Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Diabetes Complications: The MicroRNA Perspective

There remains a critical need to better understand the underlying disease mechanisms responsible for diabetes complications in order to develop new and improved therapeutic strategies for these chronic conditions. These complications are broadly classified as microvascular, including neuropathy, nephropathy, and retinopathy, or macrovascular, including cardiovascular and peripheral vascular disease. The risk for developing complications is influenced by many factors including duration of diabetes and genetic factors. Current treatments have resulted in only a partial reduction in this risk, and the management of these conditions remains a major unmet need for those with diabetes. New insights have come from an unlikely ally, the worm C. elegans , in which research has identified a novel family of endogenous, small (∼22 nucleotides), single stranded, noncoding RNA molecules known as microRNAs (miRNAs) as developmental regulators (1,2). These molecules, only identified in humans in the last decade, modulate physiological and pathological processes by the posttranscriptional inhibition of gene expression (3). Many excellent reviews have been written dealing with biogenesis (4) through to their role in development and disease (5), although this work has generally focused on cancer and infection rather than diabetes and its complications (6). The effect of miRNAs is via the incomplete binding of the “seed sequence” at the 5′ end of the miRNA to the complementary target site in the 3′ untranslated region (UTR) of the messenger RNA. Each miRNA species can inhibit the expression of many genes, while each mRNA can be potentially targeted by several miRNAs. Recent studies have demonstrated clear links between altered miRNA expression and certain diabetes complications, as described later in this article. These findings further highlight the complex nature of diabetes and the huge challenge in better understanding the various vascular complications associated with this disorder. Here we discuss some recent studies demonstrating …
Edge Detection Based on Fast Adaptive Mean Shift Algorithm

Edge detection is arguably the most important operation in low level computer vision. Mean shift is an effective iterative algorithm widely used in edge detection. But the cost of computation prohibits Mean shift algorithm for high dimensions feature space. In this paper, a fast adaptive mean shift algorithm is proposed for edge detection. It makes use of one approximate nearest neighbors search method, i.e. LSH (Locality-Sensitive Hashing) firstly, which dramatically reduces the computation of iterations in high dimensions. Moreover, the LSH procedure can help to determine the bandwidth of the kernel window adaptively. The experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Pellino Proteins: Novel Players in TLR and IL-1R Signalling

• Introduction • Pellino proteins are extremely well conserved during evolution • Genomic organisation and protein structure of Pellino • Pellino proteins interact with key mediators in TLR/IL‐1R‐induced signalling pathways • Role of Pellino proteins in TLR/IL‐1R signalling to NF‐κB and MAPK • Perspectives
Congestion detection and control algorithms for multipath data forwarding in sensor networks

Recently, there have been a number of research works on multipath data forwarding mechanisms that can increase the source data transmission throughput, data security and enhance the network lifetime. However, a congestion control mechanism dedicated for multipath routing is rarely found in the literature. This work first proposes a source data packet loading scheme over multiple paths and then presents congestion detection and control algorithms suited for multipath data forwarding. Our congestion detection is based on buffer occupancy of a node and the control algorithm is driven by preconceived packet loading rates maintained at each source node. The simulation results show that our schemes exhibit better performance than the existing ones.
LTE-D broadcast with distributed interference-aware D2D resource allocation

Device-to-Device (D2D) communications is a promising technique to provide wireless peer-to-peer communication services and to enhance resource utilization as well as spectrum efficiency. In this paper, a distributed resource allocation scheme involving several D2D broadcast groups is proposed. However, the great amount of interference caused by sharing resources among different D2D broadcast users may significantly affect the performance of other D2D users. Therefore, an efficient resource allocation method is necessary to coordinate the interference. Specifically, we formulate the interference relationships among different D2D broadcast groups as an innovative interference-aware graph based resource allocation algorithm. This scheme aims to minimize the number of “confiict UE” meanwhile mitigate interference among different D2D broadcast groups from affecting the performance of each other. The complexity of proposed scheme is lower than that of the optimal SINR/channel capacity scheme.
Goal-directed learning and obsessive–compulsive disorder

Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) has become a paradigmatic case of goal-directed dysfunction in psychiatry. In this article, we review the neurobiological evidence, historical and recent, that originally led to this supposition and continues to support a habit hypothesis of OCD. We will then discuss a number of recent studies that have directly tested this hypothesis, using behavioural experiments in patient populations. Based on this research evidence, which suggests that rather than goal-directed avoidance behaviours, compulsions in OCD may derive from manifestations of excessive habit formation, we present the details of a novel account of the functional relationship between these habits and the full symptom profile of the disorder. Borrowing from a cognitive dissonance framework, we propose that the irrational threat beliefs (obsessions) characteristic of OCD may be a consequence, rather than an instigator, of compulsive behaviour in these patients. This lays the foundation for a potential shift in both clinical and neuropsychological conceptualization of OCD and related disorders. This model may also prove relevant to other putative disorders of compulsivity, such as substance dependence, where the experience of ‘wanting’ drugs may be better understood as post hoc rationalizations of otherwise goal-insensitive, stimulus-driven behaviour.
Path level traffic grooming strategies for multi-objective design in WDM networks

In this paper, we develop a multi-objective network design model for the traffic grooming, routing and wavelength assignment (GRWA) in WDM networks. We consider and evaluate four traffic grooming strategies which are Point to Point (P2P), Point to Multi-Point (P2MP), Multi-Point to Point (MP2P) and Multi-Point to Multi-Point (MP2MP). The design objectives are to maximize the number of accepted communication requests (source-destination pairs) as well as to minimize the number of wavelength channel requirement. Both the design objectives are conflicted to each other; maximizing the number of accepted commodities will require a large number of wavelength channels while minimizing the number of wavelength channels will limit the amount of accepted commodities. To solve the multi-objective network design problem, we apply a fast and efficient optimization technique called “Fast Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II)”. The simulation results show that traffic grooming with multiple sources/destinations are the most flexible and efficient grooming techniques that give wide-spread solutions on the objective space, than those solutions obtained from the P2P grooming technique in both objective values (i.e., number of accepted commodities and wavelength channels required).
Fully Dynamic Algorithms for Path Problems on Directed Graphs

In this thesis we investigate fully dynamic algorithms for path problems on directed graphs. In particular, we focus on two of the most fundamental path problems: fully dynamic transitive closure and fully dynamic single-source shortest paths. The first part of the thesis presents a new technique which makes it possible to reduce fully dynamic transitive closure to the problem of reevaluating polynomials over matrices when updates of variables are performed. Based on this technique, we devise a new deterministic algorithm which improves the best known bounds for fully dynamic transitive closure. Our algorithm hinges upon the well-known equivalence between transitive closure and matrix multiplication on a closed semiring. We show how to maintain explicitly the transitive closure of a directed graph as a Boolean matrix in O(n2) amortized time per insertion and deletion of edges. Since an update may change as many as Ω(n2) entries of this matrix, this seems to be the best update bound that one could hope for this class of algorithms. We note that maintaining explicitly the transitive closure allows us to answer reachability queries with just one table lookup. We also consider the case where only deletions are allowed and we show how to handle updates faster in O(n) amortized time per operation while maintaining unit lookup per query; in this way we generalize to directed graphs the previous best known deletions-only result for acyclic graphs. Using the same matrix based approach, we also address the problem of maintaining implicitly the transitive closure of a directed graph and we devise the first algorithm which supports both updates and reachability queries in subquadratic time per operation. This result proves that it is actually possible to break through the O(n2) barrier on the single-operation complexity of fully dynamic transitive closure, and solves a problem that has been open for many years. Our subquadratic algorithm is randomized Monte Carlo and supports update in O(n1.58) and query in O(n0.58) worst-case time. From an experimental point of view, we investigate the practical performances of fully dynamic single-source shortest paths algorithms on directed graphs with arbitrary edge weights. We also propose a variant of the best known algorithms especially designed to be simple and fast in practice while matching the same asymptotic worst-case running time. Our study provides the first experimental evidence of practical dynamic solutions for the problem that are better by several orders of magnitude than recomputing from scratch.
Sensory modulation dysfunction in children with attention‐deficit‐hyperactivity disorder

This study investigates the presence of sensory modulation dysfunction (SMD) among children with attention‐deficit‐hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Twenty‐six children with ADHD (mean age 8.3 years, 18 males, 8 females), and 30 typically developing children (mean age 8.2 years, 21 males, 9 females) were tested using a laboratory procedure that gauges responses to repeated sensory stimulation by measuring electrodermal reactivity (EDR). Parental report measures of limitations in sensory, emotional, and attentional dimensions were administered using the Short Sensory Profile, the Leiter International Performance Scale‐Revised, Parent Rating subscales, and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Compared to the typical sample, the children with ADHD displayed greater abnormalities in sensory modulation on both physiological and parent‐report measures. The children with ADHD also displayed more variability in responses. Within the group with ADHD, levels of SMD were highly correlated with measures of psychopathology on the CBCL. Implications of findings relate to the importance of considering sensory processing abilities in a subgroup of children with ADHD.
Modulated microtubule dynamics enable Hklp2/Kif15 to assemble bipolar spindles

Activity of the sliding motor Eg5 and coordinated microtubule dynamics are both essential for mitotic spindle pole separation. It is still a matter of controversy if changes in microtubule dynamics can compensate inhibition of Eg5 activity and re-enable bipolarization. Using a consistent live cell-imaging approach, we show that perturbation of microtubule dynamics can compensate inhibition of Eg5 through a spindle formation process reminiscent of meiosis: In Eg5-inhibited mammalian somatic cells, alteration of microtubule dynamics through depletion of TOGp or low doses of nocodazole induces the formation of multiple acentrosomal spindle poles which pass through an intermediate multipolar state followed by bipolarization. Pole separation depends on Hklp2/Kif15, an otherwise dispensable plus end-directed spindle motor and results in spindles with two centrosomal poles. Once bipolar, spindles do not rely on altered microtubule dynamics to maintain their bipolarity anymore and are functional in chromosome segregation. We conclude that altered microtubule dynamics enable Hklp2/Kif15 to replace Eg5 in pole separation through a mechanism involving the formation of acentrosomal poles. Our observations suggest that combination chemotherapy regimens involving microtubule-targeting drugs and Eg5 inhibitors might be less effective than expected.
Dying, Dignity, and New Horizons in Palliative End‐of‐Life Care 1

Palliative care practitioners are now better able than ever before to ameliorate end‐of‐life symptom distress. What remains less developed, however, is the knowledgebase and skill set necessary to recognize, assess, and compassionately address the psychosocial, existential, and spiritual aspects of the patient's dying experience. This review provides an overview of these areas, focusing primarily on empirical data that has examined these issues. A brief overview of psychiatric challenges in end‐of‐life care is complemented with a list of resources for readers wishing to explore this area more extensively. The experience of spiritual or existential suffering toward the end of life is explored, with an examination of the conceptual correlates of suffering. These correlates include: hopelessness, burden to others, loss of sense of dignity, and desire for death or loss of will to live. An empirically‐derived model of dignity is described in some detail, with practical examples of diagnostic questions and therapeutic interventions to preserve dignity. Other interventions to reduce existential or spiritual suffering are described and evidence of their efficacy is presented. The author concludes that palliative care must continue to develop compassionate, individually tailored, and effective responses to the mounting vulnerability and increasingly difficult physical, psychosocial, and spiritual challenges facing persons nearing the end of life.
Effects of Segmentation Routine and Acquisition Environment on Iris Recognition

by Tanya H. Peters Every year we see a growing use of iris recognition, with it now utilized as a means of border control in a number of countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United Arab Emirates. As this technology becomes more common and more relied upon, the importance of algorithms that can identify subjects in a robust, consistent, and accurate manner becomes all-important. Working with a collection of over 20,000 iris images captured in 2008, we determine optimal parameters for different elements of the texture encoding process. Additional work was done to improve the segmentation process, both to handle the introduction of images captured with the LG 4000 and to improve iris segmentation and eyelid masking. Furthermore, we study the relative biometric performance of images captured with the LG 2200 based on which of three illuminants were used to light the eye in each image, and determine the sameand cross-sensor performance of the LG 2200 compared with the LG 4000.
QUADRATIC STABILITY AND STABILIZATION OF UNCERTAIN LINEAR DISCRETE-TIME SYSTEMS WITH STATE DELAY: A LMI APPROACH

This paper presents necessary and su-cient conditions for quadratic stability and stabilization of uncertain linear discrete systems with state delay. The system under consideration involves state time delay and time-varying norm-bounded parameter uncer- tainties appearing in all the matrices of the state-space model. The results are obtained in terms of linear matrix inequality. A robustly stabilizing state feedback controller can be constructed by using the corresponding feasible solution of the matrix inequalities. Our results can be regarded as extensions of existing results on quadratic stability and stabi- lization for discrete-time delay systems with uncertainties. Two examples are presented to demonstrate the efiectiveness of the proposed approach.
SELECTION OF HASHING ALGORITHMS

INTRODUCTION The National Software Reference Library (NSRL) Reference Data Set (RDS) is built on file signature generation technology that is used primarily in cryptography. The selection of the specific file signature generation routines is based on customer requirements and the necessity to provide a level of confidence in the reference data that will allow it to be used in the U.S. Courts. This document gives an overview of the various hashing algorithms considered, as well as implementations of those algorithms. It also gives factors regarding their selection and use.
CONFORMAL FIELD THEORY AND ELLIPTIC

The purpose of the present paper is to address an old question (posed by Segal [37]) to find a geometric construction of elliptic cohomology. This question has recently become much more pressing due to the work of Mike Hopkins and Haynes Miller [19], who constructed exactly the “right”, or universal, elliptic cohomology, called TMF (the theory of topological modular forms). In the present paper, however, we do not propose a construction which would give TMF . We do propose what could be called the “first rigorous reasonable attempt” of constructing geometrically any generalized cohomology theory which could be called elliptic cohomology. To explain what this means, we must say more about what is expected of a theory which could be called elliptic cohomology, and also what qualifies as a geometric construction: as it turns out, quite a few general desiderata of such theory can be written down, and finding simply a candidate which would satisfy them all is a non-trivial goal.
Nonlocal Finite Element Analysis of Strain‐Softening Solids

A two-dimensional finite element formulation for imbricate nonlocal strain-softening continum is presented and numerically demonstrated. The only difference from the usual, local finite element codes is that certain finite elements are imbricated, i.e., they regularly overlap while skipping the intermediate mesh nodes. The element imbrication is characterized by generating proper integer matrices that give the numbers of the nodes for each finite element and the numbers of the imbricate elements overlapping each local element. The number of unknown displacements remains the same as for a local finite element code, while the number of finite elements approximately doubles. Numerical results show that stable two-dimensional strain-softening zones of multiple-element width can be obtained, and that the solution exhibits proper convergence as the mesh is refined. The convergence is demonstrated for the load-displacement diagrams, for the strain profiles across the strain-softening band, and for the total energy dissipated by cracking. It is also shown that the local formulations exhibit incorrect convergence; they converge to solutions for which the energy dissipation due to failure is zero, which is physically unacceptable. Stability problems due to strain-softening are avoided by making the loading steps so small that no two mutually nonoverlapping elements may enter the strain-softening regime within the same load step.
The Stimulatory Effect of Essential Fatty Acids on Glucose Uptake Involves Both Akt and AMPK Activation in C2C12 Skeletal Muscle Cells

Essential fatty acid (EFA) is known to be required for the body to function normally and healthily. However, the effect of EFA on glucose uptake in skeletal muscle has not yet been fully investigated. In this study, we examined the effect of two EFAs, linoleic acid (LA) and α-linolenic acid (ALA), on glucose uptake of C2C12 skeletal muscle cells and investigated the mechanism underlying the stimulatory effect of polyunsaturated EFAs in comparison with monounsaturated oleic acid (OA). In palmitic acid (PA)-induced insulin resistant cells, the co-treatment of EFAs and OA with PA almost restored the PA-induced decrease in the basal and insulin-stimulated 2-NBDG (fluorescent D-glucose analogue) uptake, respectively. Two EFAs and OA significantly protected PA-induced suppression of insulin signaling, respectively, which was confirmed by the increased levels of Akt phosphorylation and serine/threonine kinases (PKCθ and JNK) dephosphorylation in the western blot analysis. In PA-untreated, control cells, the treatment of 500 µM EFA significantly stimulated 2-NBDG uptake, whereas OA did not. Phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and one of its downstream molecules, acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) was markedly induced by EFA, but not OA. In addition, EFA-stimulated 2-NBDG uptake was significantly inhibited by the pre-treatment of a specific AMPK inhibitor, adenine 9-β-D-arabinofuranoside (araA). These data suggest that the restoration of suppressed insulin signaling at PA-induced insulin resistant condition and AMPK activation are involved at least in the stimulatory effect of EFA on glucose uptake in C2C12 skeletal muscle cells.
Insights on the Media’s Practices and Representations of (Global Warming) Science: Confusing the public, educating school children?

Global warming is perhaps the most significant issue that we face, yet it would appear to be poorly understood by the general public. Their knowledge of global warming science derives almost entirely from its coverage in news media. This article, using various case studies – comparing media publications to the original publications, the creation of a copy story or broadcast, talks given by journalists, and a journalist preparatory program – discusses practices inherent in the practice of journalism that contribute to the difficulties the general public has in understanding socioscientific issues such as global warming. In discussing the case studies the question is asked if news media should be trusted to convey those topics, if it should be used to teach subjects such as global warming to students, or even if they should be learning about those issues in science classes at all.