Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The paradox of the assisted user: guidance can be counterproductive

This paper investigates the influence of interface styles on problem solving performance. It is often assumed that performance on problem solving tasks improves when users are assisted by externalizing task-related information on the interface. Although externalization requires less recall and relieves working memory, it does not instigate planning, understanding and knowledge acquisition. Without this assistance, task-information must be internalized, stored in the user's memory, leading to more planning and thinking and perhaps to better performance and knowledge. Another variable that can influence behavior is "Need for Cognition" (NFC), the tendency to engage in effortful cognitive tasks. We investigated the effects of interface style and cognitive style on performance using a conference planning application. Interface style influenced behavior and performance, but NFC did not. The internalization interface led to more planful behavior and smarter solutions. When planning and learning are the aim, designers should thus beware of giving a user (too) much assistance. Understanding how people react to interface information can be crucial in designing effective software, especially important in the areas of education and learning.
Birmingham Parameterized complexity of the anchored k-core problem for directed graphs

We consider the Directed Anchored k -Core problem, where the task is for a given directed graph G and integers b, k and p , to ﬁnd an induced subgraph H with at least p vertices (the core) such that all but at most b vertices (the anchors) of H have in-degree at least k . We undertake a systematic analysis of the computational complexity of the Directed Anchored k -Core problem
Ultrasonic measurement of vascular scaffold elasticity using catheter system

Characterization of grafted vascular scaffold is essential for evaluating its biocompatibility, maturity and structural intensity. Quantitative elastic modulus measurement of vascular scaffold powerfully assists its characterization because the mechanical property is closely related with the biocompatibility, maturity and structural intensity of the vascular scaffold. We have presented an in vitro or in vivo measurement system for the tissue-engineered vessel before and after grafting in the previous study, we present a novel and modified method for in vivo assessment and follow-up of the vascular scaffold in this study. The measured quantitative elastic modulus is converted into the regeneration score for in vivo assessment. The effectiveness of the proposed evaluation method was validated by in vivo experimental data using canines.
Effect of Titanium Particle Size on Osteogenic Differentiation of Bone Marrow–Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Aseptic loosening induced by wear debris particles of artificial joint is characterized by a considerable suppression of osteogenesis. The objective of this investigation was to determine the effect of different-sized titanium particle on protein synthesis, and mineralization in bone marrow–derived mesenchymal stem cells(BMSCs) induced toward osteogenic differentiation in vitro. Rat bone marrow–derived mesenchymal stem cells (rBMSCs) induced toward osteogenesis were cultured in the presence or absence of titanium particles in varied size, 0.9µm, 2. 7µm, 6. 9µm, respectively. Flow cytometry characterization of rBMSCs proved 99% homogeneity by using with cell-surface antibody. The bone matrix protein synthesis evaluation showed that three size groups of titanium particles could suppress early, middle, and late markers of the osteogenic lineage, i.e., alkaline phosphatase activity, C-terminal type I procollagen and osteocalcin secretion repectively, in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The least detrimental particle size group was 0.9 μm, which is a reasonable finding as this group is more susceptible to phagocytosis due to smaller size. The cell-mediated matrix mineralization in terminally differentiated cultures by Alizarin Red S assay revealed a reduction in the number and area of mineralizing nodules, even mineralization calcium concentration in BMSCs cultures after titanium particles treatment. Collectively, the data suggest that different size titanium particles alters osteogenic differentiation in BMSCs cultures during lineage progression and provide further insight into wear debris-induced reduced bone formation.
Plasma surface modification of porous PLLA films: Analysis of surface properties and in vitro hydrolytic degradation

The aim of this research was to investigate the effects of plasma treatment on the surface and on the in vitro degradation behavior of poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) films. Polymer films were prepared by solvent casting, and their surface was modified by radiofrequency plasma treatments by using oxygen and tetrafluorocarbon gas. Pristine and treated PLLA films were characterized by field emission and atomic force microscopy and by contact angle measurements. In vitro hydrolytic degradation studies were conducted by measurements of weight loss, water absorption, visual inspection, and thermal transitions as a function of the incubation time. As-deposited PLLA films show a uniform distribution of ring-like porous structures on the surface due to solvent evaporation. Plasma treatments produce a mass reduction following the etching of the polymer surface. Moreover, the morphology of the porous polymer is modified by the plasma, which induces different micro/nanometric topographic reliefs as a function of the different selected plasma processing parameters. The results indicate PLLA surface become hydrophilic and the surface roughness increased with treatment time in the case of oxygen, whereas a hydrophobic behavior was induced with tetrafluorocarbon plasma treatment. However, in vitro degradation studies show that plasma treatments do not affect the PLLA bulk and the hydrolytic degradation properties. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012
CAG repeats in restless legs syndrome

Recent reports established an association of restless legs syndrome (RLS) and spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) type 1, 2, and 3. To evaluate the contribution of SCA alleles to idiopathic RLS we investigated the CAG repeat length at the SCA1, SCA2, SCA3, SCA6, SCA7, and SCA17 loci in 215 patients who fulfilled the clinical criteria of RLS and presented periodic leg movements in sleep (PLMS) in polysomnographic recording. Fifty percent of patients had a positive family history of RLS. We found one intermediate (CAG)43 allele for SCA17 in a 44‐year‐old female with RLS starting at the age of 43. Neurologic examination and family history were unremarkable in this patient. Otherwise, allele distribution did not differ between RLS patients and healthy controls. Stratification for age, age of onset, sex, peripheral neuropathy, and sporadic or familial RLS revealed no effect. Thus, CAG repeat length in the investigated genes is not a major determinant of idiopathic or familial RLS. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2 improves cardiac function following myocardial infarction in the mouse

2 Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is expressed in the heart in animal models of ischemic injury. Recent studies have suggested that COX-2 products are involved in inflammatory cell infiltration and fibroblast proliferation in the heart. Using a mouse model, we questioned whether a) myocardial infarction (MI) in vivo induces COX-2 expression chronically; and b) COX-2 inhibition reduces collagen content and improves cardiac function in mice with MI. MI was produced by ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery in mice. Two days later, mice were treated with 3 mg/kg NS398, a selective COX-2 inhibitor, or vehicle in drinking water for 2 weeks. After the treatment period, mice were subjected to 2D M-mode echocardiography to determine cardiac function. Hearts were then analyzed for determination of infarct size, interstitial collagen content, BNP mRNA, myocyte cross-sectional area, and immunohistochemical staining for TGFβ and COX-2. COX-2 protein, detected by immunohistochemistry, was increased in MI hearts vs sham. MI resulted in increased left ventricular systolic and diastolic dimension and decreased ejection fraction, fractional shortening, and cardiac output. NS398 treatment partly reversed these detrimental changes. Myocyte cross-sectional area, a measure of hypertrophy, decreased 30% in the NS398 vs. vehicle group, but there was no effect on BNP mRNA. The interstitial collagen fraction increased from 5.4 ± 0.4% in sham hearts to 10.4 ± 0.9% in MI hearts, and was decreased to 7.9 ± 0.6% in NS398-treated hearts. A second COX-2 inhibitor, rofecoxib (MK-0966), also decreased myocyte cross-sectional area and interstitial collagen fraction. TGFβ, a key regulator of collagen synthesis, was increased in MI hearts. NS398 treatment reduced TGFβ immunostaining by 40%. NS398 treatment had no effect on infarct size. These results suggest that COX-2 products contribute to cardiac remodeling and functional deficits after MI. Thus selected inhibition of COX-2 may be a therapeutic target for reducing myocyte damage following MI.
APP2: automatic tracing of 3D neuron morphology based on hierarchical pruning of a gray-weighted image distance-tree

MOTIVATION Tracing of neuron morphology is an essential technique in computational neuroscience. However, despite a number of existing methods, few open-source techniques are completely or sufficiently automated and at the same time are able to generate robust results for real 3D microscopy images. RESULTS We developed all-path-pruning 2.0 (APP2) for 3D neuron tracing. The most important idea is to prune an initial reconstruction tree of a neuron's morphology using a long-segment-first hierarchical procedure instead of the original termini-first-search process in APP. To further enhance the robustness of APP2, we compute the distance transform of all image voxels directly for a gray-scale image, without the need to binarize the image before invoking the conventional distance transform. We also design a fast-marching algorithm-based method to compute the initial reconstruction trees without pre-computing a large graph. This method allows us to trace large images. We bench-tested APP2 on ~700 3D microscopic images and found that APP2 can generate more satisfactory results in most cases than several previous methods. AVAILABILITY The software has been implemented as an open-source Vaa3D plugin. The source code is available in the Vaa3D code repository http://vaa3d.org. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Optimization of graph based codes for belief propagation decoding

A low-density parity-check (LDPC) code is a linear block code described by a sparse parity-check matrix, which can be efficiently represented by a bipartite Tanner graph. The standard iterative decoding algorithm, known as belief propagation, passes messages along the edges of this Tanner graph. Density evolution is an efficient method to analyze the performance of the belief propagation decoding algorithm for a particular LDPC code ensemble, enabling the determination of a decoding threshold. The basic problem addressed in this work is how to optimize the Tanner graph so that the decoding threshold is as large as possible. We introduce a new code optimization technique which involves the search space range which can be thought of as minimizing randomness in differential evolution or limiting the search range in exhaustive search. This technique is applied to the design of good irregular LDPC codes and multi-edge type LDPC codes.
Synthesis Technology of Functional Colloid Particles and Its Applications

Synthetic methods of colloids have been significantly developed in industry due to their significant demand for preparation of functional particles. Recently, dynamic/static microfluidic system has emerged as a promising route to the synthesis of the particles, providing precise control of physical and chemical properties such as size, shape, porosity, surface roughness, and surface functionality. These formed particles can be potentially used in various applications including medical diagnostics, photonic device, and biological industry. In addition, these particles provide a novel route to create new materials via their directed self-assembly, and it enable to study and predict the natural phenomenon by mimicking of the nature. Therefore, we describe recent progress for functional colloid particles and its applications.
Perinatal Asphyxia and Erythropoietin and VEGF: Serial Serum and Cerebrospinal Fluid Responses

Background: Infants with neonatal encephalopathy (NE) of hypoxic-ischaemic origin are at risk of oxidative and ischaemia-reperfusion injury, which may induce abnormal inflammatory responses involving excessive cytokine production and release in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Systemic inflammation is found in infants with NE, and we therefore were interested in cytokines associated with hypoxia, including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and erythropoietin (Epo). Objective: To investigate the relationship between Epo, VEGF levels, brain injury and outcome in a group of term infants exposed to perinatal asphyxia (PA) compared to controls. Methods: Serum and CSF biomarkers associated with hypoxia (VEGF, Epo) were serially measured using multiplex immunoassays over days 1-4 in term infants exposed to PA including infants with NE and controls. Results were compared to severity of encephalopathy, MR brain imaging and mortality. Results: Ninety-four infants had 247 serum samples collected (n = 12 controls, 82 exposed to PA with 34 CSF samples), and 4 infants died. Controls had significantly lower serum Epo levels on days 1 and 2 compared to those exposed to PA (p = 0.02). Grade II/III NE was significantly associated with elevated day 2 Epo and decreased day 1 VEGF (p < 0.05; day 2 Epo AUC = 0.74, cut-off 10.05 IU/ml). Elevated serum Epo was associated with severely abnormal MRI. Mortality was associated with elevated day 3 Epo and decreased day 1 VEGF. CSF levels were all after hypothermia and were not significantly associated with outcome. Conclusion: Serum Epo and VEGF may be markers of severity of hypoxia-ischaemia and brain injury as they are closely related to hypoxic exposure.
Acid‐induced sweetness of neoculin is ascribed to its pH‐dependent agonistic‐antagonistic interaction with human sweet taste receptor

Neoculin (NCL) is a sweet protein that also has taste‐modifying activity to convert sourness to sweetness. However, it has been unclear how NCL induces this unique sensation. Here we quantitatively evaluated the pH‐dependent acid‐induced sweetness of NCL using a cell‐based assay system. The human sweet taste receptor, hT1R2‐hT1R3, was functionally expressed in HEK293T cells together with Gα protein. When NCL was applied to the cells under different pH conditions, it activated hT1R2‐hT1R3 in a pH‐dependent manner as the condition changed from pH 8 to 5. The pH‐response sigmoidal curve resembled the imidazole titration curve, suggesting that His residues were involved in the taste‐modifying activity. We then constructed an NCL variant in which all His residues were replaced with Ala and found that the variant elicited strong sweetness at neutral pH as well as at acidic pH. Since NCL and the variant elicited weak and strong sweetness at the same neutral pH, respectively, we applied different proportions of NCL‐variant mixtures to the cells at this pH. As a result, NCL competitively inhibits the variant‐induced receptor activation. All these data suggest that NCL acts as an hT1R2‐hT1R3 agonist at acidic pH but functionally changes into its antagonist at neutral pH. —Nakajima, K. , Morita, Y. , Koizumi, A. , Asakura, T. , Terada, T. , Ito, K. , Shimizu‐Ibuka, A. , Maruyama, J., Kitamoto, K. , Misaka, T. , Abe, K. Acid‐induced sweetness of neoculin is ascribed to its pH‐dependent agonistic‐antagonistic interaction with human sweet taste receptor. FASEB J. 22, 2323–2330 (2008)
Evaluation of a needle‐free injection system for local anaesthesia prior to venous cannulation

We evaluated a single‐use, disposable, carbon‐dioxide‐powered, needleless injector (J‐Tip, National Medical Products Inc., CA, USA), which is claimed to deliver a virtually painless, subcutaneous injection. Seventy‐two patients undergoing various types of surgery had a large‐bore intravenous cannula inserted prior to induction of general anaesthesia. Three minutes beforehand, a subcutaneous injection of 0.3 ml of 1% plain lidocaine was administered. Subjects were randomly allocated to receive the lidocaine either by the needleless injector or from a conventional syringe and a 25G needle. Pain scores were recorded on injection of the lidocaine and on insertion of the cannula. There was significantly less pain on injection with the needleless injector than with the 25G needle (p < 0.001) but, surprisingly, there was more pain on cannulation (p < 0.001). We conclude that the device certainly delivers a less painful subcutaneous injection than a 25G needle, but perhaps provides less effective skin anaesthesia for venous cannulation at sites where the subcutaneous space is small; its use might be better suited to areas where the subcutaneous space is deeper.
Latex Films with In-Plane Composition Gradients Caused by Lateral Drying

Making use of a pH-sensitive dye contained in the aqueous phase of drying latex films, it was found that lateral drying can cause pH-gradients in the final film. The effect requires the presence of a thickener, which stabilizes a coupled network of latex spheres at a time, when there is still a significant amount of flow in the liquid phase. The thickener decouples the movement of the liquid from the movement of the latex spheres. If the glass temperature of the polymer is much below the drying temperature, the pH of the final film is low at the edge of the film, which can be explained with the coffee ring effect. The opposite behavior—meaning protons being carried to the center of the film—is found for films with a glass temperature close to the drying temperature and above. When there is a flow of protons toward the center of the film, one also finds the thickness to be increased at the center. Composition gradients can be exploited to generate films with spatially variable properties, examples being color (as demonstrated here), tack, etch resistance, contact angle, or swellability in solvent vapor.
Object-based Place Recognition and Scene Change Detection for Perimeter Patrol

Robotic perimeter patrol refers to patrolling around a closed area by a team of robots. The robots need to visit a target area repeatedly in order to monitor potential changes in the state of that area. To achieve this task autonomously, a robot needs to be able to reliably recognize a place in a large complex environment and also needs to be able to detect scene changes in the place. Recently localization technology like GPS can be employed to provide accurate position information to the robots. In some cases, however, the GPS signal may not be available in the patrolled area or may be disturbed. In this scenario, one possible solution is to recognize a place based on visual features extracted from the environment. Humans are capable of recognizing places even in large complex environments; many psychological works show that humans perceive a scene based on the perception of objects. Therefore, we propose an object-based place recognition and scene-change detection method which works similarly to the human visual system.
A Temporal Motif Mining Approach to Unsupervised Energy Disaggregation: Applications to Residential and Commercial Buildings

Non-intrusive appliance load monitoring has emerged as an attractive approach to study energy consumption patterns without instrumenting every device in a building. The ensuing computational problem is to disaggregate total energy usage into usage by specific devices, to gain insight into consumption patterns. We exploit the temporal ordering implicit in on/off events of devices to uncover motifs (episodes) corresponding to the operation of individual devices. Extracted motifs are then subjected to a sequence of constraint checks to ensure that the resulting episodes are interpretable. Our results reveal that motif mining is adept at distinguishing devices with multiple power levels and at disentangling the combinatorial operation of devices. With suitably configured processing steps, we demonstrate the applicability of our method to both residential and commercial buildings.
Prototypes for building applications based on thermoplastic composites containing mixed waste plastics

Automotive shredder residue (ASR) and a complex residue obtained as a by-product in the tertiary recycling of nylon-6 fibers from used carpets were evaluated as potential additives in thermoplastic composites to be used for building applications. Prototype blocks were prepared by the “intrusion” process using various ratios of the waste streams and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) in the absence of compatibilizers. Hence, product morphologies and corresponding properties were largely controlled through processing. They were evaluated for their short-term and longterm mechanical properties, flammability, thermal conductivity, and heavy-metal and total organic carbon leaching characteristics. Encapsulation of the waste feedstock by LDPE during molding in a single-screw extruder significantly reduced the leachable content. In an effort to further reduce the leachable content, the mixtures were processed in two stages by precompounding in adevolatilizing twin-screw extruder prior to molding. In comparison to the as-received wastes, improved homogenization decreased the leachable heavy-metal content by at least 98%. The carpet residue feedstock consisting of polypropylene, styrene-butadiene rubber and calcium carbonate appears to be an attractive low-cost, high-volume material with consistent properties and could be used as filler in thermoplastic composites. Comparison of their performance characteristics suggested that the carpet residue composites would be favored versus ASR composites as replacement of the wood thermal barrier components in a novel steel-based stud assembly.
Prior knowledge aided super-resolution line spectral estimation: an iterative reweighted algorithm

This paper concerns detecting the frequency components from a spectral sparse, undersampled signal. This problem is also called super-resolution line spectral estimation because the frequencies can take arbitrary continuous values. The prior knowledge of the frequency distribution is often available in many applications. To exploit the prior knowledge, a weighting function w(ƒ) designed according to the frequency distribution p(ƒ) is introduced. The prior information can be harnessed through minimizing the corresponding weighted log-sum penalty function. We solve the optimization problem through iteratively decreasing a surrogate function majorizing the original penalty function. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms other methods both in noiseless and noisy case, and it also presents superior performance in resolving closely-spaced frequency components.