Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Bio-Inspired Approach for the Reduction of Left Ventricular Workload

Previous studies have demonstrated the existence of optimization criteria in the design and development of mammalians cardiovascular systems. Similarities in mammalian arterial wave reflection suggest there are certain design criteria for the optimization of arterial wave dynamics. Inspired by these natural optimization criteria, we investigated the feasibility of optimizing the aortic waves by modifying wave reflection sites. A hydraulic model that has physical and dynamical properties similar to a human aorta and left ventricle was used for a series of in-vitro experiments. The results indicate that placing an artificial reflection site (a ring) at a specific location along the aorta may create a constructive wave dynamic that could reduce LV pulsatile workload. This simple bio-inspired approach may have important implications for the future of treatment strategies for diseased aorta.
Unsupervised Creation of Parameterized Avatars

We study the problem of mapping an input image to a tied pair consisting of a vector of parameters and an image that is created using a graphical engine from the vector of parameters. The mapping's objective is to have the output image as similar as possible to the input image. During training, no supervision is given in the form of matching inputs and outputs. This learning problem extends two literature problems: unsupervised domain adaptation and cross domain transfer. We define a generalization bound that is based on discrepancy, and employ a GAN to implement a network solution that corresponds to this bound. Experimentally, our method is shown to solve the problem of automatically creating avatars.
A mass spectrometric study of secondary organic aerosols formed from the photooxidation of anthropogenic and biogenic precursors in a reaction chamber

An Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) has been utilised to provide on-line measurements of the mass spectral signatures and mass size distributions of the oxidation products resulting from irradiating 1,3,5- trimethylbenzene (1,3,5-TMB) and -pinene, separately, in the presence of nitrogen oxide, nitrogen dioxide and propene in a reaction chamber. Mass spectral results indicate that both precursors produce SOA with broadly similar chemi- cal functionality of a highly oxidised nature. However, sig- nificant differences occur in the minor mass spectral frag- ments for the SOA in the two reaction systems, indicating that they have different molecular composition. Nitrogen- containing organic compounds have been observed in the photooxidation products of both precursors, and their for- mation appeared to be controlled by the temporal variabil- ity of NOx. Although the overall fragmentation patterns of the photooxidation products in both systems did not change substantially over the duration of each experiment, the con- tribution of some individual mass fragments to total mass appeared to be influenced by the irradiation time. The ef- fective densities of the 1,3,5-TMB and -pinene SOA parti- cles were determined for various particle sizes using the re- lationship between mobility and vacuum aerodynamic diam- eters. The effective density for the 1,3,5-TMB SOA ranged from 1.35-1.40g/cm 3 , while that for -pinene SOA ranged from 1.29-1.32g/cm 3 . The determined effective densities did not show dependence on irradiation time. Results sug- gest that further chemical processing of SOA takes place in the real atmosphere, as neither the -pinene nor the 1,3,5- TMB experimental results reproduce the right relative prod- uct distribution between carbonyl-containing and multifunc- tional carboxylic acid species measured at ambient locations influenced by aged continental organic aerosols.
Leaf lifespan is positively correlated with periods of leaf production and reproduction in 49 herb and shrub species

Abstract Leaf life span and plant phenology are central elements in strategies for plant carbon gain and nutrient conservation. Although few studies have found that leaf life span correlate with the patterns of leaf dynamics and reproductive output, but there have not been sufficient conclusive tests for relationships between leaf life span and plant phenological traits, the forms and strengths of such relationships are poorly understood. This study was conducted with 49 herb and shrub species collected from the eastern portion of the Tibetan Plateau and grown together in a common garden setting. We investigated leaf life span, the periods of leaf production and death, the time lag between leaf production and death, and the period of plant reproduction (i.e., flowering and fruiting). Interspecific relationships of leaf life span with leaf dynamics and reproduction period were determined. Leaf production period was far longer than leaf death period and largely reflected the interspecific variation of leaf life span. Moreover, leaf life span was positively correlated with the length of reproduction (i.e., flowering and fruiting) period. These relationships were generally consistent across different subgroups of species (herbs vs. shrubs) and indicate potentially widely applicable relationships between LLS and aboveground phenology. We concluded that leaf life span is associated not simply with the dynamics of the leaf itself but with reproduction period. The results demonstrate a plant trade‐off in resource allocation between production and reproduction and a coordinated arrangement of leaves, flowers, and fruits in their time investment. Our results provide insight into the relationship between leaf life span and plant phenology.
On the Persistence and Global Stability of Mass-Action Systems

This paper concerns the long-term behavior of population systems, and in particular of chemical reaction systems, modeled by deterministic mass-action kinetics. We approach two important open problems in the field of chemical reaction network theory: the Persistence Conjecture and the Global Attractor Conjecture. We study the persistence of a large class of networks called lower-endotactic and, in particular, show that in weakly reversible mass-action systems with two-dimensional stoichiometric subspace all bounded trajectories are persistent. Moreover, we use these ideas to show that the Global Attractor Conjecture is true for systems with three-dimensional stoichiometric subspace.
Perimetric and peri‐papillary nerve fibre layer thickness findings in multiple sclerosis

Background and purpose: Several previous studies have employed optical coherence tomography (OCT) of the optic disc and ‘white‐on‐white’ automated perimetry to evaluate optic neuritis (ON) associated with multiple sclerosis (MS). This study employed OCT, white‐on‐white automated perimetry as well as ‘blue‐on‐yellow’ automated perimetry to evaluate MS patients with or without episodes of ON.
The metabolic cost of force generation.

INTRODUCTION The purpose of this study was to provide support, based on a review of existing data, for a general relationship between metabolic cost and force generated. There are confounding factors that can affect metabolic cost, including muscle contraction type (isometric, eccentric, or concentric), length, and speed as well as fiber type (e.g., fast or slow) and moment arm distances. Despite these factors, empirical relationships for metabolic cost have been found that transcend species and movements. METHODS We revisited the various equations that have been proposed to relate metabolic rate with mass, velocity, and step contact time during running and found that metabolic rate was proportional to the external force generated and the number of steps per unit time. This relationship was in agreement with a previously proposed hypothesis that the metabolic cost to generate a single application of a unit external force is a constant. RESULTS Data from the literature were collected for a number of different activities and species to support the hypothesis. Running quadrupedal and bipedal species, as well as human cycling, cross-country skiing, running (forward, backward, on an incline, and against a horizontal force), and arm activities (running, cycling, and ski poling), all had a constant metabolic cost per unit external force per application. CONCLUSION The proportionality constant varied with activity, possibly reflecting differences in the aspects of muscular contraction, fiber types, or mechanical advantage in each activity. It is speculated that a more general relation could be obtained if biomechanical analyses to account for other factors, such as contraction length, were included.
CAP: A Context-Aware Privacy Protection System for Location-Based Services

We address issues related to privacy protection in location-based services (LBS). Most existing research in this field either requires a trusted third-party (anonymizer) or uses oblivious protocols that are computationally and communicationally expensive. Our design of privacy-preserving techniques is principled on not requiring a trusted third-party while being highly efficient in terms of time and space complexities. The problem has two interesting and challenging characteristics: First, the degree of privacy protection and LBS accuracy depends on the context, such as population and road density, around a user's location. Second, an adversary may violate a user's location privacy in two ways: (i) based on the user's location information contained in the LBS query payload, and (ii) by inferring a user's geographical location based on its device's IP address. To address these challenges, we introduce CAP, a Context-Aware Privacy-preserving LBS system with integrated protection for data privacy and communication anonymity. We have implemented CAP and integrated it with Google Maps, a popular LBS system. Theoretical analysis and experimental results validate CAP's effectiveness on privacy protection, LBS accuracy, and communication Quality-of-Service.
The Reduced Folate Carrier (RFC-1) 80A>G Polymorphism and Maternal Risk of Having a Child with Down Syndrome: A Meta-Analysis

A common polymorphism (c.80A>G) in the gene coding for the reduced folate carrier (SLC19A1, commonly known as RFC-1) has been associated with maternal risk of the birth of a child with Down Syndrome (DS), but results are controversial. We searched major online databases to identify available case-control studies, and performed a meta-analysis to summarize the data concerning this association. Nine independent case-control studies were identified for a total of 930 DS mothers (MDS) and 1240 control mothers. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using both fixed and random effects models. An increase in the risk of having a birth with DS was observed for carriers of the homozygous GG genotype (OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.04–1.57; p = 0.02, fixed effects model), even after removal from the meta-analysis of published data with deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) in controls (OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.02–1.55; p = 0.03, fixed effects model). Moreover, the pooled OR under the fixed effects model showed an increase in the maternal risk for the G allele (OR 1.14, 95% CI 1.01–1.30; p = 0.03). Present results suggest that the maternal RFC-1 80A>G polymorphism might be associated with an increased risk of having a birth with DS, particularly among carriers of the GG genotype.
Clipping Noise Cancelation for OFDM Systems Using Reliable Observations Based on Compressed Sensing

In this paper, a clipping noise cancelation scheme using compressed sensing (CS) technique is proposed for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing systems. The proposed scheme does not need reserved tones or pilot tones, which is different from the previous works using CS technique. Instead, observations of the clipping noise in data tones are exploited, which leads to no loss of data rate. Also, in contrast with the previous works, the proposed scheme selectively exploits the reliable observations of the clipping noise instead of using whole observations, which results in minimizing the bad influence of channel noise. From the selected reliable observations, the clipping noise in time domain is reconstructed and canceled by using CS technique. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme performs well compared to other conventional clipping noise cancelation schemes and shows the best performance in some cases.
Appraisal of the methodological quality and summary of the findings of systematic reviews on the relationship between SSRIs and suicidality

Background Several systematic reviews have been published about the relationship of the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and risk of suicidal ideation or behavior but there has been no formal assessment of the quality of these reports. Aim Assess the methodological quality of systematic reviews about the relationship of SSRI use and suicidal ideation and behavior; and provide overall conclusions based on this assessment. Methods Systematic reviews of RCTs that compared SSRIs to placebo and used suicidal ideation or behavior as a key outcome variable were identified by searching Pubmed, Embase, The Cochrane Library, EBSCO, PsycINFO, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chongqing VIP database for Chinese Technical Periodicals, WANFANG DATA, and the Chinese Biological Medical Literature Database. The methodological quality of included reviews was independently assessed by two expert raters using the 11-item Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) scale. Results Twelve systematic reviews and meta-analyses were identified. The inter-rater reliability of the overall AMSTAR quality score was excellent (ICC=0.86) but the inter-rater reliability of 5 of the 11 AMSTAR items was poor (Kappa <0.60). Based on the AMSTAR total score, there was one high-quality review, eight moderate-quality reviews, and three low-quality reviews. The high-quality review and three of the moderate-quality reviews reported a significantly increased risk of suicidal ideation or behavior in the SSRI group compared to the placebo group. Three of the four reviews limited to children and adolescents found a significantly increased risk of suicidal ideation or behavior with SSRI use which was most evident in teenagers taking paroxetine and in teenagers with depressive disorders. Conclusions The available evidence suggests that adolescents may experience an increase in suicidal ideation and behavior with SSRI use, particularly those who have a depressive disorder and those treated with paroxetine. However, there are few high-quality reviews on this issue, so some doubt about the evidence remains. The AMSTAR scale may be useful in the ongoing efforts to improve the quality of systematic reviews, but further work is needed on tightening the operational criteria for some of the items in the scale.
Guided Wave Tomography Based on Full Waveform Inversion

In this paper, a guided wave tomography method based on full waveform inversion (FWI) is developed for accurate and high-resolution reconstruction of the remaining wall thickness in isotropic plates. The forward model is computed in the frequency domain by solving a full-wave equation in a two-dimensional (2-D) acoustic model, accounting for higher order effects such as diffractions and multiple scattering. Both numerical simulations and experiments were carried out to obtain the signals of a dispersive guided mode propagating through defects. The inversion was based on local optimization of a waveform misfit function between modeled and measured data, and was applied iteratively to discrete frequency components from low to high frequencies. The resulting wave velocity maps were then converted to thickness maps by the dispersion characteristics of selected guided modes. The results suggest that the FWI method is capable to reconstruct the thickness map of a irregularly shaped defect accurately on a 10-mm-thick plate with the thickness error within 0.5 mm.
IMAGE CLASSIFICATION WITH A REGION BASED APPROACH IN HIGH SPATIAL RESOLUTION IMAGERY

: A number of studies have been carried out to find an appropriate spatial resolution to which to aggregate data in order to reduce the variation within an object, and minimize the classification error. Such approaches are pixel-based, and do not draw on the spatial variability as a source of information. The variability within an object can provide additional information that can be used for image classification. Instead of pixels, groups of pixels that form image segments, which are called “patches” in this study, were used for image classification. New methods that exploit multivariate statistics to improve the image classification are suggested. In the case of the object-based classification, patches are not expected to consist of pixels with completely homogeneous spectral radiances, but rather certain levels of variability are expected. To treat this variation within objects, multivariate normal distributions are assumed for every group of pixels in each patch, and multivariate variance-covariance matrices are calculated. A test of this approach was conducted using digital aerial imagery with a nominal one meter pixel size, and four multispectral bands, acquired over the small city of Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. Four classification methods were compared: the pixel-based ISODATA and maximum likelihood approaches, and region based maximum likelihood using patch means and patch probability density functions (pdfs). For region-based approaches, after initial segmentation, image patches were classified into seven classes: Building, Road, Forest, Lawn, Shadowed Vegetation, Water, and Shadow. Classification with ISODATA showed the lowest accuracy, a kappa index of 0.610. The highest accuracy, 0.783, was obtained from classification using the patch pdf. This classification also produced a visually pleasing product, with well-delineated
Circulation of Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus Strains Among Hospitalized Children with Acute Lower Respiratory Infection in Malaysia

Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major viral pathogen associated with acute lower respiratory tract infections (ALRTIs) among hospitalized children. In this study, the genetic diversity of the RSV strains was investigated among nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPA) taken from children less than 5 years of age hospitalized with ALRTIs in Hospital Serdang, Malaysia. A total of 165 NPA samples were tested for the presence of RSV and other respiratory viruses from June until December 2009. RSV was found positive in 83 (50%) of the samples using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Further classification of 67 RSV strains showed that subgroups A and B comprised 11/67 (16.4%) and 56/67 (83.6%) of the strains, respectively. The second hypervariable region at the carboxyl-terminal of the G gene was amplified and sequenced in order to do phylogenetic study. The phylogenetic relationships of the samples were determined separately for subgroups A and B using neighbor joining (NJ), maximum parsimony (MP), and Bayesian inference (BI). Phylogenetic analysis of the 32 sequenced samples showed that all 9 RSV-A strains were clustered within NA1 genotype while the remaining 23 strains of the RSV-B subgroup could be grouped into a clade consisted of strains with 60-nucleotide duplication region. They were further classified into newly discovered BA10 and BA9 genotypes. The present finding suggests the emergence of RSV genotypes of NA1 and BA. This is the first documentation of the phylogenetic relationship and genetic diversity of RSV strains among hospitalized children diagnosed with ALRTI in Serdang, Malaysia.
Physiological homology between Drosophila melanogaster and vertebrate cardiovascular systems

SUMMARY The physiology of the Drosophila melanogaster cardiovascular system remains poorly characterized compared with its vertebrate counterparts. Basic measures of physiological performance remain unknown. It also is unclear whether subtle physiological defects observed in the human cardiovascular system can be reproduced in D. melanogaster. Here we characterize the cardiovascular physiology of D. melanogaster in its pre-pupal stage by using high-speed dye angiography and optical coherence tomography. The heart has vigorous pulsatile contractions that drive intracardiac, aortic and extracellular-extravascular hemolymph flow. Several physiological measures, including weight-adjusted cardiac output, body-length-adjusted aortic velocities and intracardiac shear forces, are similar to those in the closed vertebrate cardiovascular systems, including that of humans. Extracellular-extravascular flow in the pre-pupal D. melanogaster circulation drives convection-limited fluid transport. To demonstrate homology in heart dysfunction, we showed that, at the pre-pupal stage, a troponin I mutant, held-up2 (hdp2), has impaired systolic and diastolic heart wall velocities. Impaired heart wall velocities occur in the context of a non-dilated phenotype with a mildly depressed fractional shortening. We additionally derive receiver operating characteristic curves showing that heart wall velocity is a potentially powerful discriminator of systolic heart dysfunction. Our results demonstrate physiological homology and support the use of D. melanogaster as an animal model of complex cardiovascular disease.
The Might of the Pen: A Reputational Theory of Communication in International Disputes

I present a theory of effective diplomacy based on honesty and reputations. I model diplomacy as a form of “cheap talk” and international interactions as an infinitely repeated game in which similar states find themselves in disparate situations over time. The theory explains the success and failure of diplomacy. Reputations for honesty make honest communication possible. A state caught bluffing is less able to communicate and less likely to attain its goals in the near future. These findings imply that domestic audience costs are unnecessary for international signaling and that military strength is not the only way to build credibility.
The road to everywhere : Evolution, complexity and progress in natural and artificial systems

Evolution is notorious for its creative power, but also for giving rise to complex, unpredictable dynamics. As a result, practitioners of artificial evolution have encountered difficulties in predicting, analysing, or even understanding the outcome of their experiments. In particular, the concept of evolutionary "progress" (whether in the sense of performance increase or complexity growth) has given rise to much debate and confusion. After a careful description of the mechanisms of evolution and natural selection, we provide usable concepts of performance and progress in coevolution. In particular, we introduce a distinction between three types of progress: local, historical, and global, which we suggest underlies much of the confusion that surrounds coevolutionary dynamics. Similarly, we provide a comprehensive answer to the question of whether an "arrow of complexity" exists in evolution. We introduce several methods to detect and analyse performance and progress in coevolutionary experiments. We propose a statistical measure (Fitness Transmission) to detect the presence of adaptive Darwinian evolution in a reproducing population, based solely on genealogic records; we also point out the limitations of a popular method (the Bedau-Packard statistics of evolutionary activity) for this purpose. To test and illustrate our results, we implement a rich experimental system, inspired by the seminal work of Karl Sims, in which virtual creatures can evolve and interact under various conditions in a physically realistic three-dimensional (3D) environment. To our knowledge, this is the first complete reimplementation and extension of Sims' results. We later extend this system with the introduction of physical combat between creatures, also a first. Finally, we introduce Evosphere, an open, planet-like environment in which 3D artificial creatures interact, reproduce and evolve freely. We conclude our discussion by using Fitness Transmission to detect the onset of adaptive evolution in this system.