Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cardiovascular role of angiotensin type1A receptors in the nucleus of the solitary tract of mice.

AIMS The nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) is important for cardiovascular regulation and contains angiotensin type 1A (AT1A) receptors. To assess its function, we examined the effect of expressing in AT1A receptors in the NTS of mice lacking these receptors. METHODS AND RESULTS Bilateral microinjections of lentivirus expressing AT1A receptors (AT1Av mice, n = 6) or green fluorescent protein (GFPv, n = 8, control) under the control of the PRSx8 promotor were made into the NTS of AT1A receptors null mice (AT1A(-/-)). Telemetry devices recorded blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), and locomotor activity. Expression of AT1A receptors in the NTS increased BP by 11.2 ± 4 mmHg (P < 0.05) at 2 and 3 weeks, whereas GFPv mice remained at pre-injection BP. Ganglion blockade reduced BP to similar levels pre- and post-transfection in GFPv and AT1Av mice. Greater pressor responses to cage-switch stress were observed following AT1A receptors expression (+18 ± 2 mmHg pre- to +24 ± 2 mmHg post-virus, P < 0.05) with similar stress-induced pressor responses pre- and post-virus in GFPv mice. Pressor responses to restraint stress pre- and post-virus were similar in AT1Av but were 20% less post-GFPv (P < 0.001). The lack of attenuation in BP to restraint was associated with four-fold greater Fos-expression in AT1A receptors mice. AT1A receptors expression in the NTS did not alter baroreflex gain differently between groups. CONCLUSION The results suggest that transfection of AT1A receptors on neurons in the NTS elevates BP independent of the SNS and pressor responses to aversive stimuli are associated with greater Fos-expression in forebrain regions. This study suggests a novel mechanism by which the NTS may modulate MAP in the long-term via AT1A receptors.
Porting Statistical Parsers with Data-Defined Kernels

Previous results have shown disappointing performance when porting a parser trained on one domain to another domain where only a small amount of data is available. We propose the use of data-defined kernels as a way to exploit statistics from a source domain while still specializing a parser to a target domain. A probabilistic model trained on the source domain (and possibly also the target domain) is used to define a kernel, which is then used in a large margin classifier trained only on the target domain. With a SVM classifier and a neural network probabilistic model, this method achieves improved performance over the probabilistic model alone.
Sequential Pattern Mining With Multiple Minimum Supports by MS-SPADE

Although there may be lot of research work done on sequential pattern mining in static, incremental, progressive databases, the previous work do not fully concentrate on support issues. Most of the previous approaches set a single minimum support threshold for all the items or item sets. But in real world applications different items may have different support threshold to describe whether a given item or item set is a frequent item set. This means each item will contain its own support threshold depends upon various issues like cost of item, environmental factors etc. In this work we proposed a new approach which can be applied to any algorithm independent of whether the particular algorithm may or may not use the process of generating the candidate sets for identifying the frequent item sets. The proposed algorithm uses the concept of “percentage of participation” instead of occurrence frequency for every possible combination of items or item sets. The concept of percentage of participation will be calculated based on the minimum support threshold for each item set. Our proposed algorithm by name “ MS-SPADE”, which stands for Multiple Support Sequential Pattern Discovery using Equivalent classes , which discovers sequential patterns b by considering different multiple minimum support threshold values for every possible combinations of item or item sets.
Examining duration of binge eating episodes in binge eating disorder.

OBJECTIVE The primary goal of this article is to examine and clarify characteristics of binge eating in individuals with binge eating disorder (BED), particularly the duration of binge eating episodes, as well as potential differences between individuals with shorter compared to longer binge eating episodes. METHOD Two studies exploring binge eating characteristics in BED were conducted. Study 1 examined differences in clinical variables among individuals (N = 139) with BED who reported a short (<2 h) versus long (≥ 2 h) average binge duration. Study 2 utilized an ecological momentary assessment design to examine the duration and temporal pattern of binge eating episodes in the natural environment in a separate sample of nine women with BED. RESULTS Participants in Study 1 who were classified as having long duration binge eating episodes displayed greater symptoms of depression and lower self-esteem, but did not differ on other measures of eating disorder symptoms, compared to those with short duration binge eating episodes. In Study 2, the average binge episode duration was approximately 42 min, and binge eating episodes were most common during the early afternoon and evening hours, as well as more common on weekdays versus weekends. DISCUSSION Past research on binge episode characteristics, particularly duration, has been limited to studies of binge eating episodes in bulimia nervosa. This study contributes to the existing literature on characteristics of binge eating in BED.
Approaches, Challenges and Future Direction of Image Retrieval

This paper attempts to discuss the evolution of the retrieval approaches focusing on development, challenges and future direction of the image retrieval. It highlights both the already addressed and outstanding issues. The explosive growth of image data leads to the need of research and development of Image Retrieval. However, Image retrieval researches are moving from keyword, to low level features and to semantic features. Drive towards semantic features is due to the problem of the keywords which can be very subjective and time consuming while low level features cannot always describe high level concepts in the users’ mind. Hence, introducing an interpretation inconsistency between image descriptors and high level semantics that known as the semantic gap. This paper also discusses the semantic gap issues, user query mechanisms as well as common ways used to bridge the gap in image retrieval.
Reranking Answers for Definitional QA Using Language Modeling

Statistical ranking methods based on centroid vector (profile) extracted from external knowledge have become widely adopted in the top definitional QA systems in TREC 2003 and 2004. In these approaches, terms in the centroid vector are treated as a bag of words based on the independent assumption. To relax this assumption, this paper proposes a novel language model-based answer reranking method to improve the existing bag-of-words model approach by considering the dependence of the words in the centroid vector. Experiments have been conducted to evaluate the different dependence models. The results on the TREC 2003 test set show that the reranking approach with biterm language model, significantly outperforms the one with the bag-of-words model and unigram language model by 14.9% and 12.5% respectively in F-Measure(5).
A comparative study of analog/RF performance: Symmetric and asymmetric underlap gate stack DG-MOSFETs

Underlap Double Gate MOSFET with Gate Stack architectures show better performance for its enhanced immunity to short channel effects. In this work, the Underlap Double Gate MOSFET with Gate Stack having symmetric and asymmetric source drain configurations have been compared for improved subthreshold analog performance in the 32nm gate length regime. Using the data obtained from 2D numerical simulator Sentaurus TCAD, the parameters such as the on current (Ids), the transconductance (gm), the gain per unit current (gm/Ids), the total gate capacitance (Cgg), the cut off frequency (fT) have been analyzed. Analysis suggested that the average on current, the transconductance, the cut off frequency and the total gate capacitance are increase by 56.86%, 46.73%, 3.5% and 28.25% respectively compared to the SymmetricUndelap Double Gate MOSFET.
3 D modeling of the activated states of constitutively active mutants of rhodopsin q

The activated (R*) states in constitutively active mutants (CAMs) of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are presumably characterized by lower energies than the resting (R) states. If specific configurations of TM helices differing by rotations along the long transmembrane axes possess energies lower than that in the R state for pronounced CAMs, but not for non-CAMs, these particular configurations of TM helices are candidate 3D models for the R* state. The hypothesis was studied in the case of rhodopsin, the only GPCR for which experimentally determined 3D models of the R and R* states are currently available. Indeed, relative energies of the R* state were significantly lower than that of the R state for the rhodopsin mutants G90D/M257Y and E113Q/M257Y (strong CAMs), but not for G90D, E113Q, and M257Y (not CAMs). Next, the developed build-up procedure successfully identified few similar configurations of the TM helical bundle of G90D/M257Y and E113Q/M257Y as possible candidates for the 3D model of the R* state of rhodopsin, all of them being in good agreement with the model suggested by experiment. Since constitutively active mutants are known for many of GPCRs belonging to the large rhodopsin-like family, this approach provides a way for predicting possible 3D structures corresponding to the activated states of the TM regions of many GPCRs for which CAMs have been identified. 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Massive galaxy clusters as gravitational telescopes for distant supernovae

With general relativity as its foundation, the Standard Model of Cosmology has been developed, a model in which all matter is homogeneously and isotropically distributed throughout the Universe. We know for sure that this is not true since inhomogeneous structures such as galaxies, planets and synthesizers, are known to exist on small cosmological scales. However, on large scales the approximation of homogeneity is very good. Despite this, inhomogeneities such as galaxies or clusters of galaxies, will affect the propagation of light in the Universe by bending the paths of light-rays according to the laws of general relativity. The phenomenon is known as gravitational lensing. The bending of light-rays is similar to what happens in an optical lens, where an image of an object may be distorted or (de-)magnified depending on the shape of the lens.Using the magnifying power of a gravitational lens it is possible to see further out in the Universe, it is used as a natural gravitational telescope. Under the right circumstances this can be something very useful. By studying light from supernovae, exploding stars, it is to some extent possible to gather information on the constituents of our universe. If for some reason this light is affected on its way to us, e.g. by gravitational lensing, we are mislead into drawing erroneous conclusions unless the lensing effects are under control and corrected for. Trying to control this and other systematic uncertainties is a big challenge in supernova cosmology and is also becoming more and more important as statistical errors are being beaten down to very low levels.
Story Boundary Detection in News Video using Global Rule Induction Technique

Global rule induction technique has been successfully used in information extraction (IE) from text documents. In this paper, we employ the technique to identify story boundaries in news video. We divide our framework into two levels: shot and story levels. We use a hybrid algorithm to classify each input video shot into one of the predefined genre types and employ the global rule induction technique to extract story boundaries from the sequence of classified shots. We evaluate our rule induction based system on ~120-hours of news video provided by TRECVID 2003. The results show that we could achieve an F 1 accuracy of over 75%
QBLESS: A case for QoS-aware bufferless NoCs

Datacenters consolidate diverse applications to improve utilization. However when multiple applications are co-located on such platforms, contention for shared resources like Networks-on-Chip (NoCs) can degrade the performance of latency-critical online services (high-priority applications). Recently proposed bufferless NoCs have the advantages of requiring less area and power, but they pose challenges in quality-of-service (QoS) support, which usually relies on buffer-based virtual channels (VCs). We propose QBLESS, a QoS-aware bufferless NoC scheme for datacenters. QBLESS consists of two components: a routing mechanism (QBLESS-R) that can substantially reduce flit deflection for high-priority applications, and a congestion-control mechanism (QBLESS-CC) that guarantees performance for high-priority applications and improves overall system throughput. We use trace-driven simulation to model a 64-core system, finding that when compared to BLESS, a previous state-of-the-art bufferless NoC design, QBLESS improves performance of high-priority applications by an average of 33.2%.
Constrained time-delay polynomial systems: A SOS-based stabilization approach to enlarge the domain of attraction

The problem of estimating the domain of attraction (DoA) of nonlinear time-delay polynomial systems subject to actuator saturation is considered in this paper via a Sum-of-Squares (SOS) approach. It will be shown that the joint use of sum-of-squares decomposition techniques and semidefinite programming provides an efficient methodology for the analysis and synthesis of polynomial nonlinear systems via Lyapunov stability arguments. Specifically, we present a two-step algorithmic procedure: first, a Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional/controller pair complying with the prescribed constraints is derived and then an estimate of the true DoA is determined. The effectiveness of the proposed framework is illustrated via a numerical example.
TELSA : A Strategic Planning Tool for Ecosystem Management

Ecosystem management requires tools which assess the trade-offs among strategic planning decisions. The Tool for Exploratory Landscape Scenario Analyses (TELSA) is a spatially explicit model of ecosystem dynamics. It simulates the impacts of succession, natural disturbances, and forest management activities on stand and landscape characteristics at scales of 10,000 to 200,000 hectares. The model includes custom data preparation and analysis tools for ArcView and the Spatial Analyst. TELSA is currently used in British Columbia, Alberta, and in several states in the western US.
Regulation of CYBB Gene Expression in Human Phagocytes by a Distant Upstream NF‐κB Binding Site

The human CYBB gene encodes the gp91‐phox component of the phagocyte oxidase enzyme complex, which is responsible for generating superoxide and other downstream reactive oxygen species essential to microbial killing. In the present study, we have identified by sequence analysis a putative NF‐κB binding site in a DNase I hypersensitive site, termed HS‐II, located in the distant 5′ flanking region of the CYBB gene. Electrophoretic mobility assays showed binding of the sequence element by recombinant NF‐κB protein p50 and by proteins in nuclear extract from the HL‐60 myeloid leukemia cell line corresponding to p50 and to p50/p65 heterodimers. Chromatin immunoprecipitation demonstrated NF‐κB binding to the site in intact HL‐60 cells. Chromosome conformation capture (3C) assays demonstrated physical interaction between the NF‐κB binding site and the CYBB promoter region. Inhibition of NF‐κB activity by salicylate reduced CYBB expression in peripheral blood neutrophils and differentiated U937 monocytic leukemia cells. U937 cells transfected with a mutant inhibitor of κB “super‐repressor” showed markedly diminished CYBB expression. Luciferase reporter analysis of the NF‐κB site linked to the CYBB 5′ flanking promoter region revealed enhanced expression, augmented by treatment with interferon‐γ. These studies indicate a role for this distant, 15 kb upstream, binding site in NF‐κB regulation of the CYBB gene, an essential component of phagocyte‐mediated host defense. J. Cell. Biochem. 116: 2008–2017, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Interlaminar stress analysis of multilayered composites based on the Hu-Washizu variational theorem

Up to date, accurate prediction of interlaminar stresses is still a challenging issue for two-node beam elements. The postprocessing approaches by integrating the three-dimensional equilibrium equation have to be used to obtain improved transverse shear stresses, whereas the equilibrium approach requires the first-order derivatives of in-plane stresses. In-plane stresses within two-node beam element are constant, so the first-derivatives of in-plane stresses are close to zero. Thus, two-node beam elements encounter difficulties for accurate prediction of transverse shear stresses by the constitutive equation or the equilibrium equation, so a robust two-node beam element is expected. A two-node beam element in terms of the global higher-order zig-zag model is firstly developed by employing the three-field Hu-Washizu mixed variational principle. By studying the effects of different boundary conditions, stacking sequence and loading on interlaminar stresses of multilayered composite beams, it is shown that the proposed two-node beam element yields more accurate results with lesser computational cost compared to various higher-order models. It is more important that accurate transverse shear stress has active impact on displacements and in-plane stresses of multilayered composite beams.
Chronic Heat Stress Inhibits Immune Responses to H5N1 Vaccination through Regulating CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Tregs

Chronic heat stress (CHS) is known to have negative impacts on the immune responses in animals and increases their susceptibility to infections including the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1. However, the role of regulatory T cells (Tregs) in CHS immunosuppression remains largely undefined. In this study, we demonstrated a novel mechanism by which CHS suppressed both Th1 and Th2 immune responses and dramatically decreased the protective efficacy of the formalin-inactivated H5N1 vaccine against H5N1 influenza virus infection. This suppression was found to be associated with the induced generation of CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ Tregs and the increased secretions of IL-10 and TGF-β in CD4+ T cells. Adoptive transfer of the induced Tregs also suppressed the protective efficacy of formalin-inactivated H5N1 virus immunization. Collectively, this study identifies a novel mechanism of CHS immunosuppression mediated by regulating CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Tregs.
Renal Response to Restricted Protein Intake in Diabetic Nephropathy

Proteinuria in diabetes is associated with progressive glomerular damage. We studied the effects of 3-wk dietary protein restriction on proteinuria and renal function in 10 insulin-dependent diabetic men with diabetic nephropathy. Patients were randomly assigned by a crossover design to 40-g low-protein diet (LPD) or usual-protein diet (UPD). Glomerular filtration rate and renal plasma flow were measured by inulin and p-aminohippurate clearance at the end of each period under conditions of sustained euglycemia. Total calorie intake, body weight, serum albumin and total protein concentrations, hematocrit, blood pressure, and glucose control were similar during the two diets. Achieved protein intake was 46 ± 3 g/day during LPD and 81 ± 4 g/day during UPD (P < .001). Urinary urea appearance and plasma urea were significantly lower on LPD. Median total urinary protein was reduced from 3.9 g/day (range 0.5–12.3) on UPD to 2.4 (range 0.2–9.0) on LPD (P < .006), and there was a significant fall in the median fractional clearance of albumin from 2.0 × 10−4 (range 0.1–90.9) on UPD to 1.0 × 10−4 (range 0.1–51.4) on LPD and IgG from 2.1 × 10−5 (range 0.2–238) to 1.5 × 10−5 (range 0.1–77) (P < .006 and P < .02, respectively). The reabsorption rate of β2-microglobulin was similar on the two diets and glomerular filtration rate, renal plasma flow, and filtration fraction remained unchanged. Thus, short-term dietary protein restriction reduces diabetic proteinuria independently of blood glucose or systemic blood pressure changes by improving glomerular permselectivity.
Management of hepatocellular carcinoma

The incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has increased worldwide and is now the 5th most frequent cancer representing approximately 5% of all cancers worldwide. More than 500,000 new cases are diagnosed per year and it is the third cause of cancer-related death and the first cause of death in patients with cirrhosis [1]. The incidence of HCC has major geographical differences, but most patients diagnosed with HCC have underlying cirrhosis. The highest risk is observed in cirrhosis from chronic infection by the hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) [2]. In patients with HCV infection the risk increases with the confirmation of cirrhosis, when the yearly incidence varies between 3-5% and the 5-year cumulative incidence ranges from 15-20% [2]. Since vaccination against HCV is not available, prevention of HCV infection is based on preventing transmission by blood products. Progression from chronic HCV infection to advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis may be prevented in 40% of patients who are sustained responders to new antiviral strategies, such as pegylated interferon and ribavirin [3]. Thus, the prevention of cirrhosis can prevent the development of HCC. On the other hand, in patients with confirmed cirrhosis, the preventive effect of these agents has not been proven [4].
Cerebellar Damage Impairs Executive Control and Monitoring of Movement Generation

Abstract Executive control of motor responses is a psychological construct of the executive system. Several studies have demonstrated the involvement of the cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, and thalamus in the inhibition of actions and monitoring of performance. The involvement of the cerebellum in cognitive function and its functional interaction with basal ganglia have recently been reported. Based on these findings, we examined the hypothesis of cerebellar involvement in executive control by administering a countermanding task in patients with focal cerebellar damage. The countermanding task requires one to make a movement in response to a ‘go’ signal and to halt it when a ‘stop’ signal is presented. The duration of the go process (reaction time; RT), the duration of the stop process (stop signal reaction time; SSRT), and their relationship, expressed by a psychometric function, are recorded as measures of executive control. All patients had longer go process duration in general and in particular, as a proactive control, as demonstrated by the increase in RT after erroneously performed stop trials. Further, they were defective in the slope of the psychometric function indicating a difficulty on triggering the stop process, although the SSRT did not differ from controls. Notably, their performance was worse when lesions affected deep cerebellar nuclei. Our results support the hypothesis that the cerebellum regulates the executive control of voluntary actions. We speculate that its activity is attributed to specific cerebellar influence over the cortico-striatal loop.