Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Obesity Pharmacotherapy: Current Perspectives and Future Directions

The rising tide of obesity and its related disorders is one of the most pressing health concerns worldwide, yet existing medicines to combat the problem are disappointingly limited in number and effectiveness. Recent advances in mechanistic insights into the neuroendocrine regulation of body weight have revealed an expanding list of molecular targets for novel, rationally designed antiobesity pharmaceutical agents. Antiobesity drugs act via any of four mechanisms: 1) decreasing energy intake, 2) increasing energy expenditure or modulating lipid metabolism, 3) modulating fat stores or adipocyte differentiation, and 4) mimicking caloric restriction. Various novel drug candidates and targets directed against obesity are currently being explored. A few of them are also in the later phases of clinical trials. This review discusses the development of novel antiobesity drugs based on current understanding of energy homeostasis
A QoS-aware service composition approach based on semantic annotations and integer programming

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a novel quality of service (QoS)‐aware service composition approach, called SEQOIA, capable of defining at run‐time a service composition plan meeting both functional and non‐functional constraints and optimizing the overall quality of service.Design/methodology/approach – SEQOIA is a semantic‐driven QoS‐aware dynamic composition approach leveraging on an integer linear programming technique (ILP). It exploits the expressiveness of an ontology‐based service profile model handling structural and semantic properties of service descriptions. It represents the service composition problem as a set of functional and non‐functional constraints and an objective function.Findings – The authors developed a proof of concept implementing SEQOIA, as well as an alternative composition solution based on state‐of‐the‐art AI planning and ILP techniques. Results of testing activities show that SEQOIA performs better than the alternative solution over a limited set of candid.
Effect of different substrate material on the radiation characteristics of the UWB antenna

This paper presents a effect on radiation characteristics of UWB antenna for different substrate. The novel monopole antenna for ultrawide-band (UWB) applications is considered for study The planar circular disc monopole antenna with a 50Ω microstrip line has been simulated first on FR4 substrate with Er=4.4, tan(i=0.02, h=1.6mm and further modified to achieve the proposed antenna. The parameters which affect the performance of the antenna in terms of its frequency domain characteristics are investigated. Details of the proposed antenna design and simulated result on the radiation characteristics are presented and discussed.
MORE THAN ONE WAY TO STUDY A BUILDING: APPROACHES TO PREHISTORIC HOUSEHOLD AND SETTLEMENT SPACE

Summary. This article reviews a number of research methodologies used to record household and settlement architecture and assesses their value in the investigation of the human use of prehistoric built space. It exemplifies, through case studies, five broad approaches to, and research techniques associated with, the investigation of such architecture. These approaches are: architectural form; the spatial distribution of activities; continuity and standardization; the relationship between built and non-built space; and human patterns of movement. Then, drawing mainly on Near Eastern, and particularly Anatolian, material, it shows how a sixth approach, the use of ethnographic observation and analogy, provides insights into functional and seasonal variations in spatial use, patterns of movement and social organization. It identifies seven categories of data collection and nine observations drawn from the ethnographic material which together provide an investigative and interpretative framework for the study of early farming communities in the Near East and elsewhere.
EASE : Energy-Aware Self-Optimizing DRAM Scheduling

We propose an energy-aware self-optimizing memory controller in which DRAM energy management is integral to the command scheduler. Experiments conducted on a 8-core CMP model show that, for the parallel applications considered, our scheduler reduces memory’s energy-delay squared Et by 18% while delivering a 5% speedup with respect to a state-of-the-art power-aware solution.
Real-time IP network simulation at gigabit data rates

In most of the network research or development projects, as well as in teaching / academia, network simulators today play an important role. Network simulation tools can be generally classified as those performing simulations off-line in form of batch-type tasks, and those operating in real-time, often with the ability to interact with the real network hardware and traffic. However, limited performance remains one of the main issues associated with most of the current real-time simulator implementations. In this article we present a novel framework for constructing high performance real-time IP network simulators, capable of operating at gigabit speeds using a commodity industry-standard PC hardware. Our implementation, based on a modified 4.4BSD operating system (OS) kernel, permits complex simulated network configurations to be constructed using basic building components: virtual nodes and links. Each virtual node can act as an entirely independent but completely functional OS image, allowing standard unmodified UNIX services and utilities to be used in the experiments, while retaining nearly the same performance properties as in the original OS.
Neurolinguistic and machine-learning perspectives on direct speech BCIs for restoration of naturalistic communication

AbstractThe ultimate goal of brain-computer-interface (BCI) research on speech restoration is to develop devices which will be able to reconstruct spontaneous, naturally spoken language from the underlying neuronal signals. From this it follows that thorough understanding of brain activity and its functional dynamics during real-world speech will be required. Here, we review current developments in intracranial neurolinguistic and BCI research on speech production under increasingly naturalistic conditions. With an example of neurolinguistic data from our ongoing research, we illustrate the plausibility of neurolinguistic investigations in non-experimental, out-of-the-lab conditions of speech production. We argue that interdisciplinary endeavors at the interface of neuroscience and linguistics can provide valuable insight into the functional significance of speech-related neuronal data. Finally, we anticipate that work with neurolinguistic corpora composed of real-world language samples and simultaneous n.
A Novel Alternative Weighted Fuzzy C-Means Algorithm and Cluster Validity Analysis

Proposed a novel fuzzy cluster algorithm-AWFCM, aiming at large miss-clustering and invalidation in the fuzzy C-means algorithm when has noises and uneven samples situation. This new algorithm defined a new distance in new metric space and introduced weight matrix based on sample dots' density. New definition of distance can efficiently restrain the error range of clustering centers for samples with noise points in iteration, meanwhile improve recursion for clustering centers according to samples' density. Experiments have proved that AWFCM algorithm overcomes bugs of FCM algorithm to a certain extent, with favorable convergence and robust.
Virtual Grasping of Deformable Objects with Exact Contact Friction in Real Time

This paper describes a physically-based simulation for grasping tasks in an interactive environment. Fingertips and interacting objects are based on quasi-rigid models. The quasi-rigid model combines a rigid model for dynamic simulation and a deformable model for resolving local contact with friction and surface deformation. We simulate deformation by adding compliance on control points in the contact area based on point primitives. We use a Coulomb’s law description to add friction phenomenon in the virtual environment. A linearized formulation of this model in the contact space and an iterative Gauss-Seidel like algorithm are able to solve complex multi-contacts problem between deformable objects in real time. Our method computes consistent and realistic contact surface in a stable way. This allows us to couple this system with an optical motion capture system for Virtual Reality applications.
The level of equivalence in the ISSP 1999 and its implications on further analysis

Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Zucha, Vlasta: The level of equivalence in the ISSP 1999 and its implications on further analysis. In: Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik, Jürgen H. P. (Ed.) ; Harkness, Janet (Ed.) ; GESIS-ZUMA (Ed.): Methodological aspects in cross-national research. Mannheim, 2005 (ZUMA-Nachrichten Spezial 11). ISBN 3-924220-29-8, 127-146. https://nbn-resolving.org/ urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-49155-2
Isothermal microcalorimetry provides new insights into biofilm variability and dynamics.

The purpose of this study was to investigate a three-species in vitro biofilm with peri-implantitis-related bacteria for its variability and metabolic activity. Streptococcus sanguinis, Fusobacterium nucleatum, and Porphyromonas gingivalis were suspended in simulated body fluid containing 0.2% glucose to form biofilms on polished, protein-coated implant-grade titanium disks over 72 h using a flow chamber system. Thereafter, biofilm-coated disks were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and fluorescence in situ hybridization/confocal laser scanning microscopy. To assess metabolic activity within the biofilms, their heat flow was recorded for 480 h at 37 °C by IMC. The microscopic methods revealed that the total number of bacteria in the biofilms varied slightly among specimens (2.59 × 10(4) ± 0.67 × 10(4) cells mm(-2) ), whereas all three species were found constantly with unchanged proportions (S. sanguinis 41.3 ± 4.8%, F. nucleatum 17.7 ± 2.1%, and P. gingivalis 41.0 ± 4.9%). IMC revealed minor differences in time-to-peak heat flow (20.6 ± 4.5 h), a trend consistent with the small variation in bacterial species proportions as shown by microscopy. Peak heat flow (35.8 ± 42.6 μW), mean heat flow (13.1 ± 22.0 μW), and total heat over 480 h (23.5 ± 37.2 J) showed very high variation. These IMC results may be attributed to differences in the initial cell counts and relative proportions of the three species, their distribution and embedment in exopolysaccharide matrix on the test specimens. The present results provide new insights into variability and dynamics of biofilms on titanium disks, aspects that should be explored in future studies of dental surfaces.
LYTAK1, a TAK1 inhibitor, suppresses proliferation and epithelial-mesenchymal transition in retinal pigment epithelium cells

The proliferation of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells following epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is critical in proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR), which results in retinal detachment and the loss of vision. The current study was conducted to examine the importance of transforming growth factor β-1 (TGF-β1)-activated kinase 1 (TAK1) inhibitor (LYTAK1) in regulating EMT and the proliferation of RPE cells. RPE cells were pre-treated with increasing concentrations of LYTAK1 prior to treatment with TGF-β1 for 24 h. The effect of LYTAK1 on RPE cell proliferation was examined using a Cell Counting kit-8 assay. The expression levels of TAK1, smooth muscle actin, fibronectin, p-Smad2, p-Smad3, nuclear factor (NF)-κB p65 and IκB kinase α were detected by western blotting. LYTAK1 suppressed the proliferation and migration of RPE cells. Additionally, LYTAK1 significantly prevented TGF-β1-induced EMT by decreasing the levels of fibronectin and α-smooth muscle actin. It was demonstrated that the effects of LYTAK1 were via the Smad signaling pathway. The present study also determined, that the underlying mechanism of the effects of LYTAK1 on EMT in RPE cells involves downregulation of the NF-κB signaling pathway. In conclusion, TAK1 transcription factor was shown to be important in TGF-β1-induced EMT in human RPE cells. Thus, the results of this study aid in elucidating the pathogenesis of human PVR. In addition, this study suggests that specific inhibition by LYTAK1 may provide a novel approach for the treatment and prevention of PVR.
Study on the evolution process of nuclear accident consequence assessment system

Nuclear accident consequence assessment is used to predict the total distribution of all the consequences of the release of radioactive material in the environment. Due to the development of computer technology and technology of computer simulation of atmospheric dispersion, the nuclear accident consequence assessment software system, which is designed and constructed on the basic of computerized model of atmospheric dispersion and dose calculation, is widely used in the realm of emergency response in nuclear power plants. As an E-type software system, nuclear accident consequence assessment system focuses on solving practical issues and needs in the field of accident consequence assessment. The evolution of the system follows the laws of software evolution. This paper introduces the background knowledge and basic concepts of nuclear accident consequence assessment system. Spiral model is used in the whole life cycle of evolution process according to the characteristic and complexity of the system. The initial version of the system is designed and constructed on the basic of the requirements of nuclear power plant and universal technology and model in the realm of nuclear accident consequence assessment. According to the practice of system reengineering, the evolution process of nuclear accident consequence assessment system is divided into three main phases or cycles in this paper. The main process of three-phase evolution is studied on the basic of spiral model. In each phase, the details of requirements change and application scenarios are studied and discussed deeply. Then, the key issues including impact analysis, system reengineering and CASE tools of evolution process are discussed separately in the paper. The nuclear accident consequence assessment system discussed in this paper has been applied in Ningde Nuclear Power Plant, Taishan Nuclear Power Plant, Sanmen Nuclear Power Plant in China. The practical application and improvement process of the system are discussed from the standpoint of software evolution. Moreover, the specific process, method, technologies, tools and issues are studied deeply in the paper. The research contents have great significance for software design, construction and evolution of nuclear accident consequence assessment system or other related software.
Group Influence in Sharing Experiments

We experimentally study how group identity and social influence affect proposers and recipients in Ultimatum and Impunity Games. To induce group identity and social effects, we assign individuals to different color groups and inform them about the median choice of their own group. When testing the relevance of this social signal for intentions and decisions we distinguish uni- and bi-dimensional behavior, the latter to let individuals select on which rule of conduct of the others to condition own behavior. When disagreement and conflicting views are possible, coordinating with group behavior may be less important and individuals may prefer self-serving. The bi-dimensional design apparently allows for more variety: tracking both group medians, only one or none.Social influence significantly affects behavior in Ultimatum but has much weaker impact in Impunity experiments. Social information seems to act in two ways: as a coordination device and as a learning device. However, the marginal impact of the signal and the direction of its influence is strongly role dependent.
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) Thyroid disease and haemostasis : a relationship with clinical implications ?

Recurrent deep venous thrombosis despite well-conducted anticoagulant treatment is an uncommon, but possible, event. It has been hypothesized that overt hyperthyroidism may increase thromboembolic risk. We present the case of an elderly man with a recurrent episode of deep venous thrombosis during optimal oral vitamin K antagonist treatment, associated with a new diagnosis of overt hyperthyroidism, with no evidence of occult cancer and normal levels of antiphosholipid antibodies. 184 Overt hyperthyroidism, DVT, and VKA
EAGER: programming repetitive tasks by example

Abstract Eager is a Programming by Example system for the HyperCard environment. It constantly monitors the user's activities, and when it detects an iterative pattern, it writes a program to complete the iteration. Programming by Example systems create generalized programs from examples provided by the user. They are faced with the problem of how to display these abstract procedures. Eager utilizes a new interface technique, called anticipation, to show how it has generalized: when it detects a repetitive activity, it highlights menus and objects on the screen to indicate what it expects the user to do next. As users continue to perform their activity, they will notice that the objects they are about to select have already been highlighted by the system. When it becomes apparent that Eager knows how to perform the task correctly, they can tell Eager to complete the task for them. The use of anticipation allows Eager to interfere minimally with the users' normal activities.
Subject-independent emotion recognition from facial expressions using a Gabor feature RBF neural classifier trained with virtual samples generated by concurrent self-organizing maps

The most expressive way humans display emotions is through facial expressions. This paper is dedicated to the challenging computer vision task of subject-independent emotion recognition from facial expressions. The original key idea of the proposed model is the increasing of the neural classifier training set size by adding "virtual" samples generated with a system of Concurrent Self-Organizing Maps (CSOM). The model consists of the following main processing cascade: (a) Gabor Wavelet Filtering (GVF); (b) dimensionality reduction using Principal Component Analysis (PCA); (c) Radial Basis Function (RBF) neural classifier trained with virtual samples generated by CSOM system (VSG-CSOM). We have evaluated the above proposed model for person-independent facial expression recognition using JAFFE database. One obtains an average recognition score for the test set (leave-one subject out test method) of 69.70%. The advantage of using CSOM-VSG-RBF over a traditional RBF neural classifier means an improvement of recognition score with about 16% (from 53.44% for RBF to 69.70% for VSG-CSOM-RBF).
Automatic Feature Selection for Model-Based Reinforcement Learning in Factored MDPs

Feature selection is an important challenge in machine learning. Unfortunately, most methods for automating feature selection are designed for supervised learning tasks and are thus either inapplicable or impractical for reinforcement learning. This paper presents a new approach to feature selection specifically designed for the challenges of reinforcement learning. In our method, the agent learns a model, represented as a dynamic Bayesian network, of a factored Markov decision process, deduces a minimal feature set from this network, and efficiently computes a policy on this feature set using dynamic programming methods. Experiments in a stock-trading benchmark task demonstrate that this approach can reliably deduce minimal feature sets and that doing so can substantially improve performance and reduce the computational expense of planning.
The impact of image integration on catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation using electroanatomic mapping: a prospective randomized study.

AIMS A detailed appreciation of the left atrial/pulmonary venous (LA/PV) anatomy may be important in improving the safety and success of catheter ablation for AF. The aim of this randomized study was to determine the impact of computed tomographic (CT) integration into an electroanatomic mapping (EAM) system on clinical outcome in patients undergoing catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF). METHODS AND RESULTS Eighty patients with AF were randomized to undergo first-time wide encirclement of ipsilateral PV pairs using EAM alone (40 patients) or with CT (40 patients, Cartomerge). Wide encirclement of the pulmonary veins was performed using irrigated radiofrequency ablation with the electrophysiological endpoint of electrical isolation (EI). The primary endpoint was single-procedure success at 6 month follow up. Acute and long-term procedural outcomes were also determined. There was no significant difference in single procedure success between EAM (56%) and cavotricuspid isthmus image (CTI) (50%) groups (P = 0.9). Acute procedural outcomes (EI, PV reconnection, sinus rhythm restored by ablation in persistent AF), fluoroscopy, and procedure durations (EI of right PVs, EI of left PVs, total) did not differ significantly between EAM and CTI groups. CONCLUSION Image integration to guide catheter ablation for AF did not significantly improve the clinical outcome. Achieving PV EI is the critical determinant of procedural success rather than the mapping tools used to achieve it.
A Framework for Top Service Subscription Recommendations for Service Assemblers

It is common practice today for small and medium business houses to assemble and host services, than hosting everything themselves. To cater to diverse market needs, these houses often need to subscribe to different services from different information providers. The service contracts and the range of features and facilities supported and provided by the providers vary widely. A non-trivial challenge for a service assembler is in deciding the set of information providers to subscribe to, given the heterogeneity in the offerings provided, the economics of the business model, the target set of customers in the market place and most importantly, the profit margin. We present in this paper, an automated framework that addresses this challenge and aids a service assembler with a cost-feature-performance balanced recommendation of the providers that can best serve his needs. The problem gets exacerbated since there can be multiple dimensions/categories of services (e.g., hotel, flight, and local conveyance in the travel domain) and there can be multiple relevant recommendations which may be of use for the service assemblers. We examine the service subscription recommendation problem from different perspectives and present algorithms for service assembly. Experimental results on small-scale real data as well as large-scale simulation data show the efficacy of our proposal.
Believable Software Management ∗

By ‘believable software management’ we shall understand a “state of software development” (as an established practice) in which all developers, that is, programmers and managers at all levels, in their conscience, are confident that everybody is working according to state-of-the-art methods. In this Software Engineering Encyclopedia entry on ‘believable software management’ we shall therefore survey what it means to be a programmer or a manager working according to state-of-the-art methods. To us, the concept of ‘software management’, covers both software development project management and software product management. We shall therefore have something to say about both. Much about the former and just a tiny bit about the latter. Many aspects of software product management refers to software development project management.