Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A fitness-independent evolvability measure for evolutionary developmental systems

Evolvability refers to the organisms ability to create heritable new phenotypes that potentially facilitate the organism's survival and reproduction. In this paper, a general evolvability measure for a computational model of evolutionary development is proposed. The measure is able to quantify individuals' evolvability, including robustness and innovation, independent of the fitness function of the evolutionary system. Empirical studies are performed to check the evolvability of individuals in in silico evolution of oscillatory behavior using the proposed evolvability measure. Our preliminary results suggest that evolvability of the developmental system can evolve without an explicit selection pressure on evolvability, confirming findings revealed in other artificial evolutionary systems.
MDM/KDD2002: multimedia data mining between promises and problems

This report presents a brief overview of multimedia data mining and the corresponding workshop series at ACM SIGKDD conference series on data mining and knowledge discovery. It summarizes the presentations, conclusions and directions for future work that were discussed during the 3rd edition of the International Workshop on Multimedia Data Mining, conducted in conjunction with KDD-2002 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Effect of hyperglycemia-hyperinsulinemia on whole body and regional fatty acid metabolism.

The effects of combined hyperglycemia-hyperinsulinemia on whole body, splanchnic, and leg fatty acid metabolism were determined in five volunteers. Catheters were placed in a femoral artery and vein and a hepatic vein. U-13C-labeled fatty acids were infused, once in the basal state and, on a different occasion, during infusion of dextrose (clamp; arterial glucose 8.8 ± 0.5 mmol/l). Lipids and heparin were infused together with the dextrose to maintain plasma fatty acid concentrations at basal levels. Fatty acid availability in plasma and fatty acid uptake across the splanchnic region and the leg were similar during the basal and clamp experiments. Dextrose infusion decreased fatty acid oxidation by 51.8% (whole body), 47.4% (splanchnic), and 64.3% (leg). Similarly, the percent fatty acid uptake oxidized decreased at the whole body level (53 to 29%), across the splanchnic region (30 to 13%), and in the leg (48 to 22%) during the clamp. We conclude that, in healthy men, combined hyperglycemia-hyperinsulinemia inhibits fatty acid oxidation to a similar extent at the whole body level, across the leg, and across the splanchnic region, even when fatty acid availability is constant.
Secure Two-Way Transmission via Wireless-Powered Untrusted Relay and External Jammer

In this paper, we propose a two-way secure communication scheme where two transceivers exchange confidential messages via a wireless-powered untrusted amplify-and-forward relay in the presence of an external jammer. We take into account both friendly jamming (FJ) and Gaussian noise jamming (GNJ) scenarios. Based on the time switching (TS) architecture at the relay, the data transmission is done in three phases. In the first phase, both the energy-starved nodes, the untrustworthy relay and the jammer, are charged by noninformation radio frequency (RF) signals from the sources. In the second phase, the two sources send their information signals and concurrently, the jammer transmits artificial noise to confuse the curious relay. Finally, the third phase is dedicated to forward a scaled version of the received signal from the relay to the sources. For the proposed secure transmission schemes, we derive new closed-form lower-bound expressions for the ergodic secrecy sum rate (ESSR) in the high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regime. We further analyze the asymptotic ESSR to determine the key parameters; the high SNR slope and the high SNR power offset of the jamming based scenarios. To highlight the performance advantage of the proposed FJ, we also examine the scenario of without jamming (WoJ). Finally, numerical examples and discussions are provided to acquire some engineering insights, and to demonstrate the impacts of different system parameters on the secrecy performance of the considered communication scenarios. The numerical results illustrate that the proposed FJ significantly outperforms the traditional one-way communication and the constellation rotation (CR) approach, as well as our proposed benchmarks, the two-way WoJ and GNJ scenarios.
NaCl: for the safer in vivo use of antibacterial silver based nanoparticles

Background As antibiotics progressively cease to be effective, silver based nanoparticles (SBNs), with broad antibacterial spectrum, might be the last line of defense against malicious bacteria. Unfortunately, there are still no proper SBNs-based strategies for in vivo antibacterial therapies. In this article, new carbon membrane packaged Ag nanoparticles (Ag-C) were synthesized. We assessed the effect of Ag-C with NaCl on size, cytotoxicity, antibacterial properties, metabolism and sepsis models. Methods The size of Ag-C with NaCl was accessed with UV-vis, TEM and SEM. Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were used to illustrate the antibacterial properties of SBNs affected by NaCl. L929 and 3T3 cell lines were cultured in vitro; CCK-8 assay was used to test cytotoxicity. Then, we explored the metabolism of Ag-C with NaCl in vivo. Finally, the effect of Ag-C with 4× NaCl on sepsis was observed. Results NaCl could regulate the size of Ag-C. Ag-C exhibited superior antibacterial properties compared to similar sized pure Ag nanoparticles. Furthermore, the addition of NaCl could not only reduce the cytotoxicity of Ag-C, but could also continue to discharge Ag-C from major organs. Based on these factors, this method was used to treat a sepsis model (induced via cecal ligation and puncture), and it achieved satisfactory survival results. Conclusion This discovery, though still in its infancy, could significantly improve the safety and feasibility of SBNs and could potentially play an important role in modern in vivo antibacterial applications. Thus, a new method to combating the growing threat from drug-resistant bacteria could be possible. NaCl is the key to excretion of SBNs after in vivo antibacterial use.
Telomerase Mediates Lymphocyte Proliferation but Not the Atherosclerosis-Suppressive Potential of Regulatory T-Cells

Objective— Atherosclerosis is an age-related disease characterized by systemic oxidative stress and low-grade inflammation. The role of telomerase and telomere length in atherogenesis remains contentious. Short telomeres of peripheral leukocytes are predictive for coronary artery disease. Conversely, attenuated telomerase has been demonstrated to be protective for atherosclerosis. Hence, a potential causative role of telomerase in atherogenesis is critically debated. Approach and Results— In this study, we used multiple mouse models to investigate the regulation of telomerase under oxidative stress as well as its impact on atherogenesis in vitro and in vivo. Using primary lymphocytes and myeloid cell cultures, we demonstrate that cultivation under hyperoxic conditions induced oxidative stress resulting in chronic activation of CD4+ cells and significantly reduced CD4+ T-cell proliferation. The latter was telomerase dependent because oxidative stress had no effect on the proliferation of primary lymphocytes isolated from telomerase knockout mice. In contrast, myeloid cell proliferation was unaffected by oxidative stress nor reliant on telomerase. Telomerase reverse transcriptase deficiency had no effect on regulatory T-cell (Treg) numbers in vivo or suppressive function ex vivo. Adoptive transfer of telomerase reverse transcriptase–/– Tregs into Rag2–/– ApoE–/– (recombination activating gene 2/apolipoprotein E) double knockout mice demonstrated that telomerase function was not required for the ability of Tregs to protect against atherosclerosis. However, telomere length was critical for Treg function. Conclusions— Telomerase contributes to lymphocyte proliferation but plays no major role in Treg function, provided that telomere length is not critically short. We suggest that oxidative stress may contribute to atherosclerosis via suppression of telomerase and acceleration of telomere attrition in Tregs.
Validation of the Chinese Version of the Australian Breastfeeding Attitude Questionnaire

Background: The Australian Breastfeeding Knowledge and Attitude Questionnaire–Short Form (ABKAQ-SF) was designed to measure breastfeeding knowledge and attitudes of health professionals. To date, a Chinese version of the attitude component of the ABKAQ-SF (ABAQ) is not yet available and has not been cross-validated with nursing students. Research aims: This study aimed to examine (a) the psychometric properties of the ABAQ and (b) group differences and responsiveness of the revised 12-item ABAQ (ABAQ12) among nursing students in Taiwan. Methods: Using a cross-sectional two-cohort study design, nursing students in Years 2 and 3 of a 4-year bachelor of nursing program (N = 205) completed the Chinese version of the ABAQ, translated using forward and backward translations. Content validity, internal consistency reliability, construct validity, group differences, and responsiveness of the Chinese version of the ABAQ were assessed. Results: Using the principal axis factoring procedure of exploratory factor analysis to examine the dimensionality of the ABAQ, a one-component structure was identified. Six items were deleted, based on the average interitem correlation (< 0.2), low corrected item-total correlation (< 0.35), and low factor loading (< 0.3). Confirmatory factor analysis of the ABAQ12 supported a one-factor solution, with good overall model fit (goodness-of-fit index = 0.949, Tucker-Lewis index = 0.951, comparative fit index = 0.965, root mean square error of approximation = 0.042). Responsiveness of the ABAQ12 scores indicated a positive change in breastfeeding attitude between the pre- and postclinical placement period. Conclusion: The Chinese version of the ABAQ12 is valid, reliable, and responsive and is suitable for assessing the breastfeeding attitudes of nursing students in the Taiwanese higher education settings.
Mechanism of endothelin-1-(1-31)-induced calcium signaling in human coronary artery smooth muscle cells.

We have found that human chymase produces a 31-amino acid endothelin [ET-1-(1-31)] from the 38-amino acid precursor (Big ET-1). We examined the mechanism of synthetic ET-1-(1-31)-induced intracellular Ca2+ signaling in cultured human coronary artery smooth muscle cells. ET-1-(1-31) increased the intracellular free Ca2+concentration ([Ca2+]i) in a concentration-dependent manner (10-14-10-10M). This ET-1-(1-31)-induced [Ca2+]iincrease was not affected by phosphoramidon, Bowman-Birk inhibitor, and thiorphan. The ET-1-(1-31)-induced [Ca2+]iincrease was not influenced by removal of extracellular Ca2+ but was inhibited by thapsigargin. ET-1-(1-31) at 10-12 M did not cause Ca2+ influx, whereas 10-7 M ET-1-(1-31) evoked marked Ca2+ influx, which was inhibited by nifedipine. ET-1-(1-31) also increased inositol trisphosphate formation. These results suggest that the ET-1-(1-31)-induced [Ca2+]iincrease at relatively low concentrations is attributable to the release of Ca2+ from inositol trisphosphate-sensitive intracellular stores, whereas Ca2+ influx into the cells evoked by high concentration of ET-1-(1-31) probably occurs through voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels. We concluded that the physiological activity of ET-1-(1-31) may be attributable to Ca2+ mobilization from intracellular stores rather than influx of Ca2+ from extracellular space.
An E-box within the MHC IIB gene is bound by MyoD and is required for gene expression in fast muscle.

The myosin heavy chain (MHC) IIB gene is selectively expressed in skeletal muscles, imparting fast contractile kinetics. Why the MHC IIB gene product is expressed in muscles like the tibialis anterior (TA) and not expressed in muscles like the soleus is currently unclear. It is shown here that the mutation of an E-box within the MHC IIB promoter decreased reporter gene activity in the fast-twitch TA muscle 90-fold as compared with the wild-type promoter. Reporter gene expression within the TA required this E-box for activation of a heterologous construct containing upstream regulatory regions of the MHC IIB promoter linked to the basal 70-kDa heat shock protein TATA promoter. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays demonstrated that mutation of the E-box prevented the binding of both MyoD and myogenin to this element. In cotransfected C2C12myotubes and Hep G2 cells, MyoD preferentially activated the MHC IIB promoter in an E-box-dependent manner, whereas myogenin activated the MHC IIB promoter to a lesser extent, and in an E-box-independent manner. A time course analysis of hindlimb suspension demonstrated that the unweighted soleus muscle activated expression of MyoD mRNA before the de novo expression of MHC IIB mRNA. These data suggest a possible causative role for MyoD in the observed upregulation of MHC IIB in the unweighted soleus muscle.
Usage‐Based Pricing Differentiation for Communication Networks: Incomplete Information and Limited Pricing Choices

1Pricing is important for the design, operation, and management of communication networks. Pricing has been used with two different meanings in the area of communication networks. One is the “optimization-oriented” pricing for network resource allocation: it is made popular by Kelly’s seminal work on network congestion control [2, 3]. For example, the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) has been successfully reverse-engineered as a congestion pricing based solution to a network optimization problem [4,5]. A more general framework of Network Utility Maximization (NUM) was subsequently developed to forward-engineer many new network protocols (see a recent survey in [6]). In various NUM formulations, the “optimization-oriented”
Decreased renal Na-K-2Cl cotransporter abundance in mice with heterozygous disruption of the Gsα gene.

Transport processes along the nephron are regulated in part by hormone stimulation of adenylyl cyclases mediated by the heterotrimeric G protein Gs. To assess the role of this pathway in the regulation of Na-K-2Cl cotransporter abundance in the renal thick ascending limb (TAL), we studied mice with heterozygous disruption of the G nas gene, which codes for the α-subunit of Gs. Outer medullary Gsα protein abundance (as assessed by semiquantitative immunoblotting) and glucagon-stimulated cAMP production were significantly reduced in the heterozygous Gsα knockout mice (GSKO) relative to their wild-type (WT) littermates. Furthermore, Na-K-2Cl cotransporter protein abundance in the outer medulla was significantly reduced (band density, 48% of WT). In addition, GSKO mice had a significantly reduced (72% of WT) urinary osmolality in response to a single injection of 1-deamino-[8-d-arginine]vasopressin (DDAVP), a vasopressin analog. In contrast, outer medullary protein expression of the type 3 Na/H exchanger (NHE-3) or Tamm-Horsfall protein did not differ between the GSKO mice and their WT littermates. However, abundance of type VI adenylyl cyclase was markedly decreased in the outer medullas of GSKO mice, suggesting a novel feed-forward regulatory mechanism. We conclude that expression of the Na-K-2Cl cotransporter of the TAL is dependent on Gsα-mediated hormone stimulation, most likely due to long-term changes in cellular cAMP levels.
Aminoacyl-tRNA and tissue free amino acid pools are equilibrated after a ﬂooding dose of phenylalanine

Aminoacyl-tRNA and tissue free amino acid pools are equilibrated after a ﬂooding dose of phenylalanine. Am. J. Physiol. 277 ( Endocrinol. Metab. 40): E103–E109, 1999. —The ﬂooding dose method, which is used to measure tissue protein synthesis, assumes equilibration of the isotopic labeling between the aminoacyl-tRNA pool and the tissue and blood free amino acid pools. However, this has not been veriﬁed for a phenylalanine tracer in an in vivo study. We determined the speciﬁc radioactivity of [ 3 H]phenyl-alanine in the aminoacyl-tRNA and the tissue and blood free amino acid pools of skeletal muscle and liver 30 min after administration of a ﬂooding dose of phenylalanine along with [ 3 H]phenylalanine. Studies were performed in neonatal pigs in the fasted and refed states and during hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic-amino acid clamps. The results showed that, 30 min after the administration of a ﬂooding dose of phenylalanine, there was equilibration of the speciﬁc radioactivity of phenylalanine among the blood, tissue, and tRNA precursor pools. Equilibration of the speciﬁc radioactivity of the three precursor pools for protein synthesis occurred in both skeletal muscle and liver. Neither feeding nor insulin status affected the aminoacyl-tRNA speciﬁc radioactivity relative to the tissue free amino acid speciﬁc radioactivity. The results support the assumption that the tissue free amino acid pool speciﬁc radioactivity is a valid measure of the precursor pool speciﬁc radioactivity and thus can be used to calculate protein synthesis rates in skeletal muscle and liver when a ﬂooding dose of phenylalanine is administered.
Purification, structural characterization, and myotropic activity of endothelin from trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss.

Endothelin (ET) from a nontetrapod species has never been characterized, either structurally or biologically. A single molecular form of trout ET with 21-amino-acid residues was isolated in pure form from an extract of the kidney of the steelhead trout, Oncorhynchus mykissand its primary structure established as Cys-Ser-Cys-Ala-Thr-Phe-Leu-Asp-Lys-Glu10-Cys-Val-Tyr-Phe-Cys-His-Leu-Asp-Ile-Ile20-Trp. This amino acid sequence shows only three substitutions (Ala4→Ser, Thr5→Ser, and Phe6→Trp) compared with human ET-2, demonstrating that the structure of the peptide has been well conserved during evolution and that the pathway of posttranslational processing of preproendothelin in the trout is probably similar to that in mammals. Synthetic trout ET produced concentration-dependent constrictions of isolated rings of vascular tissue from trout efferent branchial artery (EBA; pD2 = 7.90 ± 0.06, n = 5), caeliacomesenteric artery (pD2 = 8.03 ± 0.04, n = 4), anterior cardinal vein (ACV; pD2 = 8.57 ± 0.25, n = 4), and rat abdominal aorta (AO; pD2 = 8.86 ± 0.08, n = 7). Trout and rat vessels were more sensitive to mammalian ET-1 than to trout ET (pD2 for human ET-1 in: EBA = 9.12 ± 0.14; ACV = 9.90 ± 0.15; AO = 8.86 ± 0.08), but there was no significant difference in the maximum tension produced by either peptide in these vessels.
Role of an Intensity-Transformation Function in Enhancement of Bone Scintigraphy Images

Bone scintigraphy images might exceed the dynamic range (the ratio between the highest and the lowest displayable brightness) of the monitor. In such a case, a high-intensity area accompanied by loss of detail in other structures in the displayed image make the clinical interpretation challenging. We have investigated the role of an intensity-transformation (IT) function in enhancement of these types of images. Methods: Forty high-dynamic-range bone scintigraphy images were processed using an IT function. The IT function has 2 parameters: threshold and slope. With the threshold kept equal to the mean count of the image, the slope was varied from 1 to 20. A software program developed in-house was used to process the images. Twenty output images corresponding to one input image were visually inspected by 2 experienced nuclear medicine physicians to select images of diagnostic quality, and from their selection was determined the standardized slope that produced the maximum number of diagnostic images. The 2 physicians also scored the quality of the input and output images (at the standardized slope) on a scale of 1–5. The Student t test was used to determine the significance of differences in mean score between the input and output images at an α significance level of 0.05. Results: Application of the IT function with standardized parameters significantly improved the quality of high-dynamic-range bone scintigraphy images (P < 0.001, with α = 0.05). A slope of 8 maximized the number of diagnostic images. Conclusion: The IT function has a significant role in enhancing high-dynamic-range bone scintigraphy images.
Protein kinetics during and after long-duration spaceflight on MIR

Stein, T. P., M. J. Leskiw, M. D. Schluter, M. R. Donaldson, and I. Larina. Protein kinetics during and after long-duration spaceflight on MIR. Am. J. Physiol. 276 (Endocrinol. Metab. 39): E1014–E1021, 1999. —Human spaceflight is associated with a loss of body protein. Bed rest studies suggest that the reduction in the whole body protein synthesis (PS) rate should be ,15%. The objectives of this experiment were to test two hypotheses on astronauts and cosmonauts during long-duration (.3 mo) flights on MIR: that 1) the whole body PS rate will be reduced and 2) dietary intake and the PS rate should be increased postflight because protein accretion is occurring. The 15N glycine method was used for measuring whole body PS rate before, during, and after long-duration spaceflight on the Russian space station MIR. Dietary intake was measured together with the protein kinetics. Results show that subjects lost weight during flight (4.64 6 1.0 kg, P , 0.05). Energy intake was decreased inflight (2,854 6 268 vs. 2,145 6 190 kcal/day, n 5 6, P , 0.05), as was the PS rate (226 6 24 vs. 97 6 11 g protein/day, n 5 6, P , 0.01). The reduction in PS correlated with the reduction in energy intake (r2 5 0.86, P , 0.01, n 5 6). Postflight energy intake and PS returned to, but were not increased over, the preflight levels. We conclude that the reduction in PS found was greater than predicted from ground-based bed rest experiments because of the shortfall in dietary intake. The expected postflight anabolic state with increases in dietary intake and PS did not occur during the first 2 wk after landing.
A new mini-navigation tool allows accurate component placement during anterior total hip arthroplasty

Introduction Computer-assisted navigation systems have been explored in total hip arthroplasty (THA) to improve component positioning. While these systems traditionally rely on anterior pelvic plane registration, variances in soft tissue thickness overlying anatomical landmarks can lead to registration error, and the supine coronal plane has instead been proposed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of a novel navigation tool, using registration of the anterior pelvic plane or supine coronal plane during simulated anterior THA. Methods Measurements regarding the acetabular component position, and changes in leg length and offset were recorded. Benchtop phantoms and target measurement values commonly seen in surgery were used for analysis. Measurements for anteversion and inclination, and changes in leg length and offset were recorded by the navigation tool and compared with the known target value of the simulation. Pearson’s r assessed the relationship between the measurements of the device and the known target values. Results The device accurately measured cup position and leg length measurements to within 1° and 1 mm of the known target values, respectively. Across all simulations, there was a strong, positive relationship between values obtained by the device and the known target values (r=0.99). Conclusion The preliminary findings of this study suggest that the novel navigation tool tested is a potentially viable tool to improve the accuracy of component placement during THA using the anterior approach.