Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Observation of spatial propagation of amyloid assembly from single nuclei

The crucial early stages of amyloid growth, in which normally soluble proteins are converted into fibrillar nanostructures, are challenging to study using conventional techniques yet are critical to the protein aggregation phenomena implicated in many common pathologies. As with all nucleation and growth phenomena, it is difficult to track individual nuclei in traditional macroscopic experiments, which probe the overall temporal evolution of the sample, but do not yield detailed information on the primary nucleation step as they mix independent stochastic events into an ensemble measurement. To overcome this limitation, we have developed microdroplet assays enabling us to detect single primary nucleation events and to monitor their subsequent spatial as well as temporal evolution, both of which we find to be determined by secondary nucleation phenomena. By deforming the droplets to high aspect ratio, we visualize in real-time propagating waves of protein assembly emanating from discrete primary nucleation sites. We show that, in contrast to classical gelation phenomena, the primary nucleation step is characterized by a striking dependence on system size, and the filamentous protein self-assembly process involves a highly nonuniform spatial distribution of aggregates. These findings deviate markedly from the current picture of amyloid growth and uncover a general driving force, originating from confinement, which, together with biological quality control mechanisms, helps proteins remain soluble and therefore functional in nature.
The vimentin cytoskeleton regulates focal contact size and adhesion of endothelial cells subjected to shear stress

Recently, we reported that vimentin-type intermediate filaments, in addition to microfilaments, associate with αvβ3 integrin-positive focal contacts in endothelial cells. To gain insight into intermediate filament-focal contact interaction, we induced expression of yellow fluorescent protein (YFP)-integrin β3 and cyan fluorescent protein (CFP)-vimentin protein in endothelial cells. At least 50% of the YFP-β3 integrin-labeled focal contacts associated with CFP-labeled vimentin intermediate filaments in live cells. Moreover, focal contacts and intermediate filaments moved in concert in the plane of the membrane and assembling focal contacts were sites of vimentin filament assembly. When endothelial cells were subjected to flow, large focal contacts assembled and associated with thick vimentin bundles. These large focal contacts showed minimal dynamic activity. Cells in which vimentin expression had been inhibited by RNA interference assembled smaller than normal focal contacts. More dramatically, such cells showed decreased adhesion to the substratum. These data provide evidence that the vimentin cytoskeleton regulates focal contact size and helps stabilize cell-matrix adhesions in endothelial cells.
LIQUID LEVEL CONTROL BY USING FUZZY LOGIC CONTROLLER

Fuzzy Logic is a paradigm for an alternative design methodology, which can be applied in developing both linear and non-linear systems for embedded control. By using fuzzy logic, designers can realize lower development costs, superior features, and better end product performance.In control systems there are a number of generic systems and methods which are encountered in all areas of industry and technology. From the dozens of ways to control any system, it turns out that fuzzy is often the very best way. The only reasons are faster and cheaper. One of successful application that used fuzzy control is liquid tank level control. The purpose of this project is to design a simulation system of fuzzy logic controller for liquid tank level control by using simulation package which is Fuzzy Logic Toolbox and Simulink in MATLAB software. By doing some modification of this project, the design will be very useful for the system relates to liquid level control that widely use in industry nowadays. For a long time, the choice and definition of the parameters of PID are very difficult. There must be a bad effect if that you do not choose nicely parameters. To strictly limit the overshoot, using Fuzzy Control can achieve great control effect. In this paper, we take the liquid level water tank , and use MATLAB to design a Fuzzy Control. Then we analyze the control effect and compare it with the effect of PID controller. As a result of comparing, Fuzzy Control is superior to PID control. Especially it can give more attention to various parameters, such as the time of response, the error of steadying and overshoot. Comparison of the control results from these two systems indicated that the fuzzy logic controller significantly reduced overshoot and steady state error. The fuzzy logic controller used in this study was designed with Lab VIEW(R) a product of National Instruments Corporation. Lab VIEW(R) is an icon-based graphical programming tool with front panel user interfaces for control and data visualization and block diagrams for programming.
Estimation of Tail Thickness Parameters from GJR-GARCH Models

We propose a method of estimating the Pareto tail thickness parameter of the unconditional distribution of a financial time series by exploiting the implications of a GJR-GARCH volatility model. The method is based on some recent work on the extremes of GARCH-type processes and extends the method proposed by Berkes, Horvath and Kokoszka (2003). We show that the estimator of tail thickness is consistent and converges at rate √T to a normal distribution (where T is the sample size), provided the model for conditional variance is correctly specified as a GJR-GARCH. This is much faster than the convergence rate of the Hill estimator, since that procedure only uses a vanishing fraction of the sample. We also develop new specification tests based on this method and propose new alternative estimates of unconditional value at risk. We show in Monte Carlo simulations the advantages of our procedure in finite samples; and finally an application concludes the paper
Oxidative stress and nitration in neurodegeneration: cause, effect, or association?

Oxidation and nitration of proteins, DNA, and lipids are markers of neurodegeneration in postmortem tissues. It is impossible to determine with certainty using postmortem analysis, whether oxidative stress has a primary role in neurodegeneration or is a secondary end-stage epiphenomenon. Growing evidence suggests that the generation of oxidants does not result simply from an accidental disruption of aerobic metabolism, but rather from an active process crucial for the nonspecific immune defenses of the brain. While essential for survival, these processes may be inappropriately activated to cause neurodegeneration. Neurons are highly susceptible to oxidative stress, which can induce both neuronal necrosis and apoptosis. Oxidants may also have more subtle roles in compromising the integrity of the bloodbrain barrier and in producing reactive changes in astrocytes that further propagate injury. Moreover, oxidative stress appears to provide a critical link between environmental factors, such as exposure to pesticides, herbicides, and heavy metals, and endogenous and genetic risk factors in the pathogenic mechanisms of neurodegeneration, particularly in Parkinson disease. Here, we discuss some recent insights into the diverse roles and controversies about the role of oxidants in neurodegeneration. A better understanding of the role of oxidants in neurodegeneration still holds a largely unfulfilled potential to reduce the burden of both acute and chronic neurodegeneration.
The investigation of directional coupler based on a novel synthetic transmission line

A novel synthetic transmission line and its coupling structure are shown in this paper. By connected strips in different layers with periodic metallic vias, it provides a stronger coupling with effective broad-side than conventional edge coupling. This paper presented the analysis method and the design process of directional coupler. A broadband directional coupler with three-sections is designed and measured.
A Deep Learning Method for Braille Recognition

This paper mainly proposes a deep learning method-Stacked Denoising Auto Encoder (SDAE) to solve the problems of automatic feature extraction and dimension reduction in Braille recognition. In the construction of a network with deep architecture, a feature extractor was trained with unsupervised greedy layer-wise training algorithm to initialize the weights for extracting features from Braille images, and then a following classifier was set up for recognition. The experimental results show that by comparing to traditional methods, the constructed network based on the deep learning method can easily recognize Braille images with satisfied performance. The deep learning model can effectively solve the Braille recognition problem in automatic feature extraction and dimension reduction with a reduced preprocessing.
Insulin-like growth factor 1 and prostate cancer risk: a population-based, case-control study.

BACKGROUND Recent epidemiologic investigations have suggested an association between increased blood levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and increased risk of prostate cancer. Our goal was to determine whether an association exists between serum levels of IGF-1 and one of its binding proteins, insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3), and prostate cancer risk. METHODS An immunoradiometric assay was used to quantify IGF-1 levels and IGFBP-3 levels in serum samples as part of a population-based, case-control study in Sweden. The study population comprised 210 patients with newly diagnosed, untreated prostate cancer and 224 frequency-matched control subjects. Data were analyzed by use of unconditional logistic regression to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Reported P values are two-sided. RESULTS The mean serum IGF-1 level for case patients (158.4 ng/mL) was significantly higher than that for control subjects (147.4 ng/mL) (P = .02); corresponding mean serum IGFBP-3 levels were not significantly different between case patients (2668 ng/mL) and control subjects (2518 ng/mL) (P =.09). We found a moderately strong and statistically significant (P = .04) positive association between serum levels of IGF-1 levels and risk of prostate cancer (OR = 1.51; 95% CI = 1.0-2.26 per 100 ng/mL increment); the association was particularly strong for men younger than 70 years of age (OR = 2.93; 95% CI = 1.43-5.97). No association was found between serum IGF-1 levels and disease stage. Serum IGFBP-3 levels were not significantly associated with increased risk of disease, and adjustment for IGFBP-3 had little effect on the association between IGF-1 levels and risk of prostate cancer. CONCLUSION Elevated serum IGF-1 levels may be an important predictor of risk for prostate cancer. However, our results do not support an important role for serum IGFBP-3 as a predictor of risk for this disease.
Factors Influencing the Behavioural Intention towards Full Electric Vehicles: An Empirical Study in Macau

This study examines the factors that influence individual intentions towards the adoption of full electric vehicles. A sample including 308 respondents was collected on the streets of Macau. The collected data were analysed by confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. The results demonstrate that environmental concerns and the perception of environmental policy are antecedent factors of the perception of full electric vehicles, which influences the behavioural intention to purchase full electric vehicles. This study also finds that the perception of economic benefit is one of the key factors influencing the adoption of full electric vehicles. Vehicle operators seek economic benefits from future long-term fuel savings, high energy efficiency, and cheap electricity. Thus, a government striving to promote low-carbon transportation needs to scale up its efforts to enhance citizens’ environmental concerns and to establish proper environmental policy as well as to provide long-term financial and strategic support for electric vehicles.
In vivo diffusion tensor imaging of rat spinal cord with echo planar imaging

The in vivo apparent diffusion tensor (ADT) of spinal cord was measured in nine rats at 2.0 T using an interleaved multi‐shot echo planar imaging (EPI) diffusion sequence. A technique that combines sliding acquisition and phase correction, based on a calibration scan, to reduce ghosting artifacts in the images introduced by the strong diffusion‐sensitizing gradients was described. Two rotationally invariant parameters, the trace (actually trace/3, to be consistent with the published values) and the lattice anisotropy index (LAI) were estimated from the ADT. In in vivo cords, the mean white matter (WM) trace value (1.05 ± 0.13 × 10−3 mm2/sec) was found to be significantly higher than the gray matter (GM) trace (0.84 ± 0.12 × 10−3 mm2/sec, p < 0.0025). Significant anisotropic diffusion was observed in both WM and GM, with greater anisotropy in the WM (LAI=0.59 ± 0.04) than in the GM (LAI=0.47 ± 0.06, p < 0.0001). These results are in agreement with the in vivo values determined using the conventional spin‐echo sequence. Magn Reson Med 42:300–306, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
p38 MAPK is essential for secondary axis specification and patterning in sea urchin embryos

Most eggs in the animal kingdom establish a primary, animal-vegetal axis maternally, and specify the remaining two axes during development. In sea urchin embryos, the expression of Nodal on the oral (ventral) side of the embryo is the first known molecular determinant of the oral-aboral axis (the embryonic dorsoventral axis), and is crucial for specification of the oral territory. We show that p38 MAPK acts upstream of Nodal and is required for Nodal expression in the oral territory. p38 is uniformly activated early in development, but, for a short interval at late blastula stage, is asymmetrically inactivated in future aboral nuclei. Experiments show that this transient asymmetry of p38 activation corresponds temporally to both oral specification and the onset of oral Nodal expression. Uniform inhibition of p38 prevents Nodal expression and axis specification, resulting in aboralized embryos. Nodal and its target Gsc each rescue oral-aboral specification and patterning when expressed asymmetrically in p38-inhibited embryos. Thus, our results indicate that p38 is required for oral specification through its promotion of Nodal expression in the oral territory.
Improving the safety of chemotherapy administration: an oncology nurse-led failure mode and effects analysis.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES To assess and improve the safety of hospital-based adult chemotherapy administration. DESIGN Prospective, systems-focused clinical risk assessment. SETTING An adult inpatient and outpatient oncology unit in a large urban hospital in the United Kingdom. SAMPLE 8-person nurse-led multidisciplinary team, which included managerial staff and patient safety researchers. METHODS Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA), a prospective, systems-focused risk assessment methodology, was undertaken in biweekly team meetings and included mapping the chemotherapy administration process, identifying and numerically prioritizing potential errors (failure modes) for each process step, and generating remedial strategies to counteract them. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES The analysis aimed to identify chemotherapy administration failure modes and to generate remedial strategies to address them. User feedback on the FMEA process also was collected. FINDINGS Several specific chemotherapy failure modes were identified, the majority of which had not previously been recognized, and several novel strategies to counteract them were generated. Many of the strategies were specific, environment-focused actions, which are simple, quick, and inexpensive to implement; however, more substantive, longer-term initiatives also were generated. User feedback generally was very positive, and the process of undertaking the analysis improved multidisciplinary teamwork and communication. CONCLUSIONS Although time and resource intensive, FMEA is a useful safety improvement tool. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING Nurses should be aware of and informed about FMEA as a tool they can use in partnership with management and other disciplines to proactively and collectively improve the safety of high-risk oncology procedures such as chemotherapy administration.
Prosociality and morality through the lens of personality psychology

Prosociality and morality are critical to the functioning and flourishing of society. There is, however, great variation in the degree to which individuals help or hinder one another, or adhere to ethical standards of “rightness. ” One way to understand this variation is by drawing on theories and models within personality psychology, which may illuminate the basic individual characteristics that drive a wide range of other‐regarding tendencies. In this review, we provide a snapshot of three research strands addressing these themes. The first concerns how personality traits map onto prosocial preferences for fairness and cooperation, as studied using classic social decision‐making tasks called economic games. The second concerns the robust associations between personality traits and indicators of inter‐group prejudice (e.g., authoritarian ideology). The third concerns the emerging concept of moral exceptionality, and the personality traits that may characterise individuals at the forefront of moral progress. These examples demonstrate the core role that personality psychology is playing in the study of prosocial and moral behaviour, as well as the critical mass emerging in the Australian context around these themes.
Evaluation of the Cytotoxic Effects of CAM Therapies: An In Vitro Study in Normal Kidney Cell Lines

The purpose of this current study was to justify the incorporation of complementary and alternate medicine (CAM) in current cancer treatments. The major drawback of anticancer drugs is their nonselective killing, which ultimately leads to attrition of normal cells. Keeping this as the foundation of our study, we made an effort to compare the cytotoxicity associated with a known chemotherapeutic drug 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU), with certain CAM therapies previously reported to have anticancer activity. The parameters chosen for the study were based on antiproliferative and cytotoxic effects on normal, kidney epithelial cells (NRK-52E). The MTT assay, colony formation assay, DNA fragmentation, and differential staining using AO/EB, following treatment with either 5-FU or CAM therapies, were performed. The CAM therapies under study were various extracts of wheatgrass, roots of Achyranthes aspera (AA), mushroom extracts (Pleurotus ostreatus, Macrolepiota procera, and Auricularia polytricha), and a homeopathic drug, Ruta graveolens (Ruta). The results showed that treatment of normal cells with the CAM therapies led to minimum cell damage in comparison to 5-FU. This evidence-based study will lead to greater acceptance of alternative therapies against cancer.
Favourable Narcissistic Traits in CEOs across Cultures

This thesis focuses on the interplay between narcissistic traits of CEOs, culture and organizational outcomes. More specifically, this thesis will study the cultural selection of narcissistic traits in CEOs as well as its effects on perceived organizational outcomes, all from a follower’s perspective. Narcissistic individuals who occupy leadership positions have specific ways of impacting organizational outcomes, be it in negative ways through the “darker” traits such as Arrogance and Machiavellianism or positive ways through “brighter traits” of Charisma and Intellectual Prowess. Cultures, however, differ in their conceptualization of power and their interpretation of those specific traits. In order to explore the relationships between the variables, the study uses an intuitive method based on Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping. The study will help in the understanding of how cultures appraise specific traits as well as how followers respond to those traits in organizational settings across cultures.
Example-based color transformation for image and video

Color is very important in setting the mood of images and video sequences. For this reason, color transformation is one of the most important features in photo-editing or video post-production tools because even slight modifications of colors in an image can strongly increase its visual appeal. However, conventional color editing tools require user's manual operation for detailed color manipulation. Such manual operation becomes burden especially when editing video frame sequences. To avoid this problem, we previously suggested a method [Chang et al. 2004] that performs an example-based color stylization of images using perceptual color categories. In this paper, we extend this method to make the algorithm more robust and to stylize the colors of video frame sequences. The main extension is the following 5 points: applicable to images taken under a variety of light conditions; speeding up the color naming step; improving the mapping between source and reference colors when there is a disparity in size of the chromatic categories; separate handling of achromatic categories from chromatic categories; and extending the algorithm along the temporal axis to allow video processing. We present a variety of results, arguing that these images and videos convey a different, but coherent mood.
Controlling chaos in a thermal convection loop

It is demonstrated experimentally and theoretically that through the use of an active (feedback) controller one can dramatically modify the nature of the flow in a toroidal thermal convection loop heated from below and cooled from above. In particular, we show how a simple control strategy can be used to suppress (laminarize) the naturally occurring chaotic motion or induce chaos in otherwise time-independent flow. The control strategy consists of sensing the deviation of fluid temperatures from desired values at a number of locations inside the loop and then altering the wall heating to either counteract or enhance such deviations.
Object-based Detailed Vegetation Classification with Airborne High Spatial Resolution Remote Sensing Imagery

In this paper, we evaluate the capability of the high spatial resolution airborne Digital Airborne Imaging System (DAIS) imagery for detailed vegetation classification at the alliance level with the aid of ancillary topographic data. Image objects as minimum classification units were generated through the Fractal Net Evolution Approach (FNEA) segmentation using eCognition software. For each object, 52 features were calculated including spectral features, textures, topographic features, and geometric features. After statistically ranking the importance of these features with the classification and regression tree algorithm (CART), the most effective features for classification were used to classify the vegetation. Due to the uneven sample size for each class, we chose a non-parametric (nearest neighbor) classifier. We built a hierarchical classification scheme and selected features for each of the broadest categories to carry out the detailed classification, which significantly improved the accuracy. Pixel-based maximum likelihood classification (MLC) with comparable features was used as a benchmark in evaluating our approach. The objectbased classification approach overcame the problem of saltand-pepper effects found in classification results from traditional pixel-based approaches. The method takes advantage of the rich amount of local spatial information present in the irregularly shaped objects in an image. This classification approach was successfully tested at Point Reyes National Seashore in Northern California to create a comprehensive vegetation inventory. Computer-assisted classification of high spatial resolution remotely sensed imagery has good potential to substitute or augment the present ground-based inventory of National Park lands.