Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Serum concentrations of beta-carotene and alpha-tocopherol are associated with diet, smoking, and general and central adiposity.

BACKGROUND Previous studies of associations between diet, obesity, and blood concentrations of alpha-tocopherol and beta-carotene have been equivocal. Furthermore, most studies used only body mass index (BMI) as an obesity measure. OBJECTIVES Our objectives were to examine the associations between energy and nutrient intakes, alcohol consumption, tobacco use, and serum cholesterol and serum concentrations of alpha-tocopherol and beta-carotene, and to examine the associations between different measures of general and central adiposity and serum concentrations of alpha-tocopherol and beta-carotene. DESIGN This was a cross-sectional, population-based study of 253 men and 276 women aged 46-67 y. Nutrient data were collected by a modified diet history method. Measures of obesity included BMI, percentage of body fat (impedance analysis), waist-to-hip ratio, and waist circumference. The associations between serum nutrient concentrations and the other factors were examined by multiple linear regression. RESULTS Twenty-one percent of men and 34% of women used antioxidant supplements. The mean BMI was 26.1 in men and 25.4 in women. Serum beta-carotene concentration was positively associated with serum cholesterol concentration, fiber intake, and beta-carotene intake, and negatively associated with smoking and all measures of obesity. In men, serum beta-carotene concentration was not significantly associated with central adiposity after adjustment for body fat. Serum alpha-tocopherol concentration was positively correlated with serum cholesterol, obesity, and vitamin E intake. In women, serum alpha-tocopherol concentration was also positively associated with intakes of ascorbic acid and selenium. Serum alpha-tocopherol concentration was associated with central adiposity after adjustment for body fat. CONCLUSION Serum beta-carotene and alpha-tocopherol concentrations have different associations with diet, smoking, general adiposity, and central adiposity.
Color mimicry of empty seeds influences the probability of predation by birds

Seeds are under strong pressure from seed predators. Therefore any physical seed trait increasing the chances of the seed's survival should undergo positive selection. Seed color polymorphism, varying from pale to dark seeds, occurs in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), a keystone species of coniferous forests in Eurasia. This phenomenon can be explained by the production of large quantities of empty, always pale colored, seeds, with the opportunity for mimicry of these worthless seeds to avoid predation. Here, we investigated how the color of empty seeds may influence the foraging choices of the most common visual seed predator in temperate forests, the Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs). We show, from field experiments, that different colored seed had different probabilities of predation by the chaffinch, and that predation was highest for dark seeds and lowest for pale empty seeds. Thus, the occurrence of empty seeds might benefit full seeds which mimic their coloration, even for those which are highly visible on the ground. In conclusion, the study demonstrated that mimicry by seeds of the color of the ground did not improve their survival but the production of pale full seeds resembling empty seeds did. This contradicts previous results and indicates that color polymorphism may reduce the predation rate by birds.
A New FPGA Architecture of FAST and BRIEF Algorithm for On-Board Corner Detection and Matching

Although some researchers have proposed the Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) architectures of Feature From Accelerated Segment Test (FAST) and Binary Robust Independent Elementary Features (BRIEF) algorithm, there is no consideration of image data storage in these traditional architectures that will result in no image data that can be reused by the follow-up algorithms. This paper proposes a new FPGA architecture that considers the reuse of sub-image data. In the proposed architecture, a remainder-based method is firstly designed for reading the sub-image, a FAST detector and a BRIEF descriptor are combined for corner detection and matching. Six pairs of satellite images with different textures, which are located in the Mentougou district, Beijing, China, are used to evaluate the performance of the proposed architecture. The Modelsim simulation results found that: (i) the proposed architecture is effective for sub-image reading from DDR3 at a minimum cost; (ii) the FPGA implementation is corrected and efficient for corner detection and matching, such as the average value of matching rate of natural areas and artificial areas are approximately 67% and 83%, respectively, which are close to PC’s and the processing speed by FPGA is approximately 31 and 2.5 times faster than those by PC processing and by GPU processing, respectively.
Medical image denoising based on dictionary learning

Images are widely used in medical engineering. Medical imaging devices are inevitable to introduce noises to medical images. It is important to eliminate noises in medical images. To denoise the images more effectively, this paper proposes an improved image denoising method based on dictionary learning. It introduced the image size and pixel distribution to define a new iteration more reasonably. When the iteration function is called, the threshold is properly compressed. The results show that the effect of dictionary updating is better, and that it improves the effect of noise reduction and greatly reduces the computing time consumed, in comparison to those of the KSVD and MOD algorithms. Therefore, it has the potential application value in medical image processing.
Spectroscopic Doppler analysis for visible-light optical coherence tomography

Abstract. Retinal oxygen metabolic rate can be effectively measured by visible-light optical coherence tomography (vis-OCT), which simultaneously quantifies oxygen saturation and blood flow rate in retinal vessels through spectroscopic analysis and Doppler measurement, respectively. Doppler OCT relates phase variation between sequential A-lines to the axial flow velocity of the scattering medium. The detectable phase shift is between −π and π due to its periodicity, which limits the maximum measurable unambiguous velocity without phase unwrapping. Using shorter wavelengths, vis-OCT is more vulnerable to phase ambiguity since flow induced phase variation is linearly related to the center wavenumber of the probing light. We eliminated the need for phase unwrapping using spectroscopic Doppler analysis. We split the whole vis-OCT spectrum into a series of narrow subbands and reconstructed vis-OCT images to extract corresponding Doppler phase shifts in all the subbands. Then, we quantified flow velocity by analyzing subband-dependent phase shift using linear regression. In the phantom experiment, we showed that spectroscopic Doppler analysis extended the measurable absolute phase shift range without conducting phase unwrapping. We also tested this method to quantify retinal blood flow in rodents in vivo.
Study on Spherical Microlasers Levitated in an Ion Trap

Study on Spherical Microlasers Levitated in an Ion Trap Masahide Tona Course of Intelligent Mechanical Systems Engineering, Kochi University of Technology September 2002 Director: Prof. Masahiro Kimura Optical processes in micrometer-sized spherical particles have been studied extensively in recent years. Light waves traveling along a circumference of a spherical particle are efficiently confined near the surface by almost total internal reflection. If they round the circumference in phase, resonant standing waves are produced along the great circles. Such resonances are called ”morphology dependent resonances (MDRs)” because the resonance frequencies strongly depend on the size parameter defined as the ratio of a radius of the sphere to the light wavelength. The particle acts as a high Q resonator and exhibits a variety of linear and nonlinear optical effects in elastic scattering, fluorescence, laser emission and Raman scattering. In order to obtain fundamental information on optical properties of spherical microlasers, we have investigated laser actions of dye-doped microdroplets in an ion trap. Unlike spherical microparticles around wires or on substrates employed by other investigators, the single droplets isolated in the ion trap are not supported by any material and are naturally shaped into almost perfect spheres owing to surface tension. The ion trap technique is hence ideally suited to the studies on the spherical microlasers. Droplets composed of liquid glycerol doped with rhodamine 6G molecules were generated by a method of electrospray ionization and injected into the ion trap. A droplet in the ion trap was irradiated by an SHG radiation of a Q-switched v Nd:YAG laser (532 nm, pulse width of 10 ns). Perpendicularly emitted radiation from the droplet was spectrally recorded by using a spectrometer equipped with a charge-coupled device (CCD) detector, and the radiating images were photographed with a color CCD camera mounted on a microscope. In this study, the following novel phenomena have been revealed and analyzed: (a) Microscopic images of the lasing droplet exhibit symmetrically arranged bright spots near the surface, (b) Polarization of laser light waves from the droplet strongly depend on the observation direction and the polarization of exciting light, (c) The polarization properties are very useful to identify the lasing modes of spherical microlasers, and (d) The density and the polarization of lasing modes are closely related to concentration of the dye molecules. This thesis is organized as follows. In Chap. 1, Introduction, a review of various researches in this field and motivation of this work are stated. In Chap. 2, Optical Properties of Spherical Particles, we introduce the Mie theory and discuss MDRs. Chapter 3, Experimental Details, describes the ion trap technique and observation methods of emission from single droplets confined in the ion trap. In Chap. 4, Results and Discussion, the novel phenomena, as mentioned above, are described and discussed in detail. In Chap. 5, Conclusion, the summary and the future development of this study are stated.
A 65 nm Complementary Metal–Oxide–Semiconductor 400 ns Measurement Delay Negative-Bias-Temperature-Instability Recovery Sensor with Minimum Assist Circuit

We propose a negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) recovery sensor with a 400 ns measurement delay. The measurement delay is about 30 ms when the leakage current of a small single transistor is measured by the conventional method. This sensor contains many unit cells. One unit cell includes 10 p-channel metal–oxide–semiconductor (PMOS) Device-under-tests (DUTs) and two assist n-channel metal–oxide–semiconductor (NMOS) devices. Parallelizing many unit cells can amplify the leakage current and the assist circuit can reduce the rush current to the ammeter, which keeps the measurement range of the ammeter constant during measurement. A short measurement delay is achieved by these two factors. It is confirmed that from 50 to 125 °C, NBTI recovery follows log t from 400 ns to 3000 s. By stressing and recovering thousands of PMOS transistors at the same time, we can observe that the time constants of positively charged defects, which are related to NBTI, are log-uniformly distributed in the PMOS devices. Also, this circuit has the highest fidelity to NBTI recovery measurement because off-leak current is used for NBTI recovery characterization and stress is not added during measurement.
Relation of dietary glycemic index, glycemic load, added sugar intake, or fiber intake to the development of body composition between ages 2 and 7 y.

BACKGROUND Observational studies in adults suggest that a diet with a high glycemic index (GI) or glycemic load (GL), a high intake of sugary foods, or a low fiber intake may increase the risk of overweight. OBJECTIVES We aimed to examine prospectively whether dietary GI, GL, added sugar intake, or fiber intake between age 2 and 7 y are associated with the development of body composition. If so, we aimed to ascertain whether these associations are modified by meal frequency. DESIGN Linear mixed-effect regression analyses were performed in 380 participants of the DOrtmund Nutrition and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed (DONALD) Study for whom 4-6 weighed 3-d dietary records and anthropometric data were obtained between ages 2 and 7 y. RESULTS Changes in dietary GI, GL, or added sugar intake between ages 2 and 7 y were not associated with concurrent changes in percentage body fat (%BF, as estimated from skinfold thicknesses) or body mass index SD scores. An increase in fiber intake was related to a concurrent decrease in %BF between ages 2 and 7 y only in children who consumed <6 meals/d as toddlers (beta +/- SE from fully adjusted model: -0.26 +/- 0.09%BF per 1-SD increase in fiber intake, P = 0.005), whereas children with a higher meal frequency had no concurrent change (0.07 +/- 0.07%BF per 1-SD increase in fiber intake, P = 0.3). CONCLUSIONS Dietary GI, GL, or added sugar intake between ages 2 and 7 y does not appear to influence the development of body composition. Potential benefits associated with increasing fiber intake throughout childhood may be limited to toddlers with a lower meal frequency.
Peripapillary Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Vascular Microcirculation in Eyes With Glaucoma and Single-Hemifield Visual Field Loss

Importance Understanding the differences in vascular microcirculation of the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) between the hemispheres in eyes with glaucoma with single-hemifield visual field (VF) defects may provide insight into the pathophysiology of glaucoma. Objective To investigate the changes in the microcirculation of the peripapillary RNFL of eyes with glaucoma by using optical microangiography. Design, Setting, and Participants Eyes with glaucoma and single-hemifield VF defect and normal eyes underwent scanning using an optical microangiography system covering a 6.7 × 6.7-mm2 area centered at the optic nerve head. The RNFL microcirculation was measured within an annulus region centered at the optic nerve head divided into superior and inferior hemispheres. Blood flux index (the mean flow signal intensity in the vessels) and vessel area density (the percentage of the detected vessels in the annulus) were measured. Main Outcomes and Measures Differences in microcirculation between the hemispheres in eyes with glaucoma and normal eyes and correlations among blood flow metrics, VF thresholds, and clinical optical coherence tomography structural measurements were assessed. Results Twenty-one eyes from 21 patients with glaucoma (7 men and 14 women; mean [SD] age, 63.7 [9.9] years) and 20 eyes from 20 healthy control individuals (9 men and 11 women; mean [SD] age, 68.3 [10.7] years) were studied. In eyes with glaucoma, the abnormal hemisphere showed a thinner RNFL (mean [SE] difference, 23.5 [4.5] &mgr;m; 95% CI, 15.1-32.0 µm; P < .001), lower RNFL blood flux index (mean [SE] difference, 0.04 [0.01]; 95% CI, 0.02-0.05; P < .001), and less vessel area density (mean [SE] difference, 0.08% [0.02%]; 95% CI, 0.05%-0.10%; P < .001) than did the normal hemisphere. Compared with normal eyes, reduced RNFL microcirculation was found in the normal hemisphere of eyes with glaucoma, measured by mean [SE] differences in blood flux index (0.06 [0.01]; 95% CI, 0.04-0.09; P < .001) and vessel area density (0.04% [0.02%]; 95% CI, 0.02%-0.08%; P = .003) but not in RNFL thickness (3.4 [4.7] &mgr;m; 95% CI, −6.2 to 12.9 µm; P = .48). Strong correlations were found between the blood flux index and VF mean deviation (Spearman &rgr; = 0.44; P = .045) and RNFL thickness (Spearman &rgr; = 0.65; P = .001) in the normal hemisphere of the eye with glaucoma. Conclusions and Relevance Reduced RNFL microcirculation was detected in the normal hemisphere of eyes with glaucoma, with strong correspondence with VF loss and RNFL thinning. Although the results suggest that vascular dysfunction precedes structural changes seen in glaucoma, longitudinal studies would be needed to confirm this finding.
A Coarse-to-Fine 2D Lidar Localization Based on Monte-Carlo and Iterative Closest Point

The 2D Lidar localization system, which typically has stringent accuracy and stability requirements, is a pivotal component in the practical implementation of autonomous mobile robots(AMRs) in industrial settings. However, in complex settings such as long corridors, glass reflections, multiple occlusions, and other degradation features, 2D Lidar localization systems are often unable to achieve the ideal positioning accuracy of 10mm. Regrettably, most commercial solutions can only be implemented in simple situations. To address above issues, this paper proposes a cascaded 2D Lidar localization solution combined with NDT-MCL and PL-ICP, that can fully meet the robustness and accuracy demands of the positioning system on industrial sites in complex scenarios. The experimental results, assessed in both simulated and real environment, demonstrate the superiority of our proposed method compared to other algorithms in terms of both robustness and accuracy. The autonomous navigation control of algorithm achieves an accuracy of less than $\pm 5\mathbf{mm}$ in repeated positioning in complex environments, and the smoothing accuracy of the driving trajectory reaches 25mm. Additionally, the single-frame computation speed on the embedded rk3399 platform reaches 27ms.
Mitochondrial protein Fus 1 / Tusc 2

Decreased energy production and increased oxidative stress are considered to be major contributors to aging and aging‐associated pathologies. The role of mitochondrial calcium homeostasis has also been highlighted as an important factor affecting different pathological conditions. Here, we present evidence that loss of a small mitochondrial protein Fus1 that maintains mitochondrial homeostasis results in premature aging, aging‐ associated pathologies, and decreased survival. We showed that Fus1KO mice develop multiple early aging signs including lordokyphosis, lack of vigor, inability to accumulate fat, reduced ability to tolerate stress, and premature death. Other prominent pathological changes included low sperm counts, compromised ability of adult stem cells to repopulate tissues, and chronic inflammation. At the molecular level, we demonstrated that mitochondria of Fus1 KO cells have low reserve respiratory capacity (the ability to produce extra energy during sudden energy demanding situations), and show significantly altered dynamics of cellular calcium response. Our recent studies on early hearing and memory loss in Fus1 KO mice combined with the new data presented here suggest that calcium and energy homeostasis controlled by Fus1 may be at the core of its aging‐regulating activities. Thus, Fus1 protein and Fus1‐dependent pathways and processes may represent new tools and targets for anti‐aging strategies.
Dietary glycemic index and glycemic load and the risk of type 2 diabetes in older adults.

BACKGROUND It is unclear whether immediate dietary effects on blood glucose influence the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to examine whether the dietary glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) were associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes in older adults. DESIGN The Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study is a prospective cohort study of 3075 adults who were 70-79 y old at baseline (n=1898 for this analysis). The intakes of specific nutrients and food groups and the risk of type 2 diabetes over a 4-y period were examined according to dietary GI and GL. RESULTS Dietary GI was positively associated with dietary carbohydrate and negatively associated with the intakes of protein, total fat, saturated fat, alcohol, vegetables, and fruit. Dietary GL was positively associated with dietary carbohydrate, fruit, and fiber and negatively associated with the intakes of protein, total fat, saturated fat, and alcohol. Persons in the higher quintiles of dietary GI or GL did not have a significantly greater incidence of type 2 diabetes. CONCLUSIONS These findings do not support a relation between dietary GI or GL and the risk of type 2 diabetes in older adults. Because dietary GI and GL show strong nutritional correlates, the overall dietary pattern should be considered.
WPI-CS-TR-12-05 September 2012 A Practical Regularity Partitioning

In this paper we introduce a new clustering technique called Regularity Clustering. This new technique is based on the practical variants of the two constructive versions of the Regularity Lemma, a very useful tool in graph theory. The lemma claims that every graph can be partitioned into pseudo-random graphs. While the Regularity Lemma has become very important in proving theoretical results, it has no direct practical applications so far. An important reason for this lack of practical applications is that the graph under consideration has to be astronomically large. This requirement makes its application restrictive in practice where graphs typically are much smaller. In this paper we propose modifications of the constructive versions of the Regularity Lemma that work for smaller graphs as well. We call this the Practical Regularity partitioning algorithm. The partition obtained by this is used to build the reduced graph which can be viewed as a compressed representation of the original graph. Then we apply a pairwise clustering method such as spectral clustering on this reduced graph to get a clustering of the original graph that we call Regularity Clustering. We present results of using Regularity Clustering on a number of benchmark datasets and compare them with standard clustering techniques, such as k-means and spectral clustering. These empirical results are very encouraging. Thus in this paper we report an attempt to harness the power of the Regularity Lemma for real-world applications.
Predicting unexpected influxes of players in EVE online

EVE Online is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) taking place in a large galaxy consisting of about 7 500 star systems. In comparison to many other online role-playing games, the users interact in the same instance of a persistent player-driven universe. Given the number of simultaneous pilots online at the same time - a number which at times reaches up to more than 50 000 concurrent accounts logged on to the same server - the EVE Online universe can present atypically difficult load-balancing challenges when the users decide to operate in a coordinated fashion, for example, to launch an attack on a particular system. We will present an scalable, automated statistical method for predicting such unexpected user gatherings by considering the evolving shortest-path distances from each user to each system. Here we present a case study analyzing nearly 300 million user movements in the EVE Online universe from over 700 thousand user accounts over a period of three months. We demonstrate an ability to predict sudden spikes in user presence (corresponding to actual events) before they happen, suggesting our techniques could be useful for automated load-balancing in such massive online games.