Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adaptive feature extraction algorithms and SVM with optimal parameters on fault diagnosis of bearing

Combining adaptive feature extraction algorithms with multi scale entropy (MSE), a synthetic method for fault diagnosis of bearing based on support vector machine (SVM) is proposed. The performances of two new adaptive feature extraction algorithms and Empirical Mode Decomposition(EMD) on the fault feature extraction of vibration signals are first time compared simultaneously. It is shown that multi-scale entropy (MSE) of the optimal mode is introduced for fault classification, and the effect is better when the scale factor is selected reasonably. In addition, as the feature vectors of SVM, the MSE of optimal mode complete fault diagnosis of bearing, under the optimal penalty parameter C and kernel parameter γ of RBF kernel function have been searched by Cross-validation and Grid-search. Finally, data in engineering are used to prove that not only the performance of new adaptive feature extraction algorithm but also the diagnostic unit on SVM are further improved, and the accuracy of diagnosis is raised to 97% over EMD+SVM only.
Comparison of Ergonomic Risk Assessment Output in Four Sawmill Jobs

The objectives of this study were to examine the agreement between 5 ergonomic risk assessment methods calculated on the basis of quantitative exposure measures and to examine the ability of the methods to correctly classify 4 at risk jobs. Surface electromyography and electrogoniometry were used to record the physical exposures of 87 sawmill workers performing 4 repetitive jobs. Five ergonomic risk assessment tools (rapid upper limb assessment [RULA], rapid entire body assessment [REBA], American conference of governmental industrial hygienist’s threshold limit value for mono-task hand work [ACGIH TLV], strain index [SI], and concise exposure index [OCRA]) were calculated. Dichotomization of risk to no risk and at risk resulted in high agreement between methods. Percentage of perfect agreement between methods when 3 levels of risk were considered was moderate and varied by job. Of the methods examined, the RULA and SI were best (correct classification rates of 99 and 97% respectively). The quantitative ACGIH-TLV for mono-task hand work and Borg scale were worst (misclassification rates of 86 and 28% respectively).
Induction of Osteoblast Differentiation by Selective Activation of Kinase-Mediated Actions of the Estrogen Receptor

ABSTRACT Estrogens control gene transcription by cis or trans interactions of the estrogen receptor (ER) with target DNA or via the activation of cytoplasmic kinases. We report that selective activation of kinase-mediated actions of the ER with 4-estren-3α,17β-diol (estren) or an estradiol-dendrimer conjugate, each a synthetic compound that stimulates kinase-mediated ER actions 1,000 to 10,000 times more potently than direct DNA interactions, induced osteoblastic differentiation in established cell lines of uncommitted osteoblast precursors and primary cultures of osteoblast progenitors by stimulating Wnt and BMP-2 signaling in a kinase-dependent manner. In sharp contrast, 17β-estradiol (E2) suppressed BMP-2-induced osteoblast progenitor commitment and differentiation. Consistent with the in vitro findings, estren, but not E2, stimulated Wnt/β-catenin-mediated transcription in T-cell factor-lacZ transgenic mice. Moreover, E2 stimulated BMP signaling in mice in which ERα lacks DNA binding activity and classical estrogen response element-mediated transcription (ERαNERKI/−) but not in wild-type controls. This evidence reveals for the first time the existence of a large signalosome in which inputs from the ER, kinases, bone morphogenetic proteins, and Wnt signaling converge to induce differentiation of osteoblast precursors. ER can either induce it or repress it, depending on whether the activating ligand (and presumably the resulting conformation of the receptor protein) precludes or accommodates ERE-mediated transcription.
Local gastric and serum amoxicillin concentrations after different oral application forms

The high recolonization rate after monotherapy of Helicobacter pylori-positive gastritis may be due to insufficient local drug concentrations. To investigate the role of local diffusion, we measured levels of amoxicillin, a drug with good in vitro activity against H. pylori, in the mucosa and serum. One gram of amoxicillin was given to healthy volunteers as a tablet (n = 6) or as water-dissolved, fizzing "Tab" (n = 6). Gastroscopy with biopsies from the antrum, corpus, and fundus was performed at 30, 60, and 90 min. Concentrations in the mucosa were measured after homogenization with the agar diffusion method using Bacillus subtilis as the biological indicator. Serum samples, taken basally and every 15 min, were analyzed by high-pressure liquid chromatography. Drug levels in the fundus and corpus remained far below those in the antrum for both application forms. The highest concentrations were reached after 30 min, with bactericidal levels in the antrum in two of six subjects who took the tablet form and five of six subjects who used Tabs. At 60 and 90 min, almost all values were below the MBC for 90% of the strains tested. The concentrations in serum, however, rose continuously, to reach a maximum after 75 or 90 min. These results show that incomplete elimination may be due to subbactericidal concentrations of antibiotics with high in vitro efficiency at the desired site of action in vivo and that local diffusion in the mucosa is essential for therapeutic effectiveness against H. pylori.
Towards a Microfounded Agent-Based Macroeconomic Model

The literature on agent-based macroeconomics has grown substantially over the past decade. However, a typically small set of common features impedes an instructive comparison of model results and obscures the implications of specific model assumptions. While validation and model selection techniques can contribute to consolidating the literature and thereby achieve a more concerted research agenda, I propose a different route in this paper. By transcribing the common core of modern DSGE models into an agent-based framework, a well-known and parsimonious representation of the economy is developed that can serve as a point of departure for studying a wide range of research questions. The flexibility of the agent-based approach thereby helps to address common critiques of mainstream macro, such as the complexity-limit to microfoundations, the fallacy of composition and the lack of realism associated with rational expectations. To demonstrate this flexibility, simulations focus thematically on the aggregate impact of non-financial uncertainty, which has proven to be very challenging to incorporate into a DSGE setting. Simulation results show that an increase in uncertainty leads to a new equilibrium with unemployment. A reduction of nominal wages, discretionary fiscal and monetary policy can all lead to economic recovery. However, each measure bears its own risk. Furthermore, when households learn about uncertainty from past experience, discriminatory behavior by firms on the labor market can result in a strong and detrimental impact on aggregate dynamics.
Early Failure Detection of Bearing Based on Probabilistic Matching Pursuit

A signal adaptive time-frequency decomposition to extend matching pursuit algorithm-probabilistic matching pursuit is studied. This method is firstly introduced into early fault diagnosis of rolling bearing. It adopts Gaussian wavelet to construct the time-frequency atoms dictionary. Applying probabilistic matching pursuit, we can accurately extract the early defect features by computing coherence between vibration signals of rolling bearing with inner or outer race fault and the dictionary elements. Comparing with matching pursuit, probabilistic matching pursuit represents vibration signal features with very fine resolution and sparsity in the time-frequency domain through computer simulations. Simultaneously, experiment results confirm that probabilistic matching pursuit is quite effective to facilitate the early diagnosis and identification of rolling bearing faults.
Sequence analysis of the PRKAR1A gene in sporadic somatotroph and other pituitary tumours

objective Carney complex (CNC) is an autosomal dominant multiple neoplasia syndrome featuring cardiac, endocrine, cutaneous and neural tumours, as well as a variety of pigmented lesions of the skin and mucosa. Pituitary GH‐secreting tumours are found in approximately 10% of patients with CNC. One of the genes responsible for CNC, the PRKAR1A gene located on human chromosome 17q22‐24, has recently been cloned. This represents a putative tumour suppressor gene, coding for the type 1α regulatory subunit of protein kinase A (PKA), which is found to be mutated in approximately half of the patients with CNC. However, it is currently unclear as to whether similar mutations occur in sporadic pituitary tumours. We have therefore investigated a series of GH‐secreting and other pituitary tumours for sequence abnormalities in the PRKAR1A gene. The mRNA produced by the PRKAR1A undergoes decay if it codes for a truncated protein; we therefore also determined PRKAR1A mRNA levels in the tumours, and compared them with known mutant PRKAR1A‐carrying lymphocyte samples.
Research on the Foreign Trade Transformation and Upgrading of Convergence Path from the Perspective of Factor-Supply Distortion based on SEM

From the perspective of factor-supply distortion, combining innovation input in investigation into transformation and upgrading of foreign trade in China, network relation between factor-supply distortion, innovation input, macroeconomic environment, foreign trade structure and foreign trade transformation and upgrading were analyzed by constructing structural equation model. Studies have shown that: Factor-supply distortion exerts a negative impact on foreign trade transformation and upgrading by worsening foreign trade structure; innovation input exerts positive impact on foreign trade transformation and upgrading by optimizing foreign trade structure, but innovation input efficiency renders this impact insignificant; interaction between factory-supply distortion, innovation input, macroeconomic environment, foreign trade structure, foreign trade transformation and upgrading results in a stable convergence network system.
Simulating the Impact of Cross Resistance Between Bt toxins in Transformed Clover and Apples in New Zealand

Abstract Simulations were conducted to guide development of resistance management strategies aimed at prolonging the usable life of B. thuringiensis (Bt) endotoxins in multiple cropping situations, where different crops expressing Bt endotoxins are host plants for a common pest. We used the New Zealand apple and clover model ecosystem to explore the relative impact on the rate of resistance development of varying levels of cross-resistance between different toxins expressed in these 2 potentially Bt-transformed crops. These 2 crops are hosts for a complex of leafrollers in New Zealand, including the lightbrown apple moth, used here as the model pest. Cross-resistance was varied between 0.0 and 0.5 (zero to partial cross-resistance) to allow for the case in which selection by one plant has a potential effect on resistance to the toxin in another plant. The largest factor affecting the evolution of resistance was the total habitat area occupied by transgenic orchards. The proportion of the clover habitat that was transformed was also an important factor, even in the absence of cross-resistance. The effect of increasing the proportion of the second transformed crop (clover) acted on resistance evolution mainly by reducing the external refuge of susceptibility for the transgenic orchards. Hence, the ecological implications of reducing the available source of susceptible insects from clover, which can help to slow resistance development in the orchard ecosystem, had a more significant impact than the presence of cross-resistance. Partial cross-resistance between different toxins in the separate crops was overall of relatively minor importance. These simulations have implications for deployment decisions for individual transformed crops in multiple cropping systems, where there is the potential for the crops to serve as refuges for each other. These decisions may need to focus less on cross-resistance between toxins, than on economic trade-offs between the relative roles of individual crops as refugia maintaining susceptibility in the system as a whole.
Genetic Characterization of Trichomonas vaginalis Isolates by Use of Multilocus Sequence Typing

ABSTRACT In this study, we introduce a multilocus sequence typing (MLST) scheme, comprised of seven single-copy housekeeping genes, to genetically characterize Trichomonas vaginalis. Sixty-eight historical and recent isolates of T. vaginalis were sampled from the American Type Culture Collection and female patients at area health care facilities, respectively, to assess the usefulness of this typing method. Forty-three polymorphic nucleotide sites, 51 different alleles, and 60 sequence types were distinguished among the 68 isolates, revealing a diverse T. vaginalis population. Moreover, this discriminatory MLST scheme retains the ability to identify epidemiologically linked isolates such as those collected from sexual partners. Population genetic and phylogenetic analyses determined that T. vaginalis population structure is strongly influenced by recombination and is composed of two separate populations that may be nonclonal. MLST is useful for investigating the epidemiology, genetic diversity, and population structure of T. vaginalis.
Population genetic structure of the malaria mosquito Anopheles arabiensis across Nigeria suggests range expansion

Ten microsatellite loci, four located within and six outside chromosome inversions, were employed to study the genetic structure of Anopheles arabiensis across the ecological zones of Nigeria (arid savannah in the north gradually turns into humid forest in the south). Regardless of location within or outside inversions, genetic variability at all loci was characterized by a reduction in both the number of alleles per locus and heterozygosity from savannah to forest. Across all loci, all but one allele in the forest also occurred in the savannah, whereas at least 78 alleles in the savannah were missing in the forest. Genetic differentiation increased with geographical distance; consequently, genetic distances between zones exceeded those within zones. The largest genetic distances were between localities at the extremes of the transect (range FST = 0.196–0.258 and RST = 0.183–0.468) and were as large as those between A. arabiensis and Anopheles gambiae s.s. Gene flow across the country was very low, so that Nm between the extremes of the transect was < 1. These data suggest that A. arabiensis has extended its range from the savannah into the forest during which it experienced a reduction in effective population size due to sequential founder effects. Gene flow post range expansion appears too restricted by geographical distance to homogenize the gene pool of A. arabiensis across Nigeria.
Potent and specific inhibition of the biological activity of the type-II transmembrane serine protease matriptase by the cyclic microprotein MCoTI-II

Summary Matriptase is a type-II transmembrane serine protease involved in epithelial homeostasis in both health and disease, and is implicated in the development and progression of a variety of cancers. Matriptase mediates its biological effects both via as yet undefined substrates and pathways, and also by proteolytic cleavage of a variety of well-defined protein substrates, several of which it shares with the closely-related protease hepsin. Development of targeted therapeutic strategies will require discrimination between these proteases. Here we have investigated cyclic microproteins of the squash Momordica cochinchinensis trypsin-inhibitor family (generated by total chemical synthesis) and found MCoTI-II to be a high-affinity (Ki 9 nM) and highly selective (> 1,000-fold) inhibitor of matriptase. MCoTI-II efficiently inhibited the proteolytic activation of pro-hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) by matriptase but not by hepsin, in both purified and cell-based systems, and inhibited HGF-dependent cell scattering. MCoTI-II also selectively inhibited the invasion of matriptase-expressing prostate cancer cells. Using a model of epithelial cell tight junction assembly, we also found that MCoTI-II could effectively inhibit the re-establishment of tight junctions and epithelial barrier function in MDCK-I cells after disruption, consistent with the role of matriptase in regulating epithelial integrity. Surprisingly, MCoTI-II was unable to inhibit matriptase-dependent proteolytic activation of prostasin, a GPI-anchored serine protease also implicated in epithelial homeostasis. These observations suggest that the unusually high selectivity afforded by MCoTI-II and its biological effectiveness might represent a useful starting point for the development of therapeutic inhibitors, and further highlight the role of matriptase in epithelial maintenance.
A Dynamic Factor Model for Forecasting House Prices in Belgium

The paper forecasts the residential property price index in Belgium with a dynamic factor model (DFM) estimated with a dataset of macro-economic variables describing the Belgian and euro area economy. The model is validated with out-of-sample forecasts which are obtained recursively over an expanding window over the period 2000q1-2012q4. We illustrate how the model reads information from mortgage loans, interest rates, GDP and inflation to revise the residential property price forecast as a result of a change in assumptions for the future paths of these variables
Effect of integrated Yoga and Physical therapy on audiovisual reaction time, anxiety and depression in patients with chronic multiple sclerosis: a pilot study

Abstract Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is characterized by a significant deterioration in auditory and visual reaction times along with associated depression and anxiety. Yoga and Physical therapy (PT) interventions have been found to enhance recovery from these problems in various neuropsychiatric illnesses, but sufficient evidence is lacking in chronic MS population. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of integrated Yoga and Physical therapy (IYP) on audiovisual reaction times, depression and anxiety in patients suffering from chronic MS. Methods: From a neuro-rehabilitation center in Germany, 11 patients (six females) suffering from MS for 19±7.4 years were recruited. Subjects were in the age range of 55.45±10.02 years and had Extended Disability Status Scores (EDSS) below 7. All the subjects received mind–body intervention of integrated Yoga and Physical therapy (IYP) for 3 weeks. The intervention was given in a residential setup. Patients followed a routine involving Yogic physical postures, pranayama, and meditations along with various Physical therapy (PT) techniques for 21 days, 5 days a week, 5 h/day. They were assessed before and after intervention for changes in audiovisual reaction times (using Brain Fit Model No. OT 400), anxiety, and depression [using Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)]. Data was analyzed using paired samples test. Results: There was significant improvement in visual reaction time (p=0.01), depression (p=0.04), and anxiety (p=0.02) scores at the end of 3 weeks as compared to the baseline. Auditory reaction time showed reduction with borderline statistical significance (p=0.058). Conclusions: This pilot project suggests utility of IYP intervention for improving audiovisual reaction times and psychological health in chronic MS patients. In future, randomized controlled trials with larger sample size should be performed to confirm these findings.
Quantifying Thymic Export: Combining Models of Naive T Cell Proliferation and TCR Excision Circle Dynamics Gives an Explicit Measure of Thymic Output1

Understanding T cell homeostasis requires knowledge of the export rate of new T cells from the thymus, a rate that has been surprisingly difficult to estimate. TCR excision circle (TREC) content has been used as a proxy for thymic export, but this quantity is influenced by cell division and loss of naive T cells and is not a direct measure of thymic export. We present in this study a method for quantifying thymic export in humans by combining two simple mathematical models. One uses Ki67 data to calculate the rate of peripheral naive T cell production, whereas the other tracks the dynamics of TRECs. Combining these models allows the contributions of the thymus and cell division to the daily production rate of T cells to be disentangled. The method is illustrated with published data on Ki67 expression and TRECs within naive CD4+ T cells in healthy individuals. We obtain a quantitative estimate for thymic export as a function of age from birth to 20 years. The export rate of T cells from the thymus follows three distinct phases, as follows: an increase from birth to a peak at 1 year, followed by rapid involution until ∼8 years, and then a more gradual decline until 20 years. The rate of involution shown by our model is compatible with independent estimates of thymic function predicted by thymic epithelial space. Our method allows nonintrusive estimation of thymic output on an individual basis and may provide a means of assessing the role of the thymus in diseases such as HIV.
Effect of Treatment Delay on Survival in Patients With Cervical Cancer: A Historical Cohort Study

Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of treatment delay on prognosis in patients with cervical cancer. Methods The study group of this historic cohort study comprised 321 patients newly diagnosed with cervical cancer between 1999 and 2010. Time from diagnosis to treatment was analyzed both as a continuous variable and as a categorical variable in 3 groups that differed in waiting time between diagnosis and treatment initiation: 30 days or less (group 1, n = 134), 30 to 45 days (group 2, n = 86), and more than 45 days (group 3, n = 101). Associations between waiting time group, patients’ characteristics, and disease outcome were investigated using t tests, analyses of variance and Cox regression analyses, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, and log-rank (Mantel-Cox) tests. Results Time from diagnosis to treatment initiation, when analyzed as a continuous variable, was not a significant factor in survival. There were no between-group differences in age, smoking rate, marital status, gravidity, parity, tumor histology, or lymph node involvement. Early-stage disease and small tumor diameter were diagnosed most frequently in group 3. However, there was no significant between-group difference in 3-year survival rates (74.6%, 82.2%, and 80.8% in groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively; P = 0.38). On multivariate analysis, only stage, histology, and lymph node involvement were significant prognostic factors for survival. Before starting treatment, 28 patients underwent ovarian preservation procedures. Conclusions Longer waiting time from diagnosis to treatment was not associated with worse survival. Our findings imply that if patients desire fertility or ovarian preservation procedures before starting treatment, it is acceptable to allow time for them.