Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Urinary Angiopoietin-2 Is Associated with Albuminuria in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Aims. To evaluate the levels of angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1), Ang-2, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in serum and urine, and their association with albuminuria in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods. In 113 type 2 diabetic patients with normoalbuminuria, microalbuminuria, and macroalbuminuria and 30 healthy controls, the levels of Ang-1, Ang-2, and VEGF in serum and urine were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results. Urinary and serum levels of Ang-2 were significantly higher in diabetic patients with normoalbuminuria than in healthy controls. Increased urinary Ang-2 level was positively associated with the degree of albuminuria. Urinary Ang-1 levels were significantly higher in normoalbuminuria patients and lower in macroalbuminuria patients than in controls. The levels of urinary VEGF increased in the albuminuria subgroup, though serum levels of Ang-1 and VEGF did not change. Urinary Ang-2 levels were correlated positively with albuminuria and negatively with glomerular filtration rate (GFR). Stepwise multiple regression analysis identified albuminuria (P < 0.001) and GFR (P = 0.001) as significant predictors of urinary Ang-2. Conclusions. Our data suggest that urinary Ang-2 is stepwise increased with renal damage in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and is associated with albuminuria.
Upper‐mantle flow in eastern Europe

We present and discuss estimates of shear‐wave splitting in the upper mantle of eastern Europe, based on SKS techniques. Estimates of the direction of polarization of the fast split wave α and the delay of the slow wave δt are obtained at seven stations: UZH, KOV and LVV, within and near the Carpathians, SIM, SEV and YAL in the Crimean peninsula, and KIEV in the Russian plate. Fast directions at all stations are around 130°, close to the values previously found in central Europe. In the Carpathians, similar values of δt are observed within the Pannonian depression, where the subcrustal lithosphere, if present, is very thin, and in the foredeep with a thick subcrustal lithosphere. This similarity suggests that the observed anisotropy is not inherited from earlier orogenies and preserved in the lithosphere. In the Crimea, the fast direction of anisotropy in the mantle is perpendicular to the strike of the Crimean mountains of late Jurassic‐Cretaceous age, contrary to the expected alignment of the fast direction with the strike of a collisional belt. In general, the data are consistent with a present‐day or recent large‐scale mantle flow in central and eastern Europe, parallel to the Alpine belt.
Looking Back and Looking Forward

Consider the world of the 1950s. Ten percent of American households had a television, which displayed only in black and white. Telephones had rotary dials and party lines, and they were used only for conversation. The average life expectancy at birth was 69 years (1). Massive randomized clinical trials were in progress to test a new vaccine for polio (2) and streptomycin and isoniazid treatments for tuberculosis (3). Heart disease and stroke were gaining recognition as the leading noninfectious causes of death in the United States. Dwight D. Eisenhower was the President. And, were it not for President Eisenhower, I might not have had the opportunity to write this editorial for Preventing Chronic Disease.
Unified auditory functions based on Bayesian topic model

Existing auditory functions for robots such as sound source localization and separation have been implemented in a cascaded framework whose overall performance may be degraded by any failure in its subsystems. These approaches often require a careful and environment-dependent tuning for each subsystems to achieve better performance. This paper presents a unified framework for sound source localization and separation where the whole system is integrated as a Bayesian topic model. This method improves both localization and separation with a common configuration under various environments by iterative inference using Gibbs sampling. Experimental results from three environments of different reverberation times confirm that our method outperforms state-of-the-art sound source separation methods, especially in the reverberant environments, and shows localization performance comparable to that of the existing robot audition system.
UMass at TDT 2000

We spent a fair amount of time this year rewriting our TDT system in order to provide more flexibility and to better integrate the various components. The time spent rearchitecting the code, learning to deal with its peculiarities, and correct bugs detracted substantially from research this year. As a result, the major approaches used on this evaluation are very similar to those used in TDT 1999. We had two thrusts to our research, neither of which was ready to be deployed in this evaluation. We report here on the results from the training data, in all cases explored within the link detection task. In the first direction, we looked more carefully at score normalization across different languages and media types. We found that we could improve results noticeably though not substantially by normalizing scores differently depending upon the source language. In the second direction, we considered smoothing the vocabulary in stories using a “query expansion” technique from Information Retrieval to add additional words from the corpus to each story. This resulted in substantial improvements.
Analysis of Multiple Users' Experience in Daily Life Using Wearable Device for Facial Expression Recognition

In this paper, we present a wearable facial expression recognition system that can analyse and enhance a daily experience. Our aim is to create a mindful experience in daily life by connecting the device with everyday objects and service. To this end, we made two prototypes that supports users to keep right side of emotions: 1) a text chatting system that automatically inserts an emoticon based on his/her facial expressions in the end of a comment a user typed, 2) a plant interface controlled by facial expressions. We also analysed multiple users' facial expressions while they played video games. We confirmed that visualization of sensor data from the device shows the possibility for estimating the transition of different facial expressions.
Comparison of global MHD simulations with AMIE simulations for the events of May 19–20, 1996

Using WIND-measured solar wind data, we have simulated the magnetosphere for the time between 1200 UT May 19 and 0200 UT May 20, 1996, with a three-dimensional MHD model. This time period has been chosen as an International Solar-Terrestrial Physics/Global Geospace Science event for community study, and there is a large set of data with which to compare. In this paper we will compare the simulation predictions with results from the Assimilative Mapping of Ionospheric Electrodynamics (AMIE) analysis. We show comparisons for the convection, the auroral precipitation, the ionospheric conductances, the field-aligned currents, and the Joule heating distribution. The results concentrate on four time periods when the two DMSP spacecraft, F12 and F13, and the POLAR spacecraft were passing over the northern (summer) polar region. The comparisons show excellent agreement with the F13 electric field measurements. The ionospheric convection patterns agree well between the simulation and the AMIE analysis with the cross polar potential drop somewhat higher in the MHD model. The auroral electron precipitation energy flux from the MHD model is too low, particularly in the late morning, when compared with the POLAR UVI data because of the lack of electron drift physics in the model. We show how the MHD auroral input can be improved by adjusting the parameters in the auroral precipitation model.
Inducible amber suppressor for Bacillus subtilis

An amber suppressor variant of Bacillus subtilis tyrosyl-tRNA was constructed and placed under control of the isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG)-inducible Pspac promoter. Addition of IPTG resulted in a 50-fold increase in the expression of an rpsD-lacZ fusion containing a UAG amber codon. This system permitted isolation of a conditional lethal mutant which required IPTG for growth.
Luciferase Reporter Assay System for Deciphering GPCR Pathways

The G protein coupled receptors (GPCR) represent the target class for nearly half of the current therapeutic drugs and remain to be the focus of drug discovery efforts. The complexity of receptor signaling continues to evolve. It is now known that many GPCRs are coupled to multiple G-proteins, which lead to regulation of respective signaling pathways downstream. Deciphering this receptor coupling will aid our understanding of the GPCR function and ultimately developing drug candidates. Here, we report the development of four homogenous bioluminescent reporter assays using improved destabilized luciferases and various response elements: CRE, NFAT-RE, SRE, and SRF-RE. These assays allowed measurement of major GPCR pathways including cAMP production, intracellular Ca2+ mobilizations, ERK/MAPK activ-ity, and small G protein RhoA activity, respectively using the same reporter assay format. We showed that we can decipher G protein activation profiles for exogenous m3 muscarinic receptor and endogenous β2-adrenergic receptors in HEK293 cells by using these four reporter assays. Furthermore, we demonstrated that these assays can be readily used for potency rankings of agonists and antagonists, and for high throughput screening.
The long-term effectiveness of cognitive behavior therapy for psychosis within a routine psychological therapies service

Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) have shown the efficacy of CBTp, however, few studies have considered its long-term effectiveness in routine services. This study reports the outcomes of clients seen in a psychological therapies clinic, set up following positive results obtained from an RCT (Peters et al., 2010). The aims were to evaluate the effectiveness of CBTp, using data from the service’s routine assessments for consecutive referrals over a 12 years period, and assess whether gains were maintained at a 6+ months’ follow-up. Of the 476 consenting referrals, all clients (N = 358) who received ≥5 therapy sessions were offered an assessment at four time points (baseline, pre-, mid-, and end of therapy) on measures assessing current psychosis symptoms, emotional problems, general well-being and life satisfaction. A sub-set (N = 113) was assessed at a median of 12 months after finishing therapy. Following the waiting list (median of 3 months) clients received individualized, formulation-based CBTp for a median number of 19 sessions from 121 therapists with a range of experience receiving regular supervision. Clients showed no meaningful change on any measure while on the waiting list (Cohen’s d <= 0.23). In contrast, highly significant improvements following therapy, all of which were significantly greater than changes during the waiting list, were found on all domains assessed (Cohen’s d: 0.44–0.75). All gains were maintained at follow-up (Cohen’s d: 0.29–0.82), with little change between end of therapy and follow-up (Cohen’s d <= 0.18). Drop-out rate from therapy was low (13%). These results demonstrate the positive and potentially enduring impact of psychological therapy on a range of meaningful outcomes for clients with psychosis. The follow-up assessments were conducted on only a sub-set, which may not generalize to the full sample. Nevertheless this study is the largest of its kind in psychosis, and has important implications for the practice of CBTp in clinical services.
A micro-geography of fear: learning to eavesdrop on alarm calls of neighbouring heterospecifics

Many vertebrates eavesdrop on alarm calls of other species, which is a remarkable ability, given geographical variation in community composition and call diversity within and among species. We used micro-geographical variation in community composition to test whether individuals recognize heterospecific alarm calls by: (i) responding to acoustic features shared among alarm calls; (ii) having innate responses to particular heterospecific calls; or (iii) learning specific alarm calls. We found that superb fairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus) fled to cover to playback of noisy miner (Manorina melanocephala) aerial predator alarm calls only in locations where miners were present, suggesting that learning rather than acoustic structure determines response. Sites with and without miners were well within the dispersal distance of fairy-wrens, and philopatric males and dispersing females showed the same pattern, so that local genetic adaptation is extremely unlikely. Furthermore, where miners were present, fairy-wrens responded appropriately to different miner calls, implying eavesdropping on their signalling system rather than fleeing from miners themselves. Learned eavesdropping on alarm calls enables individuals to harvest ecologically relevant information from heterospecifics on an astonishingly fine spatial scale. Such phenotypic plasticity is valuable in a changing world, where individuals can be exposed to new species.
On the seasonal dynamics of mean soil moisture

[1] Starting from a stochastic model of the water balance at a point proposed by Rodriguez-Iturbe et al. [1999], the unsteady dynamics of mean soil moisture under varying climatic conditions is analyzed. The exact differential equations that describe the evolution of the mean soil moisture are obtained, and the simplifications that are needed to solve these equations are detailed. Within this framework we are able to study the importance of the seasonal variations in precipitation and evapotranspiration and the role of the root depth and soil characteristics, as well as the possible occurrence and relevance of steady state conditions for the soil moisture process during the growing season.
Prediction of operons in microbial genomes.

Operon structure is an important organization feature of bacterial genomes. Many sets of genes occur in the same order on multiple genomes; these conserved gene groupings represent candidate operons. This study describes a computational method to estimate the likelihood that such conserved gene sets form operons. The method was used to analyze 34 bacterial and archaeal genomes, and yielded more than 7600 pairs of genes that are highly likely (P: >/= 0.98) to belong to the same operon. The sensitivity of our method is 30-50% for the Escherichia coli genome. The predicted gene pairs are available from our World Wide Web site http://www.tigr. org/tigr-scripts/operons/operons.cgi.
Development of manipulator including exchange-type multi-articulated end-effector for single port surgical robot

Recently, various surgical robots have been developed for a minimal invasive surgery. In this study, we developed a small sized manipulator for a minimally invasive surgery robot, which could show safe and precise performances. The small manipulator consists of two articulated end-effectors and a stereo endoscope. The two articulated end-effectors included 5 degree of freedom (DOF) gripping end-effector and 4 DOF suction and injection end-effector. The stereo-endoscope makes a 3 dimensional (3D) image of the surgical area for a surgeon. The developed small manipulator was designed as modular structures and each end-effector module and the stereo-endoscope could be easily replaced and sterilized. For single port surgery, the small manipulator has a tube shape with the form of a trocar and three channels for the insertion of the two end-effectors and the stereo-endoscope. Through these channels, the two manipulators could access the affected area of the surgical area and could make independent surgical works. The two articulated end-effectors with a small size have precise and simple driving mechanisms. In addition, the interferences between every driving axis in the end-effectors were minimized. Consequently, for single port surgery, the precise surgical manipulator with multi-articulated end-effectors and the stereo-endoscope was designed and fabricated. The performances of the proposed manipulator were evaluated.
The LiDAR-based topo-hydrological modelling of the Nigula mire, SW Estonia

It is the first LiDAR data application for topo-hydrological modelling of the mire landscape. The used data can be considered as the most accurate basin for generation of detailed mire surface digital elevation models (DEMs). Analyses of altimetry derived (TIN, IDW, MAX, MIN) and ground-level composed (EMP) mire surface DEMs with 1 m, 2 m, 5 m, 10 m cell resolutions, revealed scale and cell resolution dependent results. HillShade layers of different cell resolution TIN DEMs suite well with traditional scales used for mire mapping, research and classification. In the landscape level, the 5 m and 10 m cell resolution mire surface DEMs were preferred. The Euclidian distance results revealed the closest surface properties for the TIN and IDW DEMs. The MIN DEM is the best for substitution of EMP DEM. Subtraction of MIN DEM from MAX DEM revealed a layer with visible ditches and plant cover distribution in vertical scales. Partition and count of modelled water basins were cell resolution and pour point filling property sensitive. In spite of considerable variation between modelled basin partition and counts for different modelling runs, there was a prevailing partition, which could be aggregated from the Basin runs with higher basin count results. In the Nigula mire the largest basin region is the S – SW oriented region (coverage of 58 % of the mire surface), followed by the N NE region (23 % coverage), E – SE region (11 % coverage) and W orientated region (8 % coverage). The most fractioneted basin region is the W region and the less fractionated – the N – NE region.
Green Routing for Wireless Sensor and Actor Networks

In Wireless Sensor & Actor Network (WSAN), sensors are used to sense data from environment and send this to the actor for taking appropriate action. In semi automated architecture data is forwarded to the actor and then to Sink. So the position of actor from sink is important also how many actors to be in active mode is considerable factor in minimizing energy consumption. There are many protocols and algorithm which are trying to minimize energy consumption. But our proposed algorithm OPT is efficient than existing one. Researchers have proposed to use WSAN for road surveillance which is called as Road Sensor and Actor Network (RSAN). This OPT algorithm specifically designed for RSAN. In RSAN to choose set of working actor is a one of parameter to minimize energy consumption. This is proved with simulation result.
Network efficiency in autism spectrum disorder and its relation to brain overgrowth

A substantial body of evidence links differences in brain size to differences in brain organization. We have hypothesized that the developmental aspect of this relation plays a role in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a neurodevelopmental disorder which involves abnormalities in brain growth. Children with ASD have abnormally large brains by the second year of life, and for several years thereafter their brain size can be multiple standard deviations above the norm. The greater conduction delays and cellular costs presumably associated with the longer long-distance connections in these larger brains is thought to influence developmental processes, giving rise to an altered brain organization with less communication between spatially distant regions. This has been supported by computational models and by findings linking greater intra-cranial volume, an index of maximum brain-size during development, to reduced inter-hemispheric connectivity in individuals with ASD. In this paper, we further assess this hypothesis via a whole-brain analysis of network efficiency. We utilize diffusion tractography to estimate the strength and length of the connections between all pairs of cortical regions. We compute the efficiency of communication between each network node and all others, and within local neighborhoods; we then assess the relation of these measures to intra-cranial volume, and the differences in these measures between adults with autism and typical controls. Intra-cranial volume is shown to be inversely related to efficiency for wide-spread regions of cortex. Moreover, the spatial patterns of reductions in efficiency in autism bear a striking resemblance to the regional relationships between efficiency and intra-cranial volume, particularly for local efficiency. The results thus provide further support for the hypothesized link between brain overgrowth in children with autism and the efficiency of the organization of the brain in adults with autism.
Clinical guideline for the evaluation, management and long-term care of obstructive sleep apnea in adults.

BACKGROUND Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common chronic disorder that often requires lifelong care. Available practice parameters provide evidence-based recommendations for addressing aspects of care. OBJECTIVE This guideline is designed to assist primary care providers as well as sleep medicine specialists, surgeons, and dentists who care for patients with OSA by providing a comprehensive strategy for the evaluation, management and long-term care of adult patients with OSA. METHODS The Adult OSA Task Force of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) was assembled to produce a clinical guideline from a review of existing practice parameters and available literature. All existing evidence-based AASM practice parameters relevant to the evaluation and management of OSA in adults were incorporated into this guideline. For areas not covered by the practice parameters, the task force performed a literature review and made consensus recommendations using a modified nominal group technique. RECOMMENDATIONS Questions regarding OSA should be incorporated into routine health evaluations. Suspicion of OSA should trigger a comprehensive sleep evaluation. The diagnostic strategy includes a sleep-oriented history and physical examination, objective testing, and education of the patient. The presence or absence and severity of OSA must be determined before initiating treatment in order to identify those patients at risk of developing the complications of sleep apnea, guide selection of appropriate treatment, and to provide a baseline to establish the effectiveness of subsequent treatment. Once the diagnosis is established, the patient should be included in deciding an appropriate treatment strategy that may include positive airway pressure devices, oral appliances, behavioral treatments, surgery, and/or adjunctive treatments. OSA should be approached as a chronic disease requiring long-term, multidisciplinary management. For each treatment option, appropriate outcome measures and long-term follow-up are described.
Development of a DMD-based compressive sampling hyperspectral imaging (CS-HSI) system

We report the development of a Digital-Micromirror-Device (DMD)-based Compressive Sampling Hyperspectral Imaging (CS-HSI) system. A DMD is used to implement CS measurement patterns, which modulate the intensity of optical images. The 3-dimensional (3-D) spatial/spectral data-cube of the original optical image is reconstructed from the CS measurements by solving a minimization problem. Two different solvers for the minimization problem were examined, including the GPSR (Gradient Projection for Sparse Reconstruction) and the TwIST (Two-step Iterative Shrinkage/Thresholding) methods. The performances of these two methods were tested and compared in terms of the image-reconstruction quality and the computer run-time. The image-formation process of the DMD-based spectral imaging system was analyzed using a Zemax model, based on which, an experimental prototype was built. We also present experimental results obtained from the prototype system.