Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Rhinacanthus nasutus Ameliorates Cytosolic and Mitochondrial Enzyme Levels in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats

The present study was conducted to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of Rhinacanthus nasutus (R. nasutus) on mitochondrial and cytosolic enzymes in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. The rats were divided into five groups with 6 rats in each group. The methanolic extract of R. nasutus was orally administered at a dose of 200 mg/kg/day, and glibenclamide was administered at a dose of 50 mg/kg/day. All animals were treated for 30 days and were sacrificed. The activities of both intra- and extramitochondrial enzymes including glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH), succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were measured in the livers of the animals. The levels of G6PDH, SDH, and GDH were significantly reduced in the diabetic rats but were significantly increased after 30 days of R. nasutus treatment. The increased LDH level in diabetic rats exhibited a significant reduction after treatment with R. nasutus. These results indicate that the administration of R. nasutus altered the activities of oxidative enzymes in a positive manner, indicating that R. nasutus improves mitochondrial energy production. Our data suggest that R. nasutus should be further explored for its role in the treatment of diabetes mellitus.
Characterization and properties of highly adhesive titanium nitride and tungsten nitride thin films

The paper presents results on the physical characteristics and mechanical properties of titanium nitride (TiN) and tungsten nitride (W2N) thin films grown by reactive DC magnetron sputtering. The films were deposited in a system with several magnetron modules of different sputtering materials suitable for deposition of single-layer metal nitride films and multilayer nitride coatings. The deposition conditions were optimized to obtain films with the highest adhesion to substrates of machine steel and sintered hard alloy. The adhesion of the films was measured in dependence on two principal process parameters: the nitrogen partial pressure in the magnetron discharge gas mixture of nitrogen and argon and the substrate temperature. The composition of the TiN films was determined by Auger electron spectroscopy. The microstructure and the crystallization trend of the films were studied by transmission electron microscopy and selected area electron diffraction. The hardness of the films was examined using standard measuring methods.
Sensory based motion planning with global proofs

A sensory based algorithm DistBug, that is guaranteed to reach the target in an unknown environment or report that the target is unreachable, is presented. The algorithm is reactive in the sense that it relies on range data to make local decisions, and does not create a world model. The algorithm consists of two behaviors (modes of motion): straight motion between obstacles and obstacle boundary following. Simulation results as well as experiments with a real robot are presented. The condition for leaving obstacle boundary is based on the free range in the direction to the target. This condition allows the robot to leave the obstacle as soon as the local conditions guarantee global convergence. Range data is utilized for choosing the turning direction when the robot approaches an obstacle. A criterion for reversing the boundary following direction when it seems to be the wrong direction is also introduced. As a direct result of these local decisions, a significant improvement in the performance was achieved.
Error Log Processing for Accurate Failure Prediction

Error logs are a fruitful source of information both for diagnosis as well as for proactive fault handling - however elaborate data preparation is necessary to filter out valuable pieces of information. In addition to the usage of well-known techniques, we propose three algorithms: (a) assignment of error IDs to error messages based on Levenshtein's edit distance, (b) a clustering approach to group similar error sequences, and (c) a statistical noise filtering algorithm. By experiments using data of a commercial telecommunication system we show that data preparation is an important step to achieve accurate error-based online failure prediction.
Arachidonic Acid and Docosahexaenoic Acid Suppress Osteoclast Formation and Activity in Human CD14+ Monocytes, In vitro

An unbalanced diet can have adverse effects on health. Long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) have been the focus of research owing to their necessity of inclusion in a healthy diet. However, the effects of LCPUFAs on human osteoclast formation and function have not been explored before. A human CD14+ monocyte differentiation model was used to elucidate the effects of an ω-3 LCPUFA, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and an ω-6 LCPUFA, arachidonic acid (AA), on osteoclast formation and activity. CD14+ monocytes were isolated from peripheral blood of healthy donors and stimulated with macrophage colony stimulating factor and receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B ligand to generate osteoclasts. Data from this study revealed that both the LCPUFAs decreased osteoclast formation potential of CD14+ monocytes in a dose-dependent manner when treated at an early stage of differentiation. Moreover, when exposed at a late stage of osteoclast differentiation AA and DHA impaired the bone resorptive potential of mature osteoclasts without affecting osteoclast numbers. AA and DHA abrogated vitronectin receptor expression in differentiating as well as mature osteoclasts. In contrast, the degree of inhibition for calcitonin receptor expression varied between the LCPUFAs with only AA causing inhibition during osteoclast differentiation. Furthermore, AA and DHA down regulated the expression of key osteoclast-specific genes in differentiating as well as mature osteoclasts. This study demonstrates for the first time that LCPUFAs can modulate osteoclast formation and function in a human primary osteoclast cell line.
Robust deep feature for spoofing detection - the SJTU system for ASVspoof 2015 challenge

Recently there have been wide interests in speaker verification for various applications. Although the reported equal error rate (EER) is relatively low, many evidences show that the present speaker verification technologies can be susceptible to malicious spoofing attacks. Inspired by the great success of deep learning in the automatic speech recognition, deep neural network (DNN) based approaches are developed on the spoofing detection for the first time. In this paper, a novel DNN based robust representation is proposed for the spoofing detection to extract the representative spoofing-vector (s-vector). Then the mahalanobis distance and appropriate normalization methods are investigated to get the best system performance. Using the designed deep learning based strategy, our team obtained an impressive result on spoofing detection task, and achieved the 3 rd position in the first spoofing detection challenge evaluation, i.e. ASVspoof 2015 Challenge. Index Terms: Automatic speaker verification, Spoofing attack, Anti-Spoofing, Spoofing detection, Deep learning
Gain in Body Fat Is Associated with Increased Striatal Response to Palatable Food Cues, whereas Body Fat Stability Is Associated with Decreased Striatal Response

Cross-sectional brain-imaging studies reveal that obese versus lean humans show greater responsivity of reward and attention regions to palatable food cues, but lower responsivity of reward regions to palatable food receipt. However, these individual differences in responsivity may result from a period of overeating. We conducted a repeated-measures fMRI study to test whether healthy weight adolescent humans who gained body fat over a 2 or 3 year follow-up period show an increase in responsivity of reward and attention regions to a cue signaling impending milkshake receipt and a simultaneous decrease in responsivity of reward regions to milkshake receipt versus adolescents who showed stability of or loss of body fat. Adolescents who gained body fat, who largely remained in a healthy weight range, showed increases in activation in the putamen, mid-insula, Rolandic operculum, and precuneus to a cue signaling impending milkshake receipt versus those who showed stability of or loss of body fat, though these effects were partially driven by reductions in responsivity among the latter groups. Adolescents who gained body fat reported significantly greater milkshake wanting and milkshake pleasantness ratings at follow-up compared to those who lost body fat. Adolescents who gained body fat did not show a reduction in responsivity of reward regions to milkshake receipt or changes in responsivity to receipt and anticipated receipt of monetary reward. Data suggest that initiating a prolonged period of overeating may increase striatal responsivity to food cues, and that maintaining a balance between caloric intake and expenditure may reduce striatal, insular, and Rolandic operculum responsivity. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT This novel, repeated-measures brain-imaging study suggests that adolescents who gained body fat over our follow-up period experienced an increase in striatal responsivity to cues for palatable foods compared to those who showed stability of or loss of body fat. Results also imply that maintaining a balance between caloric intake and expenditure over time may reduce striatal, insular, and Rolandic operculum responsivity to food cues, which might decrease risk for future overeating.
Semi-supervised Node Splitting for Random Forest Construction

Node splitting is an important issue in Random Forest but robust splitting requires a large number of training samples. Existing solutions fail to properly partition the feature space if there are insufficient training data. In this paper, we present semi-supervised splitting to overcome this limitation by splitting nodes with the guidance of both labeled and unlabeled data. In particular, we derive a nonparametric algorithm to obtain an accurate quality measure of splitting by incorporating abundant unlabeled data. To avoid the curse of dimensionality, we project the data points from the original high-dimensional feature space onto a low-dimensional subspace before estimation. A unified optimization framework is proposed to select a coupled pair of subspace and separating hyper plane such that the smoothness of the subspace and the quality of the splitting are guaranteed simultaneously. The proposed algorithm is compared with state-of-the-art supervised and semi-supervised algorithms for typical computer vision applications such as object categorization and image segmentation. Experimental results on publicly available datasets demonstrate the superiority of our method.
A Framework for Developing Feature-Rich Software Systems

In response to changing requirements and other environmental influences, software systems are increasingly developed incrementally. Successful implementation of new features in existing software is often difficult, whilst many software systems simply 'break' when features are introduced. Size and complexity of modern software, poor software design, and lack of appropriate tools are some of the factors that often confound the issue. In this paper, we report on a successful industrial experience of evolving a feature-rich program analysis tool for dependable software systems. The experience highlights the need for a development framework to maintain rich traceability between development artifacts, and to satisfy certain conditions of artifacts during and after the implementation of a new feature.
Pioglitazone initiation and subsequent hospitalization for congestive heart failure

Aims Thiazolidinediones (TZD) have been associated with an expansion in plasma volume and the development of peripheral oedema. A recent study reported an association between the use of TZDs and development of congestive heart failure (CHF). The objective of this study was to determine if short‐term use of pioglitazone, a TZD, is associated with increased risk of admission to hospital because of CHF in a well‐characterized, community‐based cohort of Type 2 diabetic patients without prevalent CHF.
Health Psychology and Public Health: Theoretical Possibilities

Public health has either implicitly or explicitly drawn upon a range of psychological theories. This paper identifies four areas where the application of such theory could be developed, health communication, environmental initiatives, the negotiation of behaviour and participation and empowerment. Recommendations are made regarding content, sources and recipient characteristics that can be used to develop targeted health communication campaigns. Psychology also has a role to play in informing structural approaches to prevention. To facilitate this, a framework which focuses on cues, reinforcer and barriers and an understanding of how behaviour is achieved through negotiation and interaction is outlined. Finally we highlight a role for psychology in approaches that focus on participation and empowerment in relation to health.
The impact of fatty acid desaturase genotype on fatty acid status and cardiovascular health in adults

The aim of this review was to determine the impact of the fatty acid desaturase (FADS) genotype on plasma and tissue concentrations of the long-chain (LC) n-3 PUFA, including EPA and DHA, which are associated with the risk of several diet-related chronic diseases, including CVD. In addition to dietary intakes, which are low for many individuals, tissue EPA and DHA are also influenced by the rate of bioconversion from α-linolenic acid (αLNA). Δ-5 and Δ-6 desaturase enzymes, encoded for by FADS1 and FADS2 genes, are key desaturation enzymes involved in the bioconversion of essential fatty acids (αLNA and linoleic acid (LA)) to longer chained PUFA. In general, carriers of FADS minor alleles tend to have higher habitual plasma and tissue levels of LA and αLNA, and lower levels of arachidonic acid, EPA and also to a lesser extent DHA. In conclusion, available research findings suggest that FADS minor alleles are also associated with reduced inflammation and CVD risk, and that dietary total fat and fatty acid intake have the potential to modify relationships between FADS gene variants and circulating fatty acid levels. However to date, neither the size-effects of FADS variants on fatty acid status, nor the functional SNP in FADS1 and 2 have been identified. Such information could contribute to the refinement and targeting of EPA and DHA recommendations, whereby additional LC n-3 PUFA intakes could be recommended for those carrying FADS minor alleles.
Detection of Perturbation Phases and Developmental Stages in Organisms from DNA Microarray Time Series Data

Available DNA microarray time series that record gene expression along the developmental stages of multicellular eukaryotes, or in unicellular organisms subject to external perturbations such as stress and diauxie, are analyzed. By pairwise comparison of the gene expression profiles on the basis of a translation-invariant and scale-invariant distance measure corresponding to least-rectangle regression, it is shown that peaks in the average distance values are noticeable and are localized around specific time points. These points systematically coincide with the transition points between developmental phases or just follow the external perturbations. This approach can thus be used to identify automatically, from microarray time series alone, the presence of external perturbations or the succession of developmental stages in arbitrary cell systems. Moreover, our results show that there is a striking similarity between the gene expression responses to these a priori very different phenomena. In contrast, the cell cycle does not involve a perturbation-like phase, but rather continuous gene expression remodeling. Similar analyses were conducted using three other standard distance measures, showing that the one we introduced was superior. Based on these findings, we set up an adapted clustering method that uses this distance measure and classifies the genes on the basis of their expression profiles within each developmental stage or between perturbation phases.
Vissim: A Multi-Parameter Sensitivity Analysis

Traffic microsimulation is increasingly a preferred method of traffic analysis for today's transportation professionals. The importance of properly calibrating these traffic simulations is evidenced by the adoption of microsimulation calibration standards by several state and federal transportation authorities. A component of the calibration process is the calibration of the simulation for capacity. Capacity is a high-level measurement that is a function of many lower level user-defined input parameters. VISSIM utilizes psychophysical car-following models that rely on ten user-defined parameters to represent freeway driving behavior. Several VISSIM driver behavior parameters have been shown to have a significant impact on roadway capacity. This paper seeks further understanding of the performance of the VISSIM traffic microsimulator by investigating the impact of driver behavior parameter combinations on a measure of freeway capacity. This paper is intended to provide insight useful for manual calibration of VISSIM microsimulation or the development of calibration algorithms
A detection and relative direction estimation method for UAV in sense-and-avoid

This article mainly focuses on the vision-based obstacle avoidance of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Detecting the obstacle and controlling the UAV to avoid it are two key modules in the sense-and-avoid system. We adopt a bio-inspired human vision algorithm called saliency method to realize the automatic detection. Furthermore, this article proposes a reference yaw angle calculator algorithm based on the geometrical relationship between the UAV and camera. The UAV aims to perform the yaw maneuver to avoid the obstacle in this article. The yaw angle regulating process is achieved via a PD controller operating as the low level control scheme. Finally, proposed methods are verified using the AR. Drone and ROS-based scheme. The experimental results show that the proposed method is a powerful candidate for vision based avoidance in the aerial environment.
Brachial Plexus Block for Pain Relief after Modified Radical Mastectomy

Brachial plexus block using an infraclavicular approach was performed at the completion of surgery in 47 patients having modified radical mastectomies. In 48 control patients having similar operations, brachial plexus block was not performed. Of the 47 patients in whom brachial plexus block was performed, 26 (55%) required analgesia during the first 24 hours after the operation, whereas 44 (91 %) of the 48 control patients required analgesics (p < 0.0005). The time elapsed between the end of anesthesia and requirement of the first analgesic was significantly longer when the brachial plexus was blocked (p < 0.001). The efficacy, simplicity, and safety of blocking the brachial plexus at the completion of surgery following modified mastectomy demonstrate that this technique could be routinely used for the relief of postoperative pain in patients having modified radical mastectomies.
Brain Mechanisms for Inferring Deceit in the Actions of Others

During social interactions, it is important to judge accurately whether a person is honest or deceitful. We often use nonverbal cues to infer whether others are trying to deceive us. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we studied subjects watching videos of actors lifting a box and judged whether or not the actors were trying to deceive them concerning the real weight of the box. When the subjects judged the actions as reflecting deceptive intention, there was activation of the amygdala and rostral anterior cingulate cortex. These areas were not activated when subjects made judgements about the beliefs rather than the intentions of others. We suggest that these activations reflect the observers' judgements of social intentions toward themselves and might reflect an emotional response to being deceived.
Genome-Wide Identification, Evolution, and Co-expression Network Analysis of Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinase Kinases in Brachypodium distachyon

Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades are the conserved and universal signal transduction modules in all eukaryotes, which play the vital roles in plant growth, development, and in response to multiple stresses. In this study, we used bioinformatics methods to identify 86 MAPKKK protein encoded by 73 MAPKKK genes in Brachypodium. Phylogenetic analysis of MAPKKK family from Arabidopsis, rice, and Brachypodium has classified them into three subfamilies, of which 28 belonged to MEKK, 52 to Raf, and 6 to ZIK subfamily, respectively. Conserved protein motif, exon-intron organization, and splicing intron phase in kinase domains supported the evolutionary relationships inferred from the phylogenetic analysis. And gene duplication analysis suggested the chromosomal segment duplication happened before the divergence of the rice and Brachypodium, while all of three tandem duplicated gene pairs happened after their divergence. We further demonstrated that the MAPKKKs have evolved under strong purifying selection, implying the conservation of them. The splicing transcripts expression analysis showed that the splicesome translating longest protein tended to be adopted. Furthermore, the expression analysis of BdMAPKKKs in different organs and development stages as well as heat, virus and drought stresses revealed that the MAPKKK genes were involved in various signaling pathways. And the circadian analysis suggested there were 41 MAPKKK genes in Brachypodium showing cycled expression in at least one condition, of which seven MAPKKK genes expressed in all conditions and the promoter analysis indicated these genes possessed many cis-acting regulatory elements involved in circadian and light response. Finally, the co-expression network of MAPK, MAPKK, and MAPKKK in Brachypodium was constructed using 144 microarray and RNA-seq datasets, and ten potential MAPK cascades pathway were predicted. To conclude, our study provided the important information for evolutionary and functional characterization of MAPKKK family in Brachypodium, which will facilitate the functional analysis of BdMAPKKK genes, and also will facilitate better understanding the MAPK signal pathway in Brachypodium and beyond.
A unified approach to the performance analysis of digital communication over generalized fading channels

Presented here is a unified approach to evaluating the error-rate performance of digital communication systems operating over a generalized fading channel. What enables the unification is the recognition of the desirable form for alternate representations of the Gaussian and Marcum Q-functions that are characteristic of error-probability expressions for coherent, differentially coherent, and noncoherent forms of detection. It is shown that in the largest majority of cases, these error-rate expressions can be put in the form of a single integral with finite limits and an integrand composed of elementary functions, thus readily enabling numerical evaluation.
Acute renal failure in pregnancy

Objectives:To provide an evidence-based, up-to-date review of the literature regarding the assessment and management of acute renal failure that may affect women during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Design:A review of the current literature was performed. Results:Acute renal failure is a rare complication of pregnancy but is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Management requires knowledge of the renal physiologic changes occurring in pregnancy and the relevant diagnoses, both pregnancy-specific and those that may coincidentally occur with pregnancy. In addition, fetal effects must be taken into consideration. Conclusions:Ideal care for women with acute renal failure in pregnancy or postpartum requires a multidisciplinary approach that may include maternal-fetal medicine, critical care medicine, nephrology, and neonatology specialists.