Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gender and strain-specific differences in the development of steatosis in rats

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common problem with a wide variety of phenotypes. While its pathogenesis is still not fully understood, several risk factors for disease progression have been identified. Therefore, defining adequate animal models may serve to unreveal the pathogenesis in NAFLD. We studied Lewis and Sprague-Dawley rats of both genders (n = 6) fed standard (Std) or high-fat (HF) diet for three weeks. Disease stage was assessed by haematoxylin–eosin, Azan Heidenheim and Oil-Red staining, apoptosis by single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) detection and liver regeneration by Ki-67 staining. Serum markers of liver injury and lipid metabolism including adipocytokines were analysed. Livers of both strains and genders fed with HF diet demonstrated evidence of steatosis. Lewis rats developed microvesicular steatosis whereas Sprague-Dawley rats presented macrovesicular steatosis accompanied by pronounced fibrosis. Female gender of both strains was associated with lower steatosis grade and higher proliferation rate (P < 0.05). Gender-specific differences were most prominent in Lewis rats on a HF diet, where females showed lower alkaline phosphatase, cholesterol, triglyceride and leptin levels and a more favourable low-density lipoprotein/high-density lipoprotein ratio than males (P < 0.05). Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis was performed to demonstrate changes in expression of various genes important for liver regeneration, fibrosis and steatosis. HF diet induced downregulation of proangiogenic genes such as vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 and 2 (P < 0.05) in males was not present in females. In conclusion, strain and gender served major roles in disease progression. These differences should be considered when designing studies and may offer new ways to advance therapeutic strategies.
How Invariant Feature Selectivity Is Achieved in Cortex

Parsing the visual scene into objects is paramount to survival. Yet, how this is accomplished by the nervous system remains largely unknown, even in the comparatively well understood visual system. It is especially unclear how detailed peripheral signal representations are transformed into the object-oriented representations that are independent of object position and are provided by the final stages of visual processing. This perspective discusses advances in computational algorithms for fitting large-scale models that make it possible to reconstruct the intermediate steps of visual processing based on neural responses to natural stimuli. In particular, it is now possible to characterize how different types of position invariance, such as local (also known as phase invariance) and more global, are interleaved with nonlinear operations to allow for coding of curved contours. Neurons in the mid-level visual area V4 exhibit selectivity to pairs of even- and odd-symmetric profiles along curved contours. Such pairing is reminiscent of the response properties of complex cells in the primary visual cortex (V1) and suggests specific ways in which V1 signals are transformed within subsequent visual cortical areas. These examples illustrate that large-scale models fitted to neural responses to natural stimuli can provide generative models of successive stages of sensory processing.
Parent and Adolescent Temperaments and the Quality of Parent-Adolescent Relations.

Adolescent and parent temperaments as predictors of the quality of parent-adoles cent relations were examined. Participants were 88 seventh-grade adolescents and their mothers and fathers. All three family members provided reports of their own levels of activity and adaptability. Mothers, fathers, and adolescents also reported on acceptance, psychological control, lax discipline, and conflict in the parent adolescent dyad. Multivariate multiple regressions with follow-up univariate tests indicated a complex set of relations between adolescent and parent temperaments and parent-adolescent relations. In some cases, parent and adolescent tempera ments interacted to predict specific aspects of parent-adolescent relations. There were also gender-of-parent and gender-of-adolescent differences in the associations between temperament and parent-adolescent relations. These results are consistent with the goodness-of-fit model of temperament.
Small-Signal Stability Analysis of an Open-Loop Induction Motor Drive Including the Effect of Inverter Deadtime

This paper demonstrates light-load instability in a 100-kW open-loop induction motor drive on account of inverter deadtime. An improved small-signal model of an inverter-fed induction motor is proposed. This improved model is derived by linearizing the nonlinear dynamic equations of the motor, which include the inverter deadtime effect. Stability analysis is carried out on the 100-kW 415-V three-phase induction motor considering no load. The analysis brings out the region of instability of this motor drive on the voltage versus frequency (V-f) plane. This region of light-load instability is found to expand with increase in inverter deadtime. Subharmonic oscillations of significant amplitude are observed in the steady-state simulated and measured current waveforms, at numerous operating points in the unstable region predicted, confirming the validity of the stability analysis. Furthermore, simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed model is more accurate than an existing small-signal model in predicting the region of instability.
Flow, Diversity, Form, and Influence of Political Talk in Social-Media-Based Public Forums

By investigating social-media-based public forums and using network and content analyses, this study explores how political discussions flow, how diverse they are, and what forms of political discussions are influential. The results suggest that the flow of political discussions is not notably centralized and cliquish. Participants refer primarily to the remarks of like-minded fellow citizens. Political discussions are more emotional than cognitive and express more anger than anxiety, but it appears that cognitive discussions are more influential than emotional ones. Among cognitive components, assertive and strong discussions have greater influence than analytical ones. These results have implications for the practice of citizenship and the theory of selective exposure as well as for future directions in political communication research.
A Potential Regulatory Relationship between the Nested Gene Ddc8 and Its Host Gene Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-2 (timp-2)

Nested genes are fairly common within the mammalian nervous system, yet few studies have examined whether the guest and host genes might be coordinately regulated. TIMPs inhibit extracellular matrix proteolysis mediated by metzincin proteases. TIMP-2 is the only TIMP not nested within a synapsin gene. It does, however, serve as a host for DDC8, a testis-specific gene whose expression is up-regulated during spermatogenesis. Here, we demonstrate that DDC8 is not testis-specific. Furthermore, DDC8 expression in non-neural and neural tissues mimics that of TIMP-2, including its up-regulation in response to traumatic brain injury, suggesting a potential regulatory relationship. The most striking observation is that the TIMP-2 knockout mouse brain contains TIMP-2 mRNA encoding exons 2-5, which are down-stream of DDC8, but not exon 1 which contains the signal sequence and cysteine residue required for MMP inhibition, indicating a functional knockout. That TIMP-2 transcripts in wild-type brain contain DDC8 sequence suggests alternative splicing between the two genes.
Science teaching styles and students intrinsic motivation: validating a structural model

This present study seeks to investigate the teaching method adopted by the biology teachers and their student intrinsic motivation in order to be persistence in learning the subject. Using the response from student experience, the engagement theory by Kearsley and Schneiderman (1998) has been adopted for the theoretical framework in the study. The research question has been designed to validate a model of teaching styles and intrinsic motivation; . Do teaching styles adopted by biology teachers promote student intrinsic motivation in ICT learning environment? 400 samples from selected secondary schools students in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia have been collected to provide the responses for self constructed questionnaires in the structural equation modeling analysis. The findings provide the implications toward empirical evidence of theory, teaching practice and appropriate interventions that can be addressed and analysis procedure for future research.
“WE ARE NOT A GOVERNMENT POODLE” 1

Can museums make a difference to the lives of people with social problems? How can their effect be evaluated? These questions are central to the consideration of the role museums may have in creating a more inclusive society. Britain’s New Labour Government has made tackling social exclusion a high priority in policy across all areas, including culture. The Government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport is keen for museums to take an active part in improving people’s lives, redefining museums as “centres for social change”. This is a challenging and complex function for museums and this article explores the policy context for changes in museum practice. It focuses on how to evaluate the social impact of museums, advocating the use of new evaluation techniques developed for assessing learning in museums.
Martentoxin, a novel K+‐channel‐blocking peptide: purification, cDNA and genomic cloning, and electrophysiological and pharmacological characterization

Martentoxin, a novel K+‐channel‐specific peptide has been purified and characterized from the venom of the East‐Asian scorpion (Buthus martensi Karsch). The whole cDNA precursor sequence suggested that martentoxin was composed of 37 residues with a unique sequence compared with other scorpion neurotoxins. The genomic DNA of martentoxin showed an additional intron situated unexpectedly in the 5′ UTR region, besides one located close to the C‐terminal of the signal peptide. The patch‐clamp recording found that martentoxin at the applied dose of 100 nm could strongly block large‐conductance Ca2+‐activated K+ (BKCa) currents in adrenal medulla chromaffin cells, and BKCa currents blocked by martentoxin could be fully recovered within 30 seconds after washing, which is at least 10 times faster than recovery after charybdotoxin. Meanwhile, a biosensor binding assay showed a fast association rate and a slow dissociation rate of martentoxin binding on rat brain synaptosomes. The binding of martentoxin on rat brain synaptosomes could be inhibited regularly by charybdotoxin, and gradually by toosendanin in a concentration‐dependent manner, but not by either apamin or P03 from Buthus martensi. The results thus indicate that martentoxin is a new member in the family of K+‐channel‐blocking ligands.
The Art of Narritjin Maymuru

The richness and depth of The Art of Narritjin Maymuru is an excellent example of the appropriateness of the digital format of publication for works of visual anthropology. There is no way a paper publication could have expressed the interweaving of the essential elements of context within which material culture— including art—is produced. As in his traditional publications, project director Howard Morphy in this CD-ROM focuses on the personal and communal life histories of the makers of the art, the sociocultural significance and context—in this case urban and rural Australia of the 1940s–1970s, and the meaning that is symbolized in the visual medium [Morphy 1991, 1995]. Morphy developed a close relationship in the 1970s with Narritjin Maymuru, and the strength of this collaboration comes through clearly in The Art of the Narritjin Maymuru. ‘‘Art is at the heart of Yolnu society. Paintings, songs, sculptures, and dances are the means by which ancestral law is passed from generation to generation’’ is written in the accompanying booklet. As a Yolnu person and an artist with ties to mainstream urban Australia and anthropologists, Maymuru played a significant role in broadening the awareness in Australia of the complexities of Australian Aboriginal social and intellectual life. He also became a leader in the resistance to urban Australia’s encroachment on Aboriginal landscapes, choosing to live in the traditional sacred landscape of Blue Mud Bay, away from the mining stations. He also was an internationally renowned artist. The CD-ROM is the product of many years of detailed research. The paintings on bark and other media of Narritjin Maymuru and other artists of his Mangalili clan of the Yolnu people at Yirrkala in Arnhem Land, Northern Australia, have been brought together in this collection. The paintings are associated with images and movies of landscapes and places to which they refer, their reference to ancestral events, as well as a breakdown of their symbolic iconography. In addition, a detailed life history of Maymuru is presented, including events of personal as well as broader political significance. Many of the movies used in the CD-ROM are taken from the seven films featuring Maymuru that were part of the Yirrkala Film Project, directed by Ian Dunlop for Film Australia. All of these elements are managed in a Filemaker Pro 6 database. Visual Anthropology, 21: 88–90, 2008 Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 0894-9468 print=1545-5920 online DOI: 10.1080/08949460701610696
INK: A Cloud-Based System for Efficient Top-k Interval Keyword Search

It is insufficient to search temporal text by only focusing on either time attribute or keywords today as we pay close attention to the evolution of event with time. Both temporal and textual constraints need to be considered in one single query, called Top-k Interval Keyword Query (TIKQ). In this paper, we presents a cloud-based system named INK that supports efficient execution of TIKQs with appropriate effectiveness on Hadoop and HBase. In INK, an Adaptive Index Selector (AIS) is devised to choose the better execution plan for various TIKQs adaptively based on the proposed cost model, and leverage two novel hybrid index modules (TriI and IS-Tree) to combine keyword and interval filtration seamlessly.
Support of Collaborative Structural Design Processes through the Integration of Peer-to-Peer and Multiagent Architectures

Structural engineering projects are increasingly organized in networked cooperations due to a permanently enlarged competition pressure and a high degree of complexity while performing the concurrent design activities. Software that intends to support such collaborative structural design processes implicates enormous requirements. In the course of our common research work, we analyzed the pros and cons of the application of both the peer-to-peer (University of Bonn) and multiagent architecture style (University of Bochum) within the ﬁeld of collaborative structural design. In this paper, we join the beneﬁts of both architecture styles in an integrated conceptual approach. We demonstrate the surplus value of the integrated multiagent–peer-to-peer approach by means of an example scenario in which several structural engineers are co-operatively designing the basic structural elements of an arched bridge, applying heterogeneous CAD systems.
A novel evolutionary data mining algorithm with applications to churn prediction

Classification is an important topic in data mining research. Given a set of data records, each of which belongs to one of a number of predefined classes, the classification problem is concerned with the discovery of classification rules that can allow records with unknown class membership to be correctly classified. Many algorithms have been developed to mine large data sets for classification models and they have been shown to be very effective. However, when it comes to determining the likelihood of each classification made, many of them are not designed with such purpose in mind. For this, they are not readily applicable to such problems as churn prediction. For such an application, the goal is not only to predict whether or not a subscriber would switch from one carrier to another, it is also important that the likelihood of the subscriber's doing so be predicted. The reason for this is that a carrier can then choose to provide a special personalized offer and services to those subscribers who are predicted with higher likelihood to churn. Given its importance, we propose a new data mining algorithm, called data mining by evolutionary learning (DMEL), to handle classification problems of which the accuracy of each predictions made has to be estimated. In performing its tasks, DMEL searches through the possible rule space using an evolutionary approach that has the following characteristics: 1) the evolutionary process begins with the generation of an initial set of first-order rules (i.e., rules with one conjunct/condition) using a probabilistic induction technique and based on these rules, rules of higher order (two or more conjuncts) are obtained iteratively; 2) when identifying interesting rules, an objective interestingness measure is used; 3) the fitness of a chromosome is defined in terms of the probability that the attribute values of a record can be correctly determined using the rules it encodes; and 4) the likelihood of predictions (or classifications) made are estimated so that subscribers can be ranked according to their likelihood to churn. Experiments with different data sets showed that DMEL is able to effectively discover interesting classification rules. In particular, it is able to predict churn accurately under different churn rates when applied to real telecom subscriber data.
Network Coding for P2P Live Media Streaming

This paper proposes a new scheme for randomized network coding based live media streaming in mesh cooperative peer-to-peer network. With network coding, each node of the mesh cooperative network is able to generate and transmit encoded blocks of media data. The encoding operations help user nodes to make better packet propagation decisions and can therefore make the streaming system to be more efficient. Moreover, the randomization introduced by network coding also allows us to introduce a push based transmission method and a Priority Encoding Transmission mechanism into the system to further enhance system performance. We have run a series of simulation experiments to compare streaming system using our scheme with traditional store-and-forward based streaming system with pull (or known as data driven) transmission method. Simulation results show that our design can significantly improve the streaming continuity and the robustness of live media system.
Atrophic gastritis: Helicobacter pylori versus duodenogastric reflux

Objectives The objective of this study was to asses the prevalence of atrophic gastritis in children. We also wanted to compare the clinical manifestation, endoscopic appearance and the degree of the gastric atrophy in children and to identify the possible causes which determine gastric atrophy. Methods We evaluated 247 children with chronic gastritis (153 female/94 male, mean age 12.32 years). Atrophy was defined as the loss of normal glandular components, including replacement with fibrosis and/or intestinal metaplasia. Results The prevalence of the atrophic gastritis was 16.6% (41 cases), mean age 11.59+/−1.75 years, male-to-female ratio 16:25. The clinical manifestations were correlated with the patient age (infants and toddlers were evaluated mostly for weight loss – 4 cases, and older children for abdominal pain – 22 cases). The endoscopic appearance was described as either nodular (15 cases), or erythematous gastritis (10 cases), or normal (10 cases). According to the Sydney System, the degree of atrophy was found to be mild in 3 patients, moderate in 25, and severe in 13 patients; 14 cases were associated with duodenogastric reflux, 5 with Helicobacter pylori and 2 with Helicobacter heilmannii infection, but in 17 cases the etiology was unknown. Conclusions Atrophic gastritis is present in childhood, even at very young ages (infants, toddlers). The endoscopic appearance is not characteristic for the presence of atrophy. The degree of the atrophy is not correlated with the age of the children. Because of the relatively high number of duodenogastric reflux associated with gastric atrophy, further studies need to evaluate the potential causes and clinical course.
In‐field gait retraining and mobile monitoring to address running biomechanics associated with tibial stress fracture

We sought to determine if an in‐field gait retraining program can reduce excessive impact forces and peak hip adduction without adverse changes in knee joint work during running. Thirty healthy at‐risk runners who exhibited high‐impact forces were randomized to retraining [21.1 (±1.9) years, 22.1 (±10.8) km/week] or control groups [21.0 (±1.3) years, 23.2 (±8.7) km/week]. Retrainers were cued, via a wireless accelerometer, to increase preferred step rate by 7.5% during eight training sessions performed in‐field. Adherence with the prescribed step rate was assessed via mobile monitoring. Three‐dimensional gait analysis was performed at baseline, after retraining, and at 1‐month post‐retraining. Retrainers increased step rate by 8.6% (P < 0.0001), reducing instantaneous vertical load rate (−17.9%, P = 0.003), average vertical load rate (−18.9%, P < 0.0001), peak hip adduction (2.9° ± 4.2 reduction, P = 0.005), eccentric knee joint work per stance phase (−26.9%, P < 0.0001), and per kilometer of running (−21.1%, P < 0.0001). Alterations in gait were maintained at 30 days. In the absence of any feedback, controls maintained their baseline gait parameters. The majority of retrainers were adherent with the prescribed step rate during in‐field runs. Thus, in‐field gait retraining, cueing a modest increase in step rate, was effective at reducing impact forces, peak hip adduction and eccentric knee joint work.
Walk-through programming for robotic manipulators based on admittance control

SUMMARY The present paper addresses the issues that should be covered in order to develop walk-through programming techniques (i.e. a manual guidance of the robot) in an industrial scenario. First, an exact formulation of the dynamics of the tool the human should feel when interacting with the robot is presented. Then, the paper discusses a way to implement such dynamics on an industrial robot equipped with an open robot control system and a wrist force/torque sensor, as well as the safety issues related to the walk-through programming. In particular, two strategies that make use of admittance control to constrain the robot motion are presented. One slows down the robot when the velocity of the tool centre point exceeds a specified safety limit, the other one limits the robot workspace by way of virtual safety surfaces. Experimental results on a COMAU Smart Six robot are presented, showing the performance of the walk-through programming system endowed with the two proposed safety strategies.
EM Can Find Pretty Good HMM POS-Taggers (When Given a Good Start)

We address the task of unsupervised POS tagging. We demonstrate that good results can be obtained using the robust EM-HMM learner when provided with good initial conditions, even with incomplete dictionaries. We present a family of algorithms to compute effective initial estimations p(t|w). We test the method on the task of full morphological disambiguation in Hebrew achieving an error reduction of 25% over a strong uniform distribution baseline. We also test the same method on the standard WSJ unsupervised POS tagging task and obtain results competitive with recent state-ofthe-art methods, while using simple and efficient learning methods.