Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Laminin and α-Dystroglycan Mediate Acetylcholine Receptor Aggregation via a MuSK-Independent Pathway

Specific isoforms of laminin (LN) are concentrated at neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) where they may participate in synaptic organization or function. In myotubes from C2 cells, LN is concentrated within the majority of spontaneous acetylcholine receptor (AChR) aggregates. Neural agrin substantially increases this colocalization, suggesting that agrin can recruit LN into AChR aggregates. Addition of LN to C2 myotubes induces a more than twofold increase in the number of AChR aggregates. These aggregates have a larger size and are more dense than are those induced by agrin, suggesting that LN is involved in the growth and/or stabilization of AChR aggregates. Consistent with this hypothesis, an antiserum to LN reduces the size of individual AChR aggregates but increases their number. In C2 myotubes, extracellular matrix receptors containing the integrin β1 subunit are poorly colocalized with AChR aggregates, suggesting that integrins may not be involved in LN-induced aggregation. In contrast, almost all AChR aggregates are associated with dystroglycan immunoreactivity, and monoclonal antibody (mAb) IIH6 against α-dystroglycan (α-DG), a LN and agrin receptor, causes a concentration-dependent inhibition of LN-induced aggregation. Moreover, S27 cells, which lack a functional α-DG, and two C2-derived cell lines expressing antisense DG mRNA fail to aggregate AChRs in response to LN. Finally, LN-induced AChR aggregation does not involve the phosphorylation of the muscle-specific tyrosine kinase receptor (MuSK) or the AChR β subunit. We hypothesize that the interaction of LN with α-DG contributes to the growth and/or stabilization of AChR microaggregates into macroaggregates at the developing NMJ via a MuSK-independent mechanism.
Label fusion using performance estimation with iterative label selection

Atlas-based segmentation is a well-known method of automatically computing a segmentation. When multiple atlases are available, then each atlas can be used to compute a ‘label’, which is an estimation of the ground truth segmentation of a target image. By combining these labels, a more accurate approximation of the ground truth segmentation can be made. A common method to combine labels is the STAPLE algorithm, but this method fails when the performance of the labels highly varies. Other methods select labels based on their estimated performance, but combine them using a simple majority vote procedure. In this paper, a simpler variant of the STAPLE algorithm is presented that iteratively selects labels. Results are given that show that the proposed method outperforms STAPLE in an application to segmentation of the prostate.
Trends in cardiovascular risk factors across levels of education in a general population: is the educational gap increasing? The Tromsø study 1994–2008

Background To describe trends in cardiovascular risk factors and change over time across education levels, and study the influence from medicine use and gender. Methods Data from participants (30–74 years) of the Tromsø Study in 1994–1995 (n=22 108) and in 2007–2008 (n=11 565). Blood samples, measurements and self-reported educational level and medicine use were collected. Results Differences in risk factor levels across education groups were persistent for all risk factors over time, with a more unfavourable pattern in the lowest education group. The exception was cholesterol, with the reduction being largest in the lowest educated, resulting in weakened educational trends over time. While a significant educational trend in cholesterol persisted among the non-users of lipid-lowering drugs (LLD), no educational trend in cholesterol was found among the LLD users in 2007–2008. The strongest educational trends were found for daily smoking and Body Mass Index (BMI). In 2007–2008 the odds for being a smoker were five times higher among the lowest educated compared to the highest educated. In men, the odds for being in the highest quintile of the BMI distribution were, in 2007–2008, almost doubled in the lowest compared to the highest educated. The lowest educated women had 6.2 mm Hg higher mean systolic blood pressure than the highly educated, mean BMI of 26.4 kg/m 2 and smoking prevalence of 37.7%. Conclusions The difference across education groups for cholesterol levels decreased, while the educational gap persisted over time for the other risk factors. Use of LLD seemed to contribute to the reduction of social differences in cholesterol levels.
Forecasting interest rates: a comparative assessment of some second-generation nonlinear models

Modeling and forecasting of interest rates has traditionally proceeded in the framework of linear stationary methods such as ARMA and VAR, but only with moderate success. We examine here three methods, which account for several specific features of the real world asset prices such as nonstationarity and nonlinearity. Our three candidate methods are based, respectively, on a combined wavelet artificial neural network (WANN) analysis, a mixed spectrum (MS) analysis and nonlinear ARMA models with Fourier coefficients (FNLARMA). These models are applied to weekly data on interest rates in India and their forecasting performance is evaluated vis-à-vis three GARCH models [GARCH (1,1), GARCH-M (1,1) and EGARCH (1,1)] as well as the random walk model. Both the WANN and MS methods show marked improvement over other benchmark models, and may thus hold out several potentials for real world modeling and forecasting of financial data.
Perturbative treatment of anharmonic vibrational effects on bond distances: An extended langevin dynamics method

In this work, we first review the perturbative treatment of an oscillator with cubic anharmonicity. It is shown that there is a quantum‐classical correspondence in terms of mean displacement, mean‐squared displacement, and the corresponding variance in the first‐order perturbation theory, provided that the amplitude of the classical oscillator is fixed at the zeroth‐order energy of quantum mechanics EQM (0) . This correspondence condition is realized by proposing the extended Langevin dynamics (XLD), where the key is to construct a proper driving force. It is assumed that the driving force adopts a simple harmonic form with its amplitude chosen according to EQM (0) , while the driving frequency chosen as the harmonic frequency. The latter can be improved by using the natural frequency of the system in response to the potential if its anharmonicity is strong. By comparing to the accurate numeric results from discrete variable representation calculations for a set of diatomic species, it is shown that the present method is able to capture the large part of anharmonicity, being competitive with the wave function‐based vibrational second‐order perturbation theory, for the whole frequency range from ∼4400 cm−1 (H2) to ∼160 cm−1 (Na2). XLD shows a substantial improvement over the classical molecular dynamics which ceases to work for hard mode when zero‐point energy effects are significant. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Prevalence of conditions potentially associated with lower urinary tract symptoms in men

Authors from the Mayo Clinic, using data from the Olmsted County study, estimated the frequency of other causes (other than BPH) of LUTS. They found that such other conditions are prevalent, and increase in frequency with age. They concluded that overlooking these conditions can result in misclassification, misdiagnosis and incorrect treatment.
Development and validation of a novel protein extraction methodology for quantitation of protein expression in formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded tissues using western blotting

The development of efficient formaldehyde cross‐link reversal strategies will make the vast diagnostic tissue archives of pathology departments amenable to prospective and retrospective translational research, particularly in biomarker‐driven proteomic investigations. Heat‐induced antigen retrieval strategies (HIARs) have achieved varying degrees of cross‐link reversal, potentially enabling archival tissue usage for proteomic applications outside its current remit of immunohistochemistry (IHC). While most successes achieved so far have been based on retrieving tryptic peptide fragments using shot‐gun proteomic approaches, attempts at extracting full‐length, non‐degraded, immunoreactive proteins from archival tissue have proved challenging. We have developed a novel heat‐induced antigen retrieval strategy using SDS‐containing Laemmli buffer for efficient intact protein recovery from formalin‐fixed tissues for subsequent analysis by western blotting. Protocol optimization and comparison of extraction efficacies with frozen tissues and current leader methodology is presented. Quantitative validation of methodology was carried out in a cohort of matched tumour/normal, frozen/FFPE renal tissue samples from 10 patients, probed by western blotting for a selected panel of seven proteins known to be differentially expressed in renal cancer. Our data show that the protocol enables efficient extraction of non‐degraded, full‐length, immunoreactive protein, with tumour versus normal differential expression profiles for a majority of the panel of proteins tested being comparable to matched frozen tissue controls (rank correlation, r = 0.7292, p < 1.825e‐09). However, the variability observed in extraction efficacies for some membrane proteins emphasizes the need for cautious interpretation of quantitative data from this subset of proteins. The method provides a viable, cost‐effective quantitative option for the validation of potential biomarker panels through a range of clinical samples from existing diagnostic archives, provided that validation of the method is first carried out for the specific proteins under study. Copyright © 2008 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Análisis de la mortalidad y morbilidad materna según criterios de la organización mundial de la salud y del Euro-Peristat en el período 2011-2015 en el Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón

El riesgo de Perdida del Bienestar Materno Perinatal (RPBMP) supone la aparicion de cualquier entidad de muerte o morbilidad en el binomio materno-fetal, que se relacionan entre si. En esta Memoria, para la definicion y el analisis de la muerte y morbilidad materna se han seguido los criterios planteados por la OMS, el Near Miss y el Euro- Peristat. Mediante un analisis retrospectivo de los partos atendidos en la Maternidad del Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Maranon durante 2011-2015, de las variables clinicas maternas pregestacionales, gestacionales, durante el parto y el postparto asi como las neonatales, se establecen la correlacion de dichas variables con el riesgo de padecer cada uno de los eventos morbidos maternos descritos con anterioridad. Dicho analisis se realiza mediante un regresion logistica univariada y multivariada, esta ultima para ajustar la magnitud de efecto de cada variable y la de averiguar un modelo optimo que minimice el numero de variables alcanzando el mayor indice de prediccion. Entre los resultados encontrados en un total de 24.059 madres y 24.874 recien nacidos queremos destacar una tasa de muerte fetal de 3-4 por mil partos y dos muertes maternas durante el periodo (8,08 por cien mil recien nacidos vivos). En cuanto al perfil de pacientes relacionados con eventos morbidos concretamente los trastornos hemorragicos fueron mas frecuentes en multiparas, con patologia gestacional que han requerido ingreso, antes de la semana 37 de embarazo, cuyo parto fue asistido durante el turno no programado (guardia) que ha requerido anestesia general, con alteraciones durante el alumbramiento y en recien nacidos con anomalias del crecimiento intrauterino.
Horizontal Capacity Coordination for Risk Management and Flexibility: Pay Ex Ante or Commit a Fraction of Ex Post Demand?

Motivated by the dual-sourcing and contracting practices in the semiconductor industry, we study two prevailing types of contracts that deal with horizontal-capacity-coordination issues between two possible sources: an integrated device manufacturer IDM and a foundry. IDMs both design and manufacture semiconductor devices, whereas foundries concentrate only on manufacturing. Because production capacity is capital intensive, IDMs often make decisions on whether to manufacture each device internally or subcontract to foundries. Two types of contracts are most frequently used in such settings. Under α-contracts, a fixed fraction α of ex post realized demand is committed to subcontract to the foundry and serves as an incentive for the foundry to build capacity. Under reservation contracts, an ex ante capacity reservation fee is paid to the foundry as an incentive to build capacity. Because of the different nature of incentives under these contracts, it is unclear which type of contract maximizes the IDM's expected profit. Furthermore, IDMs and their customers often prefer dual sourcing to sole sourcing for risk-management purposes. This paper studies the relationship between the two types of contracts, both with and without dual-sourcing constraints and shows the effect of a dual-sourcing preference on contract selection. Our analysis offers supporting rationale for the coexistence of α-contracts and reservation contracts in practice and provides insights on horizontal capacity coordination beyond the semiconductor industry.
Reduced-rank space-time signature and receiver adaptation

Interference in code-division multiple access (CDMA) or multi-antenna systems can be avoided by choosing a signature (in space and/or time), which lies in the direction of least interference plus noise. If the interference statistics are not known, then the signature can be estimated with a training sequence. We propose an iterative scheme for joint signature-receiver adaptation with an adaptive reduced-rank multi-stage Wiener filter (MSW-F) at the receiver, which can reduce the estimation error due to limited training. We establish convergence of the iterative signature-receiver optimization scheme, and show that the performance for the reduced-rank receiver with rank D /spl ges/ 2 is the same as that obtained with a full-rank receiver. Numerical results show that when the receiver and signature are estimated from a short training sequence, the adaptive reduced-rank receiver gives substantially better performance than an adaptive full-rank receiver. To reduce feedback requirements, we also consider joint signature-receiver adaptation with a reduced-rank signature, which is confined to a randomly chosen subspace. Numerical results are presented, which show that joint reduced-rank signature-receiver estimation can achieve near-optimal performance with relative little training and low complexity.
Pump and Dump Scams

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Why the Sunny Side Is Up

Metaphors linking spatial location and affect (e.g., feeling up or down) may have subtle, but pervasive, effects on evaluation. In three studies, participants evaluated words presented on a computer. In Study 1, evaluations of positive words were faster when words were in the up rather than the down position, whereas evaluations of negative words were faster when words were in the down rather than the up position. In Study 2, positive evaluations activated higher areas of visual space, whereas negative evaluations activated lower areas of visual space. Study 3 revealed that, although evaluations activate areas of visual space, spatial positions do not activate evaluations. The studies suggest that affect has a surprisingly physical basis.
DETERMINATION OF BODY VOLUME OF INFANTS BY A METHOD OF HELIUM DISPLACEMENT *

Considerable effort has been devoted to the development of means for determining gross composition of the body during life. If this could be done, amounts and proportions of fat, protein, water, and minerals in the body could be considered in relation to growth or decadence, health, diet and various diseases. The hope is that composition of the body may prove to be a more sensitive or revealing index than weight and height, and thus of unique value in appraising nutritional status. The density of the whole body is considerably affected by the proportion of fat since the density of fat is 0.90, while the density of the remainder (total of the fat-free, normally hydrated components) is 1.10. From body density one can calculate the percentage of fat in the body. However, to determine density, the volume of the body as well as its weight must be known. Apparatus and a technique for determining body volume of adult subjects have been described in detail by Siri.1*2*3a With the subject in a closed chamber, a known volume of helium was introduced. The helium distributed quickly throughout the chamber and throughout the gas in the subject's lungs, but was not appreciably dissolved in body tissues during the time required for study. Since the volume of the chamber and the amount of helium introduced were known, it was possible by determining the partial pressure of helium in the chamber to calculate the volume through which helium had been distributed (i .e. , volume of chamber minus volume of subject) and thus arrive at a value for body volume of the subject. The present report describes a modification of this method suitable for use with small infants and provides data indicating the extent of reproducibility of the density values obtained.
A hydro-dynamic approach to heterogeneous dynamic load balancing in a network of computers

The paper presents a novel hydrodynamic approach to solving the dynamic load balancing problem on a network of heterogeneous computers. The computing system consists of a network of processors with different capacities. In the hydrodynamic approach, each processor is viewed as a liquid cylinder where the cross-sectional area corresponds to the capacity of the processor, the communication links are modeled as liquid channels between the cylinders, and the workload is represented as liquid. An algorithm is proposed to simulate the movement of the liquid such that when the algorithm terminates, the heights of the liquid columns are the same in all the cylinders. In this way, each processor obtains an amount of workload proportional to its capacity. This system is analyzed mathematically, and it is proved that the proposed algorithm converges geometrically.
Botryosphaeria stevensii infection of Pinot Noir grapevines by soil-root transmission

Botryosphaeria grapevine die-back is usually caused by infection of wounds in aerial parts of the grapevine. However, this study shows that Botryosphaeria stevensii infection can also be initiated from soilborne inoculum. Six months after soil inoculation with B. stevensii, shoots from two of six potted Pinot Noir vines were found to be infected with the fungus. This is the first report of infection grapevines by B. stevensii through soil-root transmission. Infection from soilborne inoculum has serious implications for vineyard replanting after removal of diseased vines.
The Prevalence of Multiple Sclerosis in 3 US Communities: The Role of Vitamin D [Response to Letter]

Dr Grant focused his comments on 2 aspects of our manuscript. First, he reiterates the similarities between our findings and those by others (3) but criticizes the absence of a detailed comparison between the 2 data sets. The figure presented by Dr Grant supports our findings of a geographic gradient but does little to extend the argument that UV exposure is protective for MS. Dr Grant’s argument is based on replacing 1 exposure variable that is assigned at the population level, latitude, with another correlated variable, UV exposure.
Allescheria (Petriellidium) boydii sinusitis in a compromised host

The first case of Allescheria (Petriellidium) boydii sinusitis is reported. The organism was isolated from the maxillary sinus in an elderly, diabetic, chronic alcoholic man on maintenance hemodialysis who developed a syndrome resembling mucormycosis. Infections with A. boydii are infrequent and are most commonly limited to Madura foot. In addition, several cases of pulmonary and central nervous system involvement have been described. There is no established therapy for A. boydii, since the published data on antimicrobial sensitivity are limited. Our organism was inhibited by 1.25 mg of amphotericin B per ml and 0.15 mg of miconazide per ml.
A 0.2nJ/sample 0.01mm2 ring oscillator based temperature sensor for on-chip thermal management

Energy efficient and low area temperature sensors are critical for constantly monitoring the silicon temperature in high density integrated circuits. In this paper, a 0.2nJ/sample ring oscillator based temperature sensor is designed and fabricated in TSMC 65nm CMOS technology. The sensor achieves a maximum inaccuracy of ±3°C after 2-point calibration and a resolution of 0.3°C. Furthermore, a model is proposed to accurately predict the effect of the oscillator phase noise on the error of the sensor. The chip occupies only 0.01mm2.
Multiple-Instance Learning: Radon-Nikodym Approach to Distribution Regression Problem

For distribution regression problem, where a bag of $x$--observations is mapped to a single $y$ value, a one--step solution is proposed. The problem of random distribution to random value is transformed to random vector to random value by taking distribution moments of $x$ observations in a bag as random vector. Then Radon--Nikodym or least squares theory can be applied, what give $y(x)$ estimator. The probability distribution of $y$ is also obtained, what requires solving generalized eigenvalues problem, matrix spectrum (not depending on $x$) give possible $y$ outcomes and depending on $x$ probabilities of outcomes can be obtained by projecting the distribution with fixed $x$ value (delta--function) to corresponding eigenvector. A library providing numerically stable polynomial basis for these calculations is available, what make the proposed approach practical.
Decreasing xanthine oxidase‐mediated oxidative stress prevents useful cellular adaptations to exercise in rats

Reactive oxygen or nitrogen species (RONS) are produced during exercise due, at least in part, to the activation of xanthine oxidase. When exercise is exhaustive they cause tissue damage; however, they may also act as signals inducing specific cellular adaptations to exercise. We have tested this hypothesis by studying the effects of allopurinol‐induced inhibition of RONS production on cell signalling pathways in rats submitted to exhaustive exercise. Exercise caused an activation of mitogen‐activated protein kinases (MAPKs: p38, ERK 1 and ERK 2), which in turn activated nuclear factor κB (NF‐κB) in rat gastrocnemius muscle. This up‐regulated the expression of important enzymes associated with cell defence (superoxide dismutase) and adaptation to exercise (eNOS and iNOS). All these changes were abolished when RONS production was prevented by allopurinol. Thus we report, for the first time, evidence that decreasing RONS formation prevents activation of important signalling pathways, predominantly the MAPK–NF‐κB pathway; consequently the practice of taking antioxidants before exercise may have to be re‐evaluated.