Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
SGLT 1 , a Novel Cardiac Glucose Transporter , Mediates Increased Glucose Uptake in PRKAG 2 Cardiomyopathy

Human mutations in the gene PRKAG2 encoding the γ2 subunit of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) cause a glycogen storage cardiomyopathy. Transgenic mice (TGT400N) with the human T400N mutation exhibit inappropriate activation of AMPK and consequent glycogen storage in the heart. Although increased glucose uptake and activation of glycogen synthesis have been documented in PRKAG2 cardiomyopathy, the mechanism of increased glucose uptake has been uncertain. Wildtype (WT), TGT400N, and TGα2DN (carrying a dominant negative, kinase dead α2 catalytic subunit of AMPK) mice were studied at ages 2–8 weeks. Cardiac mRNA expression of sodiumdependent glucose transporter 1 (SGLT1), but not facilitated-diffusion glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) or GLUT4, was increased ~5–7 fold in TGT400N mice relative to WT. SGLT1 protein was similarly increased at the cardiac myocyte sarcolemma in TGT400N mice. Phlorizin, a specific SGLT1 inhibitor, attenuated cardiac glucose uptake in TGT400N mice by ~40%, but not in WT mice. Chronic phlorizin treatment reduced cardiac glycogen content by ~25% in TGT400N mice. AICAR, an AMPK activator, increased cardiac SGLT1 mRNA expression ~3 fold in WT mice. Relative to TGT400N mice, double transgenic (TGT400N/TGα2DN) mice had decreased (~50%) cardiac glucose uptake and decreased (~70%) cardiac SGLT1 expression. TGT400N hearts had increased binding activity of the transcription factors HNF-1 and Sp1 to the promoter of the gene encoding SGLT1. Our data suggest that upregulation of cardiac SGLT1 is responsible for increased cardiac glucose uptake in the TGT400N mouse. Increased AMPK activity leads to upregulation of SGLT1, which in turn mediates increased cardiac glucose uptake.
Investigating safety impacts of autonomous vehicles using traffic micro-simulation

Autonomous Vehicle (AV) technology has advanced rapidly in recent years with some automated features already available in vehicles on the market. AVs are highly expected to reduce traffic crashes as the majority of crashes are related to driver errors, fatigue, alcohol, or drugs etc. However, very little research has been conducted to estimate safety impacts of AVs. This paper aims to investigate the safety impacts of AVs using a simulation-based surrogate safety measure approach. To this end, safety impacts are explored through the number of conflicts extracted from VISSIM traffic micro-simulator using Surrogate Safety Assessment Model (SSAM). Behaviours of Human-driven Vehicles (HVs) and AVs (level 4 automation) are modelled within VISSIM’s car following model. The safety investigation is conducted for two case studies, including a signalised intersection and a roundabout, under various AV penetration rates. Results suggest that AVs improve safety significantly with high penetration rates, even when they are expected to travel with shorter headways to improve road capacity. For the signalised intersection, AVs reduce the number of conflicts by 20% to 47% with the penetration rates of between 50% and 100% (statistically significant at p<0.05). For the roundabout, the number of conflicts is reduced by 29% to 32% with the 100% AV penetration rate (statistically significant at p<0.05).
Database Prototypes 0 . 6 Classifier “ bird ” 0 . 3 Weights Confidence 0

We propose a novel inherently interpretable machine learning method that bases decisions on few relevant examples that we call prototypes. Our method, ProtoAttend, can be integrated into a wide range of neural network architectures including pre-trained models. It utilizes an attention mechanism that relates the encoded representations to samples in order to determine prototypes. The resulting model outperforms state of the art in three high impact problems without sacrificing accuracy of the original model: (1) it enables high-quality interpretability that outputs samples most relevant to the decision-making (i.e. a sample-based interpretability method); (2) it achieves state of the art confidence estimation by quantifying the mismatch across prototype labels; and (3) it obtains state of the art in distribution mismatch detection. All this can be achieved with minimal additional test time and a practically viable training time computational cost.
Systematic review: macrophage activation syndrome in inflammatory bowel disease

Recently, there have been increasingly frequent reports on the occurrence of macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Clinically, MAS is characterized mainly by fever, hepatosplenomegaly, cytopenia, and elevated circulating ferritin and CD25. Mortality, even if diagnosed rapidly, is high.
Teaching of web information retrieval: web first or IR first?

When teaching Web Information retrieval (IR), a teacher has two alternatives: (i) to teach the classical pre-Web IR issues first and present the Web specific issues later; or (ii) to teach directly the Web IR discipline per se. The first approach has the advantages of building on prerequisite knowledge, of presenting the historical development of the discipline, and probably appears more natural to most lecturers, who have followed the historical development of the field. Conversely, the second approach has the advantage of concentrating on a more modern view of the field, and probably leads to a higher motivation in the students, since the more appealing Web issues are dealt with at course start. I will discuss these issues, I will mention the approaches followed in the (rather few) Web IR books available, I will make some comparisons with the teaching of related disciplines, and I will also summarize my experience and some feedback from my students (I have been teaching a Web IR course for two Master's degrees in Computer Science and Information Technology at Udine University for the last two years; I had about twenty students each year; and I followed the first approach).
Flexural Response of RC Beams Strengthened using UHPFRC Panels Epoxied to the Sides

Several new types of concrete have emerged in the past two decades with practical applications such as self-compacting concrete and Ultra-high Performance Concrete (UHPC). These new concretes have helped to overcome several shortcomings of the normal or conventional concrete. Precast panels made with ultra-high performance concrete with steel fiber reinforcement (UHPFRC) epoxied to the sides of an existing reinforced concrete beam is proposed to enhance the strength and ductility of the beams. This paper presents the results of a 3-D finite element model (FEM) of the strengthened beam using non-linear finite element software ABAQUS. The FE model was validated using previous experimental work carried out by the authors with a good accuracy. A parametric study was conducted to investigate the flexural response of RC beams strengthened with different thicknesses of UHPFRC precast panels epoxied to various sides of the beam. The results showed that the ductility of RC beams strengthened by UHPFRC enhances with an increase in the thickness of panels for various strengthening configurations.
Car-Following Behaviour : Statistical Analysis of Differences Between Drivers

Microscopic traffic models replicate the behaviour of individual drivers and their interactions with each other. As such, the accuracy of simulation predictions is closely tied to a realistic reproduction of actual human driving behaviour. Despite being a well-researched subject, there is not much literature about the differences between drivers; in most simulations dynamics emerge from interactions of homogeneous driver populations or from a few different behavioural types at best. In this paper we investigate and quantify the car-following (CF) differences between drivers. The underlying dataset contains over 700 min of high-precision CF data and has been used in several research papers. Methodologically we focus on analysing feature distributions, visualising correlations of driver acceleration to space gap, headway, relative speed as well as lead vehicle acceleration and calculating the driver reaction times by shifting the correlating fields. The article uses lots of innovative visualisation methods to efficiently summarise the obtained results.
Strength Degradation of Zirconia Post Air-abrasion of Veneering and Cementation Surfaces

Purpose: This study evaluated how the flexural strength of a zirconia-based ceramic (Y-TZP) was affected by air abrasion with 30 μm SiO2 on both zirconia surfaces: the cementation surface, and the veneering surface. Materials and Methods: Translucent Y-TZP ceramic bars, for four-point bend testing, were prepared and divided considering the compressive (surface treatment for cementation) and tensile surfaces (surface treatment for veneering). Sandblasting was performed or not for each compressive and tensile surfaces. The specimens from all experimental conditions were analysed by SEM. All specimens were tested in four-point bending. Data were statistically analysed using one-way ANOVA and Post Hoc tests (α= 0.05). A Weibull analysis was used to analyse the strength reliability. Results: According to the results of this investigation, the flexural strength was significantly affected by sandblasting on both surfaces: for veneering (P < 0.001) and for cementation (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Sandblasting the veneering surface, to improve bonding of the veneer to Y-TZP, negatively impacted strength reliability. Sandblasting the cementation surface decreased the flexural strength while increasing the strength reliability. Citation: Sheila Butler, Bernie Linke, Narjara C.F. Moreira, et al. (2017). Strength degradation of zirconia post air-abrasion of veneering and cementation surfaces Page 2 of 5 www.scientonline. org J Dent Oral Health Volume 3 • Issue 7 • 088 and m is the Weibull modulus. The values were ranked using median ranking criteria. Results The XRD patterns presented monoclinic peaks in the presintered (no air-abrasion treatment) and sandblasted after sintering (Figure 1a). Monoclinic peaks were not detectable after polishing without sandblasting, which reveals that phase transformation (t-m) took place as a result of sandblasting. The reverse transformation (m-t) was observed after the sandblasted surfaces for veneering were submitted to the porcelain sintering cycle. However, after sandblasting the opposing surface (cementation surface) the phase transformation (t-m) took place and was only detected on the cementation side (Figure 1a). In addition, the transformed zone depth is presented in Figure 1b. The flexural strength was significantly affected by the sandblasting procedure on both surfaces, for veneering (P < 0.001) zirconia ceramic surface before cementation would not affect its flexural strength.
Production of high strength high performance 100 MPa rice husk ash concrete

The high demand of high strength high performance concrete (HSHPC) in concrete industries attracts researchers to be more focused on improving the performance characteristics of HSHPC: workability, mechanical properties and durability. Applying high strength concrete, one of the performance characteristics, is beneficial for high rise buildings to increase the space of occupation and save the cost of maintenance in the long term. There is a need to study on HSHPC incorporating rice husk ash (RHA) due to limited information on utilizing RHA in HSHPC with low w/b. The binder and w/b adopted in this study were 550 kg/m and 0.25, respectively. The results reported included fresh, hardened and durability properties of high performance 100 MPa concrete incorporating 0%, 10%, 15% and 20% RHA as well as 10% condensed silica fume (CSF). The results revealed that the compressive, flexure and tensile strengths, and modulus of elasticity of concrete incorporating 10 % RHA are better than that of 10% CSF and plain concrete. The initial surface absorption (ISA) value of RHA is also better than that of OPC and CSF concrete at 28 days. RHA is proven as the alternative to silica fume in producing high performance concrete through achievable workability, strength, durability and strength efficiency of cement. The outcomes show the potential of using RHA to produce HPC. RHA has the prospective for contributing to the sustainable development and economic prosperity of the construction and agricultural industries especially to the rice growing nation worldwide. Keywords-component: high performance concrete; rice husk ash; workability; mechanical properties
ESTIMATION OF EFFECTIVE STRESS FROM SEISMIC REFLECTION COEFFICIENTS AT A NON-WELDED INTERFACE

We investigate the possibility to estimate effective stress from reflection coefficients at a non-welded interface. The interface is represented by a planar distribution of penny-shaped cracks, resulting in a linear slip boundary condition with a normal and a tangential compliance. These compliances change as the planar crack density decays exponentially (due to crack closure) with effective stress. The media above and below the interface are VTI and their elastic coefficients are taken from empirical data (dependent on effective stress and pore infill). We compute quasiPP, -SvP, -SvSv and -PSv reflection coefficients for several realistic scenarios with varying angles of incidence at different stress states with different pore infill (brine or gas). Both effective stress and pore infill affect the model in two ways: a) through the elastic coefficients of the upper and lower media, and b) through the compliances of the interface. Both effects have significant impact on the computed reflection coefficients and their interplay can easily cause misinterpretations. Further, we invert the synthetic reflection coefficient data as generated by the forward model for the effective stress components. Our analysis reveals that the inversion requires a priori, measurements of the vertical wave velocities at each stress state, an estimation of anisotropy and some (theoretical or empirical) relation between fracture compliance and effective stress. We introduce error bars in the estimated stress considering errors in the input wave velocities. Our inversion results demonstrate that we are able to estimate effective stress, assuming that an accurate stress-compliance relation is available.
Multiple ace genes encoding acetylcholinesterases of Caenorhabditis elegans have distinct tissue expression

ace‐1 and ace‐2 genes encoding acetylcholinesterase in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans present 35% identity in coding sequences but no homology in noncoding regions (introns, 5′‐ and 3′‐untranslated regions). A 5′‐region of ace‐2 was defined by rescue of ace‐1;ace‐2 mutants. When green fluorescent protein (GFP) expression was driven by this regulatory region, the resulting pattern was distinct from that of ace‐1. This latter gene is expressed in all body‐wall and vulval muscle cells ( Culetto et al., 1999 ), whereas ace‐2 is expressed almost exclusively in neurons. ace‐3 and ace‐4 genes are located in close proximity on chromosome II ( Combes et al., 2000 ). These two genes were first transcribed in vivo as a bicistronic messenger and thus constitute an ace‐3;ace‐4 operon. However, there was a very low level of monocistronic mRNA of ace‐4 (the upstream gene) in vivo, and no ACE‐4 enzymatic activity was ever detected. GFP expression driven by a 5′ upstream region of the ace‐3;ace‐4 operon was detected in several muscle cells of the pharynx (pm3, pm4, pm5 and pm7) and in the two canal associated neurons (CAN cells). A dorsal row of body‐wall muscle cells was intensively labelled in larval stages but no longer detected in adults. The distinct tissue‐specific expression of ace‐1, ace‐2 and ace‐3 (coexpressed only in pm5 cells) indicates that ace genes are not redundant.
Train – induced aerodynamic pressure and its effect on noise protection walls

Train–induced aerodynamic loads on noise protection walls have been a field of research for some time. During the passage of a high–speed train along noise protection walls, they are exposed to high aerodynamic pressure loads that reduce the endurance limit. In this work measurements of the excerted pressure are shown and the results of a statistical analysis. The measurement data are the foundation of a numerical simulation based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to simulate the pressure flow around the passing train. Based on the NAVIER–STOKES–equation which are formed to the REYNOLDS averaged NAVIER–STOKES–equation (RANS–equation) the flow is resolved. The results of the simulation are compared to the measurement data.
Cognitive and Physiological Moderators of Daily Smokers' Early Neural Attentional Biases to Smoking and Nonsmoking Cues

The present study examined the relationship between “light daily” smokers’ implicit attentional biases to smoking stimuli, as measured by ERP difference scores, and several cognitive and physiological individual difference variables. Specifically, it sought to determine whether the constructs of physiological nicotine dependence, cigarette craving, “primary” dependence motives, including tolerance and automaticity, and “secondary” dependence motives, including social goads and affiliative attachment, moderated attentional biases across the early exogenous ERP components P1, N1, P2, and the endogenous ERP component N2. The present study also compared responses to stimuli containing only objects (i.e., inactive) to those that contained human/object interaction (i.e., active). In accordance with our hypotheses, reward-oriented craving emerged as a strong predictor of smoking-related attentional biases across the exogenous ERP components. Several “secondary dependence” motives were also positively correlated with these exogenous ERP components. Analyses of the endogenous N2 ERP component indicated that physiological nicotine dependence was positively correlated with smoking-related attentional biases at the N2 component. The presence of these significant moderator variable and smoking-related attentional biases were more consistent across the inactive stimuli as opposed to the active stimuli, indicating that these relationships may occur to a greater extent for inactive compared to active smoking stimuli. These findings indicate that subjective craving and secondary dependence motives are related to attentional biases to smoking stimuli, particularly those attentional biases occurring very early in processing. Contrary to past findings, physiological nicotine dependence was the only significant moderator of attentional biases at the endogenous N2 component, indicating that this construct may play a role in higher order cognitive processing.
Model-based Kernel Sum Rule with Applications to State Space Models

In this paper, we develop a novel likelihood-free (LF) Bayesian filter for state-space models. The proposed method combines prior knowledge, expressed as state-transition dynamics, with a nonparametric observation model learned from data via kernel Bayes’ rule. The resulting inference method applies more generally to hybrid models containing both model-free (learned from data) and model-based components. In a robot localization task, the resulting hybrid models outperform both competing inference approaches, and a fully model-free approach which also learns the parametric component.
The Rrelationship between the Big Five Personality Traits and Happiness with the Mediation Role of Religious Orientation among Students

The main purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between the big five personality traits and happiness with religious orientation as a mediator. The participants consisted of 301 Shiraz University students (110 males and 191 females) selected by applying a multistage random sampling method. Participants completed three questionnaires: NEO-FFI or the short personality inventory of Costa and Mc Crae (1992); the Intrinsic-Extrinsic Religious Orientation Scale (IEROS, Allport & Ross, 1967); and the Oxford Happiness Inventory (OHI) (Argyle, 1989). These instruments showed appropriate reliability and validity. Multiple regression and path analysis were the major statistical analyses run in the study. Results of multiple regressions revealed that extraversion, and intrinsic religious orientations were the positive predictors of happiness, in contrast to Neuroticism which predicted happiness negatively. Also, results showed that religion orientation played the mediation role between these relationships. The findings indicated that this model is a proper model to explain the mechanism of the effects of personality traits on happiness. Based on the findings, to increase the level of happiness in neurotic people it would seem useful to intervene by increasing the intrinsic religious orientation.
A Structural Approach to Modelling the Jamaican Business Cycle

This paper develops a small structural model of the Jamaican business cycle using two approaches, namely, a Structural Vector Autoregressive (SVAR) framework as well as a Vector Error Correction (VEC) approach. The main aim of this study is to consolidate the central bank’s macroeconomic forecasting function with alternative VAR models producing unconditional forecasts of variables that have a strong theoretical and empirical importance in the Jamaican business cycle. This paper also serves as an extension to Murray (2007). Key differences to the SVAR estimated in that study is the use of a Kalman filter when converting variables to gap deviation form, as well as the addition of important dummy variables and a few changes to the identification of the model. In addition to providing accurate short term forecasts and simulations, the estimated SVAR model can be used to assess the efficacy of monetary policy over different time periods using estimated impulse response functions derived from the structural factorization of the model. An estimated VEC model on the other hand takes advantage of the long term component of the macroeconomic relationships between the variables. The identification approach of the model is similar to that of Fisher, Huh, and Pagan (2013) Dungey and Vehbi (2011), and Pagan and Pesaran (2008) where cointegration analysis is used to distinguish between permanent shocks and temporary shocks, and stationary variables are added in the form of a pseudo-cointegrating vector. We then assess the out-of-sample performance of both models.
Hydrolysis of phosphatidylcholine is stimulated by Ras proteins during mitogenic signal transduction

We have used a dominant inhibitory ras mutant (Ha-ras Asn-17) to investigate the relationship of Ras proteins to hydrolysis of phosphatidylcholine (PC) in the transduction of mitogenic signals. Expression of Ha-Ras Asn-17 inhibited NIH 3T3 cell proliferation induced by polypeptide growth factors or phorbol esters. In contrast, the mitogenic activity of PC-specific phospholipase C (PC-PLC) was not inhibited by Ha-Ras Asn-17 expression. Similarly, cotransfection with a cloned PC-PLC gene bypassed the block to NIH 3T3 cell proliferation resulting from expression of the inhibitory ras mutant. Hydrolysis of PC can therefore induce cell proliferation in the absence of normal Ras activity, suggesting that PC-derived second messengers may act downstream of Ras in mitogenic signal transduction. This was substantiated by the finding that Ha-Ras Asn-17 expression inhibited growth factor-stimulated hydrolysis of PC. Taken together, these results indicate that PC hydrolysis is a target of Ras during the transduction of growth factor-initiated mitogenic signals.