Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Objective haze removal assessment based (Two-objective optimization

Recently, single image haze removal has been investigated extensively. However, its performance is evaluated mainly based on subjective visual quality of recovered images. Several objective assessments have been attempted to evaluate haze removal schemes objectively, such as no-reference image quality model and edge-based assessments. Unfortunately, these objective assessments are not able to measure visual quality of recovered images appropriately, since the visual quality of recovered images is not concerned. Note that an objective assessment for haze removal should consider dehazing effect and distortions introduced during the haze removal process. In this paper, an objective assessment for haze removal based on two-objective optimization is presented where both dehazing effect and distortions of color and artifacts in recovered images are considered. The two indicators are combined with a weighted Euclidean distance. Two examples with two dehazing schemes are provided to justify the proposed objective assessment for haze removal. The simulation indicates that the objective results are consistent with their subjective visual quality of recovered images. It suggests that the proposed objective assessment may be applied to evaluate different haze removal schemes objectively.
Can increases in CHIP copayments reduce program expenditures on prescription drugs?

OBJECTIVE The primary aim is to explore whether prescription drug expenditures by enrollees changed in Alabama's CHIP program, ALL Kids, after copayment increases in fiscal year 2004. The subsidiary aim is to explore whether non-pharmaceutical expenditures also changed. DATA SOURCES Data on ALL Kids enrollees between 1999-2007, obtained from claims files and the state's administrative database. STUDY DESIGN We used data on children who were enrolled between one and three years both before and after the changes to the copayment schedule, and estimate regression models with individual-level fixed effects to control for time-invariant heterogeneity at the child level. This allows an accurate estimate of how program expenditures change for the same individual following copayment changes. Primary outcomes of interest are expenditures for prescription drugs by class and brand-name and generic versions. We estimate models for the likelihood of any use of prescription drugs and expenditure level conditional on use. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Following the copayment increase, the probability of any expenditure decline by 5.8%, brand name drugs by 6.9%, generic drugs by 7.4%. Conditional on any use, program expenditures decline by 7.9% for all drugs, by 9.6% for brand name drugs, and 6.2% for generic drugs. The largest declines are for antihistamine drugs; the least declines are for Central Nervous System agents. Declines are smaller and statistically weaker for children with chronic health conditions. Concurrent declines are also seen for non-pharmaceutical medical expenditures. CONCLUSIONS Copayment increases appear to reduce program expenditures on prescription drugs per enrollee and may be a useful tool for controlling program costs.
Aligning user centered design activities with established software development practices

The authors will present their experiences gathered by implementing a User Centered Design (UCD) Process in an existing product development lifecycle within the complex setting of a large healthcare software company.This experience report will highlight how the authors succeeded to tie UCD practices to the existing software development cycle using use cases as a tool for requirement identification and capture.
Osteogenesis imperfecta: prospects for molecular therapeutics.

Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) is a dominant negative disorder of connective tissue. OI patients present with bone fragility and skeletal deformity within a broad phenotypic range. Defects in the COL1A1 or COL1A2 genes, coding, respectively, for the alpha1 and alpha2 chains of type I collagen, are the causative mutations. Over 150 mutations have been characterized. Both quantitative defects, such as null COL1A1 alleles, and qualitative defects, such as glycine substitutions, exon skipping, deletions, and insertions, have been described in type I collagen. Quantitative and structural mutations are associated with the milder and more severe forms of OI, respectively. A more detailed relationship between genotype and phenotype is still incompletely understood; several models have been proposed and are being tested. Transgenic and knock-out murine models for OI have previously been created. We have recently generated a knock-in murine model (the Brittle mouse) carrying a typical glycine substitution in type I collagen. This mouse will permit a better understanding of OI pathophysiology and phenotypic variability. It will also be used for gene therapeutic approaches to OI, especially mutation suppression by hammerhead ribozymes. The present review will provide an update of OI clinical and molecular data and outline gene therapeutic approaches being tested on OI murine models for this disorder.
Independent Component Analysis of Localized Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Reveals Specific Motor Subnetworks

Recent studies have shown that blood oxygen level-dependent low-frequency (<0.1 Hz) fluctuations (LFFs) during a resting-state exhibit a high degree of correlation with other regions that share cognitive function. Initial studies of resting-state network mapping have focused primarily on major networks such as the default mode network, primary motor, somatosensory, visual, and auditory networks. However, more specific or subnetworks, including those associated with specific motor functions, have yet to be properly addressed. We performed independent component analysis (ICA) in a specific target region of the brain, a process we name, "localized ICA. " We demonstrated that when ICA is applied to localized fMRI data, it can be used to distinguish resting-state LFFs associated with specific motor functions (e.g., finger tapping, foot movement, or bilateral lip pulsing) in the primary motor cortex. These ICA components generated from localized data can then be used as functional regions of interest to map whole-brain connectivity. In addition, this method can be used to visualize inter-regional connectivity by expanding the localized region and identifying components that show connectivity between the two regions.
Contact-dependent growth inhibition toxins exploit multiple independent cell-entry pathways

Significance Gram-negative bacteria use contact-dependent growth inhibition (CDI) systems to bind neighboring bacteria and deliver diverse nuclease toxins that inhibit target-cell growth. This process requires toxin transport across the outer and inner membranes of target bacteria to reach DNA and RNA substrates in the cytoplasm. Our data indicate that CDI toxins contain a variable domain that specifies the entry pathway into target bacteria. These “translocation domains” exploit specific integral membrane proteins to deliver linked nuclease domains into the cytoplasm. We also find that CDI translocation domains can be exchanged between CdiA C-terminal toxin domains to deliver nucleases via different routes. These findings reveal a versatile protein-transport mechanism that could potentially be harnessed to deliver other antimicrobial cargoes into Gram-negative bacteria. Contact-dependent growth inhibition (CDI) systems function to deliver toxins into neighboring bacterial cells. CDI+ bacteria export filamentous CdiA effector proteins, which extend from the inhibitor-cell surface to interact with receptors on neighboring target bacteria. Upon binding its receptor, CdiA delivers a toxin derived from its C-terminal region. CdiA C-terminal (CdiA-CT) sequences are highly variable between bacteria, reflecting the multitude of CDI toxin activities. Here, we show that several CdiA-CT regions are composed of two domains, each with a distinct function during CDI. The C-terminal domain typically possesses toxic nuclease activity, whereas the N-terminal domain appears to control toxin transport into target bacteria. Using genetic approaches, we identified ptsG, metI, rbsC, gltK/gltJ, yciB, and ftsH mutations that confer resistance to specific CdiA-CTs. The resistance mutations all disrupt expression of inner-membrane proteins, suggesting that these proteins are exploited for toxin entry into target cells. Moreover, each mutation only protects against inhibition by a subset of CdiA-CTs that share similar N-terminal domains. We propose that, following delivery of CdiA-CTs into the periplasm, the N-terminal domains bind specific inner-membrane receptors for subsequent translocation into the cytoplasm. In accord with this model, we find that CDI nuclease domains are modular payloads that can be redirected through different import pathways when fused to heterologous N-terminal “translocation domains. ” These results highlight the plasticity of CDI toxin delivery and suggest that the underlying translocation mechanisms could be harnessed to deliver other antimicrobial agents into Gram-negative bacteria.
Enzymes of the shikimic acid pathway encoded in the genome of a basal metazoan, Nematostella vectensis, have microbial origins

The shikimic acid pathway is responsible for the biosynthesis of many aromatic compounds by a broad range of organisms, including bacteria, fungi, plants, and some protozoans. Animals are considered to lack this pathway, as evinced by their dietary requirement for shikimate-derived aromatic amino acids. We challenge the universality of this traditional view in this report of genes encoding enzymes for the shikimate pathway in an animal, the starlet sea anemone Nematostella vectensis. Molecular evidence establishes horizontal transfer of ancestral genes of the shikimic acid pathway into the N. vectensis genome from both bacterial and eukaryotic (dinoflagellate) donors. Bioinformatic analysis also reveals four genes that are closely related to those of Tenacibaculum sp. MED152, raising speculation for the existence of a previously unsuspected bacterial symbiont. Indeed, the genome of the holobiont (i.e., the entity consisting of the host and its symbionts) comprises a high content of Tenacibaculum-like gene orthologs, including a 16S rRNA sequence that establishes the phylogenetic position of this associate to be within the family Flavobacteriaceae. These results provide a complementary view for the biogenesis of shikimate-related metabolites in marine Cnidaria as a “shared metabolic adaptation” between the partners.
Reboxetine, the first selective noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor antidepressant: Efficacy and tolerability in 2613 patients

INTRODUCTION: Reboxetine is the first available selective noradrenaline re-uptake inhibitor (selective NRI). This paper gives an overview of its antidepressant efficacy and tolerability in eight randomized double-blind, multicentre clinical trials. The clinical profile of reboxetine is also compared with that of the tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) desipramine and imipramine and the selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor (SSRI) fluoxetine. METHODS: Pooled data were analysed from seven short-term (4 - 8 weeks) and one long-term (up to 1 year) trials comparing reboxetine with placebo, imipramine, desipramine or fluoxetine. The tolerability of reboxetine was evaluated in 2613 patients with major depression or dysthymia. Data from 1959 patients with major depressive disorder were included to assess drug efficacy. Efficacy was principally assessed using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D). RESULTS: Reboxetine was more effective than placebo in three of four short-term trials, and it was as effective as fluoxetine, imipramine and desipramine. In long-term treatment, reboxetine was more effective than placebo in preventing relapse ( S 50% increase in HAM-D) and recurrence (HAM-D total score h 10). In a subset of severely depressed patients, reboxetine was as effective as imipramine and significantly more effective than fluoxetine. Reboxetine was as effective as imipramine in the elderly, but better tolerated. The most common adverse events among the 1503 patients (adults and elderly) who received reboxetine were dry mouth (22%), constipation (15%), sweating (12%) and insomnia (11%). Overall, reboxetine was well tolerated, as well as the SSRI fluoxetine and better than the TCAs imipramine and desipramine. CONCLUSIONS: Reboxetine is effective and well tolerated in the short and long-term treatment of depression. It is as well tolerated as fluoxetine and better than imipramine and desipramine. ( Int J Psych Clin Pract 2000; 4: 201 - 208)
Sentiment Analysis in Twitter: A SemEval Perspective

The recent rise of social media has greatly democratized content creation. Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Whatsapp and LiveJournal are now commonly used to share thoughts and opinions about anything in the surrounding world. This proliferation of social media content has created new opportunities to study public opinion, with Twitter being especially popular for research due to its scale, representativeness, variety of topics discussed, as well as ease of public access to its messages. Unfortunately, research in that direction was hindered by the unavailability of suitable datasets and lexicons for system training, development and testing. While some Twitter-specific resources were developed, initially they were either small and proprietary, such as the i-sieve corpus (Kouloumpis et al., 2011), were created only for Spanish like the TASS corpus (Villena-Rom´
The Research of Computational Formula of Indoor Formaldehyde Instantaneous Concentration Influenced by Air Exchange Rate

The formaldehyde instantaneous concentration formula at a specific air exchange rate before the environment cabin is in the stable state is theoretically obtained, based on the basic formula of the formaldehyde concentration in the environment test cabin simulated as the indoor environment. The formaldehyde instantaneous concentration formula has been confirmed in the experiment about the relationship between the release co-efficient of the plate formaldehyde and the air exchange rate with such results as the computation precision of the formula is more accurate and the formula-computed result is consistent with the experimental result. At the same time, the formula has been revised to avoid the actual values in the experiment lag behind those computed by the formula in order to further increase the computation precision of the formula.
Altered expression of CG 5961 , a putative Drosophila melanogaster homologue of FBXO 9 , provides a new model of Parkinson disease

F-box proteins act as the protein recognition component of the Skp-Cul-F-box class of ubiquitin ligases. Two members of a gene sub-family encoding these proteins, FBXO7 and FBXO32, have been implicated in the onset and progression of degenerative disease. FBXO7 is responsible for rare genetic forms of Parkinson disease, while FBXO32 has been implicated in muscle wasting. The third gene in this family, FBXO9, is related to growth signaling, but the role of this gene in degenerative disease pathways has not been thoroughly investigated. Characterizing the putative Drosophila melanogaster homologue of this gene, CG5961, enables modeling and analysis of the consequence of targeted alteration of gene function and the effects on the overall health of the organism. Comparison of the protein domains of Homo sapiens FBXO9 and the putative D. melanogaster homologue CG5961 revealed a high degree of conservation between the protein domains. Directed expression of CG5961 (via CG5961EP) and inhibition of CG5961 (through a stable RNAi transgene) in the developing D. melanogaster eye caused abnormalities in adult structures (ommatidia and inter-ommatidial bristles). Directed expression of either CG5961 2 E.M. Merzetti and B.E. Staveley ©FUNPEC-RP www.funpecrp. com.br Genetics and Molecular Research 15 (2): gmr.15028579 or CG5961-RNAi in the dopaminergic neurons led to a reduced lifespan compared to that in lacZ controls. We showed that protein structures of CG5961 and FBXO9 are highly similar and studied the effects of altered expression of CG5961 in neuron-rich tissues. Our results suggest that CG5961 activity is necessary for the proper formation of neuronal tissue and that targeted alteration of gene expression in dopaminergic neurons leads to a reduced lifespan.
Ozonation of Membrane Bioreactor Effluent for Landfill Leachate Treatment

Ozonation of leachate effluent obtained from a Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) process treating a medium-aged landfill leachate was investigated. The sequence of ammonia stripping, membrane bioreactor, and ozonation was used in the experiment. Ozonation of the MBR effluent showed reduction in Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Total Organic Carbon (TOC) with an increase in five days Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5) concentration. About 73% of COD could be removed at an ozone (O3) dosage of 4.2 mg O3 mg COD-1. The biodegradability indicated by BOD5 /COD ratio increased from 0.03 to 0.08 after ozonation at optimum ozone condition. While analyzing the molecular weight distribution, the fraction of molecular weight (MW) greater than 50 kDa of MBR effluent was transferred to MW 10-50 kDa (38%) at an ozone dosage of 810 mg O3. When O3 dosage was increased to 2,025 mg O3, a rapid change occurred in MW > 50 kDa fraction. This fraction was completely broken down into lower molecular weight fractions. This indicates partial degradation of landfill leachate by ozonation. The colour removal from the leachate was found to be greater than 95%. When the ozonated leachate was recirculated into the MBR system, along with an improvement in the performance of MBR, overall COD removal increased from 78% to 83%. Further, the ozone consumption decreased from 6.1 to 3.4 mg O3 mg COD-1 removed, thus reducing the ozone requirement.
Symmetry behavior in curved spacetime: Finite-size effect and dimensional reduction.

We discuss the effect of certain aspects of curvature and topology on symmetry breaking in curved spacetime with the aim of understanding phase transitions in the early Universe. We show that for spacetimes with some compact spatial dimensions where the invariant operator of the scalar fluctuation field has a discrete spectrum, the most important contribution to the infrared behavior comes from its zero mode (or band). The decoupling of higher modes gives rise to dimensional reduction in the infrared domain. We introduce the notion of effective infrared dimension and explain how it can be useful for physically understanding the symmetry behavior in spacetimes of different topology. We also introduce an eigenvalue analysis to study dimensional reduction in both direct-product spaces and spaces which can approximate product spaces under extreme deformations. We illustrate this method by analyzing the symmetry behavior of the Taub universe in the small- and large-anisotropy limits. These geometric effects in curved space are of the same nature as finite-size effects in condensed matter and surface physics. We use the two-particle-irreducible formalism and the large-N approximation to derive the higher-loop corrections. We give the results of the effective mass and the effective potential for various systems and spacetimesmore » with compact dimensions. The ideas, techniques, and results developed here are useful for the study of finite-size effects in field theory, cosmology, and condensed-matter physics. « less
Templated ligand assembly by using G-quadruplex DNA and dynamic covalent chemistry.

Dynamic covalent chemistry (DCC) is a reversible exchange process which allows noncovalent interactions to template covalent-bond formation. [1] A dynamic combinatorial library (DCL) is an equilibrating mixture, under thermodynamic control, in which each of the species is represented in proportion to its free energy. [2] The introduction of a molecular template to a DCL will shift the equilibrium to favor individual library members that bind the template and are thus stabilized. Since its conception, DCC has been applied to both small-molecule[2] and macromolecular targets. [3] Examples of DCC that involve biomolecules include the work of Ramstrom and Lehn[3b] who generated a small disulphide-based carbohydrate library and screened in situ against the common jack bean-lectin Concanavalin A, and of Miller and co-workers[4] who targeted oligonucleotides with non-nucleotide building blocks and selected metal–ligand complexes that bind nucleic acid hairpins with high affinity and selectivity. An experimentally challenging aspect of employing biomolecules as templates in DCLs is the analysis of the reversibility of the dynamic chemistry and quantitation of ligand amplification. This analysis requires detailed investigations on a relatively simple DCL, and has been a key objective of the work we report in this paper.
A Study of the Effect of Conservatism on Stock Return: Evidence of Iranian Chemical Industry

Financial statements are the main part of financial reporting process. Purpose offinancial statements is providing classified information about the financial situation,financial performance, and financial flexibility for the business unit that can beuseful in a wide range of users of financial statements used in economic decision.The purpose of financial reporting and accounting principles, will requireinformation that may be provided by financial reporting, be enjoyed of certainfeatures. Based on theoretical concepts of financial reporting, the information canbe useful that is qualitative feature of financial information. The main qualitativecharacteristics associated with information content are relevancy and reliability, andconservative or precaution is one of the main characteristics of reliability.Conservative has been interpreted as accountants tend to require a higher degree ofquality to identify the good news confirmed as profit and to identify the bad news aslosses. The aim of the current study is assesses the relationship betweenconservatism and share return of chemical companies listed on Tehran StockExchange. Statistical Society is pharmaceutical and chemical companies during2004-2010. Required data in this study has been collected using the library method.Other word, information has been gathered from existing documents and databasesof Tehran Stock Exchange. The Study method is solidarity. Information required bycompanies manage database processor is gathered and then summarized andcalculations required in Excel spreadsheet for analysis is prepared.