Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The dilemma of mind in contemporary Buddhism : some British testimony

Progress in neuroscience over the last half-century casts doubt on the religious intuition that the mind is a non-material entity. Without some dialogue between religion and science in order to resolve differences of fact and value, the dilemma of the competing plausibility of scientific and religious mind-theories may diminish the social acceptance of science and the social relevance of religion. In order to identify whether meaningful discussion about neuroscience is taking place in the 'convert' British Buddhist community, I conducted qualitative interviews with ten people who have leadership responsibilities. Little formal discussion was reported within organisations, but there was some response to neuroscience at the level of personal attitude. Briefly, that response is of resistance to the neuroscientific view, and a corresponding prioritisation of subjective experience, which is felt to be more reliable than theoretical explanations that can only be believed, or findings that can only be empirically known. The existential certainty of experience is preferred to the uncertainty of explanation. Interpreting the interview findings, I argue that explanation forms an unavoidable part of experience, providing guidance from the past for the creation of anticipated futures, but that incautious spatial modelling in linguistic explanation reinforces the notion an internal objective self by treating the mind as a containing entity. From the standpoint of the Buddhist attitude of 'right view', the scientific assertion of the materiality of mind is immaterial in two senses. Firstly, there can be no right motivation for schism over views as opposed to acts. Secondly, minds depend upon both physical and abstract property-relations across the brain-world barrier. The mind is constituted as a relationally holistic process, and is preoccupied by approximation to real and ideal homeostasis. Realisation of the relationally holistic origination of mind depends on the adoption of a meditative attitude of attention to the world, and is likely to motivate a contemporary Buddhist attitude of social engagement with the world.
The Impact of Serum Lipid Levels on Circulating Soluble Adhesion Molecules in Childhood

Cell adhesion molecules play a rather important role in the development of atherosclerosis mediating the attachment of monocytes to the endothelium. It has also been well established that hyperlipidemia is a risk factor for atherosclerosis from childhood. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the soluble adhesion molecules correlate with the circulating lipid levels in children. The study population consisted of 107 children (64 boys, 43 girls) aged 6-13 y. Parental history of cardiovascular disease, age, gender, and anthropometric parameters were recorded in all children. Blood samples were obtained from every child following a 12-hour fasting period. Serum triglycerides, total cholesterol, and its fractions as well as plasma levels of P and E selectins and adhesion molecules sVCAM-1 and sICAM-1 were determined. After controlling for age and body mass index, both sVCAM-1 and sP-selectin levels were inversely associated with HDL values (r = −0.33, p = 0.005 and r = −0.39, p = 0.001, respectively). A significant positive correlation was found between sVCAM-1 and triglycerides (r = 0.48, p < 0.001). An increment of 10 mg/dL of HDL corresponds to about 50% reduction of the odds for endothelial dysfunction whereas an increment of 10 mg/dL of triglyceride levels indicates a more than 3-fold excess risk, using either sP-selectin or sVCAM-1 levels as a surrogate for the determination of endothelial dysfunction. We suggest that HDL-C and triglycerides correlate in a biologically plausible way with soluble adhesion molecules, which therefore could be considered as useful indicators of the process of preclinical atherosclerosis even from childhood.
Identification of the neural pathway for reinforcement of feeding when Aplysia learn that food is inedible

Bilateral sectioning of the esophageal nerves that innervate the gut of Aplysia was found to have profound effect on response decrement to inedible food: Time to criterion for cessation of feeding was elevated, no memory of the decrement was present 24 hr after training, and motor patterning during training was altered. The parametric features of response decrement to sustained lip stimulation were examined to determine their resemblance to parameters of response decrement to inedible food after esophageal nerve sectioning. Parameters of response decrement were similar, indicating that after esophageal nerve sectioning response decrement is likely to be the result of sustained lip stimulation. Bilateral nerve sectioning had no effect on decrement due to sustained lip stimulation. Unilateral lesions and lesions of either of the two major divisions of the esophageal nerves had no effect on learning that food was inedible. The data indicate that bilateral nerve sectioning eliminates all stimuli causing negative reinforcement of feeding due to failure to consume food. Based on the data in this and the previous paper, a model is presented suggesting sites of action and mechanisms for learning that foods are edible or inedible in Aplysia.
Distributed Interacting Multiple Filters for Fault Diagnosis of Navigation Sensors in a Robotic System

In this paper, a distributed interacting multiple model-based fault detection and isolation (FDI) scheme is presented for FDI of navigation sensors composed of inertial (accelerometers and gyroscopes) and camera sensors in a robotic system in which noisy and erroneous measurements of microelectro mechanical system (MEMS)-based inertial sensors are fused with a photogrammetric camera. Multiple models are employed to describe different scenarios of hard faults (failures) in the sensors where the models are different in each scenario because inertial sensor drifts (as soft or partial faults) are also modeled and augmented to the motion state parameters. Having several faulty modes due to the possibility of single and multiple failures in the sensors, it is proposed in this paper to decompose the system to interacting observable subsystems with reduced size and decoupled model sets. The system and the corresponding model set are decomposed using a graph theoretic decomposition approach. Distributed interacting multiple Kalman and extended Kalman filters are then designed for the purpose of FDI. Experimental results based on data from a 3-D MEMS inertial measurement unit and 3-D camera system are used to demonstrate the efficiency of the method.
Aquaporin-1 Translocation and Degradation Mediates the Water Transportation Mechanism of Acetazolamide

Background Diuretic agents are widely used on the treatment of water retention related diseases, among which acetazolamide (AZA) acts originally as a carbonic anhydrase (CA) inhibitor. Aquaporin-1 (AQP1) being located in renal proximal tubules is required for urine concentration. Previously our lab has reported AZA putatively modulated AQP1. Aim of this study is to testify our hypothesis that regulating AQP1 may mediate diuretic effect of AZA. Methodology/Principal Findings For in vivo study, we utilized Sprague Dawley rats, as well as AQP1 knock-out (AQP1−/−) mice to examine urine volume, and human kidney-2 (HK-2) cell line was used for in vitro mechanism study. In our present study we found that AZA decreased CAs activity initially but the activity gradually recovered. Contrarily, diuretic effect was consistently significant. AQP1 protein expression was significantly decreased on day 7 and 14. By utilizing AQP1−/− mice, we found diuretic effect of AZA was cancelled on day 14, while urine volume continuously increased in wild-type mice. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) results indicated AQP1 was physiologically bound by myosin heavy chain (MHC), immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence results confirmed this protein interaction. In vitro study results proved AZA facilitated AQP1 translocation onto cell membrane by promoting interaction with MHC, dependent on ERK/ myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) pathway activation. MHC inhibitor BDM and ERK inhibitor U0126 both abolished above effect of AZA. Eventually AZA induced AQP1 ubiquitination, while proteasome inhibitor MG132 reversed AZA's down-regulating effect upon AQP1. Conclusions/Significance Our results identified AZA exerted diuretic effect through an innovative mechanism by regulating AQP1 and verified its inhibitory mechanism was via promoting MHC-dependent translocation onto cell membrane and then ubiquitin mediated degradation, implicating a novel mechanism and target for diuretic agent discovering.
Heat Shock Protein HSP101 Binds to the Fed-1 Internal Light Regulatory Element and Mediates Its High Translational Activity

The internal light-regulatory element (iLRE) of ferredoxin (Fed-1) mRNA, comprising the 5′ leader and at least the first 13 codons of the open reading frame, controls transcript abundance after illumination of the plant in a translation-dependent manner. We have characterized the RNA binding activities associated with the Fed-1 iLRE and have identified one activity as the heat shock protein HSP101, a protein shown to bind the 5′ leader of tobacco mosaic virus. HSP101 was sufficient and necessary to mediate a high level of translational activity from a Fed-1 iLRE-containing mRNA in yeast. Moreover, the Fed-1 iLRE substantially enhanced translation of reporter mRNAs in plant protoplasts expressing HSP101. Expression of HSP101 was subject to developmental regulation in leaves in that expression was highest in young leaves. These data suggest that Fed-1 mRNA may use the HSP101 regulatory mechanism as a means of ensuring a high level of translation required for the light-mediated regulation of Fed-1 mRNA stability.
The DDO IVC Distance Project: Survey Description and the Distance to G139.6+47.6

We present a detailed analysis of the distance determination for one intermediate-velocity cloud (IVC, G139.6+47.6) from the ongoing DDO IVC Distance Project. Stars along the line of sight to G139.6+47.6 are examined for the presence of sodium absorption attributable to the cloud, and the distance bracket is established by astrometric and spectroscopic parallax measurements of demonstrated foreground and background stars. We detail our strategy regarding target selection, observational setup, and analysis of the data, including a discussion of wavelength calibration and sky subtraction uncertainties. We find a distance estimate of 129 ± 10 pc for the lower limit and 257 pc for the upper limit. Given the high number of stars showing absorption due to this IVC, we also discuss the small-scale covering factor of the cloud and the likely significance of nondetections for subsequent observations of this and other similar IVCs. Distance measurements of the remaining targets in the DDO IVC project will be detailed in a companion paper.
Scheduling with bus access optimization for distributed embedded systems

In this paper, we concentrate on aspects related to the synthesis of distributed embedded systems consisting of programmable processors and application-specific hardware components. The approach is based on an abstract graph representation that captures, at process level, both dataflow and the flow of control. Our goal is to derive a worst case delay by which the system completes execution, such that this delay is as small as possible; to generate a logically and temporally deterministic schedule; and to optimize parameters of the communication protocol such that this delay is guaranteed. We have further investigated the impact of particular communication infrastructures and protocols on the overall performance and, specially, how the requirements of such an infrastructure have to be considered for process and communication scheduling. Not only do particularities of the underlying architecture have to be considered during scheduling but also the parameters of the communication protocol should be adapted to fit the particular embedded application. The optimization algorithm, which implies both process scheduling and optimization of the parameters related to the communication protocol, generates an efficient bus access scheme as well as the schedule tables for activation of processes and communications.
Experimental and theoretical investigation of anaerobic fluidized bed biofilm reactors

This work presents an experimental and theoretical investigation of anaerobic fluidized bed reactors (AFBRs). The bioreactors are modeled as dynamic three-phase systems. Biochemical transformations are assumed to occur only in the fluidized bed zone. The biofilm process model is coupled to the system hydrodynamic model through the biofilm detachment rate; which is assumed to be a first-order function of the energy dissipation parameter and a second order function of biofilm thickness. Non-active biomass is considered to be particulate material subject to hydrolysis. The model includes the anaerobic conversion for complex substrate degradation and kinetic parameters selected from the literature. The experimental set-up consisted of two mesophilic (36±1oC) lab-scale AFBRs (R1 and R2) loaded with sand as inert support for biofilm development. The reactor start-up policy was based on gradual increments in the organic loading rate (OLR), over a four month period. Step-type disturbances were applied on the inlet (glucose and acetic acid) substrate concentration (chemical oxygen demand (COD) from 0.85 to 2.66 g L-1) and on the feed flow rate (from 3.2 up to 6.0 L d-1) considering the maximum efficiency as the reactor loading rate switching. The predicted and measured responses of the total and soluble COD, volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentrations, biogas production rate and pH were investigated. Regarding hydrodynamic and fluidization aspects, variations of the bed expansion due to disturbances in the inlet flow rate and the biofilm growth were measured. As rate coefficients for the biofilm detachment model, empirical values of 3.73⋅104 and 0.75⋅104 s2 kg-1 m-1 for R1 and R2, respectively, were estimated.
On the evolution and relative merits of hard X-ray phase-contrast imaging methods

This review provides a brief overview, albeit from a somewhat personal perspective, of the evolution and key features of various hard X-ray phase-contrast imaging (PCI) methods of current interest in connection with translation to a wide range of imaging applications. Although such methods have already found wide-ranging applications using synchrotron sources, application to dynamic studies in a laboratory/clinical context, for example for in vivo imaging, has been slow due to the current limitations in the brilliance of compact laboratory sources and the availability of suitable high-performance X-ray detectors. On the theoretical side, promising new PCI methods are evolving which can record both components of the phase gradient in a single exposure and which can accept a relatively large spectral bandpass. In order to help to identify the most promising paths forward, we make some suggestions as to how the various PCI methods might be compared for performance with a particular view to identifying those which are the most efficient, given the fact that source performance is currently a key limiting factor on the improved performance and applicability of PCI systems, especially in the context of dynamic sample studies. The rapid ongoing development of both suitable improved sources and detectors gives strong encouragement to the view that hard X-ray PCI methods are poised for improved performance and an even wider range of applications in the near future.
The cake is a lie: privilege rings as a policy resource

Components of commodity OS kernels typically execute at the same privilege level. Consequently, the compromise of even a single component undermines the trustworthiness of the entire kernel and its ability to enforce separation between user-level processes. Reliably containing the extent of a compromised kernel component is a problem to which few practical solutions exist. While many approaches have been proposed to reduce the need to trust large portions of the kernel, most of these approaches represent exotic reorganizations of the hardware or OS kernel that are either not applicable to commodity systems or are relatively complex and difficult to debug in their own right (e.g., microkernels). We propose simple, natural modifications to commodity---x86---hardware that enable vertical isolation down through the kernel without the use of virtualization or major OS rewrites; specifically, extending and reinterpreting the x86 segmentation mechanism, extending the existing Current Privilege Level and Descriptor Privilege Level fields. We believe our proposal is a compelling alternative to traditional virtualization because the hardware virtualizes permissions, not I/O.
Practical Considerations and Challenges Involved in Surfactant Enhanced Bioremediation of Oil

Surfactant enhanced bioremediation (SEB) of oil is an approach adopted to overcome the bioavailability constraints encountered in biotransformation of nonaqueous phase liquid (NAPL) pollutants. Fuel oils contain n-alkanes and other aliphatic hydrocarbons, monoaromatics, and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Although hydrocarbon degrading cultures are abundant in nature, complete biodegradation of oil is rarely achieved even under favorable environmental conditions due to the structural complexity of oil and culture specificities. Moreover, the interaction among cultures in a consortium, substrate interaction effects during the degradation and ability of specific cultures to alter the bioavailability of oil invariably affect the process. Although SEB has the potential to increase the degradation rate of oil and its constituents, there are numerous challenges in the successful application of this technology. Success is dependent on the choice of appropriate surfactant type and dose since the surfactant-hydrocarbon-microorganism interaction may be unique to each scenario. Surfactants not only enhance the uptake of constituents through micellar solubilization and emulsification but can also alter microbial cell surface characteristics. Moreover, hydrocarbons partitioned in micelles may not be readily bioavailable depending on the microorganism-surfactant interactions. Surfactant toxicity and inherent biodegradability of surfactants may pose additional challenges as discussed in this review.
The Effectiveness of Combining Tangible Symbols with the Picture Exchange Communication System to Teach Requesting Skills to Children with Multiple Disabilities Including Visual Impairment.

The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is an augmentative and alternative commu nication (AAC) program used to teach functional requesting and commenting skills to people with disabilities (Bondy & Frost, 1993; Frost & Bondy, 2002). In this study, tangible symbols were added to PECS in teaching requesting to four students (ages 7-14) with multiple disabilities that included a visual impairment. First, an assessment was conducted to determine the preferred (i.e., reinforcing) and non-preferred items for each participant. Then, a multiple probe design across participants was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the adapted training. Data were collected across baseline, training, and maintenance conditions, and generaliza tion probes were conducted periodically throughout all conditions. Allfour participants learned requesting skills, generalized these skills to their classrooms, and maintained the skills after training. Recommendations are presented for future research regarding the use of adapted PECS with other AAC programs. Communication is a crucial aspect of life. AAC programs such as sign language, point Through communication, people can request ing to or touching pictures, or operating needs, share values and interests, and develop voice-output communication devices (John
Website Sharing in Online Health Communities: A Descriptive Analysis

Background An increasing number of people visit online health communities to seek health information. In these communities, people share experiences and information with others, often complemented with links to different websites. Understanding how people share websites can help us understand patients’ needs in online health communities and improve how peer patients share health information online. Objective Our goal was to understand (1) what kinds of websites are shared, (2) information quality of the shared websites, (3) who shares websites, (4) community differences in website-sharing behavior, and (5) the contexts in which patients share websites. We aimed to find practical applications and implications of website-sharing practices in online health communities. Methods We used regular expressions to extract URLs from 10 WebMD online health communities. We then categorized the URLs based on their top-level domains. We counted the number of trust codes (eg, accredited agencies’ formal evaluation and PubMed authors’ institutions) for each website to assess information quality. We used descriptive statistics to determine website-sharing activities. To understand the context of the URL being discussed, we conducted a simple random selection of 5 threads that contained at least one post with URLs from each community. Gathering all other posts in these threads resulted in 387 posts for open coding analysis with the goal of understanding motivations and situations in which website sharing occurred. Results We extracted a total of 25,448 websites. The majority of the shared websites were . com (59.16%, 15,056/25,448) and WebMD internal (23.2%, 5905/25,448) websites; the least shared websites were social media websites (0.15%, 39/25,448). High-posting community members and moderators posted more websites with trust codes than low-posting community members did. The heart disease community had the highest percentage of websites containing trust codes compared to other communities. Members used websites to disseminate information, supportive evidence, resources for social support, and other ways to communicate. Conclusions Online health communities can be used as important health care information resources for patients and caregivers. Our findings inform patients’ health information–sharing activities. This information assists health care providers, informaticians, and online health information entrepreneurs and developers in helping patients and caregivers make informed choices.
The state of semantic technology today: overview of the first SEALS evaluation campaigns

This paper describes the first five SEALS Evaluation Campaigns over the semantic technologies covered by the SEALS project (ontology engineering tools, ontology reasoning tools, ontology matching tools, semantic search tools, and semantic web service tools). It presents the evaluations and test data used in these campaigns and the tools that participated in them along with a comparative analysis of their results. It also presents some lessons learnt after the execution of the evaluation campaigns and draws some final conclusions.