Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Rho-Associated Protein Kinase Inhibitor Treatment Promotes Proliferation and Phagocytosis in Trabecular Meshwork Cells

Purpose Continuous reductions in trabecular meshwork (TM) cellularity inhibit aqueous humor (AH) outflow, which is the main cause of primary open-angle glaucoma. Rho-associated protein kinase inhibitor (ROCKi) targets the TM to reduce intraocular pressure (IOP) and increase AH outflow facility. However, the underlying mechanisms are not entirely clear. Here, we aimed to investigate the effect of a ROCKi (Y-27632) on TM cell proliferation and phagocytosis. Methods Immortalized human TM (iHTM) cells, glaucomatous TM (GTM3) cells, and primary human TM (pTM) cells were cultured and identified. The effects of various concentrations of Y-27632 on F-actin cytoskeleton were assessed using immunofluorescence. Cell proliferation effects were evaluated using a cell counting kit-8 (CCK8), cell counting, and Ki67 immunostaining. Cell phagocytosis was evaluated using immunofluorescence and flow cytometry in immortalized TM cells. C57BL/6J and Tg-MYOCY437H mice were used to investigate the proliferative effects of Y-27632 on TM cells in vivo. The effect of Y-27632 on IOP was monitored for 2 weeks, and the outflow facility was detected 2 weeks after IOP measurement. TM cells in mice were counted using immunohistochemistry. Results Y-27632 (100 μM) significantly promoted the proliferation of both immortal TM cells and pTM cells. In GTM3 cells, phagocytosis was significantly greater in the Y-27632 group than in the control group, nearly reaching the level of phagocytosis in iHTM, as determined using immunofluorescence and flow cytometry. In Tg-MYOCY437H mice, treatment with Y-27632 significantly decreased IOP and increased outflow facility, which greatly influenced the long-term IOP-lowering effect. The number of TM cells in Tg-MYOCY437H mice was significantly improved after Y-27632 administration. Conclusion Y-27632 promoted cell proliferation and phagocytosis of TM cells, and its proliferative effect was demonstrated in a transgenic mouse model. These results revealed a new IOP-lowering mechanism of Y-27632 through effects on TM cells, suggesting the potential for a correlation between TM cellularity and long-term recovery of IOP.
Countermovement Jump Training Is More Effective Than Drop Jump Training in Enhancing Jump Height in Non-professional Female Volleyball Players

The aim of the present study was to compare the effects of countermovement jump (CMJ) and drop jump (DJ) training on the volleyball-specific jumping ability of non-professional female volleyball players. For that purpose, 26 female volleyball players (15–32 years) were assigned to either a CMJ (20.4 ± 3.1 years, 171.0 ± 3.0 cm) or a DJ training group (22.0 ± 4.4 years, 168.2 ± 5.0 cm), which performed a six-week jump training (two sessions per week, 60 jumps per session). Each group performed 20% of the jumps in the jump type of the other group in order to minimize the influence of enhanced motor coordination on the differences between groups regarding the improvements of jump performance. Before and after the training, jump height was assessed in four jump types, including the trained and volleyball-specific jump types. Although both training forms substantially improved jump height, the CMJ training was significantly more effective in all jump types (17 vs. 7% on average; p < 0.001). This suggests that, at least for non-professional female volleyball players and a training duration of six weeks, training with a high percentage of CMJs is more effective than one with a high percentage of DJs. We hypothesize that this might be related to the slower stretch-shortening cycle during CMJs, which seems to be more specific for these players and tasks. These findings should support volleyball coaches in designing optimal jump trainings.
The Effects of Formalization on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Tax Payments: Panel Evidence from Viet Nam

Do firms pay more taxes after formalization? The answer to this question is nontrivial. Tax noncompliance can be a persistent behavior among formerly informal firms. Analyzing the relationship between formalization and tax payments can also be challenging if nonswitching and switching firms have different characteristics. I use a panel dataset built from five small and medium-sized enterprise surveys conducted in Viet Nam from 2005 to 2013. By comparing nonswitching informal firms to switchers, I show that switchers are more likely to pay taxes and to pay a higher amount, thereby confirming heterogeneity. By comparing switchers before and after formalization, I find that formalization increases tax payment likelihood by 20% and the tax amount paid by 93%. A control function approach indicates that my results are robust to potential endogeneity of formalization. Therefore, this paper provides supportive evidence for a key public policy rationale to promote formalization: increased tax revenues.
Interacting Roles of Breeding Geography and Early-Life Settlement in Godwit Migration Timing

While avian migration timing is clearly influenced by both breeding and non-breeding geography, it is challenging to identify the relative and interdependent roles of endogenous programs, early-life experience, and carry-over effects in the development of adult annual schedules. Bar-tailed godwits Limosa lapponica baueri migrate northward from New Zealand toward Asian stopover sites during the boreal spring, with differences in timing between individuals known to relate to their eventual breeding-ground geography in Alaska. Here, we studied the timing of northward migration of individual godwits at three sites spanning 1,100 km of New Zealand’s 1,400-km length. A lack of morphological or genetic structure among sites indicates that the Alaskan breeding population mixes freely across all sites, and larger birds (southern breeders) tended to migrate earlier than smaller birds (northern breeders) at all sites. However, we unexpectedly found that migration timing varied between the sites, with birds from southern New Zealand departing on average 9.4–11 days earlier than birds from more northerly sites, a difference consistent across 4 years of monitoring. There is no obvious adaptive reason for migration timing differences of this magnitude, and it is likely that geographic variation in timing within New Zealand represents a direct response to latitudinal variation in photoperiod. Using resightings of marked birds, we show that immature godwits explore widely around New Zealand before embarking on their first northward migration at age 2–4 years. Thus, the process by which individual migration dates are established appears to involve: (1) settlement by sub-adult godwits at non-breeding sites, to which they are highly faithful as adults; (2) a consequent response to environmental cues (i.e., photoperiod) that sets the local population’s migration window; and (3) endogenous mechanisms, driven by breeding geography, that establish and maintain the well-documented consistent differences between individuals. This implies that behavioral decisions by young godwits have long-lasting impacts on adult annual-cycle schedules, but the factors guiding non-breeding settlement are currently unknown.
Evaluation of Cross-View Matching to Improve Ground Vehicle Localization with Aerial Perception

Cross-view matching refers to the problem of finding the closest match for a given query ground view image to one from a database of aerial images. If the aerial images are geotagged, then the closest matching aerial image can be used to localize the query ground view image. Due to the recent success of deep learning methods, several cross-view matching techniques have been proposed. These approaches perform well for the matching of isolated query images. However, their evaluation over a trajectory is limited. In this paper, we evaluate cross-view matching for the task of localizing a ground vehicle over a longer trajectory. We treat these cross-view matches as sensor measurements that are fused using a particle filter. We evaluate the performance of this method using a city-wide dataset collected in a photorealistic simulation by varying four parameters: height of aerial images, the pitch of the aerial camera mount, FOV of the ground camera, and the methodology of fusing cross-view measurements in the particle filter. We also report the results obtained using our pipeline on a real-world dataset collected using Google Street View and satellite view APIs.
Long-term trends of diversity online

Ever since the web began, the number of websites has been growing exponentially. These websites cover an ever-increasing range of online services that fill a variety of social and economic functions across a growing range of industries. Yet the networked nature of the web, combined with the economics of preferential attachment, increasing returns and global trade, suggest that over the long run a small number of competitive giants are likely to dominate each functional market segment, such as search, retail and social media. Here we perform a large scale longitudinal study to quantify the distribution of attention given in the online environment to competing organizations. In two large online social media datasets, containing more than 10 billion posts and spanning more than a decade, we tally the volume of external links posted towards the organizations' main domain name as a proxy for the online attention they receive. Our analysis shows that despite the fact that we observe consistent growth in all the macro indicators -- the total amount of online attention, in the number of organizations with an online presence, and in the functions they perform -- we also observe that a smaller number of organizations account for an ever-increasing proportion of total user attention, usually with one large player dominating each function. These results highlight how evolution of the online economy involves innovation, diversity, and then competitive dominance.
New Genuine Multipartite Entanglement

The quantum entanglement as one of very important resources has been widely used in quantum information processing. In this work, we present a new kind of genuine multipartite entanglement. It is derived from special geometric feature of entangled systems compared with quantum multisource networks. We prove that any symmetric entangled pure state shows stronger nonlocality than the genuinely multipartite nonlocality in the biseparable model. Similar results hold for other entangled pure states with local dimensions no larger than $3$. We further provide computational conditions for witnessing the new nonlocality of noisy states. These results suggest that the present model is useful characterizing a new kind of generic quantum entanglement.
Simultaneous measurement of net nitrogen mineralization and denitrification rates in soil using nitrification inhibitor 3,5-dimethylpyrazole

Abstract: A practical means to quantify the response of the rates of net N mineralization and denitrification over a wide range of soil water contents is generally lacking. This study examined the potential to use a nitrification inhibitor (NI) assay system to simultaneously estimate the rates of net N mineralization and denitrification, and applied the NI assay to assess the effect of water content on net N mineralization and denitrification rates in two soils with contrasting soil texture. The compound 3,5-dimethylpyrazole (DMP) applied at a rate of 200 mg kg-1 was found to provide essentially complete inhibition of nitrification over the duration of the soil incubation for two soils with contrasting soil texture (clay loam vs. sandy loam) and over a range of soil water contents (35%, 55%, and 85% water-filled pore space). This allowed net N mineralization to be estimated as the accumulation of soil ammonium () and of denitrification as the disappearance of added nitrate ( ). Addition of DMP resulted in a small increase in soil respiration rate but did not appear to influence the rate of net soil N mineralization. The NI assay provides a practical means to quantify the rates of net N mineralization and denitrification simultaneously over a wide range of soil water contents. The assay can be readily scaled up to routinely test multiple soils in an efficient manner, has limited material costs, and is also relatively simple to perform.
Neural Bases of Cognitive Impairments in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders: A Mini-Review of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings

Introduction Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is often associated with impairments in emotional and cognitive domains. Contrarily to the emotional sphere, neural basis underpinnings to cognitive impairments are still not well known. Methods We performed a bibliographic search on PUBMED of all the studies investigating the cognitive impairments in PTSD individuals. We considered only studies that applied cognitive tasks using a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging technique. The inclusion criteria were met by nine studies. Results Overall, PTSD individuals reported significant impairments in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, inferior frontal gyrus, insula, inferior temporal cortex, supplement motor area, and Default Mode Network (DMN). Moreover, abnormal activity was reported in subcortical structures (e.g. hippocampus, amygdala, thalamus) and in the cerebellum. Limitations Cognitive functioning was assessed using different cognitive tasks. Potential confounding factors such as age, sex, symptoms intensity, and comorbidities might have influenced the results. Conclusion So far, the evidence reported that PTSD is characterized by cognitive impairments in several domains, such as attention, memory and autonomic arousal, which may be due to selective dysfunctions in brain regions that are part of cortical networks, the limbic system and DMN. However, further studies are needed in order to better assess the role of cognitive impairments in PTSD and to develop more targeted therapeutic approaches.
High Throughput Screening Platform for a FAD-Dependent L-Sorbose Dehydrogenase

2-Keto-L-gulonic acid (2-KLG) is the direct precursor for the production of L-ascorbic acid (L-Asc) on industrial scale. Currently, the production of L-Asc in the industry is a two-step fermentation process. Owing to many unstable factors in the fermentation process, the conversion rate of L-sorbose to 2-KLG has remained at about 90% for many years. In order to further improve the production efficiency of 2-KLG, a FAD-dependent sorbose dehydrogenase (SDH) has been obtained in our previous research. The SDH can directly convert L-sorbose to 2-KLG at a very high efficiency. However, the enzyme activity of the SDH is relatively low. In order to further improve the enzyme activity of the SDH, a high throughput screening platform the dehydrogenase is essential. By optimizing the promoter, host and sorbosone dehydrogenase (SNDH), knockout of the aldosterone reductases and PTS related genes, a reliable platform for high-throughput screening of more efficient FAD-dependent SDH has been established. By using the high-throughput screening platform, the titer of the 2-KLG has been improved by 14.1%. The method established here could be useful for further enhancing the FAD-dependent SDH, which is important to achieve the efficient one-strain-single-step fermentation production of 2-KLG.
Differentiation of Pontine Infarction by Size

Abstract Purpose We hypothesized that the current criteria may be unsuitable for lacunar pontine infarctions (LPI) diagnosis and that size criteria may indicate different stroke mechanisms. Methods A total of 102 patients with isolated pontine infarctions were divided into a parent artery disease (PAD) and non-PAD groups according to stenosis of basilar artery. Further, 86 patients from the non-PAD group were divided into paramedian pontine infarction (PPI) and LPI groups. Data were collected from the three groups. The “golden” criterion for LPI was established based on the location of the infarction. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were used to evaluate the optimal cutoff value to use as an LPI diagnostic indicator. Results There was a high prevalence of patients with PAD in both asymptomatic carotid atherosclerosis (ACAS) and PPI groups. Patients with PPI had a higher prevalence in diabetes and ACAS than those with LPI. Based upon the ROC curve, the optimal lesion size cutoff value for use as an LPI diagnostic indicator was 11.8 mm. Conclusions Diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) cutoff points for predicting LPI may differ from that of the middle cerebral artery territory. The diameter of LPI may also indicate different stroke mechanisms.
Acute Physiological Responses to Resistance Exercise With Continuous Versus Intermittent Blood Flow Restriction: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The primary goal of this investigation was to examine the physiological responses of blood flow restriction (BFR) resistance exercise (RE) performed with continuous or intermittent BFR and to compare these results to those from conventional high- and low-load RE without BFR. Fourteen men randomly completed the following experimental trials: (1) low-load RE with continuous BFR (cBFR), (2) low-load RE with intermittent BFR (iBFR), (3) low-load RE without BFR (LI), and (4) conventional high-load RE without BFR (HI). For the cBFR, iBFR, and LI exercise trials, participants performed four sets of 30–15–15–15 repetitions of the bilateral leg press (LP) and knee extension (KE) exercises, at an intensity of 20% of their one-repetition maximum (1-RM), at a 1.5-s contraction speed, and with a 1-min rest period between sets. The only difference between the cBFR and iBFR protocols was that the pressure of the cuffs was released during the rest intervals between sets for the iBFR trial. For the HI trial, participants completed four sets of 10 repetitions of the same exercises, at 70% of 1-RM, with a 1-min rest period between sets, and at the same contraction speed. Muscle activity was assessed during each set using superficial electromyography, as well as changes in blood lactate concentration [La–] from baseline at 5 min post exercise and in muscle swelling and plasma volume (%ΔPV) at 5 and 15 min post exercise. There were no significant differences in muscle activity (p < 0.05) across the cBFR, iBFR, and LI protocols at any time point, whereas they were all significantly lower than HI. There were also no significant (p < 0.05) differences across the three low-load RE conditions for [La–],%ΔPV, or muscle swelling. HI elicited significantly (p < 0.05) greater responses than cBFR, iBFR, and LI for all the physiological markers measured. In conclusion, RE combined with cBFR or iBFR induce the same acute physiological responses. However, the largest physiological responses are observed with HI, probably because of the significantly greater exercise volumes. Therefore, releasing the pressure of the restrictive cuffs during the rest periods between sets will not hinder the acute physiological responses from BFR RE.
Exploring User Opinions of Fairness in Recommender Systems

Algorithmic fairness for artificial intelligence has become increasingly relevant as these systems become more pervasive in society. One realm of AI, recommender systems, presents unique challenges for fairness due to trade offs between optimizing accuracy for users and fairness to providers. But what is fair in the context of recommendation--particularly when there are multiple stakeholders? In an initial exploration of this problem, we ask users what their ideas of fair treatment in recommendation might be, and why. We analyze what might cause discrepancies or changes between user's opinions towards fairness to eventually help inform the design of fairer and more transparent recommendation algorithms.
Search-space Decomposition for System-level Design Space Exploration of Embedded Systems

The development of large-scale multi- and many-core platforms and the rising complexity of embedded applications have led to a significant increase in the number of implementation possibilities for a single application. Furthermore, rising demands on safe, energy-efficient, or real-time capable application execution make the problem of determining feasible implementations that are optimal with respect to such design objectives even more of a challenge. State-of-the-art Design Space Exploration (DSE) techniques for this problem demonstrably suffer from the vast and sparse search spaces posed by modern embedded systems, emphasizing the need for novel design methodologies in this field. Based on the idea of reducing problem complexity by a suitable decomposition of the system specification—in particular, by a reduction of target architecture or task mapping options—the work at hand proposes a portfolio of dynamic decomposition mechanisms that automatically decompose any system specification based on a short pre-exploration of the complete system. We present a two-phase approach consisting of (a) a set of novel data extraction and representation techniques combined with (b) a selection of filtering operations that automatically extract a decomposed system specification based on information gathered during pre-exploration. In particular, we employ heat map data structures and threshold as well as graph-partitioning filters to reduce problem complexity. The proposed decomposition procedure can seamlessly be integrated in any DSE flow, constituting a flexible extension for existing DSE approaches. Furthermore, it improves existing static decomposition techniques and other heuristics relying on information about the problem instance, since systems with irregular architectural topology or distribution of resource types can now be decomposed based on an automatic, problem-independent pre-exploration phase. We illustrate the efficiency of the proposed decomposition portfolio applied to state-of-the-art DSEs for many-core systems as well as networked embedded systems from the automotive domain. Experimental results show significant increases in optimization quality of up to 87% within constant DSE time compared to existing approaches.
Scan2Plan: Efficient Floorplan Generation from 3D Scans of Indoor Scenes

We introduce Scan2Plan, a novel approach for accurate estimation of a floorplan from a 3D scan of the structural elements of indoor environments. The proposed method incorporates a two-stage approach where the initial stage clusters an unordered point cloud representation of the scene into room instances and wall instances using a deep neural network based voting approach. The subsequent stage estimates a closed perimeter, parameterized by a simple polygon, for each individual room by finding the shortest path along the predicted room and wall keypoints. The final floorplan is simply an assembly of all such room perimeters in the global co-ordinate system. The Scan2Plan pipeline produces accurate floorplans for complex layouts, is highly parallelizable and extremely efficient compared to existing methods. The voting module is trained only on synthetic data and evaluated on publicly available Structured3D and BKE datasets to demonstrate excellent qualitative and quantitative results outperforming state-of-the-art techniques.
A discrete and q asymptotic iteration method

ABSTRACT We introduce a finite difference and q-difference analogues of the Asymptotic Iteration Method of Ciftci, Hall, and Saad. We give necessary, and sufficient condition for the existence of a polynomial solution to a general linear second-order difference or q-difference equation subject to a ‘terminating condition’, which is precisely defined. When a difference or q-difference equation has a polynomial solution, we show how to find the second solution.