Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Birth Order and Family Size of Approved School Boys

The birth order and family size of 799 Scottish Approved School boys were investigated. 37,587 Scottish boys were used for purposes of comparison. They were eleven years of age when first surveyed by the Scottish Council for Research in Education in 1947. A random sample of 589 of them had been followed up for 17 years. The index described by Slater for estimating birth order in the sibship was used. The mean value of Slater's index in the Approved School boys was 0.463 which was significantly lower than either the mean value of the controls (0.493) or the theoretically expected value (0.500) and indicated an excess of individuals coming early in birth order. It was shown that Slater's index does not alter significantly after the age of ten. The general lack of agreement about the relation between birth order and delinquency is probably due to a failure to use an effective method of dealing with the distribution of birth order; Slater's index goes some way towards providing such a method. The fact that Slater's index implies an ideal control population was considered a possible limitation to its usefulness in the context considered; the controls used in the investigation deviated from the ideal in having an excess of individuals coming early in birth order in family sizes 2 and 3. In the investigation of family size it was considered necessary to apply the correction described by Greenwood and Yule to the Approved School sample. This reduced the bias due to over-representation of individuals from large families in the sample. The corrected mean family size of the Approved School group was 4.03. A similar correction was not applied to the control group since this comprised almost a complete population of Scottish eleven-year-old boys; in our view an appropriate one with which to compare the Approved School sample. The uncorrected mean family size of the controls was 3.75. There is no evidence from the present investigation of any association between family size and presence in an Approved School.
Quasi-Static Multiple-Antenna Fading Channels at Finite Blocklength

This paper investigates the maximal achievable rate for a given blocklength and error probability over quasi-static multiple-input multiple-output fading channels, with and without channel state information at the transmitter and/or the receiver. The principal finding is that outage capacity, despite being an asymptotic quantity, is a sharp proxy for the finite-blocklength fundamental limits of slow-fading channels. Specifically, the channel dispersion is shown to be zero regardless of whether the fading realizations are available at both transmitter and receiver, at only one of them, or at neither of them. These results follow from analytically tractable converse and achievability bounds. Numerical evaluation of these bounds verifies that zero dispersion may indeed imply fast convergence to the outage capacity as the blocklength increases. In the example of a particular 1 × 2 single-input multiple-output Rician fading channel, the blocklength required to achieve 90% of capacity is about an order of magnitude smaller compared with the blocklength required for an AWGN channel with the same capacity. For this specific scenario, the coding/decoding schemes adopted in the LTE-Advanced standard are benchmarked against the finite-blocklength achievability and converse bounds.
Use of Rat Mature Adipocyte-Derived Dedifferentiated Fat Cells as a Cell Source for Periodontal Tissue Regeneration

Lipid-free fibroblast-like cells, known as dedifferentiated fat (DFAT) cells, can be generated from mature adipocytes with a large single lipid droplet. DFAT cells can re-establish their active proliferation ability and can transdifferentiate into various cell types under appropriate culture conditions. The first objective of this study was to compare the multilineage differentiation potential of DFAT cells with that of adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) on mesenchymal stem cells. We obtained DFAT cells and ASCs from inbred rats and found that rat DFAT cells possess higher osteogenic differentiation potential than rat ASCs. On the other hand, DFAT cells show similar adipogenic differentiation, and chondrogenic differentiation potential in comparison with ASCs. The second objective of this study was to assess the regenerative potential of DFAT cells combined with novel solid scaffolds composed of PLGA (Poly d, l-lactic-co-glycolic acid) on periodontal tissue, and to compare this with the regenerative potential of ASCs combined with PLGA scaffolds. Cultured DFAT cells and ASCs were seeded onto PLGA scaffolds (DFAT/PLGA and ASCs/PLGA) and transplanted into periodontal fenestration defects in rat mandible. Micro computed tomography analysis revealed a significantly higher amount of bone regeneration in the DFAT/PLGA group compared with that of ASCs/PLGA and PLGA-alone groups at 2, 3, and 5 weeks after transplantation. Similarly, histomorphometric analysis showed that DFAT/PLGA groups had significantly greater width of cementum, periodontal ligament and alveolar bone than ASCs/PLGA and PLGA-alone groups. In addition, transplanted fluorescent-labeled DFAT cells were observed in the periodontal ligament beside the newly formed bone and cementum. These findings suggest that DFAT cells have a greater potential for enhancing periodontal tissue regeneration than ASCs. Therefore, DFAT cells are a promising cell source for periodontium regeneration.
Real-time LUT-based network topologies for dynamic and partial FPGA self-reconfiguration

Xilinx Virtex FPGAs offer the possibility of dynamic and partial run-time reconfiguration. If a system uses this feature the designer has to take care, that no signal lines cross the border to other reconfigurable regions. Traditional solutions connecting modules on a dynamic and partial reconfigurable system use TBUF elements for connection and separation of the functional blocks. While automatically placing and routing the design, the routing-tool sometimes uses signal lines which cross the module border. The constraints given by the designer are ignored. To solve this problem, we use slices instead of TBUF elements which leads to a benefit by using an automatic modular design flow. This paper gives an overview of the used techniques and the complete system on a Xilinx XC2V3000 FPGA.
Environmental Research and Public Health Contributing Factors to Colorectal Cancer Screening among Chinese People: a Review of Quantitative Studies

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a major health problem in Asia. It has been reported that the Chinese are more susceptible to CRC than many other ethnic groups. Screening for CRC is a cost-effective prevention and control strategy; however, the screening rates among the Chinese are sub-optimal. We conducted a review to identify the factors associated with CRC screening participation among Chinese people. Twenty-two studies that examined the factors related to CRC screening behaviors among the Chinese were identified through five databases. Seven factors were consistently reported to influence CRC screening behaviors in at least one of the studies: socio-demographic characteristics (educational level, health insurance, and knowledge about CRC and its screening); psychological factors (perceived severity of CRC, susceptibility of having CRC, and barriers to screening); and contact with medical provider (physician recommendation). The evidence base for many of these relationships is quite limited. Furthermore, the associations of many factors, including age, gender, income, cancer worry/fear, and self-efficacy with CRC screening behaviors, were mixed or inconsistent across these studies, thereby indicating that more studies are needed in this area.
Serial proton MR spectroscopy of gray and white matter in relapsing-remitting MS

ABSTRACT Objective: To characterize and follow the diffuse gray and white matter (GM/WM) metabolic abnormalities in early relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (1H-MRSI). Methods: Eighteen recently diagnosed, mildly disabled patients (mean baseline time from diagnosis 32 months, mean Expanded Disability Status Scale [EDSS] score 1.3), all on immunomodulatory medication, were scanned semiannually for 3 years with T1-weighted and T2-weighted MRI and 3D 1H-MRSI at 3 T. Ten sex- and age-matched controls were followed annually. Global absolute concentrations of N-acetylaspartate (NAA), choline (Cho), creatine (Cr), and myo-inositol (mI) were obtained for all GM and WM in the 360 cm3 1H-MRSI volume of interest. Results: Patients' average WM Cr, Cho, and mI concentrations (over all time points), 5.3 ± 0.4, 1.6 ± 0.1, and 5.1 ± 0.7 mM, were 8%, 12%, and 11% higher than controls' (p ≤ 0.01), while their WM NAA, 7.4 ± 0.7 mM, was 6% lower (p = 0.07). There were increases with time of patients' WM Cr: 0.1 mM/year, Cho: 0.02 mM/year, and NAA: 0.1 mM/year (all p < 0.05). None of the patients' metabolic concentrations correlated with their EDSS score, relapse rate, GM/WM/CSF fractions, or lesion volume. Conclusions: Diffuse WM glial abnormalities were larger in magnitude than the axonal abnormalities and increased over time independently of conventional clinical or imaging metrics and despite immunomodulatory treatment. In contrast, the axonal abnormalities showed partial recovery, suggesting that patients' lower WM NAA levels represented a dysfunction, which may abate with treatment. Absence of detectable diffuse changes in GM suggests that injury there is minimal, focal, or heterogeneous between cortex and deep GM nuclei.
Sendai Virus Pathogenesis in Mice Is Prevented by Ifit2 and Exacerbated by Interferon

ABSTRACT The type I/III interferon (IFN) system has major roles in regulating viral pathogenesis, usually ameliorating pathogenesis by impairing virus replication through the antiviral actions of one or more IFN-induced proteins. Ifit2 is one such protein which can be induced by IFN or virus infection, and it is responsible for protecting mice from neuropathogenesis caused by vesicular stomatitis virus. Here, we show that Ifit2 also protects mice from pathogenesis caused by the respirovirus Sendai virus (SeV). Mice lacking Ifit2 (Ifit2 −/−) suffered severe weight loss and succumbed to intranasal infection with SeV strain 52 at a dose that killed only a few wild-type mice. Viral RNA was detectable only in lungs, and SeV titers were higher in Ifit2 −/− mice than in wild-type mice. Similar infiltration of immune cells was found in the lungs of both mouse lines, corresponding to similar levels of many induced cytokines and chemokines. In contrast, IFN-β and IFN-λ3 expression were considerably higher in the lungs of Ifit2 −/− mice. Surprisingly, type I IFN receptor knockout (IFNAR −/−) mice were less susceptible to SeV than Ifit2 −/− mice, although their pulmonary virus titers were similarly high. To test the intriguing possibility that type I IFN action enhances pathogenesis in the context of elevated SeV replication in lungs, we generated Ifit2/IFNAR −/− double knockout mice. These mice were less susceptible to SeV than Ifit2 −/− mice, although viral titers in their lungs were even higher. Our results indicate that high SeV replication in the lungs of infected Ifit2 −/− mice cooperates with elevated IFN-β induction to cause disease. IMPORTANCE The IFN system is an innate defense against virus infections. It is triggered quickly in infected cells, which then secrete IFN. Via their cell surface receptors on surrounding cells, they induce transcription of numerous IFN-stimulated genes (ISG), which in turn protect these cells by inhibiting virus life cycles. Hence, IFNs are commonly considered beneficial during virus infections. Here, we report two key findings. First, lack of a single ISG in mice, Ifit2, resulted in high mortality after SeV infection of the respiratory tract, following higher virus loads and higher IFN production in Ifit2 −/− lungs. Second, mortality of Ifit2 −/− mice was reduced when mice also lacked the type I IFN receptor, while SeV loads in lungs still were high. This indicates that type I IFN exacerbates pathogenesis in the SeV model, and that limitation of both viral replication and IFN production is needed for effective prevention of disease.
A preliminary study on identifying sensors from iris images

In this paper we explore the possibility of examining an iris image and identifying the sensor that was used to acquire it. This is accomplished based on a classical pixel non-uniformity (PNU) noise analysis of the iris sensor. For each iris sensor, a noise reference pattern is generated and subsequently correlated with noise residuals extracted from iris images. We conduct experiments using data from seven iris databases, viz., West Virginia University (WVU) non-ideal, WVU off-angle, Iris Challenge Evaluation (ICE) 1.0, CASIAv2-Device1, CASIAv2-Device2, CASIAv3 interval, and CASIAv3 lamp. Results indicate that iris sensor identification using PNU noise is very encouraging, with rank-1 identification rates ranging from 86%-99% for unit level testing (distinguishing sensors from the same vendor) and 81%-96% for the combination of brand (distinguishing sensors from different vendors) and unit level testing. Our analysis also suggests that in many cases, sensor identification can be performed even with a limited number of training images. We also observe that JPEG compression degrades identification performance, specifically at the sensor unit level.
A mobile manipulator

This paper describes a mobile manipulator that uses its wheels for manipulation as well as locomotion. This robot, named the mobipulator, looks like a small car with four independently powered wheels, none of them steered. It is designed to manipulate paper and other objects on the surface of a desk. The wheels are used for locomotion or for manipulation, switching functions dynamically as the task demands. So far we have preliminary demonstrations of a variety of motions, and performance data for the task of moving a sheet of paper in a square while maintaining constant orientation.
Deep, Big, Simple Neural Nets for Handwritten Digit Recognition

Good old online backpropagation for plain multilayer perceptrons yields a very low 0.35 error rate on the MNIST handwritten digits benchmark. All we need to achieve this best result so far are many hidden layers, many neurons per layer, numerous deformed training images to avoid overfitting, and graphics cards to greatly speed up learning.
Temperature-related performance factors for chemical demolition agents

Soundless chemical demolition agents (SCDAs) are percussion-free alternatives to blasting for selective demolition. Although known to be temperature sensitive, to date their performance has not been quantified in ambient environments below 20°C. This paper examines 6 large-scale specimens at 16.1-19.3°C. Substantially slower response than that reported by manufacturers was documented. Initial cracking required 25 + h and continued for 4-8 days. Cracks opened rapidly after minimum demolition time [(MDT)-cumulative cracking around the perimeter reaching ~25 mm], which was at 42 and 70 h, respectively in 16.8 and 33.1 MPa specimens. Post-MDT, crack width opening velocities were 0.35-0.96 mm/h, approximately one-third to two-thirds pre-MDT velocities. A 0.5°C ambient temperature drop delayed MDT by 6.5 h amongst equi-sized specimens of the same strength. Generally, MDT correlated with material strength (irrespective of ambient temperature or specimen size), whereas time to first crack was more influenced by temperature. Also, SCDA reapplication proved effective for incompletely cracked specimens.
Regulated expression of the Shiga toxin B gene induces apoptosis in mammalian fibroblastic cells

Shiga toxins (Stxs) produced by enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli may induce colonic ulceration, bloody diarrhoea and acute renal failure. The A subunit (StxA) is known to inhibit protein synthesis, whereas the B subunits (StxB) bind to Gb3 on the cell surface. However, the mechanisms by which Stxs kill target cells remain unclear. Stx1A or Stx1B genes were introduced into pcDNA3.1 vectors and transfected into NIH3T3 and HeLa cells. The Stx1B gene‐transfected cells became apoptotic with accompanying DNA fragmentation, whereas the Stx1A gene‐transfected cells were found to be necrotic and no DNA fragmentation occurred. The HeLa/C4 cells integrated with the Stx1B gene with a tetracycline‐inducible promoter eventually produced cytoplasmic Stx1B, leading to DNA fragmentation on the addition of doxycycline. These apoptotic changes were abrogated by pretreatment with Z‐VAD‐fmk. These results suggest that the transfected Stx1B gene induces apoptosis by activating the caspase cascade after Stx1B expression in the cytoplasm.
HIV-1 RT Inhibitors with a Novel Mechanism of Action: NNRTIs that Compete with the Nucleotide Substrate

HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitors currently used in antiretroviral therapy can be divided into two classes: (i) nucleoside analog RT inhibitors (NRTIs), which compete with natural nucleoside substrates and act as terminators of proviral DNA synthesis, and (ii) non-nucleoside RT inhibitors (NNRTIs), which bind to a hydrophobic pocket close to the RT active site. In spite of the efficiency of NRTIs and NNRTIs, the rapid emergence of multidrug-resistant mutations requires the development of new RT inhibitors with an alternative mechanism of action. Recently, several studies reported the discovery of novel non-nucleoside inhibitors with a distinct mechanism of action. Unlike classical NNRTIs, they compete with the nucleotide substrate, thus forming a new class of RT inhibitors: nucleotide-competing RT inhibitors (NcRTIs). In this review, we discuss current progress in the understanding of the peculiar behavior of these compounds.
Patchwise object tracking via structural local sparse appearance model

In this paper, we propose a robust visual tracking method which exploits the relationships of targets in adjacent frames using patchwise joint sparse representation. Two sets of overlapping patches with different sizes are extracted from target candidates to construct two dictionaries with consideration of joint sparse representation. By applying this representation into structural sparse appearance model, we can take two-fold advantages. First, the correlation of target patches over time is considered. Second, using this local appearance model with different patch sizes takes into account local features of target thoroughly. Furthermore, the position of candidate patches and their occlusion levels are utilized simultaneously to obtain the final likelihood of target candidates. Evaluations on recent challenging benchmark show that our tracking method outperforms the state-of-the-art trackers.
Expressiveness and Complexity of Crosscut Languages

Selector languages, or crosscut languages, play an important role in aspect-oriented programming (AOP). Examples of prominent selector languages include the pointcut language in AspectJ, traversal specifications in Demeter, XPath, and regular expressions. A selector language expression, also referred to as a selector, selects nodes on an instance graph (an execution tree or an object tree) that satisfies a meta graph (a call graph or a class graph). The implementation of selector languages requires practically efficient algorithms for problems such as: Does a selector always (or never) select certain nodes Select-Always (Select-Never), does a selector ever select a node Select-Sat, does one selector imply another selector Select-Impl or may an edge in an instance graph lead to a node selected by the selector SelectCompletion. We study these problems from the viewpoints of two important selector languages called SAJ, inspired by AspectJ, and SD, inspired by Demeter, and several of their sublanguages. We show a polynomial-time two-way reduction between SD and SAJ revealing interesting connections promoting transfer of algorithmic techniques from AspectJ to Demeter and vice-versa. We provide several practically useful polynomialtime algorithms for some of the problems, and we show others to be NPor co-NP-complete. We present a fixed parameter tractable (FPT) algorithm for one of the NP-complete problems. This early result indicates a line of attack for dealing with the intractability inherent in these problems. The paper provides a list of algorithmic results that are of interest to developers of scalable AOP tools. We discuss the consequences of this paper for our DAJ implementation. General Terms AspectJ, Demeter, pointcut designators, traversal strategies
Fluocinolone inhibits VEGF expression via glucocorticoid receptor in human retinal pigment epithelial (ARPE-19) cells and TNF-alpha-induced angiogenesis in chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM).

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to determine whether fluocinolone inhibits vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in a retinal pigment epithelial cell line (ARPE-19) and TNF-alpha-induced angiogenesis in chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay. METHODS The dose-dependent effect of fluocinolone (0.0001-1 microM) on VEGF secretion, VEGF mRNA expression, and cytotoxicity was determined in confluent monolayers of ARPE-19 cells using ELISA, RT-PCR, and MTT assay, respectively. The effect of a glucocorticoid receptor antagonist (RU486) on fluocinolone-mediated VEGF expression was determined. The effect of fluocinolone in inhibiting TNF-alpha-induced angiogenesis was determined using chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay. The dose-dependent effect of fluocinolone (0.0001-1 microM) in inhibiting 1% serum-stimulated ARPE-19 cell proliferation was determined using BrdU labeling assay. RESULTS At concentrations devoid of cytotoxicity, fluocinolone inhibited VEGF secretion as well as mRNA expression in ARPE-19 cells. RU486 (1 microM) treatment prevented inhibition of VEGF secretion and VEGF mRNA expression by fluocinolone (0.1 microM). Fluocinolone (50 ng/egg) inhibited angiogenesis induced by TNF-alpha. The ARPE-19 cell proliferation was inhibited by fluocinolone in a dose-dependent manner. CONCLUSIONS Fluocinolone inhibited VEGF expression in ARPE-19 cells via its glucocorticoid receptor activity. In addition, fluocinolone inhibited proliferation of ARPE-19 cells and TNF-alpha-induced angiogenesis in chorioallantoic membranes.
Improving Action Selection in MDP's via Knowledge Transfer

Temporal-difference reinforcement learning (RL) has been successfully applied in several domains with large state sets. Large action sets, however, have received considerably less attention. This paper demonstrates the use of knowledge transfer between related tasks to accelerate learning with large action sets. We introduce action transfer, a technique that extracts the actions from the (near-)optimal solution to the first task and uses them in place of the full action set when learning any subsequent tasks. When optimal actions make up a small fraction of the domain's action set, action transfer can substantially reduce the number of actions and thus the complexity of the problem. However, action transfer between dissimilar tasks can be detrimental. To address this difficulty, we contribute randomized task perturbation (RTP), an enhancement to action transfer that makes it robust to unrepresentative source tasks. We motivate RTP action transfer with a detailed theoretical analysis featuring a formalism of related tasks and a bound on the suboptimality of action transfer. The empirical results in this paper show the potential of RTP action transfer to substantially expand the applicability of RL to problems with large action sets.