Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Changes in tissue levels of growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor-I, and somatostatin in the femurs of hind-limb immobilized rats

Immobilization of an extremity causes skeletal muscle atrophy and a dramatic increase in bone resorption. Growth hormone (GH) is known to play an important role in bone remodeling mediated in part by local insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I). In this study, we investigated changes in the levels of GH and IGF-I peptide in bone extracts from the femur after hind-limb immobilization for 5 days, 2, 4, and 8 weeks. The levels of somatostatin, which interacts with GH, were also measured in the bone extracts. GH levels increased after 8 weeks of hind-limb immobilization whereas the IGF-I concentrations increased after 2 weeks, but returned to control levels at 4 weeks, and decreased after 8 weeks of immobilization. The somatostatin levels in the bone extracts increased only after 8 weeks of hind-limb immobilization. Our findings suggest that, after hind-limb immobilization, changes in the concentrations of GH, IGF-I, and somatostatin in bone may mediate bone resorption either directly or through interaction with other factors.
Whole-Genome Sequence of Klebsiella pneumonia Strain LCT-KP214

ABSTRACT Klebsiella pneumoniae is a Gram-negative, nonmotile, encapsulated, lactose-fermenting, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped bacterium found in the normal flora of the mouth, skin, and intestines. Here we present the fine-draft genome sequence of K. pneumoniae strain LCT-KP214, which originated from K. pneumoniae strain CGMCC 1.1736.
An exploration of relationships among measures of social cognition, decision making, and emotional intelligence

The present study examined the relationships among measures that purportedly assess emotional intelligence (EI), social cognition, and emotional decision making within a sample of nonclinical undergraduate participants. Forty participants, both male and female, who scored in either the highest or the lowest quartiles of an EI measure (the Trait Meta-Mood Scale) completed the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test and the Iowa Gambling Task. As expected, main effects for gender and EI level occurred, as women outperformed men on the Eyes Test, and participants in the higher EI group outperformed those in the lower EI group on the Eyes Test. Additionally, men classified in the higher EI group performed significantly better on the Eyes Test than men in the lower EI group. However, no group or gender differences were found on the Iowa Gambling Task.
Excision of Juvenile Pilocytic Astrocytoma of the Midbrain after Radiotherapy

A 13-year-old girl presented with consciousness disturbance, right hemiparesis, and impairment of hearing, swallowing, and ocular movements. A magnetic resonance image demonstrated marked hydrocephalus due to a large cystic tumor (40 × 40 × 30 mm) in the midbrain. Emergency ventricular drainage and stereotactic cyst puncture dramatically improved her condition. Since her family did not agree to surgery on the brain stem, radiotherapy was performed after ventriculoperitoneal shunting. Conventional radiotherapy of 50.4 Gy was temporarily effective, and the growth of the tumor was stabilized until approximately 8 months later when regrowth was noticed. At this stage, with the consent of her family, the tumor was removed via an infratentorial supracerebellar approach. The pathological diagnosis was juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma. The postoperative course was uneventful. No recurrence has been observed during the follow-up period of more than 6 years. This case study shows that initial excision may be appropriate for some low-grade focal lesions in the midbrain when the histological diagnosis and consent have been obtained.
The Triumph of Types : Creating a Logic of Computational Reality

Type theory plays an essential role in computing and information science. It is the native language of several industrial strength interactive theorem provers including Coq, HOL, Isabelle, MetaPRL, Nuprl, PVS, and Twelf. These provers are used for building correct by construction software and for creating formalized mathematical theories whose logical correctness is assured to the highest standards of certainty ever achieved. Interactive provers have also been used to solve open mathematical problems, e.g. definitively proving the Four Color Theorem, finding constructive proofs of Higman’s Lemma and Kruskal’s Theorem, and explaining the Girard paradox. The accumulation of large libraries of formalized mathematical knowledge using provers has led to the field of mathematical knowledge management. Constructive type theories for constructive and intuitionistic mathematics serve as practical programming languages, a connection imagined forty years ago yet only recently realized. These intellectual contributions are matched by an elegant computing and information technology that integrates programming languages, interactive provers, model checkers, and databases of formal knowledge. I believe that this integrated technology is rapidly moving toward a singularity which will provide tools for thought to accelerate scientific research and enrich education in ways computer scientists have only imagined in our “wildest dreams. ” The deep practical integration of computing and logic seen for the first time in this research has made us aware in detail that there is a logical reality to computation. This article will elaborate on that idea and its historical development. The article also examines some design issues that have shaped modern implemented type theories starting with the influence of Russell and Whitehead’s Principia Mathematica and the seminal writings of L.E. J. Brouwer on the intuitionistic foundations of mathematics. Interestingly, the proof assistants advance daily the goal for which Principia was designed: to provide a comprehensive formalization of mathematics. Less expected is the gradual validation of many of Brouwer’s insights and their realization in the implemented type theories.
Patch‐Clamp Recording from Neuronal Dendrites

Pyramidal neurons of the central nervous system have extensively arborized apical dendrites that contribute importantly to the signaling properties of the neuron. Recent advances in electrophysiological techniques have allowed recording from neuronal dendrites. These techniques depend on using infrared optics to visualize dendritic processes in the unstained brain slice preparation, on pipet positioning with high resolution micromanipulators, and on stringent techniques for brain slice preparation that preserved healthy dendritic processes, even in tissue from mature animals. The procedures underlying these techniques are described in this unit.
Effect of neuronal precursor cells derived from medial ganglionic eminence in an acute epileptic seizure model

Most of the γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic interneurons in the cerebral cortex originate from restricted regions of the ventral telencephalon known as the caudal and medial ganglionic eminence (MGE) and from the preoptic area. It is well established that dysfunction of GABAergic interneurons can lead to epilepsy. During the last decade new approaches to prevent, reduce, or reverse the epileptic condition have been studied, including cell‐based therapy from different sources. Recent studies have shown that transplanted neuronal precursor cells derived from MGE have the ability to migrate, differentiate into inhibitory GABAergic interneurons, and integrate into cortical and hippocampal networks, modifying the inhibitory tone in the host brain. Therefore, transplantation of neuronal precursors derived from MGE into the postnatal central nervous system (CNS) could modify the neuronal circuitry in neurologic diseases in which inhibitory synaptic function is altered, such as in epilepsy. Here, we evaluated the seizure susceptibility of mice transplanted with MGE‐derived cells in the maximum electroconvulsive shock (MES) model and we review some data from different studies using GABAergic precursor or GABA‐releasing cell grafts in animal models of seizure and epilepsy.
Life history evolution under climate change and its influence on the population dynamics of a long‐lived plant

One of the key components of an organism's life history is the delay of reproduction until it reaches or returns to an optimal size. While we know climate can influence vital rates that shape life‐history strategies, it is also critical to understand the effects of climate change on rapid life history evolution, which might modify the influence of climate change on population dynamics. We asked how realistic changes in temperature and precipitation influence vital rates, costs of reproduction, and ultimately, evolutionarily stable (ES) flowering size in a long‐lived perennial plant, Orchis purpurea. We also explored how evolution of flowering size could influence population persistence under changing climate. Our approach combined model selection methods to characterize climate dependence in vital rates, stochastic integral projection models to integrate vital rates into an estimate of fitness, and adaptive dynamics to identify ES flowering sizes. Vital rates responded uniquely to seasonal temperature and precipitation, with the largest response in the size‐dependent probability of flowering. The predicted ES flowering size closely matched that observed, and responded strongly to adjusting the frequencies of extreme climate years. For example, increasing the frequency of extreme drought conditions was predicted to favour smaller reproductive sizes (and hence a shorter reproductive delay), despite observation that smaller plants were less likely to flower in dry years. This apparent discrepancy stems from a smaller payoff to delaying reproduction due to lower costs of reproduction in dry years. The model of stochastic population dynamics predicted long‐term persistence of the focal populations, even under the most extreme climate scenarios, while incorporating rapid life history evolution into predictions reduced the sensitivity of population growth to changing climate. Synthesis. Our results illustrate that long‐lived organisms can exhibit complex demographic responses to changing climate regimes. Additionally, they highlight that long‐term evolutionary responses may be in opposing directions from short‐term plastic responses to climate and emphasize the need for demographic models to integrate ecological and evolutionary influences of climate across the life cycle.
Effects of Spinal Cord X-irradiation on the Recovery of Paraplegic Rats

Axonal regrowth is limited in the adult CNS, especially in the spinal cord, one of the major sites of traumatic lesions. Pathophysiological changes occurring after spinal cord injury include complex acute, subacute, and late processes. In this study, we assessed whether X-irradiation interferes with the acute/subacute phases, thereby improving the functional recovery of paraplegic animals. Two days after acute compression of adult rat spinal cords, various doses (0, 2, 5, 10, 20 Gy) of X-rays were administered as one single dose to the compression site. The animals were functionally evaluated over the course of 1 month after injury, using the Tarlov scale and the Rivlin and Tator scale. We also designed a "physiological" scale, including an assessment of urinary function and infection, appropriate for the evaluation of spinal-cord-lesioned animals. Behavioral analysis suggested that the high doses, 20 Gy and, to a lesser extent, 5 and 10 Gy, were toxic, as shown by morbidity rate and "physiological" score. The 2-Gy group showed better motor performances than the lesioned nonirradiated (LNI) animals and the 5- and 20-Gy groups. Motor performance in the 5-, 10-, and 20-Gy groups was poorer than that seen in the LNI group. Gliosis was reduced in the 2-Gy group compared to LNI animals, and there was high levels of gliosis in the highly (>/=5 Gy) irradiated animals. There was a 23% less lesion-induced syringomyelia in the 2-Gy group than in the other groups (LNI and 5-20 Gy). Thus, low doses of X-rays may interfere with the formation of syringomyelia and glial scar, thereby facilitating the recovery of paraplegic animals. These findings suggest that low-dose irradiation of the lesion site, in association with other therapies, is a potentially promising treatment for improving recovery after spinal cord injury.
Impact of Requirements Elicitation Processes on Success of Information System Development Projects

Abstract Requirements articulating user needs and corresponding to enterprise business processes are a key to successful implementation of information system development projects. However, the parties involved in projects frequently are not able to agree on a common development vision and have difficulties expressing their needs. Several industry experts have acknowledged that requirements elicitation is one of the most difficult tasks in development projects. This study investigates the impact of requirements elicitation processes on project outcomes depending on the applied project development methodology.
Associations of childhood socioeconomic status and adulthood height with functional limitations among Japanese older people: results from the JAGES 2010 Project.

BACKGROUND We examined the associations between childhood socioeconomic status and adulthood height with functional limitations in old age. METHODS Data were obtained from the baseline survey of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study 2010, a population-based cohort of people aged ≥65 years enrolled from 27 municipalities across Japan (N = 15,499). People aged 65-69, 70-74, 75-79, and ≥80 years experienced the end of World War II when they were aged 0-4, 5-9, 10-14, and ≥15 years, respectively. Subjective socioeconomic status during childhood and current height were obtained by self-report through questionnaire in 2010. Higher-level functional capacity was assessed using a validated questionnaire scale. Poisson regression with robust variance estimator was employed to determine the association between childhood subjective socioeconomic status, height, and functional limitations. RESULTS Lower childhood subjective socioeconomic status was consistently associated with higher prevalence rate ratio of limitations in higher-level functional capacity, regardless of age cohort. Height was associated with functional limitation only among the group aged 70-74 years: taller (≥170cm for men and ≥160cm for women) people were 16% less likely to report functional limitation in comparison with shorter (<155 cm for men and <145 cm for women) individuals in the fully adjusted model (prevalence rate ratio: 0.84, 95% confidence interval: 0.74-0.96). CONCLUSIONS Low childhood subjective socioeconomic status had a robust association with functional limitation regardless of age cohort. In addition, those who lived through World War II before they reached puberty and attained shorter height were more likely to report functional limitations in old age.
0.25 /spl mu/m CMOS and BiCMOS single-chip direct-conversion Doppler radars for remote sensing of vital signs

A fully integrated direct conversion Doppler radar that detects heart and respiration movement at a distance of 50 cm is described. The 1.6 GHz transceiver is implemented in both CMOS and BiCMOS technologies, with each chip occupying 14 mm/sup 2/ using a 0.25 μm silicon processes. The effects on system sensitivity of phase noise at small offset frequencies with range correlation are assessed.
One to One Marketing Services : Optimal Customer and Product Strategy

One to one (1:1) marketing services (e.g., customized advertisements, promotions and direct mail) are a growth industry. Extant research in this area tends to have an engineering emphasis; they focus on developing techniques to use individual-level data to optimize 1:1 services. In contrast, this paper focuses on marketing strategy issues faced by a 1:1 service firm given the availability of the 1:1 technology. Specifically, we develop an empirical framework to evaluate the optimal customer (exclusive/non-exclusive) and product (quality or accuracy of 1:1 customization) strategy for a 1:1 service firm. We illustrate the framework for a 1:1 coupon service firm catering to grocery manufacturers using household purchase history data for the ketchup market. We find that selling on a non-exclusive basis using the maximum available purchase history data is the most profitable strategy in the ketchup category for the 1:1 service firm. We also evaluate the potential impact of the retailer entering the 1:1 coupon service business. Since 1:1 marketing can increase retailer’s profits from goods sold, it is optimal for the retailer to undercut the prices of a pure play 1:1 services vendor.
The CARMA3-Bcl10-MALT1 Signalosome Promotes Angiotensin II-dependent Vascular Inflammation and Atherogenesis*

The CARMA1, Bcl10, and MALT1 proteins together constitute a signaling complex (CBM signalosome) that mediates antigen-dependent activation of NF-κB in lymphocytes, thereby representing a cornerstone of the adaptive immune response. Although CARMA1 is restricted to cells of the immune system, the analogous CARMA3 protein has a much wider expression pattern. Emerging evidence suggests that CARMA3 can substitute for CARMA1 in non-immune cells to assemble a CARMA3-Bcl10-MALT1 signalosome and mediate G protein-coupled receptor activation of NF-κB. Here we show that one G protein-coupled receptor, the type 1 receptor for angiotensin II, utilizes this mechanism for activation of NF-κB in endothelial and vascular smooth muscle cells, thereby inducing pro-inflammatory signals within the vasculature, a key factor in atherogenesis. Further, we demonstrate that Bcl10-deficient mice are protected from developing angiotensin-dependent atherosclerosis and aortic aneurysms. By uncovering a novel vascular role for the CBM signalosome, these findings illustrate that CBM-dependent signaling has functions outside the realm of adaptive immunity and impacts pathobiology more broadly than previously known.
High-performance adaptive local kriging applied to recovering surface deformation associated with the fault zones

Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (DInSAR) is an effective technique to measures the surface displacement caused by strong earthquakes. In our previous work an adaptive local kriging (ALK) was proposed to recover surface deformation associated with the fault zones. The calculation of ALK needs a huge computing power. Thus a high-performance computing is needed. It can not only speedup the interpolation processes of ALK but also handle large volumes of widely distributed remote sensing dataset. As a result, a parallel image interpolation approach, referred to as the graphics processing unit (GPU) based ALK method, to the slant range motion maps derived by DInSAR is proposed in this paper. It makes use of the performance profiling to analyze the serial version of ALK and perform a parallel GPU computation for reducing the computation time efficiently. By employing the NVIDIA TITAN GPU, the proposed method achieves a speedup of 77.86× compared to its CPU counterpart part.
Decentralized control of robot manipulators: nonlinear and adaptive approaches

For robot arm tracking, the authors propose a nonlinear and adaptive approach based on decentralized system structure. Using the passive feature of robots and cubic feedback to treat the nonlinear couplings and quadratic interconnections, the decentralized adaptation is achieved by applying the linear-in-parameters property of the motion equation. The nonlinear feedback improves the performance of PD control from local to global stability and the adaptation reduces its tracking errors. The practical significance of the approaches lies in the fact that they can be implemented in most robots without hardware alteration.
Attentional Effects in Dichotic Listening

This study addresses attentional effects in dichotic listening (DL) to consonant-vowel syllables. Previous research has shown that ear advantages in DL are modulated by biased attention to either the left or the right ear. Attentional effects in DL can be the result of two processes: facilitation of reports from the attended ear, or suppression of intrusions from the nonattended ear. Sixty-two students were tested with DL under three different task instructions: nonforced (divided) attention, attention forced to the right ear, and attention forced to the left ear. The main finding was inhibition of intrusions from the nonattended ear, combined with the facilitation of the correct reports from the attended ear during the two forced-attention conditions, compared with the nonforced condition. The results are discussed in relation to right hemisphere processing of dichotic input, and that attention may activate subcortically biased asymmetries which suppress input from the nonattended channel.
An exploratory study of outsourcing of foodservice operations in Canadian hotels.

Outsourcing in hotels has received sporadic attention in the academic literature but remains a key strategic decision, particularly as it pertains to food and beverage operations. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the outsourcing practices of food and beverage operations of selected Canadian independent hotels. Specifically, it attempted to determine: the various outsourcing practices and the hotels' reasoning behind such decisions, the hotels' perceived benefits from outsourcing their food and beverage services, and the factors the hotels considered when contemplating the outsourcing of their food and beverage services. Most of the findings from the interviews with hotel operators were generally consistent with respect to these reasons. However, mixed responses were reported with respect to the factors and drawbacks the respondents believed should be considered before outsourcing. Overall, respondents suggested that decisions were made with respect to financial considerations, ability to focus on core competencies, and strategic intent. They also suggested that the results of the outsourcing decisions were mixed. Overall, it was concluded that the independent hotels were found to outsource their food and beverage service for the many of the same reasons hotel chains do. Challenges with regard to the outsourcing decision are discussed and recommendations are made with respect to continued challenges around the outsourcing question as well as directions that future research could take.
BPM in German Companies - Information Gathering

This position paper outlines a method devised to gather in- formation on companies involved in BPM from publicly available data. The method is based on searching for job openings on job search engines which are related to BPM. The assumption is that companies searching for new employees with skills regarding BPM are either involved in BPM or are about to be involved in BPM.
A Novel Image Reconstruction Algorithm for Electrical Capacitance Tomography

An algorithm to reconstruct images with Least Squares Support Vector Machines (LS-SVM) and Simulated Annealing Particle Swarm Optimization (APSO) is provided, which is named as SAP. In order to overcome the soft field characteristics of ECT sensitivity field, we exercised some image samples of typical flow pattern with LS-SVM so as to predict the capacitance error caused by the soft field characteristics and then construct the fitness function of the particle swarm optimization on basis of the capacitance error. This algorithm introduces simulated annealing ideas into PSO, adopts cooling process functions to replace the inertia weight function and construct the time variant inertia weight function featured in annealing mechanism, takes use of the APSO algorithm to search for the optimized resolution of Electrical Capacitance Tomography (ECT) reconstruction image. The simulation results show that SAP algorithm is featured in quick convergence rate and higher imaging precision. Compared with Land Weber algorithm and Newton-Raphson algorithm, the quality of reconstruction image with SAP is significantly improved.