Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Off-vertical axis rotation of the visual field and nauseogenicity.

BACKGROUND Off-vertical axis rotation (OVAR) causes motion sickness which increases with angle of tilt and is most provocative around 0.2 Hz. The aim was to determine the tilt angle and frequency characteristics for visual OVAR, which is also known to be nauseogenic. METHODS A computerized scene, as seen by a pilot at moderate altitude, rotated at different frequencies about an axis which could tilt as during OVAR. A concurrent visual detection task controlled attention. Exposures were for 10 min or until nausea developed. There were four experiments: Frequency tuning-visual motion at 0.05, 0.2, and 0.8 Hz, all at 18 degrees tilt of the axis of rotation (N = 14); gross visual tilt tuning-visual motion at 0, 45, and 90 degrees of tilt at 0.2 Hz (N = 12); fine visual tilt tuning -- 18, 36, 54, and 72 degrees tilts at 0.2 Hz (N = 24); and whole-body tilt of the participant at 0, 45, and 90 degrees, viewing rotation about a vertical axis at 0.2 Hz (N = 12). RESULTS Nauseogenicity was significantly greater at 0.2 Hz than at lower or higher frequencies. Visual tilts 18 degrees to circa 45 degrees were significantly more nauseogenic. No differences were found between whole-body tilts. CONCLUSIONS Nauseogenicity of visual OVAR peaks around 0.2 Hz, and increases with stimulus strength up to circa 45 degrees tilt, similar to real motion. With higher tilt angles, decreasing nauseogenicity suggests that the visual impact is partially quarantined because the motion would appear patently absurd and not a sensory conflict. Whole-body tilt may have failed to modulate nauseogenicity because of overriding somatosensory cues to Earth vertical.
Teaching for “Real”: Reconciling Explicit Literacy Instruction With Inclusive Pedagogy in a Fourth-Grade Urban Classroom

Increasing evidence of the re-segregation of students of color within special education suggests that the constructivist-explicit instruction debate may still be relevant for urban educators. While inclusive educators advocate learner-centered constructivist methods for supporting students with disabilities, mainstream special educators equally promote explicit instructional processes. This article describes the literacy instruction of two teachers who drew on both explicit pedagogy and constructivist approaches to student learning. They reconciled these oppositional frameworks through their focus on “real” reading outcomes for their students. I argue that the teachers’ deeper commitments rendered their eclectic approach a form of inclusive pedagogy.
User Pairing Strategy: A Novel Scheme for Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access Systems

In this paper, we propose a novel user pairing strategy for non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) systems, where the performance of a cell-edge user is improved with the aid of two cell-centre users. The global statistical channel state information is assumed to be known and used to determine the decoding order of users' data. Assuming Rayleigh fading channels, the ergodic sum-rate is solved in closed form. The fairness comparisons among proposed NOMA, conventional NOMA, and orthogonal multiple access (OMA) are also provided. Numerical results verify the accuracy of the theoretical analyses and demonstrate that for the considered scenario, NOMA with the proposed user pairing strategy outperforms the conventional NOMA and OMA schemes in terms of ergodic sum-rate, and exhibits a better fairness behavior than the conventional NOMA and OMA schemes, especially in the low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) region.
Increased risk of mortality by fibrosis stage in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: Systematic review and meta‐analysis

Liver fibrosis is the most important predictor of mortality in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Quantitative risk of mortality by fibrosis stage has not been systematically evaluated. We aimed to quantify the fibrosis stage–specific risk of all‐cause and liver‐related mortality in NAFLD. Through a systematic review and meta‐analysis, we identified five adult NAFLD cohort studies reporting fibrosis stage–specific mortality (0‐4). Using fibrosis stage 0 as a reference population, fibrosis stage–specific mortality rate ratios (MRRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for all‐cause and liver‐related mortality were estimated. The study is reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses statement. Included were 1,495 NAFLD patients with 17,452 patient years of follow‐up. Compared to NAFLD patients with no fibrosis (stage 0), NAFLD patients with fibrosis were at an increased risk for all‐cause mortality, and this risk increased with increases in the stage of fibrosis: stage 1, MRR = 1.58 (95% CI 1.19‐2.11); stage 2, MRR = 2.52 (95% CI 1.85‐3.42); stage 3, MRR = 3.48 (95% CI 2.51‐4.83); and stage 4, MRR = 6.40 (95% CI 4.11‐9.95). The results were more pronounced as the risk of liver‐related mortality increased exponentially with each increase in the stage of fibrosis: stage 1, MRR = 1.41 (95% CI 0.17‐11.95); stage 2, MRR = 9.57 (95% CI 1.67‐54.93); stage 3, MRR = 16.69 (95% CI 2.92‐95.36); and stage 4, MRR = 42.30 (95% CI 3.51‐510.34). Limitations of the study include an inability to adjust for comorbid conditions or demographics known to impact fibrosis progression in NAFLD and the inclusion of patients with simple steatosis and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis without fibrosis in the reference comparison group. Conclusion: The risk of liver‐related mortality increases exponentially with increase in fibrosis stage; these data have important implications in assessing the utility of each stage and benefits of regression of fibrosis from one stage to another. (Hepatology 2017;65:1557‐1565).
Computationally Efficient TDOA/FDOA Estimation for Unknown Communication Signals in Electronic Warfare Systems

The cross ambiguity function (CAF) has been commonly used to find time difference of arrival (TDOA) and frequency difference of arrival (FDOA). In most cases, direct computation of the CAF by using a conventional method such as fast Fourier transform is too computationally intensive. Thus, a two-stage approach consisting of a coarse mode to find rough TDOA/FDOA estimates and a fine mode for precise estimation was introduced. However, there has been no methodology for selecting an interpolation factor determined by the sampling frequency and target precision which significantly affects the computational complexity. In addition, even if the computational complexity can be reduced by using the optimal interpolation factor, the huge transmission data through the datalink between sensors and the central station still remains to be an obstacle for an electronic warfare (EW) system. In this respect, we derive an optimal interpolation factor and then propose a new two-stage TDOA/FDOA estimation algorithm using a resampling block to reduce the computational complexity and the data size simultaneously in EW systems. In the proposed method, the optimal interpolation factor can be used irrespective of the sampling frequency and the target precision. Simulation results show that the optimal interpolation factor efficiently reduces the computational burden without the loss of estimation performance.
Group sequential designs for stepped-wedge cluster randomised trials

Background/Aims: The stepped-wedge cluster randomised trial design has received substantial attention in recent years. Although various extensions to the original design have been proposed, no guidance is available on the design of stepped-wedge cluster randomised trials with interim analyses. In an individually randomised trial setting, group sequential methods can provide notable efficiency gains and ethical benefits. We address this by discussing how established group sequential methodology can be adapted for stepped-wedge designs. Methods: Utilising the error spending approach to group sequential trial design, we detail the assumptions required for the determination of stepped-wedge cluster randomised trials with interim analyses. We consider early stopping for efficacy, futility, or efficacy and futility. We describe first how this can be done for any specified linear mixed model for data analysis. We then focus on one particular commonly utilised model and, using a recently completed stepped-wedge cluster randomised trial, compare the performance of several designs with interim analyses to the classical stepped-wedge design. Finally, the performance of a quantile substitution procedure for dealing with the case of unknown variance is explored. Results: We demonstrate that the incorporation of early stopping in stepped-wedge cluster randomised trial designs could reduce the expected sample size under the null and alternative hypotheses by up to 31% and 22%, respectively, with no cost to the trial’s type-I and type-II error rates. The use of restricted error maximum likelihood estimation was found to be more important than quantile substitution for controlling the type-I error rate. Conclusion: The addition of interim analyses into stepped-wedge cluster randomised trials could help guard against time-consuming trials conducted on poor performing treatments and also help expedite the implementation of efficacious treatments. In future, trialists should consider incorporating early stopping of some kind into stepped-wedge cluster randomised trials according to the needs of the particular trial.
Investigating relationships between trait anxiety, emotional processing and psychopathy as a dimensional personality trait

Psychopathy can be described as a constellation of destructive characteristics that include callousness, egocentricity, manipulation and deceit. Evidence suggests that psychopathy as a personality trait (a contemporary view of psychopathy that opposes the more traditional taxonomic conceptualisation) is associated with broad deficits in emotional processing, however there is a lack of investigation into psychopathy and emotion regulation and manipulation. There is also evidence that suggests anxiety levels may phenotypically distinguish between two subtypes of psychopathy; primary (concerned with interpersonal characteristics associated with psychopathy) and secondary (concerned with chronic antisocial behaviours associated with psychopathy) psychopathy. While some of these relationships have been addressed previously, research has primarily been conducted in forensic and institutionalised settings. There has been markedly less research conducted in non-criminal community samples where the prevalence of psychopathy is said to be low. Within such samples, self-report measures are the more commonly used methods of measurement. It has been recognised that certain self-report measurements of psychopathy and emotion processing lack adequate psychometric properties. This thesis comprises two studies designed to address two aims; (i) to improve the psychometric properties of the Secondary Psychopathy subscale of the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (LSRP-S; Levenson, Kiehl, & Fitzpatrick, 1995) and the Poor Emotional Skills subscale of the Emotion Manipulation Scale (EMS-POS; Austin, Farrelly, Black, & Moore, 2007); and (ii) to investigate the relationships between psychopathy, trait anxiety and emotion processing variables. In Study One, a systematic process of item generation was used to produce new items that may potentially be included in revised versions of the LSRP and EMS. Confirmatory factor analyses using community samples which were collected using an online survey indicate that the addition of eight and nine new items to the LSRP-S (N = 331) and EMS-POS (N = 294) respectively improved the model fit of each measure. The
Echinacea Purpurea Supplementation Does Not Enhance V[Combining Dot Above]O2max in Distance Runners

Abstract Baumann, CW, Bond, KL, Rupp, JC, Ingalls, CP, and Doyle, JA. Echinacea purpurea supplementation does not enhance V[Combining Dot Above]O2max in distance runners. J Strength Cond Res 28(5): 1367–1372, 2014—Oral supplementation of Echinacea purpurea (ECH) has been reported to increase levels of serum erythropoietin and as a result improve endurance performance in untrained subjects. The purpose of this study was to determine if ECH supplementation alters maximal oxygen uptake (V[Combining Dot Above]O2max) in trained endurance runners. Using a double-blind design, 16 trained endurance runners (9 ECH and 7 placebo [PLA]) supplemented with either 8,000 mg·d−1 of ECH or wheat flour (PLA) for 6 weeks. Maximal aerobic treadmill tests and blood samples were measured before and after supplementation to determine V[Combining Dot Above]O2max, hematocrit (Hct), and hemoglobin (Hb). V[Combining Dot Above]O2max, Hct, and Hb did not differ between the ECH and PLA groups before or after supplementation. Furthermore, supplementation of ECH failed to improve V[Combining Dot Above]O2max (67.37 ± 4.62 vs. 67.23 ± 5.82 ml·kg−1·min−1), Hct (43.57 ± 2.38 vs. 42.85 ± 1.46%), or Hb (14.93 ± 1.27 vs. 15.55 ± 0.80 g·dL−1) from baseline measurements. Echinacea purpurea supplementation of 8,000 mg·d−1 for 6 weeks failed to increase V[Combining Dot Above]O2max, Hct, or Hb in trained endurance runners and thus does not seem to influence physiological variables that affect distance running performance.
Dimer/monomer status and in vivo function of salt‐bridge mutants of the plant UV‐B photoreceptor UVR8

Summary UV RESISTANCE LOCUS8 (UVR8) is a photoreceptor for ultraviolet‐B (UV‐B) light that initiates photomorphogenic responses in plants. UV‐B photoreception causes rapid dissociation of dimeric UVR8 into monomers that interact with CONSTITUTIVELY PHOTOMORPHOGENIC1 (COP1) to initiate signal transduction. Experiments with purified UVR8 show that the dimer is maintained by salt‐bridge interactions between specific charged amino acids across the dimer interface. However, little is known about the importance of these charged amino acids in determining dimer/monomer status and UVR8 function in plants. Here we evaluate the use of different methods to examine dimer/monomer status of UVR8 and show that mutations of several salt‐bridge amino acids affect dimer/monomer status, interaction with COP1 and photoreceptor function of UVR8 in vivo. In particular, the salt‐bridges formed between arginine 286 and aspartates 96 and 107 are key to dimer formation. Mutation of arginine 286 to alanine impairs dimer formation, interaction with COP1 and function in vivo, whereas mutation to lysine gives a weakened dimer that is functional in vivo, indicating the importance of the positive charge of the arginine/lysine residue for dimer formation. Notably, a UVR8 mutant in which aspartates 96 and 107 are conservatively mutated to asparagine is strongly impaired in dimer formation but mediates UV‐B responses in vivo with a similar dose–response relationship to wild‐type. The UV‐B responsiveness of this mutant does not correlate with dimer formation and monomerisation, indicating that monomeric UVR8 has the potential for UV‐B photoreception, initiating signal transduction and responses in plants.
The Role of Lifestyle in Creating Tourists' Destination Image and Destination Loyalty

Recently, the issue of causal relationship between destination image and destination loyalty is a crucial subject across the scholars in the topics of tourism area, particularly to clarify positive image and positioning of destinations. The objectives of this study are to scrutinize causal relationships between destination image and destination loyalty as well as the lifestyle of tourists as a novel contribution in psychographics, especially by illustrating the mediation role of lifestyle. Also, the administrated questionnaires have been distributed in the survey. For sampling frame, probability approach is employed by regarding random sampling from 232 out of 258 tourists participated on-site of Kuala Lumpur. The employed approaches for testing causal relationships are Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) features. Both construct reliability and validity are established for the proposed model (i.e. Destination Image-Lifestyle-Destination Loyalty). The findings disclose that destination image significantly associates to lifestyle and destination loyalty. While lifestyle is partially mediated the relationship between destination image and destination loyalty. Finally, the researchers realized that if the destination management could fulfill tourists’ desires which are adapted on their lifestyles, it leads to create a positive image and positioning as intentions to visit or recommend the destination.
Admission control with flow aggregation for QoS provisioning in software-defined network

Software Defined Network (SDN) may significantly enhance network and service management by enabling separated control and data planes. The centralized OpenFlow controller with a global vision of network states offers a promising approach to realizing flow-based admission control for supporting Quality of Service (QoS) provisioning in SDN. However, per-flow process brings in challenges to scalability of OpenFlow-based SDN. Flow aggregation has been explored as an effective method to address this issue. In this paper, we investigate admission control with flow aggregation for QoS provisioning in SDN. Specifically we propose a model for admission control with flow aggregation and develop the analysis techniques for determining the required amounts of bandwidth and buffer space at OpenFlow-enabled switches for meeting performance requirements in delay and packet loss. Network calculus is applied in our modeling and analysis; which makes our method applicable to general OpenFlow-based SDNs with various implementations. Numerical experiment results are also provided to evaluate effectiveness of the developed modeling and analysis techniques.
Assessment of the Effects of Various UV Sources on Inactivation and Photoproduct Induction in Phage T7 Dosimeter

The correlation between the biologically effective dose (BED) of a phage T7 biological dosimeter and the induction of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPD) and (6‐4) photoproducts ((6‐4)PD) in the phage DNA was determined using seven various UV sources. The BED is the inactivation rate of phage T7 expressed in HT7 units. The CPD and (6‐4)PD were determined by lesion‐specific monoclonal antibodies in an immunodot‐blot assay. The various lamps induced these lesions at different rates; the relative induction ratios of CPD to (6‐4)PD increased with increasing effective wavelength of irradiation source. The amount of total adducts per phage was compared to the BED of phage T7 dosimeter, representing the average number of UV lesions in phage. For UVC (200–280nm radiation) and unfiltered TL01 the number of total adducts approximates the reading; however, UV sources having longer effective wavelengths produced fewer CPD and (6‐4)PD. A possible explanation is that although the most relevant lesions by UVC are the CPD and (6‐4)PD, at longer wavelengths other photoproducts can contribute to the lethal damage of phages. The results emphasize the need to study the biological effects of solar radiation because the lesions responsible for the lethal effect may be different from those produced by various UV sources.
Association of individual and neighborhood factors with home food availability: Evidence from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)

To examine the association of the availability of home healthy and unhealthy foods and drinks (fruits, dark green vegetables, soft drink, salty snack and fat‐free/low‐fat milk) with individual and neighborhood factors using a nationally representative sample from 2001–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
Stable Membrane-Association of mRNAs in Etiolated, Greening and Mature Plastids

Chloroplast genes are transcribed as polycistronic precursor RNAs that give rise to a multitude of processing products down to monocistronic forms. Translation of these mRNAs is realized by bacterial type 70S ribosomes. A larger fraction of these ribosomes is attached to chloroplast membranes. This study analyzed transcriptome-wide distribution of plastid mRNAs between soluble and membrane fractions of purified plastids using microarray analyses and validating RNA gel blot hybridizations. To determine the impact of light on mRNA localization, we used etioplasts, greening plastids and mature chloroplasts from Zea mays as a source for membrane and soluble extracts. The results show that the three plastid types display an almost identical distribution of RNAs between the two organellar fractions, which is confirmed by quantitative RNA gel blot analyses. Furthermore, they reveal that different RNAs processed from polycistronic precursors show transcript-autonomous distribution between stroma and membrane fractions. Disruption of ribosomes leads to release of mRNAs from membranes, demonstrating that attachment is likely a direct consequence of translation. We conclude that plastid mRNA distribution is a stable feature of different plastid types, setting up rapid chloroplast translation in any plastid type.
Modeling and analysis for admission control of M2M communications using network calculus

Machine-to-machine (M2M) communications and applications are expected to be a significant part of the next generation 5G networks. While there have been a large amount of research studies with respect to radio resource management, load balancing, and devices grouping for M2M communications, few of them has addressed the issue of admission control. In this paper, we propose a new admission control model for M2M communications, which classifies all M2M requests into delay-sensitive and delay-tolerant first, and then aggregates all delay-tolerant requests, aiming to reduce the number of requests from devices to base stations. An admission control algorithm based on this model is devised to prevent congestion and to improve the quality of services, and a network calculus based performance-analyzing technique is developed for this model. Both theoretical analyses and simulation results show that the proposed model is feasible and valid.
Drosophila TDP-43 dysfunction in glia and muscle cells cause cytological and behavioural phenotypes that characterize ALS and FTLD

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) are neurodegenerative disorders that are characterized by cytoplasmic aggregates and nuclear clearance of TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43). Studies in Drosophila, zebrafish and mouse demonstrate that the neuronal dysfunction of TDP-43 is causally related to disease formation. However, TDP-43 aggregates are also observed in glia and muscle cells, which are equally affected in ALS and FTLD; yet, it is unclear whether glia- or muscle-specific dysfunction of TDP-43 contributes to pathogenesis. Here, we show that similar to its human homologue, Drosophila TDP-43, Tar DNA-binding protein homologue (TBPH), is expressed in glia and muscle cells. Muscle-specific knockdown of TBPH causes age-related motor abnormalities, whereas muscle-specific gain of function leads to sarcoplasmic aggregates and nuclear TBPH depletion, which is accompanied by behavioural deficits and premature lethality. TBPH dysfunction in glia cells causes age-related motor deficits and premature lethality. In addition, both loss and gain of Drosophila TDP-43 alter mRNA expression levels of the glutamate transporters Excitatory amino acid transporter 1 (EAAT1) and EAAT2. Taken together, our results demonstrate that both loss and gain of TDP-43 function in muscle and glial cells can lead to cytological and behavioural phenotypes in Drosophila that also characterize ALS and FTLD and identify the glutamate transporters EAAT1/2 as potential direct targets of TDP-43 function. These findings suggest that together with neuronal pathology, glial- and muscle-specific TDP-43 dysfunction may directly contribute to the aetiology and progression of TDP-43-related ALS and FTLD.