Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neuroimaging and obesity: current knowledge and future directions

Neuroimaging is becoming increasingly common in obesity research as investigators try to understand the neurological underpinnings of appetite and body weight in humans. Positron emission tomography (PET), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies examining responses to food intake and food cues, dopamine function and brain volume in lean vs. obese individuals are now beginning to coalesce in identifying irregularities in a range of regions implicated in reward (e.g. striatum, orbitofrontal cortex, insula), emotion and memory (e.g. amygdala, hippocampus), homeostatic regulation of intake (e.g. hypothalamus), sensory and motor processing (e.g. insula, precentral gyrus), and cognitive control and attention (e.g. prefrontal cortex, cingulate). Studies of weight change in children and adolescents, and those at high genetic risk for obesity, promise to illuminate causal processes. Studies examining specific eating behaviours (e.g. external eating, emotional eating, dietary restraint) are teaching us about the distinct neural networks that drive components of appetite, and contribute to the phenotype of body weight. Finally, innovative investigations of appetite‐related hormones, including studies of abnormalities (e.g. leptin deficiency) and interventions (e.g. leptin replacement, bariatric surgery), are shedding light on the interactive relationship between gut and brain. The dynamic distributed vulnerability model of eating behaviour in obesity that we propose has scientific and practical implications.
Resource Management in Spectrum-Sharing Cognitive Radio Broadcast Channels: Adaptive Time and Power Allocation

In this paper, we consider a primary/secondary spectrum-sharing system, and study adaptive resource management in cognitive radio (CR) fading broadcast channels (BC). Specifically, we propose utilizing spectrum sensing information about the primary's activity at the secondary base station for an efficient allocation of the resources, namely, transmission time and power, to the secondary users. Spectrum sensing information about the primary user, and secondary channel side information, are assumed available at the base station and receivers of the secondary CR network. The sensing information is obtained using spectrum-aware sensors deployed in the secondary network coverage area. Based on this information, we present an optimal time-sharing and power allocation policy to maximize the achievable capacity of fading cognitive radio broadcast channels, where transmission is limited by appropriate constraints on the average received-interference at the primary receiver and peak transmit-power pertaining to the secondary transmitter. Furthermore, considering that availability of full soft-sensing information at the CR transmitter may result in a severe load of feedback data and high system complexity, we present a quantized spectrum sensing mechanism wherein only restricted levels of primary activity are considered for the sensing observations. Our theoretical results are sustained by numerical and simulation analyses, and insightful discussions are provided.
A spider mating plug functions to protect sperm

Mating plugs in animals are ubiquitous and are commonly interpreted to be products of mating strategies. In spiders, however, mating plugs may also take on functions beyond female remating prevention. Due to the vagaries of female genital (spermathecal) anatomy, most spiders face the problem of having to secure additional, non-anatomical, protection for transferred sperm. Here, we test the hypothesis that mating plugs, rather than (or in addition to) being adaptations for mating strategies, may serve as sperm protection mechanism. Based on a comparative study on 411 epigyna sampled from 36 families, 187 genera, 330 species of entelegyne spiders, our results confirm the necessity of a sperm protection mechanism. We divided the entelegyne spermathecae into four types: SEG, SED, SCG and SCD. We also studied detailed morphology of epigynal tracts in the spider Diphya wulingensis having the SEG type spermathecae, using 3D-reconstruction based on semi thin histological series section. In this species, we hypothesize that two distinct types of mating plug, the sperm plug and the secretion plug, serve different functions. Morphological details support this: sperm plugs are formed on a modified spermathecal wall by the spilled sperm, and function as a temporary protection mechanism to prevent sperm from leaking and desiccating, while secretion plugs function in postcopulation both as a permanent protection mechanism, and to prevent additional mating. Furthermore, with the modified spermathecal wall of S2 stalk, the problem of shunt of sperm input and output, and the possibility of female multiple mating have been resolved. Variation in spermathecal morphology also suggests that the problem of sperm protection might be resolved in different ways in spiders. Considering mating plugs of varying shapes and origins in the vast morphospace of spiders, we conclude that mating plugs might serve different purposes that relate both to mating strategies, as well as to sperm protection.
Calibration and fusion of query-by-example systems — But SWS 2013

This paper summarizes our work for MediaEval 2013 Spoken Web Search task evaluations. The task was Query-by-Example (search of spoken queries within spoken data). We submitted a system composed of 26 subsystems, of which 13 are based on Acoustic Keyword Spotting and 13 on Dynamic Time Warping. All of them use three-state phoneme posteriors as input features. Our main contribution was m-norm normalization of particular subsystems together with the fusion based on binary logistic regression. The results, including per-language analysis, are provided on MediaEval 2013 dataset.
Diurnal Energy Balance in a Mango Orchard in the Northeast of Pará, Brazil

Abstract This study aimed to evaluate the diurnal energy balance during the reproductive stage of two growing seasons of a mango orchard in the northeast of Pará, Brazil. Therefore, a micrometeorological tower was installed and instrumented, in the center of the experimental area, to monitor meteorological variables, besides the phenological evaluation of the mango orchard, which was carried out during growing seasons of 2010-2011 (October 2010 to January 2011) and of 2011-2012 (September 2011 to January 2012). The energy balance was obtained by the bowen ration technique, and the available energy partitioned into heat flux to the ground, sensible heat and latent heat. The amount of rainfall was crucial to the partition of the net radiation in the energy balance components. It provided the variation in the consumption of available energy between 69% and 78% as latent heat flux, and between 23% and 32% as sensible heat flux. The heat flux to the ground was small, representing less than 1% of the net radiation, showing that the mango orchard exhibits good soil cover preventing large variations in soil heating.
How to infer gene networks from expression profiles, revisited

Inferring the topology of a gene-regulatory network (GRN) from genome-scale time-series measurements of transcriptional change has proved useful for disentangling complex biological processes. To address the challenges associated with this inference, a number of competing approaches have previously been used, including examples from information theory, Bayesian and dynamic Bayesian networks (DBNs), and ordinary differential equation (ODE) or stochastic differential equation. The performance of these competing approaches have previously been assessed using a variety of in silico and in vivo datasets. Here, we revisit this work by assessing the performance of more recent network inference algorithms, including a novel non-parametric learning approach based upon nonlinear dynamical systems. For larger GRNs, containing hundreds of genes, these non-parametric approaches more accurately infer network structures than do traditional approaches, but at significant computational cost. For smaller systems, DBNs are competitive with the non-parametric approaches with respect to computational time and accuracy, and both of these approaches appear to be more accurate than Granger causality-based methods and those using simple ODEs models.
Effects of Calcium Channel Antagonists on Carotid Sinus Baroreflex Control of Arterial Pressure and Heart Rate in Anesthetized Dogs

Our study was designed to determine whether the calcium channel antagonists verapamil, diltiazem, and nifedipine and the nitrate vasodilator sodium nitroprusside modulate carotid sinus (CS) baroreflex control of mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR). Pentobarbital-anesthetized, vagotomized dogs were surgically prepared for reversible vascular isolation of the CS regions. Open-loop performance of the CS baroreflex was determined under control conditions and after intravenous infusion of each agent for 20 minutes at four rates (nitroprusside: 0.3-10 μg/kg/min; verapamil and diltiazem: 1-30 μg/kg/min; nifedipine: 0.1-3 μg/kg/min). With the CS baroreflex loop dosed, each vasodilator decreased MAP from control (nitroprusside: 127±3 to 69±5 mm Hg; verapamil: 137±7 to 86±5 mm Hg; diltiazem: 137±9 to 100±5 mm Hg; nifedipine: 140±6 to 109±7 mm Hg). Each compound also caused a dose-dependent downward shift in the open-loop CSP-MAP relations. The higher doses of each vasodilator also depressed the total range of control of MAP (i.e., maximum MAP minus minimum MAP) by the baroreflex and significantly attenuated the peak open-loop MAP/CSP gains (nitroprusside: 1.21±0.19 to 0.56±0.12; verapamil: 1.36±0.16 to 0.64±0.10; diltiazem: 1.52±0.34 to 0.89±0.11; nifedipine: 1.35±0.20 to 0.83±0.14) but did not alter the CSP at which the peak gain was manifest. Only verapamil and diltiazem significantly shifted downward the CSP-HR relations, whereas none of the drugs affected the total range of baroreflex control of HR (i.e., maximum HR minus minimum HR) or the peak open-loop HR/CSP gains. Our results suggest that 1) it is unlikely that calcium channel antagonists act directly on the baroreceptors or the neural components of the baroreflex loop (i.e., afferent, central and efferent nerves) because they impair CS baroreflex control of MAP but not HR and 2) the impairment of MAP control is predominantly due to a nonspecific blunting of adrenergic vasoconstriction.
Androgen Receptor CAG Repeat Polymorphism and Risk of TMPRSS2:ERG–Positive Prostate Cancer

Background: The androgen receptor (AR) is an essential gene in prostate cancer pathogenesis and progression. Genetic variation in AR exists, including a polymorphic CAG repeat sequence that is inversely associated with transcriptional activity. Experimental data suggest that heightened AR activity facilitates formation of TMPRSS2:ERG, a gene fusion present in approximately 50% of tumors of patients with prostate cancer. Methods: We undertook a nested case–control study to investigate the hypothesis that shorter CAG repeat length would be associated with prostate cancer risk defined by TMPRSS2:ERG status. The study included 291 men with prostate cancer (147 ERG-positive) and 1,221 cancer-free controls. ORs and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using logistic regression. Results: Median CAG repeat length (interquartile range) among controls was 22 (20–24). Men with shorter CAG repeats had an increased risk of ERG-positive (OR, 1.07 per 1 repeat decrease; 95% CI, 1.00–1.14), but not ERG-negative prostate cancer (OR, 0.99 per 1 repeat decrease; 95% CI, 0.93–1.05). Conclusions: These data suggest that shorter CAG repeats are specifically associated with development of TMPRSS2:ERG–positive prostate cancer. Impact: Our results provide supportive evidence that androgen signaling underlies the development of prostate tumors that harbor TMPRSS2:ERG. Moreover, these results suggest that TMPRSS2:ERG may represent a unique molecular subtype of prostate cancer with an etiology distinct from TMPRSS2:ERG–negative disease. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 23(10); 2027–31. ©2014 AACR.
Massive Medical Images Retrieval System Based on Hadoop

In order to improve the efficiency of massive medical images retrieval, against the defects of the single-node medical image retrieval system, a massive medical images retrieval system based on Hadoop is put forward. Brushlet transform and Local binary patterns algorithm are introduced firstly to extract characteristics of the medical example image, and store the image feature library in the HDFS. Then using the Map to match the example image features with the features in the feature library, while the Reduce to receive the calculation results of each Map task and ranking the results according to the size of the similarity. At the end, find the optimal retrieval results of the medical images according to the ranking results. The experimental results show that compared with other medical image retrieval systems, the Hadoop based medical image retrieval system can reduce the time of image storage and retrieval, and improve the image retrieval speed.
2 ENHANCING STRATEGIC FLEXIBILITY AND PERFORMANCE THROUGH RISK MANAGEMENT : THE ENABLING ROLE OF IT INTEGRATION

Preliminary Draft Please do not quote without permission. of Central Florida for their valuable feedback on earlier versions of this manuscript. We also thank Randy Kuhn for his research assistance. Abstract Since the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the U.S., the business press has consistently reported on companies' and business consortiums' proclamations of the negative effect of new internal control requirements on supply chain performance. Early studies on organizations' experience with SOX control compliance efforts have been contradictory; some organizations have experienced significant deleterious effects while other organizations have continued to prosper. In this study, theory on capability-building for entrepreneurial action (Sambamurthy et al. 2003) is used as a basis for understanding the observed phenomenon. In our research model, which operationalizes the theory, enterprise risk management (ERM) forms the primary organizational driver for enhanced IT integration, maintaining organizational strategic flexibility, and facilitating supply chain performance. Based on responses from 155 Chief Audit Executives, the results provide strong support for both the underlying theory and its applicability to understanding the varied effects of SOX 404 compliance on organizations. The results indicate that ERM leads to higher levels of IT integration across two dimensions: IT compatibility and IT connectivity. The results also highlight the fundamental importance of high levels of IT integration to strategic opportunities within the firm as it is shown that IT integration fully mediates the relationship between ERM and strategic flexibility and partially mediates the relationship between ERM and supply chain performance. Additionally, the previously reported relationship between IT integration and supply chain performance is partially mediated by the level of organizational strategic flexibility. Overall, there is strong support for the theory and additional clarity is provided to the practice environment on the effective implementation of ERM processes and its use for facilitating competitive action.
Gendered Disparities in Quality of Cataract Surgery in a Marginalised Population in Pakistan: The Karachi Marine Fishing Communities Eye and General Health Survey

Background Marine fishing communities are among the most marginalised and hard-to-reach groups and have been largely neglected in health research. We examined the quality of cataract surgery and its determinants, with an emphasis on gender, in marine fishing communities in Karachi, Pakistan, using multiple indicators of performance. Methods and Findings The Karachi Marine Fishing Communities Eye and General Health Survey was a door-to-door, cross-sectional study conducted between March 2009 and April 2010 in fishing communities living on 7 islands and in coastal areas in Keamari, Karachi, located on the Arabian Sea. A population-based sample of 638 adults, aged ≥ 50 years, was studied. A total of 145 eyes (of 97 persons) had undergone cataract surgery in this sample. Cataract surgical outcomes assessed included vision (presenting and best-corrected with a reduced logMAR chart), satisfaction with surgery, astigmatism, and pupil shape. Overall, 65.5% of the operated eyes had some form of visual loss (presenting visual acuity [PVA] < 6/12). 55.2%, 29.0%, and 15.9% of these had good, borderline, and poor visual outcomes based on presenting vision; with best correction, these values were: 68.3 %, 18.6%, and 13.1%, respectively. Of 7 covariates evaluated in the multivariable generalized estimating equations (GEE) analyses, gender was the only significant independent predictor of visual outcome. Women’s eyes were nearly 4.38 times more likely to have suboptimal visual outcome (PVA<6/18) compared with men’s eyes (adjusted odds ratio 4.38, 95% CI 1.96-9.79; P<0.001) after adjusting for the effect of household financial status. A higher proportion of women’s than men’s eyes had an irregular pupil (26.5% vs. 14.8%) or severe/very severe astigmatism (27.5% vs. 18.2%). However, these differences did not reach statistical significance. Overall, more than one fourth (44/144) of cataract surgeries resulted in dissatisfaction. The only significant predictor of satisfaction was visual outcome (P <0.001). Conclusions The quality of cataract surgery in this marginalised population, especially among women, falls well below the WHO recommended standards. Gender disparities, in particular, deserve proactive attention in policy, service delivery, research and evaluation.
Investigating Cloud Radiative Forcing in the Tropical West Pacific Using a Single-Column Model

The Tropical Western Pacific (TWP) is an important region for world climate (Webster and Lucas 1992) and was the subject of the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere-Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA-COARE) in 1992/3. This experiment included an intensive observational period (IOP) from November 1992 through March 1993, which provided observations suitable for creating datasets that can be used for forcing either single-column models (SCMs) or cloud-resolving models (CRMs).
Comparison between High-PUFA and Low-PUFA Fats on Lipid Peroxidation and LDL Oxidation

This study was conducted to determine the effects of a low polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) 21 diet versus a high-PUFA diet on lipid peroxidation and on low density and very low density lipoprotein (LDL + VLDL) oxidation in vivo. Rats were fed 10% beef tallow (BT) or 10% soybean oil (SO) diet for 21 weeks. Lipid peroxidation was measured by assessing urinary 24 excretions of secondary lipid peroxidation products, by HPLC and by measuring thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) in liver tissue. Plasma LDL + VLDL in vivo oxidation was measured by conjugated diene concentration and TBARS; ex vivo resistance to copper-induced oxidation was also assessed. Total urinary aldehydes, twelve individual urinary aldehydes, and TBARS in the liver were significantly lower in the BT group compared to the SO group. Plasma LDL + VLDL was significantly more resistant to copper-induced ex vivo oxidation to the BT group compared to the SO group. However, in vivo plasma LDL + VLDL oxidation levels measured as conjugated dienes and by TBARS were not significantly different. In general, the low-PUFA BT diet appears to have a protective effect on in vivo lipid peroxidation compared to the high-PUFA diet, but not on in vivo plasma LDL + VLDL oxidation.
Antibody Subclass Repertoire and Graft Outcome Following Solid Organ Transplantation

Long-term outcomes in solid organ transplantation are constrained by the development of donor-specific alloantibodies (DSA) against human leukocyte antigen (HLA) and other targets, which elicit antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR). However, antibody-mediated graft injury represents a broad continuum, from extensive complement activation and tissue damage compromising the function of the transplanted organ, to histological manifestations of endothelial cell injury and mononuclear cell infiltration but without concurrent allograft dysfunction. In addition, while transplant recipients with DSA as a whole fare worse than those without, a substantial minority of patients with DSA do not experience poorer graft outcome. Taken together, these observations suggest that not all DSA are equally pathogenic. Antibody effector functions are controlled by a number of factors, including antibody concentration, antigen availability, and antibody isotype/subclass. Antibody isotype is specified by many integrated signals, including the antigen itself as well as from antigen-presenting cells or helper T cells. To date, a number of studies have described the repertoire of IgG subclasses directed against HLA in pretransplant patients and evaluated the clinical impact of different DSA IgG subclasses on allograft outcome. This review will summarize what is known about the repertoire of antibodies to HLA and non-HLA targets in transplantation, focusing on the distribution of IgG subclasses, as well as the general biology, etiology, and mechanisms of injury of different humoral factors.
Fern mycorrhizae do not respond to fertilization in a tropical montane forest

Abstract Ferns are known to have a lower incidence of mycorrhization than angiosperms. It has been suggested that this results from carbon being more limiting to fern growth than nutrient availability, but this assertion has not been tested yet. In the present study, we took advantage of a fertilization experiment with nitrogen and phosphorus on cloud forest plots of the Ecuadorean Andes for 15 years. A previous analysis revealed changes in the abundances of fern species in the fertilized plots compared to the control plots and hypothesized that this might be related to the responses of the mycorrhizal relationships to nutrient availability. We revisited the plots to assess the root‐associated fungal communities of two epiphytic and two terrestrial fern species that showed shifts in abundance. We sampled and analyzed the roots of 125 individuals following a metabarcoding approach. We recovered 1382 fungal ASVs, with a dominance of members of Tremellales (Basidiomycota) and Heliotales (Ascomycota). The fungal diversity was highly partitioned with little overlap between individuals. We found marked differences between terrestrial and epiphytic species, with the latter fundamentally missing arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). We found no effect of fertilization on the diversity or relative abundance of the fungal assemblages. Still, we observed a direct impact of phosphorus fertilization on its concentration in the fern leaves. We conclude that fern–fungi relationships in the study site are not restricted by nutrient availability and suggest the existence of little specificity on the fungal partners relative to the host fern species.