Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Single Basis for Developmental Buffering of Drosophila Wing Shape

The nature of developmental buffering processes has been debated extensively, based on both theoretical reasoning and empirical studies. In particular, controversy has focused on the question of whether distinct processes are responsible for canalization, the buffering against environmental or genetic variation, and for developmental stability, the buffering against random variation intrinsic in developmental processes. Here, we address this question for the size and shape of Drosophila melanogaster wings in an experimental design with extensively replicated and fully controlled genotypes. The amounts of variation among individuals and of fluctuating asymmetry differ markedly among genotypes, demonstrating a clear genetic basis for size and shape variability. For wing shape, there is a high correlation between the amounts of variation among individuals and fluctuating asymmetry, which indicates a correspondence between the two types of buffering. Likewise, the multivariate patterns of shape variation among individuals and of fluctuating asymmetry show a close association. For wing size, however, the amounts of individual variation and fluctuating asymmetry are not correlated. There was a significant link between the amounts of variation between wing size and shape, more so for fluctuating asymmetry than for variation among individuals. Overall, these experiments indicate a considerable degree of shared control of individual variation and fluctuating asymmetry, although it appears to differ between traits.
An Improved Shuffled Frog-Leaping Algorithm for Flexible Job Shop Scheduling Problem

The flexible job shop scheduling problem is a well-known combinatorial optimization problem. This paper proposes an improved shuffled frog-leaping algorithm to solve the flexible job shop scheduling problem. The algorithm possesses an adjustment sequence to design the strategy of local searching and an extremal optimization in information exchange. The computational result shows that the proposed algorithm has a powerful search capability in solving the flexible job shop scheduling problem compared with other heuristic algorithms, such as the genetic algorithm, tabu search and ant colony optimization. Moreover, the results also show that the improved strategies could improve the performance of the algorithm effectively.
Unstructured road detection method based on adaptive edge registration

The invention discloses an unstructured road detection method based on adaptive edge registration. The method is the registering method of an Otsu edge and a weighted Canny edge. The method comprises the following steps: weighted Canny edge detection, Otsu threshold optimization and weight revaluation of the Canny edge. Compared to the prior art, the unstructured road detection method based on the adaptive edge registration of the invention has the following advantages that: the registration of the Otsu edge and the weighted Canny edge is taken as a core so that precision of road area segmentation and boundary tracking can be increased; unstructured road identification experiments in different scenes show that influences of unfavorable factors, such as a road defect, a shadow, illumination change and the like can be effectively overcome by using the detection method; the method has good practicality and good economic benefits and social benefits can be generated by using the method.
[Effects of soy isoflavone on low-grade inflammation in obese rats].

OBJECTIVE To explore the effects of soy isoflavone (SIF) on low-grade inflammation in obese rats induced by high-fat diet, and to elucidate mechanisms of SIF in improving insulin sensitivity. METHODS Obese rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: One model control group and 3 SIF groups that were given water solutions with SIF at 0 mg/(kg x d), 50 mg/(kg x d), 150 mg/(kg x d), and 450 mg/(kg x d), respectively. After one month, fasting glucose, fasting insulin, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, C-reactive protein, resistin, and adiponectin in serum were detected by enzymic method, radioimmunoassay, and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. RESULTS In the 150 mg/(kg x d) group and 450 mg/(kg x d) group, fasting body-weights, viscera fatty deposition, and contents of insulin, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in serum were significantly lower; serum adiponectin levels were significantly higher; and serum resistin levels were significantly lower in the 450 mg/(kg d) group than those of the model control group. There was no difference in serum C-reactive protein levels among the 3 SIF groups. CONCLUSION Soy isoflavone may improve the insulin sensitivity by decreasing viscera fatty deposition and adjusting low-grade inflammatory molecules derived from white adipose tissues.
BinX: Dynamic Exploration of Time Series Datasets Across Aggregation Levels

Many fields of study produce time series datasets, and both the size and number of theses datasets are increasing rapidly due to the improvement of data accumulation methods such as small, cheap sensors and routine logging of events. Humans often fail to comprehend the structure of a long time series dataset because of the overwhelming amount of data and the range of different time scales at which there may be meaningful patterns. BinX is an interactive tool that provides dynamic visualization and manipulation of long time series datasets. The dataset is visualized through user controlled aggregation, augmented by various information visualization techniques.
A flexible design of network devices using reconfigurable content addressable memory

The content addressable memory is a memory unit that uses content matching instead of addresses. content addressable memory are used in different networking, telecommunications and storage applications because of their parallel, fast search capabilities. This paper presents a new method (called array method) for designing Reconfigurable content addressable memory (RCAM). The behavior of the new method was described using VHDL and implemented using FPGA technique. Then, the performance of the method was compared to other traditional content addressable memory design methods. The proposed RCAM is configured and used as the main part of different network security devices and units (Ethernet Address Filtering Unit, WLAN MAC Address Filtering Unit ,firewall on chip, QoS packet classification unit, Routing Table Search Unit and Network Intrusion Detection System search unit). The successful implementations of the suggested RCAM prove its high flexibility to be used in different network applications.
Rates and Implications of Rainfall Interception in a Coastal Redwood Forest

Throughfall was measured for a year at five-min intervals in 11 collectors randomly located on two plots in a second-growth redwood forest at the Caspar Creek Experimental Watersheds. Monitoring at one plot continued two more years, during which stemflow from 24 trees was also measured. Comparison of throughfall and stemflow to rainfall measured in adjacent clearings indicates throughfall and stemflow accounted for 75.1 and 2.5 percent, respectively, of annual rainfall, while 22.4 percent was intercepted and evaporated by the forest canopy. Average interception loss remains above 20 percent even for the largest storms monitored. Models that predict pre-logging peakflows from below-canopy rainfall suggest that altered interception and transpiration could account for the 54 to 70 percent average increases in peakflow observed in five gauged watersheds for two years after clearcutting. Results such as these can be used to estimate the influence of interception loss on landslide frequency at sites for which relationships between landslide frequency and storm rainfall have been defined.
Multiplex PCR for Detection of Aminoglycoside Resistance Genes in Enterococci

ABSTRACT A multiplex PCR procedure for detecting the aminoglycoside resistance genes aac(6′)-Ie-aph(2")-Ia, aph(2")-Ib, aph(2")-Ic, aph(2")-Id, aph(3′)-IIIa, and ant(4′)-Ia was evaluated and found to determine accurately the presence of these genes in enterococci.
The effect of Clarke’s angle variability on the static and dynamic balance of different sports

Background: Flatfoot affects postural control by altering the biomechanics of the lower limb, sensory input, and proprioception. Poor static and dynamic balance can influence the physical performance of competitive sports athletes and increase the risk of lower limb injury. Footprint analysis using Clarke’s angle (CA) is easy to perform and has good diagnostic performance as an alternative flatfoot assessment for a large athlete population. Our study aims to determine the effect of CA variability on the static and dynamic balance of different sports using the one-leg stance (OLS) and star excursion balance test (SEBT). Methods: This is an analytic observational study with a retrospective cohort design. Medical record data from 209 athletes’ feet from 11 sports were collected to determine the subjects’ characteristics and research variables. Curve estimation and regression tests were performed to assess the effect of CA variability on the OLS and normalized reach distance of SEBT (NSEBT). Results: The mean CA of all athletes was 44.82±11.14o. The mean time of OLS of all athletes was 47.78±40.54 seconds. The least and the farthest average normalized reach distance was done in the anterolateral direction (79.06±11.88 %) and posterior direction (93.45±18.98 %). There is no effect of CA variability on the OLS of all sports, male and female athletes. There is an effect of CA variability on the OLS of Wushu athletes, also on the NSEBT of whole athletes (lateral, posterolateral, posterior, posteromedial directions; male athletes (posterolateral direction); female athletes (anteromedial direction); and different sports, includes athletic (anterolateral, lateral, posterolateral, posterior, posteromedial, medial, anteromedial direction); fencing (anterolateral direction); and running (anterolateral, lateral, posterior, posteromedial, medial, anteromedial, composite directions). Conclusion: Clarke’s angle variability significantly affects the static balance of Wushu athletes and the dynamic balance of athletes in athletics, fencing, and running.
Protective Effect of Tonapofylline (BG9928), an Adenosine A1 Receptor Antagonist, against Cisplatin-Induced Acute Kidney Injury in Rats

Background/Aims: Cisplatin (CIS) induces nephrotoxicity partly through renal vasoconstriction and decreased glomerular filtration effects thought to involve adenosine acting on adenosine A1 receptors (A1Rs). We studied the effect of the orally active, A1R antagonist tonapofylline (BG9928) on biochemical measures of renal function in CIS-induced acute kidney injury (AKI) in rats. Methods: Tonapofylline, 1 mg/kg b.i. d. , p.o. , was administered on days 0–1 or 0–6 to rats treated with CIS 5.5 mg/kg i.v. Prednisolone (PRED) 5 mg/kg s.c. (day 0) served as a positive control. Serum creatinine and urea nitrogen (BUN) were measured in serial blood samples taken over the 13-day study period. Results: CIS produced significant elevations in creatinine, reduction in body weight and marked proximal tubular injury throughout the renal cortex and outer medulla. Tonapofylline, days 0–1 or 0–6 and PRED all produced sustained reductions in post-CIS serum creatinine and BUN levels compared with controls, improved body weight recovery and significant attenuation of CIS-induced kidney pathology scores. Conclusion: These data support the involvement of A1Rs in CIS-induced AKI in rats. Tonapofylline may be useful in the clinical setting for the prevention of kidney failure induced by nephrotoxic agents such as CIS.
Fuel type mapping using object-based image analysis of DMC and Landsat-8 OLI imagery

Abstract Efficient forest fire management requires precise and up-to-date knowledge regarding the composition and spatial distribution of forest fuels at various spatial and temporal scales. Fuel-type maps are essential for effective fire prevention strategies planning, as well as the alleviation of the environmental impacts of potential wildfire events. The aim of this study was to assess and compare the potential of Disaster Monitoring Constellation and Landsat-8 OLI satellite images (Operational Land Imager), combined with Object-Based Image Analysis (GEOBIA), in operational mapping of the Mediterranean fuel types at a regional scale. The results showcase that although the images of both sensors can be used with GEOBIA analysis for the generation of accurate fuel-type maps, only the OLI images can be considered as applicable for regional mapping of the Mediterranean fuel types on an operational basis.
Crater Detection by a Boosting Approach

An approach to automatically detect impact craters on planetary surfaces is presented in this letter. It is built up from a boosting algorithm proposed by Viola and Jones (2004) whose simplicity combined with an original learning strategy leads to a fast and robust process with consistent results. The approach is validated with image data sets from Mars surface captured by the Mars Orbiter Camera onboard Mars Global Surveyor probe.
The giant tapir, Tapirus haysii, from Leisy Shell Pit 1A and other Florida Irvingtonian localities

Twelve new records of the giant North American tapir Tapirus haysi, are reported from Alachua, Levy, Citrus, Polk, and Hillsborough counties, Florida. Biochronologic analysis of associated vertebrates indicates T. haysii was limited to the late early-middle Irvingtonian (ca. 1.5-0.6 Ma) in Florida. The sample of T. haysii from the Leisey Shell Pit 1 A site is the most complete yet recovered, and second only to the Port Kennedy Cave population in numbers of measurable teeth. All known cranial features of T. haysii resemble those of T. veroensis, including a low, double-ridged sagittal crest, ontogenetically delayed fusion of the interparietal with adjacent cranial elements, massive mandibular ramus, and relatively short diastema. Phylogenetic analysis of New World Tapirus produces two equally parsimonious cladograms. In both, T. haysii and T. veroensis form one monophyletic clade, and the extant Neotropical species T. pinchaque, T. terrestris, and T. bairdii another. They differ with respect to the position of T. simpsoni, a late Miocene North American species.
Kernels for the Dominating Set Problem on Graphs with an Excluded Minor

The domination number of a graph G = (V,E) is the minimum size of a dominating set UV , which satisfies that every vertex in V \ U is adjacent to at least one vertex in U. The notion of a problem kernel refers to a polynomial time algorithm that achieves some provable reduction of the input size. Given a graph G whose domination number is k, the objective is to design a polynomial time algorithm that produces a graph G 0 whose size depends only on k, and also has domination number equal to k. Note that the graph G 0 is constructed without knowing the value of k. Problem kernels can be used to obtain efficient approximation and exact algorithms for the domination number, and are also useful in practical settings. In this paper, we present the first nontrivial result for the general case of graphs with an excluded minor, as follows. For every fixed h, given a graph G that does not contain Kh as a topological minor, our polynomial time algorithm constructs a subgraph G 0 of G, such that if the domination number of G is k, then the domination number of G 0 is also k and G 0 has at most k c vertices, where c is a constant that depends only on h. This result is improved for graphs that do not contain K3,h as a topological minor, using a simpler algorithm that constructs a subgraph with at most ck vertices, where c is a constant that depends only on h. Our results imply that there is a problem kernel of polynomial size for graphs with an excluded minor and a linear kernel for graphs that are K3,h-minor-free. The only previous kernel results known for the dominating set problem are the existence of a linear kernel for the
Numerical Simulation and Application of Mine TEM Detection in a Hidden Water-bearing Coal Mine Collapse Column

ABSTRACT A hidden water-bearing collapse column (WBCC), directly exposed during coal mining, is a potential source of serious mine flooding. Presently, the transient electromagnetic method (TEM) is widely used, which shows good performance in detecting WBCCs in coal mines. However, traditional numerical simulation approaches have failed to be adapted to complicated underground environments affected by roadways, and the application of boundary conditions require a large grid. Considering this, the authors chose the convolutional perfectly matched layer (CPML) as a boundary condition, whose effects were found to be superior to the traditional Dirichlet boundary condition. Then, based on stratigraphic data related to coal measures located in North and Mid-eastern China, the whole-space geoelectric model was established. The whole-space TEM response of the WBCC at different depths of the stope face floor and ahead of the driving face were also simulated by the finite-difference time-domain method. The numeric.
Central Role of Connexin40 in the Propagation of Electrically Activated Vasodilation in Mouse Cremasteric Arterioles In Vivo

&NA; When a short segment of arteriole is stimulated, vasomotor responses spread bidirectionally along the vessel axis purportedly via gap junctions. We used connexin40 knockout (Cx40‐/‐) mice to study vasomotor responses induced by 10‐second trains of electrical stimulation (30 Hz, 1 ms, 30 to 50 V) in 2nd or 3rd order arterioles of the cremaster muscle. Measurements were made at the stimulation site (local) and at conducted sites (500, 1000, and 2000 &mgr;m upstream). In wild‐type (Cx40+/+) animals, electrical stimulation evoked a local vasoconstriction and a conducted vasodilation that spread very rapidly along the vessel length without detectable decay. In Cx40‐/‐ mice, the conducted dilation was converted into either vasoconstriction or a slowly developing vasodilation that decayed along the vessel length. Tetrodotoxin (TTX, 1 &mgr;mol/L) had no effect on the local vasoconstriction in either Cx40+/+ or Cx40‐/‐ mice, but enhanced the conducted vasodilation in Cx40+/+ animals. In Cx40‐/‐ mice, TTX abolished the conducted vasoconstriction when present and revealed a small vasodilation that decayed with distance. In the group of Cx40‐/‐ mice in which electrical stimulation elicited a conducted vasodilation, TTX had no effect. Immunocytochemistry revealed Cx40 only in the endothelial layer of arterioles from Cx40+/+ mice and complete elimination of this connexin in the Cx40‐/‐ animals. These results indicate that focal current stimulation causes vasoconstriction by a combination of perivascular nerve stimulation and smooth muscle activation. Moreover, electrical stimulation activates a nonneuronal, Cx40‐dependent vasodilator response that spreads along the vessel length without decay. (Circ Res. 2003;92:793–800.)
Neural connections of the pineal organ in the primitive bony fish Acipenser baeri: A carbocyanine dye tract‐tracing study

The pineal organ of the sturgeon (Acipenser baeri; Chondrostei) consists of an elongated terminal vesicle and a long stalk that runs to the region of the posterior commissure. In order to investigate the neural connections of the pineal organ of the sturgeon, a fluorescent indocarbocyanine (DiI) was applied to the pineal stalk of paraformaldehyde‐fixed brains. This application strongly labeled the pineal tracts (right and left), which form an extensive bilateral projection to the brain. The fibers of these tracts could be followed to their different targets in the brain, namely the preoptic region, the rostral habenulae, the medial subhabenular and retrohabenular (post‐ and subcommissural) region, the medial thalamus, the dorsal hypothalamus, the pretectal area, and medial and dorsolateral tegmental mesencephalic regions (interstitial nucleus of Cajal, oculomotor nucleus, mesencephalic reticular area, nucleus profundus mesencephali, and central gray). A few fibers reach the interpeduncular nucleus and the rostral optic tectum. Pinealofugal fibers branched profusely, and some of them crossed the midline ventrally in the optic chiasma, the postoptic commissure, the conspicuous preinfundibular commissure or, occasionally, the mesencephalic tegmentum. In addition to pinealofugal fibers, this type of DiI application labeled a few cells, here interpreted as pinealopetal neurons, in the posthabenular‐dorsomedial thalamic region and the central gray of the mesencephalon. The wide distribution of pinealofugal projections in sturgeon is reminiscent of that in the lamprey. Comparison of the present findings with those of other authors in teleosts, amphibians, and reptiles also suggests that there has been a reduction in the number of pineal projections in these lines. J. Comp. Neurol. 398:151–161, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Inspiratory Muscle Training Is Associated With Improved Inspiratory Muscle Strength, Resting Cardiac Output, and the Ventilatory Efficiency of Exercise in Patients With a Fontan Circulation

Background Patients with a Fontan circulation have reduced exercise capacity and respiratory muscle strength. Inspiratory muscle training (IMT) improves exercise capacity and quality of life in adults with heart failure. We assessed whether 6 weeks of a home‐based program of IMT improves inspiratory muscle strength and the ventilatory efficiency of exercise in adolescent patients with a Fontan circulation. Methods and Results Twenty‐three adolescent participants (aged 16±2 years) with a Fontan circulation underwent 6 weeks of IMT for 30 minutes daily. Respiratory muscle strength (maximal inspiratory pressure and expiratory pressure), lung function, and exercise capacity (cardiopulmonary exercise testing) were assessed. Fourteen of 23 participants also underwent exercise cardiac magnetic resonance imaging to examine the effects of IMT on cardiac output and systemic and pulmonary blood flow. Six weeks of IMT improved maximal inspiratory pressure by 36±24 cm H2O (61±46%) with no change in maximal expiratory pressure. Ventilatory efficiency of exercise improved after 6 weeks of IMT (from 34.2±7.8 to 32.2±5.6, P=0.04). In those who underwent exercise cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, IMT increased resting cardiac output (from 4.2±1.2 to 4.5±1.0 L/min, P=0.03) and ejection fraction (from 50.1±4.3 to 52.8±6.1%, P=0.03). Conclusions Six weeks of IMT is associated with improved inspiratory muscle strength, ventilatory efficiency of exercise, and resting cardiac output in young Fontan patients. IMT may be a simple beneficial addition to the current management of Fontan patients, potentially reducing exercise intolerance and long‐term morbidity and mortality.