Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Risks of Decreased Renal Function and Increased Albuminuria for Glycemic Status and Metabolic Syndrome Components: Taichung Community Health Study

Background. The objective of this study was to assess the association of glycemic status and decreased renal function as determined by estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and albuminuria in an adult Taiwanese metropolitan population. Methods. We did a cross-sectional survey in a representative sample of 2,350 Taiwanese adults aged 40 years and over living in a metropolitan city in Taiwan from 2004 to 2005. Glycemic status was classified as normal glycemia, hyperglycemia, and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Renal function was assessed with eGFR using modified Modification of Diet in Renal Disease Study equation for Chinese. Albuminuria was determined by the urinary albumin-creatinine ratio. Decreased renal function was defined as eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m2 and albuminuria as the albumin-creatinine ratio >30 mg g−1 creatinine. Results. 593 (25.23%) had hyperglycemia and 287 (12.21%) had T2D. As glycemia level increased, the prevalence of albuminuria and decreased eGFR increased. After adjustment, T2D was associated with an OR of 2.93 (95% CI: 2.11–4.07) for albuminuria, and an OR of 2.05 (95% CI: 1.18–3.58) for decreased eGFR. Conclusions. In a representative sample from a metropolitan city in Taiwan, T2D was associated with albuminuria and decreased eGFR.
Quantitative Classification of Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Root Length and Diameter Using Image Analysis

Quantitative study of root morphological characteristics of plants is helpful for understanding the relationships between their morphology and function. However, few studies and little detailed and accurate information of root characteristics were reported in fine-rooted plants like rice (Oryza sativa L.). The aims of this study were to quantitatively classify fine lateral roots (FLRs), thick lateral roots (TLRs), and nodal roots (NRs) and analyze their dynamics of mean diameter (MD), lengths and surface area percentage with growth stages in rice plant. Pot experiments were carried out during three years with three rice cultivars, three nitrogen (N) rates and three water regimes. In cultivar experiment, among the three cultivars, root length of ‘Yangdao 6’ was longest, while the MD of its FLR was the smallest, and the mean diameters for TLR and NR were the largest, the surface area percentage (SAP) of TLRs (SAPT) was the highest, indicating that Yangdao 6 has better nitrogen and water uptake ability. High N rate increased the length of different types of roots and increased the MD of lateral roots, decreased the SAP of FLRs (SAPF) and TLRs, but increased the SAP of NRs (SAPN). Moderate decrease of water supply increased root length and diameter, water stress increased the SAPF and SAPT, but decreased SAPN. The quantitative results indicate that rice plant tends to increase lateral roots to get more surface area for nitrogen and water uptake when available assimilates are limiting under nitrogen and water stress environments.
On Recovering Structure of Affect

This paper presents novel human computation experiments geared towards uncovering the structure of affect. Using Mechanical Turk workers across 2 separate studies, we empirically verified some of the popular beliefs about the structure of affect, but also provide some new evidence. We replicate and reveal not only the statistical structure of the dimensions of affect, but also the effect of cultural influences. We close with a proposition for a framework for doing this kind of large scale research and provide recommendations and opportunities for innovations in research around emotional theory.
Direct hate speech vs. indirect fear speech. A multimodal critical discourse analysis of the Sun’s editorial "1 in 5 Brit Muslims’ sympathy for jihadis"

After the 2015 Paris attacks, hate speech against Muslims gathered momentum and further legitimized in popular media outlets across Europe. After “decades of sustained and unrestrained anti-foreigner abuse, misinformation and distortion”, the United Nations accused some British newspapers of “hate speech” (ECRI 2016). Following on previous research (Sindoni 2016, 2017), this paper sets out to investigate how hate speech in mainstream British media is constructed both verbally and multimodally, with particular reference to the investigation of rhetoric inducing anti-Muslim and Islamophobic hatred. The paper adopts a multimodal critical discourse framework of analysis (Fairclough 2000; Machin, Mayr 2012). As a case study, the “1 in 5 Brit Muslims’ sympathy for jihadis” The Sun ’s editorial reporting on a poll conducted by Survation and related multimodal materials will be investigated with a view to unearthing 1) linguistic strategies, such as classification of social actors, including, but not limited to, personalisation vs. impersonalisation, data aggregation, and structural opposition (van Leeuwen 1996; van Dijk 1993b); 2) visual strategies (Kress, van Leeuwen 2006; Bednarek, Caple 2012, 2015), including representational techniques (e.g. reactional processes, dimensional and quantitative topography), interactive perspectives, and organisational distribution of visual items. Considering the combination of linguistic and visual news value (Bell 1991; Bednarek, Caple 2014), the paper will ultimately suggest that 1) resources need to be investigated in their reciprocal interplay to scrutinize the covert agenda of media outlets that may promote indirect forms of hate speech and that 2) less explicit forms of hate speech are no less dangerous than explicit incitement to racial hatred in that they can foster a siege mentality by drawing on an us/them rhetoric.
Single Spine Ca2+ Signals Evoked by Coincident EPSPs and Backpropagating Action Potentials in Spiny Stellate Cells of Layer 4 in the Juvenile Rat Somatosensory Barrel Cortex

The precise timing of presynaptic and postsynaptic activity results in synaptic modifications, which depend on calcium influx. [Ca2+] transients in the spines of spiny neurons in layer 4 (L4) of the somatosensory barrel cortex of young rats were investigated in thalamocortical brain slices by two-photon excitation microscopy to determine the spike timing dependence of the Ca2+ signal during near-coincident presynaptic and postsynaptic activity. [Ca2+] transients evoked by backpropagating action potentials (bAPs) were mediated by voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels and were of comparable size in a spine and adjacent dendritic shaft. They decreased with the distance of the spine from the soma. EPSP-evoked [Ca2+] transients were restricted to spine heads and were mediated almost entirely by Ca2+ influx through NMDA receptors (NMDARs). Their amplitude was independent of the position of the spine along the dendritic arbor. bAPs interacted with EPSPs to generate sublinear or supralinear Ca2+ signals in a spine when EPSP and bAP occurred within a time window of ∼50 msec. Synaptic stimulation, coincident with a bAP, evoked a large postsynaptic Ca2+ influx that was restricted to a single spine, even after EPSPs were blocked by the AMPA receptor antagonist NBQX that rendered synapses effectively “electrically silent. ” We conclude that the spines of L4 cells can act as sharply tuned detectors for patterns of APs occurring in the boutons of the afferents to L4 cells and the spines of L4 cell dendrites. The readout for near-coincident presynaptic and postsynaptic APs is a large transient Ca2+ influx into synaptically active spines mediated by the brief unblocking of NMDARs during the dendritic bAP.
Programmed cell death is a universal feature of embryonic and postnatal neuroproliferative regions throughout the central nervous system

During central nervous system (CNS) development, programmed cell death (PCD) has been viewed traditionally as a fate reserved for differentiating neurons that are in the process of making synaptic connections. Recent studies in the embryonic cerebral cortex (Blaschke et al. [1996] Development 122:1165–1174), however, have shown that many neuroblasts in the proliferative ventricular zone undergo PCD as well and that this likely represents a novel form distinct from that found in regions of postmitotic neurons. To determine the commonality of this form of PCD throughout the CNS, the prevalence of dying cells identified by in situ end labeling plus (ISEL+; Blaschke et al. [1996]) was determined within populations of proliferating neuroblasts that were identified by rapid bromodeoxyuridine incorporation. Based on this approach, dying cells were observed to be a common feature of all proliferative neuroblast populations examined. In addition, when ISEL+ was combined with in situ hybridization for postmitotic neural gene‐1 (png‐1; Weiner and Chun [1997] J. Comp. Neurol. 381:130–142), which identifies newly postmitotic neurons, a positive correlation was found between the start of differentiation and the onset of PCD. These data indicate that PCD in neuroblast proliferative zones is a universal feature of nervous system development. Moreover, cell death represents a prominent cell fate that may be linked to mechanisms of differentiation. J. Comp. Neurol. 396:39–50, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Moduli decays and gravitinos

One proposed solution of the moduli problem of string cosmology requires that the moduli are quite heavy, their decays reheating the Universe to temperatures above the scale of nucleosynthesis. In many of these scenarios, the moduli are approximately supersymmetric; it is then crucial that the decays to gravitinos are helicity suppressed. In this paper, we discuss situations where these decays are, and are not, suppressed. We also comment on a possible gravitino problem from inflaton decay.
H3K23me2 is a new heterochromatic mark in Caenorhabditis elegans

Genome-wide analyses in Caenorhabditis elegans show that post-translational modifications (PTMs) of histones are evolutionary conserved and distributed along functionally distinct genomic domains. However, a global profile of PTMs and their co-occurrence on the same histone tail has not been described in this organism. We used mass spectrometry based middle-down proteomics to analyze histone H3 N-terminal tails from C. elegans embryos for the presence, the relative abundance and the potential cross-talk of co-existing PTMs. This analysis highlighted that the lysine 23 of histone H3 (H3K23) is extensively modified by methylation and that tri-methylated H3K9 (H3K9me3) is exclusively detected on histone tails with di-methylated H3K23 (H3K23me2). Chromatin immunoprecipitation approaches revealed a positive correlation between H3K23me2 and repressive marks. By immunofluorescence analyses, H3K23me2 appears differentially regulated in germ and somatic cells, in part by the action of the histone demethylase JMJD-1.2. H3K23me2 is enriched in heterochromatic regions, localizing in H3K9me3 and heterochromatin protein like-1 (HPL-1)-positive foci. Biochemical analyses indicated that HPL-1 binds to H3K23me2 and interacts with a conserved CoREST repressive complex. Thus, our study suggests that H3K23me2 defines repressive domains and contributes to organizing the genome in distinct heterochromatic regions during embryogenesis.
Mitochondrial Genome Variation after Hybridization and Differences in the First and Second Generation Hybrids of Bream Fishes

Hybridization plays an important role in fish breeding. Bream fishes contribute a lot to aquaculture in China due to their economically valuable characteristics and the present study included five bream species, Megalobrama amblycephala, Megalobrama skolkovii, Megalobrama pellegrini, Megalobrama terminalis and Parabramis pekinensis. As maternal inheritance of mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) involves species specific regulation, we aimed to investigate in which way the inheritance of mitogenome is affected by hybridization in these fish species. With complete mitogenomes of 7 hybrid groups of bream species being firstly reported in the present study, a comparative analysis of 17 mitogenomes was conducted, including representatives of these 5 bream species, 6 first generation hybrids and 6 second generation hybrids. The results showed that these 17 mitogenomes shared the same gene arrangement, and had similar gene size and base composition. According to the phylogenetic analyses, all mitogenomes of the hybrids were consistent with a maternal inheritance. However, a certain number of variable sites were detected in all F1 hybrid groups compared to their female parents, especially in the group of M. terminalis (♀) × M. amblycephala (♂) (MT×MA), with a total of 86 variable sites between MT×MA and its female parent. Among the mitogenomes genes, the protein-coding gene nd5 displayed the highest variability. The number of variation sites was found to be related to phylogenetic relationship of the parents: the closer they are, the lower amount of variation sites their hybrids have. The second generation hybrids showed less mitogenome variation than that of first generation hybrids. The non-synonymous and synonymous substitution rates (dN/dS) were calculated between all the hybrids with their own female parents and the results indicated that most PCGs were under negative selection.
Optimal Quantile Approximation in Streams

This paper resolves one of the longest standing basic problems in the streaming computational model. Namely, optimal construction of quantile sketches. An ε approximate quantile sketch receives a stream of items x1,⋯,xn and allows one to approximate the rank of any query item up to additive error ε n with probability at least 1-δ. The rank of a query x is the number of stream items such that xi ≤ x. The minimal sketch size required for this task is trivially at least 1/ε. Felber and Ostrovsky obtain a O((1/ε)log(1/ε)) space sketch for a fixed δ. Without restrictions on the nature of the stream or the ratio between ε and n, no better upper or lower bounds were known to date. This paper obtains an O((1/ε)log log (1/δ)) space sketch and a matching lower bound. This resolves the open problem and proves a qualitative gap between randomized and deterministic quantile sketching for which an Ω((1/ε)log(1/ε)) lower bound is known. One of our contributions is a novel representation and modification of the widely used merge-and-reduce construction. This modification allows for an analysis which is both tight and extremely simple. The same technique was reported, in private communications, to be useful for improving other sketching objectives and geometric coreset constructions.
Transient-based speech transmission index for predicting intelligibility in nonlinear speech enhancement processors

A new speech intelligibility metric is proposed for the assessment of speech enhancement processors. These processors usually affect the fine structure in speech that is of fundamental importance to speech intelligibility. Classical metrics analyze the entire signal and thereby generally overestimate intelligibility. The measure presented here, therefore, isolates speech-transients by a cepstral smoothing technique and subsequently calculates speech intelligibility using an efficient version of the speech transmission index. By means of a genetic optimization of adjustable parameters, the proposed transition-based speech transmission index (TB STI) is adapted to the subjective data of linearly and nonlinearly processed speech. The method was assessed on untrained subjective data and showed a considerable improvement over other well-established measures.
On the Challenges and Solutions for Migrating Legacy Distributed Applications into Cloud

As the adoption of cloud continues to grow, organizations are faced with the challenge of migrating legacy applications into the cloud, or at least evaluating whether a migration is worthwhile. The simple solution of a fresh application reinstallation in the cloud is often labor intensive and has a high risk of running into unknown problems. On the other hand, importing already-installed images requires intimate application knowledge to perform reconfiguration, e.g., pointing one component to the new IP address of another component. The purpose of the paper is to present the migration problem to the research community. We devise a methodology for defining the migration solution space, and propose two techniques, AppCloak and PseudoApp, that hopefully can help advance the state-of-the-art of migration.
Clinical Interventions in Aging Dovepress Inappropriate Prescribing of Antithrombotic Therapy in Ethiopian Elderly Population Using Updated 2015 Stopp/start Criteria: a Cross-sectional Study

hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms Background: Inappropriate use of antiplatelets and anticoagulants among elderly patients increases the risk of adverse outcomes. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of inappropriate prescribing of antithrombotic therapy in hospitalized elderly patients. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional, single-center study was conducted at the Gondar University Hospital. A total of 156 hospitalized elderly patients fulfilling the inclusion/ exclusion criteria were included in the study. The Screening Tool for Older Person's Prescription/Screening Tool to Alert doctors to Right Treatment criteria version 2 were applied to patients' data to identify the total number of inappropriate prescribing (IPs) including potentially inappropriate medications and potential prescribing omissions. Results: A total of 70 IPs were identified in 156 patients who met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 36 (51.4%) were identified as potentially inappropriate medications by the Screening Tool for Older Person's Prescription criteria. The prevalence of IP per patient indicated that 58 of the 156 (37.2%) patients were exposed to at least one IP. Of these, 32 (55.2%) had at least one potentially inappropriate medication and 33 (56.9%) had at least one potential prescribing omission. Patients hospitalized due to venous thromboembolism (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] =29.87,1) were less likely to be exposed to an IP. An increase in Charlson comorbidity index score was associated with increased IP exposure (AOR =0.60, 95% CI, 0.39–0.945). IPs were about six times more likely to absent in patients prescribed with antiplatelet only therapy (AOR =6.23, 95% CI, 1.90–20.37) than those receiving any other groups of antithrombotics. Conclusion: IPs are less common in elderly patients primarily admitted due to venous throm-boembolism, stroke, and acute coronary syndrome, and those elderly patients prescribed with only antiplatelet. Patients with higher Charlson comorbidity index were, however, associated with increased IPs exposure. Our study may guide further research to reduce high-risk prescription of antithrombotics in the elderly.
Regression Testing Web Applications

A web application is an application that can be accessed via a web browser over a network. Web applications contain client side code and server side code. Web applications undergo changes in the maintenance phase, and retesting changed programs is done thereafter. To retest a program after changes, we can select a subset of the whole test suite on the condition that the selected subset will give confidence about covering the changes. Regression testing techniques are required for adequate selection of these subsets of test cases. This paper presents a new regression testing technique for web applications based on a safe approach that covers changed elements and other potentially affected ones.
Collaborative Monitors for Embedded System Security

This paper presents a hardware based approach to embedded systems security. Usage of on-chip monitors is proposed for identifying attacks on embedded systems by tracking the operation of the system. Two types of monitors: a processing monitor and thermal monitor are presented with their detailed operation and results. The effectiveness of this security system can be enhanced by correlating information from both monitors through collaborative decision making.
Network Topologies Guaranteeing Zero Duality Gap for Optimal Power Flow Problem

We have recently shown that the optimal power flow (OPF) problem with a quadratic cost function can be solved in polynomial time for a large class of power networks, including IEEE benchmark systems, due to their physical properties. In this work, our previous zero-duality-gap result is extended to OPF with arbitrary convex cost functions, and then it is proved that adding phase shifters to the network makes it possible to solve OPF efficiently. More precisely, it is first shown that the Lagrangian dual of OPF can be used to find a globally optimal solution of OPF (i.e., the duality gap is zero) if and only if a linear matrix inequality (LMI) optimization has a specific solution. Since both the dual of OPF and this LMI problem might be expensive to solve for a large-scale network, the sparsity structure of the power network is exploited to significantly reduce the computational complexity of solving these problems. Furthermore, it is proved that adding multiple controllable phase shifters (with variable phases) to certain lines of the power network simplifies the verification of the duality gap. Interestingly, if a sufficient number of phase shifters are added to the network, the duality gap becomes zero for OPF, provided load over-satisfaction (over delivery) is allowed. This result implies that every network topology can be modified by the integration of phase shifters to guarantee the solvability of OPF in polynomial time for all possible values of loads, physical limits and convex cost functions.
Rough Set based Unstructured Road Detection through Feature Learning

This paper addresses the navigation problem of robot vehicle, Patrol-security Robot, on unstructured roads with degraded surfaces and edges, strong shadows and no lane markings. These conditions cause many road-following systems failed because the road feature extraction is not easy and the detection effect becomes inaccuracy. For solving the problem of the feature extraction of the complex unstructured road detection, a rough set based unstructured road detection (RSURD) method is presented. By learning from the samples of road images, the knowledge of road features is acquired and consummated gradually by on-line learning, and the accuracy of rules is improved, which make the system fit different road conditions. This method has been implemented and tested on Patrol-security Robot. Good adaptability, robustness and reliability have been accomplished.
Spatial domain quantization noise based image filtering detection

Smart image editing and processing techniques make it easier to manipulate an image convincingly and also hide any artifacts of tampering. Common real world forgeries can be accompanied by enhancement operations like filtering, compression and/or format conversion to suppress forgery artifacts. Out of these enhancement operations, filtering is very common and has received a lot of attention in forensics research lately. However, different filtering operations and image formats are not investigated deeply and simultaneously. We propose an algorithm to detect if a given image has undergone filtering based enhancement irrespective of the format of image or the type of filter applied. In the proposed algorithm, we exploit the correlation of spatial domain quantization noise of an image by extracting transition probability features and classify the image as filtered or unfiltered. Experiments are performed to evaluate the robustness and compare the performance of the proposed technique with popular forensic filtering detection algorithms and is found to be superior in most of the cases.