Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Application of Bioengineering Modalities in Vascular Research: Evaluating the Clinical Gain

Using knowledge gained from bioengineering studies, current vascular research focuses on the delineation of the natural history and risk assessment of clinical vascular entities with significant morbidity and mortality, making the development of new, more accurate predictive criteria a great challenge. Additionally, conclusions derived from computational simulation studies have enabled the improvement and modification of many biotechnology products that are used routinely in the treatment of vascular diseases. This review highlights the promising role of the bioengineering applications in the vascular field.
Traffic Signature-Based Mobile Device Location Authentication

Spontaneous and robust mobile device location authentication can be realized by supplementing existing 802.11x access points (AP) with small cells. We show that by transferring network traffic to a mobile computing device associated with a femtocell while remotely monitoring its ingress traffic activity, any internet-connected sender can verify the cooperating receiver's location. We describe a prototype non-cryptographic location authentication system we constructed, and explain how to design both voice and data transmissions with distinct, discernible traffic signatures. Using both analytical modeling and empirical results from our implementation, we demonstrate that these signatures can be reliably detected even in the presence of heavy cross-traffic introduced by other femtocell users.
Intracranial Hemodynamic Changes During Adult Moyamoya Disease Progression

Background and purpose This study evaluated the changes in blood flow velocity in the anterior and posterior intracranial circulations according to the progression of moyamoya disease in adult patients. Methods We evaluated Suzuki's angiographic stage and mean blood flow velocity (MBFV) changes in intracranial vessels from both sides in 19 adult moyamoya patients. We then analyzed the linearity of MBFV changes from early to late moyamoya stages in each intracranial vessel using piecewise linear regression models. Results The MBFV in the middle cerebral artery, terminal internal carotid artery, and anterior cerebral artery increased non linearly until stage III, and then decreased progressively up to stage VI. The ophthalmic artery also showed nonlinear velocity changes, with an increase in MBFV up to stage IV, followed by a decrease in MBFV up to stage VI. The MBFV of the basilar artery increased linearly from a normal velocity at an early moyamoya stage to a stenotic velocity at a late stage. There was no statistically significant regression model for the relationship between the MBFV in the posterior cerebral artery and moyamoya stage. Conclusions The nonlinear and/or linear MBFV changes associated with variable intracranial vessels might be useful in initial and follow-up evaluations of different stages of moyamoya disease.
Why Is Golden Rice Golden (Yellow) Instead of Red?1[w]

The endosperm of Golden Rice (Oryza sativa) is yellow due to the accumulation of β-carotene (provitamin A) and xanthophylls. The product of the two carotenoid biosynthesis transgenes used in Golden Rice, phytoene synthase (PSY) and the bacterial carotene desaturase (CRTI), is lycopene, which has a red color. The absence of lycopene in Golden Rice shows that the pathway proceeds beyond the transgenic end point and thus that the endogenous pathway must also be acting. By using TaqMan real-time PCR, we show in wild-type rice endosperm the mRNA expression of the relevant carotenoid biosynthetic enzymes encoding phytoene desaturase, ζ-carotene desaturase, carotene cis-trans-isomerase, β-lycopene cyclase, and β-carotene hydroxylase; only PSY mRNA was virtually absent. We show that the transgenic phenotype is not due to up-regulation of expression of the endogenous rice pathway in response to the transgenes, as was suggested to be the case in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) fruit, where CRTI expression resulted in a similar carotenoid phenomenon. This means that β-carotene and xanthophyll formation in Golden Rice relies on the activity of constitutively expressed intrinsic rice genes (carotene cis-trans-isomerase, α/β-lycopene cyclase, β-carotene hydroxylase). PSY needs to be supplemented and the need for the CrtI transgene in Golden Rice is presumably due to insufficient activity of the phytoene desaturase and/or ζ-carotene desaturase enzyme in endosperm. The effect of CRTI expression was also investigated in leaves of transgenic rice and Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Here, again, the mRNA levels of intrinsic carotenogenic enzymes remained unaffected; nevertheless, the carotenoid pattern changed, showing a decrease in lutein, while the β-carotene-derived xanthophylls increased. This shift correlated with CRTI-expression and is most likely governed at the enzyme level by lycopene-cis-trans-isomerism. Possible implications are discussed.
and Management

The main purpose of the study is to present the parameters of financial stability of a company, as well as to show the direction of their potential changes as a result of a loss event. The following thesis was adopted: “Financial stability of a company is a necessary condition for constant, undisturbed development, mainly by ensuring access to external capital in the case when it is necessary to cover the adverse effects of loss events”. This study aims at: defining financial stability, identifying financial stability parameters, indicating the potential changes of such parameters as a result of a loss event.
New file organization based on dynamic hashing

New file organizations based on hashing and suitable for data whose volume may vary rapidly recently appeared in the literature. In the three schemes which have been independently proposed, rehashing is avoided, storage space is dynamically adjusted to the number of records actually stored, and there are no overflow records. Two of these techniques employ an index to the data file. Retrieval is fast and storage utilization is low. In order to increase storage utilization, we introduce two schemes based on a similar idea and analyze the performance of the second scheme. Both techniques use an index of much smaller size. In both schemes, overflow records are accepted. The price which has to be paid for the improvement in storage utilization is a slight access cost degradation.
Refining Measurements of Effective Impervious Area in Urban Watersheds to Support Targeted Green Infrastructure Retrofits

ion of rainfall does occur. Runoff models often assume that impervious surfaces offer near-zero infiltrative capacity, but depending on several climate, surface condition, and topographical factors, there can be a measurable abstraction of rainfall by impervious surfaces before runoff is initiated. Hollis and Ovenden (1988) noticed this abstraction as a threshold before runoff was produced for many smaller storms. This was also shown by Ramier et al. (2011) in a long-term monitoring study of road surfaces where observed losses were larger than typically accounted for, likely due to evaporation and crack-infiltration. Fletcher et al. (2013) summarized a wide body of urban hydrology research and noted that impervious surfaces are associated with a slight amount of infiltration (soaking) and initial abstraction depending on slope and subject to rainfall amount, intensity, and duration. There is potential to assess the sensitivity of runoff models to this impervious surface abstraction in relation to
Interlibrary loan in US and Canadian health sciences libraries 2005: update on journal article use.

PURPOSE The authors analyzed 2.48 million interlibrary loan (ILL) requests entered in the National Library of Medicine's (NLM's) DOCLINE system from 3,234 US and Canadian medical libraries during fiscal year (FY) 2005 to study their distribution and nature and the journals in which requested articles were published. METHODS Data from DOCLINE and NLM's indexing system and online catalog were used to analyze all DOCLINE ILL transactions acted on from October 2004 to September 2005. The authors compared results from this analysis to previous data collected in FY 1992. RESULTS Overall ILL volume in the United States and Canada is at about the same level as FY 1992 despite marked growth in online searching, knowledge discovery tools, and journals available online. Over 21,000 unique journal titles and 1.4 million unique articles were used to fill 2.2 million ILL requests in FY 2005. Over 1 million of the articles were requested only once by any network library. Fifty-two percent (11,022) of journals had 5 or fewer requests for articles from all the years of a journal by all libraries in the network. Fifty-two percent of the articles requested were published within the most recent 5 years. CONCLUSION The overall ILL profile in the libraries studied has changed little since FY 1992, notable given other changes in publishing. Small changes, however, may reveal developing trends. Total ILL traffic has been declining in recent years following a peak in 2002, and fewer of the articles requested were published in the most recent five years compared to requests from 1992.
Exploring decision making with Android's runtime permission dialogs using in-context surveys

A great deal of research on the management of user data on smartphones via permission systems has revealed significant levels of user discomfort, lack of understanding, and lack of attention. The majority of these studies were conducted on Android devices before runtime permission dialogs were widely deployed. In this paper we explore how users make decisions with runtime dialogs on smartphones with Android 6.0 or higher. We employ an experience sampling methodology in order to ask users the reasons inuencing their decisions immediately after they decide. We conducted a longitudinal survey with 157 participants over a 6 week period. We explore the grant and denial rates of permissions, overall and on a per permission type basis. Overall, our participants accepted 84% of the permission requests. We observe differences in the denial rates across permissions types; these vary from 23% (for microphone) to 10% (calendar). We find that one of the main reasons for granting or denying a permission request depends on users' expectation on whether or not an app should need a permission. A common reason for denying permissions is because users know they can change them later. Among the permissions granted, our participants said they were comfortable with 90% of those decisions - indicating that for 10% of grant decisions users may be consenting reluctantly. Interestingly, we found that women deny permissions twice as often as men.
HMEC: A Heuristic Algorithm for Individual Haplotyping with Minimum Error Correction

Haplotype is a pattern of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on a single chromosome. Constructing a pair of haplotypes from aligned and overlapping but intermixed and erroneous fragments of the chromosomal sequences is a nontrivial problem. Minimum error correction approach aims to minimize the number of errors to be corrected so that the pair of haplotypes can be constructed through consensus of the fragments. We give a heuristic algorithm (HMEC) that searches through alternative solutions using a gain measure and stops whenever no better solution can be achieved. Time complexity of each iteration is O(m 3 k) for an m × k SNP matrix where m and k are the number of fragments (number of rows) and number of SNP sites (number of columns), respectively, in an SNP matrix. Alternative gain measure is also given to reduce running time. We have compared our algorithm with other methods in terms of accuracy and running time on both simulated and real data, and our extensive experimental results indicate the superiority of our algorithm over others.
Recursive Partitioning for Personalization using Observational Data

We study the problem of learning to choose from m discrete treatment options (e.g., news item or medical drug) the one with best causal effect for a particular instance (e.g., user or patient) where the training data consists of passive observations of covariates, treatment, and the outcome of the treatment. The standard approach to this problem is regress and compare: split the training data by treatment, fit a regression model in each split, and, for a new instance, predict all m outcomes and pick the best. By reformulating the problem as a single learning task rather than m separate ones, we propose a new approach based on recursively partitioning the data into regimes where different treatments are optimal. We extend this approach to an optimal partitioning approach that finds a globally optimal partition, achieving a compact, interpretable, and impactful personalization model. We develop new tools for validating and evaluating personalization models on observational data and use these to demonstrate the power of our novel approaches in a personalized medicine and a job training application.
Improving Business and Information Strategy Alignment: Learning from the Banking Industry

An empirical study that explored business and information strategy alignment in the information-intensive and competitive Australian banking industry is featured in this paper. The aim of the study was to identify organizational practices that contribute to and enhance such alignment. Multiple sources of information were used to collect data about business and information strategies from the major firms dominating Australian banking. Sources included written and interview-based information, strategic planning documentation, and annual reports. Evidence was sought for the alignment of business and information strategies through the use of information and information technology that provided a comparative advantage to an organization over its competitors. The firm-wide strategy-formation processes of the banks, rather than their information systems (I/S) methodology, was central to the alignment of business and information strategies. The interdependence of firm-wide processes and I/S factors are emphasized in a strategic alignment model that summarizes the findings of the study. The paper concludes with a discussion of the management implications and requirements for action in both firm-wide strategy and I/S areas. The results of this study in the banking industry are pertinent to other industries where information technology and systems are playing an increasingly strategic role.
Association of Tagging SNPs in the MTHFR Gene with Risk of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Serum Homocysteine Levels in a Chinese Population

Diabetes is a global public health crisis, and the prevalence is increasing rapidly. Folate supplementation is proved to be effective in reducing the risk of diabetes or improving its symptoms. Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase is an important enzyme involved in folate metabolism. The aim of this study is to examine whether polymorphisms in the MTHFR gene are associated with risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and fasting total serum homocysteine (tHcy) levels. We genotyped nine tagging SNPs in the MTHFR gene in a case-control study, including 595 T2DM cases and 681 healthy controls in China. We found that C allele of rs9651118 had significant decreased risk of T2DM (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 0.69, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.55–0.87, P = 0.002) compared with T allele. Haplotype analysis also showed that MTHFR CTCCGA haplotype (rs12121543-rs13306553-rs9651118-rs1801133-rs2274976-rs1801131) had significant reduced risk of T2DM (adjusted OR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.58–0.87, P = 0.001) compared with CTTTGA haplotype. Besides, the MTHFR rs1801133 was significantly associated with serum levels of tHcy in healthy controls (P = 0.0002). These associations were still significant after Bonferroni corrections (P < 0.0056). These findings suggest that variants in the MTHFR gene may influence the risk of T2DM and tHcy levels.
Characterization of Generic and Personalized On-Screen Vibrotactile Patterns

Haptic touchscreens equipped with piezoelectric actuators are now widely integrated in consumer products (mobile, car dashboard, etc.) based on "generic" vibratory parameters. In this study, users are asked to build their own personalized haptic patterns and to associate those to predefined actions. Two main goals are explored: 1) the analysis of the most differentiating factors in the allocation of personalized signals to predefined actions, 2) the characterization of personalized vibratory signals by analyzing how they compare to generic haptic signals.
Polyploid Formation Shapes Flowering Plant Diversity

Polyploidy, or whole genome duplication, has been an important feature of eukaryotic evolution. This is especially true in flowering plants, where all extant angiosperms have descended from polyploid species. Here we present a broad comparative analysis of the effect of polyploidy on flowering plant diversity. We examine the widely held hypothesis that polyploid flowering plants generate more diversity than their diploid counterparts, by fitting stochastic birth/death models to observed ploidal frequency data from 60 extant angiosperm genera. Our results suggest the opposite, that diploids speciate at higher rates than polyploids, through a combination of simple diploid speciation and tetraploidy. Importantly, the estimated diploid advantage stemmed primarily from a higher rate of polyploidization in diploids than polyploids. Our model is also able to account for the empirically observed correlation between polyploidy and species richness without assuming that polyploids have a speciation advantage over diploids.
USEFULNESS OF SIZE-SPECIFIC DOSE ESTIMATES IN PEDIATRIC COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY: REVALIDATION OF LARGE-SCALE PEDIATRIC CT DOSE SURVEY DATA IN JAPAN

The objective of this research is to calculate the organ equivalent dose and effective dose from the scanning conditions at 165 centers in Japan using computed tomography (CT) Dose software and compare the results with the CT dose index volume (CTDIvol), dose length product (DLP) and size-specific dose estimates (SSDE) to validate the usefulness of SSDE. The CTDIvol and DLP were significantly lower in infants than in children (p < 0.05). No significant differences were found in the bone marrow equivalent dose and effective dose for the torso between infants and children (p > 0.05), and the bone marrow equivalent dose and effective dose for the head were higher in infants than children (p < 0.05). No significant difference was found in SSDE for the torso between infants and children (p > 0.05). Organ equivalent and effective doses for head CT scans are higher in infants than in children (I/P ratio ≥ 1). The I/P ratios of CTDIvol and DLP for chest and abdominal CT scans are also higher in Japan than in other countries. CTDIvol and DLP are not accurate when used as a dose index, and SSDE was considered suitable for dose assessment of the torso. However, for head CT in infants, a further reduction in radiation exposure is required.
Growth and productivity of menthol mint (Mentha arvensis L.) as influenced by drip irrigation and fertigation schedules

Menthol mint (Mentha arvensis L.) is an essential oil bearing plant, belongs to the family Lamiaceae. Drip irrigation played significant role in menthol mint production due high water demanding crop and season. The experiment was conducted in spring season of 2015 on sandy loam soil of Ludhiana, Punjab, with normal in soil reaction and EC, low in organic carbon and available nitrogen whereas medium in available soil phosphorous and potassium. The experiment was comprised of treatment combinations of four levels of drip irrigation (120 % ETC, 100 % ETC, 80 % ETC and 60 % ETC) and three levels of fertigation (100 % RDF, 80 % RDF and 60 % RDF) with an extra control in factorial randomized complete block design (RCBD) replicated thrice. Significantly higher plant height, dry matter accumulation and oil yield was recorded at 120 % ETC than 80 and 60 % ETC but statistically at par with 100 % ETC. Stool count and fresh herb yield was found to significantly higher at 120 % ETC than 100, 80 and 60 % ETC. However leaf to stem ratio was found to significantly higher at 60 % ETC than 80, 100 and 120 % ETC. Oil content was also found to be significantly higher at 60 % ETC than 100 and 120 % ETC but statistically at par with 80 % ETC. Plant height, dry matter accumulation, fresh herb yield and oil yield were found to be significantly higher in 100 % RDF than 60 % RDF but statistically at par with 80 % RDF. However leaf to stem ratio was found to be significantly higher at 60 % RDF than 100 % RDF but statistically at par with 80 % RDF.
Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine among People with Multiple Sclerosis in the Nordic Countries

Aims. The aim of the study was to describe and compare (1) the types and prevalence of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatments used among individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) in the Nordic countries; (2) the types of conventional treatments besides disease-modifying medicine for MS that were used in combination with CAM treatments; (3) the types of symptoms/health issues addressed by use of CAM treatments. Methods. An internet-based questionnaire was used to collect data from 6455 members of the five Nordic MS societies. The response rates varied from 50.9% in Norway to 61.5% in Iceland. Results. A large range of CAM treatments were reported to be in use in all five Nordic countries. Supplements of vitamins and minerals, supplements of oils, special diet, acupuncture, and herbal medicine were among the CAM treatment modalities most commonly used. The prevalence of the overall use of CAM treatments within the last twelve months varied from 46.0% in Sweden to 58.9% in Iceland. CAM treatments were most often used in combination with conventional treatments. The conventional treatments that were most often combined with CAM treatment were prescription medication, physical therapy, and over-the-counter (OTC) medications. The proportion of CAM users who reported exclusive use of CAM (defined as use of no conventional treatments besides disease-modifying medicine for MS) varied from 9.5% in Finland to 18.4% in Norway. In all five Nordic countries, CAM treatments were most commonly used for nonspecific/preventative purposes such as strengthening the body in general, improving the body's muscle strength, and improving well-being. CAM treatments were less often used for the purpose of improving specific symptoms such as body pain, problems with balance, and fatigue/lack of energy. Conclusions. A large range of CAM treatments were used by individuals with MS in all Nordic countries. The most commonly reported rationale for CAM treatment use focused on improving the general state of health. The overall pattern of CAM treatment use was similar across the five countries.