Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of the herbal formulation Shen-Zhi-Ling on an APP/PS1 mouse model of Alzheimer's disease by modulating the biliverdin reductase/heme oxygenase 1 system

Shen-Zhi-Ling (SZL) oral liquid is a traditional Chinese medicine formula that is mainly used for the clinical treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD). The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects and underlying mechanisms of SZL treatment on AD. APP/PS1 transgenic mice were utilized to evaluate the effect of SZL treatment (0.5 g/20 g/day). Morris water maze and Thioflavin S staining analyses were used to evaluate the cognitive impairment and β-amyloid plaques, respectively, while quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis were performed to examine the mRNA and protein expression levels of heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) and biliverdin reductase (BVR). Furthermore, immunofluorescence staining was used to measure the BVR and HO-1 protein levels in the hippocampus. The findings of the current study demonstrated that SZL treatment was able to ameliorate the impairment of memory and reduce the accumulation of amyloid plaques, and its ameliorating effects may be attributed to the modulation of the HO-1/BVR system in the hippocampus. These results indicate that SZL may be a possible complementary and alternative therapy to delay the development of AD.
Spectral unmixing with Vertex Component Analysis

In this paper, Vertex Component Analysis based spectral unmixing is proposed as a preprocessing stage for hyperspectral image compression. The two approaches generally used in hyperspectral image compression are to compress it as a 3D cube or apply two stages of data reduction (spectral and spatial). In the first method, the hyperspectral image is considered as a cube and 3-D compression is applied which is directly extended from 2-D compression. In the second approach, compression is done spectrally and spatially. The second method of two stage reduction is found to be more efficient than the first method. VCA based spectral unmixing is used for mitigating spectral redundancy. From the experimental results, it is inferred that VCA based preprocessing is efficient than PPI based preprocessing. The quality metrics used for performance assessment are Maximum Absolute Error, Mean Absolute error, Mean Square Error and Relative Root Mean Square Error.
Why Are Massive Black Holes Small in Disk Galaxies?

A potential mechanism is proposed to account for the fact that supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in disk galaxies appear to be smaller than those in elliptical galaxies in the same luminosity range. We consider the formation of SMBHs by radiation drag (the Poynting-Robertson effect), which extracts angular momentum from interstellar matter and thereby drives the mass accretion onto a galactic center. In particular, we quantitatively scrutinize the efficiency of radiation drag in a galaxy composed of bulge and disk, and we elucidate the relation between the final mass of SMBH and the bulge-to-disk ratio of the galaxy. As a result, it is found that the BH-to-galaxy mass ratio, MBH/Mgalaxy, decreases with a smaller bulge-to-disk ratio, because of the effects of geometrical dilution and opacity, and is reduced maximally by 2 orders of magnitude, resulting in MBH/Mgalaxy ≈ 10-5. In contrast, if only the bulge components in galaxies are focused, the BH-to-bulge mass ratio becomes MBH/Mbulge ≈ 10-3, which is similar to that found in elliptical galaxies. Thus, it turns out that the mass of an SMBH primarily correlates with a bulge, not with a disk, consistent with observational data.
Flexible navigation in smartphones and tablets using scalable storyboards

In this demo paper we present a multiscale browsing interface for handheld devices, in which the user can interactively change the scale of the storyboard to easily adjust the amount of information desired. Conventional and hierarchical storyboards provide one or very few possible lengths. In contrast, scalable storyboards allow the number of images and the storyboard itself to be adapted to the device constraints (e.g. aspect ratio, resolution) and navigation state with much finer granularity. Several levels and modes, including segment of interest, are provided for more intuitive and convenient navigation.
Asymptotic Peak utilisation in Heterogeneous Parallel CPU/GPU Pipelines: a Decentralised Queue Monitoring Strategy

Widespread heterogeneous parallelism is unavoidable given the emergence of General-Purpose computing on graphics processing units (GPGPU). The characteristics of a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)—including significant memory transfer latency and complex performance characteristics—demand new approaches to ensuring that all available computational resources are efficiently utilised. This paper considers the simple case of a divisible workload based on widely-used numerical linear algebra routines and the challenges that prevent efficient use of all resources available to a naive SPMD application using the GPU as an accelerator. We suggest a possible queue monitoring strategy that facilitates resource usage with a view to balancing the CPU/GPU utilisation for applications that fit the pipeline parallel architectural pattern on heterogeneous multicore/multi-node CPU and GPU systems. We propose a stochastic allocation technique that may serve as a foundation for heuristic approaches to balancing CPU/GPU workloads.
Enabling Testing, Design and Refactoring Practices in Remote Locations

Learning is a process of successive steps, we learn, we practice, the process cycles. It requires dedication from both teacher and student and it requires constant reinforcement [13]. It is our contention that the best method for transferring skills like testing, refactoring and software design is through contextual learning: An ongoing program of enablement in which practices are shared in the context of the programmer's work in response to the challenges they face. The code base forms the basis for contextual learning providing an information conduit that is location, language and culturally agnostic. We discuss some of the problems faced by our team: A greenfield, test-driven project with twenty developers split between London and India. We discuss the methods employed to better enable testing and refactoring practices across this geographical divide. We found that different practices better suited different phases of the project and different stages of learning within the team. As such these practices are mapped to the Shuhari learning model [16]. We conclude that there is no substitute for colocation. However we found that the team's motivation is crucial to the success of learning endeavors. Intensive one-on-one practices worked well at the start of the project, when motivation was high and there was lots of ground to cover. As the project continued, the distribution of skills became more even and more collaborative practices were better suited to promoting learning.
An optimized extended DNA kappa B site that enhances plasmid DNA nuclear import and gene expression

The nuclear factor kappa B (NFκB) transcription factor, which shuttles between the cytoplasm and the nucleus under specific conditions, is a suitable intracellular target to increase the nuclear import of plasmid DNA. We report the design of an optimized and extended NFκB DNA binding sequence that promotes an efficient plasmid nuclear import.
Common genetic changes in hereditary and sporadic pituitary adenomas detected by comparative genomic hybridization

Twenty‐four pituitary adenomas, both the sporadic type (n = 18) and the type arising in association with either multiple endocrine neoplasia, type 1 (MEN1; n = 2), or Carney complex (CNC, n = 4) were analyzed by comparative genomic hybridization. Twenty‐one (88%) tumors displayed chromosomal alterations. The number of chromosomal aberrations in each tumor varied from 2 to greater than 10. Several recurrent chromosomal abnormalities were identified in this study. The most frequently detected losses of chromosomal material involved 1p (14 of 24, 58%), 11p (11 of 24, 46%), 17 (10 of 24, 42%), 16p (9 of 24, 38%), 4 (8 of 24, 33%), 10p (6 of 24, 25%), 12 (6 of 24, 25%), 20 (6 of 24, 25%), 22q (6 of 24, 25%), 13q (5 of 24, 21%), and 9p (4 of 24, 17%). Copy number increases were detected on 4q (7 of 24, 29%), 17 (8 of 24, 33%), 19 (7 of 24, 29%), 1p (6 of 24, 25%), 5 (6 of 24, 25%), 20 (6 of 24, 25%), 6q (5 of 24, 21%), 13q21−qter (5 of 24, 21%), and 16p (5 of 24, 21%). Chromosome 11 loss, which involved 11p in all cases, was the most significant finding and was common to tumors arising sporadically and in association with MEN1 and CNC. In addition, the majority of the tumors (18 of 24, 75% overall and 86% of all tumors with chromosomal abnormalities) showed involvement of chromosome 1. Tumors had either loss (14 of 24, 58%) or gain (6 of 24, 25%) in the 1p32–1pter region. Finally, changes on chromosome 17, either loss or gain, occurred in 71% (17) of all 24 patients. In summary, all the tumors with chromosomal rearrangements (21 of 24, 88%), whether sporadic pituitary adenomas or those associated with MEN1 or CNC, had alteration(s) of 1p32, 11p, or 17. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
In Defence of Paradigm Incommensurability

This paper presents a rigorous defence of paradigm incommensurability as con ceptualized by Burrell and Morgan, arguing that it is a necessary defence against scientistic authoritarianism. Two recent attacks on paradigm incommensurability are examined which, although emerging from different intellectual traditions, are both seen to imply the restoration of the authority of scientism characteristic of the postmodernism of reaction. Both critiques base their attack on the work of Kuhn but this basis is rejected on the grounds, inter alia, of a clear absence of isomorphism between the paradigmatic model of Kuhn and that of Burrell and Morgan. Finally, the paper considers the relevance of paradigm incommensur ability in the context of non-reactive postmodernism.
INVITED PAPER Special Section on Analog Circuits and Related SoC Integration Technologies Digitally Assisted Analog and RF Circuits

SUMMARY In this paper, the importance and perspective for the digitally-assisted analog and RF circuits are discussed, especially related to wireless transceivers. Digital calibration techniques for compensating I/ Q mismatch, IM2, and LO impairments in cellular, 2.4GHz WiFi, and 60GHz WiGig transceivers are introduced with detailed analysis and circuit implementations. Future technology directions such as the shift from digitally-assisted analog circuit to digitally-designed analog circuit will also be discussed.
Italian Regional Evolutions

The aim of this paper is to examine the evolution of Italy's territorial inequalities from 1952 to 1996 and to consider what the Italian record tells us about the utility of theories of convergence and divergence. After outlining the scale and nature of contemporary development gaps in Italy, the author explores the way these inequalities have changed, showing that convergence in the 1960s and early 1970s gave way to divergence, and identifying the respective roles of productivity, employment, and demographic growth in shaping the overall trend in inequality. To examine what underlay the aggregate trends attention is paid to the comparative evolution of twenty Italian regions, indicating clearly the changing relative fortunes of the metropolitan northwest, the Mezzogiorno, the Third Italy, and the Adriatic coastal regions. In the final sections several decompositions are employed to identify the contribution of productivity and employment growth across a range of sectors to the comparative performance of Italy's regional economies.
Rapid vocabulary addition to context-dependent decoder graphs

We describe how to efﬁciently add new vocabulary directly to an existing optimized ASR decoder graph. The augmented de-coder graph is represented by two weighted ﬁnite-state transducers, a primary graph that represents the static portion and a secondary graph that represents the dynamic portion, together with a mapping that speciﬁes that some states in the two graphs are to be merged. Determinism is obtained by excluding from the secondary graph any preﬁxes already present in the primary graph. Correct context-dependency is obtained by including in the primary graph all preﬁxes needed to properly merge with the secondary graph. We report experiments comparing this approach to an existing one that requires on-the-ﬂy construction of the decoder graph.
Quaternionic plurisubharmonic functions and their applications to convexity

The goal of this article is to present a survey of the recent theory of plurisubharmonic functions of quaternionic variables, and its applications to theory of valuations on convex sets and HKT-geometry (HyperK\"ahler with Torsion). The exposition follows the articles math.CV/0104209, math.CV/0208005, math.MG/0401219 by the author and math.CV/0510140 by M. Verbitsky and the author.
Subsynchronous torsional behaviour of a hydraulic turbine-generator unit connected to a HVDC system

Torsional interaction is an important phenomenon of concern when a turbine-generator (TG) unit is connected to a series compensated line or a high voltage direct current (HVDC) system. The subsynchronous torsional interaction (SSTI) may have significant impact on the hydraulic system due to the negative damping introduced by HVDC converter controls. This paper investigates the SSTI behaviour of hydro TG units interconnected with a HVDC system for a varying generator-to-turbine inertia ratio. Case studies are carried out by changing the value of firing angle, applying a three-phase fault at the inverter bus and line switching at the rectifier ac system.
Midlife relationship diversity, sexual fluidity, wellbeing and sexual health from a rural perspective

People in midlife are having sexual relationships outside hetero-monogamy and marriage which contribute positively to their wellbeing. For rural people who are in a non-traditional relationship, confidentiality, access to sexual health services, and stigma are concerns. In this qualitative research project we investigate the experience and wellbeing of 22 rural baby boomers who had a friends-with-benefits relationship within the previous five years. A fear of judgement about their sex lives for some led to a need for secrecy and concern about being seen with partners. Use of health services for sexual health was mixed: many would not ask for testing and some who did were challenged or refused. Four participants' experiences are the focus of this article. Recommendations are made for policy, health practitioner education, clinical guidelines, sexual health promotion, and informal community activities to promote good sexual health and relationship wellbeing for people in midlife.
The role of NaKCl cotransport in blood-to-aqueous chloride fluxes across rabbit ciliary epithelium.

PURPOSE To evaluate the role of NaKCl cotransport in short-circuit current (Isc) and chloride fluxes across rabbit ciliary epithelium mounted in a Ussing-type chamber. METHODS Bilayered intact ciliary epithelium free of stroma was obtained after perfusion and dissection of rabbit eyes and mounted in an Ussing-type chamber. The effects of bumetanide and other drugs on Isc and transepithelial 36Cl fluxes in bicarbonate-containing Ringer's were determined. Immunoblot analysis was performed by standard techniques. RESULTS Bumetanide (100 microM) applied to the blood (pigmented epithelium [PE]) side of the ciliary bilayer caused a dose-dependent decrease in Isc from 18.2 +/- 2.2 to 10.4 +/- 1.4 microA/cm2 (43%). Bumetanide applied to the aqueous (nonpigmented epithelium [NPE]) side of the tissue inhibited Isc by only 12%. Immunoblots of dissected NPE and PE tissue probed with an antibody to mammalian NaKCl cotransporter detected approximately 10 times more NaKCl cotransporter protein in PE than in NPE. 36Cl flux studies revealed a PE-to-NPE chloride flux of 180.3 +/- 37.2 microEq/cm2 per hour and an NPE-to-PE flux of 72.3 +/- 22.9 microEq/cm2 per hour, indicating a net PE-to-NPE flux of 108.0 +/- 31.3 microEq/cm2 per hour across rabbit ciliary epithelium. Bumetanide inhibited the PE-to-NPE chloride flux by 52% but did not inhibit the NPE-to-PE flux. Isoproterenol (10 microM) added to the PE side of the bilayer increased Isc by a dose-dependent 53%. Prior addition of bumetanide to the PE side blocked the increase due to isoproterenol by 37%. Isoproterenol (10 microM) stimulated the PE-to-NPE chloride flux by 75% but had no stimulatory effect on the NPE-to-PE chloride flux. 4,4'Diisothiocyanatostilbene-2,2'disulfonic acid (DIDS) inhibited Isc when added to either side of the bilayer but was more potent at low concentrations (<100 microM) when added to the NPE side and more potent at higher concentrations (>100 microM) when added to the PE side. Prior addition of 1 mM DIDS to the NPE side decreased isoproterenol stimulation of Isc by 56%. CONCLUSIONS NaKCl cotransporters located primarily on the blood side of rabbit ciliary epithelium contribute to aqueous-negative Isc and to blood-to-aqueous chloride transport across the tissue in bicarbonate-containing medium. DIDS-inhibitable mechanisms, possibly including HCO3-Cl exchange and Cl channels, also play a role. Isoproterenol stimulation of Isc involves coordinate upregulation of PE-side NaKCl cotransport and an NPE-side DIDS-inhibitable mechanism(s).
Accelerated information weighted consensus-based DPF algorithm for target tracking in sparse wireless sensor networks

To improve convergence rate of the information weighted consensus-based distributed particle filter (IDPF) which applies to sparse wireless sensor networks (WSNs), an accelerated IDPF (AIDPF) algorithm is proposed. In the AIDPF algorithm, the top filter of IDPF, i.e., the weighted-average consensus filter (WACF) is replaced by the accelerated WACF (AWACF), which has improved the implementation algorithm of the WACF by reconfiguring the edge weights of the undirected gragh of the sparse WSNs. Initially, the edge weights are set by solving the fastest distributed linear averaging (FDLA) problem. For any node, then the localized node one-step predicted state acquired by a linear prediction model is introduced into the current state, thereby getting a new form of weights. And then the convergence rate is improved by determining the optimal mixing parameter of the new weights. Finally, the convergence analysis of the ADUIF algorithms and the simulation experiments are carried on, which have verified that the convergence rate of the AIDPF algorithms is faster than the IDPF algorithm when applying to the sparse WSNs.
Streamlined formulation of adaptive explicit-implicit tau-leaping with automatic tau selection

The adaptive explicit-implicit tau-leaping method with automatic tau selection is a flexible algorithm for accelerated stochastic simulation of chemically reacting systems. It combines the advantages of different simulation schemes and is particularly useful when a system changes its dynamical behavior over time in the sense that it behaves well in some time periods but possesses stiffness in other time periods. However, the ingredients necessary to fully understand and implement the algorithm are spread over several papers, not always consistent in terminology and notation, which considerably hampers and possibly even prevents accessibility and widespread practical use. We present a streamlined description of the algorithm using a unified terminology and notation and introduce significantly simplified versions of two major ingredients, namely the step size selection and the switching mechanism between the sub-algorithms.
Sentence Alignment in DPC: Maximizing Precision, Minimizing Human Effort

A wide spectrum of multilingual applications have aligned parallel corpora as their prerequisite. The aim of the project described in this paper is to build a multilingual corpus where all sentences are aligned at very high precision with a minimal human effort involved. The experiments on a combination of sentence aligners with different underlying algorithms described in this paper showed that by verifying only those links which were not recognized by at least two aligners, an error rate can be reduced by 93.76% as compared to the performance of the best aligner. Such manual involvement concerned only a small portion of all data (6%). This significantly reduces a load of manual work necessary to achieve nearly 100% accuracy of alignment.
Effects of an Equine Assisted Activities program on youth with Emotional Disturbance: A pilot study

This study evaluated the effects of a 10-week Equine Assisted Activities (EAA) program on special education students (aged 9 to 15) identified as Emotionally Disturbed (ED) who were enrolled in an alternative school. A control group of special education students receiving treatment-as-usual was included. The Behavior Assessment Scale for Children, Second Edition (BASC-2; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2004) measured change in emotional, behavioral, and school functioning, and adaptive skills. The Self-Report of Personality (SRP), Teacher Report Scale (TRS) and Parent Report Scale (PRS) forms of the BASC-2 (Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2004) were used to triangulate outcome data reported by the students, teachers, and parents. Two central hypotheses were tested. First, the treatment group would evidence significant reductions in emotional, behavior, and school problems and significant increases in adaptive skills as compared to the control group at post-test; these improvements, in turn, would be maintained at a three-month follow-up. Second, the treatment group would evidence significantly fewer missed school days, higher GPAs, and higher behavioral point percentages at post-test in comparison to the control group; these improvements, in turn, would be maintained at a three-month follow-up. Results indicated that, according to teachers’ ratings, participants who participated in 10 weeks of EAA intervention had statistically significant reductions in Externalizing Problems scores and marginally significant reductions in Behavior Symptoms Index BASC composite scores. Results were not significant for all other variables; however,