julilili42/papers huggingface dataset:
Dual Antiplatelet Drug Resistance Is a Risk Factor for Cardiovascular Events after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention
2009-04-10

Abstract Background: Nonresponsiveness to clopidogrel and acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), a frequent result of platelet aggregometry studies, has unclear clinical and prognostic significance. Methods: We performed impedance aggregometry in 182 patients 12–24 h after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and a 600-mg loading dose of clopidogrel, adding 5 μmol/L ADP and 1 mg/L collagen to diluted whole blood to determine platelet inhibition by clopidogrel and ASA, respectively. Samples from nonresponders were incubated in vitro with methyl-S-adenosine monophosphate or ASA to distinguish between pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic types of resistance. We assessed a combined primary endpoint of myocardial infarction, target vessel revascularization, late stent thrombosis, or cardiac death. Results: Nineteen patients (10.4%) were dual nonresponders (nonresponsive to both ASA and clopidogrel), and 163 patients (89.6%) were designated responders. The latter group also included 15 and 14 single nonresponders (responsive to either clopidogrel or ASA, respectively), who exhibited endpoint frequencies comparable to those of full responders (n = 134). Pharmacokinetic resistance was most prevalent. Primary endpoints occurred more frequently in dual nonresponders (n = 6, 31.6%) than in responders (n = 20, 12.3%) (relative risk 2.57; 95% CI 1.18–5.61; log-rank P = 0.03). Multivariate analysis confirmed dual nonresponsiveness (hazard ratio 2.9; 95% CI 1.17–7.2; P = 0.02) as an independent risk factor. Conclusions: Dual nonresponders carry a high cardiovascular risk after PCI and should obtain intensified antiplatelet therapy and follow-up.
Collecting and Employing Selectional Restrictions
2009-04-12

It is a well-known fact that many natural language sentences may have a large number of possible syntactic analyses with semantically inconsistent interpretations. In this paper, we focus on selectional restrictions as a device for lexical and syntactic disambiguation. We will briefly sketch the notion of selectional restrictions from a practical point of view. We provide an example of how such constraints can be used for ambiguity resolution. In section 2 and 3, we address the topic of this article, the problem of acquiring selectional restrictions. We discuss different approaches, in particular methods based on statistical corpus analysis. The role of selectional restrictions in a concrete NLP system is shown in section 4. 1 Introduction The problem of lexical and syntactic ambiguity is encountered rather often in natural language processing. Theoretical linguistics has made no attempt to specify how a competence model might be implemented or approximated by psychologically plausibl...
Multiple Origins and Regional Dispersal of Resistant dhps in African Plasmodium falciparum Malaria
2009-04-13

Resistant dhps has emerged independently in multiple sites in Africa during the past 10-20 years. Our data show the molecular basis of resistance differs between east and west Africa, which is likely to translate into differing antifolate sensitivity. We have also demonstrated that the dispersal patterns of resistance lineages give unique insights into recent parasite migration patterns.
Broad Clinical Spectrum in Silver-Russell Syndrome and Consequences for Genetic Testing in Growth Retardation
2009-04-14

OBJECTIVE. Silver-Russell syndrome is a heterogenous disorder characterized by severe intrauterine growth restriction, lack of catch-up after birth, and specific dysmorphisms. In ∼10% of patients, maternal uniparental disomy of chromosome 7 is detectable, but hypomethylation of the imprinting in 11p15 is the major epigenetic disturbance in Silver-Russell syndrome. The use of strict clinical criteria, indeed, results in relatively high detection rates for the 11p15 epimutation, but we feel that the application of a strict clinical scoring system is not useful in clinical workaday life because of the broad clinical spectrum in 11p15 epimutation and maternal uniparental disomy of chromosome 7 carriers. PATIENTS AND METHODS. We report on our experience of molecular testing in 188 patients referred for routine diagnostics of Silver-Russell syndrome and in a group of 20 patients with isolated intrauterine growth restriction/postnatal growth retardation. RESULTS. The molecular genetic results in both groups of data showed that 11p15 epimutation and maternal uniparental disomy of chromosome 7 carriers did not always show the unambiguous Silver-Russell syndrome phenotype. CONCLUSIONS. In addition to patients with the classical Silver-Russell syndrome phenotype fulfilling the Silver-Russell syndrome-specific scores, genetic testing for the 11p15 epimutation and/or maternal uniparental disomy of chromosome 7 should also be considered in case of “Silver-Russell syndrome-like” phenotypes, for example, mild intrauterine growth restriction and postnatal growth retardation associated with a prominent forehead and triangular face or asymmetry as the only clinical signs. In particular, the lack of intrauterine growth restriction in patients with a Silver-Russell syndrome-like phenotype should not automatically result in exclusion from molecular testing.
Dermcidin-Derived Peptides Show a Different Mode of Action than the Cathelicidin LL-37 against Staphylococcus aureus
2009-04-14

ABSTRACT Dermcidin (DCD) is an antimicrobial peptide which is constitutively expressed in eccrine sweat glands. By postsecretory proteolytic processing in sweat, the DCD protein gives rise to anionic and cationic DCD peptides with a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity. Many antimicrobial peptides induce membrane permeabilization as part of their killing mechanism, which is accompanied by a loss of the bacterial membrane potential. In this study we show that there is a time-dependent bactericidal activity of anionic and cationic DCD-derived peptides which is followed by bacterial membrane depolarization. However, DCD-derived peptides do not induce pore formation in the membranes of gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. This is in contrast to the mode of action of the cathelicidin LL-37. Interestingly, LL-37 as well as DCD-derived peptides inhibit bacterial macromolecular synthesis, especially RNA and protein synthesis, without binding to microbial DNA or RNA. Binding studies with components of the cell envelope of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria and with model membranes indicated that DCD-derived peptides bind to the bacterial envelope but show only a weak binding to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from gram-negative bacteria or to peptidoglycan, lipoteichoic acid, and wall teichoic acid, isolated from Staphylococcus aureus . In contrast, LL-37 binds strongly in a dose-dependent fashion to these components. Altogether, these data indicate that the mode of action of DCD-derived peptides is different from that of the cathelicidin LL-37 and that components of the bacterial cell envelope play a role in the antimicrobial activity of DCD.
Mirror Neurons Differentially Encode the Peripersonal and Extrapersonal Space of Monkeys
2009-04-16

Actions performed by others may have different relevance for the observer, and thus lead to different behavioral responses, depending on the regions of space in which they are executed. We found that in rhesus monkeys, the premotor cortex neurons activated by both the execution and the observation of motor acts (mirror neurons) are differentially modulated by the location in space of the observed motor acts relative to the monkey, with about half of them preferring either the monkey's peripersonal or extrapersonal space. A portion of these spatially selective mirror neurons encode space according to a metric representation, whereas other neurons encode space in operational terms, changing their properties according to the possibility that the monkey will interact with the object. These results suggest that a set of mirror neurons encodes the observed motor acts not only for action understanding, but also to analyze such acts in terms of features that are relevant to generating appropriate behaviors.
Critical periods for impact of climate warming on early seedling establishment in subarctic tundra
2009-04-16

Abstract Climate warming is expected to shift bioclimatic zones and plant species distribution. Yet, few studies have explored whether seedling establishment is a possible bottleneck for future migration and population resilience. We test how warming affects the early stages of seedling establishment in 10 plant species in subarctic tundra. To zoom into the life phases where the effects of warming actually take place, we used a novel approach of breaking down the whole‐season warming effect into full factorial combination of early‐, mid‐, and late‐season warming periods. Seeds were sown in containers placed under field conditions in subarctic heath and were exposed to 3 °C elevation of surface temperature and 30% addition of summer precipitation relative to ambient. Heating was achieved with Free Air Temperature Increase systems. Whole‐season heating reduced germination and establishment, significantly in four out of 10 species. The whole‐season warming effect originated from additive effects of individual periods, although some of the periods had disproportionally stronger influence. Early‐germinating species were susceptible to warming; the critical phases were early summer for germination and mid summer for seedling survival. Graminoids, which emerged later, were less susceptible although some negative effects during late summer were observed. Some species with intermediate germination time were affected by all periods of warming. Addition of water generally could not mitigate the negative effects of whole‐season heating, but at individual species level both strengthening and amelioration of these negative effects were observed. We conclude that summer warming is likely to constrain seedling recruitment in open micro sites, which is a common seed regeneration niche in tundra ecosystem. Importantly, we described both significant temporal and species‐specific variation in the sensitivity of seedling establishment to warming which needs to be taken into consideration when modelling population dynamics and vegetation transitions in a warmer climate.
Enhanced insulin sensitivity of gene-targeted mice lacking functional KCNQ1
2009-04-16

The pore-forming K + -channel α-subunit KCNQ1 is expressed in a wide variety of tissues including heart, skeletal muscle, liver, and epithelia. Most recent evidence revealed an association of the KCNQ1 gene with the susceptibility to type 2 diabetes. KCNQ1 participates in the regulation of cell volume, which is, in turn, critically important for the regulation of metabolism by insulin. The present study explored the influence of KCNQ1 on insulin-induced cellular K + uptake and glucose metabolism. Insulin (100 nM)-induced K + uptake was determined in isolated perfused livers from KCNQ1-deficient mice ( kcnq1 −/− ) and their wild-type littermates ( kcnq1 +/+ ). Moreover, plasma glucose and insulin levels, intraperitoneal glucose (3 g/kg) tolerance, insulin (0.15 U/kg)-induced hypoglycemia, and peripheral uptake of radiolabeled 3 H-deoxy-glucose were determined in both genotypes. Insulin-stimulated hepatocellular K + uptake was significantly more sustained in isolated perfused livers from kcnq1 −/− mice than from kcnq1 +/+ mice. The decline of plasma glucose concentration following an intraperitoneal injection of insulin was again significantly more sustained in kcnq1 −/− than in kcnq1 +/+ mice. Both fasted and nonfasted plasma glucose and insulin concentrations were significantly lower in kcnq1 −/− than in kcnq1 +/+ mice. Following an intraperitoneal glucose injection, the peak plasma glucose concentration was significantly lower in kcnq1 −/− than in kcnq1 +/+ mice. Uptake of 3 H-deoxy-glucose into skeletal muscle, liver, kidney and lung tissue was significantly higher in kcnq1 −/− than in kcnq1 +/+ mice. In conclusion, KCNQ1 counteracts the stimulation of cellular K + uptake by insulin and thereby influences K + -dependent insulin signaling on glucose metabolism. The observations indicate that KCNQ1 is a novel molecule affecting insulin sensitivity of glucose metabolism.
Evaluation of the BD GeneOhm StaphSR Assay for Detection of Methicillin-Resistant and Methicillin-Susceptible Staphylococcus aureus Isolates from Spiked Positive Blood Culture Bottles
2009-04-16

ABSTRACT To improve the clinical outcome of Staphylococcus aureus septicemia, the early selection of appropriate antibiotic treatment is crucial. Molecular diagnostics represents an attractive approach for the rapid identification of S. aureus and the determination of its methicillin (meticillin) resistance. In direct comparison to other molecular assays ( sa442 and mecA real-time PCRs) and standard laboratory procedures, we evaluated the BD GeneOhm StaphSR assay for its use in the detection of S. aureus and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) from spiked blood culture bottles ( n = 134). In the case of detecting S. aureus ( n = 90; for methicillin-susceptible S. aureus , n = 45; for MRSA, n = 45), the BD GeneOhm StaphSR assay had a sensitivity and a specificity of 100% each (95% confidence intervals [CIs], 96.0 to 100% and 82.4 to 100%, respectively). For MRSA ( n = 45), the test was 95.6% (95% CI, 84.9 to 99.5%) sensitive and 95.3% (95% CI, 86.9 to 99.0%) specific. Overall, five discrepant results arose with this assay due to the presence of methicillin-susceptible, revertant MRSA strains (3/45) and MRSA strains that were not detected by the BD GeneOhm StaphSR assay (2/45). Compared to other real-time PCR-based molecular approaches and to conventional standard laboratory methods, the BD GeneOhm StaphSR turned out to be an appropriate diagnostic tool for a rapid (∼1.5 h), preliminary identification of S. aureus and MRSA from blood cultures.
A First Step towards Occlusion Culling in OpenSG PLUS
2009-04-16

The fast increasing size of datasets in scientific computing, mechanical engineering, or virtual medicine is quickly exceeding the graphics capabilities of modern computers. Toolkits for the large model visualization address this problem by combining efficient geometric techniques, such as occlusion and visibility culling, mesh reduction, and efficient rendering. OpenSG PLUS is such a toolkit with support for large models.
Multi‐disciplinary research on the past human ecology of the east Arabian coast: excavations at Hamriya and Tell Abraq (Emirate of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates)
2009-04-17

The results of two seasons of research at Hamriya and Tell Abraq (Sharjah, UAE) by an international team of researchers are presented. The research has revealed extensive evidence for occupation from c. 5000 BC to the recent past adjoining lagoon areas that face the Arabian Gulf. C 14 analysis of shells has contributed to understanding the chronology of settlement and also assisted our understanding of species‐specific deviation from the global reservoir effect.
A Cloth Modelling System for Animated Characters
2009-04-17

We present a complete simulation engine to produce fast and realistic animations of clothes. This system is able to model clothes for animated and motion captured characters. Efficient algorithms for solving the arising equation of motion are employed. Also fast and reliable algorithms for proximity detection and collision response are crucial in animation, and we will present new methods allowing rapid and stable simulations.
Efficient Multiresolution Models for progressive Terrain Rendering
2009-04-17

This paper deals with the problem of simplifying, transmitting and rendering large textured terrain models. The terrain is rendered from a hierarchy of quadratic tiles of geometry. Each of these tiles has a corresponding texture with a constant number of texels, e.g. 64x64, in each resolution level. Therefore, the ratio between the needed geometric accuracy within a tile and the texel size is a constant, independent of the level of detail, e.g. one texel (1/64 of the width of the tile). This observation allows us to create an efficient new multiresolution model for terrain data where not only the number of vertices is adapted to the level of detail but also the relative accuracy of the coordinates. Although we do not use a pure quadtree data structure due to its known problems with the representation of not axis aligned geometric features, our data structure is very Institut fur Informatik II, Universitat Bonn, Germany. E-mail rk@cs.uni-bonn.de y WSI/GRIS, Universitat Tubingen, Germany. E-Mail: schilling@uni-tuebingen.de 109 compact and avoids redundant transmission of coordinates
Transcriptome and Functional Analysis of the Eukaryotic-Type Serine/Threonine Kinase PknB inStaphylococcus aureus
2009-04-18

ABSTRACT The function of the Staphylococcus aureus eukaryotic-like serine/threonine protein kinase PknB was investigated by performing transcriptome analysis using DNA microarray technology and biochemical assays. The transcriptional profile revealed a strong regulatory impact of PknB on the expression of genes encoding proteins which are involved in purine and pyrimidine biosynthesis, cell wall metabolism, autolysis, and glutamine synthesis. Functional activity of overexpressed and purified PknB kinase was demonstrated using the myelin basic protein as a surrogate substrate. Phosphorylation occurred in a time-dependent manner with Mn 2+ as a preferred cofactor. Furthermore, biochemical characterization revealed regulation of adenylosuccinate synthase (PurA) activity by phosphorylation. Phosphorylated PurA showed a 1.8-fold decrease in enzymatic activity compared to unphosphorylated PurA. Loss of PknB led to formation of larger cell clusters, and a pknB deletion strain showed 32-fold-higher sensitivity to the cell wall-active antibiotic tunicamycin. The results of this study strongly indicate that PknB has a role in regulation of purine biosynthesis, autolysis, and central metabolic processes in S. aureus .
Authoring and Linking of Highly Interactive Content within Web-based Courseware
2009-04-18

Sophisticated Web-based courseware typically includes highly interactive elements like interactive illustrations or a virtual laboratory together with cooperative tools. The intention is to support active engagement with the teaching content and to educe intuitive understanding by experimentation.
Through-The-Lens Techniques for Motion, Navigation, and Remote Object Manipulation in Immersive Virtual Environments
2009-04-18

In this paper, we present a set of techniques for interaction with, navigation through, and manipulation within virtual environments. The proposed techniques are based on a through-the-lens model, extending existing techniques like the eyeball-in-hand and the scene-in-hand. The significant improvement consists of an intuitive preview displayed on a hand-held personal interaction panel (pip), which acts like a magic lens. This allows for a better orientation, and adequate and precise adjustment of the virtual camera position. Once the desired target position is set, the user can &amp;apos;beam&amp;apos; himself/herself to the new location moving the hand-held pip to her/his face. In this way, an illusion of entering a new world through the provided window is created.
Disambiguating Robot Positioning Using Laser and Geomagnetic Signatures
2009-04-18

This article proposes a technique for position disambiguating of mobile robots using laser and geomagnetic signatures in indoor terrains. Referring to the geomagnetic signature, magnetic field disturbances are used as unique recognition signatures.
Accelerated Rendering in Stereo-Based Projections
2009-04-18

In this work, we present a new method for displaying stereo scenes, which speeds up the rendering time of complex geometry. We first discuss a scene splitting strategy, allowing us to partition objects to the distant background or the near foreground. Furthermore, wededuce a computation rule for positioning a cutting plane in the scene. 1.
Robust Mapping and Path Planning for Indoor Robots Based on Sensor Integration of Sonar and a 2D Laser Range Finder
2009-04-19

In this study a sensor integration scheme to improve the capabilities of an indoor robot, has been developed such as mapping, collision avoidance and path planning. This integration has been carried out using a sonar ranging system and a 2D laser scanner, with participation of other sensors. The main goal of the integration is to reinforce the robustness of the overall system and overcome the sensors&amp;apos; disadvantages. This system inherits the advantages of these sensors and enables the robot to navigate safely in the working environment. The 2D laser scanner has been used to develop a mapping technique called the vector mapping algorithm to get consistent high precision maps with low memory requirements. The generated maps have been used as a base for an autonomous path planning algorithm depending on straight line navigation (SLN algorithm). The vector mapping algorithm has been implemented on an RWI B21 robot, one of the available robot platforms at the University of Tbingen.
DECIGO pathfinder
2009-04-20

DECIGO pathfinder (DPF) is a milestone satellite mission for DECIGO (DECi-hertz Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory), which is a future space gravitational wave antenna. DECIGO is expected to provide fruitful insights into the universe, particularly about dark energy, the formation mechanism of supermassive black holes and the inflation of the universe. Since DECIGO will be an extremely challenging mission, which will be formed by three drag-free spacecraft with 1000 km separation, it is important to increase the technical feasibility of DECIGO before its planned launch in 2024. Thus, we are planning to launch two milestone missions: DPF and pre-DECIGO. In this paper, we review the conceptual design and current status of the first milestone mission, DPF.
Arsenate toxicity for wheat and lettuce in six Chinese soils with different properties
2009-04-20

Abstract To assess soil arsenic (As, in the form of arsenate) toxicity to plants, 6-d root elongation tests on wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and lettuce (Lactuca sativa) were conducted in six Chinese soils freshly spiked with As. Plants were treated with 7 or 10 levels of As to establish concentration-effect curves. Median effective concentration and 10% effective concentration values were derived with regression analysis to measure As toxic potencies, and no-observed-effect concentration was determined by comparison with a control to elucidate thresholds of As to the two plant species. The median effective concentration values for As varied from 159 to 683 mg/kg for wheat and 59 to 426 mg/kg for lettuce, and the 10% effective concentration values varied from 79 to 270 mg/kg for wheat and 20 to 156 mg/kg for lettuce. The result suggests that lettuce is a more sensitive species for monitoring soil As contamination. With the same level of As spiked, soil toxicity for a plant showed a tendency of fluvoaquic soil toward red soil or black soil toward paddy soil. The phytotoxicity of As was negatively correlated with soil amorphous iron content extracted with ammonium oxalate. The overall results from the present work illustrate the necessity of considering soil properties in assessing soil As contamination.
Semiformal verification of temporal properties in automotive hardware dependent software
2009-04-20

The verification of embedded software has become an important subject over the last years. This work presents a new semiformal verification approach called SofTPaDS. It combines assertion-based and symbolic simulation approaches for the verification of embedded software with hardware dependencies. SofTPaDS shows to be more efficient than the software model checkers in order to trace deep state spaces and improves the state coverage relative to a simulation-based verification tool. We have successfully applied our approach to an industrial automotive embedded software.