Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Au th or ' s pe rs on al co py Developing adaptive systems with synchronized architectures q

In this paper we show how to specify and refine self-adapting systems, by employing the state-based formalism called action systems. Assuming a fixed set of possible configurations, we use a recently-introduced synchronization operator to achieve separation of concerns between adaptation policy, fault tolerance and steady-state system execution. Using action systems allows us to apply standard refinement techniques, aimed for correct implementations of higher-level models. We illustrate this idea by applying it to the problem of coping with dynamically-varying user requirements and possible fault situations. 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Closed-loop insulin delivery – what lies between where we are and where we are going?

Closed-loop insulin delivery in individuals with diabetes can potentially lead to near-normal glucose profiles. To this end, existing subcutaneous glucose sensors and external insulin pumps can be linked with an insulin delivery algorithm to create a completely automated closed-loop system. This paper reviews current research into the development of such a system, with particular emphasis on creating a system emulating the physiological properties of the β-cell. Issues related to using subcutaneous interstitial fluid for glucose -sensing and insulin delivery are reviewed. Criteria for optimising the system are discussed using historical data. Existing strategies for open-loop pump therapy are presented with the objective of defining a path to advance from the existing physician/patient determined insulin therapy to a completely automated system.
Cancer incidence in Rabat, Morocco: 2006–2008

Introduction No population-based data of cancer incidence from Morocco have been published before. This is the first report of cancer incidence in Rabat from a population-based cancer registry for the period 2006–2008. Materials and methods The cancer registry collects data on all new cases of cancer diagnosed in the resident population of the Rabat area. Data collection is an active process involving visits by registry staff to all data sources, essentially hospitals, pathological laboratories, and private clinics in Rabat. Results A total of 2,473 new cases of cancer were registered among residents in Rabat during the period 2006–2008. The overall world age-standardised rate (ASR) for all sites combined was 136.6/100,000 for men and 114.5/100,000 for women. The most frequently diagnosed malignancies in males were lung cancer (19.0%, ASR 24.8/105), followed by prostate cancer (15.5%, ASR 22.9/105), colorectal cancer (8.8%, ASR 12.0/105), bladder cancer (6.9%, ASR 9.7/105), and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) (6.0%, ASR 8.2/105). In females, the most frequently reported malignancies were breast cancer (39.9%, ASR 43.4/105), followed by cervix uteri cancer (11.4%, ASR 13.0/105), colorectal cancer (7.5%, ASR 9.0/105), NHL (3.4, ASR 4.2/105), and thyroid cancer (3.4%, ASR 3.9/105). Of all cancers, 2% are observed in childhood (0–14 years), and ~43% of them are malignant haemopathies. Conclusion The data reported by Rabat Cancer Registry indicate that cancers of the breast, cervix, uteri, and colon and rectum in females and the lung, prostate, and colon and rectum in men are major cancers in the population of Rabat. The Incidences observed are sometimes different from those observed in the neighbouring North African countries.
Mental Disorders and the Use of Psychotropic Drugs in an 85-Year-Old Urban Population

The prevalence of mental disorders was studied in a representative sample of 85-year-old living in Gothenburg, Sweden, (n=494). All subjects were examined by a psychiatrist, whose diagnoses were defined according to the DSM-III-R criteria. In the sample, the prevalence of dementia was 29.8%, and of any other mental disorder was 24.3%. Psychotic disorders were present in 4.7%, depressive disorders in 12.6%, and anxiety disorders in 10.5%. Anxiety disorders were more common in women than in men. Of all subjects, 42.5% used a psychotropic drug (men 30.1%, women 47.6%, p<0.001), 34.2% used anxiolytic-sedatives, 14.0% used antidepressants, and 5.7% used neuroleptics. Women used significantly more anxiolytic-sedatives and antidepressants than did men. Of those with no mental disorders, 29.1% used a psychotropic drug. Although the prescription of psychotropic drugs was high, only one fifth of those with depressive disorders received antidepressant drug therapy and one tenth of those with psychotic disorders received neuroleptics.
Homeomorphisms of one-dimensional inverse limits with applications to substitution tilings

Suppose that f and g are Markov surjections, each defined on a wedge of circles, each fixing the branch point and having the branch point as the only critical value. We show that if the points in the inverse limit spaces associated with f and g corresponding to the branch point are distinguished then these inverse limit spaces are homeomorphic if and only if the substitutions associated with f and g are weakly equivalent. This, and related results, are applied to one-dimensional substitution tiling spaces, one-dimensional unstable manifolds of hyperbolic sets, and inverse limits of tent maps with periodic critical points.
Hypothalamic circuits regulating appetite and energy homeostasis: pathways to obesity

ABSTRACT The ‘obesity epidemic’ represents a major global socioeconomic burden that urgently calls for a better understanding of the underlying causes of increased weight gain and its associated metabolic comorbidities, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases. Improving our understanding of the cellular basis of obesity could set the stage for the development of new therapeutic strategies. The CNS plays a pivotal role in the regulation of energy and glucose homeostasis. Distinct neuronal cell populations, particularly within the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus, sense the nutrient status of the organism and integrate signals from peripheral hormones including pancreas-derived insulin and adipocyte-derived leptin to regulate calorie intake, glucose metabolism and energy expenditure. The arcuate neurons are tightly connected to other specialized neuronal subpopulations within the hypothalamus, but also to various extrahypothalamic brain regions, allowing a coordinated behavioral response. This At a Glance article gives an overview of the recent knowledge, mainly derived from rodent models, regarding the CNS-dependent regulation of energy and glucose homeostasis, and illustrates how dysregulation of the neuronal networks involved can lead to overnutrition and obesity. The potential impact of recent research findings in the field on therapeutic treatment strategies for human obesity is also discussed. Summary: This at a glance article gives an overview of the recent knowledge mainly derived from rodent models regarding the CNS-dependent regulation of energy and glucose homeostasis, and depicts how dysregulation of the involved neuronal networks promotes overnutrition and obesity.
Distributed connectivity control of mobile networks

Control of mobile networks raises fundamental and novel problems in controlling the structure of the resulting dynamic graphs. In particular, in applications involving mobile sensor networks and multi-agent systems, a great new challenge is the development of distributed motion algorithms that guarantee connectivity of the overall network. In this paper, we address this challenge using a novel control decomposition. First, motion control is performed in the continuous state space, where nearest neighbor potential fields are used to maintain existing links in the network. Second, distributed coordination protocols in the discrete graph space ensure connectivity of the switching network topology. Coordination is based on locally updated estimates of the abstract network topology by every agent as well as distributed auctions that enable tie breaking whenever simultaneous link deletions may violate connectivity. Integration of the overall system results in a distributed, multi- agent, hybrid system for which we show that, under certain secondary objectives on the agents and the assumption that the initial network is connected, the resulting motion always satisfies connectivity of the network. Our approach can also account for communication time delays in the network as well as collision avoidance, while its efficiency and scalability properties are illustrated in nontrivial computer simulations.
A New Neural Network for B-Turn Prediction: the Effect of Site-Specific Amino Acid Preference

The prediction of β-turn, despite the observation that one out of four residues in protein belongs to this structure element, has attracted considerably less attention comparing to secondary structure predictions. Neural network machine learning is a popular approach to address such a problem of structural bioinformatics. In this paper, we describe a new neural network model for β-turn prediction that accounts for site-specific amino acid preference, a property ignored in previous training models. We showed that the statistics of amino acid preference at specific sites within and around a β-turn is rather significant, and incorporation of this property helps improve the network performance. Furthermore, by contrasting with a previous model, we revealed a deficiency of not incorporating this site-specific property in previous models.
Using Noble Gases to Compare Parameterizations of Air‐Water Gas Exchange and to Constrain Oxygen Losses by Ebullition in a Shallow Aquatic Environment

Accurate determination of air‐water gas exchange fluxes is critically important for calculating ecosystem metabolism rates from dissolved oxygen in shallow aquatic environments. We present a unique data set of the noble gases neon, argon, krypton, and xenon in a salt marsh pond to demonstrate how the dissolved noble gases can be used to quantify gas transfer processes and evaluate gas exchange parameterizations in shallow, near‐shore environments. These noble gases are sensitive to a variety of physical processes, including bubbling. We thus additionally use this data set to demonstrate how dissolved noble gases can be used to assess the contribution of bubbling from the sediments (ebullition) to gas fluxes. We find that while literature gas exchange parameterizations do well in modeling more soluble gases, ebullition must be accounted for in order to correctly calculate fluxes of the lighter noble gases. In particular, for neon and argon, the ebullition flux is larger than the differences in the diffusive gas exchange flux estimated by four different wind speed‐based parameterizations for gas exchange. We present an application of noble gas derived ebullition rates to improve estimates of oxygen metabolic fluxes in this shallow pond environment. Up to 21% of daily net oxygen production by photosynthesis may be lost from the pond via ebullition during some periods of biologically and physically produced supersaturation. Ebullition could be an important flux of oxygen and other gases that is measurable with noble gases in other shallow aquatic environments.
Pay for Short-Term Performance: Executive Compensation in Speculative Markets

We argue that the root cause behind the recent corporate scandals associated with CEO pay is the technology bubble of the latter half of the 1990s. Far from rejecting the optimal incentive contracting theory of executive compensation, the recent evidence on executive pay can be reconciled with classical agency theory once one expands the framework to allow for speculative stock markets.
Constraints on the accretion history of massive black holes from faint X-ray counts

We investigate how hierarchical models for the co-evolution of the massive black hole (MBH) and active galactic nucleus (AGN) population can reproduce the observed faint X-ray counts. We find that the main variable influencing the theoretical predictions is the Eddington ratio of accreting sources. We compare three different models proposed for the evolution of an AGN Eddington ratio, f Edd : constant/f Edd = 1, f Edd decreasing with redshift and/f Edd depending on the AGN luminosity, as suggested by simulations of galactic mergers including MBHs and AGN feedback. We follow the full assembly of MBHs and host haloes from early times to the present in a A cold dark matter (ACDM) cosmology. An AGN activity is triggered by halo major mergers and MBH accrete mass until they satisfy the observed correlation with velocity dispersion. We find that all the three models can reproduce fairly well the total faint X-ray counts. The redshift distribution is, however, poorly matched in the first two models. The Eddington ratios suggested by merger simulations predict no turn-off of the faint end of the AGN optical luminosity function at redshifts z? 1, down to very low luminosity.
Cloning and mitochondrial localization of full-length D-AKAP2, a protein kinase A anchoring protein

Differential compartmentalization of signaling molecules in cells and tissues is being recognized as an important mechanism for regulating the specificity of signal transduction pathways. A kinase anchoring proteins (AKAPs) direct the subcellular localization of protein kinase A (PKA) by binding to its regulatory (R) subunits. Dual specific AKAPs (D-AKAPs) interact with both RI and RII. A 372-residue fragment of mouse D-AKAP2 with a 40-residue C-terminal PKA binding region and a putative regulator of G protein signaling (RGS) domain was previously identified by means of a yeast two-hybrid screen. Here, we report the cloning of full-length human D-AKAP2 (662 residues) with an additional putative RGS domain, and the corresponding mouse protein less the first two exons (617 residues). Expression of D-AKAP2 was characterized by using mouse tissue extracts. Full-length D-AKAP2 from various tissues shows different molecular weights, possibly because of alternative splicing or posttranslational modifications. The cloned human gene product has a molecular weight similar to one of the prominent mouse proteins. In vivo association of D-AKAP2 with PKA in mouse brain was demonstrated by using cAMP agarose pull-down assay. Subcellular localization for endogenous mouse, rat, and human D-AKAP2 was determined by immunocytochemistry, immunohistochemistry, and tissue fractionation. D-AKAP2 from all three species is highly enriched in mitochondria. The mitochondrial localization and the presence of RGS domains in D-AKAP2 may have important implications for its function in PKA and G protein signal transduction.
Vaccination for protection of retinal ganglion cells against death from glutamate cytotoxicity and ocular hypertension: Implications for glaucoma

Our group recently demonstrated that autoimmune T cells directed against central nervous system-associated myelin antigens protect neurons from secondary degeneration. We further showed that the synthetic peptide copolymer 1 (Cop-1), known to suppress experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, can be safely substituted for the natural myelin antigen in both passive and active immunization for neuroprotection of the injured optic nerve. Here we attempted to determine whether similar immunizations are protective from retinal ganglion cell loss resulting from a direct biochemical insult caused, for example, by glutamate (a major mediator of degeneration in acute and chronic optic nerve insults) and in a rat model of ocular hypertension. Passive immunization with T cells reactive to myelin basic protein or active immunization with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein-derived peptide, although neuroprotective after optic nerve injury, was ineffective against glutamate toxicity in mice and rats. In contrast, the number of surviving retinal ganglion cells per square millimeter in glutamate-injected retinas was significantly larger in mice immunized 10 days previously with Cop-1 emulsified in complete Freund's adjuvant than in mice injected with PBS in the same adjuvant (2,133 ± 270 and 1,329 ± 121, respectively, mean ± SEM; P < 0.02). A similar pattern was observed when mice were immunized on the day of glutamate injection (1,777 ± 101 compared with 1,414 ± 36; P < 0.05), but not when they were immunized 48 h later. These findings suggest that protection from glutamate toxicity requires reinforcement of the immune system by antigens that are different from those associated with myelin. The use of Cop-1 apparently circumvents this antigen specificity barrier. In the rat ocular hypertension model, which simulates glaucoma, immunization with Cop-1 significantly reduced the retinal ganglion cell loss from 27.8% ± 6.8% to 4.3% ± 1.6%, without affecting the intraocular pressure. This study may point the way to a therapy for glaucoma, a neurodegenerative disease of the optic nerve often associated with increased intraocular pressure, as well as for acute and chronic degenerative disorders in which glutamate is a prominent participant.
Generic Remeshing of 3D Triangular Meshes with Metric-Dependent Discrete Voronoi Diagrams

In this paper, we propose a generic framework for 3D surface remeshing. Based on a metric-driven Discrete Voronoi Diagram construction, our output is an optimized 3D triangular mesh with a user-defined vertex budget. Our approach can deal with a wide range of applications, from high-quality mesh generation to shape approximation. By using appropriate metric constraints, the method generates isotropic or anisotropic elements. Based on point sampling, our algorithm combines the robustness and theoretical strength of Delaunay criteria with the efficiency of an entirely discrete geometry processing. Besides the general described framework, we show the experimental results using isotropic, quadric-enhanced isotropic, and anisotropic metrics, which prove the efficiency of our method on large meshes at a low computational cost.
Endothelial primary cilia inhibit atherosclerosis

Primary cilia are microtubule‐based structures present on most mammalian cells that are important for intercellular signaling. Cilia are present on a subset of endothelial cells where they project into the vessel lumen and are implicated as mechanical sensors of blood flow. To test the in vivo role of endothelial cilia, we conditionally deleted Ift88, a gene required for ciliogenesis, in endothelial cells of mice. We found that endothelial primary cilia were dispensable for mammalian vascular development. Cilia were not uniformly distributed in the mouse aorta, but were enriched at vascular branch points and sites of high curvature. These same sites are predisposed to the development of atherosclerotic plaques, prompting us to investigate whether cilia participate in atherosclerosis. Removing endothelial cilia increased atherosclerosis in Apoe−/− mice fed a high‐fat, high‐cholesterol diet, indicating that cilia protect against atherosclerosis. Removing endothelial cilia increased inflammatory gene expression and decreased eNOS activity, indicating that endothelial cilia inhibit pro‐atherosclerotic signaling in the aorta.
Insurer Competition in Health Care Markets

The impact of insurer competition on welfare, negotiated provider prices, and premiums in the U.S. private health care industry is theoretically ambiguous. Reduced competition may increase the premiums charged by insurers and their payments made to hospitals. However, it may also strengthen insurers' bargaining leverage when negotiating with hospitals, thereby generating offsetting cost decreases. To understand and measure this trade-off, we estimate a model of employer-insurer and hospital-insurer bargaining over premiums and reimbursements, household demand for insurance, and individual demand for hospitals using detailed California admissions, claims, and enrollment data. We simulate the removal of both large and small insurers from consumers' choice sets. Although consumer welfare decreases and premiums typically increase, we find that premiums can fall upon the removal of a small insurer if an employer imposes effective premium constraints through negotiations with the remaining insurers. We also document substantial heterogeneity in hospital price adjustments upon the removal of an insurer, with renegotiated price increases and decreases of as much as 10% across markets.
Stimulation of Fermentation and Yeast-like Morphogenesis in Mucor rouxii by Phenethyl Alcohol

The germination of fungal spores into hyphae was inhibited by concentrations of phenethyl alcohol (PEA) from 0.05 to 0.3%. Spores of Mucor formed budding spherical cells instead of filaments. These cells were abundant in cultures of Mucor rouxii at 0.22% PEA, provided that the carbon source was a hexose at 2 to 5%. Morphology was filamentous with xylose, maltose, sucrose, or a mixture of amino acids. Removal of PEA resulted in the conversion of yeast-like cells into hyphae. PEA did not inhibit biosynthesis of cytochromes or oxygen uptake, but it stimulated CO2 and ethyl alcohol production. PEA had no effect on the rate of oxygen uptake, but it inhibited the oxidative-phosphorylation activity of mitochondria. These results suggested that growth inhibition by PEA could result from uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation and that, in Mucor, yeast-like morphology and fermentation were linked.
Operational Predictability of Explicit High Shear, Low CAPE Convection.

BLANK, LINDSAY ROSE. Operational Predictability of Explicit High Shear, Low CAPE Convection. (Under the direction of Dr. Gary Lackmann). High Shear, Low CAPE (HSLC) environments pose a difficult challenge for National Weather Service (NWS) forecasters. These environments primarily occur in the cool season (autumn – winter) during evening and overnight hours. These low instability environments most often occur in the Southeastern U.S., Mississippi Valley, and Ohio Valley. These environments can be accompanied by severe weather, including significant tornadoes, but forecasting HSLC convection is difficult. The aim of this study is to determine numerical weather prediction (NWP) model operational resolution requirements with regards to the explicit prediction of HSLC rotating convection. The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model was run at varying convectivepermitting resolutions for two different HSLC cases, one event case and one null case. All three of the convective-allowing domains tested were able to provide operationally useful information about explicit low instability severe convection at varying degrees of detail. Between the three convective-permitting model domains, the severe proxy metrics were overall more similar between domains with a horizontal grid spacing of 1.2-km and 400-m than between the 3.6-km and 1.2-km domains. The results of this study indicate that operational numerical weather prediction models run for low instability prediction can be run with a minimum grid spacing of 3.6-km. Overall, the event case and the null case are statistically significantly different. The 3.6-km domain performs the best of the three convection allowing domains in distinguishing between the event and null cases. © Copyright 2017 Lindsay Rose Blank All Rights Reserved Operational Predictability of Explicit High Shear, Low CAPE Convection by Lindsay Rose Blank A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of North Carolina State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences Raleigh, North Carolina 2017