Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The role of blood flow in determining the sites of atherosclerotic plaques

Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by the accumulation of lipids and inflammatory cells along the inner walls of arteries, and is an underlying cause of cardiovascular disease. Atherosclerotic lesions develop predominantly at branches, bends, and bifurcations in the arterial tree because these sites are exposed to low or disturbed blood flow, which exerts low/oscillatory shear stress on the vessel wall. This mechanical environment alters endothelial cell physiology by enhancing inflammatory activation. In contrast, regions of the arterial tree that are exposed to uniform, unidirectional blood flow and experience high shear stress are protected from inflammation and lesion development. Shear stress is sensed by the endothelium via mechanoreceptors and is subsequently transduced into biochemical signals resulting in modulation of proinflammatory signaling pathways. In this article, we address the molecular mechanisms behind the spatial localization of vascular inflammation and atherosclerosis, with particular focus on studies by our own group of two key proinflammatory signaling pathways, the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway and the nuclear factor-kappa-B pathway.
The Limits of Onetary Economics: On Money as a Medium of Exchange in Near-Cashless Credit Economies

We study the transmission of monetary policy in credit economies where money serves as a medium of exchange. We find that—in contrast to current conventional wisdom in policy-oriented research in monetary economics—the role of money in transactions can be a powerful conduit to asset prices and ultimately, aggregate consumption, investment, output, and welfare. Theoretically, we show that the cashless limit of the monetary equilibrium (as the cash-and-credit economy converges to a pure-credit economy) need not correspond to the equilibrium of the nonmonetary pure-credit economy. Quantitatively, we find that the magnitudes of the responses of prices and allocations to monetary policy in the monetary economy are sizeable—even in the cashless limit. Hence, as tools to assess the effects of monetary policy, monetary models without money are generically poor approximations— even to idealized highly developed credit economies that are able to accommodate a large volume of transactions with arbitrarily small aggregate real money balances.
Experimental research on double-K fracture toughness of non-standard three point bending concrete beam

Through the testing of non-standard three-point bending concrete beam specimens with the same span and initial crack-depth ratios and the modified computing methods of fracture toughness based on double-K fracture theory,complete load and the corresponding crack mouth opening displacement curves were measured in the experiment.The critical effective crack length ac,initial fracture toughness KiniIC and the unstable fracture toughness KunIC for the non-standard three point bending beams with different initial crack lengths and different specimen heights were determined.The results indicate that the initial load Fini,the maximum load Fun and the critical effective crack length ac will increase along with the decrease of the span-depth ratio.The precritical crack propagation length Δac,the initial fracture toughness KiniIC and the unstable fracture toughness KunIC are independent of the span-depth ratio,which can be considered as a constant for concrete materials for the test design.
Automated systolic array architecture synthesis for high throughput CNN inference on FPGAs

Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have been widely applied in many deep learning applications. In recent years, the FPGA implementation for CNNs has attracted much attention because of its high performance and energy efficiency. However, existing implementations have difficulty to fully leverage the computation power of the latest FPGAs. In this paper we implement CNN on an FPGA using a systolic array architecture, which can achieve high clock frequency under high resource utilization. We provide an analytical model for performance and resource utilization and develop an automatic design space exploration framework, as well as source-to-source code transformation from a C program to a CNN implementation using systolic array. The experimental results show that our framework is able to generate the accelerator for real-life CNN models, achieving up to 461 GFlops for floating point data type and 1.2 Tops for 8–16 bit fixed point.
Selective map-following navigation deficit: A new case of developmental topographical disorientation

ABSTRACT Introduction: Developmental topographical disorientation (DTD) is a lifelong condition in which affected individuals are selectively impaired in navigating space. Although it seems that DTD is widespread in the population, only a few cases have been studied from both a behavioral and a neuroimaging point of view. Here, we report a new case of DTD, never described previously, of a young woman (C.F.) showing a specific deficit in translating allocentrically coded information into egocentrically guided navigation, in presence of spared ability of constructing such representations. Method: A series of behavioral experiments was performed together with a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Results: We demonstrated that C.F. was fully effective in learning and following routes and in building up cognitive maps as well as in recognizing landmarks. C.F. ’s navigational skills, instead, dropped drastically in the map-following task when she was required to use a map to navigate in a novel environment. The rs-fMRI experiment demonstrated aberrant functional connectivity between regions within the default-mode network (DMN), and in particular between medial prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate, medial parietal, and temporal cortices. Discussion: Our results would suggest that, at least in C.F. , dysfunctional coactivation of core DMN regions would interfere with the ability to exploit cognitive maps for real-life navigation even when these maps can be correctly built.
Non-local Prior Modeling for Tomographic Reconstruction of Bright Field Transmission Electron Microscopy Images

Many important imaging problems in materials and biological sciences involve reconstruction of images that contain several repeating non-local structures. The presence of similar/identical particles or structures in images gives rise to enormous redundancy. Model-based iterative reconstruction (MBIR) is a powerful reconstruction framework that could – in principle – exploit such redundancies [1]. This is normally done through the selection of a log prior probability term that is part of the cost function used to compute the maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimate of the unknown. However, in practice, determining such a log prior probability term that accounts for the similarity between non-local particles or structures in the image is quite a challenging task. The open question of how to capture this non-local redundancy brings our attention to the advances made in the area of denoising algorithms. Non-local, patch-based denoising algorithms like BM3D and non-local means (NLM) are known to capture non-local similarities in images. However, since these denoising algorithms are not explicitly formulated as solutions to optimization problems, it is unclear as to how to use them in the MBIR framework.
Cross-version defect prediction via hybrid active learning with kernel principal component analysis

As defects in software modules may cause product failure and financial loss, it is critical to utilize defect prediction methods to effectively identify the potentially defective modules for a thorough inspection, especially in the early stage of software development lifecycle. For an upcoming version of a software project, it is practical to employ the historical labeled defect data of the prior versions within the same project to conduct defect prediction on the current version, i.e., Cross-Version Defect Prediction (CVDP). However, software development is a dynamic evolution process that may cause the data distribution (such as defect characteristics) to vary across versions. Furthermore, the raw features usually may not well reveal the intrinsic structure information behind the data. Therefore, it is challenging to perform effective CVDP. In this paper, we propose a two-phase CVDP framework that combines Hybrid Active Learning and Kernel PCA (HALKP) to address these two issues. In the first stage, HALKP uses a hybrid active learning method to select some informative and representative unlabeled modules from the current version for querying their labels, then merges them into the labeled modules of the prior version to form an enhanced training set. In the second stage, HALKP employs a non-linear mapping method, kernel PCA, to extract representative features by embedding the original data of two versions into a high-dimension space. We evaluate the HALKP framework on 31 versions of 10 projects with three prevalent performance indicators. The experimental results indicate that HALKP achieves encouraging results with average F-measure, g-mean and Balance of 0.480, 0.592 and 0.580, respectively and significantly outperforms nearly all baseline methods.
Query Shortest Paths Amidst Growing Discs

The determination of collision-free shortest paths among growing discs has previously been studied for discs with fixed growing rates. Here, we study a more general case of this problem, where: (1) the speeds at which the discs are growing are polynomial functions of degree $\dd$, and (2) the source and destination points are given as query points. We show how to preprocess the $n$ growing discs so that, for two given query points $s$ and $d$, a shortest path from $s$ to $d$ can be found in $O(n^2 \log (\dd n))$ time. The preprocessing time of our algorithm is $O(n^2 \log n + k \log k)$ where $k$ is the number of intersections between the growing discs and the tangent paths (straight line paths which touch the boundaries of two growing discs). We also prove that $k \in O(n^3\dd)$.
Pulse photoplethysmography derived respiration for obstructive sleep apnea detection

Five time series which are known to be modulated by respiration are derived from the pulse photoplethysmographic (PPG) signal, and they are analyzed for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) detection: Pulse rate, amplitude, and width variabilities (PRV, PAV, and PWV, respectively), pulse upslopes, and slope transit time (STT). A total of 26 polysomnographic recordings were split in 1-min segments which were manually labeled as OSA (653 segments), normal breathing (7204 segments), or other pulmonary events. For each one of the 5 PPG-derived series, 4 features were extracted: the standard deviation, the power at high and low frequency (PLF) bands, and the normalized PLF. These 20 features were used as input of a least-squares support vector machine classifier using an RBF kernel. Results show an accuracy of72.66%, suggesting that the analyzed features are promising for the detection of OSA from only the PPG signal.
Setting Cost in Optimal Matching to Uncover Contemporaneous Socio-Temporal Patterns

This article addresses the question of the effects of cost setting on the kind of temporal patterns optimal matching (OM) can uncover when applied to social science data. It is argued that the balance between indel (insertion and deletion) and substitution costs determines what kind of socio-temporal pattern can be brought to light. Insertion and deletion operations favor identically coded states irrespective of their locations whereas substitutions focus on contemporaneous similarities. The lower the ratio of substitution to indel costs, the closer OM is to the Hamming distance where only substitutions are used. The higher this ratio, the closer OM is to the Levenshtein II distance, which amounts to finding the longest common subsequence. When the timing of sequences is crucial, substitutions should be favored over indels and their costs should be carefully fixed. Ideally, substitution costs should vary with time to better take into account the timing of the sequences studied. As indels warp time, hence the timing of sequences, it is suggested to use only substitution operations with time-dependent costs inversely proportional to transition frequencies whenever the timing of sequences is central. This OM variant, coined dynamic Hamming matching, is applied to the question of the scheduling of paid work where timing is critical (1985 and 1999 French time use surveys, N = 7,908) along with three classical OM variants (Hamming and Levenshtein I and II). As expected, the two Hamming dissimilarity measures fare better to identify patterns of workday schedules, as measured by entropy, than the two Levenshtein ones.
A Review, Classification, and Comparative Evaluation of Approximate Arithmetic Circuits

Often as the most important arithmetic modules in a processor, adders, multipliers, and dividers determine the performance and energy efficiency of many computing tasks. The demand of higher speed and power efficiency, as well as the feature of error resilience in many applications (e.g., multimedia, recognition, and data analytics), have driven the development of approximate arithmetic design. In this article, a review and classification are presented for the current designs of approximate arithmetic circuits including adders, multipliers, and dividers. A comprehensive and comparative evaluation of their error and circuit characteristics is performed for understanding the features of various designs. By using approximate multipliers and adders, the circuit for an image processing application consumes as little as 47% of the power and 36% of the power-delay product of an accurate design while achieving similar image processing quality. Improvements in delay, power, and area are obtained for the detection of differences in images by using approximate dividers.
Bioinformatic Hunting of MicroRNAs Iftekhar

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous, small, noncoding RNAs of 18-25 nucleotides in length that negatively regulate their complementary messenger-RNAs at the post transcriptional level. Presently there are three approaches for miRNA identification. Two approaches i.e. bioinformatic and small RNA library construction and sequencing are examples of reverse genetics approach. In these two approaches researchers try to find miRNAs in the known genotypes (sequences). A third approach called the classical approach is example of forward genetics in which researchers determine the unknown genotype (miRNA sequence) of a known phenotype. The miRNAs have shown both evolutionarily converged nature (conserved miRNAs) from species to species within the same kingdom and species specific expression (species specific miRNAs). Majority of the miRNA genes are observed as conserved miRNAs as orthologs. This conserved nature of majority of miRNAs becomes an important logical tool for bioinformatics discovery of miRNAs in other species. Identification of miRNAs by using bioinformatic tools is now a commonplace and of the most widely used methods and it has facilitated the prediction of new miRNAs in both plant and animal systems. This is largely used due to its low cost and high efficiency. In 2001 the 1st release of miRBases (an online repository of miRNAs) contained only 218 miRNA entries and now its latest release 20 (released in June 2013) contains 24521 entries. The bioinformatics hunting of miRNAs has also a reasonable contribution in identification of new miRNAs. Around 25% of entries in miRBase (across all species) are predicted computationally. Likewise in Plant MicroRNA Database (PMRD) within the total 8433 miRNAs, 1297 of them are experimentally demonstrated and 7136 of them are from computational predictions . This review is aimed at describing the bioinformatic resources used in miRNA identification. Furthermore, the limitations of these resources are also described.
Interference of Field Evidence, Morphology, and DNA Analyses of Three Related Lysiphlebus Aphid Parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae)

ABSTRACT. This study provides evidence on integrating the morphological, field, and laboratory data, and application of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) barcoding gene to the three asexual or sexual Lysiphlebus spp. , i.e., Lysiphlebus cardui (Marshall), Lysiphlebus confusus Tremblay and Eady and Lysiphlebus fabarum (Marshall) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae). New aphid—invasive plant association, Aphis fabae Scopoli (Hemipreta: Aphididae) on Impatiens glandulifera Royle, has been used in the same model area in the Czech Republic under the same sampling and rearing method for several consecutive years and throughout the season. For molecular identification of these three species, we used DNA sequences of the barcoding region of the mitochondrial COI gene. Although our results confirmed ecological and morphological differences among L. cardui, L. confusus, and L. fabarum, genetic analysis on the basis of COI mitochondrial barcoding gene does not support species status of the mentioned Lysiphlebus taxa. The level of morphological differentiation in these Lysiphlebus Förster species is in accordance with the usual species variability within subfamily Aphidiinae. However, it should be examined how appearance of asexual lineages affects the morphological or genetical variability.
Comparative study of the interactions between bisphenol-A and its endocrine disrupting analogues with bovine serum albumin using multi-spectroscopic and molecular docking studies

Interaction studies of bisphenol analogues; biphenol-A (BPA), bisphenol-B (BPB), and bisphenol-F (BPF) with bovine serum albumin (BSA) were performed using multi-spectroscopic and molecular docking studies at the protein level. The mechanism of binding of bisphenols with BSA was dynamic in nature. SDS refolding experiments demonstrated no stabilization of BSA structure denatured by BPB, however, BSA denatured by BPA and BPF was found to get stabilized. Also, CD spectra and molecular docking studies revealed that BPB bound more strongly and induced more conformational changes in BSA in comparison to BPA. Hence, this study throws light on the replacement of BPA by its analogues and whether the replacement is associated with a possible risk, raising a doubt that perhaps BPB is not a good substitute of BPA.
Census functions: An approach to VLSI upper bounds

A model of VLSI computation suitable for the description of algorithms at a high level is introduced. The model is basically a language to express parallel computations which can be efficiently implemented by a VLSI circuit. This language is used to describe area-time efficient algorithms for a few well known graph problems. The exact complexity of these algorithms and their relevance to recent work on the inherent limitations of VLSI computations are also presented.
A Comparative Study of Behavior Problems among Left-Behind Children, Migrant Children and Local Children

This study aims to estimate the prevalence of behavioral problems among left-behind children, migrant children and local children in China, and to compare the risks of behavioral problems among the three types of children. Data on 4479 children aged 6–16 used in this study were from a survey conducted in China in 2017. The school-age version of the Children Behavior Checklist was used to measure children’s behavioral problems. Descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, and logistic regressions were conducted. The prevalence of behavioral problems was 18.80% and 13.59% for left-behind children and migrant children, respectively, both of which were higher than that of local children. Logistic regression analysis showed that after adjustments for individual and environmental variables, the likelihood of total, internalizing and externalizing behavior problems for left-behind children and migrant children were higher than those for local children; left-behind children had a higher likelihood of internalizing problems than externalizing problems, while migrant children had a higher prevalence of externalizing problems. Left-behind children had a higher prevalence of each specific syndrome than migrant and local children. Both individual and environmental factors were associated with child behavioral problems, and family migration may contribute to the increased risks. Left-behind and migrant children were more vulnerable than local children to behavioral problems.
Older workers motivation to continue to work: five meanings of age: A conceptual review

Purpose: Little is known about the motivation for older workers to work and to remain active in the labor market. Research on age and motivation is limited and, moreover, conceptually diverse. In this study, we address age-related factors that influence the work motivation of older workers. More specifically, we examine how various conceptualizations of the age factor affect the direction and termination of the motivation to continue to work of older workers. Methodology: A literature review of age-related factors and motivation to continue to work. Findings: Results from 24 empirical and 9 conceptual studies indicate that most age-related factors can have a negative impact on the motivation to continue to work of older people. These findings suggest that age-related factors are important in understanding older workers’ motivation to continue to work and that further research is needed to more fully understand the underlying processes that govern how these age-related factors influence the motivation to continue to work. Research limitations / implications: Based on the aforementioned findings, we were able to formulate a research agenda for future research, namely: 1) a need for a meta-analysis on age and motivation to determine the actual effect sizes, 2) additional theoretical attention to the underlying age-related processes, 3) more psychometric studies examining the operationalization and measurement of the age-related variables, and 4) additional empirical research on age-related variables and motivation. Practical implications: Age-related factors identified in this study, such as declining health and career plateaus, should be addressed by HRM policies. HRM practices that could motivate older workers to continue to work include ergonomic adjustments and continuous career development. Originality / value of paper: Research on age and motivation is limited and conceptually diverse. This paper is one of the first studies to explore the relations between different conceptualizations of age and motivation.
Cultural Leverage

The authors reviewed interventions using cultural leverage to narrow racial disparities in health care. Thirty-eight interventions of three types were identified: interventions that modified the health behaviors of individual patients of color, that increased the access of communities of color to the existing health care system, and that modified the health care system to better serve patients of color and their communities. Individual-level interventions typically tapped community members' expertise to shape programs. Access interventions largely involved screening programs, incorporating patient navigators and lay educators. Health care interventions focused on the roles of nurses, counselors, and community health workers to deliver culturally tailored health information. These interventions increased patients' knowledge for self-care, decreased barriers to access, and improved providers' cultural competence. The delivery of processes of care or intermediate health outcomes was significantly improved in 23 interventions. Interventions using cultural leverage show tremendous promise in reducing health disparities, but more research is needed to understand their health effects in combination with other interventions.