Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Swapping of Periplasmic Domains between Brucella suis VirB8 and a pSB102 VirB8 Homologue Allows Heterologous Complementation

ABSTRACT A Brucella suis mutant with a nonpolar deletion in the virB8 gene was attenuated in a macrophage infection model. Complementation with the B. suis VirB8 protein expressed from the virB promoter restored virulence. Expression of TraJ, a VirB8 homologue from plasmid pSB102, did not restore virulence; however, virulence was partially restored by a chimeric protein containing the N terminus of the B. suis VirB8 protein and the C-terminal periplasmic domain of TraJ.
Optimizing migraine therapy: evidence-based and patient-centered care

Migraine is a chronic, intermittently debilitating neurovascular condition that affects the physical, mental and social aspects of health-related quality of life. Primary care provider interactions with migraine sufferers are common, highlighting the need for clinicians to provide optimal therapy. A comprehensive therapy plan should encompass the whole patient, via a patient–physician partnership where goals and strategies are mutually established. Key treatments include nondrug approaches, such as education and lifestyle modifications, to reduce the occurrence of attacks, as well as acute medications to address the immediate need for relief during an attack. Routine assessment and adjustment of therapy based on data recorded by patient diaries is paramount. Clinical trials support the use of triptans and dihydroergotamine for moderate-to-severe migraine and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (alone or in combination with antiemetics or caffeine) for mild-to-moderate migraine, as the treatments of choice to reduce pain and disability time in a cost-effective manner. Published evidence also endorses stratified care, where medication selection is geared towards disease severity, instead of step care, where nonspecific mediations are given to all patients. Thus, patients with significant migraine-induced debilitation, as assessed by tools, such as the Migraine Disability Assessment Scale or the Headache Impact Test, are prescribed migraine-specific agents from the onset of therapy, thereby avoiding the inherent failures of step care. For individuals experiencing a high frequency of attacks or routine debilitation, preventive medications are warranted.
2.8 A mixed-mode injection frequency-locked loop for self-calibration of injection locking range and phase noise in 0.13µm CMOS

Injection-locked oscillators (ILOs) are widely used to realize low-noise carrier sources, particularly at mm-Waves by leveraging harmonic injection, but only within a narrow locking range (Δf<sub>L</sub>) [1]. Substantial effort has been made to improve Δf<sub>L</sub> by increasing the injection current through multiport injections in open-loop architectures at the expense of a fair amount of extra power dissipation (P<sub>diss</sub>) [2]. The Δf<sub>L</sub>-limitation can also be mitigated by calibrating the free-running frequency (f<sub>osc</sub>) of the ILO using a mixer-based closed-loop configuration, but at the expense of significant hardware complexity in the multi-frequency feedback control and substantially increased P<sub>diss</sub> [3]. In the closed-loop self-calibration technique presented in this paper, the feedback signal is primarily processed in the digital domain after extracting the envelope signal bearing the frequency difference between the injection source (f<sub>inj</sub>) and f<sub>osc</sub> in the analog domain, resulting in a compact and power-efficient injection-frequency locked loop (IFLL) tracking the 3<sup>rd</sup>-harmonic of f<sub>inj</sub> over 26.5-to-29.7GHz (Δf<sub>L</sub>: 11.4%) with a 2.4mW P<sub>diss</sub> in the calibration circuits.
Longitudinal strain and strain rate by tissue Doppler are more sensitive indices than fractional shortening for assessing the reduced myocardial function in asphyxiated neonates

Abstract The function of the heart was studied in 20 asphyxiated term neonates by measuring the longitudinal peak systolic strain and peak systolic strain rate by tissue Doppler in 18 segments of the heart on days 1, 2, and 3 of life. The fractional shortening was assessed at each examination as well. Measurements were compared against measurements in 48 healthy term neonates examined by the same protocol. The function of the heart was lower in the asphyxiated neonates – peak systolic strain (mean (95% confidence interval) −19.4% (−20.4, −18.5), peak systolic strain rate −1.65 (−1.74, −1.56) per second) than in the healthy term neonates (peak systolic strain −21.7% (−22.3, −21.0), peak systolic strain rate −1.78 (−1.84, −1.74) per second; p < 0.001). Fractional shortening was similar in the asphyxiated (29.2% (26.8, 31.5)) and healthy term neonates (29.0% (27.9, 30.1); p = 0.874). The peak systolic strain differed significantly between the asphyxiated and healthy term neonates for the left basal and right basal groups of segments (p < 0.05) but not for the left apical, right apical, septum apical, or septum basal groups of segments. The peak systolic strain rate differed significantly only for the septum apical group of segments. The differences were largest on the second day of life. Measurements were similar in asphyxiated neonates with elevated and normal cardiac troponin T levels. The peak systolic strain and strain rate were in this study more sensitive indices than fractional shortening for assessing the reduced myocardial function in asphyxiated term neonates.
Hot topic extraction using time window

This paper presents a novel time window based hot topic extraction model for news stream. The model considers both pervasiveness and burst feature of topic terms. Pervasiveness is evaluated by terms' occurrences reported from different channels and burst is assessed by terms' abnormal occurrence frequencies from different time intervals. An energy ratio threshold based approach for burst detection is adopted and time window is introduced for news text stream analysis. TF-PDF is then combined to weigh the terms. Experiment results demonstrate that our model is effective in topic extraction for news texts.
Generation and Characterization of Small Single Domain Antibodies Inhibiting Human Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor 1*

Background: Several anti-TNF biologicals are available to treat autoimmune diseases. However, selective TNFR1 inhibition is advisable, thereby reducing the pro-inflammatory TNF/TNFR1 signaling, while the good immunomodulatory TNF/TNFR2 signaling is preserved. Results: We generated and characterized an anti-TNFR1 Nanobody, TNF Receptor-One Silencer (TROS). Conclusion: TROS inhibits inflammation in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo. Significance: Anti-TNFR1 therapies are potential novel treatments against autoimmune diseases. The cytokine TNF is a well known drug target for several inflammatory diseases such as Crohn disease. Despite the great success of TNF blockers, therapy could be improved because of high costs and side effects. Selective inhibition of TNF receptor (TNFR) 1 signaling holds the potential to greatly reduce the pro-inflammatory activity of TNF, thereby preserving the advantageous immunomodulatory signals mediated by TNFR2. We generated a selective human TNFR1 inhibitor based on Nanobody (Nb) technology. Two anti-human TNFR1 Nbs were linked with an anti-albumin Nb to generate Nb Alb-70-96 named “TNF Receptor-One Silencer” (TROS). TROS selectively binds and inhibits TNF/TNFR1 and lymphotoxin-α/TNFR1 signaling with good affinity and IC50 values, both of which are in the nanomolar range. Surface plasmon resonance analysis reveals that TROS competes with TNF for binding to human TNFR1. In HEK293T cells, TROS strongly reduces TNF-induced gene expression, like IL8 and TNF, in a dose-dependent manner; and in ex vivo cultured colon biopsies of CD patients, TROS inhibits inflammation. Finally, in liver chimeric humanized mice, TROS antagonizes inflammation in a model of acute TNF-induced liver inflammation, reflected in reduced human IL8 expression in liver and reduced IL6 levels in serum. These results demonstrate the considerable potential of TROS and justify the evaluation of TROS in relevant disease animal models of both acute and chronic inflammation and eventually in patients.
Rodent Models for Glaucoma Retinopathy and Optic Neuropathy

Animal models are useful to elucidate the etiology and pathology of glaucoma and to develop novel and more effective therapies for the disease. Because of the substantial similarities between the rodent and primate eyes, and the advances of relevant study techniques, rat and mouse models of glaucoma have recently become popular as research tools. This review surveys research techniques used in the measurement of rodent intraocular pressure, and also the evaluation of pertinent morphologic, biochemical, and functional changes in the retina, optic nerve head, and optic nerve. This review further describes in detail the individual rodent models, some of which serve as surrogate models and do not entail ocular hypertension, whereas others involve transient or chronic increases of intraocular pressure. The technical considerations and theoretical concerns of these models, their advantages, and limitations, are also discussed.
Network Coding Based Evolutionary Network Formation for Dynamic Wireless Networks

In this paper, we aim to find a robust network formation strategy that can adaptively evolve the network topology against network dynamics in a distributed manner. We consider a network coding deployed wireless ad hoc network where source nodes are connected to terminal nodes with the help of intermediate nodes. We show that mixing operations in network coding can induce packet anonymity that allows the inter-connections in a network to be decoupled. This enables each intermediate node to consider complex network inter-connections as a node-environment interaction such that the Markov decision process (MDP) can be employed at each intermediate node. The optimal policy that can be obtained by solving the MDP provides each node with the optimal amount of changes in transmission range given network dynamics (e.g., the number of nodes in the range and channel condition). Hence, the network can be adaptively and optimally evolved by responding to the network dynamics. The proposed strategy is used to maximize long-term utility, which is achieved by considering both current network conditions and future network dynamics. We define the utility of an action to include network throughput gain and the cost of transmission power. We show that the resulting network of the proposed strategy eventually converges to stationary networks, which maintain the states of the nodes. Moreover, we propose to determine initial transmission ranges and initial network topology that can expedite the convergence of the proposed algorithm. Our simulation results confirm that the proposed strategy builds a network which adaptively changes its topology in the presence of network dynamics. Moreover, the proposed strategy outperforms existing strategies in terms of system goodput and successful connectivity ratio.
Effect of Adding Tetracaine to Bupivacaine on Duration of Analgesia in Supraclavicular Brachial Plexus Nerve Blocks for Ambulatory Shoulder Surgery

The objective of this study was to determine if the addition of 1% tetracaine to 0.25% bupivacaine prolonged the duration of postoperative analgesia of supraclavicular brachial plexus nerve blockade for patients undergoing ambulatory shoulder surgery. We conducted a prospective, double-blinded, randomized controlled clinical study at an ambulatory surgery center utilizing ultrasound- and nerve stimulation-guided supraclavicular nerve blockade for postoperative analgesia. The control group received 30 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine plus 4 mL preservative-free saline. The study group received 30 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine plus 4 mL of 1% tetracaine. Patients documented their visual analog scale scores and intake of pain medications for 3 days. Primary outcomes included time of first postoperative pain, time of first postoperative pain pill, and time of return of motor and sensory function. Secondary outcomes included pain score and pain medication intake trends and adverse events secondary to the nerve block. A total of 84 patients completed the study, 42 patients in each group. The study group was statistically significantly older than the control group (mean age, 54 vs 48 years; P = 0.04). The mean duration of analgesia was 16.6 ± 8.3 h for the control group and 17.1 ± 7.3 h for the study group (P = 0.69). No outcomes were statistically different. In conclusion, there was no significant difference in duration of postoperative analgesia with the addition of 1% tetracaine to 0.25% bupivacaine in supraclavicular brachial plexus nerve blockade. No differences were identified in postoperative pain medications, pain scores, or complications.
A comparison of the quality of online information about total knee arthroplasty available in Turkish and English: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE The Internet has become one of the primary resources for patients to obtain health-related information. While the Internet continues to evolve in terms of coverage and technology, concerns regarding the quality of available information have arisen. We aimed to investigate the quality of health-related information on Turkish-language medical websites by comparing it to that of English-language medical websites, in which the subject has long been studied. METHODS The English term "total knee prosthesis" and its Turkish translation, "total diz protezi," were searched in Google. The 1st 30 results were assessed using a validated tool, the LIDA (Minervation, Oxford, UK), which was designed for the scoring of health-related websites according to accessibility, usability, and reliability. RESULTS The Turkish- and English-language websites were not significantly different in terms of accessibility, but the usability and reliability of Turkish websites were found to be significantly poorer. We found that the overall quality of information on Turkish websites was poor in comparison with that of English-language websites. CONCLUSION In order to raise consciousness about this problem and improve the quality of health-related information, further studies on Turkish-language websites should be performed. Attempts should also be made in Turkish-language websites to develop website certification systems and/or encourage the dissemination of existing systems.
Enhancing performance of switched parasitic antenna for localization in Wireless Sensor Networks

This paper presents an Electronically Steerable Parasitic Array Radiator (ESPAR) antenna with enhanced performance of estimating the Incoming signal direction. Designed antenna is dedicated for 2.4 GHz ISM applications with emphasis on Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN). The limitations of the existing design approach are illustrated, as well as perspectives and challenges of the proposed solution in relation to the localization in Wireless Sensor Networks.
Selling Sprinkles micronutrient powder reduces anemia, iron deficiency, and vitamin A deficiency in young children in Western Kenya: a cluster-randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND Although the efficacy of micronutrient powders [MNPs; eg, Sprinkles MNP (Sprinkles Global Health Initiative)] in the reduction of anemia has been established, the effectiveness of these powders in real-world programs has seldom been assessed. OBJECTIVE In this study, we evaluated the effect of community-based marketing and distribution of Sprinkles MNP on childhood rates of anemia and iron and vitamin A deficiency. DESIGN In a cluster-randomized trial in children aged 6-35 mo in Western Kenya, 60 villages were randomly assigned to either intervention or control groups. Community vendors marketed and sold sachets of Sprinkles MNP in intervention villages. Biweekly household visits monitored the use of Sprinkles MNP. Hemoglobin, ferritin, retinol binding protein, malaria, and anthropometric measures were assessed at baseline (n = 1063) and 12 mo of follow-up (n = 862). Data were analyzed by using an intention-to-treat analysis and generalized linear mixed models. RESULTS On average, 33% of households in intervention villages purchased Sprinkles MNP; the average weekly intake per child was 0.9 sachets (∼11.3 mg Fe and ∼328 μg vitamin A). Compared with control subjects, intervention children had greater improvements in hemoglobin concentrations (increase of 0.9 compared with 0.6 g/dL, respectively; P = 0.02), iron deficiency (decrease of 19.3% compared with 5.3%, respectively; P = 0.001), and vitamin A deficiency (decrease of 7.5% compared with an increase of 2.5%, respectively; P = 0.01). Results adjusted for age, sex, socioeconomic status, and maternal education showed a significant association between the hemoglobin, iron, and vitamin A concentrations of children and the number of Sprinkles MNP sachets the children consumed. The prevalence of malaria, wasting, and stunting did not change significantly in either group. CONCLUSION Even with relatively low and infrequent use, Sprinkles MNP sales through community vendors were associated with decreased rates of anemia and iron and vitamin A deficiency in children in a resource-poor setting. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01088958.
Stable Multi-Agent-Based Load Shedding Algorithm for Power Systems

If generation in a power system is insufficient to power all loads, efficient load shedding operations may need to be deployed to maintain the supply-demand balance. This paper proposes a distributed multi-agent-based load shedding algorithm, which can make efficient load shedding decision based on discovered global information. During the information discovery process, only communications between immediate neighboring agents are used. The information discovery algorithm is represented as a discrete time linear system and the stability of which is analyzed according to average-consensus theorem. According to rigorous stability analysis, convergence of the designed algorithm can be guaranteed. To improve the speed of the algorithm, particle swarm optimization (PSO) is used to optimize the coefficients for information exchange so that the second largest eigenvalue of the iteration matrix is minimized. According to the designed algorithm, total net active power and operating status of loads can be discovered accurately even with faults. Based on the discovered information, coordinated load shedding decision can be made.
Evolution of peripheral lung adenocarcinomas: CT findings correlated with histology and tumor doubling time.

OBJECTIVE This study was performed to evaluate the evolution of peripheral lung adenocarcinomas using CT findings and histologic classification related to tumor doubling time. MATERIALS AND METHODS The subjects were 34 patients, each with an adenocarcinoma smaller than 3 cm. All patients underwent chest radiography and 10 of them had previously undergone CT more than 6 months before surgery. Tumor doubling time was estimated by examining sequential radiographs using the method originally described by Schwartz. Tumor growth was also observed by studying the changes on CT in the 10 patients who had previously undergone CT. The histologic classification (types A-F) was evaluated according to the criteria of Noguchi et al. RESULTS Five (83%) of the six adenocarcinomas with tumor types A or B showed localized ground-glass opacity on high-resolution CT. All six tumors had a tumor doubling time of more than 1 year. Fifteen (71%) of the 21 tumors with type C showed partial ground-glass opacity mixed with localized solid attenuation on high-resolution CT. Ten (48%) of these 21 type C tumors had a tumor doubling time of more than 1 year. In types B and C, the solid component or the development of pleural indentation and vascular convergence increased during observation before surgery. All seven tumors with types D, E, and F showed mostly solid attenuation, and the tumor doubling time was less than 1 year in six (87%) of the seven tumors. CONCLUSION Two main types of peripheral lung adenocarcinoma exist. The first type appears on CT as a localized ground-glass opacity with slow growth, and the other appears as a solid attenuation with rapid growth.
A 100-nW 9.1-ENOB 20-kS/s SAR ADC for Portable Pulse Oximeter

This brief presents an energy-efficient 10-bit accuracy with 20-kS/s successive approximation register analog-to-digital converter for portable pulse oximeter. A data-dependent capacitor reset (DDCR) switching scheme for the capacitive digital-to-analog converter (CDAC) to reduce the average switching energy and the number of unit capacitors is proposed and implemented. Compared with the conventional capacitor switching scheme for CDACs, the proposed DDCR switching scheme reduces the average switching energy and the total number of unit capacitors by 97% and 75%, respectively. We achieved a signal-to-noise-and-distortion ratio of 56.5 dB and a spurious-free dynamic range of 64.7 dBc at the Nyquist input frequency. The measured peak differential and integral nonlinearities are 0.44 and 0.58 least significant bit, respectively. The figure of merit is 9.1 fJ/conversion-step. The prototype, fabricated in the 0.11-$\mu\mbox{m}$ CMOS process, occupies 0.033 mm2.
Exercise capacity as a predictor of survival among ambulatory patients with end-stage renal disease.

BACKGROUND Exercise capacity is reduced in end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Exercise requires the integrated function of multiple vital organs, and low exercise capacity is an independent predictor of mortality in a number of clinical populations. We analyzed the value of exercise capacity, characterized as peak oxygen uptake (VO2), for predicting survival in a cohort of 175 hemodialysis patients over a median follow-up of 39 months. METHODS Survival status was determined for 175 ESRD patients who had participated in previous studies for which peak VO2 and other clinical data had been determined. Chi-square and Kaplan-Meier survival analyses were performed, and a minimal model of factors related to mortality was developed by Cox multiple regression. RESULTS There were 23 deaths during the follow-up period. Peak VO2 (>17.5 mL/min/kg) was a powerful predictor of survival (P= 0.009 by Kaplan-Meier). Age (<65 years), dialysis vintage (<39 months), pulse pressure (<54 mm Hg), and absence of diagnoses of diabetes or heart failure were also associated with better survival on univariate analyses. On multivariate analysis peak VO2 contributed significantly to the minimal explanatory model relating clinical variables to mortality (overall chi2= 25.5, P= 0.00001). CONCLUSION Among these ambulatory ESRD patients, peak VO2 was a stronger predictor of survival than many traditional prognostic variables, some of which are subject to ceiling effects. Exercise capacity may thus provide incremental prognostic information concerning healthier ESRD patients. Because peak VO2 may be modified by exercise training, the potential of exercise as an intervention to improve survival is suggested.
New Fault Models and Self-Test Generation for Microprocessors Using High-Level Decision Diagrams

The paper presents a novel approach to high-level fault modeling and test generation for microprocessors using High-Level Decision Diagrams (HLDD). A general frame-work and novel techniques for automated software-based self-test program generation are discussed. On this basis new previously not published test quality improvement capabilities of the approach are high-lighted and explained. Based on the high level fault model defined for HLDDs a novel class of hard-to-test faults, called "unintended actions", is proposed. In addition, the mechanisms for reducing the risk of fault masking is explained. The experimental results show the superiority of the new method by achieving a higher quality of tests with shorter length compared to the previous results.