean-variance model. The main idea is to replace the classical mean and variance by the OWA operator. By doing so, the new model is able to study different degrees of optimism and pessimism in the analysis being able to develop an approach that considers the decision makers attitude in the selection process. This paper also suggests a new framework for dealing with the attitudinal character of the decision maker based on the numerical values of the available arguments. The main advantage of this method is the ability to adapt to many situations offering a more complete representation of the available data from the most pessimistic situation to the most optimistic one. An illustrative with fictitious data and a real example are studied.
Axiomatization of the infinite-valued predicate calculus

The infinite-valued statement calculus to which this paper refers is that of Łukasiewicz [10], whose axiomatization was proved complete in [5]. In [9], Rutledge extended this system to include predicates and quantifiers2 and presented a deductively complete set of axioms for the monadic predicate calculus. This paper represents an attempt to axiomatize the full predicate calculus; for the proposed axiomatization, a property akin to but weaker than completeness is proved. An attempt to prove full completeness along similar lines failed; it has since been shown [11] that the set of valid formulas of the infinite-valued predicate calculus is not recursively enumerable. The method of this paper was suggested by Professor J. Barkley Rosser.
Learning Disabilities With and Without Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Parents' and Teachers' Perspectives

Our objective was to delineate the educational and behavioral differences between learning disabled children with and without attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A restrospective (TROHOC) multimeasure comparative design was employed. Parents' and teachers' questionnaires (ANSER system) pertaining to attention-activity, associated behaviors, and scholastic achievements were compared. Parents' questionnaires failed to distinguish between the two groups. Teachers' questionnaires were significantly more sensitive. Significant correlations between educational achievements and attention-activity and associated behaviors scores among children with learning disabilities were evident, no such correlations were found in the group with learning disability with ADHD. The factor analysis identified different educational and behavioral aggregates with language related difficulties and externalizing behaviors more typically aggregated in the learning disabled group with ADHD and recall deficit and internalizing/neurotic behaviors in the group with learning disability only. ADHD appears to be an associated comorbidity and not necessarily a specific learning deficit. However, children with learning disability with ADHD possibly have a different underlying neurocognitive pattern than their peers with learning disabilities only. (J Child Neurol 1998;13:270-276).
Specific Mutations in ABCA1 Have Discrete Effects on ABCA1 Function and Lipid Phenotypes Both In Vivo and In Vitro

Mutations in ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) cause Tangier disease and familial hypoalphalipoproteinemia, resulting in low to absent plasma high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. However, wide variations in clinical lipid phenotypes are observed in patients with mutations in ABCA1. We hypothesized that the various lipid phenotypes would be the direct result of discrete and differing effects of the mutations on ABCA1 function. To determine whether there is a correlation between the mutations and the resulting phenotypes, we generated in vitro 15 missense mutations that have been described in patients with Tangier disease and familial hypoalphalipoproteinemia. Using localization of ABCA1, its ability to induce cell surface binding of apolipoprotein A-I, and its ability to elicit efflux of cholesterol and phospholipids to apolipoprotein A-I we determined that the phenotypes of patients correlate with the severity and nature of defects in ABCA1 function.
Analysis of downlink power control and cooperation scheme for two‐tier heterogeneous cellular network

The traditional cellular network cannot keep pace with the dramatic growth in data traffic due to exponentially increasing number of multimedia applications and mobile subscribers. Recently, femto base stations (FBSs) are deployed with the macro base station (MBS) tier for off‐loading the data traffic and to improve the indoor coverage of the heterogeneous cellular network. However, FBS deployment also increases the cross‐tier interference of the heterogeneous cellular network resulting in outage performance degradation of MBS tier. This work develops an analytical framework to limit the cross‐tier interference of MBS tier using power control scheme (PCS). The proposed PCS works on path loss inversion and location‐based power level rule for FBS. Moreover, a cooperation scheme and an association policy with MBS (CSAPM) are introduced to improve the outage performance of the FBS tier. Tools from the stochastic geometry are used for deriving the signal to interference and noise ratio outage probability, total outage probability, and area spectral efficiency (ASE) of MBS tier and FBS tier. Additionally, ASE maximization problem is formulated to evaluate the optimal density of FBSs. The effectiveness of the proposed PCS and CSAPM on outage performance and ASE are numerically demonstrated. It is noted from the results that the proposed CSAPM can compensate the loss in outage performance of FBS tier due to PCS. Finally, simulation results validate the analytical results.
Image segmentation with improved watershed algorithm and its FPGA implementation

This paper is concerned with image segmentation based on watershed transform techniques. It introduces a fast, improved watershed algorithm which processes 3/spl times/3 pixels in one process. Simulation results show that the improved watershed algorithm has a better throughput and yields comparable results to those of Vincent's immersion watershed algorithm. The improved algorithm is modified and formulated such that it is amenable to computing architecture implementation. An FPGA-based architecture that is developed to implement the proposed algorithm is presented. This architecture improves the applicability of this algorithm in real time applications. A description of the improved watershed algorithm, its extension to N/spl times/N pixels, and the architecture implementation is presented.
Quality and Safety Aspects of PEF Application in Milk and Milk Products

Abstract The articles published to date on the possibilities of applying the new PEF technology to milk and milk products are summarized in a review that presents them in chronological order and grouped on the basis of the factor studied (microorganism, enzyme, quality parameter, or shelf-life). An accompanying table shows details of the equipment and process corresponding to each article in chronological order.