Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effective Translation of an Intensive Lifestyle Intervention for Hispanic Women With Prediabetes in a Community Health Center Setting

OBJECTIVE The Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) demonstrated that weight loss from intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) in adults with prediabetes could decrease progression to type 2 diabetes. Inner-city, low-income Hispanic women are at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes; however, this type of intervention is not well established in this group. We hypothesized that a DPP intervention modified for a community health center (CHC) setting would decrease weight and improve metabolic measures in Hispanic women with prediabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Women diagnosed with prediabetes on a screening oral glucose tolerance test were recruited from a CHC. Participants (90% of whom were Hispanic) were randomized to either usual care (age 43 ± 9.7 years, BMI 35.2 ± 7.3 kg/m2) or ILI (age 43.8 ± 10.8 years, BMI 35.4 ± 8.5 kg/m2), structured as 14 weeks of group sessions focused on food choices, behavior change, physical activity, and weight loss. One year after enrollment, 122 women repeated baseline measures. RESULTS Groups had similar baseline weight, BMI, and fasting and 2-h glucose. One year later, the ILI group had lost 3.8 kg (4.4%), while the usual care group had gained 1.4 kg (1.6%, P < 0.0001). Two-hour glucose excursion decreased 15 mg/dL (0.85 mmol/L) in the ILI and 1 mg/dL (0.07 mmol/L) in the usual care group (P = 0.03). Significant decreases favoring the ILI group were noted in BMI, percent body fat, waist circumference, and fasting insulin. CONCLUSIONS A 14-week ILI program based on the DPP can effectively be translated into a predominantly Hispanic CHC setting, resulting in decreased weight, improved fasting insulin, and smaller glucose excursions 1 year after enrolling in the program.
Amnion–Derived Cellular Cytokine Solution Promotes Macrophage Activity

Activated macrophages play a significant role in wound healing and infected tissue repair. In this study, we investigate the recruitment of macrophages into the wound, and the effects on the bactericidal/phagocyte activity after exposure to amnion-derived cellular cytokine solution (ACCS). To evaluate the influence of ACCS on the migratory behavior of macrophages, cell migration was assayed quantitatively using a Boyden chamber. Chemotactic migration activity of macrophages through the membrane determined the influence of ACCS. In the presence of ACCS, macrophages demonstrated a statistically significant (P < 0.05) increase in migration as compared with controls. Subsequently, groups of macrophages were exposed to different concentrations of ACCS solution. The killing and phagocytic activity of each group was compared with the control after exposure to Escherichia coli. Macrophage activity following activation by higher concentrations of ACCS demonstrated significantly increased phagocytosis as well as a trend correlation between percentage ACCS concentration and bactericidal activity. These cell types, critical to normal wound healing, may be influenced by ACCS to accelerate migration and enhance bactericidal/phagocytic activity in wounds.
Properties and fine structure of the ribosomes from Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Particulate preparations of both Mycobacterium tuberculosis and M. phlei contain almost all the respiratory activity, NADH oxidase, cytochromes, and glycophospholipid biosynthetic activity of the cells. '-4 Electron micrographs have shown that this preparation consists of cytoplasmic membrane fragments and small structures about the size of ribosomes.5 While this type of preparation has been described as a ribosomal fraction,6 direct inspection and enzymatic assays show these washed and centrifuged preparations to be variable mixtures of ribosomes, cytoplasmic membrane fragments, and cell walls. This study was begun in order to characterize further this particulate fraction. In this communication, we shall describe the preparation, properties, and fine structure of the ribosomes of the H37Ra strain of M. tuberculosis.
Expressive writing reduces avoidance and somatic complaints in a community sample with constraints on expression.

DESIGN AND METHODS This experimental study examined expressive writing (EW) in a community sample with social constraints on self-expression. Gay men (N=62) were assigned randomly to describe gay-related thoughts and feelings (EW) or to write objectively (CTRL). Self-reported symptoms and physician visits were assessed at baseline and 1- and 2-month follow-ups. RESULTS Significant GroupxTime interaction for somatic symptoms indicated buffering effect of EW. EW reduced gay-related avoidance, relative to CTRL. Avoidance and symptom changes were significantly, positively associated. CONCLUSIONS Consistent with inhibition theory, EW reduces chronic avoidance and buffers stress-related physical symptoms in stigmatized groups.
WiFiPi: Involuntary tracking of visitors at mass events

To simulate crowds at mass events, realistic movement data of people is required. Despite their limited capacity for approximating real human mobility, synthetic movement models are traditionally used for this purpose. More realistic simulations can be achieved by using real-life movement data, gathered by observing people in the desired context. This paper presents a method for tracking people at mass events without the need for active cooperation by the subjects. The mechanism works by scanning at multiple locations for packets sent out by the Wi-Fi interface on visitors' smartphones, and correlating the data captured at these different locations. The proposed method can be implemented at very low cost on Raspberry Pi computers. This implementation was trialed in two different contexts: a popular music festival and a university campus. The method allows for tracking thousands of people simultaneously, and achieves a higher coverage rate than similar methods for involuntary crowd tracking. Moreover, the coverage rate is expected to increase even further as more people will start using smartphones. The proposed method has many applications in different domains. It also entails privacy implications that must be considered when deploying a similar system.
Weeding Library Collections

Just as gardeners must remove unnecessary weeds to keep their other plants healthy, so do librarians daily face the need to evaluate the books on their shelves. To assist with this process, the following guidelines are offered for “weeding” a library collection. Remember a most important first step: the Library Board must be kept informed of this ongoing evaluation of strengthening the library’s collection.
A study on asynchronous system in P300 speller based on user's intention of input

P300 speller is the communication tool based on Brain Computer Interfaces (BCIs) which allow users to input letters only by thoughts. It uses P300, one of the event-related potential (ERP), as the target feature. In P300 speller, another person starts and closes the system. Therefore, a user cannot switch P300 speller ON/OFF by himself/herself. To solve this problem, an asynchronous P300 speller which can control ON/OFF based on the user's intention of input is needed. In recent years, the intention classification method with additional pre-training has been proposed. In the additional pre-training, the classifier trains non-control state data which is recorded when the user does not input. However, the additional pre-training causes another burden and usage restrictions. In this paper, we propose and study an intention classification method using only training data in which a user inputs letters and an asynchronous system in P300 speller based on the user's intention of input.
Simple Formulas for Standard Errors that Cluster by Both Firm and Time

When estimating finance panel regressions, it is common practice to adjust standard errors for correlation either across firms or across time. These procedures are valid only if the residuals are correlated either across time or across firms, but not across both. This paper shows that it is very easy to calculate standard errors that are robust to simultaneous correlation along two dimensions, such as firms and time. The covariance estimator is equal to the estimator that clusters by firm, plus the estimator that clusters by time, minus the usual heteroskedasticity-robust ordinary least squares (OLS) covariance matrix. Any statistical package with a clustering command can be used to easily calculate these standard errors.
Market Size and Intellectual Property Protection

Intellectual property (IP) protection involves a trade-off between the undesirability of monopoly and the desirable encouragement of creation and innovation. Optimal policy depends on the relative strength of these two forces. We give a quantitative assessment of current IP policies. We focus particularly on the scale of the market, showing that as it increases, due either to growth or to the expansion of trade, IP protection should be reduced.
SS-SVM (3SVM): A New Classification Method for Hepatitis Disease Diagnosis

In this paper, a new classification approach combining support vector machine with scatter search approach for hepatitis disease diagnosis is presented, called 3SVM. The scatter search approach is used to find near optimal values of SVM parameters and its kernel parameters. The hepatitis dataset is obtained from UCI. Experimental results and comparisons prove that the 3SVM gives better outcomes and has a competitive performance relative to other published methods found in literature, where the average accuracy rate obtained is 98.75%.
Identification of an FMR cell surface antigen associated with murine leukemia virus-infected cells

FMR antigens are found on the surface of cells infected with Friend, Moloney, and Rauscher murine leukemia viruses (MuLV). These antigens are serologically distinct from the G cell surface antigens that are found on cells infected with endogenous MuLV (AKR and Gross virus). Cell surface antigens of both virus groups are immunogenic in mice, and immunization with appropriate virus-infected cells leads to the production of cytotoxic antisera. The cytotoxic activity of FMR antisera can be absorbed by disrupted preparations of Rauscher MuLV, but not by AKR MuLV. FMR antisera precipitate the viral envelope proteins gp70, pl5(E), and p12(E) from detergent-disrupted preparations of [3H]leucine-labeled MuLV. The reaction of these antisera with p15(E) and p12(E) proteins is directed against group-specific antigens and can be absorbed with AKR MuLV; in contrast, the reaction of these antisera with gp70 is directed against type-specific antigens and is absorbed only by viruses of the FMR group. In immune precipitation assays with detergent-disrupted 125I surface-labeled cells, FMR antisera react only with type-specific antigens of the viral envelpe protein. On the basis of these findings we conclude that the FMR cell surface antigen is a determinant on the MuLV env gene product.
Constructing identities in informal study groups: An account of socialisation into an affinity group of learners

This paper demonstrates how members of a first-year university informal study group construct positive university student identities. A focus group interview with six students is analysed on the theoretical premise that identity is an interactional achievement that changes as the interaction proceeds. The analysis shows how, at various times during the interview, the members of the study group display aspects of four types of identities: nature identity, institution identity, discourse identity, and affinity identity (Gee, 2000/1). Methodologically, these identities are located through discourse analysis that shows how the speakers build up their identities through the linguistic and paralinguistic features of their talk and that these identities contribute to the students' perceptions and practices of their success at university. A deeper understanding of how student identities are constituted through informal study groups has the potential to maintain and extend formal learning that takes place during lectures and tutorials.
IMPROVED ARTIFICIAL FISH SWARM ALGORITHM AND ITS APPLICATION IN OPTIMAL DESIGN OF TRUSS STRUCTURE

To overcome the defects of Artificial Fish-Swarm Algorithm, an adaptive particle swarm optimization was proposed. The new algorithm employs the inertia weight adjustment strategy to dynamically adjust the idea of artificial fish's visual and step on the basic artificial fish. The chaotic early initialization was employed to improve the quality of group solutions of artificial fish. Then, it was applied to the optimal design of truss structures in size. Engineering practice and comparison with the other optimization algorithms show that the algorithm has good convergence and stability.
Extreme Low Resolution Activity Recognition with Multi-Siamese Embedding Learning

This paper presents an approach for recognizing human activities from extreme low resolution (e.g., 16x12) videos. Extreme low resolution recognition is not only necessary for analyzing actions at a distance but also is crucial for enabling privacy-preserving recognition of human activities. We design a new two-stream multi-Siamese convolutional neural network. The idea is to explicitly capture the inherent property of low resolution (LR) videos that two images originated from the exact same scene often have totally different pixel values depending on their LR transformations. Our approach learns the shared embedding space that maps LR videos with the same content to the same location regardless of their transformations. We experimentally confirm that our approach of jointly learning such transform robust LR video representation and the classifier outperforms the previous state-of-the-art low resolution recognition approaches on two public standard datasets by a meaningful margin.
TPL-2 Regulates Macrophage Lipid Metabolism and M2 Differentiation to Control TH2-Mediated Immunopathology

Persistent TH2 cytokine responses following chronic helminth infections can often lead to the development of tissue pathology and fibrotic scarring. Despite a good understanding of the cellular mechanisms involved in fibrogenesis, there are very few therapeutic options available, highlighting a significant medical need and gap in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of TH2-mediated immunopathology. In this study, we found that the Map3 kinase, TPL-2 (Map3k8; Cot) regulated TH2-mediated intestinal, hepatic and pulmonary immunopathology following Schistosoma mansoni infection or S. mansoni egg injection. Elevated inflammation, TH2 cell responses and exacerbated fibrosis in Map3k8 –/–mice was observed in mice with myeloid cell-specific (LysM) deletion of Map3k8, but not CD4 cell-specific deletion of Map3k8, indicating that TPL-2 regulated myeloid cell function to limit TH2-mediated immunopathology. Transcriptional and metabolic assays of Map3k8 –/–M2 macrophages identified that TPL-2 was required for lipolysis, M2 macrophage activation and the expression of a variety of genes involved in immuno-regulatory and pro-fibrotic pathways. Taken together this study identified that TPL-2 regulated TH2-mediated inflammation by supporting lipolysis and M2 macrophage activation, preventing TH2 cell expansion and downstream immunopathology and fibrosis.
Uniform Practical Nonlinear Output Regulation

In this paper, we present a solution to the problem of asymptotic and practical semiglobal regulation by output feedback for nonlinear systems. A key feature of the proposed approach is that practical regulation is achieved uniformly with respect to the dimension of the internal model and to the gain of the stabilizer near the zero error manifold. This property renders the approach interesting for a number of real cases by bridging the gap between output regulation theory and advanced engineering applications. Simulation results regarding meaningful control problems are also presented.
Final Report to the Department of the Environment , Water , Heritage and the Arts Connectivity of black cod Epinephelus daemelii between Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs ( as measured by population genetic structure based on microsatellites )

The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Australian Government or the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts or the Minister for Climate Change and Water. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that the contents of this publication are factually correct, the Commonwealth does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the contents, and shall not be liable for any loss or damage that may be occasioned directly or indirectly through the use of, or reliance on, the contents of this publication. 2 Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs black cod stock structure based on 6 microsatellite markers Executive Summary This study investigated the population genetic structure of black cod (Epinephelus daemelii) from Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs in the Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs Marine National Nature Reserve. Six independent microsatellite markers were used to screen individuals from these two reefs for population genetic variation in order to determine if there was any evidence of population genetic structure, which would indicate that Elizabeth and Middleton Reef black cod populations are discrete. An additional original aim was to determine if these reefs were genetically distinct from coastal black cod populations on the Australian east coast, but this could not be achieved since tissue samples of only four coastal black cod individuals were available from Museum specimens. Six of 17 microsatellite markers tested were screened from 78 Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs individuals and four coastal individuals, totalling 82 black cod. These were all variable with observed heterozygosities (H o) ranging from 0.45 to 0.95. Not unexpectedly, evidence from the genetic structure suggests that the Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs populations are not distinct and are in fact a single stock. Furthermore, there is a suggestion that Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs populations are not distinct from the coastal population either, although the coastal sample was too small to consider this evidence definitive. This leads to four recommendations from the present study: Recommendation 1: Additional individuals, especially from the Australian coastal population and additional Norfolk Island and New Zealand sites would be required to make a more comprehensive assessment of the linkages between populations of black cod in the southwest Pacific, so that potential sources of stock replenishment can be identified. Recommendation 2: Additional microsatellite markers are needed to have greater confidence in our ability to determine if connectivity …
Decoupling Synchronization from Logic for Efficient Symbolic Model Checking of Statecharts

Symbolic model checking is a powerful formal-verification technique for reactive systems. In this paper we address the problem of symbolic model checking for software specifications written as statecharts. We concentrate on how the synchronization of statecharts relates to the efficiency of model checking. We show that statecharts synchronized in an oblivious manner, such that the synchronization and the control logic are decoupled, tend to be easier for symbolic analysis. Thanks to this insight, the verification of some non-oblivious systems can be optimized by a simple, transparent modification to the model to separate the synchronization from the logic. The technique enabled the analysis of the statecharts model of a fault-tolerant electrical power distribution system developed by the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group. The results disclosed subtle modeling and logical flaws not found by simulation.
Weaponizing Wireless Networks: An Attack Tool for Launching Attacks against Sensor Networks

The pervasive interconnection of autonomous sensor devices has given birth to a broad class of exciting new applications. At the same time, however, the unattended nature and the limited resources of sensor nodes have created an equal number of vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit in order to gain access in the network and the information transferred within. While much work has been done on trying to defend these networks, little has been done on suggesting sophisticated tools for proving how vulnerable sensor networks are. This work demonstrates a tool that allows both passive monitoring of transactional data in sensor networks, such as message rate, mote frequency, message routing, etc., but also discharge of various attacks against them. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first instance of an attack tool that can be used by an adversary to penetrate the confidentiality and functionality of a sensor network. Results show that our tool can be flexibly applied to different sensor network operating systems and protocol stacks giving an adversary privileges to which she is not entitled to. We hope that our tool will be used proactively, to study the weaknesses of new security protocols, and, hopefully, to enhance the level of security provided by these solutions even further.
Efficient privacy-preserving multicast in cloud data centers

Multicast is widely adopted by applications in cloud data centers. Due to the shortage of IP multicast groups, many efforts have been made to share multicast groups among multiple multicast sessions. However, existing group sharing schemes would lead to a serious privacy problem that some data will be exposed to receivers not belonging to the corresponding multicast session. In this paper, we propose a novel system called EPM for privacy-preserving multicast in cloud data centers. By enhancing a popular virtual machine manager Xen, it guarantees that the multicast packets received by each physical machine can be correctly forwarded only to virtual machines as destinations. Furthermore, we study a group assignment problem based on EPM to reduce redundant multicast traffic in cloud data centers, which will be solved by an efficient heuristic algorithm. We evaluate the effectiveness of EPM by implementing it on real systems, and conduct extensive experiments to show that the proposed algorithm can significantly reduce multicast traffic.