Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Blood-Brain Barrier Pharmacoproteomics-Based Reconstruction of the In Vivo Brain Distribution of P-Glycoprotein Substrates in Cynomolgus Monkeys

The aim of this study was to investigate whether in vivo drug distribution in brain in monkeys can be reconstructed by integrating four factors: protein expression levels of P-glycoprotein (P-gp)/multidrug resistance protein 1 at the blood-brain barrier (BBB), in vitro transport activity per P-gp molecule, and unbound drug fractions in plasma and brain. For five P-gp substrates (indinavir, quinidine, loperamide, paclitaxel, and verapamil) and one nonsubstrate (diazepam), in vitro P-gp transport activities were determined by measuring transcellular transport across monolayers of cynomolgus monkey P-gp–transfected LLC-PK1 and parental cells. In vivo P-gp functions at the BBB were reconstructed from in vitro P-gp transport activities and P-gp expression levels in transfected cells and cynomolgus brain microvessels. Brain-to-plasma concentration ratios (Kp,brain) were reconstructed by integrating the reconstructed in vivo P-gp functions with drug unbound fractions in plasma and brain. For all compounds, the reconstructed Kp,brain values were within a 3-fold range of observed values, as determined by constant intravenous infusion in adult cynomolgus monkeys. Among four factors, plasma unbound fraction was the most sensitive factor to species differences in Kp,brain between monkeys and mice. Unbound brain-to-plasma concentration ratios (Kp,uu,brain) were reconstructed as the reciprocal of the reconstructed in vivo P-gp functions, and the reconstructed Kp,uu,brain values were within a 3-fold range of in vivo values, which were estimated from observed Kp,brain and unbound fractions. This study experimentally demonstrates that brain distributions of P-gp substrates and nonsubstrate can be reconstructed on the basis of pharmacoproteomic concept in monkeys, which serve as a robust model of drug distribution in human brain.
Arrangement of high molecular weight associated proteins on purified mammalian brain microtubules

The arrangement of the high molecular weight proteins associated with the walls of reconstituted mammalian brain microtubules has been investigated by electron microscopy of negatively stained preparations. The images are found to be consistent with an arrangement whereby the high molecular weight molecules are spaced 12 tubulin dimers apart, i.e., 960 A, along each protofilament of the microtubule, in agreement with the relative stoichiometry of tubulin and high molecular weight protein. Molecules on neighbouring protofilaments seem to be staggered so that they give rise to a helical superlattice, which can be superimposed on the underlying tubulin lattice. In micrographs of disintegrating tubules there is some indication of lateral interactions between neighbouring high molecular weight molecules. When the microtubules are depolymerized into a mixture of short spirals and rings, the high molecular weight proteins appear to remain attached to their respective protofilaments.
Using a Processor Emulator on a Microkernel-based Operating System

This paper presents an architecture that allows multiple isolated commodity operating systems to run concurrently on a microkernel-based operating system without restricting the CPU architecture of guest operating systems. There are several systems that can execute multiple guest operating systems by using a virtual machine monitor or a microkernel-based operating system. Almost all of them, however, require that the CPU architecture of a guest operating system and a host operating system are identical and the guest operating system needs to be modified. Our architecture does not require the both of them and the prototype system that we have developed achieved the execution of multiple guest operating systems such as Linux and FreeBSD compiled for several CPU architecture without the modification of them. Since it involved decreasing the performance of a guest operating system, we propose several techniques to improve the performance in this paper. Future embedded system will become more complex, so our approach offers a new way to reuse existing applications and operating systems.
SBHP-a low complexity wavelet coder

We present a low-complexity entropy coder originally designed to work in the JPEG2000 image compression standard framework. The algorithm is meant for embedded and non-embedded coding of wavelet coefficients inside a subband, and is called subband-block hierarchical partitioning (SBHP). It was extensively tested following the standard experiment procedures, and it was shown to yield a significant reduction in the complexity of entropy coding, with small loss in compression performance. Furthermore, it is able to seamlessly support all JPEG2000 features. We present a description of the algorithm, an analysis of its complexity, and a summary of the results obtained after its integration into the verification model (VM).
Genetic diversity and antimicrobial resistance in Streptococcus agalactiae strains recovered from female carriers in the Bucharest area

For the first time, we used multilocus sequence typing (MLST) to understand how Romanian group B streptococcus (GBS) strains fit into the global GBS population structure. Colonising isolates recovered from adult human females were tested for antibiotic resistance, were molecularly serotyped based on the capsular polysaccharide synthesis (cps) gene cluster and further characterised using a set of molecular markers (surface protein genes, pilus-encoded islands and mobile genetic elements inserted in the scpB-lmb intergenic region). Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis was used to complement the MLST clonal distribution pattern of selected strains. Among the 55 strains assigned to six cps types (Ia, Ib, II-V), 18 sequence types (STs) were identified by MLST. Five STs represented new entries to the MLST database. The prevalent STs were ST-1, ST-17, ST-19 and ST-28. Twenty molecular marker profiles were identified. The most common profiles (rib+GBSi1+PI-1, rib+GBSi1+PI-1, PI-2b and alp2/3+PI-1, PI-2a) were associated with the cps III/ST-17 and cps V/ST-1 strains. A cluster of fluoroquinolone-resistant strains was detected among the cps V/ST-19 members; these strains shared alp1 and IS1548 and carried PI-1, PI-2a or both. Our results support the usefulness of implementing an integrated genotyping system at the reference laboratory level to obtain the reliable data required to make comparisons between countries.
OMES: a new evaluation strategy using optimal matching for document clustering

Existing measures for evaluating clustering results (e.g. F-measure) have the limitation of overestimating cluster quality because they usually adopt the greedy matching between classes (reference clusters) and clusters (system clusters) to allow multiple classes to correspond to one same cluster, which is in fact a locally optimal solution. This paper proposes a new evaluation strategy to overcome the limitation of existing evaluation measures by using optimal matching in graph theory. A weighted bipartite graph is built with classes and clusters as two disjoint sets of vertices and the edge weight between any class and any cluster is computed using a basic metric. Then the total weight of the optimal matching in the graph is acquired and we use it to evaluate the quality of the clusters. The optimal matching allows only one-to-one matching between classes and clusters and a globally optimal solution can be achieved. A preliminary study is performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed evaluation strategy.
The Development and Evaluation of a Cultural Competency Training Programme for Psychologists Working with Māori: A Training Needs Analysis

The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a cultural competency training programme for clinical psychology students to work with Māori consumers. A pilot programme (study 1) was developed from the international and national cultural competency and bicultural training literature. Following the pilot, it was identified that the programme could be made more robust by conducting a second study; the training needs analysis using the critical incident technique. Study two was conducted with 30 experienced clinical psychologists who had worked with Māori clients. The training needs analysis sought to identify the awareness, knowledge and skills (AKS) that the experienced psychologists used in their practice with Māori. An unexpected finding from study two was that the psychologists used distinctly Māori-cultural practices, incorporating Māori tikanga and Māori knowledge with their clients even though they had little or no bicultural course content in their clinical training. The data from the pilot programme and the training needs analysis were used to refine the final workshop. The workshop was delivered to two university sites over a two-day period using intern clinical psychologists. The programme evaluation had three components: (1) analysis of pre and post programme questionnaires; (2) analysis of the retrospective questionnaires; and (3) an analysis of a participant’s case report on a Māori consumer. The themes that evolved from this research are that the critical incident technique is a useful way of identifying bicultural training material that would otherwise go unnoticed. In relation to training evaluation, there is a real need to develop meaningful measures of bicultural competency acquisition for clinical students. The findings advance the proposition that a distinct Māori psychology exists that could potentially challenge the relevance of Western psychology for Māori. A contextual theme underpinning bicultural training programmes is that training and practice occurs against the backdrop of Pākehā dominance in all
Eurographics/ Acm Siggraph Symposium on Computer Animation (2006) Fat Graphs: Constructing an Interactive Character with Continuous Controls

This paper proposes a methodology that allows users to control character's motion interactively but continuously. Inspired by the work of Gleicher et al. [GSKJ03], we propose a semi-automatic method to build fat graphs where a node corresponds to a pose and its incoming and outgoing edges represent the motion segments starting from and ending at similar poses. A group of edges is built into a fat edge that parameterizes similar motion segments into a blendable form. Employing the existing motion transition and blending methods, our run-time system allows users to control a character interactively in continuous parameter spaces with conventional input devices such as joysticks and the mice. The capability of the proposed methodology is demonstrated through several applications. Although our method has some limitations on motion repertories and qualities, it can be adapted to a number of real-world applications including video games and virtual reality applications.
Case study on quantitative risk modelling to obtain a realistic risk-adjusted project valuation

Synopsis A large opencast gold mining company in Africa had just completed a feasibility study for an expansion of the operations. A traditional net present value project valuation methodology had been used that showed a very positive net present value (NPV). The project team had conducted a qualitative risk assessment that identified and logged all potential project risks and had subjectively incorporated ‘risk’ via the discount rate and other assumption contingencies around gold price expectations, operating parameters, etc. Management requested that an independent quantitative risk modelling approach be adopted to obtain a better understanding of the impact of risk on the overall project valuation and confidence level in the final valuation. A detailed project valuation model was configured in the Cyest Carbon Modelling Technology platform, and the stochastic modelling module used to perform the Monte Carlo simulations. Analysis of historical operational performance data relating to actual achievements versus planned and budget determined the historical variability of the underlying parameters as well as variance to budget. This was done at a detailed level for mining rates and costs, processing rate, costs and recovery, and other operational efficiency measures. External market assumptions relating to gold price, exchange rate, and inflation were modelled and the dependency between them modelled using a copula. This case study will demonstrate the approach taken to building and populating the quantitative risk model and the overall results of the Monte Carlo simulation. The final valuation demonstrated that the project had a 44 percent probability of an NPV less than zero i.e. a 44 percent chance of project finance loss.
Multiscale modeling of capillary-driven contact line dynamics

This thesis presents numerical techniques for solving problems of incompressible flow coupled to scalar transport equations using finite element discretizations in space. The two applications considered in this thesis are multi-phase flow, modeled by level set or phase field methods, and planetary mantle convection based on the Boussinesq approximation. A systematic numerical study of approximation errors in evaluating the surface tension in finite element models for two-phase flow is presented. Forces constructed from a gradient in the same discrete function space as used for the pressure are shown to give the best performance. Moreover, two approaches for introducing contact line dynamics into level set methods are proposed. Firstly, a multiscale approach extracts a slip velocity from a micro simulation based on the phase field method and imposes it as a boundary condition in the macro model. This multiscale method is shown to provide an efficient model for the simulation of contact-line driven flow. The second approach combines a level set method based on a smoothed color function with a the phase field method in different parts of the domain. Away from contact lines, the additional information in phase field models is not necessary and it is disabled from the equations by a switch function. An in-depth convergence study is performed in order to quantify the benefits from this combination. Also, the resulting hybrid method is shown to satisfy an a priori energy estimate. For the simulation of mantle convection, an implementation framework based on modern finite element and solver packages is presented. The framework is capable of running on today's large computing clusters with thousands of processors. All parts in the solution chain, from mesh adaptation over assembly to the solution of linear systems, are done in a fully distributed way. These tools are used for a parallel solver that combines higher order time and space discretizations. For treating the convection-dominated temperature equation, an advanced stabilization technique based on an artificial viscosity is used. For more efficient evaluation of finite element operators in iterative methods, a matrix-free implementation built on cell-based quadrature is proposed. We obtain remarkable speedups over sparse matrix-vector products for many finite elements which are of practical interest. Our approach is particularly efficient for systems of differential equations.
Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)

Description: Data archive of more than 500,000 files of research in the social sciences, hosting 16 specialized collections of data in education, aging, criminal justice, substance abuse, terrorism, and other fields. ICPSR comprises a consortium of about 700 academic institutions and research organizations providing training in data access, curation
Predictors of Adequate Correction Following Vision Screening Failure

Purpose. To determine whether compliance with referral 1 year after vision screening failure was associated with care model, demographic, or ocular factors. Methods. Data were analyzed from 798 children in the Collaborative Longitudinal Evaluation of Ethnicity and Refractive Error Study with habitual logMAR visual acuity (VA) ≥0.26 (20/40 + 2 or worse) in either eye due to uncorrected or undercorrected refractive error and who returned the following year. The parents of 492 children failing in TX and CA were sent letters indicating the need for a complete vision examination (screening model), while 306 children seen primarily in AZ and AL received a free complete examination and eyeglasses if needed (complete care model). Presenting to follow-up with adequate correction (logMAR <0.26) in each eye was considered compliant. Logistic regression models for compliance were fit to assess whether care model, ethnicity, sex, age, uncorrected logMAR in the better eye, or parental income, education, or myopia were predictors. Results. Overall compliance was 28%. Age [p = 0.01, odds ratio (OR) = 1.12] and uncorrected logMAR (p < 0.001, OR = 1.13) were associated with compliance but care model, ethnicity, and sex were not. Among the 447 children for whom data on parental factors were available, 27% were compliant. In this model, age, ethnicity, sex, parental income, parental education, and parental myopia were not associated with compliance, but uncorrected logMAR (p = 0.005; OR = 1.13) was predictive. An interaction between unaided VA and care model predicted improved compliance with poorer unaided VA in the complete care model. Conclusions. Expensive complete care screening programs may not improve compliance over typical notification and referral screening protocols in school-aged children, unless unaided VA is worse than the common 20/40 referral criteria. Unaided VA had less impact on predicted compliance in the screening-only protocol.
Adaptive Load Sharing for Network Processors

A novel scheme for processing packets in a router is presented that provides load sharing among multiple network processors distributed within the router. It is complemented by a feedback control mechanism designed to prevent processor overload. Incoming traffic is scheduled to multiple processors based on a deterministic mapping. The mapping formula is derived from the robust hash routing (also known as the highest random weight - HRW) scheme, introduced in K. W. Ross, IEEE Network, 11(6), 1997, and D. G. Thaler et al., IEEE Trans. Networking, 6(1), 1998. No state information on individual flow mapping has to be stored, but for each packet, a mapping function is computed over an identifier vector, a predefined set of fields in the packet. An adaptive extension to the HRW scheme is provided to cope with biased traffic patterns. We prove that our adaptation possesses the minimal disruption property with respect to the mapping and exploit that property to minimize the probability of flow reordering. Simulation results indicate that the scheme achieves significant improvements in processor utilization. A higher number of router interfaces can thus be supported with the same amount of processing power.
A practical approach to Dynamic Bayesian Networks

A known impediment to the practical application of dynamic Bayesian networks (DBNs) by subject matter experts is the "knowledge acquisition problem". In this paper we present a series of novel concepts as an approach to make DBNs accessible. We provide a number of extensions and formalisms to DBNs to provide a framework for the development of a usable causal modelling language. We also address the issues of developing and populating models that can be computed using DBN techniques. Benefits of applying the preceding notions are that DBN creation becomes tenable and easily interpreted by a non-model builder.
Correlation of Computed Finite Element Stresses to Bone Density After Remodeling Around Cementless Femoral Implants

Fundamental to the development of a durable, uncemented femoral component is an understanding of the remodeling process that goes on after implantation. Predicting the hone remodeling that results from the use of a given hip implant would facilitate the design of a prosthesis that would optimize bone adaptation. This report combines the results of finite element stress analysis of the AML® prosthesis implanted in vitro into a proximal femur with quantitative bone mineral density measured in vivo in the medial and lateral aspects of human femora at periods after implantation. Unimplanted femora were also analyzed for comparison purposes. Bone density measurements were obtained using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry. Absolute values of the maximum principal stress and maximum shear stress calculated in the femur at the time of implantation accurately predict bone density resulting from remodeling caused by the prosthesis. The calculated initial strain was not found to correlate with resultant bone density. These findings suggest that the results of stress analyses using three dimensional models of femora implanted in vitro can predict bone remodeling around prostheses and may be used to quantitate appropriate design criteria for total hip replacements.
A Closed-Form Solution for the Exercise Strategy in a Real Options Model with a Jump-Diffusion Process

An investment strategy in a real options model with a jump-diffusion process is considered. Using an integro-differential equation approach, the optimal stopping problem is converted to a free boundary problem. An analytical formula for the option value and a closed-form solution for the investment exercise threshold are obtained. Furthermore, both upper and lower bounds of the threshold are derived and an approximation for the threshold is developed. Finally, numerical examples are presented.
Survey of trust models in different network domains

This paper introduces the security and trust concepts in wireless sensor networks and explains the difference between them, stating that even though both terms are used interchangeably when defining a secure system, they are not the same. The difference between reputation and trust is also explained, highlighting that reputation partially affects trust. A survey of trust and reputation systems in various domains is conducted, with more details given to models in ad-hoc and sensor networks as they are closely related to each other and to our research interests. The methodologies used to model trust and their references are presented. The factors affecting trust updating are summarised and some examples of the systems in which these factors have been implemented are given. The survey states that, even though researchers have started to explore the issue of trust in wireless sensor networks, they are still examining the trust associated with routing messages between nodes (binary events). However, wireless sensor networks are mainly deployed to monitor events and report data, both continuous and discrete. This leads to the development of new trust models addressing the continuous data issue and also to combine the data trust and the communication trust to infer the total trust.
Development and Validation of a Short Measure of Hardiness

Abstract : This study investigated the psychometric properties of a measure of hardiness designed for military applications. Our findings showed fairly strong support for most of the scale properties we investigated. The confirmatory factor analyses supported the hypothesized 6-factor structure for the scale and the reliability analyses established the acceptable internal consistency levels of the scales. Hardiness refers to the characteristic ways people interpret potentially stressful events. The Soldier Adaptation Model (SAM) is a theoretical framework describing the key stages of the stress response process.