Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Plasma Phospholipid Fatty Acid Biomarkers of Dietary Fat Quality and Endogenous Metabolism Predict Coronary Heart Disease Risk: A Nested Case‐Control Study Within the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study

Background Although the relationship between dietary fat quality and coronary heart disease (CHD) risk has been evaluated, typically using diet questionnaires, results are inconsistent and data in postmenopausal women are limited. Plasma phospholipid fatty acid (PL‐FA) profiles, reflecting dietary intake and endogenous FA metabolism, may better predict diet–CHD risk. Methods and Results Using a nested case‐control design, we assessed the association between plasma PL‐FA profiles and CHD risk in 2448 postmenopausal women (1224 cases with confirmed CHD and 1224 controls matched for age, enrollment date, race/ethnicity, and absence of CHD at baseline and after 4.5 years of follow‐up) participating in the Women's Health Initiative observational study. PL‐FA profile was measured using gas chromatography. Product/precursor ratios were used to estimate stearoyl‐CoA‐desaturase (16:1n‐7/16:0, 18:1n‐9/18:0), Δ6‐desaturase (20:3n‐6/18:2n‐6), and Δ5‐desaturase (20:4n‐6/20:3n‐6) activities, indicators of endogenous FA metabolism. Multivariate conditional logistic regression was used to obtain odds ratios (95% CIs) for CHD risk. While no associations were observed for the predominant PL fatty acid (16:0, 18:0, 18:1n‐9, and 18:2n‐6), plasma PL–saturated fatty acid (1.20 [1.08 to 1.32]) and endogenously synthesized PL ω6 fatty acids (20:3n‐6; 3.22 [1.95 to 5.32]), 22:5n‐6; 1.63 [1.20 to 2.23]) and Δ6‐desaturase (1.25 [1.11 to 1.41]) were positively associated with CHD risk. PL‐ω3 fatty acids (20:5n‐3; 0.73 [0.58 to 0.93], 22:5n‐3; 0.56 [0.33 to 0.94], 22:6n‐3; 0.56 [0.39 to 0.80]), 18:1n‐7 (0.54 [0.29 to 0.99]), and Δ5‐desaturase (0.78 [0.70 to 0.88]) were inversely associated with CHD risk. Results support current guidelines regarding regular fish consumption. Additional findings include associations between endogenously synthesized fatty acids and CHD risk, which were partly explained by changes in Δ6‐desaturase and Δ5‐desaturase indexes, suggesting that in vivo metabolism may also play an important role in predicting CHD risk in this cohort of postmenopausal women. Clinical Trial Registration URL: http://ClinicalTrials.gov, Unique identifier: NCT01864122.
Generating safe boundary APIs between typed EDSLs and their environments

Embedded domain specific languages (EDSLs) are used to represent special-purpose code in a general-purpose language and they are used for applications like vector calculations and run-time code generation. Often, code in an EDSL is compiled to a target (e.g. GPU languages, JVM bytecode, assembly, JavaScript) and needs to interface with other code that is available at that level but uses other data representations or calling conventions. We present an approach for safely making available such APIs in a typed EDSL, guaranteeing correct conversions between data representations and the respect for calling conventions. When the code being interfaced with is the result of static compilation of host language code, we propose a way to auto-generate the needed boilerplate using meta-programming. We instantiate our technique with JavaScript as the target language, JS-Scala as the EDSL, Scala.js as the static compiler and Scala macros to generate the boilerplate, but our design is more generally applicable. We provide evidence of usefulness of our approach through a prototype implementation that we have applied in a non-trivial code base.
FPGA signal processing using sigma-delta modulation

FPGA devices maintain the flexibility of software-based solutions, while providing levels of performance that match, and often exceed ASIC solutions. There is a rich and expanding body of literature devoted to the efficient and effective implementation of digital signal processors using FPGA-based hardware. More often than not, the most successful of these techniques involves a paradigm shift away from the methods that provide good solutions in software programmable DSP systems. This article reports on the rich set of design opportunities that are available to the signal processing system designer through innovative combinations of /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulation techniques and FPGA signal processing hardware. The applications considered include narrow-band filters, both single-rate and multi-rate; DC canceller; and /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulation hybrid digital-analog control loops for simplifying carrier recovery, timing recovery, automatic gain control (AGC) loops in a digital communication receiver.
Adenomatous Polyposis Coli Is Differentially Distributed in Growth Cones and Modulates Their Steering

Axonal steering reactions depend on the transformation of environmental information into internal, directed structures, which is achieved by differential modulation of the growth cone cytoskeleton; key elements are the microtubules, which are regulated in their dynamics by microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs). We investigated a potential role of the MAP adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) for growing axons, employing embryonic visual system as a model system. APC is concentrated in the distalmost (i.e., growing) region of retinal ganglion cell axons in vivo and in vitro. Within the growth cone, APC is enriched in the central domain; it only partially colocalizes with microtubules. When axons are induced to turn toward a cell or away from a substrate border, APC is present in the protruding and absent from the collapsing growth cone regions, thus indicating the future growth direction of the axon. To assess the functional role of the differential distribution of APC in navigating growth cones, the protein was inactivated via micro-scale chromophore-assisted laser inactivation in one half of the growth cone. If the N-terminal APC region (crucial for its oligomerization) is locally inactivated, the treated growth cone side collapses and the axon turns away. In contrast, if the 20 aa repeats in the middle region of APC (which can negatively regulate its microtubule association) are inactivated, protrusions are formed and the growth cone turns toward. Our data thus demonstrate a crucial role of APC for axon steering attributable to its multifunctional domain structure and differential distribution in the growth cone.
Characterization of Fusarium oxysporum Isolated from Paprika in Korea

In the present study we first report in Korea the identification and characterization of Fusarium oxysporum isolated from rotten stems and roots of paprika (Capsicum annuum var. grossum) at Masan, Kyungsangnamdo in 2006. The fungal species produced white aerial mycelia accompanying with dark violet pigment on PDA. The optimal temperature and pH for the growth of the species was 25°C and pH 7, respectively. Microscopic observation of one of isolates of the species shows that its conidiophores are unbranehed and monophialides, its microconidia have oval-ellipsoidal shape with no septate and are of 3.0~11 × 1.5~3.5 μm sizes, its macroconidia are of 15~20 × 2.0~3.5 μm sizes and have slightly curved or slender shape with 2–3 septate. The results of molecular analysis show that the ITS rDNA of oxysporum from paprika shares 100% sequence identity with that of known F. oxysporum isolates. The identified species proved it’s pathogenicity by causing rotting symptom when it was inoculated on paprika fruits. The growth of F. oxysporum from paprika was suppressed on PDA by agrochemicals such as benomyl, tebueonazole and azoxystrobin. The identified species has the ability of producing extracelluar enzymes that degrade cellobiose and pectin.
Building OLAP cubes on a Cloud Computing environment with MapReduce

Large-scale data analysis has become increasingly important for many enterprises, and Cloud Computing, under the impulse of large companies, has recently endowed a special attention both in industry and academic researches. Hadoop, based on a new distributed computing paradigm, called MapReduce, has allowed to facilitate access to such environments, due to its impressive scalability and flexibility to handle structured as well as unstructured data. The goal of our work is to develop a Cloud Computing environment for exploiting data warehouses and perform online analysis. It consists of handling large nonrelational databases and supporting data warehouse with a new generation of database management systems (DBMS) such as Hive. Thus, to set up such an environment, we implemented a data warehouse under Hadoop and Hive and we used the Map and Reduce functions of this environment, then we compared the cost of loading the warehoused data and constructing OLAP cubes between a virtual and a physical cluster, as well as the rise in data loading on a physical cluster. Obtained results allows MapReduce developers to fully compare the performance, help in the choice of platform, in which a customer application can be developed to translate SQL requests to HQL (Hive-QL) requests, and check if a not-relational model is adequate or not.
Secondary cache performance in RISC architecture

In this paper we report on a simulation study that examines a uniprocessor system with a three-level memory hierarchy. A simulation model of a single-cycle-per-instruction processor with a small on-chip cache was constructed and tested with various memory hierarchies. The simulation was intended to focus on meeting the demanding requirements of the latest RISC processors such as the MIPS R4000 and the DEC 21064. The simulator used allowed the authors to run traces of hundreds of millions of memory references per case. These long traces gave a more thorough and accurate picture of the memory demands of current processors. Data is presented enabling a designer to incorporate speed estimates based on implementation restrictions into the process of developing memory hierarchies.
A modified bidirectional hidden Markov model and its application in protein secondary structure prediction

A hidden Markov model (HMM) is a statistical tool applied to model stochastic sequences. In an ordinary HMM a hidden Markov chain named, the chain of states emits a sequence of observations. In this model, given a state the emissions are assumed to be independent from each other. However several researchers have already studied the dependencies between emissions. In this paper a new approach for consideration of dependencies among emissions is presented. We start with the use of the information of the left hand side of any emission and introduce a new model. We then take the information of the right hand side of any emission into account. Protein is one of the most important molecules in any living cells and the study of protein structure is very important in biology. Predicting the secondary structure of a protein is usually used for the 3D structure prediction of it which in turn helps to identify a protein structure in whole. In this paper we discuss a two-sided modified HMM considering some dependencies among emissions. This model construction seems to be reasonable and improves the precision of protein secondary structure prediction.
A relational approach to support software architecture analysis

This paper reports on our experience with a relational approach to support the analysis of existing software architectures. The analysis options provide for visualization and view calculation. The approach has been applied for reverse engineering. It is also possible to check concrete designs against architecture‐related rules. The paper surveys the theory, the tools and some of the applications developed so far. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Stability Prediction of Tailing Dam Slope Based on Neural Network Pattern Recognition

Pattern recognition is a significant field in contemporary high-tech research and it has a broad range of applications, but its application in geotechnical engineering is still at primary stage. Slope stability problem has been an important issue in geotechnical engineering. According to the randomicity and uncertainty of the influencing factors in slope stability prediction, utilization of the good function of nonlinear processing and pattern recognition of neural network is proposed, and the corresponding neural network model is constructed. Prediction results show that the model has high prediction accuracy, which can predict the slope stability effectively.
On the Application of Efficiency Analysis to the Study of the Dimensions of Human Development

This paper is an attempt to translate empirically some of the categorizations of human development reviewed by Alkire (2002). It compares the estimates of human development obtained on the basis of Sen's (1985) capability approach, Narayan et al.'s (2000) dimensions of well-being, Cummins (1996) domains of life satisfaction and Allardt's (1993) comparative Scandinavian welfare study. To obtain these estimates of human development use is made of techniques developed in efficiency analysis, an approach rarely applied to the study of consumption and standards of living (see, however, Lovell et al., 1994). Our database is the British Household Panel Survey. Our findings vindicate the multidimensional approach to human development but show a great empirical resemblance between the four conceptual approaches to well-being.
Lullaby singing and its human Bildung potential

On the basis of a qualitative study of 20 Norwegian lullaby-singing parents, this article explores the human Bildung potential of parents’ lullaby singing to their children at bedtime. Some parents may experience a personal re awakening when singing as they more easily can express themselves openly and rich and get in contact with emotional layers of their own childhood. Secondly, the act may afford a sort of “musical mindfulness”, which is a unique as well as collective mindful and calm self-with-other-cultivation. The lullaby singing then becomes an important part of the forming and exploring of the parent-child intimate and social relationship through a musical journey that facilitates the creation and sharing of a personal family signature and convivial atmosphere. Parents’ singing also fosters children’s love of music and singing. The children may also experience and learn about the language of intimacy, self-regulation, sensitive timing and musical taste through their parents’ singing. Furthermore, the act facilitates the child’s language acquisition and the development of inner images and free associations. In addition, the lullaby act – as a cultural activity and way of thinking – may open up for a deeper world encountering and value orientation. This can be linked to a broader way of understanding the concept of Bildung as lullaby-singing touches upon human aspects of interconnectedness, spirituality and solidarity, but also a view of it as an end-in-itself. Nonetheless, parents who are blindly reproducing the tradition or being insensitive and highly goal-oriented, ruin the free space of the present intimate moment and will not fulfill the act’s human potential.
Asymptotic eigenvalue moments for linear multiuser detection

Using the theory of lattices of non-crossing partitions, an explicit expression is obtained for the asymptotic moments of certain infinite random matrices that arise in multiuser detection in DS-CDMA systems with random spreading. By using this explicit expression, we obtain a self-contained proof of the Tse-Hanly formula for the output signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio of a MMSE multiuser detector. The asymptotic moment results are used to design a low-complexity polynomial approximation of a linear multiuser detector. Analytical and numerical results of their performance analysis are also given.
Multi-Level Communication of Human Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells via Tunneling Nanotubes

Background Tunneling nanotubes (TNTs) may offer a very specific and effective way of intercellular communication. Here we investigated TNTs in the human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cell line ARPE-19. Morphology of TNTs was examined by immunostaining and scanning electron microscopy. To determine the function of TNTs between cells, we studied the TNT-dependent intercellular communication at different levels including electrical and calcium signalling, small molecular diffusion as well as mitochondrial re-localization. Further, intercellular organelles transfer was assayed by FACS analysis. Methodology and Principal Findings Microscopy showed that cultured ARPE-19 cells are frequently connected by TNTs, which are not attached to the substratum. The TNTs were straight connections between cells, had a typical diameter of 50 to 300 nm and a length of up to 120 µm. We observed de novo formation of TNTs by diverging from migrating cells after a short time of interaction. Scanning electron microscopy confirmed characteristic features of TNTs. Fluorescence microscopy revealed that TNTs between ARPE-19 cells contain F-actin but no microtubules. Depolymerisation of F-actin, induced by addition of latrunculin-B, led to disappearance of TNTs. Importantly, these TNTs could function as channels for the diffusion of small molecules such as Lucifer Yellow, but not for large molecules like Dextran Red. Further, organelle exchange between cells via TNTs was observed by microscopy. Using Ca2+ imaging we show the intercellular transmission of calcium signals through TNTs. Mechanical stimulation led to membrane depolarisation, which expand through TNT connections between ARPE-19 cells. We further demonstrate that TNTs can mediate electrical coupling between distant cells. Immunolabelling for Cx43 showed that this gap junction protein is interposed at one end of 44% of TNTs between ARPE-19 cells. Conclusions and Significance Our observations indicate that human RPE cell line ARPE-19 cells communicate by tunneling nanotubes and can support different types of intercellular traffic.
A POLÍTICA DO TABLETE EDUCACIONAL NO ENSINO DE INGLÊS EM ESCOLAS DO ESTADO DO PARANÁ

Technological developments in the field of communication and information have created several tools, which, in turn, have promoted social practices in which their uses are essential. For this reason, they have been the object of government policies aimed at promoting its wider access to a larger population. This paper aims at analyzing critically a policy that encourages the use of tablets in classrooms, not only in relation to official texts that represent it, but also considering its enactment in public schools located in the State of Paraná. In order to achieve this objective, this research is based on Ball (2012), Ball, Braun and Maguire (2012) and Manairdes (2006) in terms of education policies, as well as on Selwyn (2010, 2013) as for critical analysis of ICT in educational contexts. The data (official texts that represent the policy, 226 teachers from different regions of Paraná who answered an online survey and 10 semi-structured interviews with English teachers) were analyzed based on the studies above. Preliminary results indicate conflicts between the purpose of the policy and its enactment in public schools located in Paraná State.
Toward an Architecture for Ad Hoc Grids

The advantages offered by existing Grid frameworks have resulted in a wide range of applications adopting the Grid approach. The first generation of production Grids have focused on the creation of large virtual organizations that share high end resources as part of a static resource pool. However as many collaborative interactions take places on a sporadic or ad hoc fashion outside of the virtual organization, such Grids become impractical. In this paper, we outline an extension to the Grid architecture that addresses this issue. We refer to this architecture a as sporadic or ad hoc Grid. We discuss use cases that justify our efforts toward a self-organizing ad hoc Grid architecture. We outline the functional principles of this architecture and propose our framework to implement them.
Oscillations, SE(2)-snakes and motion control

Concerns motion generation via cyclic variations in selected degrees of freedom (shape variables) in mechanical systems subject to nonholonomic constraints (here, a disk rolling without sliding on a flat surface). It is necessary to take into account certain dynamical phenomena. We consider the group SE(2) of rigid motions in the plane and a concrete mechanical realization, the SE(2)-snake. One version of this is the Roller Racer (a patented toy). Based on the work of Bloch, Krishnaprasad, Marsden and Murray (1995), one recognizes in the example a balance law called the momentum equation, which is a direct consequence of the interaction of the SE(2)-symmetry of the problem with the constraints. The systematic use of this law results in certain structures which are used to demonstrate that the single shape freedom in this problem can be cyclically varied to produce a rich variety of motions of the SE(2)-snake. In their study of the Snakeboard, a patented modification of the skateboard that also admits the group SE(2) as a symmetry group, Lewis, Ostrowski, Burdick and Murray (1994) exploited the same type of balance law, but in this paper we have only one control variable and thus controllability considerations become somewhat more delicate. In the present paper, we give a self-contained treatment of the geometry mechanics and motion control of the Roller Racer.
Interactive diagnosis of nevus' classification using FWS model & feature-based analysis

A Computer-Assisted Diagnostic System for Decision-making in early detection of the nevus as either benign or dysplastic or melanocytic, was developed with dynamic features of Analysis and design. The system, presents a Feature-based Classification Module combined with a new model called Fourier-Wavelet-Statistical (FWS), supported by the heuristic knowledge for Image Analysis. The design of the system is divided into 3 stages: The FWS model, Classification Module & Interactive Interface. The FWS Model was Comprised of 3 Parallel sub-blocks to which the image is fed, viz., the Edge-Axis algorithm, Multi-level Discrete Wavelet Transforms (MDWT) Process Algorithm & the Statistical Node. The Classification module was designed with a Classifier & Knowledge Data Base (KDB) that follows a Heuristic approach in identifying the nevus as of specific type. The Interactive Interface block is a challenging concept to the designer in handling the collective perspectives of experts, practitioners, and engineers. The design model is efficient, in improving the decision-making strategy and overall accuracy of the system developed; in order to assist a general practitioner in identifying the typical skin lesion under a suggestive and supportive environment.