Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An extended delta compression algorithm and the recovery of failed updating in embedded systems

In this paper, a new program-updating method for embedded systems adopting the RISC architecture is presented. Previously "a delta compression algorithm" is used but when the algorithm is actually implemented with devices, the transmission time is longer than the assumed time. To overcome this problem "extended delta compression algorithm" is proposed. The target of this algorithm is to create a delta file that is 10% smaller than those currently available. A new restoring method is also proposed here to overcome the problem of data overwritten of flash memory in the restoring process. A characteristic of this system is that the expanded data are stored in "nonvolatile" memory before being written into the flash memory, and the flash memory is not restored until the data for the next block has been expanded.
Nitrated Fatty Acids Reverse Cigarette Smoke-Induced Alveolar Macrophage Activation and Inhibit Protease Activity via Electrophilic S-Alkylation

Nitrated fatty acids (NFAs), endogenous products of nonenzymatic reactions of NO-derived reactive nitrogen species with unsaturated fatty acids, exhibit substantial anti-inflammatory activities. They are both reversible electrophiles and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) agonists, but the physiological implications of their electrophilic activity are poorly understood. We tested their effects on inflammatory and emphysema-related biomarkers in alveolar macrophages (AMs) of smoke-exposed mice. NFA (10-nitro-oleic acid or 12-nitrolinoleic acid) treatment downregulated expression and activity of the inflammatory transcription factor NF-κB while upregulating those of PPARγ. It also downregulated production of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines and of the protease cathepsin S (Cat S), a key mediator of emphysematous septal destruction. Cat S downregulation was accompanied by decreased AM elastolytic activity, a major mechanism of septal destruction. NFAs downregulated both Cat S expression and activity in AMs of wild-type mice, but only inhibited its activity in AMs of PPARγ knockout mice, pointing to a PPARγ-independent mechanism of enzyme inhibition. We hypothesized that this mechanism was electrophilic S-alkylation of target Cat S cysteines, and found that NFAs bind directly to Cat S following treatment of intact AMs and, as suggested by in silico modeling and calculation of relevant parameters, elicit S-alkylation of Cys25 when incubated with purified Cat S. These results demonstrate that NFAs’ electrophilic activity, in addition to their role as PPARγ agonists, underlies their protective effects in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and support their therapeutic potential in this disease.
Impact of injectable progestogen contraception in early puerperium on lactation and infant health.

INTRODUCTION Unmet need for family planning approaches 40% or higher and many women are at risk of unintended pregnancy. Progesterone contraception after birth is frequently recommended, but concern remain of inhibition of lactation or effects on infant health. In present study we aimed to evaluate impact of short term use of injectable depot medroxy progesterone acetate (DMPA) if given in early post partum period on infant health and breast feeding performance. MATERIAL AND METHODS A prospective case control study was conducted and 250 women immediately after delivery were recruited in the study. 150 women who were recruited as study group received Inj. DMPA 150 mg intra muscularly after initiation of lactation before discharge from hospital (Day 2-Day 10 of their delivery). 100 post partum women, not using hormonal contraception were taken as controls. All the subjects were followed to complete a full 6 months follow up. Duration and frequency of lactation, gain in weight, gain in height and any illness spells in the infant were noted at 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months follow up. In the study group 100 subjects completed 6 months follow-up. The statistical analysis was carried out by using SPSS software version 7. The statistical technique used was z score(significance shown by z score> 1.96) and repeated measure analysis (two way Anova technique). RESULTS Hundred percent of primigravidas in the study group and 95% in the control group were satisfied with their lactation amount. The average gain in height was comparable in both study and control group {4.36±0.56 vs 4.33±0.54 (z score 0.38) at 6 weeks, 12.44±0.73 vs 12.40±0.71 (z score 0.39) at 3 months 17.30±0.91 vs 17.28±0.83 (z score 0.16) at 6 months}. Similarly average gain in weight was also not significantly different in two groups {0.89±0.11 vs 0.93±0.10 (z score 0.71) at 6 weeks, 1.77±0.17 vs 1.78±0.16 (z score 1.07) at 3 months and 3.53±0.30 vs 3.46±0.33 (z score 1.19) at 6 months}. The results were comparable with other studies. CONCLUSION Injectable DMPA use as a contraceptive in the immediate post partum period was found to be a safe and effective alternate method with no deleterious effect on mother's milk and infant's growth.
Green Post-Communism?: Environmental Aid, Polish Innovation and Evolutionary Political Economics

This book asks whether foreign aid can help post-communist societies to steer their technological innovation systems in more environmentally sound directions. Mikael Sandberg examines the legacy of Soviet-type innovation systems, then looks at opportunities for greener innovations in post-communist Poland, considering: * institutional transformation and environmental investment incentives* the persistence and spread of the first environmental aid projects* the adoption of national environment policies and the role of aid in their implementation* evidence of changing innovation systems in Central and Eastern Europe
Development of Automated e-Testing Construction System with Redundant Item Detection

We propose an automated construction method of multiple equivalent test forms indicated by test information function based on item response theory, and the method reduces the probabilities of selecting redundant items to the same test form. In previous studies, although their methods minimized the different between the test information functions of the constructed test forms, they neglected the content similarities of selected items in the same test form. Therefore, the similar content items have probabilities to be selected to the same test form. This affects the test reliability. The main idea of this paper is to reduce the probabilities by applying a latent Dirichlet allocation in the test construction method to detect the content similarities between the selected items and the remaining items in the item banks.
A Double-Coil TMS Method to Assess Corticospinal Excitability Changes at a Near-Simultaneous Time in the Two Hands during Movement Preparation

Background: Many previous transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) studies have investigated corticospinal excitability changes occurring when choosing which hand to use for an action, one of the most frequent decision people make in daily life. So far, these studies have applied single-pulse TMS eliciting motor-evoked potential (MEP) in one hand when this hand is either selected or non-selected. Using such method, hand choices were shown to entail the operation of two inhibitory mechanisms, suppressing MEPs in the targeted hand either when it is non-selected (competition resolution, CR) or selected (impulse control, IC). However, an important limitation of this “Single-Coil” method is that MEPs are elicited in selected and non-selected conditions during separate trials and thus those two settings may not be completely comparable. Moreover, a more important problem is that MEPs are computed in relation to the movement of different hands. The goal of the present study was to test a “Double-Coil” method to evaluate IC and CR preceding the same hand responses by applying Double-Coil TMS over the two primary motor cortices (M1) at a near-simultaneous time (1 ms inter-pulse interval). Methods: MEPs were obtained in the left (MEPLEFT) and right (MEPRIGHT) hands while subjects chose between left and right hand key-presses in blocks using a Single-Coil or a Double-Coil method; in the latter blocks, TMS was either applied over left M1 first (TMSLRM1 group, n = 12) or right M1 first (TMSRLM1 group, n = 12). Results: MEPLEFT were suppressed preceding both left (IC) and right (CR) hand responses whereas MEPRIGHT were only suppressed preceding left (CR) but not right (IC) hand responses. This result was observed regardless of whether Single-Coil or Double-Coil TMS was applied in the two subject groups. However, in the TMSLRM1 group, the MEP suppression was attenuated in Double-Coil compared to Single-Coil blocks for both IC and CR, when probed with MEPLEFT (elicited by the second pulse). Conclusions: Although Double-Coil TMS may be a reliable method to assess bilateral motor excitability provided that a RM1-LM1 pulse order is used, further experiments are required to understand the reduced MEPLEFT changes in Double-Coil blocks when the LM1-RM1 pulse order was used.
Prenatal Particulate Matter/Tobacco Smoke Increases Infants' Respiratory Infections: COCOA Study

Purpose To investigate whether prenatal exposure to indoor fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) affects susceptibility to respiratory tract infections (RTIs) in infancy, to compare their effects between prenatal and postnatal exposure, and to determine whether genetic factors modify these environmental effects. Methods The study population consisted of 307 birth cohort infants. A diagnosis of RTIs was based on parental report of a physician's diagnosis. Indoor PM2.5 and ETS levels were measured during pregnancy and infancy. TaqMan was used for genotyping of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor (Nrf2) (rs6726395), glutathione-S-transferase-pi (GSTP) 1 (rs1695), and glutathione-S-transferase-mu (GSTM) 1. Microarrays were used for genome-wide methylation analysis. Results Prenatal exposure to indoor PM2.5 increased the susceptibility of lower RTIs (LRTIs) in infancy (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]=2.11). In terms of combined exposure to both indoor PM2.5 and ETS, prenatal exposure to both pollutants increased susceptibility to LRTIs (aOR=6.56); however, this association was not found for postnatal exposure. The Nrf2 GG (aOR=23.69), GSTM1 null (aOR=8.18), and GSTP1 AG or GG (aOR=7.37) genotypes increased the combined LRTIs-promoting effects of prenatal exposure to the 2 indoor pollutants. Such effects of prenatal indoor PM2.5 and ETS exposure were not found for upper RTIs. Conclusions Prenatal exposure to both indoor PM2.5 and ETS may increase susceptibility to LRTIs. This effect can be modified by polymorphisms in reactive oxygen species-related genes.
Materials, Mechanics, and Patterning Techniques for Elastomer-Based Stretchable Conductors

Stretchable electronics represent a new generation of electronics that utilize soft, deformable elastomers as the substrate or matrix instead of the traditional rigid printed circuit boards. As the most essential component of stretchable electronics, the conductors should meet the requirements for both high conductivity and the capability to maintain conductive under large deformations such as bending, twisting, stretching, and compressing. This review summarizes recent progresses in various aspects of this fascinating and challenging area, including materials for supporting elastomers and electrical conductors, unique designs and stretching mechanics, and the subtractive and additive patterning techniques. The applications are discussed along with functional devices based on these conductors. Finally, the review is concluded with the current limitations, challenges, and future directions of stretchable conductors.
Processing Prosodic and Musical Patterns: A Neuropsychological Investigation

To explore the relationship between the processing of melodic and rhythmic patterns in speech and music, we tested the prosodic and musical discrimination abilities of two "amusic" subjects who suffered from music perception deficits secondary to bilateral brain damage. Prosodic discrimination was assessed with sentence pairs where members of a pair differed by intonation or rhythm, and musical discrimination was tested using musical-phrase pairs derived from the prosody of the sentence pairs. This novel technique was chosen to make task demands as comparable as possible across domains. One amusic subject showed good performance on both linguistic and musical discrimination tasks, while the other had difficulty with both tasks. In both subjects, level of performance was statistically similar across domains, suggesting shared neural resource for prosody and music. Further tests suggested that prosody and music may overlap in the processes used to maintain auditory patterns in working memory.
L2 ANXIETY INFLUENCING SELF-REPORTED LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY: A QUANTITATIVE STUDY ON PAKISTANI ESL ARTS STUDENTS

This paper is part of a large study that examines L2 anxiety, L2 learning beliefs and achievement of Pakistani tertiary level ESL students. Drawing on the data obtained from 183 ESL university students of arts and humanities subjects through Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope’s (1986) Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS), this study finds that Pakistani ESL students exhibited fairly high level of L2 anxiety. It also finds Fear of Negative Evaluation (FNE) to be the most dominant source of the students’ L2 anxiety, followed by Communication Apprehension (CA) and Test Anxiety (TA) as the second and third sources respectively. The study further finds that female students displayed higher level of L2 anxiety than did male students. No significant differences were found in the anxiety level of students based on study levels. An important finding of the study includes a moderate, negative association between students’ L2 anxiety and their rating of English language proficiency. Based upon the findings, the study offers certain pedagogical implications for the improvement of English language teaching and learning in Pakistan and worldwide. Article visualizations:
Subcellular and subsynaptic distribution of the NR1 subunit of the NMDA receptor in the neostriatum and globus pallidus of the rat: co‐localization at synapses with the GluR2/3 subunit of the AMPA receptor

Glutamatergic neurotransmission in the neostriatum and the globus pallidus is mediated through NMDA‐type as well as other glutamate receptors and is critical in the expression of basal ganglia function. In order to characterize the cellular, subcellular and subsynaptic localization of NMDA receptors in the neostriatum and globus pallidus, multiple immunocytochemical techniques were applied using antibodies that recognize the NR1 subunit of the NMDA receptor. In order to determine the spatial relationship between NMDA receptors and AMPA receptors, double labelling was performed with the NR1 antibodies and an antibody that recognizes the GluR2 and 3 subunits of the AMPA receptor.
Impact of the SCF signaling pathway on leukemia stem cell-mediated ATL initiation and progression in an HBZ transgenic mouse model

Adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) is a malignant disease caused by human T-lymphotropic virus type 1. In aggressive ATL, the response to chemotherapy is extremely poor. We hypothesized that this poor response is due to the existence of chemotherapy-resistant cells, such as leukemic stem cells. Previously, we successfully identified an ATL stem cell (ATLSC) candidate as the c-kit+/CD38−/CD71− cells in an ATL mouse model using Tax transgenic mice. Here, with a new ATL mouse model using HBZ-transgenic mice, we further discovered that the functional ATLSC candidate, which commonly expresses c-kit, is drug-resistant and has the ability to initiate tumors and reconstitute lymphomatous cells. We characterized the ATLSCs as c-kit+/CD4−/CD8− cells and found that they have a similar gene expression profile as T cell progenitors. Additionally, we found that AP-1 gene family members, including Junb, Jund, and Fosb, were up-regulated in the ATLSC fraction. The results of an in vitro assay showed that ATLSCs cultured with cytokines known to promote stem cell expansion, such as stem cell factor (SCF), showed highly proliferative activity and maintained their stem cell fraction. Inhibition of c-kit–SCF signaling with the neutralizing antibody ACK2 affected ATLSC self-renewal and proliferation. Experiments in Sl/Sld mice, which have a mutation in the membrane-bound c-kit ligand, found that ATL development was completely blocked in these mice. These results clearly suggest that the c-kit–SCF signal plays a key role in ATLSC self-renewal and in ATL initiation and disease progression.
ABSOLUTE RUIN IN THE ORNSTEIN-UHLENBECK TYPE RISK MODEL

We start by showing that the finite-time absolute ruin probability in the classical risk model with constant interest force can be expressed in terms of the transition probability of a positive Ornstein-Uhlenbeck type process, say X. Our methodology applies to the case when the dynamics of the aggregate claims process is a subordinator. From this expression, we easily deduce necessary and sufficient conditions for the infinite-time absolute ruin to occur. We proceed by showing that, under some technical conditions, the transition density of X admits a spectral type representation involving merely the limiting distribution of the process. As a by-product, we obtain a series expansions for the finite-time absolute ruin probability. On the way, we also derive, for the aforementioned risk process, the Laplace transform of the first-exit time from an interval from above. Finally, we illustrate our results by detailing some examples.
A Providing Efficient Security in Multicast Routing for Ad-hoc Networks

An Ad hoc Network consists of a set of autonomous mobile nodes that communicates via multi-hop wireless communication in an infrastructure-less environment. In such a network group communication takes place by implementing a multicasting technique. This multicasting technique is intended to provide energy and bandwidth efficiency with secure content delivery. The project concentrates on identifying such an efficient multicasting technique. On the basis of comparison of multicasting protocols, Protocol for Unified Multicasting through Announcement (PUMA) has been chosen for initial implementation. PUMA does not rely on any unicast routing approach. It delivers data at a higher efficiency, while also provides a tight bound for control overhead in a wide range of network scenarios. Secure communication is a major concern in PUMA, especially because multicasting protocols are applied in areas such as audio/ video conferencing, corporate communications, collaborative and groupware applications. For secure communication, the performance of RSA and ElGamal was examined; Findings say that RSA’s execution time is comparatively less. To guarantee the data integrity in ad hoc networks, SHA-1 and MD5 are analyzed with RSA. Finally, the integration of PUMA has been done with RSA and SHA1 to guarantee more security.
Access Regulation and Investment in Next Generation Networks: A Ranking of Regulatory Regimes

This paper analyses how different types of access regulation to next generation networks affect investments and consumer welfare. The model consists of an investment stage with uncertain returns and subsequent quantity competition. The access price is a function of investment costs and the regulatory regime. A regime with fully distributed costs or a regulatory holiday induces highest investments, followed by risk-sharing and long-run-incremental cost regulation. Risk-sharing creates most consumer welfare, followed by regimes with fully distributed costs, long-run-incremental costs and regulatory holiday, respectively. Risk-sharing benefits consumers as it combines relatively high ex-ante investment incentives with strong ex-post competitive intensity.
Disparagement as a Processing Stimulus for Humor in Advertising

Purpose - This research paper explores the mediating role of attitude towards the advertisement and attitude towards the brand in the relationships between disparagement as a processing stimulus for humor in advertising and purchase intention of the customer. Design/Methodology/Approach - Data has been collected from 202 individuals. Confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling, moderation and mediation analysis have been applied and a good fit between the data and tested model was observed. As predicted, purchase intention was positively related with disparagement and full mediation effect has been found. The results of moderation analysis are quite interesting and have been presented with the help of a chart showing interaction effect. Findings - Findings provide media agencies with an insight into the audience emotional consequences in exposure to disparagement used in advertisements. Findings are particularly salient for national and multinational media agencies in Pakistan as well in the other parts of the world. Originality/Value - This is one of the first studies to provide empirical support for the relationships between disparagement and purchase intention in Western and non-Western (Pakistani) context. KEY WORDS: DISPARAGEMENT, HUMOR IN ADVERTISING, PURCHASE INTENTION, ATTITUDE TOWARDS
Abnormal Asymmetry of Brain Connectivity in Schizophrenia

Recently, a growing body of data has revealed that beyond a dysfunction of connectivity among different brain areas in schizophrenia patients (SCZ), there is also an abnormal asymmetry of functional connectivity compared with healthy subjects. The loss of the cerebral torque and the abnormalities of gyrification, with an increased or more complex cortical folding in the right hemisphere may provide an anatomical basis for such aberrant connectivity in SCZ. Furthermore, diffusion tensor imaging studies have shown a significant reduction of leftward asymmetry in some key white-matter tracts in SCZ. In this paper, we review the studies that investigated both structural brain asymmetry and asymmetry of functional connectivity in healthy subjects and SCZ. From an analysis of the existing literature on this topic, we can hypothesize an overall generally attenuated asymmetry of functional connectivity in SCZ compared to healthy controls. Such attenuated asymmetry increases with the duration of the disease and correlates with psychotic symptoms. Finally, we hypothesize that structural deficits across the corpus callosum may contribute to the abnormal asymmetry of intra-hemispheric connectivity in schizophrenia.