Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Alterations of Prefrontal-Posterior Information Processing Patterns in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous disorder characterized by different levels of repetitive and stereotypic behavior as well as deficits in social interaction and communication. In this current study, we explored the changes in cerebral neural activities in ASD. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether there exists a dysfunction of interactive information processing between the prefrontal cortex and posterior brain regions in ASD. We investigated the atypical connectivity and information flow between the prefrontal cortex and posterior brain regions in ASD utilizing the entropy connectivity (a kind of directional connectivity) method. Eighty-nine patients with ASD and 94 typical developing (TD) teenagers participated in this study. Two-sample t-tests revealed weakened interactive entropy connectivity between the prefrontal cortex and posterior brain regions. This result indicates that there exists interactive prefrontal-posterior underconnectivity in ASD, and this disorder might lead to less prior knowledge being used and updated. Our proposals highlighted that aforementioned atypical change might accelerate the deoptimization of brain networks in ASD.
Attraction vs. Alignment as Drivers of Collective Motion

Moving animal groups exhibit a range of fascinating behaviors. The standard explanation for how these groups form and function is that the individual animals interact via attraction, repulsion, and alignment, where alignment is proposed to drive the collective motion. However, it has been shown both experimentally and theoretically that alignment interactions are not required to induce group level alignment. In particular, via the use of self-propelled particle models it has been established that several other mechanisms induce group level alignment (aka polarization) in combination with attraction alone. However, no systematic comparison of these mechanisms among themselves, or with explicit alignment, has been presented and it remains unclear how, or even if, they can be distinguished at the collective level. Here, we introduce two previously unreported mechanisms, burst-and-glide and burst-and-stop, and show via simulation that they also induce polarization in combination with attraction alone. Then, we compare the polarization inducing characteristics of six mechanisms; asymmetric interactions, asynchrony, anticipation, burst-and-glide, burst-and stop, and explicit alignment. We show that the mechanisms induce polarization in different parts of the attraction parameter space, that the route to polarization from uniformly random initial conditions, as well as repolarization following strong perturbations, is markedly different among the mechanisms. In particular, we find that alignment based and non-alignment based mechanisms can be distinguished via their polarization and repolarization processes. These findings further challenge the current alignment based theory of collective motion and may contribute to a more versatile theory of collective motion across scales.
Osteocytes Enhance Osteogenesis by Autophagy-Mediated FGF23 Secretion Under Mechanical Tension

Mechanical stimuli control cell behaviors that are crucial for bone tissue repair. Osteocytes sense extracellular mechanical stimuli then convert them into biochemical signals to harmonize bone remodeling. However, the mechanisms underlying this process remain unclear. Autophagy, which is an evolutionarily preserved process, that occurs at a basal level when stimulated by multiple environmental stresses. We postulated that mechanical stimulation upregulates osteocyte autophagy via AMPK-associated signaling, driving osteocyte-mediated osteogenesis. Using a murine model of orthodontic tooth movement, we show that osteocyte autophagy is triggered by mechanical tension, increasing the quantity of LC3B-positive osteocytes by 4-fold in the tension side. Both in vitro mechanical tension as well as the chemical autophagy agonist enhanced osteocyte Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) secretion, which is an osteogenenic related cytokine, by 2-and 3-fold, respectively. Conditioned media collected from tensioned osteocytes enhanced osteoblast viability. These results indicate that mechanical tension drives autophagy-mediated FGF23 secretion from osteocytes and promotes osteogenesis. Our findings highlight a potential strategy for accelerating osteogenesis in orthodontic clinical settings.
Extended Neuroendoscopic Endonasal Approach for Resection of Craniopharyngioma in Children

Objective To explore the surgical approach and technique of neuroendoscopic endonasal resection of pediatric craniopharyngiomas and to further evaluate its safety and effect in children. Methods The clinical data of 8 children with craniopharyngiomas who were surgically treated by neuroendoscopy through an extended endonasal approach in our center from 2018 to 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. The related surgical approach and technique were evaluated to improve the surgical results and further reduce the surgical complications when removing craniopharyngioma in children. Results All 8 patients achieved a gross-total resection of the tumor under neuroendoscopy. Postoperatively, 2 cases of transient hyperthermia and 4 cases of transient hyper- and/or hyponatremia occurred within the first 2 weeks, all of which were quickly controlled. Seven patients had symptoms of diabetes insipidus to varying degrees after the operation, and 4 of them improved within 1–3 months after surgery, but 3 cases still needed oral pituitrin. There were no cases of coma or death, leakage of cerebrospinal fluid, or severe electrolyte imbalance after surgery. During the postoperative follow-up of 3 months to 2 years, no tumor recurrence was found. Among the 7 patients who suffered postoperative neuroendocrine deficiencies, 3 patients were found to be temporary during the follow-up, but 4 patients still required hormone replacement therapy. Particularly, postoperative visual deterioration and olfactory defect that occurred in patients were all improved during follow-up periods. In addition, 4 cases of obesity were noted at the last follow-up. Conclusions Extended neuroendoscopic endonasal resection of craniopharyngiomas may be used as a safe and effective approach for children. Due to the poor pneumatization of the sphenoid sinus and worse compliance of treatment in children, surgical techniques of exposing the sellar region, removing the tumor, and reconstructing the skull base, as well as postoperative management of patients was proposed. However, due to the limited surgical cases in the study, the surgical safety and effects of the extended neuroendoscopic endonasal approach for children with craniopharyngiomas need to be further studied in the future.
KeyPathwayMineR: De Novo Pathway Enrichment in the R Ecosystem

De novo pathway enrichment is a systems biology approach in which OMICS data are projected onto a molecular interaction network to identify subnetworks representing condition-specific functional modules and molecular pathways. Compared to classical pathway enrichment analysis methods, de novo pathway enrichment is not limited to predefined lists of pathways from (curated) databases and thus particularly suited for discovering novel disease mechanisms. While several tools have been proposed for pathway enrichment, the integration of de novo pathway enrichment in end-to-end OMICS analysis workflows in the R programming language is currently limited to a single tool. To close this gap, we have implemented an R package KeyPathwayMineR (KPM-R). The package extends the features and usability of existing versions of KeyPathwayMiner by leveraging the power, flexibility and versatility of R and by providing various novel functionalities for performing data preparation, visualization, and comparison. In addition, thanks to its interoperability with a plethora of existing R packages in e.g., Bioconductor, CRAN, and GitHub, KPM-R allows carrying out the initial preparation of the datasets and to meaningfully interpret the extracted subnetworks. To demonstrate the package’s potential, KPM-R was applied to bulk RNA-Seq data of nasopharyngeal swabs from SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals, and on single cell RNA-Seq data of aging mice tissue from the Tabula Muris Senis atlas.
The Intolerance of Uncertainty and “Untact” Buying Behavior: The Mediating Role of the Perceived Risk of COVID-19 Variants and Protection Motivation

Draw on the protection motivation theory, this study investigated the impacts of intolerance of uncertainty on “untact” buying behavior, and examined the sequential mediating role of the perceived risk of COVID-19 variants and protection motivation. A total of 1,564 (Mage = 20.75, SD = 1.92) young individuals participated in the survey. The serial mediation analysis results reveal that intolerance of uncertainty influences one’s “untact” buying behavior through “perceived risk of COVID-19 variants - protection motivation. ” Both internal (intolerance of uncertainty, protection motivation) and external (risk of COVID-19) factors worked together to accelerate the transition of individuals’ consumption behavior during COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, our findings generate important implications for public mental health and economic recovery in the post-COVID-19 era.
The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers

Written in concert with Adobe's development of the Photoshop Lightroom 2 Beta, The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers - by #1 bestselling computer and technology author, Scott Kelby - is the most complete and concise Lightroom "how-to" book for digital photographers of all skill levels.In The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers, Scott walks readers through the basics of Lightroom use, leading them to a brilliantly devised and super efficient digital photography workflow that dramatically improves productivity and allows photographers to spend less time processing photos and more time shooting them. Throughout the book Scott shares his personal camera and Lightroom settings, as well as the studio-tested techniques he's developed for his own photography workflow. The book is written in his trademark step-by-step, plain English style, and because he knows what really works and what doesn't, he isn't shy to tell you flat out which tools to use, which to avoid, and why. This allows digital photographers of any skill level to jump right in using Lightroom like a pro from the very start, sidestepping a lot of the frustrations that typically haunt those unfamiliar with new applicationsespecially those as powerful as Lightroom.What really sets The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers apart from other Lightroom books on the market are the last two bonus chapters where Scott answers the questions, "In exactly what order am I supposed to do things in Lightoom," and "Where does Photoshop fit in to the mix? " Both chapters start with an on-location photo shoot, including full details on the equipment, camera settings, and lighting techniques. Readers then witness as he takes the photos from each shoot through the entire workflow process, to the final output of the 16"x20" prints. And, because he incorporates Photoshop seamlessly right into this workflow, you'll learn some of the latest Photoshop techniques for portrait and landscape photography as well. If you're one of those people who learns best by actually doing the projects yourself; who learns best without all the complicated technical explanations and confusing jargon, and if you really want to start using Lightroom today to unlock the productivity secrets of "The new digital photography workflow,"---there is no faster, more "straight-to-the-point" or more fun way to learn than this groundbreaking new book, and you are absolutely going to love it!
Bluetooth hotspots for smart spaces interaction

We may find in the market many smart space applications and projects which are using Bluetooth services as mechanism for user-interaction. However, their ad-hoc implementation come as a limitation to their deployment in a global interactive model. This survey focuses on the requirements of such applications, systematizing their interaction models and presents the main key design of a mid- dleware component for Bluetooth interaction-based pervasive applications, run- ning on Linux routers.
Bacteria-Enabled Autonomous Drug Delivery Systems: Design, Modeling, and Characterization of Transport and Sensing

ii Acknowledgements iii List of Figures xi List of Tables xvii Chapter 1: Introduction 1 1.1 Motivation and problem statement 1 1.2 Background 4 a. The cancerous tumor microenvironment and the challenges of chemotherapy 4 b. Current state of the field on cancer targeting and drug delivery 10 c. Bacteria targeting and preferential growth within tumors 11 1.4 Organization of the Thesis 14 Chapter 2: A PEG-DA microfluidic device for cell chemotaxis studies 18 Abstract 18 2.
Changing “white and bright” room light to “dim and umber” one had significant effects on residents’ sleep patterns

Japanese people are known for their short sleep time, which is resulting from their late bedtime. Light exposure, especially with short wave length, has significant effects of delaying circadian rhythms. Room lights used in Japanese houses are mostly “bright and white” fluorescent or LED devices. There are many laboratory experiments demonstrating the effects of light on sleep and wake patterns, however, light effects have not been confirmed in actual house settings. We conducted an intervention study of changing light condition in actual houses. We provided “dim and umber” type light devices to the house with “bright and white” type light devices. In experimental group, where the lights were changed to the “dim and umber types, sleep and wake patterns were advanced significantly, compared to the control group. While in the control group with “bright and white” light type, the residents showed significant delay in their sleep and wake patterns, only within a week period. In the experimental group, they showed significant improvements in their mental health. There are possibilities of beneficial changes, if the “dim and umber” type light settings are introduced into Japanese houses.
On-line Monitoring System of Temperature Inside HV Switchgear Cabinet

An on-line monitoring system of temperature elevation inside HV switchgear cabinet is developed based on ZigBee.Real-time temperature of components in the cabinet is sampled by using DS18B20,and wireless real-time transmission of multi-point temperature is implemented via ZigBee.An induction coil which can be easily set on contact wall is designed to provide the low-voltage power supply for the system.RS485 and CAN interfaces are designed to connect with the power control center for implementation of remote on-line monitoring of temperature inside high voltage switchgear cabinet.Field test results show that the system operates stable and reliable.
Mechanism of Federate Migration Based on Mobile Agent

The High Level Architecture (HLA) is developed as a common technical framework for modeling and simulation that facilitates interoperability among simulations and promotes reuse of simulation components. However, an HLA-based large-scale simulation is often distributed over nodes of network, with the execution of simulation imbalance of host load often takes palce, and HLA does not provide corresponding mechanism. The fundamental methodology of achieving load balance is migrating load from heavier-loaded host to less-loaded host, and process migration is such a common problem-sloving method. A new mechanism of federate migration was described based on mobile agent, in which the mobility of mobile agent was combined into federate to achieve the mobility for federate. Experiments show that the mechanism can migrate federates of simulation systems like air-ground countermeasure simulation, but for interaction-intensive simulation it cann’t guarantee no lost or duplication of message, which needs further research.
Modelling of Technology Valuation in the Processof its Commercialization

Received:02 April 2020 Acepted: 26 November 2020 Abstract Commercialization processes are modeled and analyzed from the point of view of the implementation of activities under particular stages. These issues are the subject of many studies and analyzes, which is why the extensive literature is available on this subject. Technology valuation at various stages of the commercialization process is a separate issue. Such valuation is prepared in most cases by consulting companies for determining the price in the buying and selling processes. These valuations use known methods also used in other cases, e.g., real estate valuation. The work carried out presents the author’s concept of the commercialization process model, taking into account the costs and value of the technology at various stages of the product life cycle. The model uses a stochastic approach to determine future revenues and costs, which allows estimating the value of the technology by or in determining the probability of assessment validity. The proposed stochastic approach greatly increases the chances of using the presented solutions in practical activities related to technology valuation for the purposes of purchase and sale transactions.
Vasodilator Strain Stress Echocardiography in Suspected Coronary Microvascular Angina

Background: In patients with Ischemia and non-obstructive coronary artery stenosis (INOCA) wall motion is rarely abnormal during stress echocardiography (SE). Our aim was to determine if patients with INOCA and reduced coronary flow velocity reserve (CVFR) have altered cardiac mechanics using two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography (2DSTE) during SE. Methods: In a prospective, multicenter, international study, we recruited 135 patients with INOCA. Overall, we performed high dose (0.84 mg/kg) dipyridamole SE with combined assessment of CVFR and 2DSTE. The population was divided in patients with normal CVFR (>2, group 1, n = 95) and abnormal CVFR (≤2, group 2, n = 35). Clinical and 2DSTE parameters were compared between groups. Results: Feasibility was high for CFVR (98%) and 2DSTE (97%). A total of 130 patients (mean age 63 ± 12 years, 67 women) had complete flow and strain data. The two groups showed similar 2DSTE values at rest. At peak SE, Group 1 patients showed lower global longitudinal strain (p < 0.007), higher mechanical dispersion (p < 0.0005), lower endocardial (p < 0.001), and epicardial (p < 0.0002) layer specific strain. Conclusions: In patients with INOCA, vasodilator SE with simultaneous assessment of CFVR and strain is highly feasible. Coronary microvascular dysfunction is accompanied by an impairment of global and layer-specific deformation indices during stress.
A 18-mW, 20-MHz bandwidth, 12-bit continuous-time Σ Δ modulator using a power-efficient multi-stage amplifier

A fourth-order continuous-time sigma delta modulator with 20-MHz bandwidth, implemented in 130-nm CMOS technology is presented. The modulator is comprised of an active-RC operational-amplifier based loop filter, a 4-bit internal quantizer and three current steering feedback DACs. A three-stage amplifier with low power is designed to satisfy the requirement of high dc gain and high gain-bandwidth product of the loop filter. Non-return-to-zero DAC pulse shaping is utilized to reduce clock jitter sensitivity. A special layout technique guarantees that the main feedback DAC reaches 12-bit match accuracy, avoiding the use of a dynamic element matching algorithm to induce excess loop delay. The experimental results demonstrate a 64.6-dB peak signal-to-noise ratio, and 66-dB dynamic range over a 20-MHz signal bandwidth when clocked at 480 MHz with 18-mW power consumption from a 1.2-V supply.
Event-based network rehabilitation planing and asset management

Most North American water distribution systems are old and in need to be rehabilitatated. Faced with budget pressures, it is important for municipalities to be able to prioritize water main rehabilitation and replacement. A new event-based approach to otpimally schedule water main rehabilitation/replacement has been proposed and combined with a multi-objective optimization model to run on a parallel processing platform. The proposed approch considers the broadest set of rehabilitation methods and reduces the number of decision needs to be made by optimization engine. The asset management strategies (including adjacency to infrastructure works, economies of scale, and annual bugetary constraints) are considered in the model and applied to the real-world Amherstview water distribution system in Amherstview, Ontario, Canada. Prelaminary results indicated that considering bugetary costraints could have negative impacts on cost while applying asset management strategies could significantly affect rehabilitation decisions and reduce cost.
Evaluasi Proses Pembelajaran Dengan Pendekatan Systems Thinking

A quality learning process is a learning process developed based on the results of the evaluation. One of the evaluations of the learning process is the systems thinking approach. This study aims to determine the constraints of the learning process with systems thinking approach and determine problem-solving strategies to improve the quality of the learning process. The research method used is a descriptive qualitative method and group model building. Based on the results of the study, it shows that the objective variable in the learning process is student understanding, the supporting variable to better understand the lecture material is the creativity of the lecturer.
Partner selection of virtual enterprise based on multi-agent and contract-net technology

Selecting appropriate partners is crucial for the organization and operation of virtual enterprise. A model for the partner selection of virtual enterprise based on enterprise's goal and task was presented by employing multi-agent and contract-net technology. To make use of this model, the leader of the alliance divided the enterprise's goals into sub-goals, and released the requirements of the enterprise, then negotiated with the members of the alliance about the cooperation issues, and chose the most appropriate member as partner by using multi-attribute utility theory. If all alliance members could not meet the requirements of the enterprise, the enterprise's goal and the constrained functions should be modified in order to choose the appropriate partner again. Lastly, to illustrate how to make use of this model, an example was given, which introduced how to choose the appropriate design partners of the heavy-duty hydraulic turbine.
Architecture of Computing System based on Chiplet

Computing systems are widely used in medical diagnosis, climate prediction, autonomous vehicles, etc. As the key part of electronics, the performance of computing systems is crucial in the intellectualization of the equipment. The conflict between performance, efficiency, and cost can be solved by choosing an appropriate computing system architecture. In order to provide useful advice and instructions for the designers to fabricate high-performance computing systems, this paper reviews the Chiplet-based computing system architectures, including computing architecture and memory architecture. Firstly, the computing architecture used for high-performance computing, mobile, and PC is presented and summarized. Secondly, the memory architecture based on mainstream memory and emerging non-volatile memory used for data storing and processing are introduced, and the key parameters of memory are compared and discussed. Finally, this paper is concluded, and the future perspectives of computing system architecture based on Chiplet are presented.