Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Discovering Discrete Latent Topics with Neural Variational Inference

Topic models have been widely explored as probabilistic generative models of documents. Traditional inference methods have sought closed-form derivations for updating the models, however as the expressiveness of these models grows, so does the difficulty of performing fast and accurate inference over their parameters. This paper presents alternative neural approaches to topic modelling by providing parameterisable distributions over topics which permit training by backpropagation in the framework of neural variational inference. In addition, with the help of a stick-breaking construction, we propose a recurrent network that is able to discover a notionally unbounded number of topics, analogous to Bayesian non-parametric topic models. Experimental results on the MXM Song Lyrics, 20NewsGroups and Reuters News datasets demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of these neural topic models.
Comparison of Sectoral Structure-Function Relationships in Glaucoma: Vessel Density Versus Thickness in the Peripapillary Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer.

Purpose To compare the sectoral structure-function relationships in glaucoma between two structural parameters, vessel density (VD) and thickness, in the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL). Methods Optical coherence tomography (OCT) angiography (AngioVue/RTVue-XR) for VD and OCT (RS-3000) for peripapillary RNFL thickness were performed in 129 eyes from 129 subjects (94 glaucoma, 17 glaucoma suspects, and 18 normal eyes). Humphrey visual field (VF) tests were performed using a SITA standard 24-2 program. Sectoral structure-function relationships based on the Garway-Heath map were compared between VD and thickness using a semipartial correlation coefficient (sr) and partial residual plots determined by multiple linear regression models controlling for the effects of sex, age, axial length, disc area, beta- and gamma- parapapillary atrophy (PPA) zones, and signal strength index (SSI). Results For all VF sectors, the sr2 of VD was largest when the VD sector corresponded to the VF sector (sr2: 0.17-0.39). In contrast, in only three sectors was the sr2 of thickness largest when the thickness sector corresponded to the VF sector (sr2: 0.02-0.34): the inferior temporal, temporal, and superior temporal sectors. The partial residual plots against VD showed more linear relationships with VF sensitivity than those against thickness in the qualitative evaluation of fitting by locally weighted scatterplot smoothing. Eyes with larger SSI had higher VD, whereas eyes with a larger extension of the PPA zone into the VD measurement area had lower VD. Conclusions Peripapillary RNFL VD and thickness have different characteristic sectoral structure-function relationships in glaucoma.
EVALUATION OF CHERRY TOMATO YIELDING AND FRUIT MINERAL COMPOSITION AFTER USING OF BIO-ALGEEN S-90 PREPARATION

The aim of the experiments carried out in a high, polyethylene in the years 2004-2006 was to examine the influence of the algae preparation Bio-algeen S-90 on yield, mineral composition of fruits, content of assimilatory pigments, intensity of assimilation and transpiration and photosynthetic water use efficiency index of the cherry tomato cv. Conchita F 1 . The results on tomato yields proved significant differences in total and marketable yield under the influence of Bio-algeen. The biggest total and marketable yields were obtained when plants were treated three times with Bio-algeen. Bio-algeen also caused increase in content of mineral components in cherry tomato fruits. Three- and fourfold sprays increased the content of total nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, zinc, iron and nitrates. Treating tomato plants with the preparation increased the content of assimilatory pigments of tomato. Increase in a number of Bio-algeen sprays led to higher contents of total, a and b chlorophyll and carotenoids in leaves. Intensity of assimilation and transpiration of the plants and water use efficiency index depended on number of plants spraying with Bio-algeen. Plants sprayed two and three times with Bio-algeen were characterized by greater transpiration and assimilation intensity, but also by smaller efficiency of water use index.
Plant diversity increases spatio‐temporal niche complementarity in plant‐pollinator interactions

Abstract Ongoing biodiversity decline impairs ecosystem processes, including pollination. Flower visitation, an important indicator of pollination services, is influenced by plant species richness. However, the spatio‐temporal responses of different pollinator groups to plant species richness have not yet been analyzed experimentally. Here, we used an experimental plant species richness gradient to analyze plant–pollinator interactions with an unprecedented spatio‐temporal resolution. We observed four pollinator functional groups (honeybees, bumblebees, solitary bees, and hoverflies) in experimental plots at three different vegetation strata between sunrise and sunset. Visits were modified by plant species richness interacting with time and space. Furthermore, the complementarity of pollinator functional groups in space and time was stronger in species‐rich mixtures. We conclude that high plant diversity should ensure stable pollination services, mediated via spatio‐temporal niche complementarity in flower visitation.
Currency Substitution, Speculation and Crises: Theory and Empirical Analysis

We extend the "fundamentals model" of currency crisis by incorporating the currency substitution effects explicitly. In a regime of free foreign exchange markets and free capital movements the reserve (hard) currencies are likely to substitute for the local soft currency in agents' portfolia that include currency as an asset. Our model shows that, controlling for the fundamentals of an economy, the more pronounced the currency substitution is in a country, the earlier and the stronger is the tendency for the local currency to devalue. The model is implemented by constructing a currency-softness index. Two empirical findings emerge. First, there is a negative relationship between the currency-softness index and the degree of nominal-exchange-rate devaluation. Second, there is a systematic negative relationship between the softness of a currency and the level of economic development. The empirical and policy implications of the model can prove germane in approaching "speculative attacks" on currencies and in evaluating proposed dioramas of the "new architecture" of the international financial system.
Amino- and Carboxy-Terminal PEST Domains Mediate Gastrin Stabilization of Rat l-Histidine Decarboxylase Isoforms

ABSTRACT Control of enzymatic function by peptide hormones can occur at a number of different levels and can involve diverse pathways that regulate cleavage, intracellular trafficking, and protein degradation. Gastrin is a peptide hormone that binds to the cholecystokinin B-gastrin receptor and regulates the activity ofl-histidine decarboxylase (HDC), the enzyme that produces histamine. Here we show that gastrin can increase the steady-state levels of at least six HDC isoforms without affecting HDC mRNA levels. Pulse-chase experiments indicated that HDC isoforms are rapidly degraded and that gastrin-dependent increases are due to enhanced isoform stability. Deletion analysis identified two PEST domains (PEST1 and PEST2) and an intracellular targeting domain (ER2) which regulate HDC protein expression levels. Experiments with PEST domain fusion proteins demonstrated that PEST1 and PEST2 are strong and portable degradation-promoting elements which are positively regulated by both gastrin stimulation and proteasome inhibition. A chimeric protein containing the PEST domain of ornithine decarboxylase was similarly affected, indicating that gastrin can regulate the stability of other PEST domain-containing proteins and does so independently of antizyme/antizyme inhibitor regulation. At the same time, endoplasmic reticulum localization of a fluorescent chimera containing the ER2 domain of HDC was unaltered by gastrin stimulation. We conclude that gastrin stabilization of HDC isoforms is dependent upon two transferable and sequentially unrelated PEST domains that regulate degradation. These experiments revealed a novel regulatory mechanism by which a peptide hormone such as gastrin can disrupt the degradation function of multiple PEST-domain-containing proteins.
A Src-Tks5 Pathway Is Required for Neural Crest Cell Migration during Embryonic Development

In the adult organism, cell migration is required for physiological processes such as angiogenesis and immune surveillance, as well as pathological events such as tumor metastasis. The adaptor protein and Src substrate Tks5 is necessary for cancer cell migration through extracellular matrix in vitro and tumorigenicity in vivo. However, a role for Tks5 during embryonic development, where cell migration is essential, has not been examined. We used morpholinos to reduce Tks5 expression in zebrafish embryos, and observed developmental defects, most prominently in neural crest-derived tissues such as craniofacial structures and pigmentation. The Tks5 morphant phenotype was rescued by expression of mammalian Tks5, but not by a variant of Tks5 in which the Src phosphorylation sites have been mutated. We further evaluated the role of Tks5 in neural crest cells and neural crest-derived tissues and found that loss of Tks5 impaired their ventral migration. Inhibition of Src family kinases also led to abnormal ventral patterning of neural crest cells and their derivatives. We confirmed that these effects were likely to be cell autonomous by shRNA-mediated knockdown of Tks5 in a murine neural crest stem cell line. Tks5 was required for neural crest cell migration in vitro, and both Src and Tks5 were required for the formation of actin-rich structures with similarity to podosomes. Additionally, we observed that neural crest cells formed Src-Tks5-dependent cell protrusions in 3-D culture conditions and in vivo. These results reveal an important and novel role for the Src-Tks5 pathway in neural crest cell migration during embryonic development. Furthermore, our data suggests that this pathway regulates neural crest cell migration through the generation of actin-rich pro-migratory structures, implying that similar mechanisms are used to control cell migration during embryogenesis and cancer metastasis.
Brown Adipose Tissue in Cetacean Blubber

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) plays an important role in thermoregulation in species living in cold environments, given heat can be generated from its chemical energy reserves. Here we investigate the existence of BAT in blubber in four species of delphinoid cetacean, the Pacific white-sided and bottlenose dolphins, Lagenorhynchus obliquidens and Tursiops truncates, and Dall’s and harbour porpoises, Phocoenoides dalli and Phocoena phocoena. Histology revealed adipocytes with small unilocular fat droplets and a large eosinophilic cytoplasm intermingled with connective tissue in the innermost layers of blubber. Chemistry revealed a brown adipocyte-specific mitochondrial protein, uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1), within these same adipocytes, but not those distributed elsewhere throughout the blubber. Western blot analysis of extracts from the inner blubber layer confirmed that the immunohistochemical positive reaction was specific to UCP1 and that this adipose tissue was BAT. To better understand the distribution of BAT throughout the entire cetacean body, cadavers were subjected to computed tomography (CT) scanning. Resulting imagery, coupled with histological corroboration of fine tissue structure, revealed adipocytes intermingled with connective tissue in the lowest layer of blubber were distributed within a thin, highly dense layer that extended the length of the body, with the exception of the rostrum, fin and fluke regions. As such, we describe BAT effectively enveloping the cetacean body. Our results suggest that delphinoid blubber could serve a role additional to those frequently attributed to it: simple insulation blanket, energy storage, hydrodynamic streamlining or contributor to positive buoyancy. We believe delphinoid BAT might also function like an electric blanket, enabling animals to frequent waters cooler than blubber as an insulator alone might otherwise allow an animal to withstand, or allow animals to maintain body temperature in cool waters during sustained periods of physical inactivity.
Context‐based Space Filling Curves

A context‐based scanning technique for images is presented. An image is scanned along a context‐based space filling curve that is computed so as to exploit inherent coherence in the image. The resulting one‐dimensional representation of the image has improved autocorrelation compared with universal scans such as the Peano‐Hilbert space filling curve. An efficient algorithm for computing context‐based space filling curves is presented. We also discuss the potential of improved autocorrelation of context‐based space filling curves for image and video lossless compression.
The Docking of Primed Vacuoles Can Be Reversibly Arrested by Excess Sec17p (α-SNAP)*

Homotypic vacuole fusion occurs in ordered stages of priming, docking, and fusion. Priming, which prepares vacuoles for productive association, requires Sec17p (the yeast homolog of α-SNAP), Sec18p (the yeast NSF, an ATP-driven chaperone), and ATP. Sec17p is initially an integral part of the cis-SNARE complex together with vacuolar SNARE proteins and Sec18p (NSF). Previous studies have shown that Sec17p is rapidly released from the vacuole membrane during priming as the cis-SNARE complex is disassembled, but the order and causal relationship of these subreactions has not been known. We now report that the addition of excess recombinant his6-Sec17p to primed vacuoles can block subsequent docking. This inhibition is reversible by Sec18p, but the reaction cannot proceed to the tethering and trans-SNARE pairing steps of docking while the Sec17p block is in place. Once docking has occurred, excess Sec17p does not inhibit membrane fusionper se. Incubation of cells with thermosensitive Sec17-1p at nonpermissive temperature causes SNARE complex disassembly. These data suggest that Sec17p can stabilize vacuolar cis-SNARE complexes and that the release of Sec17p by Sec18p and ATP allows disassembly of this complex and activates its components for docking.
Statistical characteristics of electrical breakdown in saturated superfluid helium

Superfluid liquid helium (HeII) with a lower temperature than 2 K is an attractive coolant for large high field superconducting magnets because it has far better heat transfer properties and increases critical current of superconductor. This paper deals with electrical breakdown characteristics of saturated HeII at 1.85 K and the statistical analysis based on the Weibull distribution function and the Weak-link theory. A special attention is paid to the size effects on the breakdown characteristics. Comparing the obtained results with those of normal liquid helium (HeI), it is shown that the dc breakdown strength of HeII is much more sensitive to the electrode area than HeI. Consideration on the breakdown time lag under a pulsed stress reveals that the breakdown triggering electron is produced by field emission from the cathode surface as in the case of HeI.
Imprinting disorder in donor cells is detrimental to the development of cloned embryos in pigs

Imprinting disorder during somatic cell nuclear transfer usually leads to the abnormality of cloned animals and low cloning efficiency. However, little is known about the role of donor cell imprinting in the development of cloned embryos. Here, we demonstrated that the imprinting (H19/Igf2) in porcine fetus fibroblasts derived from the morphologically abnormal cloned fetuses (the abnormal imprinting group) was more hypomethylated, and accordingly, significantly higher H19 transcription and lower Igf2 expression occurred in comparison with those in fibroblasts derived from morphologically normal cloned fetuses (the normal imprinting group) or donor fetus fibroblasts (the control group). When these fibroblasts were used as donor cells, the abnormal imprinting group displayed an even lower imprinting methylation level, in correspondence to the significantly downregulated expression of Dnmt1, Dnmt3a and Zfp57, and a markedly reduced blastocyst rate, while the normal imprinting group took on the similar patterns of imprinting, gene expression and embryo development to the control group. When 5-aza-dC was applied to reduce the fibroblasts imprinting methylation level in the normal imprinting group, cloned embryos displayed the more severely impaired imprinting and significantly lower blastocyst rate. While the upregulated H19 transcription in the abnormal imprinting group was knocked down, the imprinting statuses were partly rescued, and the cleavage and blastocyst rates significantly increased in cloned embryos. In all, donor cell imprinting disorder reduced the developmental efficiency of cloned embryos. This work provides a new insight into understanding the molecular mechanism of donor cells regulating the cloned embryo development.
Combination therapy with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and indapamide impairs glucose tolerance in Chinese hypertensive patients

Abstract Background. Elevated blood glucose (BG) induced by antihypertensive agents increases the risk of cardiovascular events. This study was designed to investigate whether fosinopril+indapamide combination therapy has any effect on glucose tolerance (GT), and if it did, whether conversion to fosinopril alone could reverse the impaired GT. Methods. Included in the present study were 124 hypertensive patients, of whom 62 patients were treated with fosinopril plus indapamide (F/I group) and the remaining 62 patients were treated with fosinopril alone (F group). Of them, 89 patients completed a mean of 14-month follow-up. In the F/I group, 29 patients were converted to the use of fosinopril for 4–12 months after they completed the follow-up. Results. In the F group, fasting BG decreased significantly from 5.1±0.5 to 4.8±0.7 mmol/l (p<0.01), and 2-h postprandial BG decreased significantly from 7.2±1.6 to 6.4±1.4 mmol/l (p<0.01), while in the F/I group, fasting BG increased significantly from 5.1 ±0.6 to 5.3±0.9 mmol/l (p<0.05), and 2-h postprandial BG increased significantly from 7.2±1.7 to 7.7±1.8 mmol/l (p<0.05). In 29 patients of the F/I group who completed the follow-up and were converted to fosinopril, fasting BG decreased significantly from 5.5±1.0 to 5.3±1.0 mmol/l (p<0.05), and 2-h postprandial BG decreased significantly from 7.5±2.0 to 7.0±2.7 mmol/l (p<0.05). Conclusion. Fosinopril+indapamide combination therapy impaired GT in Chinese hypertensive patients, and fosinopril alone was able to reverse fosinopril+indapamide-induced GT impairment in part of these patients.
Identifying the need for pre-hospital and emergency care in the developing world: a case study in Chennai, India.

OBJECTIVES Increasing industrialization in the developing world has contributed to an epidemiological transition in disease pattern from infectious disease as a primary cause of morbidity and mortality, to more chronic illness such as heart disease and trauma. This study was done in order to assess the effectiveness of pre-hospital and emergency care as the health care needs of the population changes and to make recommendations to meet the growing need for organized emergency services in that community. METHODS Sundaram Medical Foundation Hospital in the town of Annanagar, Chennai, India was our study site. Statistics describing the health status, demographic, and socio-ecoomic profiles of the community were obtained from a published community survey. Information regarding availability of resources in the hospitals for management of trauma and cardio-vascular emergencies was obtained from unpublished survey results of the local hospitals. Retrospective data was obtained from trauma and ambulance registries regarding trauma related admissions, death and pre-hospital assistance. RESULTS Data analysis revealed increasing mortality from trauma and cardiovascular etiologies. Hospital statistics showed that 1/3 of the annual hospitalizations were from trauma and acute coronary syndromes. Half the trauma victims had no formal prehospital intervention. Standard of care in the emergency departments varied considerably with less than half of them carrying defibrillators and only a third of them carrying defirbillators and only a third of them carrying intubation equipment. CONCLUSION As developing countries begin to urbanize and grow, so do their health care needs. The current system does not meet the needs of increased mortality from trauma and cardiovascular disease. We have suggested necessary changes for establishment of emergency medical services to meet the evolving health care needs.
A new graphic method of describing the growth of animals.

Growth curves, when conventionally plotted as length on age, are difficult to compare and classify. Moreover, the usual mathematical methods of fitting them, such as, the logistic and the Gompertz are rather laborious and incon venient for application to large numbers of individuals. Fortunately, for many purposes, it is unnecessary to describe the whole growth curve; for the part below the inflection point is completed early and the part above the inflection pointâ€”the â€œ? self-inhibitingâ€• phase, covers the period of life when differences in growth are likely to be most striking. That phase of the growth curve can be appropriately represented by a straight line, the charac teristics of which can be treated statistically, by the following graphic method: Using arithmetic graph paper, with body length represented along both the x axis and along the y axis, plot length at ages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5@ n on the x axis against length at ages 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. n + 1, respectively, on the y axis. For several species on which I have found published length data, these points fall along a straight line. This line can be regarded as a sort of transformation of the usual growth curve, and in the following discussion I will call it that. The nine examples given in Figures 1â€”3are based on average lengths of large samples. When lengths of individual specimens are plotted by this method, a straight-line relationship is still obvious, though the points deviate more widely from the linethan when averages are used. These deviationsdoubtless result from several causes, among which random variations in environmental experience and errors of observation readily suggest themselves. For a few species the published growth data failed to produce a straight line. In these cases, the course of growth may differ from that in other animals; or the observed anomalies may reflect some artifactual effect in the data. Among those species for which this â€œ? transformationâ€• results in a straight line, the growth increments corresponding to equal time intervals, for example, be tween years of age (12 â€”? 11,13 â€”? 12,14 â€”? i@, @l,â€”? i@), have the following inter relations; where 1,, refers to the length at any given age, i.e., at the end of any given time interval :2