Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Morphometrics and allometry of the larvae of five Characiformes species in the Paraíba do Sul River Basin

Summary The aim of this study was to analyse the morphology and allometry of larvae belonging to five potamodromous species. Five breeding species belonging to the order Characiformes [Salminus brasiliensis (Cuvier, 1816), Leporinus steindachneri, Eigenmann, 1907, Prochilodus lineatus (Valenciennes, 1837), Prochilodus vimboides (Kner,1859) and Brycon insignis, Steindachner, 1877] were used to obtain larvae samples during the pre-flexing, post-flexing, and juvenile developmental stages. When we observed the degree-hour (DH) amplitude time values, we found three developmental groups based on allometry and morphometrics within the period between the pre-flexing and post-flexing phases. Group 1 consists of the species S. brasiliensis and B. insignis, Group 2 consists of P. lineatus and P. vimboides, and Group 3 consists of L. steindachneri. Group 1 requires less development time and has more slender larvae. Group 2 has a moderate development time and larvae with a more rounded shape. Group 3 presents a greater development time and an intermediate larval morphology. It was possible to classify the larvae through cross-validated discriminant analyses based on seven morphometric variables with 90% accuracy in B. insignis, 83% in L. steindachneri, 91% in P. lineatus, 80% in P. vimboides, and 96% in S. brasiliensis. These results indicate larval characteristics that can be used for the taxonomic identification of the icthyoplankton.
A distributed bandwidth assignment method for large file transfer with time constraints

As growing the size of digital contents, it is harder to predict the completion time of file transfer. This is an important problem particularly in a data migration at cloud computing. Therefore, some bandwidth assignment methods have been proposed in a model where a transfer request either must be completed by a specified deadline or must be rejected if the deadline cannot be satisfied. However, existing methods are not practical in a large scale network since they assume a centralized control. To overcome this problem, in this paper, we propose a distributed bandwidth assignment method without using global network information. Simulation results show that the proposed method achieves almost equal call-blocking probability to the existing centralized control method.
NADPH oxidase inhibitor, apocynin, restores the impaired endothelial‐dependent and ‐independent responses and scavenges superoxide anion in rats with type 2 diabetes complicated by NO dysfunction

Objective: We investigated the effect of apocynin, an NADPH oxidase inhibitor, in the impairment of vascular responses in Otsuka Long‐Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats (type 2 diabetic rat model) with or without (w/wo) N‐nitro‐l‐arginine methyl ester treatment.
The relationship of schedule flexibility and outcomes via the work‐family interface

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship of schedule flexibility with performance and satisfaction in the work and family domains, and whether these associations are mediated by the work‐family interface. Possible gender differences in the putative benefits of schedule flexibility are also to be explored.Design/methodology/approach – Using a sample of 607 full‐time employees in either schedule flexibility or traditional working arrangements the authors tested a moderated‐mediation model. Regression was used to test the mediation of work‐family and the moderation of gender to the schedule flexibility to work‐family path.Findings – Both work‐to‐family conflict and work‐to‐family enrichment are mediating mechanisms in the relationship of schedule flexibility with outcomes. More specifically, full mediation was found for job satisfaction and family performance for both enrichment and conflict while partial mediation was found for family satisfaction with enrichment only and mediation.
Quality-Driven Joint Rate and Power Adaptation for Scalable Video Transmissions Over MIMO Systems

We propose a joint rate and power adaptation scheme to maximize the decoding quality for scalable video coding (SVC)-based video transmissions over multi-input multioutput (MIMO) systems. The rate adaptation in our proposed scheme includes selection of the best modulation and coding schemes, set of spatial channels, number of SVC layers (source coding rates), and their corresponding application layer forward error correction (APP-FEC) coding rates. The power adaptation involves the proper allocation of the power to each antenna in the MIMO system. SVC-based video transmissions require unequal error protection (UEP) for different SVC layers due to the inter-layer dependency. In most of the previous works, the bit stream of each particular SVC layer is allocated to one spatial channel and the UEP is achieved by transmitting the more important SVC layers through the spatial channels with higher channel gains. However, in our proposed scheme, the bit stream of each particular SVC layer is distributed to multiple spatial channels so that additional diversity gain can be exploited by applying APP-FEC. The UEP can also be achieved by allocating different APP-FEC coding rates on each video layer. Moreover, transmit power allocation is also effectively and jointly determined to improve the system performance. The effectiveness and favorable performance of our proposed scheme are shown by simulations with H.264 SVC traces of high-definition video clips over MIMO systems.
All pair shortest path using distributed architectures

Due to the explosion of data from various sources, data analytics is found to be difficult using the CPU alone. For huge networks, the most popular graph algorithms using a single processor failed to accomplish this task. Hence the need of algorithms that have higher processing capabilities became dominant. Graph analytics is gaining importance in the realm of data analysis due to the advantages over other conventional analytical methods. All pair shortest path problem or path-finding problem has applications in various fields. Finding the all pair shortest path in a graph is computationally complex and time consuming in the case of large networks. In this paper, we propose a map reduce approach using the in-memory computation for finding the all pair shortest path using the transitive closure property and the greedy technique in Dijkstra's single source shortest path method. In order to overcome the scalability issues in the network representation, we use a tuple based network representation. The performance of the proposed method is proved experimentally.
Effects on Contralateral Muscles after Unilateral Electrical Muscle Stimulation and Exercise

It is well established that unilateral exercise can produce contralateral effects. However, it is unclear whether unilateral exercise that leads to muscle injury and inflammation also affects the homologous contralateral muscles. To test the hypothesis that unilateral muscle injury causes contralateral muscle changes, an experimental rabbit model with unilateral muscle overuse caused by a combination of electrical muscle stimulation and exercise (EMS/E) was used. The soleus and gastrocnemius muscles of both exercised and non-exercised legs were analyzed with enzyme- and immunohistochemical methods after 1, 3 and 6 weeks of repeated EMS/E. After 1 w of unilateral EMS/E there were structural muscle changes such as increased variability in fiber size, fiber splitting, internal myonuclei, necrotic fibers, expression of developmental MyHCs, fibrosis and inflammation in the exercised soleus muscle. Only limited changes were found in the exercised gastrocnemius muscle and in both non-exercised contralateral muscles. After 3 w of EMS/E, muscle fiber changes, presence of developmental MyHCs, inflammation, fibrosis and affections of nerve axons and AChE production were observed bilaterally in both the soleus and gastrocnemius muscles. At 6 w of EMS/E, the severity of these changes significantly increased in the soleus muscles and infiltration of fat was observed bilaterally in both the soleus and the gastrocnemius muscles. The affections of the muscles were in all three experimental groups restricted to focal regions of the muscle samples. We conclude that repetitive unilateral muscle overuse caused by EMS/E overtime leads to both degenerative and regenerative tissue changes and myositis not only in the exercised muscles, but also in the homologous non-exercised muscles of the contralateral leg. Although the mechanism behind the contralateral changes is unclear, we suggest that the nervous system is involved in the cross-transfer effects.
Motivational climate and fundamental motor skill performance in a naturalistic physical education setting

Background: The literature on motivation suggests that student learning and performance is influenced by the motivational climate, and that positive benefits can be derived from exposure to a mastery motivational climate. Nonetheless, to date, only a few studies have attempted to investigate a mastery motivational climate in a naturalistic setting with young children. Purpose: To examine the influence of a mastery motivational climate intervention on children's motor skill performance in a naturalistic setting, with the hypothesis that children exposed to the mastery motivational climate physical education intervention would achieve greater improvement in motor skill development than students who experienced a low autonomy climate physical education intervention. Participants and setting: 64 kindergarten children at two separate schools in the rural south of the USA. Research design: A pretest–posttest quasi-experimental design was used due to the lack of random assignment of participants to groups. Intact classes at two schools were assigned to group. Each motor skill program consisted of 30, 30-minute lessons during a six-week period. Data collection: Fundamental motor skill performance was measured using Ulrich's Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD-2). The TGMD-2 was administered three separate times: first, at the beginning of the school year (Pretest 1), second, after six weeks of school just prior to the intervention (Pretest 2), and finally, at the end of the six-week intervention period (Posttest). Data analysis: Two separate 2 × 2 (Group × Time) ANOVAs with repeated measures on the last factor were used to determine if children exposed to the motor skill interventions experienced significant positive changes in motor skill performance on the TGMD-2 sub-scales for locomotor and object control motor skills. Findings: Results indicated significant Group × Time interactions for the locomotor sub-scale (p = .001) and the object control sub-scale (p = .001). The mastery group improved significantly from pre- to post-intervention for locomotor and object control skills, while the low-autonomy group did not. Conclusions: The results provide evidence that a mastery motivational climate can have a positive impact on children's fundamental motor skill performance and suggest that even young children who are in the initial stages of motor skill performance can benefit from a self-directed climate.
Altered Skeletal Muscle Lipase Expression and Activity Contribute to Insulin Resistance in Humans

OBJECTIVE Insulin resistance is associated with elevated content of skeletal muscle lipids, including triacylglycerols (TAGs) and diacylglycerols (DAGs). DAGs are by-products of lipolysis consecutive to TAG hydrolysis by adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) and are subsequently hydrolyzed by hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL). We hypothesized that an imbalance of ATGL relative to HSL (expression or activity) may contribute to DAG accumulation and insulin resistance. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We first measured lipase expression in vastus lateralis biopsies of young lean (n = 9), young obese (n = 9), and obese-matched type 2 diabetic (n = 8) subjects. We next investigated in vitro in human primary myotubes the impact of altered lipase expression/activity on lipid content and insulin signaling. RESULTS Muscle ATGL protein was negatively associated with whole-body insulin sensitivity in our population (r = −0.55, P = 0.005), whereas muscle HSL protein was reduced in obese subjects. We next showed that adenovirus-mediated ATGL overexpression in human primary myotubes induced DAG and ceramide accumulation. ATGL overexpression reduced insulin-stimulated glycogen synthesis (−30%, P < 0.05) and disrupted insulin signaling at Ser1101 of the insulin receptor substrate-1 and downstream Akt activation at Ser473. These defects were fully rescued by nonselective protein kinase C inhibition or concomitant HSL overexpression to restore a proper lipolytic balance. We show that selective HSL inhibition induces DAG accumulation and insulin resistance. CONCLUSIONS Altogether, the data indicate that altered ATGL and HSL expression in skeletal muscle could promote DAG accumulation and disrupt insulin signaling and action. Targeting skeletal muscle lipases may constitute an interesting strategy to improve insulin sensitivity in obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Ieee Transactions on Software Engineering 1 Automated Synthesis and Dynamic Analysis of Tradeoff Spaces for Object-relational Mapping

—Producing software systems that achieve acceptable tradeoffs among multiple non-functional properties remains a significant engineering problem. We propose an approach to solving this problem that combines synthesis of spaces of design alternatives from logical specifications and dynamic analysis of each point in the resulting spaces. We hypothesize that this approach has potential to help engineers understand important tradeoffs among dynamically measurable properties of system components at meaningful scales within reach of existing synthesis tools. To test this hypothesis, we developed tools to enable, and we conducted, a set of experiments in the domain of relational databases for object-oriented data models. For each of several data models, we used our approach to empirically test the accuracy of a published suite of metrics to predict tradeoffs based on the static schema structure alone. The results show that exhaustive synthesis and analysis provides a superior view of the tradeoff spaces for such designs. This work creates a path forward toward systems that achieve significantly better tradeoffs among important system properties.
A novel UWB slot antenna with a self-complementary matching network

In this paper a simple printed slot antenna with an enhanced bandwidth based on self-complementary structures is presented for UWB applications. The proposed antenna consists of a square radiating patch with a microstrip feed-line defected by an inverted U-shaped slot on one side, a rectangular slot and a defected ground plane by an inverted U-shaped strip protruded from rectangular slot on the other side. The antenna provides a wide usable fractional bandwidth of more than 100% (3.2-10.5 GHz). This large operating bandwidth is obtained by choosing suitable dimensions for the proposed quasi-self-complementary matching circuit. The designed antenna has a small volume of 20×20×0.8 mm3. It exhibits almost omnidirectional radiation pattern with low cross polarization level.
mRNA stability and cancer: an emerging link?

Many oncogenes, growth factor, cytokine and cell-cycle genes are regulated post-transcriptionally. The major mechanism is by controlling the rate of mRNA turnover for transcripts bearing destabilising cis-elements. To date, only a handful of regulatory factors have been identified that appear to control a large pool of target mRNAs, suggesting that a slight perturbation in the control mechanism may generate wide-ranging effects that could contribute to the development of a complex disorder such as cancer. In support of this view, mRNA turnover responds to signalling pathways that are often overactive in cancer, suggesting a post-transcriptional component in addition to the well-recognised transcriptional aspect of oncogenesis. Here the authors review examples of deregulated post-transcriptional control in oncogenesis, discuss post-transcriptionally regulated transcripts of oncologic significance, and consider the key role of signalling pathways in linking both processes and as an enticing therapeutic prospect.
The Ecological Dynamics of Careers: The Impact of Organizational Founding, Dissolution, and Merger on Job Mobility

This article unites social mobility and organizational ecology research and develops an ecological theory of career mobility. The vital events of organizational populations (founding, dissolution, and merger) cause substantial shifts in populations of employing organizations and jobs, thereby greatly altering opportunity structures. Founding creates jobs; dissolution and merger destroy jobs. These processes have strong direct effects on employees in new and failed organizations. Moreover, these processes have strong indirect effects on employees in other organizations, which can be best understood by extending vacancy-chain models to encompass industry dynamics. Analysis of job mobility in one industry generally supports the theory.
Advances in Brief Functional Evidence for a Novel Human Breast Carcinoma Metastasis Suppressor , BRMS 1 , Encoded at Chromosome 11 q 131

We previously showed that introduction of a normal, neomycin-tagged human chromosome 11 reduces the metastatic capacity of MDA-MB-435 (435) human breast carcinoma cells by 70–90% without affecting tumorigenicity, suggesting the presence of one or more metastasis suppressor genes encoded on human chromosome 11. To identify the gene(s) responsible, differential display comparing chromosome 11-containing (neo11/ 435) and parental, metastatic cells was done. We describe the isolation and functional characterization of a full-length cDNA for one of the novel genes, designated breast-cancer metastasis suppressor 1 ( BRMS1), which maps to human chromosome 11q13.1-q13.2. Stably transfected MDA-MB435 and MDA-MB-231 breast carcinoma cells still form progressively growing, locally invasive tumors when injected into mammary fat pads but are significantly less metastatic to lungs and regional lymph nodes. These data provide compelling functional evidence that breast-cancer metastasis suppressor 1 is a novel mediator of metastasis suppression in human breast carcinoma.
A Centralized Displacement Operation with Application to Artifact Reduction in Ultrasonic Elastography

Because stiff tissue deforms less than soft tissue under the same external compression, elastography can provide relative stiffness information of biological tissue. However, elastography suffers from artifact noise which may come from two dominant sources: decorrelation error and amplitude modulation error. In order to reduce artifacts and improve the quality of ultrasonic elastography, this paper proposes a centralized displacement operation based on an adaptive anisotropic diffusion filtering. We have applied the median and the mean of displacement axial gradient to differentiate edges from artifacts and categorize the whole displacement image into two different patterns; followed by the adjustable anisotropic diffusion filtering. The proposed algorithm can reduce artifact noise and, at the same time, maintain the tissue structure. Phantom testing shows that the proposed method can improve the quality of ultrasonic elastography in terms of tissue SNRe and CNRe values.
Adaptive backstepping synchronization for networked Lagrangian systems

decentralized control law using a backstepping scheme is proposed to deal with a leader follower multiple robots structure. Based on graph theory and Laplacian, the coordination strategy combines the leader follower control with the decentralized control. In fact, in the proposed approach, each follower robot only needs the information exchange with its connected neighbors and does not assume the existence of direct communication channel with the leader, which mitigate the implementation cost, mainly when the cooperative robots number increases. The objective of the designed control law is to synchronize positions and velocities of multiple followers interconnected via the neighbor-based rule with respect to the leader's state. The proposed strategy is further extended to adaptive neural network coordination. The performance of synchronization control system and the nonlinear stability are derived by Lyapunov method. Simulations were performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed synchronization control approach.
Cardiac index assessment by the pressure recording analytic method in critically ill unstable patients after cardiac surgery.

OBJECTIVE The authors measured cardiac index in unstable patients after cardiac surgery with the Pressure Recording Analytic Method (PRAM) and compared it with the reference method of thermodilution (ThD) with the pulmonary artery catheter; using the hypothesis that there were no significant differences between the 2 methods. DESIGN A prospective study. SETTING Cardiac surgery intensive care unit in a teaching hospital. PARTICIPANTS Ninety-four measurements from 59 patients with ongoing high doses of inotropic drugs and/or an intra-aortic balloon pump for low-cardiac-output syndrome after cardiac surgery were studied. INTERVENTIONS The pulmonary artery catheter and the radial or femoral arterial catheter for measuring blood pressure were already in place for standard hemodynamic monitoring. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS The mean of the total CI measurements was 2.94 ± 0.67 L/min/m(2) with PRAM and 2.95 ± 0.63 L/min/m(2) with ThD, with no significant difference according to the linear mixed models analysis. The PRAM and ThD techniques were similar in unstable patients without atrial fibrillation (mean bias 0.047 ± 0.395 L/min/m(2) and a percentage error of 29%), while no agreement between PRAM and ThD was found in unstable patients with atrial fibrillation (mean bias 0.195 ± 0.885 L/min/m(2) and a percentage error of 69%). CONCLUSION Cardiac index measurements after cardiac surgery performed with PRAM and with ThD showed a good agreement in hemodynamically unstable patients given high doses of inotropes and/or an IABP in patients in sinus rhythm, but not in those with atrial fibrillation.
Maintenance of specification models in industry using Edapt

Domain specific languages (DSLs) ease the adoption of formal specification in industry. They allow developers to describe their specification models in concepts of their domain. However, DSLs evolve over time, causing specification models to have to co-evolve to reflect the evolution in the DSL. The maintenance overhead introduced by these, often manual, changes to specification models threatens to overshadow the advantages of DSL usage in industry. To this extent, many approaches have been proposed in the literature to facilitate DSL maintenance by automating model co-changes. In this paper, we evaluate the ability of a tool, Edapt, to support the change and co-change in twenty-two industrial DSLs and corresponding specification models over a maintenance period of four years. We observe that the tool is only able to automatically co-change specification models for 72% of the DSL changes. To address the remaining 28% of the changes, we extend Edapt. The resulting extension allows automatically co-changing specification models for 98% of the DSL changes.