Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Major Depressive Disorder and Bipolar Disorder Predispose Youth to Accelerated Atherosclerosis and Early Cardiovascular Disease: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association

In the 2011 “Expert Panel on Integrated Guidelines for Cardiovascular Health and Risk Reduction in Children and Adolescents,” several medical conditions among youth were identified that predispose to accelerated atherosclerosis and early cardiovascular disease (CVD), and risk stratification and management strategies for youth with these conditions were elaborated. Major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD) among youth satisfy the criteria set for, and therefore merit inclusion among, Expert Panel tier II moderate-risk conditions. The combined prevalence of MDD and BD among adolescents in the United States is ≈10%, at least 10 times greater than the prevalence of the existing moderate-risk conditions combined. The high prevalence of MDD and BD underscores the importance of positioning these diseases alongside other pediatric diseases previously identified as moderate risk for CVD. The overall objective of this statement is to increase awareness and recognition of MDD and BD among youth as moderate-risk conditions for early CVD. To achieve this objective, the primary specific aims of this statement are to (1) summarize evidence that MDD and BD are tier II moderate-risk conditions associated with accelerated atherosclerosis and early CVD and (2) position MDD and BD as tier II moderate-risk conditions that require the application of risk stratification and management strategies in accordance with Expert Panel recommendations. In this scientific statement, there is an integration of the various factors that putatively underlie the association of MDD and BD with CVD, including pathophysiological mechanisms, traditional CVD risk factors, behavioral and environmental factors, and psychiatric medications.
Infinite Hierarchical Hidden Markov Models

In this paper we present the Infinite Hierarchical Hidden Markov Model (IHHMM), a nonparametric generalization of Hierarchical Hidden Markov Models (HHMMs). HHMMs have been used for modeling sequential data in applications such as speech recognition, detecting topic transitions in video and extracting information from text. The IHHMM provides more flexible modeling of sequential data by allowing a potentially unbounded number of levels in the hierarchy, instead of requiring the specification of a fixed hierarchy depth. Inference and learning are performed eciently using Gibbs sampling and a modified forward-backtrack algorithm. We present encouraging results on toy sequences and English text data.
The 6-Minute Walk Test and Person-Reported Outcomes in Boys with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and Typically Developing Controls: Longitudinal Comparisons and Clinically-Meaningful Changes Over One Year

Introduction: Data is currently lacking anchoring a 30-meter longitudinal change in walking ability by 6-minute walk test (6MWT) in Duchenne muscular dystrophy as a minimal clinically important difference and “clinically meaningful” person-reported outcomes (PROs) at differing levels of ambulatory ability. Methods: We describe correlation between measures, 1-year change in measures, and correlation of 1-year changes between measures for the six-minute walk test (6MWT), 10-meter run/walk velocity, PedsQL and POSNA Pediatric Outcomes Data Collection Instrument (PODCI) in 24 4-12 year old. ambulatory DMD and 36 typical controls, and determine if minimal clinically important differences (MCID) of PROs contribute to different estimates of 6-minute walk distance (6MWD) change at differing levels of ability. Results: PedsQL total and physical function and PODCI global, transfer/mobility and sports/physical function PROs demonstrated significant differences between DMD and controls (p<0.00001). In DMD, 6MWD and 10-meter run/walk velocity were correlated with PODCI domain scores, with the transfer/mobility scale showing the strongest relationship (r=0.79 and r=0.76). In DMD, 6MWD distance and 10-meter run/walk velocity weakly correlated with PedsQL domain scores. In DMD, 6MWD, 10-meter run/walk velocity, and PODCI global and transfer and basic mobility demonstrated significant one-year change and exceeded the amount of change representing MCID. In DMD, 6MWD change highly correlated with change in PODCI global and PODCI transfer/mobility scores (r=0.76 and r=0.93). PODCI global and PODCI transfer/mobility scales provided the best estimates of 6MWT performance. A “meaningful” 4.5 point change in a low PODCI transfer / basic mobility score of 30 to 34.5 was associated with a 5.6m 6MWD change from 150.3 to 155.9m. At PODCI levels closer to normative levels for healthy controls, the change in 6MWD distance associated with a “meaningful” change in PODCI scores was almost 46m. Discussion: At lower levels of function, smaller increases in 6MWD result in meaningful change in quality of life (QoL) instrument scores. At higher levels of function, larger increases may be necessary to achieve the same QoL change score.
Urban Ecology and the Effectiveness of Aedes Control

Past initiatives to control Aedes mosquitoes were successful, in part because they implemented draconian top-down control programs. To achieve similar results now, explicit recognition of the complexity in urban ecologies in terms of land ownership, law enforcement and accessibility for control interventions are required. By combining these attributes, four classes of spaces, along with corresponding control strategies, are suggested to better target Aedes species population control efforts. On one end of the spectrum there are accessible and accountable spaces (e.g. backyards and closely managed public facilities), where interventions can rely predominantly on bottom-up strategies with the local population playing the principle role in the implementation of actions, but with government coordination. On the other end of the spectrum are inaccessible and unaccountable spaces, which require top-down and extensive approaches. By identifying these and the intermediate classes of space, government and private resources can be allocated in a more efficient customized manner. Based on this new framework, a set of actions is proposed that might be implemented in dengue and other Aedes -borne crises. The framework considers existing limitations and opportunities associated with modern societies – which are fundamentally different from those associated with the successful control of Aedes species in the past.
MiR-24 Tumor Suppressor Activity Is Regulated Independent of p53 and through a Target Site Polymorphism

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are predicted to regulate approximately 30% of all human genes; however, only a few miRNAs have been assigned their targets and specific functions. Here we demonstrate that miR-24, a ubiquitously expressed miRNA, has an anti-proliferative effect independent of p53 function. Cell lines with differential p53 status were used as a model to study the effects of miR-24 on cell proliferation, cell cycle control, gene regulation and cellular transformation. Overexpression of miR-24 in six different cell lines, independent of p53 function, inhibited cell proliferation and resulted in G2/S cell cycle arrest. MiR-24 over expression in cells with wt-p53 upregulated TP53 and p21 protein; however, in p53-null cells miR-24 still induced cell cycle arrest without the involvement of p21. We show that miR-24 regulates p53-independent cellular proliferation by regulating an S-phase enzyme, dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) a target of the chemotherapeutic drug methotrexate (MTX). Of interest, we found that a miR-24 target site polymorphism in DHFR 3′ UTR that results in loss of miR-24-function and high DHFR levels in the cell imparts a growth advantage to immortalized cells and induces neoplastic transformation. Of clinical significance, we found that miR-24 is deregulated in human colorectal cancer tumors and a subset of tumors has reduced levels of miR-24. A novel function for miR-24 as a p53-independent cell cycle inhibitory miRNA is proposed.
Natural Language Generation enhances human decision-making with uncertain information

Decision-making is often dependent on uncertain data, e.g. data associated with confidence scores or probabilities. We present a comparison of different information presentations for uncertain data and, for the first time, measure their effects on human decision-making. We show that the use of Natural Language Generation (NLG) improves decision-making under uncertainty, compared to state-of-the-art graphical-based representation methods. In a task-based study with 442 adults, we found that presentations using NLG lead to 24% better decision-making on average than the graphical presentations, and to 44% better decision-making when NLG is combined with graphics. We also show that women achieve significantly better results when presented with NLG output (an 87% increase on average compared to graphical presentations).
A BIOGEOGRAPHIC PATTERN IN SPARROW BILL MORPHOLOGY: PARALLEL ADAPTATION TO TIDAL MARSHES

Abstract The study of ecological convergence, the evolution of similar traits on multiple occasions in response to similar conditions, is a powerful method for developing and testing adaptive hypotheses. However, despite the great attention paid to geographic variation and the foraging ecology of birds, surprisingly few cases of convergent or parallel feeding adaptations have been adequately documented. In this study, we document a biogeographic pattern of parallel bill morphology across 10 sparrow taxa endemic to tidal marshes. All North American tidal marsh sparrows display parallel differentiation from close relatives in other habitats, suggesting that selection on bill morphology is strong. Relative to their body mass, tidal marsh sparrows have longer, thinner bills than their non-tidal marsh counterparts, which is likely an adaptation for consuming more invertebrates and fewer seeds, as well as for probing in sediment crevices to capture prey. Published data on tidal marsh food resources and diet of the relevant taxa support this hypothesis. This morphological differentiation is most pronounced between sister taxa with the greatest estimated divergence times, but is found even in taxa that show little or no structure in molecular genetic markers. We, therefore, speculate that tidal marsh ecosystems are likely settings for ecological speciation.
PLSR: Unstructured Pruning with Layer-Wise Sparsity Ratio

In the current era of multi-modal and large models gradually revealing their potential, neural network pruning has emerged as a crucial means of model compression. It is widely recognized that models tend to be over-parameterized, and pruning enables the removal of unimportant weights, leading to improved inference speed while preserving accuracy. From early methods such as gradient-based, and magnitude-based pruning to modern algorithms like iterative magnitude pruning, lottery ticket hypothesis, and pruning at initialization, researchers have strived to increase the compression ratio of model parameters while maintaining high accuracy. Currently, mainstream algorithms focus on the global pruning of neural networks using various scoring functions, followed by different pruning strategies to enhance the accuracy of sparse model. Recent studies have shown that random pruning with varying layer-wise sparsity ratio has achieved robust results for large models and out-of-distribution data. Based on this discovery, we propose a new score called FeatIO, which is based on module input and output feature map sizes. As a score function used in PaI, FeatIO surpasses the performance of other PaI score functions. Additionally, we propose a novel pruning strategy called Pruning with Layer-wise Sparsity Ratio (PLSR), which conbines the layer-wise sparsity ratios and magnitude-based score function, resulting in optimal evaluation performance. Almost all algorithms exhibit improved performance when using our novel pruning strategy. The combination of PLSR and FeatIO consistently outperforms other algorithms in testing, demonstrating the significant potential of our proposed approach. Our code will be available here.
Regulation of Body Temperature in the Blue-Tongued Lizard

Lizards (Tiliqua scincoides) regulated their internal body temperature by moving back and forth between 15� and 45�C environments to maintain colonic and brain temperatures between 30� and 37�C. A pair of thermodes were implanted across the preoptic region of the brain stem, and a reentrant tube for a thermocouple was implanted in the brain stem. Heating the brain stem to 41�C activated the exit response from the hot environment at a colonic temperature 1� to 2�C lower than normal, whereas cooling the brain stem to 25�C delayed the exit from the hot environment until the colonic temperature was 1� to 2�C higher than normal. The behavioral thermoregulatory responses of this ectotherm appear to be activated by a combination of hypothalamic and other body temperatures.
“I don’t want to grow up, I’m a [Gen X, Y, Me] kid”

The current studies examined the hypothesis that maturity fears are increasing among undergraduate men and women from the United States over time. Study 1 used a time-lag method to assess generational effects of maturity fears among a large sample (n = 3291) of undergraduate men and women assessed in 1982, 1992, 2002, and 2012. Results revealed that both men and women reported significantly higher rates of maturity fears across time. Study 2 replicated these findings, and used a more restricted time frame to more closely examine the rate of change. Undergraduate women (n = 673) were assessed in 2001, 2003, 2009, and 2012. Maturity fears were again found to increase from 2001 to 2012. Recent cohorts of emerging adults seem more reluctant to mature than previous cohorts. Many contributing factors may be at play, including challenging economic times, social pressures to remain youthful, and/or internal fears of assuming increased responsibility.
Detection of Katokkon Chili Maturity using Convolutional Neural Network with Transfer Learning Model DenseNet169

Chili is a plant that originates from America and is included in the Solonaceae and Capsicum genera. One type of chili that is included in the large chili category is Katokkon chili, commonly referred to as Toraja chili, which comes from the Tana Toraja district, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Research related to the detection of fruit ripeness and quality has also been conducted. However, the research that has been conducted still uses relatively few images, and the accuracy needs to be improved. In addition, no research has discussed the detection of Katokkon chili maturity level using images or images of Katokkon chili fruit taken directly from the tree. Therefore, research was conducted with the title Detection of the Maturity Level of Katokkon Chili using the CNN pretrained DenseNet169 model method. In this study, the level of maturity of chili peppers was classified into three categories: raw chilies, half-ripe chilies, and ripe chilies. Based on the results of several tests that have been carried out, the best accuracy results are obtained in testing using the DenseNet169 method, with an accuracy of 95.03%, a loss value of 16.72%, a recall and specificity value of 95.03% and 97.51% respectively, a precision value of 95.03%, and an accuracy CF of 96.69%. This shows that the DenseNet169 method with a combination (Swish, Swish, and Adamax) can be considered the best choice for classifying or detecting the level of maturity of Toraja chili compared other methods that have been tested.
Do Ownership, Financing and Dividend Decisions, and COVID-19 Matter for Firm Value? Evidence from Indonesia

This article examines the impact of ownership structure, type of ownership structure namely market investor, financing decision, dividend decision, and COVID-19 on the value of 158 selected firms over the 2010-2022 period. Using a Panel Least Square Technique (EGLS), the study documented that the ownership structure (the first largest shareholder, the second largest shareholder, the type of ownership structure or market investor), and dividend decision affect positively the firm value, while the financing decision and COVID-19 pandemic affect negatively the corporate value. Our result findings stress the significance of the ownership structure, type of ownership structure by the market investor, financing decision, and dividend decision to be taken into consideration by the manager of the firms to improve the firm value and for investors when designing the investment decision in the Indonesian stock market.
Cracking Tendency and Drying Shrinkage of Silica Fume Concrete for Bridge Deck Applications

This paper presents the results of a study of the cracking tendency and drying shrinkage of silica fume concretes designed for full-depth and overlay placements of highway bridge decks. Mixtures for each application were prepared over a range of silica fume contents and water-cementitious material ratios (w/cm). Concrete laboratory specimens were prepared for testing of unrestrained drying shrinkage and tendency to crack using a restrained ring geometry. Regression analysis was performed on data developed from the laboratory testing and response surface models, and analyses of variance were carried out. The results demonstrate that the tendency of concrete to crack is influenced by the addition of silica fume only when the concrete is improperly cured. When concrete is cured for 7 days under continuously moist conditions, there is no significant effect of silica fume on the tendency of the concrete to exhibit early-age cracking. Silica fume has little effect on the ultimate (long-term) shrinkage of concrete; concretes containing silica fume do not shrink more than otherwise identical concretes without silica fume. At early ages, however, silica fume concrete mixtures show somewhat higher shrinkages than their conventional counterparts. Concrete containing silica fume is more sensitive to changes in w/cm than conventional concrete in terms of the shrinkage that develops at early ages. It is recommended that specifications for silica fume concretes in bridge deck construction include a provision for 7-day continuous moist curing of exposed surfaces.
Accurate expectancies diminish perceptual distraction during visual search

The load theory of visual attention proposes that efficient selective perceptual processing of task-relevant information during search is determined automatically by the perceptual demands of the display. If the perceptual demands required to process task-relevant information are not enough to consume all available capacity, then the remaining capacity automatically and exhaustively “spills-over” to task-irrelevant information. The spill-over of perceptual processing capacity increases the likelihood that task-irrelevant information will impair performance. In two visual search experiments, we tested the automaticity of the allocation of perceptual processing resources by measuring the extent to which the processing of task-irrelevant distracting stimuli was modulated by both perceptual load and top-down expectations using behavior, functional magnetic resonance imaging, and electrophysiology. Expectations were generated using a trial-by-trial cue that provided information about the likely load of the upcoming visual search task. When the cues were valid, behavioral interference was eliminated and the influence of load on frontoparietal and visual cortical responses was attenuated relative to when the cues were invalid. In conditions in which task-irrelevant information interfered with performance and modulated visual activity, individual differences in mean blood oxygenation level dependent responses measured from the left intraparietal sulcus were negatively correlated with individual differences in the severity of distraction. These results are consistent with the interpretation that a top-down biasing mechanism interacts with perceptual load to support filtering of task-irrelevant information.
An Algorithm for Jammer Localization in Wireless Sensor Networks

In wireless sensor networks (WSNs), jamming attacks have become a great concern recently. Finding the location of a jamming device is important so as to take security actions against the jammer and restore the network communication. In this paper, we take a comprehensive study on the jammer localization problem, and propose a simple while effective algorithm called Double Circle Localization (DCL). DCL is based on minimum bounding circle (MBC) and maximum inscribed circle (MIC). We implement and evaluate DCL under different conditions, including different node densities, jammer's transmission powers and antenna orientations, and compare it with three existing jammer localization algorithms through both simulation and experiments. Our evaluation results have demonstrated that, compared with all other approaches, DCL achieves the best accuracy in jammer localization.
Phos‐tag SDS‐PAGE systems for phosphorylation profiling of proteins with a wide range of molecular masses under neutral pH conditions

We have previously reported a neutral‐pH gel system buffered with Bis‐Tris hydrochloride (Bis‐Tris–HCl) in Zn2+–Phos‐tag SDS‐PAGE for advanced profiling of phosphoproteins with molecular masses of 10–200 kDa. In the current work, we describe characteristics of two neutral‐pH gel systems, Bis‐Tris–HCl and Tris–acetic acid (Tris–AcOH), based on comparative studies of the separation of a wide range of proteins with molecular masses from 10 to 350 kDa. For 10–200 kDa cellular proteins, the Bis‐Tris–HCl system showed a higher resolving power in a 2‐D fluorescence DIGE analysis of certain phosphoproteins, e.g. histone H3 (15 kDa) and elongation factor 2 (95 kDa). Furthermore, there was a large difference in the 1‐D migration patterns of phosphorylated species of extracellular signal‐regulated kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1/2, 44/42 kDa), which arise from changes in the phosphorylation status of the Thr‐202 and Tyr‐204, in the two buffer systems at the same concentration of Zn2+–Phos‐tag. In contrast, shifts in the mobility of various phosphorylated species of a high‐molecular‐mass protein, ataxia telangiectasia‐mutated kinase (ATM, 350 kDa), could only be detected in the Tris–AcOH system with a 3% w/v polyacrylamide gel strengthened with 0.5% w/v agarose.
Optimal replacement policy for a deteriorating production system with preventive maintenance

This paper presents a new policy for determining the optimal replacement time of a deteriorating production system. The optimal replacement time is expressed in terms of the accumulated number of failures that the system has experienced. The provision of preventive maintenance is incorporated in the system model and the objective function is cost efficiency (i.e. the long-run average cost per unit working time). A numerical example is given in the paper. The basic concept used in this paper parallels the geometric process replacement policy N introduced by Lam in 1988. The work in this paper generalizes and modifies Lam's 1988 work.