Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The influence of aerobic fitness on cerebral white matter integrity and cognitive function in older adults: Results of a one‐year exercise intervention

Cerebral white matter (WM) degeneration occurs with increasing age and is associated with declining cognitive function. Research has shown that cardiorespiratory fitness and exercise are effective as protective, even restorative, agents against cognitive and neurobiological impairments in older adults. In this study, we investigated whether the beneficial impact of aerobic fitness would extend to WM integrity in the context of a one‐year exercise intervention. Further, we examined the pattern of diffusivity changes to better understand the underlying biological mechanisms. Finally, we assessed whether training‐induced changes in WM integrity would be associated with improvements in cognitive performance independent of aerobic fitness gains. Results showed that aerobic fitness training did not affect group‐level change in WM integrity, executive function, or short‐term memory, but that greater aerobic fitness derived from the walking program was associated with greater change in WM integrity in the frontal and temporal lobes, and greater improvement in short‐term memory. Increases in WM integrity, however, were not associated with short‐term memory improvement, independent of fitness improvements. Therefore, while not all findings are consistent with previous research, we provide novel evidence for correlated change in training‐induced aerobic fitness, WM integrity, and cognition among healthy older adults. Hum Brain Mapp 34:2972–2985, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Stagnation Regime of the New Keynesian Model and Current US Policy

In Evans, Guse, and Honkapohja (2008) the intended steady state is locally but not globally stable under adaptive learning, and unstable deflationary paths can arise after large pessimistic shocks to expectations. In the current paper a modified model is presented that includes a locally stable stagnation regime as a possible outcome arising from large expectation shocks. Policy implications are examined. Sufficiently large temporary increases in government spending can dislodge the economy from the stagnation regime and restore the natural stabilizing dynamics. More specific policy proposals are presented and discussed.
Single Image Motion Deblurring Using Transparency

One of the key problems of restoring a degraded image from motion blur is the estimation of the unknown shift-invariant linear blur filter. Several algorithms have been proposed using image intensity or gradient information. In this paper, we separate the image deblurring into filter estimation and image deconvolution processes, and propose a novel algorithm to estimate the motion blur filter from a perspective of alpha values. The relationship between the object boundary transparency and the image motion blur is investigated. We formulate the filter estimation as solving a maximum a posteriori (MAP) problem with the defined likelihood and prior on transparency. Our unified approach can be applied to handle both the camera motion blur and the object motion blur.
MiSer: an optimal low-energy transmission strategy for IEEE 802.11a/h

Reducing the energy consumption by wireless communication devices is perhaps the most important issue in the widely-deployed and exponentially-growing IEEE 802.11 Wireless LANs (WLANs). TPC (Transmit Power Control) and PHY (physical layer) rate adaptation have been recognized as two most effective ways to achieve this goal. The emerging 802.11h standard, which is an extension to the current 802.11 MAC and the high-speed 802.11a PHY, will provide a structured means to support intelligent TPC.In this paper, we propose a novel scheme, called MiSer, that minimizes the communication energy consumption in 802.11a/h systems by combining TPC with PHY rate adaptation. The key idea is to compute offline an optimal rate-power combination table, and then at runtime, a wireless station determines the most energy-efficient transmission strategy for each data frame by a simple table lookup. Another key contribution of this paper is to provide a rigorous analysis of the relation among different radio ranges and TPC's effect on the interference in 802.11a/h systems, which justifies MiSer's approach to ameliorating the TPC-caused interference by transmitting the CTS frames at a stronger power level. Our simulation results show that MiSer delivers about 20% more data per unit of energy consumption than the PHY rate adaptation scheme without TPC, while outperforming single-rate TPC schemes significantly thanks to the excellent energy-saving capability of PHY rate adaptation.
Unpacking the Exploration–Exploitation Tradeoff: A Synthesis of Human and Animal Literatures

Many decisions in the lives of animals and humans require a fine balance between the exploration of different options and the exploitation of their rewards. Do you buy the advertised car, or do you test drive different models? Do you continue feeding from the current patch of flowers, or do you fly off to another one? Do you marry your current partner, or try your luck with someone else? The balance required in these situations is commonly referred to as the exploration– exploitation tradeoff. It features prominently in a wide range of research traditions, including learning, foraging, and decision making literatures. Here, we integrate findings from these and other often-isolated literatures in order to gain a better understand- ing of the possible tradeoffs between exploration and exploitation, and we propose new theoretical insights that might guide future research. Specifically, we explore how potential tradeoffs depend on (a) the conceptualization of exploration and exploitation; (b) the influencing environmental, social, and individual factors; (c) the scale at which exploration and exploitation are considered; (d) the relationship and types of transitions between the 2 behaviors; and (e) the goals of the decision maker. We conclude that exploration and exploitation are best conceptualized as points on a continuum, and that the extent to which an agent’s behavior can be interpreted as exploratory or exploitative depends upon the level of abstraction at which it is considered.
Benign Epithelial Inclusions in Axillary Lymph Nodes: Report of 18 Cases and Review of the Literature

The occurrence of various types of heterotopic epithelial structures in lymph nodes is a well-documented phenomenon. Here, we report on the presence of such inclusions in axillary lymph nodes. A total of 18 cases were identified. All patients were women, their ages ranging from 32 to 79 years (median, 57 y). Thirteen patients had concomitant or antecedent breast abnormalities, and 12 of them had undergone nodal sampling for staging purposes. The other 5 patients had noted enlarging axillary masses, with no clinical evidence of previous or concomitant breast or genital tract pathology. We classified the nodal inclusions on morphologic grounds into 3 main categories: those composed exclusively of glandular structures (glandular-type inclusions; 10 cases, 56%); those made up only of squamous cysts (squamous-type inclusions; 2 cases, 11%); and those containing both glandular and squamous epithelia (mixed glandular-squamous-type inclusions; 6 cases, 33%). We speculate about the possible mechanism for the migration of the epithelial cells into the lymph nodes, discuss the modifications that they may later undergo as a result of local and systemic factors, and consider the differential diagnosis with other conditions, particularly with metastatic well-differentiated breast carcinoma.
On a Class of Singular Nonlinear Traveling Wave Equations

The existence of solitary wave, kink wave and periodic wave solutions of a class of singular reaction–diffusion equations is obtained using some effective methods from the dynamical systems theory. Specially, for a class of nonlinear wave equations, fundamental properties of profiles of traveling wave solutions determined by some bounded orbits of the traveling wave systems are rigorously proved. Parametric conditions that guarantee the existence of the aforementioned solutions are derived and given explicitly.
Effect of steam conditioning on physical properties of pellets and energy consumption in pelleting process

In this paper, effect of moisture addition during steam conditioning of feed on pellet quality and electrical energy consumption in pelleting process was investigated. Complete mixture for pigs II (from 15 to 25 kg) was conditioned up to moisture content of 15.97 %, 19.40 %, and 21.88 %. Physical properties examined in purpose of pellet quality determination were hardness and durabillity of pellets. Pellets, produced from conditioned material with higher content of moisture, were more stabile and less hard. Higher moisture content of conditioned material resulted in decreasing of energy consumption during pelleting process. Electrical energy consumption in pelleting process, along with achieving targeted pellet quality, could be significantly lower by choosing proper conditioning process parameters.
Soil organic carbon under different landscape attributes in croplands of Northeast China

Soil organic carbon (SOC) was measured in topsoil samples of agricultural soils from 311 locations of Jiutai County, Northeast China. The spatial characteristics of SOC were studied using the Geographic Information Systems and geostatistics. Effects of other soil physical and chemical properties, elevation, slope, soil type and land use type were explored. SOC concentrations followed a lognormal distribution, with a geometric mean of 1.50%. The experimen tal variogram of SOC has been fitted with an exponential model. Our results highlighted total nitrogen and pH as the soil properties that have the greatest influence on SOC levels. Upland eroding areas have significantly less SOC than soils in deposition areas. Results showed that, soil type had a significant relationship with SOC, reflecting the effect of soil parent materials. Soil samples from paddy fields and vegetable fields had higher SOC concentrations than those from dry farming land.
Deep Survival Analysis

The electronic health record (EHR) provides an unprecedented opportunity to build actionable tools to support physicians at the point of care. In this paper, we investigate survival analysis in the context of EHR data. We introduce deep survival analysis, a hierarchical generative approach to survival analysis. It departs from previous approaches in two primary ways: (1) all observations, including covariates, are modeled jointly conditioned on a rich latent structure; and (2) the observations are aligned by their failure time, rather than by an arbitrary time zero as in traditional survival analysis. Further, it (3) scalably handles heterogeneous (continuous and discrete) data types that occur in the EHR. We validate deep survival analysis model by stratifying patients according to risk of developing coronary heart disease (CHD). Specifically, we study a dataset of 313,000 patients corresponding to 5.5 million months of observations. When compared to the clinically validated Framingham CHD risk score, deep survival analysis is significantly superior in stratifying patients according to their risk.
Biological Strategies to Enhance Healing of the Avascular Area of the Meniscus

Meniscal injuries in the vascularized peripheral part of the meniscus have a better healing potential than tears in the central avascular zone because meniscal healing principally depends on its vascular supply. Several biological strategies have been proposed to enhance healing of the avascular area of the meniscus: abrasion therapy, fibrin clot, organ culture, cell therapy, and applications of growth factors. However, data are too heterogeneous to achieve definitive conclusions on the use of these techniques for routine management of meniscal lesions. Although most preclinical and clinical studies are very promising, they are still at an experimental stage. More prospective randomised controlled trials are needed to compare the different techniques for clinical results, applicability, and cost-effectiveness.
Design guidelines for landmarks to support navigation in virtual environments

Unfamiliar, large-scale virtual environments are difficult tonavigate. This paper presents design guidelines to ease navigationin such virtual environments. The guidelines presented here focuson the design and placement of landmarks in virtual environments.Moreover, the guidelines are based primarily on the extensiveempirical literature on navigation in the real world. A rationalefor this approach is provided by the similarities betweennavigational behavior in real and virtual environments.
Comparing Maximum Stresses and Displacements in A Lower Complete Denture with Different Occlusal Plane Levels and Schemes . A Three Dimensional Finite Element Stress Analysis Study

Purpose of study: A three dimensional stress analysis method was used to assessed the stress distribution and displacement in a lower complete denture Materials and Methods : The sample consists of three groups , First group :three set of lower complete denture constructed using cast poured from ready made teaching mould to study the effects of balanced ,lingualized and monoplane occlusal schemes on the stress distribution when the occlusal plane leveled with upper, middle and lower third of the retro molar pad . the load used in this study was 58.8 Newton directed axially downward applied on specific sites differ with different occlusal schemes. Results : Both balanced and lingualized occlusal schemes exert minimal stresses and rotational movements around ridge crest when leveled with middle third of retro molar pad while occlusal plane leveled with the lower third of retro molar pad shows more incidence for rotational movements Conclusion : Stability improved in monoplane occlusal plane over the three occlusal plane levels the posterior of teeth should be adjusted over the ridge crest so that the lateral stresses reduced and increased denture stability.
Visualizing Deep Neural Network Decisions: Prediction Difference Analysis

This article presents the prediction difference analysis method for visualizing the response of a deep neural network to a specific input. When classifying images, the method highlights areas in a given input image that provide evidence for or against a certain class. It overcomes several shortcoming of previous methods and provides great additional insight into the decision making process of classifiers. Making neural network decisions interpretable through visualization is important both to improve models and to accelerate the adoption of black-box classifiers in application areas such as medicine. We illustrate the method in experiments on natural images (ImageNet data), as well as medical images (MRI brain scans).
The Adaptation of Mosquito Larvae to Salt Water

Larvae of Aedes argenteus reared in fresh water are killed by 1.1 per cent. NaCl or by "sea water"1 isotonic with 1.3-1.4 per cent. NaCl. Newly hatched larvae are killed by 1.1 per cent. NaCl or "sea water" equivalent to 1.3 per cent. NaCl. By gradually increasing the concentration, larvae can be made resistant to 1.1 per cent. NaCl and to "sea water" equivalent to 1.75 percent. NaCl (50 per cent. sea water). The nature of the physiological adaptation in these larvae has been studied and the following conclusions reached: 1. The elastic strands in the cells of the gills become exaggerated, and these cells resist swelling in hypertonic salt solutions. 2. There are changes in the epithelium of the mid-gut so that: ( a ) the cells are no longer caused to swell up and become detached from the basement membrane; and ( b ) the mid-gut and caeca can absorb the salt fluid and so avoid the excessive distension which occurs in unadapted larvae. 3. It is possible that the Malpighian tubes excrete a more concentrated urine and that the reabsorptive activity of the rectum is increased. The mosquito larva appears to be homoiosmotic in both fresh water and in hypertonic salt water.
Reliability of the Path Analysis Testing Strategy

A set of test data T for a program P is reliable if it reveals that P contains an error whenever P is incorrect. If a set of tests T is reliable and P produces the correct output for each element of T then P is a correct program. Test data generation strategies are procedures for generating sets of test data. A testing strategy is reliable for a program P if it produces a reliable set of test data for P. It is proved that an effective testing strategy which is reliable for all programs cannot be constructed. A description of the path analysis testing strategy is presented. In the path analysis strategy data are generated which cause different paths in a program to be executed. A method for analyzing the reliability of path testing is introduced. The method is used to characterize certain classes of programs and program errors for which the path analysis strategy is reliable. Examples of published incorrect programs are included.
Characteristics of speech errors produced by children with and without delayed phonological awareness skills.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the types of speech errors that are produced by children with speech-sound disorders and the children's phonological awareness skills during their prekindergarten and kindergarten years. METHOD Fifty-eight children with speech-sound disorders were assessed during the spring of their prekindergarten year and then again at the end of their kindergarten year. The children's responses on the Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation (R. Goldman & M. Fristoe, 2000) were described in terms of match ratios for the features of each target sound and the type of error produced. Match ratios and error type frequencies were then examined as a function of the child's performance on a test of phonological awareness. RESULTS Lower match ratios for +distributed and higher frequencies of typical syllable structure errors and atypical segment errors were associated with poorer phonological awareness test performance. However, no aspect of the children's error patterns proved to be a reliable indicator of which individual child would pass or fail the test. The best predictor of test performance at the end of the kindergarten year was test performance 1 year earlier. Children who achieved age-appropriate articulation skills by the end of kindergarten also achieved age-appropriate phonological awareness skills. CONCLUSION Children who enter kindergarten with delayed articulation skills should be monitored to ensure age-appropriate acquisition of phonological awareness and literacy skills.
A Tunned-parameter Hybrid Algorithm for Dynamic Facility Layout Problem with Budget Constraint using GA and SAA

A facility layout problem is concerned with determining the best position of departments, cells, or machines on the plant. An efficient layout contributes to the overall efficiency of operations. It’s been proved that, when system characteristics change, it can cause a significant increase in material handling cost. Consequently, the efficiency of the current layout decreases or is lost and it does necessitate rearrangement. On the other hand, the rearrangement of the workstations may burden a lot of expenses on the system. The problem that considers balance between material handling cost and the rearrangement cost is known as the Dynamic Facility Layout Problem (DFLP). The objective of a DFLP is to find the best layout for the company facilities in each period of planning horizon considering the rearrangement costs. Due to the complex structure of the problem, there are few researches in the literature which tried to find near optimum solutions for DFLP with budget constraint. In this paper, a new heuristic approach has been developed by combining Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Parallel Simulated Annealing Algorithm (PSAA) which is the main contribution of the current study. The results of applying the proposed algorithm were tested over a wide range of test problems taken from the literature. The results show efficiency of the hybrid algorithm GA- to solve the Dynamic Facility Layout Problem with Budget Constraint (DFLPBC).
Mechanically Unloading the Left Ventricle Before Coronary Reperfusion Reduces Left Ventricular Wall Stress and Myocardial Infarct Size

Background— Ischemia/reperfusion injury worsens infarct size, a major determinant of morbidity and mortality after acute myocardial infarction (MI). We tested the hypothesis that reducing left ventricular wall stress with a percutaneous left atrial-to-femoral artery centrifugal bypass system while delaying coronary reperfusion limits myocardial injury in a model of acute MI. Methods and Results— MI was induced by balloon occlusion of the left anterior descending artery in adult male swine. In the MI group (n=4), 120 minutes of left anterior descending artery occlusion was followed by 120 minutes of reperfusion without mechanical support. In the mechanically supported group (MI+unload; n=4), percutaneous left atrial–to–femoral artery bypass was initiated after 120 minutes of ischemia, and left anterior descending artery occlusion was prolonged for an additional 30 minutes, followed by 120 minutes of reperfusion with device support. All animals were euthanized after reperfusion, and infarct size was quantified by triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining. Compared with baseline, mean left ventricular wall stress and stroke work were not changed at any point in the MI group but were decreased after reperfusion in the MI+unload group (mean left ventricular wall stress, 44 658 versus 22 963 dynes/cm2; stroke work, 2823 versus 655 mm Hg·mL, MI versus MI+unload). Phosphorylation of reperfusion injury salvage kinase pathway proteins from noninfarcted left ventricular tissue was unchanged in the MI group but was increased in the MI+unload group. Compared with the MI group, total infarct size was reduced in the MI+unload group (49% versus 28%, MI versus MI+unload). Conclusions— These data support that first unloading the left ventricle despite delaying coronary reperfusion during an acute MI reduces myocardial injury.
Associations between Bisphenol A Exposure and Reproductive Hormones among Female Workers

The associations between Bisphenol-A (BPA) exposure and reproductive hormone levels among women are unclear. A cross-sectional study was conducted among female workers from BPA-exposed and unexposed factories in China. Women’s blood samples were collected for assay of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), 17β-Estradiol (E2), prolactin (PRL), and progesterone (PROG). Their urine samples were collected for BPA measurement. In the exposed group, time weighted average exposure to BPA for an 8-h shift (TWA8), a measure incorporating historic exposure level, was generated based on personal air sampling. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to examine linear associations between urine BPA concentration and reproductive hormones after controlling for potential confounders. A total of 106 exposed and 250 unexposed female workers were included in this study. A significant positive association between increased urine BPA concentration and higher PRL and PROG levels were observed. Similar associations were observed after the analysis was carried out separately among the exposed and unexposed workers. In addition, a positive association between urine BPA and E2 was observed among exposed workers with borderline significance, while a statistically significant inverse association between urine BPA and FSH was observed among unexposed group. The results suggest that BPA exposure may lead to alterations in female reproductive hormone levels.