Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lower circulating insulin-like growth factor-I is associated with better cognition in females with exceptional Longevity without compromise to muscle mass and function

Mutations that reduce somatotropic signaling result in improved lifespan and health-span in model organisms and humans. However, whether reduced circulating insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) level is detrimental to cognitive and muscle function in older adults remains understudied. A cross-sectional analysis was performed in Ashkenazi Jews with exceptional longevity (age ≥95 years). Cognition was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination and muscle function with the chair rise test, grip-strength, and gait speed. Muscle mass was estimated using the skeletal muscle index. Serum IGF-I was measured with liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. In gender stratified age-adjusted logistic regression analysis, females with IGF-I levels in the first tertile had lower odds of being cognitively impaired compared to females with IGF-I levels within the upper two tertiles, OR (95% CI) 0.39 (0.19-0.82). The result remained significant after adjustment for multiple parameters. No significant association was identified in males between IGF-I and cognition. No relationship was found between IGF-I tertiles and muscle function and muscle mass in females or males. Lower circulating IGF-I is associated with better cognitive function in females with exceptional longevity, with no detriment to skeletal muscle mass and function.
MOVi+: Improving the scalability of mobile opportunistic video-on-demand

In this demonstration, we show our ongoing work called MOVi+ that extends MOVi (Mobile Opportunistic Video-on-demand) for improving the scalability in terms of number of mobile clients. By exploiting sustainable segment-based caching-enabled switch, MOVi+ increases the opportunity of peer-to-peer connectivity, which can eventually service more number of mobile clients than original MOVi with shorter startup time, better video quality, and playout continuity.
Robust 3 D Plane Fitting with Geometric Constraints

This paper describes an algorithm for robustly fitting bounded planes to a set of 3 dimensional (3D) points. The algorithm is formulated as a search for maximum a posteriori (MAP) plane parameters, and makes use of strong prior distributions to constrain the shape and orientation of each plane. It does not assume that all 3D points lie on one of the planes being fitted. An efficient technique for evaluation of model likelihood is also presented, which allows a rapid search through a large number of planar models. Results are shown using this algorithm as part of a modelbased architecture reconstruction system.
Accounting for Management Costs in Sensitivity Analyses of Matrix Population Models

Abstract: Traditional sensitivity and elasticity analyses of matrix population models have been used to inform management decisions, but they ignore the economic costs of manipulating vital rates. For example, the growth rate of a population is often most sensitive to changes in adult survival rate, but this does not mean that increasing that rate is the best option for managing the population because it may be much more expensive than other options. To explore how managers should optimize their manipulation of vital rates, we incorporated the cost of changing those rates into matrix population models. We derived analytic expressions for locations in parameter space where managers should shift between management of fecundity and survival, for the balance between fecundity and survival management at those boundaries, and for the allocation of management resources to sustain that optimal balance. For simple matrices, the optimal budget allocation can often be expressed as simple functions of vital rates and the relative costs of changing them. We applied our method to management of the Helmeted Honeyeater (Lichenostomus melanops cassidix; an endangered Australian bird) and the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) as examples. Our method showed that cost‐efficient management of the Helmeted Honeyeater should focus on increasing fecundity via nest protection, whereas optimal koala management should focus on manipulating both fecundity and survival simultaneously. These findings are contrary to the cost‐negligent recommendations of elasticity analysis, which would suggest focusing on managing survival in both cases. A further investigation of Helmeted Honeyeater management options, based on an individual‐based model incorporating density dependence, spatial structure, and environmental stochasticity, confirmed that fecundity management was the most cost‐effective strategy. Our results demonstrate that decisions that ignore economic factors will reduce management efficiency.
Involvement of the Tubular ClC-Type Exchanger ClC-5 in Glomeruli of Human Proteinuric Nephropathies

Glomerular protein handling mechanisms have received much attention in studies of nephrotic syndrome. Histopathological findings in renal biopsies from severely proteinuric patients support the likelihood of protein endocytosis by podocytes. ClC-5 is involved in the endocytosis of albumin in the proximal tubule. Aim To investigate whether ClC-5 is expressed in the glomerular compartment and whether it has a role in proteinuric nephropathies. ClC-5 expression was studied using Real-time PCR in manually- and laser-microdissected biopsies from patients with type 2 diabetes (n 37) and IgA nephropathy (n 10); in biopsies of membranous glomerulopathy (MG) (n 14) immunohistochemistry for ClC-5 (with morphometric analysis) and for WT1 was done. Controls: cortical tissue (n 23) obtained from unaffected parts of tumor-related nephrectomy specimens. Results ClC-5 was expressed at glomerular level in all biopsies. Glomerular ClC-5 levels were significantly higher in diabetic nephropaty and MG at both mRNA and protein level (p<0.002; p<0.01). ClC-5 and WT1 double-staining analysis in MG showed that ClC-5 was localized in the podocytes. ClC-5 ultrastructural immunolocalization was demonstrated in podocytes foot processes. Our study is the first to demonstrate that ClC-5 is expressed in human podocytes. The ClC-5 overexpression found in biopsies of proteinuric patients suggests that proteinuria may play a part in its expression and that podocytes are likely to have a key role in albumin handling in proteinuric states.
Adaptive uncertainty estimation for particle filter-based trackers

In particle filter-based visual trackers, dynamic velocity components are typically incorporated into the state update equations. In these cases, there is a risk that the uncertainty in the model update stage can become amplified in unexpected and undesirable ways, leading to erroneous behavior of the tracker. To deal with this problem, we propose a continuously adaptive approach to estimating uncertainty in the particle filter, one that balances the uncertainty in its static and dynamic elements. We provide quantitative performance evaluation of the resulting particle filter tracker on a set of ten video sequences. Results are reported in terms of a metric that can be used to objectively evaluate the performance of visual trackers. This metric is used to compare our modified particle filter tracker and the continuously adaptive mean shift tracker. Results show that the performance of the particle filter is significantly improved through adaptive parameter estimation, particularly in cases of occlusions and nonlinear target motion.
Interactive Goniochromatic Color Design

An interactive program has been developed to assist in the design of new goniochromatic colors. The program gives the user a unique set of controls over a second order polynomial that defines these color families at a sequence of aspecular reflection angles. One approach, based on traditional metallic colors, allows the user to adjust the average hue, saturation, and brightness of all of the colors interpolated by the polynomial. Another method, appropriate for the newer effect colors, permits the designer to establish face and flop colors to be reached at either end of the interpolation. In a final technique, variations produced by adjusting model parameters can be evaluated and selected.
A Note on Estimating the Reliability of Categorical Data

IN carrying out research, one is often confronted with the need to estimate the reliability with which a group of judges place stimuli into categories. Guttman (1946) presents methods for estimating the upper bound and lower bound reliabilities of such data. Essentially, these estimates are functions of the number of categories available and the proportion of instances with which the modal response is chosen. In his discussion of reliability, Guilford (1954) acknowledges the interest in reliability of categorical data and concludes that there has not been sufficient experience with approaches such as that proposed by Guttman to permit an evaluation. Probably the most generally applicable and widely used method for estimating the reliability of ratings or judgments is with the intraclass correlation, or some variation of it (Ebel, 1951). Regarding the matter of categorical data, one is basically concerned about the consistency with which a group of judges place a given item (or items) into categories. As a measure of this kind of consistency, the intraclass correlation suffers from the limitation of requiring non-zero variance between items being rated in order to obtain a significant coefficient. It obviously follows that the
Macrophage migration inhibitory factor induces vascular leakage via autophagy

ABSTRACT Vascular leakage is an important feature of acute inflammatory shock, which currently has no effective treatment. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that can induce vascular leakage and plays an important role in the pathogenesis of shock. However, the mechanism of MIF-induced vascular leakage is still unclear. In this study, using recombinant MIF (rMIF), we demonstrated that MIF induced disorganization and degradation of junction proteins and increased the permeability of human endothelial cells in vitro. Western blotting analysis showed that rMIF treatment induced LC3 conversion and p62 degradation. Inhibition of autophagy with a PI3K inhibitor (3-MA), a ROS scavenger (NAC) or autophagosomal-lysosomal fusion inhibitors (bafilomycin A1 and chloroquine) rescued rMIF-induced vascular leakage, suggesting that autophagy mediates MIF-induced vascular leakage. The potential involvement of other signaling pathways was also studied using different inhibitors, and the results suggested that MIF-induced vascular leakage may occur through the ERK pathway. In conclusion, we showed that MIF triggered autophagic degradation of endothelial cells, resulting in vascular leakage. Inhibition of MIF-induced autophagy may provide therapeutic targets against vascular leakage in inflammatory shock.
PTIMISATION S CHEMES FOR W IRELESS S ENSOR N ETWORK

A sensor network is composed of a large number of sensor nodes, which are densely deployed either inside the phenomenon or very close to it. Sensor nodes have sensing, processing and transmitting capability . They however have limited energy and measures need to be taken to make optimum usage of their energy and save them from task of only receiving and transmitting data without processing. Various techniques for energy utilization optimisation have been proposed Ma jor players are however clustering and relay node placement. In the research related to relay node placement, it has been proposed to deploy some relay nodes such that the sensors can transmit the sensed data to a nearby relay node, which in turn delivers the data to the base stations. In general, the relay node placement problems aim to meet certain connectivity and/or survivability requirements of the network by deploying a minimum number of relay nodes. The other approach is grouping sensor nodes into clusters with each cluster having a cluster head (CH). The CH nodes aggregate the data and transmit them to the base station (BS). These two approaches has been widely adopted by the research community to satisfy the scalability objective and generally achieve high energy efficiency and prolong network lifetime in large-scale WSN environments and hence are discussed here along with single hop and multi hop characteristic of sensor node.
Empowering a Profession: Rethinking the Roles of Administrative Evaluation and Instructional Supervision in Improving Teacher Quality

In the complex environment of 21st-century public education, a consensus has emerged among policymakers, researchers, and educational practitioners that the single most important factor contributing to student learning is the quality of teaching. Despite this unanimity in principle, the practical matter of guaranteeing high-quality instruction for every student in every classroom poses a serious challenge with no simple solution in sight. Embedded in conversations about teacher preparation, induction, and professional development are dilemmas about how to properly support teachers and develop their capacities and skills while holding them accountable so that the best will stay and the worst are persuaded to leave. Calls for evidence of a more effective teacher workforce from policymakers, federal agencies, state departments of education, and local school districts have resulted in a trend of increasingly stringent accountability measures. Some fairly recent formulations—for example, the “report card” requirements for teacher preparation programs included in the 1998 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and the “highly qualified teacher” provision of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001—emphasize punitive consequences for weak results. In the case of the Higher Education Act, teacher preparation programs that are judged to be “low performing” lose their accreditation. Similarly, No
A New Efficient Meta-Heuristic Optimization Algorithm Inspired by Wild Dog Packs

Although meta-heuristic optimization algorithms have been used to solve many optimization problems, they still suffer from two main difficulties: What are the best parameters for a particular problem? How do we escape from the local optima? In this paper, a new, efficient meta-heuristic optimization algorithm inspired by wild dog packs is proposed. The main idea involves using three self-competitive parameters that are similar to the smell strength. The parameters are used to control the movement of the alpha dogs and, consequently, the movement of the whole pack. The rest of the pack is used to explore the neighboring area of the alpha dog, while the hoo procedure is used to escape from the local optima. The suggested method is applied to several unimodal and multimodal benchmark problems and is compared to five modern meta-heuristic algorithms. The experimental results show that the new algorithm outperforms other peer algorithms.
The Challenge of Engaging Youth Online

Media research has long known that those who produce content and those who receive it construe textual meaning differently. Such differences may be interpreted in political, cultural, institutional and psychological terms. However, the insights from audience reception and ethnographic studies have yet fully to inform research on responses to online content. This article addresses attempts to overcome youth civic disengagement through the design and promotion of public sector, Internet-based content and services. Specifically, it integrates interviews with website producers and teenage users to compare and contrast the encoding and decoding processes in an exemplar website (www.epal.tv). An analysis in terms of genre reveals a range of communicative challenges for website producers in terms of subject matter, formal composition and mode of address. Further, critical questions arise in relation to the action consequences of online participation, interface design as this relates to teens' Internet literacy, and the power relations instantiated between producer and user. It is concluded that audience studies can constructively be extended to the analysis of Internet use and, substantively, that the policy challenge lies less in the question of whether youth is civically engaged and more in the question of who will listen to youth if and when they do become so engaged.
L1/2-constrained morphological component analysis

In this paper, we introduce the l1/2 constraint into the morphological component analysis (MCA) to solve the problem of cartoon and texture separation, inpainting and super-resolution for images. The newly proposed iterative half thresholding algorithm is recast in an analysis formulation, and can be well embedded in the MCA framework. Other constraint, such as total variation (TV), can also be combined to enhance the restoration of this modified MCA method. The superiority of the proposed l1/2-constrained MCA method is demonstrated by experimental results.
Noise and distortion figure - an extension of noise figure definition for nonlinear devices

Deals in the integration of additive and nonlinear distortion noise contributions into a single new figure of merit: Noise and Distortion Figure, NDF. In the same way as traditional noise figure, NF, was conceived to be a measure of SNR degradation, NDF is now proposed as its extension to nonlinear systems, as a measure of SINAD degradation. NDF definition is discussed and its application to SINAD evaluations in systems of practical interest to the wireless community is exemplified.
Practical pedagogy for embedding ESD in science, technology, engineering and mathematics curricula

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review and highlight some recent examples of embedding education for sustainable development (ESD), within science and related curricula in ways that are meaningful and relevant to staff and students and reflect on different embedding strategies and discourses.Design/methodology/approach – A review of recent selected UK and international teaching and learning practice drawing on an expert workshop and link to wider debates about student competencies and embedding ESD in the curriculum.Findings – There are a number of practical ways of bringing sustainable development into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) related subjects. Successful implementation requires linking teaching activities to the core activities of the STEM discipline. Reformist approaches to curriculum re‐orientation are more likely to be successful than calls for radical, transformational models.Practical implications – Embedding ESD into the core curricula of STEM subjects is p.
The use of human mature cystic ovarian teratoma as a model to study the development of human lymphatics

The angiogenic theory to the development of human lymphatics is not clear. The objective of this study was to investigate the development of human lymphatics. Semi-thin and thin paraffin sections from human mature cystic ovarian teratoma tissues were studied using light and electron microscopy. Lymphatics were formed by the differentiation of mesenchymal cells that gradually acquired morphological features of endothelial cells. It is suggested that in human mature cystic ovarian teratoma the lymphatic endothelium develops from mesenchymal cells, and not from cells derived from mature endothelium of a preexisting vein or lymphatic.
A novel index coding scheme and its application to coded caching

This paper proposes a novel achievable scheme for the index problem and applies it to the caching problem. Index coding and caching are noiseless broadcast channel problems where receivers have message side information. In the index coding problem the side information sets are fixed, while in the caching problem the side information sets correspond the cache contents, which are under the control of the system designer. The proposed index coding scheme, based on distributed source coding and non-unique decoding, is shown to strictly enlarge the rate region achievable by composite coding. The novel index coding scheme applied to the caching problem is then shown to match an outer bound (previously proposed by the authors and also based on known results for the index coding problem) under the assumption of uncoded cache placement/prefetching.
On weak fuzzy normed spaces

In this paper we study some aspects of the topological structure of the weak fuzzy normed spaces and its relation with the topological vector spaces. We give characterizations of those topological vector spaces that are metrizable, locally bounded and normable in terms of weak fuzzy norms. Mathematics Subject Classification (2010): 54A40, 46S40, 54E35, 46A03, 46A16.
Early induction of interferon-responsive mRNAs in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Foreign infectious agents typically evoke a host immune response. In scrapie and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), no immune response has been detectable. However, many latent or persistent viruses evade immune recognition but still activate inflammatory pathways. Unique microglial responses in late CJD infection that could be part of a host defense mechanism were previously delineated, although changes secondary to neurodegeneration could not be excluded. Data here show these microglial transcriptional changes are detectable in CJD brain beginning at 30 days after innoculation. In addition, 10 other interferon-sensitive genes were similarly upregulated at very early stages of infection. These responses occurred well before abnormal prion protein (PrP) and clinical signs of CJD were detectable. Further analyses in very pure microglia from CJD brain suggested the CJD agent activated signaling pathways distinct from those induced by amyloidogenic proteins (including abnormal PrP). Although increases in interferon-α or -β transcript levels were not seen in cultures or in whole brain, CJD microglia exhibited a potentiated interferon response when challenged with double-stranded RNA. The induction of interferon-sensitive genes without appreciable interferon synthesis was strikingly similar to that seen in some viral infections. These data suggest the CJD agent is recognized as a foreign virus-like entity. Moreover, the early reactive gene expression profiles described here may be useful in preclinical diagnosis.
Factors affecting the efficiency of Demand-wise Shared Protection

Demand-wise shared protection (DSP) can be thought of as a form of network-level 1:N APS protection scheme. The concept is to split total demand over multiple disjoint routes between each node pair and use one of the routes for protection. Recently referred to as demand-wise shared protection (DSP), this architecture is receiving renewed interest. Especially in high connectivity networks it would seem to offer the prospect of very low redundancy. In our results and others it is surprising, however, that the savings over 1+1 APS are small even when optimally designed. We have therefore tried to understand and explore the factors that affect the efficiency of DSP in terms of features of network topologies and demand patterns. Through this examination, factors affecting the efficiency of DSP are better understood, providing insights into the applicability of DSP as a protection architecture. One of the main insights is that while a k-way split over disjoint routes seems logically to promise ~1/(k-1) redundancy, this is largely overcome by the statistics of increased route length as k becomes greater than two.