Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vessel dilator enhances sodium and water excretion and has beneficial hemodynamic effects in persons with congestive heart failure.

BACKGROUND Vessel dilator, a 37-amino acid peptide hormone synthesized in the heart, enhances urine flow 4- to 12-fold and sodium excretion 3- to 6-fold in healthy humans. The present investigation was designed to determine whether vessel dilator might have similar beneficial effects in persons with congestive heart failure (CHF). METHODS AND RESULTS Vessel dilator (100 ng/kg body weight per minute) given intravenously for 60 minutes to NYHA class III CHF subjects increased urine flow 2- to 13-fold, which was still increased (P<0.001) 3 hours after its infusion was stopped. Vessel dilator enhanced sodium excretion 3- to 4-fold in CHF subjects (P<0.01), which was still significantly (P<0.01) elevated 3 hours after infusion. Vessel dilator decreased systemic vascular resistance 24%, pulmonary vascular resistance 25%, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure 33%, and central venous pressure 27% while increasing cardiac output 34%, cardiac index 35%, and stroke volume index 24% without significantly affecting heart rate or pulmonary artery pressure in the CHF subjects. The control CHF patients did not have any changes in the above parameters. CONCLUSIONS These results indicate that vessel dilator has significant beneficial diuretic, natriuretic, and hemodynamic properties in humans with congestive heart failure.
Belief Propagation and Revision in Networks with Loops

Local belief propagation rules of the sort proposed by Pearl(1988) are guaranteed to converge to the optimal beliefs for singly connected networks. Recently, a number of researchers have empirically demonstrated good performance of these same algorithms on networks with loops, but a theoretical understanding of this performance has yet to be achieved. Here we lay the foundation for an understanding of belief propagation in networks with loops. For networks with a single loop, we derive ananalytical relationship between the steady state beliefs in the loopy network and the true posterior probability. Using this relationship we show a category of networks for which the MAP estimate obtained by belief update and by belief revision can be proven to be optimal(although the beliefs will be incorrect). We show how nodes can use local information in the messages they receive in order to correct the steady state beliefs. Furthermore we prove that for all networks with a single loop, the MAP estimate obtained by belief revisionat convergence is guaranteed to give the globally optimal sequence of states. The result is independent of the length of the cycle and the size of the statespace. For networks with multiple loops, we introduce the concept of a ``balanced network'''' and show simulati.
Yifei Xuanfei Jiangzhuo formula, a Chinese herbal decoction, improves memory impairment through inhibiting apoptosis and enhancing PKA/CREB signal transduction in rats with cerebral ischemia/reperfusion

Apoptosis and the dysfunction of the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)/protein kinase A (PKA)/cAMP-responsive element binding protein (CREB) signaling pathway have a key role in memory impairment in vascular dementia (VaD), a challenging clinical problem. Yifei Xuanfei Jiangzhuo formula (YXJF), a Chinese herbal decoction, has been used to treat VaD in clinical practice and has produced positive outcomes; however, convincing evidence is currently lacking. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of YXJF on memory impairment in rats with cerebral ischemia/reperfusion and to explore the underlying mechanism. YXJF ameliorated memory impairment in rats with cerebral ischemia/reperfusion, inhibited hippocampal apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner and attenuated increases in the protein expression of B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2)-associated X protein as well as c-Jun and a reduction in Bcl-2 protein expression in the hippocampal tissue of the rats. Furthermore, administration of YXJF significantly increased the protein expression of PKA C-α and CREB, and promoted CREB phosphorylation. The results indicated that YXJF improves memory impairment through inhibiting apoptosis and enhancing PKA/CREB signal transduction in rats with cerebral ischemia/reperfusion.
Nuclear Stress Patterns in Reading by Adult Chinese EFL Learners: Explicit Training or Implicit Learning?

Nuclear stress placement is a complex issue involving grammar, semantics, pragmatics, and information structure. This study examined the nuclear stress placement patterns in reading recordings produced by lower-intermediate and advanced adult EFL learners in China, and assessed the effects of explicit training on controlled production of nuclear stress. It was found that different types of nuclear stress presented asymmetrical difficulties to EFL learners. Production of some types showed more resistance to improvement, while others seemed more susceptible to explicit training, but with only short-term effects. Thus, EFL pronunciation teachers should give priority to those types of nuclear stress that are sensitive to explicit training and spend less time on those types that are either resistant to explicit training or that can be implicitly picked up by learners in the long run.
2 0 Ju l 2 00 9 Rough solutions for the periodic Korteweg – de Vries equation

We show how to apply ideas from the theory of rough paths to the analysis of low-regularity solutions to non-linear dispersive equations. Our basic example will be the one dimensional Korteweg– de Vries (KdV) equation on a periodic domain and with initial condition in FLα,p spaces. We discuss convergence of Galerkin approximations, a modified Euler scheme and the presence of a random force of white-noise type in time.
What Deters Crime? Comparing the Effectiveness of Legal, Social, and Internal Sanctions Across Countries

The question of what deters crime is of both theoretical and practical interest. The present paper focuses on what factors deter minor, non-violent crimes, i.e., dishonest actions that violate the law. Much research has been devoted to testing the effectiveness of legal sanctions on crime, while newer models also include social sanctions (judgment of friends or family) and internal sanctions (feelings of guilt). Existing research suggests that both internal sanctions and, to a lesser extent, legal sanctions deter crime, but it is unclear whether this pattern is unique to Western countries or robust across cultures. We administered a survey study to participants in China, Colombia, Germany, Portugal, and USA, five countries from distinct cultural regions of the world. Participants were asked to report the likelihood of engaging in seven dishonest and illegal actions, and were asked to indicate the probability and severity of consequences for legal, friend, family, and internal sanctions. Results indicated that across countries, internal sanctions had the strongest deterrent effects on crime. The deterrent effects of legal sanctions were weaker and varied across countries. Furthermore, the deterrent effects of legal sanctions were strongest when internal sanctions were lax. Unexpectedly, social sanctions were positively related to likelihood of engaging in crime. Taken together, these results suggest that the relative strengths of legal and internal sanctions are robust across cultures and dishonest actions.
Looking for Darwin in Endosymbionts

Darwinian evolution has championed mechanistic models explaining the forces shaping species diversification. This principle however has been challenged by tantalizing observations in many organismal systems where selection seemed to have a minor role. One such a system is the case of endosymbiotic bacteria of insects that present evolutionary features only conceivable if stochastic variation over-weights selection. This is because these bacteria present proteomes with high rates of evolution that have driven the biological system to the edge of catastrophe error. In this review I discuss and demonstrate, based on recent emerging literature and other observations, that rather than a fact this stochasticity is only apparent. Most of the variation patterns can be explained if we introduce new variables in the equation that defines selection-drift balance such as translational robustness, functional divergence and epistasis. The main conclusion of this review is that, endosymbiotic bacterial proteomes have evolved an evolutionary complex proteome/interactome system robust to mutations.
Biologically inspired neural controller for quadruped

Our study aims at the design and implementation of a general controller for quadruped locomotion, allowing the robot to use the whole range of quadrupedal gaits (i.e. from low speed walking to fast running). A general legged locomotion controller must integrate both posture control and rhythmic motion control and have the ability to shift continuously from one control method to the other according to locomotion speed. We are developing such general quadrupedal locomotion controller by using a neural model involving a CPG (Central Pattern Generator) utilizing ground reaction force sensory feedback. We used a biologically faithful musculoskeletal model with a spine and hind legs, and computationally simulated stable stepping motion at various speeds using the neuro-mechanical system combining the neural controller and the musculoskeletal model.
Platooning With IVC-Enabled Autonomous Vehicles: Strategies to Mitigate Communication Delays, Improve Safety and Traffic Flow

Intraplatoon information management strategies for dealing with safe and stable operation are proposed in this paper. New algorithms to mitigate communication delays are presented, and Matlab/Simulink-based simulation results are reported. We argue that using anticipatory information from both the platoon's leader and the followers significantly impacts platoon string stability. The obtained simulation results suggest that the effects of communication delays may be almost completely canceled out. The platoon presents a very stable behavior, even when subjected to strong acceleration patterns. When the communication channel is subjected to a strong load, proper algorithms may be selected, lowering network load and maintaining string stability. Upon emergency occurrences, the platoon's timely response may be ensured by dynamically increasing the weight of the platoons' leaders data over the behavior of their followers. The simulation results suggest that the algorithms are robust under several demanding scenarios. To assess if current intervehicle communication technology can cope with the proposed information-updating schemes, research into its operation was conducted through a network simulator.
ON SEQUENCES OF NUMBERS IN GENERALIZED ARITHMETIC AND GEOMETRIC PROGRESSIONS

Formally speaking, an arithmetic sequence is a number sequence in which every term except the first is obtained by adding a fixed number, called the common difference, to the preceeding term and a geometric sequence is a number sequence in which every term except the first is obtained by multiplying the previous term by a constant, called the common ratio. The sequence 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, . is an example of arithmetic sequence with common difference 2 and the sequence 2, 4, 8, 16, . is a geometric sequence with common ratio 2. Certain generalizations of arithmetic and geometric sequence were presented in [1], [3], [4]. Particularly, in [3], Zhang and Zhang introduced the concept of sequences of numbers in arithmetic progression with alternate common differences and in [4], Zhang, et.al. provided a generalization of the sequence. It was then extended by Majumdar [1] to sequences of numbers in geometric progression with alternate common ratios and the periodic sequence with two common ratios. The author [1] also provided a simpler and shorter forms and proofs of some cases of the results presented by Zhang and Zhang in [3]. Recently, Rabago [2] further generalized these concepts by introducing additional common differences and common ratios. Here we will provide another generalization of the sequences of numbers defined in [1] and [3] by providing a definition to what we call sequences of numbers with m alternate common differences (Section 2) and sequence of numbers with m alternate common ratios (Section 3).
Face recognition by fusing binary edge feature and second-order mutual information

Illumination change and expression variation are two main factors affecting the performance of some existing face recognition algorithms. Edge feature based methods are robust to illumination change and are easy to implement. But they donpsilat work well for the images with expression variation. In this paper, a novel face recognition method based on the fusion of binary edge feature and grayscale information is proposed to improve both the illumination and expression robustness. The second-order mutual information (MI2) is introduced as the similarity metric of grayscale face images. Experimental results on AR dataset and Yale dataset, both with illumination and expression changes, show that the overall face recognition rate of the proposed method is better than that of some commonly used approaches, indicating that our method is more effective for practical uses.
Monocular vSLAM using a novel Rao-Blackwellized particle filter

This paper presents the theoretical framework and experimental results of a generalized formulation of a Rao-Blackwellized particle filter (RBPF) in which higher order state variables and a modified undelayed initialization scheme are incorporated to solve the 3D monocular visual SLAM problem (vSLAM). As an example of the proposed formulation, velocity has been included in the state variables so that filtering progresses based on sampling from velocity distribution, not the displacement. The new sampling posterior has been obtained with respect to observations, control inputs and the robot path. The proper importance weight for resampling has been derived in this paper. To solve the bearing-only problem, the proposed approach features a modified initialization scheme that uses an inverse depth of the landmarks. The results of the offline experiment indicate the feasibility of the proposed approach.
Decisions for the fate of frozen embryos: fresh insights into patients' thinking and their rationales for donating or discarding embryos.

BACKGROUND In the final decision for the disposition of unused IVF embryos patients must choose between options involving either donation or destruction, and this decision must be made in a context where there is tension about the status of embryos (i.e. whether viewed as potential children or as a base for further development) and whether embryo donation is adoption or tissue donation. This study explored the emotive experience of making a decision for either the destruction or donation of unused embryos. METHODS Thirty-three patients (9 women and 12 couples) who discarded embryos and 15 (7 women and 4 couples) who donated embryos were interviewed. Interview data were analysed with particular attention to elements of moral deliberation and use of analogy. RESULTS Adoption and tissue donation metaphors were both identified, and further, a metaphor of pregnancy termination was identified and found to be highly influential in the decision to donate embryos. Contrary to the majority of current evidence, this study found that participants who discarded embryos emphasized the adoption metaphor while embryo donors emphasized the metaphor of pregnancy termination. For each group the decision was driven by awareness of the option they did not want. CONCLUSIONS The pregnancy termination metaphor emerged as morally relevant and this holds implications for defining and discussing embryo discard in counselling and consent processes.
The impacts and implications of an intensifying fire regime on Alaskan boreal forest composition and albedo

Climate warming and drying are modifying the fire dynamics of many boreal forests, moving them towards a regime with a higher frequency of extreme fire years characterized by large burns of high severity. Plot‐scale studies indicate that increased burn severity favors the recruitment of deciduous trees in the initial years following fire. Consequently, a set of biophysical effects of burn severity on postfire boreal successional trajectories at decadal timescales have been hypothesized. Prominent among these are a greater cover of deciduous tree species in intermediately aged stands after more severe burning, with associated implications for carbon and energy balances. Here we investigate whether the current vegetation composition of interior Alaska supports this hypothesis. A chronosequence of six decades of vegetation regrowth following fire was created using a database of burn scars, an existing forest biomass map, and maps of albedo and the deciduous fraction of vegetation that we derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite imagery. The deciduous fraction map depicted the proportion of aboveground biomass in deciduous vegetation, derived using a RandomForest algorithm trained with field data sets (n=69, 71% variance explained). Analysis of the difference Normalized Burn Ratio, a remotely sensed index commonly used as an indicator of burn severity, indicated that burn size and ignition date can provide a proxy of burn severity for historical fires. LIDAR remote sensing and a bioclimatic model of evergreen forest distribution were used to further refine the stratification of the current landscape by burn severity. Our results show that since the 1950s, more severely burned areas in interior Alaska have produced a vegetation cohort that is characterized by greater deciduous biomass. We discuss the importance of this shift in vegetation composition due to climate‐induced changes in fire severity for carbon sequestration in forest biomass and surface reflectance (albedo), among other feedbacks to climate.
Information science during the first decade of the web: An enriched author cocitation analysis

Using an enriched author cocitation analysis (ACA), we map information science (IS) for 1996–2005, a decade of explosive development of the World Wide Web, to examine its development since the landmark study by White and McCain (1998). The Web, we find, has had a profound impact on IS, driving the creation of new disciplines and revitalization or obsolescence of old, and most importantly, bridging the chasm between the “literatures” and “retrieval” IS camps. Simultaneously, the development of IS towards cognitive aspects has intensified. Our study enriches classic ACA in that it employs both orthogonal and oblique rotations in the factor analysis (FA), and reports both pattern and structure matrices for the latter, thus enabling a comparison between these several FA methods in ACA. Each method provides interesting information not available from the others, we find, especially when results are also visualized in the novel manner we introduce here. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
miRNA-197 and miRNA-223 Predict Cardiovascular Death in a Cohort of Patients with Symptomatic Coronary Artery Disease

Background Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) have been described as potential diagnostic biomarkers in cardiovascular disease and in particular, coronary artery disease (CAD). Few studies were undertaken to perform analyses with regard to risk stratification of future cardiovascular events. miR-126, miR-197 and miR-223 are involved in endovascular inflammation and platelet activation and have been described as biomarkers in the diagnosis of CAD. They were identified in a prospective study in relation to future myocardial infarction. Objectives The aim of our study was to further evaluate the prognostic value of these miRNAs in a large prospective cohort of patients with documented CAD. Methods Levels of miR-126, miR-197 and miR-223 were evaluated in serum samples of 873 CAD patients with respect to the endpoint cardiovascular death. miRNA quantification was performed using real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Results The median follow-up period was 4 years (IQR 2.78–5.04). The median age of all patients was 64 years (IQR 57–69) with 80.2% males. 38.9% of the patients presented with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), 61.1% were diagnosed with stable angina pectoris (SAP). Elevated levels of miRNA-197 and miRNA-223 reliably predicted future cardiovascular death in the overall group (miRNA-197: hazard ratio (HR) 1.77 per one standard deviation (SD) increase (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.20; 2.60), p = 0.004, C-index 0.78; miRNA-223: HR 2.23 per one SD increase (1.20; 4.14), p = 0.011, C-index 0.80). In ACS patients the prognostic power of both miRNAs was even higher (miRNA-197: HR 2.24 per one SD increase (1.25; 4.01), p = 0.006, C-index 0.89); miRA-223: HR 4.94 per one SD increase (1.42; 17.20), p = 0.012, C-index 0.89). Conclusion Serum-derived circulating miRNA-197 and miRNA-223 were identified as predictors for cardiovascular death in a large patient cohort with CAD. These results reinforce the assumption that circulating miRNAs are promising biomarkers with prognostic value with respect to future cardiovascular events.
Quadriceps force after TKA with femoral single radius

Background and purpose New implant designs have incorporated a single radius instead of a multiple radius to the femoral component in order to improve the mechanical function after TKA. We investigated the amount of quadriceps force required to extend the knee during an isokinetic extension cycle of different total knee designs, focusing on the radius of the femoral component (single vs. multiple). Methods Human knee specimens (n = 12, median patient age 68 (63–70) years) were tested in a kinematic knee-simulating machine untreated and after implantation of 2 types of knee prosthesis systems, one with a single femoral radius design and one with a multiple femoral radius design. During the test cycle, a hydraulic cylinder, which simulated the quadriceps muscle, applied sufficient force to the quadriceps tendon to produce a constant extension moment of 31 Nm. The quadriceps extension force was measured from 120° to full knee extension. Results The shape of the quadriceps force curve was typically sinusoidal before and after TKA, reaching a maximum value of 1,493 N at 110°. With the single femoral radius design, quadriceps force was similar to that of the normal knee: 1,509 N at 110° flexion (p = 0.4). In contrast, the multiple femoral radius design showed an increase in quadriceps extension force relative to the normal knee, with a maximum of 1,721 N at 90° flexion (p = 0.03). Interpretation The single femoral radius design showed lower maximum extension forces than the multiple femoral radius design. In addition, with the single femoral radius design maximum quadriceps force needed to extend a constant extension force shifted to higher degrees of knee flexion, representing a more physiological quadriceps force pattern, which could have a positive effect on knee function after TKA.