Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Angiotensin II promotes differentiation of mouse c-kit-positive cardiac stem cells into pacemaker-like cells

Cardiac stem cells (CSCs) can differentiate into cardiac muscle-like cells; however, it remains unknown whether CSCs may possess the ability to differentiate into pacemaker cells. The aim of the present study was to determine whether angiotensin II (Ang II) could promote the specialization of CSCs into pacemaker-like cells. Mouse CSCs were treated with Ang II from day 3–5, after cell sorting. The differentiation potential of the cells was then analyzed by morphological analysis, flow cytometry, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemistry and patch clamp analysis. Treatment with Ang II resulted in an increased number of cardiac muscle-like cells (32.7±4.8% vs. 21.5±4.8%; P<0.05), and inhibition of smooth muscle-like cells (6.2±7.3% vs. 20.5±5.1%; P<0.05). Following treatment with Ang II, increased levels of the cardiac progenitor-specific markers GATA4 and Nkx2.5 were observed in the cells. Furthermore, the transcript levels of pacemaker function-related genes, including hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN)2, HCN4, T-box (Tbx)2 and Tbx3, were significantly upregulated. Immunofluorescence analysis confirmed the increased number of pacemaker-like cells. The pacemaker current (If) was recorded in the cells derived from CSCs, treated with Ang II. In conclusion, treatment of CSCs with Ang II during the differentiation process modified cardiac-specific gene expression and resulted in the enhanced formation of pacemaker-like cells.
Are HIV-Infected Men Vulnerable to Prostate Cancer Treatment Disparities?

Background: HIV-infected (HIV+) men face cancer treatment disparities that impact outcome. Prostate cancer treatment and treatment appropriateness in HIV+ men are unknown. Methods: We used electronic chart review to conduct a retrospective cohort study of 43 HIV+ cases with prostate cancer and 86 age- and race-matched HIV-uninfected (HIV−) controls with prostate cancer, ages 40 to 79 years, from 2001 to 2012. We defined treatment appropriateness using National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines and the Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) to estimate life expectancy. Results: Median age was 59.5 years at prostate cancer diagnosis. Median CD4+ T-cell count was 459.5 cells/mm3, 95.3% received antiretroviral therapy, and 87.1% were virally suppressed. Radical prostatectomy was the primary treatment for 39.5% of HIV+ and 71.0% of HIV− men (P = 0.004). Only 16.3% of HIV+ versus 57.0% of HIV− men received open radical prostatectomy (P < 0.001). HIV+ men received more radiotherapy (25.6% vs. 16.3%, P = 0.13). HIV was negatively associated with open radical prostatectomy (OR = 0.03, P = 0.007), adjusting for insurance and CCI. No men were undertreated. Fewer HIV+ men received appropriate treatment (89.2% vs. 100%, P = 0.003), due to four overtreated HIV+ men. Excluding AIDS from the CCI still resulted in fewer HIV+ men receiving appropriate treatment (94.6% vs. 100%, P = 0.03). Conclusion: Prostate cancer in HIV+ men is largely appropriately treated. Under- or overtreatment may occur from difficulties in life expectancy estimation. HIV+ men may receive more radiotherapy and fewer radical prostatectomies, specifically open radical prostatectomies. Impact: Research on HIV/AIDS survival indices and etiologies and outcomes of this prostate cancer treatment disparity in HIV+ men are needed. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 23(10); 2009–18. ©2014 AACR.
First Comes Love, Then Comes Google: An Investigation of Uncertainty Reduction Strategies and Self-Disclosure in Online Dating

This study investigates relationships between privacy concerns, uncertainty reduction behaviors, and self-disclosure among online dating participants, drawing on uncertainty reduction theory and the warranting principle. The authors propose a conceptual model integrating privacy concerns, self-efficacy, and Internet experience with uncertainty reduction strategies and amount of self-disclosure and then test this model on a nationwide sample of online dating participants ( N = 562). The study findings confirm that the frequency of use of uncertainty reduction strategies is predicted by three sets of online dating concerns—personal security, misrepresentation, and recognition—as well as self-efficacy in online dating. Furthermore, the frequency of uncertainty reduction strategies mediates the relationship between these variables and amount of self-disclosure with potential online dating partners. The authors explore the theoretical implications of these findings for our understanding of uncertainty reduction, warranting, and self-disclosure processes in online contexts.
Fast maximum likelihood for blind identification of multiple FIR channels

This paper develops a fast maximum likelihood method for estimating the impulse responses of multiple FIR channels driven by an arbitrary unknown input. The resulting method consists of two iterative steps, where each step minimizes a quadratic function. The two-step maximum likelihood (TSML) method is shown to be high-SNR efficient, i.e., attaining the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRB) at high SNR. The TSML method exploits a novel orthogonal complement matrix of the generalized Sylvester matrix. Simulations show that the TSML, method significantly outperforms the cross-relation (CR) method and the subspace (SS) method and attains the CRB over a wide range of SNR. This paper also studies a Fisher information (FI) matrix to reveal the identifiability of the M-channel system. A strong connection between the FI-based identifiability and the CR-based identifiability is established.
Spectrally-efficient continuous phase modulations

We investigate the spectral efficiency of continuous phase modulations (CPMs). To this end, we need an effective bandwidth definition for a CPM signal, whose power spectral density has in principle an infinite support. The definition we adopt is based on the spacing between adjacent carriers in a frequency division multiplexed CPM system. We consider the inter-channel interference, which depends on the channel spacing, and we evaluate the spectral efficiency achievable by a single-user receiver in the considered multi-channel scenario. We then optimize the channel spacing with the aim of maximizing the spectral efficiency, showing that impressive improvements with respect to the spectral efficiencies reported in the literature and obtained by heuristic approaches can be achieved.
Development and Democracy: Society, State, and Market in the Development Process

This article tries to analyze the relationship between development and democracy from the vantage point of prior well-informed and substantive participation of stakeholders in development processes. It focuses on the processes of prior well-informed and substantive participation of stakeholders that are followed (or not followed) in the land development projects. Land development projects focus on accumulating stakeholders’ odd- or irregular-sized non-serviced parcels of land, and re-arrange them in smaller plots with road, drainage, open space, and other necessary infrastructure facilities. The issue of ‘development and democracy’ has been assessed from the dimensions of society, state, and market relations. Moreover, how the market is capitalizing on the situation created by the inadequate national policy as well as the ineffective roles of development agents have also been assessed.
Which species of water frogs inhabit ponds of the Caucasus? Taxonomic mess with Pelophylax ridibundus species complex

Two nominal species of water frogs of the genus Pelophylax, P. ridibundus and P. bedriagae, are found in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Western Asia, Western Kazakhstan, and Siberia. So far, the taxonomic status of Pelophylax in most of the Caucasus has remained unknown. Sequencing of the Cytochrome Oxidase 1 mitochondrial gene attributed the frogs throughout Georgia to the P. ‘bedriagae’ lineage, bringing them very close to the specimens from Kazakhstan and Greece. Simultaneously, the current nomenclature of water frogs appears to be formally incorrect since western Kazakhstan, the type locality for P. ridibundus, has frogs genetically closer to nominal P. bedriagae, than to nominal P. ridibundus from Europe. Because there is no evidence that the frogs from Central Europe, Kazakhstan, and the Caucasus, as well as from Anatolia and Iran, are biological species with individual evolutionary pathways, we suggest a conservative approach and synonymize nominal P. bedriagae from most of West Asia with P. ridibundus.
Practice Parameter update: Management issues for women with epilepsy—Focus on pregnancy (an evidence-based review): Teratogenesis and perinatal outcomes

Objective: To reassess the evidence for management issues related to the care of women with epilepsy (WWE) during pregnancy. Methods: Systematic review of relevant articles published between January 1985 and June 2007. Results: It is highly probable that intrauterine first-trimester valproate (VPA) exposure has higher risk of major congenital malformations (MCMs) compared to carbamazepine and possible compared to phenytoin or lamotrigine. Compared to untreated WWE, it is probable that VPA as part of polytherapy and possible that VPA as monotherapy contribute to the development of MCMs. It is probable that antiepileptic drug (AED) polytherapy as compared to monotherapy regimens contributes to the development of MCMs and to reduced cognitive outcomes. For monotherapy, intrauterine exposure to VPA probably reduces cognitive outcomes. Further, monotherapy exposure to phenytoin or phenobarbital possibly reduces cognitive outcomes. Neonates of WWE taking AEDs probably have an increased risk of being small for gestational age and possibly have an increased risk of a 1-minute Apgar score of <7. Recommendations: If possible, avoidance of valproate (VPA) and antiepileptic drug (AED) polytherapy during the first trimester of pregnancy should be considered to decrease the risk of major congenital malformations (Level B). If possible, avoidance of VPA and AED polytherapy throughout pregnancy should be considered to prevent reduced cognitive outcomes (Level B). If possible, avoidance of phenytoin and phenobarbital during pregnancy may be considered to prevent reduced cognitive outcomes (Level C). Pregnancy risk stratification should reflect that the offspring of women with epilepsy taking AEDs are probably at increased risk for being small for gestational age (Level B) and possibly at increased risk of 1-minute Apgar scores of <7 (Level C).
IntraCache: An Interest group-based P2P Web Caching System

An interest group-based P2P browser cache collaborative system, named intracache, is proposed in the paper. Intracache is scalable, resilient to node failures and easy to manage nodes. In the system, the peers with similar interest are organized into autonomous group by PB grouping method and documents are located by similarity based search method. Trace-driven experiments show that PB-grouping method can utilize local browser cache more efficiently than previous grouping methods. Even if using small cache size, PB grouping method can get preferable hit ratio. Moreover, the interest group-based search method can more efficiently prune the P2P search space and reduce the latency than previous search methods.
The Role of the Effective Cloud Albedo for Climate Monitoring and Analysis

Cloud properties and the Earth’s radiation budget are defined as essential climate variables by the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS). The cloud albedo is a measure for the portion of solar radiation reflected back to space by clouds. This information is essential for the analysis and interpretation of the Earth’s radiation budget and the solar surface irradiance. We present and discuss a method for the production of the effective cloud albedo and the solar surface irradiance based on the visible channel (0.45–1 μm) on-board of the Meteosat satellites. This method includes a newly developed self-calibration approach and has been used to generate a 23-year long (1983–2005) continuous and validated climate data record of the effective cloud albedo and the solar surface irradiance. Using this climate data record we demonstrate the ability of the method to generate the two essential climate variables in high accuracy and homogeneity. Further on, we discuss the role of the cloud albedo within climate monitoring and analysis. We found trends with opposite sign in the observed effective cloud albedo resulting in positive trends in the solar surface irradiance over ocean and partly negative trends over land. Ground measurements are scarce over the ocean and thus satellite-derived effective cloud albedo and solar surface irradiance constitutes a unique observational data source. Within this scope it has to be considered that the ocean is the main energy reservoir of the Earth, which emphasises the role of satellite-observed effective cloud albedo and derived solar surface irradiance as essential climate variables for climate monitoring and analysis.
Why Continuum Damage is Nonlocal: Micromechanics Arguments

The paper presents two micromechanics arguments showing that continuum damage caused by microcracking ought to be nonlocal, defined by a spatial integral. Argument I is an analysis of a simplified model in which the microcracks are of such size, density, and arrangement that that they do not interact. The release of stored energy caused by the formation of one microcrack is calculated as a function of the associated relative displacement across the cell, which corresponds to the average strain of the macroscopic continuum. After imposing two homogenizing conditions, it is shown that damage is a nonlocal variable that is a function of the averaged (nonlocal) strain from a certain neighborhood of the given point. Argument II is an analysis of a body with arbitrary interacting cracks. The local damage is proportional to the forces applied on the cracks to replace the stresses before cracking. Crack formation changes the openings of the neighboring cracks, which represents an interaction described by crack in.
Implicit Abstraction Heuristics

State-space search with explicit abstraction heuristics is at the state of the art of cost-optimal planning. These heuristics are inherently limited, nonetheless, because the size of the abstract space must be bounded by some, even if a very large, constant. Targeting this shortcoming, we introduce the notion of (additive) implicit abstractions, in which the planning task is abstracted by instances of tractable fragments of optimal planning. We then introduce a concrete setting of this framework, called fork-decomposition, that is based on two novel fragments of tractable cost-optimal planning. The induced admissible heuristics are then studied formally and empirically. This study testifies for the accuracy of the fork decomposition heuristics, yet our empirical evaluation also stresses the tradeoff between their accuracy and the runtime complexity of computing them. Indeed, some of the power of the explicit abstraction heuristics comes from precomputing the heuristic function offine and then determining h(s) for each evaluated state s by a very fast lookup in a "database. " By contrast, while fork-decomposition heuristics can be calculated in polynomial time, computing them is far from being fast. To address this problem, we show that the time-per-node complexity bottleneck of the fork-decomposition heuristics can be successfully overcome. We demonstrate that an equivalent of the explicit abstraction notion of a "database" exists for the fork-decomposition abstractions as well, despite their exponential-size abstract spaces. We then verify empirically that heuristic search with the "databased" fork-decomposition heuristics favorably competes with the state of the art of cost-optimal planning.
A comparison of several algorithms for SAR raw data compression

Proposes new algorithms for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) raw data compression and compares the resulting image quality with the quality achieved by commonly used methods. The compression is carried out in time and frequency domain, with statistic, crisp, and fuzzy methods. The algorithms in the time domain lead to high resolution and a good signal-to-noise ratio, but they do not optimize the performance of the compression according to the frequency envelope of the signal power in both range and azimuth directions. The hardware requirements for the compression methods in the frequency domain are significant, but a higher performance is obtained. Even with a data rate of 3 bits/sample, a satisfactory phase accuracy is achieved which is an essential parameter for polarimetric and interferometric applications. Preliminary analysis concerning the suitability of the proposed algorithms for different SAR applications shows that the compression ratio should be adaptively selected according to the specific application. >
Relaxation Techniques for Parsing Grammatically Ill-Formed Input in Natural Language Understanding Systems

This paper investigates several language phenomena either considered deviant by linguistic standards or insufficiently addressed by existing approaches. These include co-occurrence violations, some forms of ellipsis and extraneous forms, and conjunction. Relaxation techniques for their treatment in Natural Language Understanding Systems are discussed. These techniques, developed within the Augmented Transition Network (ATN) model, are shown to be adequate to handle many of these cases.
Improved quantum-inspired immune clonal clustering algorithm applied to SAR image segmentation

The goal of segmentation is to partition an image into disjoint regions. In this paper, the segmentation problem based on partition clustering is viewed as a combinatorial optimization problem. The original image is partitioned into small blocks by watershed algorithm, and the quantum-inspired immune clonal algorithm is used to search the optimal clustering centre, and make the sequence of maximum affinity function as clustering result, and finally obtain the segmentation result. Experimental results show that the proposed method is effective for SAR image segmentation.
The Potential Role of Azadirachta indica Treatment on Cisplatin-Induced Hepatotoxicity and Oxidative Stress in Female Rats

Azadirachta indica A. Juss. (neem, family: Meliaceae) is perhaps the most commonly used traditional medicinal plant of India. In this study we investigated the protective effect of methanolic neem leaves extract (MNLE; 500 mg/Kg bwt) on rats treated with cisplatin (CDDP)-induced hepatotoxicity. Adult rats were randomly divided into four groups. CDDP was given to rats by intraperitoneal injection, while MNLE was given by oral gavage for 5 days after the CDDP injection. The injury and oxidative stress caused by CDDP on the liver and the effect of MNLE were evaluated by measuring (a) histological changes, (b) tissue biochemical oxidant and antioxidant parameters, and (c) investigating apoptosis markers immunohistochemically and by real time PCR. After treatment with MNLE, the histological damage and apoptosis induction caused by cisplatin were improved. Malondialdehyde and nitric oxide were significantly decreased; the antioxidant system, namely, glutathione content, glutathione-S-transferase, glutathione peroxidase, catalase, and superoxide dismutase activities were significantly elevated. In conclusion, MNLE may have a potential role when combined with cisplatin in chemotherapy to alleviate cisplatin-induced damage and oxidative stress in liver.
The Role of Ecotourism to Income of Small-Scale Business Women in Arumeru District, Tanzania

Small-scale business women in Arumeru District are largely characterized by the degree of unemployment and dispossession, and low skills but are rich in natural resources, so ecotourism is one of the potential sustainable land uses that can help the improvement of small-scale business women's income. Even though, ecotourism businesses have many advantages to the community's livelihood, their contribution to the income of the small-scale businesswomen is not empirically substantiated. This study assesses the role of ecotourism on small-scale business women's income in the Arumeru District in Tanzania. Specifically, the study examines ecotourism activities that promote small-scale business women's income in the study area. A repeated cross-sectional research design is applied. Simple random and purposive sampling techniques are used to select small-scale businesswomen and Key Informants respectively. Data are collected using the questionnaire survey and Key Informants' interviews. The quantitative data analyzed through descriptive statistics and the use of simple revenue equations, while qualitative data are analyzed through content analysis. The study findings show that small-scale business women engage themselves in handcraft and artisan cultural performance, food vending, and shopkeeping as major eco-tourism activities to generate their income. Also, small-scale businesswomen have substantial incomes that enable them to meet their livelihoods. The study concludes that eco-tourism subsidizes to income among small-scale businesswomen in Arumeru District. The study recommends that there is a need to engage key stakeholders related to tourism to ensure small-scale businesswomen benefit from ecotourism opportunities
Workload prediction and dynamic voltage scaling for MPEG decoding

In this paper we present three efficient DVS techniques for an MPEG decoder. Their energy reduction is comparable to that of the optimal solution. A workload prediction model is also developed based on the block level statistics of each MPEG frame. Compared with previous works, the new model exhibits a remarkable improvement in accuracy of the prediction. The experimental results show that, with the new prediction model, the presented DVS techniques achieve more energy reduction than previous works while delivering the same Quality of Service (QoS)
Influence of nitrogen deficiency on photosynthesis and chloroplast ultrastructure of pepper plants (Research Note)

Pepper plants (Capsicum annuum L. cv. Zlaten Medal) were grown on nutrient solution without nitrogen, and photosynthetic response of plants was examined by determination of leaf CO2 fixation and chlorophyll and carotenoid contents. The absence of nitrogen in the medium resulted in a decrease of the leaf area and of plant biomass accumulation, and in an increase of the root-shoot dry weight ratio. The photosynthetic activity and chlorophyll and carotenoid contents decreased significantly under nitrogen deprivation. Examination of nitrogen deficient leaves by transmission electron microscopy showed dramatic changes in chloroplast ultrastructure. The proportion of starch granules and plastoglobules in the stroma matrix was increased and internal membrane system was greatly reduced. It seems that nitrogen plays an important role in the formation of chloroplast structure and hence to the photosynthetic intensity and productivity of pepper plants.
Identification of new isolates of Bacillus thuringiensis using rep-PCR products and delta-endotoxin electron microscopy

PCR has been used to analyze the distribution of REP (Repetitive Extragenic Palindromic) and ERIC (Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus) sequences (rep-PCR) found within the genome of the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, with the purpose to analyze the genetic similarities among 56 subspecies samples and 95 field isolates. The PCR products were analyzed by EB-AGE (ethidium bromide-agarose electrophoresis) and then submitted to banding comparisons, based on the Phyllip software algorithm. When the banding similarities were considered for comparison purposes among all the strains, the phylogenic tree patterns varied according to the rep-PCR primers considered, but, from a broader point of view, the ERIC sequences produced better results, which, together with electron microscopy analysis of the released parasporal bodies and colony morphology characteristics, allowed to detect two possible new subspecies of B. thuringiensis.