Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development of a Non-Hydroxamate Dual Matrix Metalloproteinase (MMP)-7/-13 Inhibitor

Matrix metalloproteinase 7 (MMP-7) is a member of the MMP superfamily and is able to degrade extracellular matrix proteins such as casein, gelatin, fibronectin and proteoglycan. MMP-7 is a validated target for the development of small molecule drugs against cancer. MMP-13 is within the enzyme class the most efficient contributor to type II collagen degeneration and is a validated target in arthritis and cancer. We have developed the dual MMP-7/-13 inhibitor ZHAWOC6941 with IC50-values of 2.2 μM (MMP-7) and 1.2 μM (MMP-13) that is selective over a broad range of MMP isoforms. It spares MMP-1, -2, -3, -8, -9, -12 and -14, making it a valuable modulator for targeted polypharmacology approaches.
Ethnic variations in the relationship between income and fertility

The effects of husband’spotential andrelative incomes on completed fertility, as well as their effects on certain parity progression probabilities, are examined within samples of Anglos, Blacks and Mexican Americans. Relationships are estimated using data from the one-percent 1960 and 1970 U.S. Public Use Samples. The results reveal different patterns of relationship by ethnicity between the measures of income and the measures of fertility. The effects on completed fertility of the income measures are positive for Anglos and negative for Blacks, while in the case of Mexican Americans the effect ofpotential income is negative and that ofrelative income is positive. Income effects on the parity progression probabilities are similar in pattern to those from the analyses using completed fertility, although somewhat different patterns tend to appear at different birth orders, especially among Anglos.
Regional Imager for Low‐Resolution Functional Imaging of the Brain with Diffusing Near‐Infrared Light

We have developed a near‐infrared spectroscopy system for low‐resolution regional imaging of the brain. Our regional imager employs two intensity‐modulated (frequency‐domain) diode lasers operating at 779 and 834 nm, respectively, in order to produce macroscopic waves of diffusing photons. The interaction of these diffusive waves with tissue depends on laser modulation frequency, laser wavelength and the optical properties of the sample tissue volume. The lasers can be modulated over a range of frequencies from 50 to 400 MHz. Light is coupled to and from the head using a pad that has 12 source and 4 detector positions within an area of approximately 40 cm2. The pad can be moved to different positions on the head. Measurements from different source‐detector combinations enable reconstruction of low‐resolution images of the tissue volume beneath the pad. For example, we have made two‐dimensional back‐projection images of model systems in order to demonstrate the capabilities of the regional imager. We also present preliminary results from initial clinical studies at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
A simple model for bedside evaluation of current for neuromuscular electrical stimulation in cerebral palsy

Customization of stimulation parameters for individual patients is gaining considerable clinical importance in the context of increasing emphasis on personalized neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) therapy. In the current study, the relationship between stimulation current intensities, muscle parameters and pulse width was ascertained using the method of theoretical modeling and testing in a group of children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP) receiving surface NMES therapy. Contrary to the commonly held assumption, the present work provides evidence of a significant relationship between muscle parameters and stimulation currents. We used routinely available clinical anthropometric measurements to predict current intensities for NMES of quadriceps femoris and tibialis anterior muscle in children with CP, so that current dosages could be designed to produce therapeutically desirable effects. This model is a simple, inexpensive and noninvasive for bed side point-of-care clinical practice and follow-up.
Reovirus Core Protein μ2 Determines the Filamentous Morphology of Viral Inclusion Bodies by Interacting with and Stabilizing Microtubules

ABSTRACT Cells infected with mammalian reoviruses often contain large perinuclear inclusion bodies, or “factories,” where viral replication and assembly are thought to occur. Here, we report a viral strain difference in the morphology of these inclusions: filamentous inclusions formed in cells infected with reovirus type 1 Lang (T1L), whereas globular inclusions formed in cells infected with our laboratory's isolate of reovirus type 3 Dearing (T3D). Examination by immunofluorescence microscopy revealed the filamentous inclusions to be colinear with microtubules (MTs). The filamentous distribution was dependent on an intact MT network, as depolymerization of MTs early after infection caused globular inclusions to form. The inclusion phenotypes of T1L × T3D reassortant viruses identified the viral M1 genome segment as the primary genetic determinant of the strain difference in inclusion morphology. Filamentous inclusions were seen with 21 of 22 other reovirus strains, including an isolate of T3D obtained from another laboratory. When the μ2 proteins derived from T1L and the other laboratory's T3D isolate were expressed after transfection of their cloned M1 genes, they associated with filamentous structures that colocalized with MTs, whereas the μ2 protein derived from our laboratory's T3D isolate did not. MTs were stabilized in cells infected with the viruses that induced filamentous inclusions and after transfection with the M1 genes derived from those viruses. Evidence for MT stabilization included bundling and hyperacetylation of α-tubulin, changes characteristically seen when MT-associated proteins (MAPs) are overexpressed. Sequencing of the M1 segments from the different T1L and T3D isolates revealed that a single-amino-acid difference at position 208 correlated with the inclusion morphology. Two mutant forms of μ2 with the changes Pro-208 to Ser in a background of T1L μ2 and Ser-208 to Pro in a background of T3D μ2 had MT association phenotypes opposite to those of the respective wild-type proteins. We conclude that the μ2 protein of most reovirus strains is a viral MAP and that it plays a key role in the formation and structural organization of reovirus inclusion bodies.
An Input-Feedforward Multibit Adder-Less  $\Delta{-}\Sigma$ Modulator for Ultrasound Imaging Systems

This paper describes a high-speed delta-sigma modulator with 65-nm CMOS technology for ultrasound imaging systems. The delta-sigma modulator is based on a 4th-order single-loop switched-capacitor architecture with a 4-bit quantizer. The designed modulator has the advantages associated with input-feedforward architecture, such as the reduced output swing of the integrator, which relaxes the amplifiers' design requirements. Due to the power and area overheads and the timing constraint of the active adder in the conventional multibit input-feedforward modulator, we use an adder-less input-feedforward delta-sigma architecture. As a result, the designed architecture eliminates the extra power consumption and silicon area required by the adder. The designed architecture also relaxes the timing requirement for the quantizer and the dynamic element-matching block compared with the conventional delta-sigma modulator. The modulator achieves a dynamic range of 76dB and a peak signal-to-noise-plus-distortion ratio of 72.3 dB in a signal bandwidth of 6 MHz. The power consumption is 18.5 mW with 1.2-V supply voltage, and the chip core size is 0.25 mm2. The energy required per conversion step is 0.46 pJ/conv.
A Robust Two-Degree-of-Freedom Control Strategy for an Islanded Microgrid

This paper presents a new robust control strategy for an islanded microgrid in the presence of load unmodeled dynamics. The microgrid consists of parallel connection of several electronically interfaced distributed generation units and a local load. The load is parametrically uncertain and topologically unknown and, thus, is the source of unmodeled dynamics. The objective is to design a robust controller to regulate the load voltage in the presence of unmodeled dynamics. To achieve the objective, the problem is first characterized by a two-degree-of-freedom (2DOF) feedback-feedforward controller. The 2DOF control design problem is then transformed to a nonconvex optimization problem. Furthermore, the nonconvex optimization problem is reduced to a convex linear matrix inequality-based optimization problem which can be easily solved. To achieve optimal performance for the system, unlike the most conventional 2DOF design approaches, the feedback and feedforward controllers are jointly designed. Finally, simulation case studies performed in the MATLAB/SimPowerSystems Toolbox show that the proposed control scheme is strongly robust against uncertainties in the load parameters and against the unknown dynamics.
Comparative ultrastructure of hatched human, mouse and bovine blastocysts.

Summary. A hatched human blastocyst obtained after in-vitro fertilization and culture was examined by transmission electron microscopy and the ultrastructural features compared with hatched mouse and bovine blastocysts. The human blastocyst contained a continuous layer of trophoblast cells with apical junctional complexes, an inner cell mass and the beginning of a primitive endoderm layer. Certain ultrastructural features were common to the blastocysts of all 3 species; these included characteristic junction regions between adjacent trophoblast cells, an abundance of microvilli on the external surfaces of the blastocysts and the presence of well developed mitochondria and numerous ribosomes in the trophoblast cells. The features that were dissimilar included the extent of development of the endoderm layer, the appearance of the inner cell mass and the nature and extent of vesicular inclusions in the trophoblast cells.
Mobile internet, internet on mobiles or just internet you access with variety of devices?

The role of Internet on mobile phones has changed in just few years. Touch screen devices allow improved browsing experience and WLAN and high speed networks enable good connectivity. As people have free of charge WLAN or flat fee agreement with their cellular provider, they either pay nothing for connectivity or same money, no matter how much they browse. The cost and quality of the connectivity have earlier been bottlenecks of mobile Internet. Improvements in these have enabled the change in usage patterns of mobiles, which has influenced also in how computers are used.
Similarity Searching in Databases of Flexible 3D Structures Using Autocorrelation Vectors Derived from Smoothed Bounded Distance Matrices

This paper presents an exploratory study of a novel method for flexible 3-D similarity searching based on autocorrelation vectors and smoothed bounded distance matrices. Although the new approach is unable to outperform an existing 2-D similarity searching in terms of enrichment factors, it is able to retrieve different compounds at a given percentage of the hit-list and so may be a useful adjunct to other similarity searching methods.
Input-to-state stable nonlinear filtering for a class of continuous-time delayed nonlinear systems

This paper investigates the input-to-state stable (ISS) nonlinear filtering problem for a class of continuous-time delayed nonlinear systems with external disturbance. A new delay-dependent nonlinear ISS filter is established through available measurements to estimate the states of delayed nonlinear systems, such that the filtering error system is both exponentially and input-to-state stable for any bounded external disturbance. The design of the nonlinear ISS filter for these nonlinear systems is achieved by solving a linear matrix inequality (LMI), which can be easily facilitated by using standard numerical packages. An illustrative example is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed filter.
Optimization of threshold voltage window under tunneling program/erase in nanocrystal memories

This paper analyzes solutions to improve the program/erase (P/E) window for nanocrystal (NC) memory cells, by means of the model presented in our previous work . The limited threshold voltage (V/sub T/) window typically observed in the Fowler-Nordheim (FN) programming regime for NC memories was shown to be a direct consequence of the lack of any conduction and /spl epsi/ mismatch between the tunnel and the interpoly-oxide at steady-state. This condition can be avoided when tunnel oxide conduction is due to direct tunneling, but to assure sufficiently short P/E times very thin oxides are required, sacrificing cell nonvolatility. The use of alternative materials for interpoly dielectric, gate and NC is investigated. Finally, barrier engineering is presented as a valid way to improve the available V/sub T/ window.
Numerical Design and Analysis of Conical Blackbody Targets With Advanced Shape

Advanced shapes for conical blackbody targets, as applied in millimeter wave remote sensing instruments, are designed and analyzed for frequencies between 20 and 600 GHz. We propose exponential shaped targets and show that exponential cones are superior to commonly used linear cones. Design and scattering analyses are carried out using the body of revolution method of moments and the finite-element method. Furthermore, a highly efficient ray-tracing approach is introduced and applied. Numerical studies regarding absorbing materials, beam waists, potential manufacturing artifacts, as well as several types of beam misalignment are performed to study practical challenges. Finally, starting from an exponential profile, the blackbody shape is further improved using numerical optimization techniques.
Input design for hybrid system identification for accurate estimation of submodel regions

This paper addresses about designing of input sequence for identification of hybrid systems as PWARX model. Identification of PWARX model requires estimation of parameter vectors and estimation of discriminant surfaces of submodels in regressor space. Since we especially focus on accuracy of discriminant surface, we propose a method to determine input which generates regressor vector data nearby the discriminant surfaces by optimizing a cost function. Since the cost function requires information about discriminant surfaces, we propose a sequential identification algorithm, which updates the model and the cost function alternatively. By this method, we can obtain a high accurate model with short input sequence. Validity of the proposed method is illustrated in numerical examples.
Irreversible Demagnetization of Permanent Magnet in a Surface-Mounted Permanent Magnet Motor With Overhang Structure

The overhang structure is an effective solution to increase the performance of a surface-mounted permanent magnet (SPM) motor using a ferrite PM. If a ferrite PM, which can be demagnetized through a large armature reaction, is used for an SPM motor controlled by the field-weakening method, the ferrite PM can suffer from irreversible demagnetization. Moreover, if an SPM from the overhang structure is directly exposed to the armature reaction by the winding of the stator, a ferrite PM of an SPM motor could be partially demagnetized. Because of this, when the field-weakening method is used for the control of the SPM motor with the overhang structure, PMs are disadvantageous to the irreversible demagnetization. To solve these problems, a novel structure is proposed, which can increase the motor performance through the overhang structure without irreversible demagnetization in the overhang part.
Endocrine Parameters in Amenorrheic and Eumenorrheic Adolescent Female Runners

The purpose of the present study was to compare endocrine parameters reflecting reproductive function and metabolism in ten amenorrheic (AR) and eumenorrheic (ER) adolescent female runners and seven untrained controls (SE). Additionally, responses to diagnostic criteria for eating disorders (DSM-III) were compared among groups. AR ran more miles/day and consumed fewer kcal/d to support energy expenditure compared to ER (p < 0.05). Mean levels of fasting plasma estradiol, luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, free thyroxine and triiodothyronine were significantly lower in AR compared to ER and SE. AR indicated they were very concerned about their weight and were fearful of gaining fat mass. Female adolescents who participate in strenuous training exhibit alterations in hormone levels reflecting reproductive function and metabolism.
Accumulation of U14 small nuclear RNA in Saccharomyces cerevisiae requires box C, box D, and a 5', 3' terminal stem

U14 is one of several nucleolar small nuclear RNAs required for normal processing of rRNA. Functional mapping of U14 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae has yielded a number of mutants defective in U14 accumulation or function. In this study, we have further defined three structural elements required for U14 accumulation. The essential elements include the U14-conserved box C and box D sequences and a 5', 3' terminal stem. The box elements are coconserved among several nucleolar small nuclear RNAs and have been implicated in binding of the protein fibrillarin. New mutational results show that the first GA bases of the box C sequence UGAUGA are essential, and two vital bases in box D have also been identified. An intragenic suppressor of a lethal box C mutant has been isolated and shown to contain a new box C-like PyGAUG sequence two bases upstream of normal box C. The importance of the terminal stem was confirmed from new compensatory base changes and the finding that accumulation defects in the box elements can be complemented by extending the terminal stem. The results suggest that the observed defects in accumulation reflect U14 instability and that protein binding to one or more of these elements is required for metabolic stability.
Effects of age and diabetes mellitus on clinical outcomes in patients with peritoneal dialysis-related peritonitis.

BACKGROUND Peritoneal dialysis (PD)-related peritonitis is the most common complication and the leading cause of technique failure for patients on PD therapy. The aim of this study was to review the episodes and outcomes of PD-related peritonitis, with special reference to the effects of age and diabetes status. METHODS The study comprised 204 consecutive peritonitis episodes between January 2001 and June 2011 from our registry database. Factors associated with treatment failure and mortality were analyzed with multi-variable logistic regression modeling. RESULTS The overall peritonitis rate was one episode per 65 patient-months or 0.187 episodes/patient-year. Older patients had lower probability of remaining free of peritonitis (log rank, p<0.001). Elderly patients and diabetic subjects had a higher risk of peritonitis-related dropout. Age (odds ratio [OR], 1.37; p=0.041), diabetes mellitus (OR, 3.64; p=0.005), and gram-negative peritonitis (OR, 3.55; p=0.011) were independent determinants of catheter removal. Age (OR, 1.93; p=0.026) and diabetes (OR, 5.98; p=0.015) were the only predictors of death from peritonitis. CONCLUSIONS Old age and diabetes mellitus are two major risk factors for adverse outcomes of PD-related peritonitis. Although they are not contraindications to PD, our results suggest that these patients need meticulous care when peritonitis occurs.
The role of cAMP and Ca on the modulation of junctional conductance: an integrated hypothesis.

The role of cAMP and Ca in the modulation of junctional permeability is discussed. An integrated hypothesis is presented which proposes that cAMP modulates the junctional conductance through the activation of specific kinases and phosphorylation of gap junction proteins. A close-loop feed-back between cAMP and Ca is assumed to be relevant in the regulation of junctional conductance under physiological conditions. According to this hypothesis hormones modulate the junctional permeability through variations in the intracellular concentration of cAMP. It is known that in several tissues the cells are connected through low resistance intercellular junctions (Loewenstein, 1966; Bennett, 1973; De Mello, 1975, 1932a). Ions and small molecules can flow freely from cell-to-cell across narrow hydrophilic channels (De Mello, 1982a). This type of intercellular coupling is essential for the fast propagation of the impulse and the synchronization of electrical activity in excitable tissues (Bennett, 1973; De Mello, 1982a). It has been proposed that the exchange of chemical signals between cells is important for metabolic cooperation (Gilula et al. 1972) and growth control (Loewenstein, 1979). Therefore, the modulation of junctional conductance is a significant feature of cell biology. Evidence has been provided that the increase in free [Ca2+]i can produce cell decoupling in Chironomus salivary gland (Loewenstein et al., 1967) and in mammalian cardiac fibers (De Mello, 1972, 1975). The free [Ca2+]i required to suppress cell-to-cell coupling is difficult to determine because Ca ions are continuously taken up by mitochondria, sarcoplasmic reticulum or are extruded from the cell. In salivary gland a concentration of free [Ca2+]i of about 5-8 X 10(-5) M was found to be associated with cell decoupling (Loewenstein et al., 1967). The major difficulty here is that the concentration of the ion determined in the bulk of the cytosol is not necessarily the same near the gap junctions. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Efficient multi-parametric uncertainty quantification methods for EMC/EMI applications

For years, statistical uncertainty in high-frequency circuits had been analyzed by post-processing data from repetitive simulations. Not surprisingly, this approach is extremely time consuming and hardly within the time constraints of a typical engineering design cycle. Recently, several new computational algorithms have been presented, which offer a fresh perspective to this old problem. This paper emphasizes approaches that stem from the polynomial chaos expansion method along with promising hybrid methods that can lead to efficient multi-parametric uncertainty quantification solvers.
Five-year changes in school recess and lunchtime and the contribution to children's daily physical activity

Objective To investigate the longitudinal changes in children's recess and lunchtime physical activity levels and in the contribution of recess and lunchtime to daily physical activity levels over 5 years among 5–6- and 10–12-year olds. Methods Data were drawn from two longitudinal studies that were conducted in metropolitan Melbourne, Australia. Boys and girls (n=2782) aged 5–6 years and 10–12 years participated in baseline (T0) measures. Physical activity (n=2490) was measured every 60 s for eight consecutive days using hip-mounted accelerometry. Subsequent measurements were taken at 3-year (T1; n=773) and 5-year (T2; n=634) follow-up. Physical activity intensities were derived using age-adjusted cut-points. Sedentary time was defined as 100 counts/min. Longitudinal data were analysed using three-level (time, child, school) multilevel analyses, stratified by sex and cohort, and adjusted for potential confounding variables. Results Significant decreases in recess and lunchtime moderate and vigorous physical activity were observed (p<0.001), with larger decreases occurring in the older cohort. Associated increases were observed in sedentary time over time (p<0.01). Although the contribution of recess to daily moderate intensity physical activity increased in the younger cohort over time (p<0.001), significant decreases were observed in the older cohort (p<0.001). Conclusion Physical activity levels during recess and lunchtime decreased in both cohorts over time. Decreases in the contribution of recess and lunchtime to older children's daily physical activity were also observed. Interventions are needed in both primary and secondary schools to promote physical activity levels during recess and lunchtime, particularly during the early years of secondary school.