Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Least Squares Approximations to Lognormal Sum Distributions

In this paper, the least squares (LS) approximation approach is applied to solve the approximation problem of a sum of lognormal random variables (RVs). The LS linear approximation is based on the widely accepted assumption that the sum of lognormal RVs can be approximated by a lognormal RV. We further derive the solution for the LS quadratic (LSQ) approximation, and our results show that the LSQ approximation exhibits an excellent match with the simulation results in a wide range of the distributions of the summands. Using the coefficients obtained from the LSQ method, we present the explicit closed-form expressions of the coefficients as a function of the decibel spread and the number of the summands by applying an LS curve fitting technique. Closed-form expressions for the cumulative distribution function and the probability density function for the sum RV, in both the linear and logarithm domains, are presented
SAH KD-tree construction on GPU

KD-tree is one of the most efficient acceleration data structures for ray tracing. In this paper, we present a kd-tree construction algorithm that is precisely SAH-optimized and runs entirely on GPU. We construct the tree nodes in breadth-first order. In order to precisely evaluate the SAH cost, we design a parallel scheme based on the standard parallel scan primitive to count the triangle numbers for all split candidates, and a bucket-based algorithm to sort the AABBs (axis-aligned bounding box) of the clipped triangles of the child nodes. The proposed parallel algorithms can be mapped well to GPU's streaming architecture. The experiments showed that our algorithm can produce the highest quality kd-tree as the off-line CPU algorithms, but runs faster than multi-core CPU algorithms and the GPU SAH BVH-Tree algorithm.
Gastroprotective Effect of Cochinchina momordica Seed Extract in Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug-Induced Acute Gastric Damage in a Rat Model

Background/Aims The major compounds of Cochinchina momordica seed extract (SK-MS10) include momordica saponins. We report that the gastroprotective effect of SK-MS10 in an ethanol-induced gastric damage rat model is mediated by suppressing proinflammatory cytokines and downregulating cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2), 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX), and the activation of calcitonin gene-related peptide. In this study, we evaluated the gastroprotective effects of SK-MS10 in the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)-induced gastric damage rat model. Methods The pretreatment effect of SK-MS10 was evaluated in the NSAID-induced gastric damage rat model using aspirin, indomethacin, and diclofenac in 7-week-old rats. Gastric damage was evaluated based on the gross ulcer index by gastroenterologists, and the damage area (%) was measured using the MetaMorph 7.0 video image analysis system. Myeloperoxidase (MPO) was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and Western blotting was used to analyze the levels of cyclooxygenase (COX)-1, COX-2, cPLA2, and 5-LOX. Results All NSAIDs induced gastric damage based on the gross ulcer index and damage area (p<0.05). Gastric damage was significantly attenuated by SK-MS10 pretreatment compared with NSAID treatment alone (p<0.05). The SK-MS10 pretreatment group exhibited lower MPO levels than the diclofenac group. The expression of cPLA2 and 5-LOX was decreased by SK-MS10 pretreatment in each of the three NSAID treatment groups. Conclusions SK-MS10 exhibited a gastroprotective effect against NSAID-induced acute gastric damage in rats. However, its protective mechanism may be different across the three types of NSAID-induced gastric damage models in rats.
LINE1 family member is negative regulator of HLA-G expression

Class Ia molecules of human leucocyte antigen (HLA-A, -B and -C) are widely expressed and play a central role in the immune system by presenting peptides derived from the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum. In contrast, class Ib molecules such as HLA-G serve novel functions. The distribution of HLA-G is mostly limited to foetal trophoblastic tissues and some tumour tissues. The mechanism required for the tissue-specific regulation of the HLA-G gene has not been well understood. Here, we investigated the genomic regulation of HLA-G by manipulating one copy of a genomic DNA fragment on a human artificial chromosome. We identified a potential negative regulator of gene expression in a sequence upstream of HLA-G that overlapped with the long interspersed element (LINE1); silencing of HLA-G involved a DNA secondary structure generated in LINE1. The presence of a LINE1 gene silencer may explain the limited expression of HLA-G compared with other class I genes.
Selection of Currently Relevant Memories by the Human Posterior Medial Orbitofrontal Cortex

We have demonstrated previously that patients producing spontaneous confabulations fail to suppress currently irrelevant memory traces, so that they act and think on the basis of a false, temporally displaced (past) reality. All spontaneous confabulators had anterior limbic damage, in particular of the orbitofrontal cortex and basal forebrain. These findings indicated that these structures are essential for distinguishing between mental representations of ongoing reality and currently irrelevant memories. In the present study, we used a similar experimental paradigm as in our clinical studies and H215O positron emission tomography to explore the selection of currently relevant memories by the healthy human brain. Subjects were repeatedly presented with the same set of pictures, arranged in different order each time, and were requested to indicate picture recurrences within the runs. Thus, performance in the first run depended on new learning, whereas subsequent runs required the distinction between picture repetitions within the current run (“now”) and previous picture presentations in earlier runs. Whereas initial learning activated medial temporal structures, subsequent runs provoked circumscribed posterior medial orbitofrontal activation. We suggest that this area is essential for sorting out mental associations that pertain to ongoing reality.
Longitudinal Study of Course Evaluation Impact Factor at College Level

This study was to examine the persistently influential course evaluation factors at college level from 10 years longitudinal research to provide qualitative suggestions to improve college education. This paper analyzed 47,177courses (100%) from spring semester of 2005 to fall semester of 2014 for 10 years at a university located at metropolitan city in mid area of South Korea. Based on the related literature review, this study selected important evaluation factors such as class size, course classification, course open student year, academic area of course specialty, lecture type, course grading system, faculty status, and faculty position. From the results, the persistent factors are course by student year, class size, course classification, and non persistent factors are normative vs. relative course grading system, course open department, faculty status and position. This study suggested that qualitative comments data could be also analyzed using big data analysis techniques such as text mining and data mining, and provide authentic suggestions to improve individual faculty lecture quality and finally college education overall.
BRAIN MAPPING WITH ELECTRO-TACTILE STIMULATION OF THE FINGERS: AN FMRI STUDY

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in brain activation by electrotactile stimulation of two fingers of the right hand with different frequencies using fMRI. Non-painful electrotactile stimuli were delivered. Significant activation produced by the stimulation were found in the SI, SII, subcentral gyrus, precentral gyrus, and insula. In all participants statistically significant activation was observed in the contralateral SI area and bilateral SII areas by the stimulation on the fingers but ipsilaterally dominant. The SI area representing the second finger generally located in the more lateral and inferior side than that of the third finger across all the subjects. But no difference in brain area was found for the stimulation of the fingers by different frequencies.
The evolution of African plant diversity

Sub-Saharan Africa includes some 45,000 plant species. The spatial patterns of this diversity have been well explored. We can group the species into a set of biogeographical regions (largely co-incident with regions defined for terrestrial vertebrate groups). Furthermore, we know that the diversity is unevenly distributed, with southern Africa (especially the south-western tip) disproportionally species rich, while the West African interior is disproportionally species poor. However, the origins of this diversity have only been explored for two anomalous African Floras (the Tropic-alpine Flora and the Cape Flora), whereas the origins of the diversity of the other floras are still unknown. Here I argue that six floras, with distinct geographical centres, different extra-African affinities, ages of radiation and radiation rates, can be delimited: the Austro-temperate, Tropic-alpine, Lowland forest, Tropic-montane, Savanna and Arid Floras. The oldest flora may be the Lowland forest Flora, and the most recent is the Tropic-alpine, which probably evolved during the Plio-Pleistocene on the summits of the East Africa volcanoes. My results suggest that the most rapidly radiating flora is the Austro-temperate Flora, while the other floras are all diversifying at more or less the same rate, this is also consistent with the current massive species richness in this flora (about half of the African species richness). The Austro-temperate Flora appears to be related to the floras of the other southern continents, the Tropic-alpine Flora to that of the Northern Hemisphere, and the four tropical floras to the tropical regions of the other continents, consistent with the theory of phylogenetic niche conservatism. Current African diversity may be the result of the sequential adding of new floras to the continent. Possibly the species poverty especially of the Lowland forest Flora may be the result of the spread of C4 grasslands and associated regular fires.
SOTA: Towards a General Model for Self-Adaptive Systems

The increasing complexity and dynamics in which software systems are deployed call for solutions to make such systems autonomic, i.e., capable of dynamically self-adapting their behavior in response to changing situations. To this end, proper models and software engineering tools are required to be available to support the design and development of autonomic systems. In this paper, we introduce a new general model, SOTA, for modeling the adaptation requirements. SOTA, by bringing together the lessons of goal-oriented modeling and of context-aware system modeling, has the potentials for tackling some key issues in the design and development of complex self-adaptive software systems. In particular, SOTA enables: early verification of requirements, identification of knowledge requirements for self-adaptation, and identification of the most suitable self-adaptive patterns.
Human Breath Analysis May Support the Existence of Individual Metabolic Phenotypes

The metabolic phenotype varies widely due to external factors such as diet and gut microbiome composition, among others. Despite these temporal fluctuations, urine metabolite profiling studies have suggested that there are highly individual phenotypes that persist over extended periods of time. This hypothesis was tested by analyzing the exhaled breath of a group of subjects during nine days by mass spectrometry. Consistent with previous metabolomic studies based on urine, we conclude that individual signatures of breath composition exist. The confirmation of the existence of stable and specific breathprints may contribute to strengthen the inclusion of breath as a biofluid of choice in metabolomic studies. In addition, the fact that the method is rapid and totally non-invasive, yet individualized profiles can be tracked, makes it an appealing approach.
Dissecting Spatial Visual Attention

it has been recognized that at least two forms of spatial attention can be found in vision. For example, Wundt (1902) observed that attention could be involuntary or voluntary. A variety of distinctions have been made that more or less correspond to Wundt’s distinction, including goal-directed attention versus stimulus-driven capture and endogenous attention versus exogenous attention. the terms used to label these forms of attention are not important. the critical question is whether these two forms of attention involve the same or different mechanisms, and, if they involve different mechanisms, what are those mechanisms? modern investigators have largely been unclear whether voluntary and involuntary forms of attention are mediated by different mechanisms or whether they are simply different means of controlling a single mechanism. rather, most contemporary investigations have focused on the properties of different methods of summoning attention. the assumption is often made that involuntary attention has the same effect on perceptual processes as voluntary attention (rauschenberger, 2003) and that they affect the same neural mechanisms (Gazzaniga, ivry, & mangun, 1998). the research reported here challenges this assumption. three separate behavioral paradigms demonstrate that voluntary and involuntary forms of attention
The Impact of Transmission Power Control Strategies on Lifetime of Wireless Sensor Networks

Transmission power control has paramount importance in the design of energy-efficient wireless sensor networks (WSNs). In this paper, we systematically explore the effects of various transmission power control strategies on WSN lifetime with an emphasis on discretization of power levels and strategies for transmission power assignment. We investigate the effects of the granularity of power levels on energy dissipation characteristics through a linear programming framework by modifying a well known and heavily utilized continuous transmission power model (HCB model). We also investigate various transmission power assignment strategies by using two sets of experimental data on Mica motes. A novel family of mathematical programming models are developed to analyze the performance of these strategies. Bandwidth requirements of the proposed transmission power assignment strategies are also investigated. Numerical analysis of our models are performed to characterize the effects of various design parameters and to comparethe relative performance of transmission power assignment strategies. Our results show that the granularity of discrete energy consumption has a profound impact on WSN lifetime, furthermore, more fine-grained control of transmission power (i.e., link level control) can extend network lifetime up to 20% in comparison to optimally-assigned network-level single transmission power.
Cases of congenital adrenal hyperplasia missed by newborn screening in Minnesota.

新生兒體內因缺乏21-羥化酵素(21α-hydroxylase)導致血中的 17-hydroxyprogesterone(17-OHP)濃度升高,是新生兒篩檢中鑑別先天腎上腺 增生症(CAH)的重要指標。 研究基礎為明尼蘇達州自1991/1至2010/12的新生兒篩 檢共838 241例,採集新生兒出生後24-48小時篩檢血片,以時差式螢光免疫分析 法(time-resolved fluoroimmumoassay)測血片中17-OHP數值。 研究方法是由明 尼蘇達州衛生部門與三家兒科內分泌中心共同合作整理新生兒篩檢結果呈偽陰 性的病例,分析包括基因檢測,血清中17-OHP數值,臨床及生化表徵。 結果: 在篩檢期間,有52例確診為典型CAH,15例典型CAH包括6例男生和9例女生 (5例salt-wasting和10例simple virilizing 型)第一次篩檢結果正常,偽陰性 率至少為22. 4%。 造成偽陰性結果的原因不明,可能在於17-OHP增加的時間點較 晚和/或篩檢的敏感度有關。 結論: 即使新生兒篩檢陰性也不能完全排除CAH的可能性,偽陰性結果反而會誤 導並延遲診斷。 因此觀察新生兒性別特徵非常重要,尤其是女嬰性別特徵不明 時,更應該加以注意。 另外,新生兒篩檢系統應加強教育臨床醫師篩檢偽陰性的 概念,對潛在的偽陰性病人加以適當的臨床關注,以便即時診斷。
Victims, soldiers, peacemakers and caretakers: the neoliberal constitution of women in the EU’s security policy

ABSTRACT Feminist scholars praise and criticize the UNSC Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security for its considerations of women and gender in conflicts. Poststructuralist feminists show how gender is constructed in the UN’s security policies and how these constructions reproduce gendered dichotomies between women and men and representations of women as victims, part of civil society and neoliberal subjects. Although the UNSC Resolutions 1325 and 1820 are implemented by the EU, there is no literature on how the EU is taking up the UN’s discourse. Scholars studying gender policies in and of the EU mainly analyze the (in)effectiveness of EU gender mainstreaming but rarely interrogate its discursive foundations. Using a governmentality perspective, I argue that on the one hand the EU produces a binary and stereotypical understanding of gender, and on the other hand constitutes women as neoliberal subjects responsible for their own well-being, ignoring broader structures of (gender) inequality and war and making gender equality solely an instrument to achieve more security and development.
Diagnostic Accuracy of Serum CA19-9 in Patients with Cholangiocarcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a relatively rare cancer worldwide; however, its incidence is extremely high in Asia. Numerous studies reported that serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) plays a role in the diagnosis of CCA patients. However, published data are inconclusive. The aim of this meta-analysis was to provide a systematic review of the diagnostic performance of CA19-9 for CCA. Material/Methods We searched the public databases including PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and WANFANG databases for articles evaluating the diagnostic accuracy of serum CA19-9 to predict CCA. The diagnostic sensitivity (SEN), specificity (SPE), positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), and summary receiver operating characteristic curve (SROC) were pooled by Meta-DiSc 1.4 software. Results A total of 31 articles met the inclusion criteria, including 1,264 patients and 2,039 controls. The pooled SEN, SPE, PLR, NLR, and DOR were 0.72 (95% CI: 0.70–0.75), 0.84 (95% CI: 0.82–0.85), 4.93 (95% CI, 3.67–6.64), 0.35 (95%CI, 0.30–0.41), and 15.10 (95% CI, 10.70–21.32), respectively. The area under SROC curve was 0.8300. The subgroup analyses based on different control type, geographical location, and sample size revealed that the diagnostic accuracy of CA19-9 tends to be same in different control type, but showed low sensitivity in European patients and small size group. Conclusions Serum CA19-9 is a useful non-invasive biomarker for CCA detection and may become a clinically useful tool to identify high-risk patients.
A descriptive and comparative study of the prevalence of depressive and anxiety disorders in low-income adults with type 2 diabetes and other chronic illnesses.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether type 2 diabetes contributes to the presence of depressive and anxiety disorder diagnoses in low-income adults with hypertension, asthma, and/or arthritis. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Using a cross-sectional design, this study administered a structured diagnostic interview to low-income primary care patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, hypertension, arthritis, and asthma, as well as to those with no chronic illness (n = 326), to determine the 12-month prevalence of depressive and anxiety disorders. A logistic regression (LR) model was used to assess whether a diagnosis of depression and/or anxiety was associated with type 2 diabetes after adjusting for known risk factors. RESULTS A high prevalence rate of depressive and/or anxiety disorders was found in the total sample (29%) and in all three illness groups: type 2 diabetes (36%), other chronic illnesses (24%), and no chronic illness (31%). Using LR, a main effect was detected for illness group when age and education were controlled (chi(2) = 22.66, df 4, P = 0.000). Specifically, the odds of occurrence of a depressive and/or anxiety disorder in those with comorbid type 2 diabetes were twice that in the nondiabetic, chronically ill comparison group (odds ratio 2.26, 95% CI 1.28-4.01, P = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS These results suggest a positive contribution of type 2 diabetes to increased rates of depressive and/or anxiety disorders in patients with hypertension, asthma, and/or arthritis and support prior research that type 2 diabetes may serve as an indicator of depression and anxiety in low-income adults treated in primary care clinics.
Does the TAS-20 measure alexithymia? A study of natural language use.

Background and aims: The TAS-20 is the most widely used instrument to measure alexithymia, which refers to problems in affect recognition and regulation and is a vulnerability factor for psychosomatic complaints. Psychometric properties of this self-report instrument are good, however construct validity questions remain as to whether the TAS-20 accurately measures alexithymia or merely reflects negative affectivity. We investigate this by analyzing natural language use, and based on theoretical considerations hypothesize that the TAS-20 should relate to less use of positive and negative emotion words and to less references to others. Methods: 32 mental health outpatients were interviewed with a 2-hour clinical interview and filled in a demographic list, the BDI-II and the TAS-20 (subscales: difficulties identifying feelings (DIF); difficulties describing feelings (DDF); externally oriented thinking (EOT)). Language was analyzed with 4 categories of the computerized LIWC-dictionary: ‘positive emotions’, ‘negative emotions’, ‘references to others’, and ‘communication’. Results: ANCOVA’s showed a negative effect of EOT on ‘positive emotions’. A positive correlation was found between DIF and ‘negative emotions’, which disappeared after controlling for depression. EOT had a significant negative effect on ‘communication’ and ‘references to others’. Conclusion: The positive relation between DIF and negative emotion words, which could be explained by depression, indicates that this scale merely measures negative affectivity. It remains unclear what DDF measures, since no relationships were found. We conclude that EOT measures alexithymia most purely, since it was the only subscale that related to the language variables in the expected way, even after controlling for depression scores.
Characterization of two-dimensional hole gas at GaN/AlGaN heterointerface

Electrical properties of two-dimensional hole gas (2DHG) at GaN/Al0.23Ga0. 77N heterointerface have been investigated. Existence of 2DHG at the interface is confirmed by capacitance-voltage and Hall Effect measurement. We have discussed transport mechanism of 2DHG by comparison with hole generated by conventional Mg impurity, based on experimental evaluations by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope, atomic force microscope, secondary ion mass spectroscopy, and temperature dependence Hall Effect measurements.