Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lactate kinetics of rainbow trout during graded exercise: do catheters affect the cost of transport?

SUMMARY Changes in lactate kinetics as a function of exercise intensity have never been measured in an ectotherm. Continuous infusion of a tracer is necessary to quantify rates of lactate appearance (Ra) and disposal (Rd), but it requires double catheterization, which could interfere with swimming. Using rainbow trout, our goals were to: (1) determine the potential effects of catheters and blood sampling on metabolic rate (ṀO2), total cost of transport (TCOT), net cost of transport (NCOT) and critical swimming speed (Ucrit), and (2) monitor changes in lactate fluxes during prolonged, steady-state swimming or graded swimming from rest to Ucrit. This athletic species maintains high baseline lactate fluxes of 24 μmol kg−1 min−1 that are only increased at intensities >2.4 body lengths (BL) s−1 or 85% Ucrit. As the fish reaches Ucrit, Ra is more strongly stimulated (+67% to 40.4 μmol kg−1 min−1) than Rd (+41% to 34.7 μmol kg−1 min−1), causing a fourfold increase in blood lactate concentration. Without this stimulation of Rd during intense swimming, lactate accumulation would double. By contrast, steady-state exercise at 1.7 BL s−1 increases lactate fluxes to ~30 μmol kg−1 min−1, with a trivial mismatch between Ra and Rd that only affects blood concentration minimally. Results also show that the catheterizations and blood sampling needed to measure metabolite kinetics in exercising fish have no significant impact on ṀO2 or TCOT. However, these experimental procedures affect locomotion energetics by increasing NCOT at high speeds and by decreasing Ucrit.
Language mixing in infant bilingualism : a sociolinguistic perspective

This book addresses the issue of language contact in the context of child language acquisition. Lanza examines in detail the simultaneous acquisition of Norwegian and English by two first-born children in families living in Norway in which the mother is American and the father Norwegian. She connects psycholinguistic arguments with sociolinguistic evidence, adding a much-needed dimension of real language use in context to the psycholinguistic studies which have dominated the field. She draws upon evidence from other studies to support her claims concerning language dominance and the child's differentiation between the two languages in relation to the situation, interlocutor, and the communicative demands of the context. She also addresses the question of whether or not the language mixing of infant bilingualism is conceptually different from the codeswitching of older bilinguals, thus helping to bridge the gap between these two fields of study.
Obstacles and opportunities for understanding macrophage polarization

Macrophages are now routinely categorized into phenotypic subtypes based on gene expression induced in response to cytokine and pathogen‐derived stimulation. In the broadest division, macrophages are described as being CAMs (M1 macrophages) or AAMs (M2 macrophages) based on their exposure to TLR and IFN signals or Th2 cytokines, respectively. Despite the prolific use of this simple classification scheme, little is known about the precise functions of effector molecules produced by AAMs, especially how representative the CAM and AAM subtypes are of tissue macrophages in homeostasis, infection, or tissue repair and how plasticity in gene expression regulates macrophage function in vivo. Furthermore, correlations between mouse and human tissue macrophages and their representative subtypes are lacking and are a major barrier to understanding human immunity. Here, we briefly summarize current features of macrophage polarization and discuss the roles of various macrophage subpopulations and macrophage‐associated genes in health and disease.
RED tuning for TCP performance on the mobile ad hoc networks

Mobile ad hoc networks (MANET) does not need the fixed base station to process the link operation. In the past several years, many researchers have focused on studies of routing protocol over the MANET. Currently, the pervasion of Internet causes TCP as the standard transmission protocol for most of the networking applications. The RED is one of congestion avoidance methods in TCP. Due to the unconstrained movement of the mobile nodes, TCP is unable to notice network congestion or link down to activate related controls on the MANET. The network will search and establish a new transmission path, when an unwarned link down occurs on the MANET. The average queue length of RED will be longer than MinThreshold, if the link re-establishment costs too much of time. Then, it will invoke the sender to perform relative congestion control. Hence, it may degrade the TCP performance before the link reestablish completely. The main purpose of this paper is to adjust related RED parameters for evaluating the performance through the simulation on the MANET. Consequently, we did propose the tuning strategies in RED to improve the TCP performance based on final simulation results.
Sparse Multi-regularized Shearlet-Network Using Convex Relaxation for Face Recognition

This paper presents a novel approach for face recognition (FR) based on a new multiscale directional approach, called Shear let Network (SN), and on a recently emerged machine learning paradigm, called Multi-Task Sparse Learning (MTSL). SN aims to extract anisotropic features from an image in order to efficiently capture the facial geometry (shear face), MTSL is used to exploit the relationships among multiple shared tasks generated by changing the regularization parameter to make the optimization convex. We compare our algorithm, called Sparse Multi-Regularized Shear let Network (SMRSN), against different state-of-the-art methods on different experimental protocols with AR, ORL, LFW, FERET, FRGC v1 and Lab2 databases. Our tests show that the SMRSN approach yields a very competitive performance and outperforms several standard methods of FR.
Task Automation Services: Automation for the Masses

A simple model of mashup technology for combining services and connected devices is now becoming popular. This model is frequently referred to as task automation based on Event-Condition-Action (ECA) rules. The most popular online services that follow this approach are Ifttt and Zapier. In addition, this model is being followed by several mobile frameworks to automate how phones deal with incoming Internet events and phone sensors. Here, the authors outline the features and components of task automation services (TASs), and propose a generic architecture that supports current challenges. Also, because TASs are a growing trend, this article provides a survey comparison of existing platforms and discusses their evolution and future tendencies.
Pitfalls and Best Practices in Algorithm Configuration

Good parameter settings are crucial to achieve high performance in many areas of artificial intelligence (AI), such as propositional satisfiability solving, AI planning, scheduling, and machine learning (in particular deep learning). Automated algorithm configuration methods have recently received much attention in the AI community since they replace tedious, irreproducible and error-prone manual parameter tuning and can lead to new state-of-the-art performance. However, practical applications of algorithm configuration are prone to several (often subtle) pitfalls in the experimental design that can render the procedure ineffective. We identify several common issues and propose best practices for avoiding them. As one possibility for automatically handling as many of these as possible, we also propose a tool called GenericWrapper4AC.
Diagnostic Approach to Acute Diarrheal Illness in a Military Population on Training Exercises in Thailand, a Region of Campylobacter Hyperendemicity

ABSTRACT High rates of Campylobacter fluoroquinolone resistance highlight the need to evaluate diagnostic strategies that can be used to assist with clinical management. Diagnostic tests were evaluated with U.S. soldiers presenting with acute diarrhea during deployment in Thailand. The results of bedside and field laboratory diagnostic tests were compared to stool microbiology findings for 182 enrolled patients. Campylobacter jejuni was isolated from 62% of the cases. Clinical and laboratory findings at the time of presentation were evaluated to determine their impact on the posttest probability, defined as the likelihood of a diagnosis of Campylobacter infection. Clinical findings, the results of tests for inflammation (stool occult blood testing [Hemoccult], fecal leukocytes, fecal lactoferrin, plasma C-reactive protein), and the numbers of Campylobacter-specific antibody-secreting cells in peripheral blood failed to increase the posttest probability above 90% in this setting of Campylobacter hyperendemicity when these findings were present. Positive results by a Campylobacter-specific commercial enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and, less so, a research PCR were strong positive predictors. The negative predictive value for ruling out Campylobacter infection, defined as a posttest probability of less than 10%, was similarly observed with these Campylobacter-specific stool-based tests as well the fecal leukocyte test. Compared to the other tests evaluated, the Campylobacter EIA is a sensitive and specific rapid diagnostic test that may assist with diagnostic evaluation, with consideration of the epidemiological setting, logistics, and cost.
Depersonalization in Patients with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders, First-Degree Relatives and Normal Controls

Background: Depersonalization occurs in healthy individuals and across a broad range of psychiatric patients. Data on depersonalization in persons linked to patients through genetics, environment or education are scarce. Due to their higher risk of developing psychosis, first-degree healthy relatives might show differences with the general population. This study examines depersonalization in patients with schizophrenia or schizophrenia spectrum disorders, their first-degree healthy relatives and normal controls. Methods: The Cambridge Depersonalization Scale was used to measure depersonalization in a sample of 147 clinically stable patients with schizophrenia or schizophrenia spectrum disorders, 73 first-degree relatives with no psychiatric history and 172 healthy controls. Mixed effect models were used to account for both the familial structure of the data and the effect of sociodemographic characteristics. Results: Patients obtained higher scores than relatives and controls for frequency and duration of depersonalization experiences, number of items responded positively and total depersonalization, while first-degree relatives obtained lower scores than patients and controls for all these characteristics. Conclusions: First-degree relatives of patients reported fewer episodes of depersonalization, which were less intense and of shorter duration, than healthy controls. This finding might be related to a protection mechanism that keeps first-degree relatives away from near-psychotic experiences. The nature of such a mechanism remains to be discovered.
On Geometric Evolution and Cascadic Multigrid in Subdivision

A new approach to subdivision based on the evolution of surfaces under curvature motion is presented. Such an evolution can be understood as a natural geometric filter process where time corresponds to the filter width. Thus, subdivision can be interpreted as the application of a geometric filter on an initial surface. The approach closely connects subdivision to surface fairing concerning the geometric smoothing and to cascadic multigrid methods with respect to the actual numerical procedure. The derived method does not distinguish between different valences of nodes nor between different mesh refinement types.
Genetic Variation and Covariation in Male Attractiveness and Female Mating Preferences in Drosophila melanogaster

How mating preferences evolve remains one of the major unsolved mysteries in evolutionary biology. One major impediment to the study of ornament-preference coevolution is that many aspects of the theoretical literature remain loosely connected to empirical data. Theoretical models typically streamline mating preferences by describing preference functions with a single parameter, a modeling convenience that may veil important aspects of preference evolution. Here, we use a high-throughput behavioral assay in Drosophila melanogaster to quantify attractiveness and multiple components of preferences in both males and females. Females varied genetically with respect to how they ranked males in terms of attractiveness as well as the extent to which they discriminated among different males. Conversely, males showed consistent preferences for females, suggesting that D. melanogaster males tend to rank different female phenotypes in the same order in terms of attractiveness. Moreover, we reveal a heretofore undocumented positive genetic correlation between male attractiveness and female choosiness, which is a measure of the variability in a female’s response to different male phenotypes. This genetic correlation sets the stage for female choosiness to evolve via a correlated response to selection on male traits and potentially adds a new dimension to the Fisherian sexual selection process.
Working memory and written sentence comprehension

2,4-DINITROANILINE IS OBTAINED IN HIGH YIELD AND QUALITY IN A SAFE REACTION BY INTRODUCING 4-CHLORO-1,3-DINITROBENZENE INTO AT LEAST THREE-FOLD STOICHIOMETRIC AMOUNT OF AQUEOUS AMMONIA OF A CONCENTRATION OF 15 TO 40% BY WEIGHT AT A TEMPERATURE OF 60 DEG TO 90 DEG C.
On a Novel Approach Using MLCC and CFAR for the Improvement of Ship Detection by Synthetic Aperture Radar

Multilook cross correlation (MLCC) is a useful technique in extracting the images of ships embedded in heavy sea clutter by synthetic aperture radar (SAR). In the ship detection experiment in 2006 by Phased Array L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) on board the Advanced Land Observing Satellite, we applied MLCC to PALSAR data in order to extract small fishing boats. The result was that some boats were detected by thresholding MLCC coherence images under favorable conditions. However, it was also found that the threshold method was not suitable to automatically determine the threshold levels corresponding to the desired false alarm rate (FAR) values. In order to overcome this problem and to improve the accuracy of ship detection by MLCC, we propose a new and simple technique of MLCC-constant FAR (CFAR) or gamma-CFAR. In this method, CFAR is applied to interlook coherence images produced by MLCC. We tested this method using simulation and PALSAR data and then found out substantial improvement in signal-to-noise ratio and FAR in comparison with the coherence image alone. In this letter, we summarize the MLCC-CFAR algorithm and the experimental results.
Graphene: Materially Better Carbon

Graphene, a single atom–thick plane of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb lattice, has captivated the attention of physicists, materials scientists, and engineers alike over the five years following its experimental isolation. Graphene is a fundamentally new type of electronic material whose electrons are strictly confined to a two-dimensional plane and exhibit properties akin to those of ultrarelativistic particles. Graphene’s two-dimensional form suggests compatibility with conventional wafer processing technology. Extraordinary physical properties, including exceedingly high charge carrier mobility, current-carrying capacity, mechanical strength, and thermal conductivity, make it an enticing candidate for new electronic technologies both within and beyond complementary metal oxide semiconductors (CMOS). Immediate graphene applications include high-speed analog electronics and highly conductive, flexible, transparent thin films for displays and optoelectronics. Currently, much graphene research is focused on generating and tuning a bandgap and on novel device structures that exploit graphene’s extraordinary electrical, optical, and mechanical properties.
Nuclear DNA polymerase beta from Leishmania infantum. Cloning, molecular analysis and developmental regulation.

We have identified a novel polymerase beta (Pol beta)-like enzyme from Leishmania infantum, a parasite protozoon causing disease in humans. This protein, named Li Pol beta, shows a nuclear localization that contrasts with the mitochondrial localization of Pol beta from Crithidia fasciculata, a closely related parasite, the only polymerase beta described so far in Trypanosomatidae. Li Pol beta, that belongs to the DNA polymerase X family, displays an evolutionarily conserved Pol beta-type DNA polymerase core, in which most of the key residues involved in DNA binding, nucleotide binding, dRPase and polymerization catalysis are conserved. In agreement with this, Li Pol beta, overproduced in Escherichia coli, displayed intrinsic DNA polymerase activity. Cell synchronization experiments showed a correlation between both Li Pol beta mRNA and protein levels along the parasite cell cycle. Analysis of these parameters at the different growth phases of the parasite, from the proliferative (non-infective) logarithmic phase to the non-dividing (highly infectious) stationary phase, showed high levels of Li Pol beta at the infective phase of the parasite. The data suggest a role of Li Pol beta in base excision repair in L.infantum, a parasite usually affected by oxygen stress environments into the macrophage host cells.
Radial spoke proteins of Chlamydomonas flagella

The radial spoke is a ubiquitous component of `9+2' cilia and flagella, and plays an essential role in the control of dynein arm activity by relaying signals from the central pair of microtubules to the arms. The Chlamydomonas reinhardtii radial spoke contains at least 23 proteins, only 8 of which have been characterized at the molecular level. Here, we use mass spectrometry to identify 10 additional radial spoke proteins. Many of the newly identified proteins in the spoke stalk are predicted to contain domains associated with signal transduction, including Ca2+-, AKAP- and nucleotide-binding domains. This suggests that the spoke stalk is both a scaffold for signaling molecules and itself a transducer of signals. Moreover, in addition to the recently described HSP40 family member, a second spoke stalk protein is predicted to be a molecular chaperone, implying that there is a sophisticated mechanism for the assembly of this large complex. Among the 18 spoke proteins identified to date, at least 12 have apparent homologs in humans, indicating that the radial spoke has been conserved throughout evolution. The human genes encoding these proteins are candidates for causing primary ciliary dyskinesia, a severe inherited disease involving missing or defective axonemal structures, including the radial spokes.
Retrofitting Zeroconf to Type-Safe Self-Organising Systems

The notion of a self-organising system as used within this paper, is of a system that optimises and adapts its architectural composition based on evidence accrued from both internal and external influences. In this way, a self-organising system is defined to be a fluid, unbounded set of components that are organised and configured on demand and at runtime in reaction to the current configuration of the system's operating environment. This paper outlines current theory and assumption in component-based self-organisation, discussing the limitations that exist when producing such systems. The paper highlights, through example, how the introduction of type-safety at a network layer aided by Zeroconf (zero configuration networking) and the author's own Neptune language can yield a powerful self-organisational model, concluding with its use within a healthcare agenda system
The functional neuroanatomy of the placebo effect.

OBJECTIVE Administration of placebo can result in a clinical response indistinguishable from that seen with active antidepressant treatment. Functional brain correlates of this phenomenon have not been fully characterized. METHOD Changes in brain glucose metabolism were measured by using positron emission tomography in hospitalized men with unipolar depression who were administered placebo as part of an inpatient imaging study of fluoxetine. Common and unique response effects to administration of placebo or fluoxetine were assessed after a 6-week, double-blind trial. RESULTS Placebo response was associated with regional metabolic increases involving the prefrontal, anterior cingulate, premotor, parietal, posterior insula, and posterior cingulate and metabolic decreases involving the subgenual cingulate, parahippocampus, and thalamus. Regions of change overlapped those seen in responders administered active fluoxetine. Fluoxetine response, however, was associated with additional subcortical and limbic changes in the brainstem, striatum, anterior insula, and hippocampus, sources of efferent input to the response-specific regions identified with both agents. CONCLUSIONS The common pattern of cortical glucose metabolism increases and limbic-paralimbic metabolism decreases in placebo and fluoxetine responders suggests that facilitation of these changes may be necessary for depression remission, regardless of treatment modality. Clinical improvement in the group receiving placebo as part of an inpatient study is consistent with the well-recognized effect that altering the therapeutic environment may significantly contribute to reducing clinical symptoms. The additional subcortical and limbic metabolism decreases seen uniquely in fluoxetine responders may convey additional advantage in maintaining long-term clinical response and in relapse prevention.
Rapid adaptation of multisensory integration in vestibular pathways

Sensing gravity is vital for our perception of spatial orientation, the control of upright posture, and generation of our everyday activities. When an astronaut transitions to microgravity or returns to earth, the vestibular input arising from self-motion will not match the brain's expectation. Our recent neurophysiological studies have provided insight into how the nervous system rapidly reorganizes when vestibular input becomes unreliable by both (1) updating its internal model of the sensory consequences of motion and (2) up-weighting more reliable extra-vestibular information. These neural strategies, in turn, are linked to improvements in sensorimotor performance (e.g., gaze and postural stability, locomotion, orienting) and perception characterized by similar time courses. We suggest that furthering our understanding of the neural mechanisms that underlie sensorimotor adaptation will have important implications for optimizing training programs for astronauts before and after space exploration missions and for the design of goal-oriented rehabilitation for patients.
A Watchdog Service Making Container-Based Micro-services Reliable in IoT Clouds

The integration of Internet of Things (IoT) and Cloud computing has brought the rising of IoT Clouds able to provide different kinds of IoT as a Service solutions consisting of various micro-services deployed in IoT devices (including sensors and actuators) interacting with different Infrastructure, Platform, and Software as Service (i.e., IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) running in the Clouds' data centres. On the basis of IoT Clouds the container virtualisation is becoming an even more prominent technology that allows them to deploy and manage, in a flexible fashion, micro-services within IoT devices. In this paper, we specifically focus on micro-service reliability in IoT devices. In particular, we propose a system based on container virtualisation that allows IoT Clouds to carry out fault-tolerance when a micro-service running on an IoT device fails. Experiments prove that the overheard introduced in our system by container virtualisation does not negatively affect performances when a micro-service is replaced due to a failure.