Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association between plasma asymmetrical dimethylarginine activity and severity of aortic valve stenosis

Objectives Aortic valve stenosis is the most common valvular heart disease in the Western world. The most common cause of aortic valve stenosis in adults is calcification of a normal trileaflet or congenital bicuspid valve. Calcific aortic valve stenosis is an active disease process characterized by mechanical stress, endothelial damage, lipid accumulation, inflammation, synthesis of extracellular matrix proteins, and calcification, reminiscent of atherosclerosis in many aspects. Asymmetrical dimethylarginine (ADMA) is an endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase which reduces the bioavailability of nitric oxide and begets endothelial dysfunction. The goal of this study was to examine the association between ADMA activity and severity of aortic valve stenosis. Methods One hundred and nine patients were included in this study. Patients were grouped as those with mild aortic stenosis (42 patients, group 1), moderate aortic stenosis (36 patients, group 2), and severe aortic stenosis (31 patients, group 3). ADMA activity was measured by ELISA kit. Results Mean ADMA activity in group 3 was significantly higher than that in groups 1 and 2 (1.94 ± 0.45 vs. 0.87 ± 0.37 μmol/l, P < 0.001 and 1.94 ± 0.45 vs. 1.34 ± 0.52 μmol/l, P < 0.001, respectively). Serum ADMA activity was positively correlated with mean aortic gradient and maximum aortic gradient and negatively correlated with aortic valve area. Conclusion Our results showed that serum ADMA activity is higher in patients with severe aortic valve stenosis. ADMA activity is positively correlated with aortic valve stenosis severity. Serum ADMA level may be used as a precious marker to evaluate and follow up the severity of aortic valve stenosis.
Design Considerations for Genomic Association Studies: Importance of Gene-Environment Interactions

Several recent reviews and editorials have highlighted the limited success obtained to date in unraveling the joint effects of genes (G) and the environment (E) in the causation of cancer and other complex diseases ([1][1]-[3][2]). Some have questioned the wisdom of focusing on G × E interactions
Optical observations of the transiting exoplanet GJ 1214b

We observed nine primary transits of the super-Earth exoplanet GJ 1214b in several optical photometric bands from 2012 March to August, with the goal of constraining the shortwavelength slope of the spectrum of GJ 1214b. Our observations were conducted on the Kuiper 1.55 m telescope in Arizona and the STELLA-I robotic 1.2 m telescope in Tenerife, Spain. From the derived light curves we extracted transit depths in R (0.65µm), V (0.55µm) and g � (0.475µm) bands. Most previous observations of this exoplanet suggest a flat spectrum varying little with wavelength from the near-infrared to the optical, corresponding to a lowscale height, high-molecular-weight atmosphere. However, a handful of observations around Ks band (∼2.15µm) and g band (∼0.46µm) are inconsistent with this scenario and suggest a variation on a hydrogen- or water-dominated atmosphere that also contains a haze layer of small particles. In particular, the g-band observations of de Mooij et al., consistent with Rayleigh scattering, limit the potential atmosphere compositions of GJ 1214b due to the increasing slope at optical wavelengths. We find that our results overlap within errors the short-wavelength observations of de Mooij et al., but are also consistent with a spectral slope of zero in GJ 1214b in the optical wavelength region. Our observations thus allow for a larger suite of possible atmosphere compositions, including those with a high molecular weight and/or hazes.
A survey of the public attitudes towards organ donation in a Turkish community and of the changes that have taken place in the last 12 years

In 1990 we carried out a survey on public attitudes toward organ donation in a Turkish community. We repeated this study 12 years later in order to evaluate the changes that had taken place in the meantime. Using the same questionnaire and method, we repeated the study in a different part of the city with similar socio-economic characteristics as in the former area, which had in the meantime ceased to be our research and training area. The 983 participants were chosen by a random stratified method. Of those interviewed, 57.0% were willing to donate, while 18.3% refused and 24.7% were uncertain. A total of 52.6% consented to donation. Twelve years later, some public attitudes toward organ donation had changed. Refusal to donate for religious reasons had diminished (16.1% versus 26.2%); uncertainty whether to donate had risen (24.7% versus 15.8%). Attitudes towards organ donation were clearly related to educational level, age and sex.
A GENERALIZED METHODOLOGY FOR DEVELOPING FLEXIBLE WHOLE STAND SURVIVAL MODELS

Survival is generally the least understood and hardest to model within a whole-stand forestry growth and yield system. The largest source of variability in yield predictions is the estimation of future surviving trees per acre. Previous whole-stand survival modeling efforts have been based upon differential equation solutions of changes in survival rates through time. Hazard functions, a survival analysis technique commonly used in fields such as medicine and sociology, can be applicable to plantation survival estimation. We offer a generalized method for deriving whole-stand survival models that are capable of modeling complex underlying hazard curves. We used our knowledge of the empirical hazard curve to limit our selection to appropriate functions and the integration of the final selected function results in an initial condition difference equation. Which, when fitted to our data, provides flexible whole-stand survival solutions and adequately represents the underlying hazard curve. Our method is relatively easy to implement and can model a whole-stand survival curve that has a complex underlying hazard function.
The Chimaera Ontology Environment

Ontologies have become central components in many applications including search, e-commerce, configuration and, arguably, every large web site (at least for organization and navigation). As ontologies become larger, more distributed, and longer-lived, the need for ontology creation and maintenance environments grows. In our work with ontologies and tool environments over the last few years, we have observed growing needs for automated support of two tasks: (1) merging multiple ontologies and (2) diagnosing (and evolving) ontologies. Chimaera is aimed at supporting these two tasks.
Mirabilis antiviral protein studies and its potential applications

Plants are an important source of different natural products, which have been utilised as medicine. One such natural product is protein, which has different applications like plant protection, therapeutic agent for different diseases. Ribosome inactivating proteins (RIPs) are one of such proteins which has N-glycosidase activity, due to which they can modify large mRNA and inhibit further translation. Different types of RIPs have been isolated from plants, crop plants and microorganisms. They are classified into three groups; Type I, Type II and Type III based on their physical properties. It has also been observed that more than one RIP can be isolated from one source, which indicates the presence of different isoforms in that source. One such frequently used RIP for medical purpose is Mirabilis Antiviral Protein (MAP), isolated from roots, leaves and seeds of Mirabilis jalapa L. MAP comes under the category of Type I RIP. MAP exhibits wide range of biological activities, such as antiviral, anticancer and antibacterial. The protein is lysin rich with pI 9.1 and molecular weight close to 24 kDa as determined by SDS-PAGE. It is highly rigid and thermostable protein, and also reported to express and maintain its antiviral activity at high temperature.
Global interconnect design in a three-dimensional system-on-a-chip

A stochastic model for the global net-length distribution of a three-dimensional system-on-a-chip (3D-SoC) is derived. Using the results of this model, a global interconnect design window for a 3D-SoC is established by evaluating the constraints of: 1) wiring area; 2) clock wiring bandwidth; and 3) crosstalk noise. This window elucidates the optimum 3D-SoC global interconnect parameters for minimum pitch, minimum aspect ratio, and maximum clock frequency. In comparison to a two-dimensional system-on-a-chip (2D-SoC), the design window expands for a 3D-SoC to allow greater flexibility of interconnect parameters, thus increasing the guardbands to process variations. In addition, the limit on the maximum global clock frequency is revealed to increase as S/sup 2/, where S is the number of strata. This increase in on-chip signaling rate, however, comes at the expense of I/O density, highlighting the need for new high-density-I/O packaging techniques to exploit the full potential of 3D-SoC.
Predictors of faster progression in chronic kidney disease.

OBJECTIVE To study the factors associated with faster progression in chronic kidney disease. MATERIAL AND METHOD A cohort study of CKD stage 2 to 4patients of the CKD clinic at Thungsong Hospital between 2008 and 2011 was done. At the end of the study, the patients were classified as faster or slower group according to rate of GFR decline. Apart from descriptive analysis, univariate and multivariate analysis were used to perform correlations analysis between rate of eGFR decline and each variable. RESULTS Two hundred three patients were enrolled andfollowed-up for three years. The average rate of eGFR decline (SD) was 2.25 (3.65) mL/min/1.73 m2 per year In univariate analysis, factors that correlated with rate of eGFR decline were systolic blood pressure (r = 0.155, p = 0.027), serum albumin (r = -0.172, p = 0.042), serum bicarbonate (r = -0.158, p = 0.046, age (r = -0.157, p = 0.025), and proteinuria (r = 0.276, p<0.001). Furthermore, logistic regression analysis revealed the strong predictors of faster progression were systolic blood pressure (OR = 1.025, 95% CI = 1.003-1.047, p = 0.025) and particularly, proteinuria (OR = 1.887, 95% CI = 1.325-2.688, p<0.001). CONCLUSION Among the factors that associated with faster eGFR decline, only systolic blood pressure and especially, proteinuria were powerful predictors of faster progression in chronic kidney disease.
Treatment of carcinoma of the human breast with testosterone propionate; a report of five cases.

THE relationship of sex hormones and neoplasms has been the stimulus for a great deal of investigation in recent years. Loeb and his associates (8, 9) using mice as experimental animals, demonstrated a definite relationship between estrogenic hormone and mammary carcinoma. By means of castration they were able to decrease the incidence of spontaneous carcinoma of the breast in mice. Lacassagne (6) in 1936 and Suntzeff, et al. (12) in 1936 lowered the tumor age and increased the tumor incidence of breast carcinoma in various strains of mice by using estrogenic substance. Clinically, withdrawal of estrogen by surgical or roentgen castration as an adjunct in the treatment of carcinoma of the human breast is an old and acceptable procedure (2). Following Lacassagne's (7) pioneer work in the use of testosterone propionate in mammary carcinoma of mice, Nathanson and Andervont (11) using the androgen in larger doses, decreased the incidence of mammary tumors in a high tumor strain of mice. Ulrich (13) applied th.
Correcting Axial Chromatic Aberration in a Fixed Focal Plane, Near-infrared Imaging System

Distortions of an image in an optical imaging system due to differing indices of refraction for each wavelength of light are categorized as chromatic aberration (CA). Different magnifications at each wavelength result in geometric distortion of images known as Lateral Chromatic Aberration (LCA), while differing focal planes result in blurring of specific wavelengths known as Axial Chromatic Aberration (ACA). The current study reviews methods and tests an algorithm that can compensate for the substantial ACA that occurs in a fixed focal plane near-infrared imaging system. The system examined employs a liquid crystal tunable filter (LCTF) based hyperspectral imaging system capable of automatically acquiring a hyperspectral data cube in the 900 - 1700 nm range. The experiments use a test pattern image containing multiple grids with a known geometry to establish ground truth for the acquired image. Data shows that ACA distortion of images at 1600 nm with imaging system properly focused at 1000 nm is visibly severe. The proposed method to correct for ACA is based on deconvolution theory and uses a geometric model in favor of a physical model to estimate the point spread function (PSF). Experimental results indicate that the approach taken is feasible and robust.
Simultaneous activation of p38 and JNK by arachidonic acid stimulates the cytosolic phospholipase A2-dependent synthesis of lipid droplets in human monocytes

Exposure of human peripheral blood monocytes to free arachidonic acid (AA) results in the rapid induction of lipid droplet (LD) formation by these cells. This effect appears specific for AA in that it is not mimicked by other fatty acids, whether saturated or unsaturated. LDs are formed by two different routes: (i) the direct entry of AA into triacylglycerol and (ii) activation of intracellular signaling, leading to increased triacylglycerol and cholesteryl ester formation utilizing fatty acids coming from the de novo biosynthetic route. Both routes can be dissociated by the arachidonyl-CoA synthetase inhibitor triacsin C, which prevents the former but not the latter. LD formation by AA-induced signaling predominates, accounting for 60–70% of total LD formation, and can be completely inhibited by selective inhibition of the group IVA cytosolic phospholipase A2α (cPLA2α), pointing out this enzyme as a key regulator of AA-induced signaling. LD formation in AA-treated monocytes can also be blocked by the combined inhibition of the mitogen-activated protein kinase family members p38 and JNK, which correlates with inhibition of cPLA2α activation by phosphorylation. Collectively, these results suggest that concomitant activation of p38 and JNK by AA cooperate to activate cPLA2α, which is in turn required for LD formation possibly by facilitating biogenesis of this organelle, not by regulating neutral lipid synthesis.
Visual function, fatty acids and dyslexia.

There is mounting evidence that developmental dyslexia is a neurodevelopmental disorder which involves abnormalities of fatty acid metabolism, particularly with respect to certain long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFAs). Psychophysical evidence also strongly suggests that dyslexics may have visual deficits as well as phonological problems. Specifically, these visual deficits appear to be related to the magnocellular pathway, which is specialized for processing fast, rapidly-changing information about the visual scene. It remains unclear how these two aspects of dyslexia - fatty acid processing and visual magnocellular function - could be related. We propose some hypotheses - necessarily speculative, given the paucity of biochemical research in this field to date - which address this question.
Complications following injection of soft-tissue fillers.

BACKGROUND Soft-tissue filler injection is a very common procedure in the United States. Although the safety profile is favorable, adverse events (AE) can occur, ranging from mild to severe in intensity. OBJECTIVES The authors performed a literature search to identify the facial sites most prone to severe complications. They review the course of these complications and discuss preventive measures. METHODS The National Library of Medicine, the Cochrane Library, and Ovid MEDLINE were searched, and relevant articles (published through August 2012) were retrieved based on prespecified inclusion criteria. The complications reviewed were limited to "severe" events, such as soft-tissue necrosis, filler embolization, visual impairment, and anaphylaxis. The filler materials included were those approved by the US Food and Drug Administration at the time of this study. RESULTS Forty-one articles, representing 61 patients with severe complications, were identified. Data collected from these case reports included filler type, injection site, complication site, symptom interval, symptom of complication, time to therapy, modality of treatment, and outcome. The most common injection site for necrosis was the nose (33.3%), followed by the nasolabial fold (31.2%). Blindness was most often associated with injection of the glabella (50%). An estimated incidence of 0.0001% for developing a severe complication was calculated by reviewing society-based filler data and case reports within same time period. CONCLUSIONS Although soft-tissue fillers are a popular choice for minimally invasive rejuvenation of the face, physicians should be aware of the serious potential adverse effects, recognize their presentations, and have appropriate treatments readily available.
Time Evaluation for the Integration of a Gestural Interactive Application with a Distributed Mulsemedia Platform

Mulsemedia applications have become increasingly popular. There have been many efforts to increase the Quality of Experience (QoE) of users by using them. From the users' perspective, it is crucial that systems produce high levels of enjoyment and utility. Thus, many experimental tools have been developed and applied to different purposes such as entertainment, health, and culture. Despite that, little attention is paid to the evaluation of mulsemedia tools and platforms. In this paper, we present a time evaluation of the integration between a distributed mulsemedia platform called PlaySEM and an interactive application whereby users interact by gestures, in order to discover how long this process takes. We describe the test scenario and our approach for measuring this integration. Then, we discuss the results and point out aspects that bring implications to be taken into account for future similar solutions. The results showed values in the range of 27ms to 67ms on average spent throughout the process before the effective activation of the sensory effect devices on a wired network.
Adaptive adjustor designs for a class of nonlinearly sampling coupled networks

This paper designs a coupling adjustor for asymptotic synchronization of complex networks with a class of nonlinear sampling couplings. A version of the adaptive scheme is provided to adjust coupling strength for compensating for the adverse impact of sampling errors. Based on the Lyapunov stability theory, the asymptotic synchronization results of the whole networks can be obtained for nonlinear sampling couplings even without any control inputs. Finally, the proposed adaptive adjustment schemes are verified by an example on a Chua's circuit network.
ON THE FUNCTIONAL CENTRAL LIMIT THEROREM FOR MARTINGALES

Necessary and sufficient conditions for the functional central limit theorem for a double array of random variables are sought. It is argued that this is a martingale problem only if the variables truncated at some fixed point c are asymptotically a martingale difference array. Under this hypothesis, necessary and sufficient conditions for convergence in distribution to a Brownian motion are obtained when the normalization is given (i) by the suns of squares of the variables, (ii) by the conditional variances and (iii) by the variances. The results are proved by comparing the various riorralizations with s "natural" normalization. KB 1970 Subject classifications: Primary 60B10; Secondary 60G45.
The Chloroplast Permease PIC1 Regulates Plant Growth and Development by Directing Homeostasis and Transport of Iron1[W]

The membrane-spanning protein PIC1 (for permease in chloroplasts 1) in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) was previously described to mediate iron transport across the inner envelope membrane of chloroplasts. The albino phenotype of pic1 knockout mutants was reminiscent of iron-deficiency symptoms and characterized by severely impaired plastid development and plant growth. In addition, plants lacking PIC1 showed a striking increase in chloroplast ferritin clusters, which function in protection from oxidative stress by sequestering highly reactive free iron in their spherical protein shell. In contrast, PIC1-overexpressing lines (PIC1ox) in this study rather resembled ferritin loss-of-function plants. PIC1ox plants suffered from oxidative stress and leaf chlorosis, most likely originating from iron overload in chloroplasts. Later during growth, plants were characterized by reduced biomass as well as severely defective flower and seed development. As a result of PIC1 protein increase in the inner envelope membrane of plastids, flower tissue showed elevated levels of iron, while the content of other transition metals (copper, zinc, manganese) remained unchanged. Seeds, however, specifically revealed iron deficiency, suggesting that PIC1 overexpression sequestered iron in flower plastids, thereby becoming unavailable for seed iron loading. In addition, expression of genes associated with metal transport and homeostasis as well as photosynthesis was deregulated in PIC1ox plants. Thus, PIC1 function in plastid iron transport is closely linked to ferritin and plastid iron homeostasis. In consequence, PIC1 is crucial for balancing plant iron metabolism in general, thereby regulating plant growth and in particular fruit development.
Robustness evaluation of finFET transistors under PVT variability

This work provides a predictive evaluation of the impact that PVT variability causes on ON and OFF currents of FinFET transistors in technologies sub-22nm. Results show that the OFF current is the most impacted by all sources of variability. In terms of process variability effects, the LG and WFF variations cause the worst values to IOFF, especially for PFET and NFET devices, respectively. Voltage and temperature variations effects damage more the PFET devices.
Effects of high-power and transient disturbances on wireless communication systems operating inside the 2.4 GHz ISM band

This paper deals with special HPEM sources and their effects on wireless communication systems operating inside the 2.4 GHz ISM band. Different measurements have been performed to investigate the effect of UWB and radar pulses on the receiver of a digital wireless communication system. First the coupling of UWB and radar pulses into a typical bar antenna usable for the 2.4 GHz ISM band has been measured. Based on the coupling measurements the effects in the baseband of a typical wireless receiver is being investigated for different radar and UWB pulses. Finally a worst-case analysis by using a HF switch is being investigated for a WLAN and Bluetooth system. The results show how possible interferences with different interference durations and interference repetition rates can cause effects on the performance of a wireless communication system.
The optimal capacity and economic analysis of micro-grid on island

The islands have plentiful renewable recourses such as solar, wind, wave, tide energy. They can not only improve the power supply ability of hybrid system on the island, but also minimized the operating frequency of the diesel power generation unit, which could contribute to environment protection. In this paper, a multi-objective optimization model is presented with the economy and power supply reliability as the optimal objects, and the island micro grid as the object of study. Considering the ocean unique environmental condition, the optimum capacity will be solved by traversal method. At last the software has been designed based on the methods above, which can get the result of the best demand for power generations and energy storage devices quickly, and provides a reference for the design of the micro grid.