Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genomic profiling reveals Pitx2 controls expression of mature extraocular muscle contraction-related genes.

PURPOSE To assess the influence of the Pitx2 transcription factor on the global gene expression profile of extraocular muscle (EOM) of mice. METHODS Mice with a conditional knockout of Pitx2, designated Pitx2(Δflox/Δflox) and their control littermates Pitx2(flox/flox), were used. RNA was isolated from EOM obtained at 3, 6, and 12 weeks of age and processed for microarray-based profiling. Pairwise comparisons were performed between mice of the same age and differentially expressed gene lists were generated. Select genes from the profile were validated using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and protein immunoblot. Ultrastructural analysis was performed to evaluate EOM sarcomeric structure. RESULTS The number of differentially expressed genes was relatively small. Eleven upregulated and 23 downregulated transcripts were identified common to all three age groups in the Pitx2-deficient extraocular muscle compared with littermate controls. These fell into a range of categories including muscle-specific structural genes, transcription factors, and ion channels. The differentially expressed genes were primarily related to muscle contraction. We verified by protein and ultrastructural analysis that myomesin 2 was expressed in the Pitx2-deficient mice, and this was associated with development of M lines evident in their orbital region. CONCLUSIONS The global transcript expression analysis uncovered that Pitx2 primarily regulates a relatively select number of genes associated with muscle contraction. Pitx2 loss led to the development of M line structures, a feature more typical of other skeletal muscle.
Scheduling Co-Reservations with Priorities in Grid Computing Systems

This paper presents three algorithms for co-reserving resources. A novel mechanism for specifying QoS constraints with the requests is introduced. The performance of the algorithms are studied through extensive simulations. The results indicate that depending on the objective of optimization different algorithms should be used. One of the distinguishing features of our algorithms is that they operate in a pseudo-online mode (called the “batch” mode).
Seamless image composition with coherent tone adjustment

Seamless image composition is a widely-used technique for digital image re-creation. Poisson image editing is an effective approach for seamless editing using guided interpolation. However, when applied to image composition with quite different tone in source and target images, like distinct illumination or color distribution, its performance often degrades rapidly owing to deficient user-drawn boundary and immoderate color transition. In this paper, we propose a new solution based on Poisson image editing to keep the coherent tone in the composition result. We firstly employ matting technique to help user effortlessly locate the object of interest. Meanwhile, we build transition zones to coordinate the influence from source and target images with the matte from matting techniques. Then we construct a mixed guided vector based on transition zones to implement the tone adjustment. An effective method is also proposed to find the optimal mixed guided vector. At last, we utilize this optimal vector into Poisson solution. Our method can avoid the drawbacks of Poisson image editing between scenes with distinct tone and produce enjoyable composition results. Experiment results demonstrate the effectiveness of our seamless image composition method.
Interaction of pulmonary afferents and pneumotaxic center in control of respiratory pattern in cats.

The interaction between the pulmonary afferents (PA) and the pneumotaxic center (PC) in control of respiratory pattern was studied in lightly anesthetized paralyzed cats before and after bivagotomy or lesions of the PC using inflations controlled by the onset or cessation of phrenic nerve discharge, i.e., cycle-triggered inflations. This interaction was also studied using electrical stimulation of the central stumps of cut vagi. Introduction of a delay between inspiratory onset and the commencement of an inflation at constant flow and duration resulted in increases of the durations of inspiration (T1) and expiration (TE) and amplitude of the integrated phrenic nerve discharge (A). The lung volume at inspiratory cutoff, i.e., the volume threshold, increased markedly as T1 increased. There were linear relationships between T1 and TE and between T1 and A. At constant alveolar CO2 and tidal volume, the quantitative effects of delay were dependent on the rate of inflation; i.e., when the flow increased, the volume threshold for a given T1 decreased. Bilateral vagotomy abolished the effects of delay and flow. PC lesions, which resulted in apneusis when the cycle-triggered inflations were stopped, produced the following changes compared to the delay effects seen in intact cats: a) the volume threshold for zero delay doubled and its rate of decrease with increased T1 was significantly smaller, and b) the change in TE for a given change in T1 was reduced markedly. Introduction of a delay between inspiratory onset and the start of electrical stimulation of the afferent vagi resulted in effects similar to those seen for delays in cycle-triggered inflations. The T1-TE relationship remained linear when the stimulus trains ended with inspiratory cessation. These results suggest that: a) the inspiratory cutoff mechanism is responsive to the rate, as well as the level, of lung inflation; b) all of the lung volume information affecting inspiratory cutoff in paralyzed cats is carried via the vagi; c) an intact PC is necessary for the generation of a normal time dependence of the volume threshold for inspiratory cutoff; d) the PC plays an important role in matching TE to T1 when the latter changes. For inflations and vagal stimulations applied during expiration, with introduction of a delay between inspiratory cessation and the start of cycle-triggered inflation or vagal stimulation, the results indicated that the expiratory cutoff mechanism has an irrevocable phase of 300-450 ms.
SURVEYING PHYSICAL FITNESS OF THE ADOLESCENT MALE TAEKWONDO ATHLETES OF IRAN NATIONAL TEAM

Objectives: To survey the physical fitness (anthropometrics and physiological characteristics) of thead o le s c en t male Taekwando a th le te s o f Iran n a tio n a l team d u rin g 2002-2005 y ears. Study design: Descriptive study. Subjects and Methods: Members of adolescent national team during 2002-2005 were examined as a staticsociety composed of 10 members each year. Different factors of physical fitness and anthropometriccharacteristics (i.e. age, weight, height, vertical jump, sit ups, agility, flexibility and reaction time) wereexperimented. All the results were written on individuals’ registration cards. The data collected was basedon the practical test done by all male Taekwondo athletes invited to National Team Camp during 2002 and2005. Results: The bestrecord in verticaljump (score= 53/9), sit ups (score=69), agility (score=16/69), flexibility(score=42) and reaction time (score=356/9) registered was during the year 2004. The worst ones registeredincluded verticaljump (score=49/2 in 2005), sit ups (score=55/7 in 2003), agility (score=17/36 in 2002),flexibility (score=36/9 in 2005) and reaction time (score=464/4 in 2002). Conclusion: The best record registered was during year 2004 with 25 score, while the worst ones wereregistered in 2003 with 16 score. Successful Taekwondo athletes, therefore, had remarkable anthropometricand physiological characteristics.They also had a low amount ofbody fat, high speed in performing skills,and perfect agility for rapid movements.
Modelling Crop Pattern Changes and Water Resources Exploitation: A Case Study

Agriculture and farming worldwide are responsible for numerous environmental threats, including degradation of land and water resource depletion. Underlining the dynamic interaction between bio-physical and socio-economic drivers is the key towards a more sustainable land and water management. With regard to a highly-developed agricultural area in Southern Italy, multi-regression models were developed to provide an ex-post interpretation of the observed inter-annual variability of cropped land. The main drivers related to Common Agricultural Policy support, product market prices, crop yield, and irrigation water availability were investigated. The adopted models revealed the different weights of each driver. The findings reported the role that direct payments played in supporting the extension of irrigated crops, such as processing tomato. Likewise, the models pointed out the decoupled payment scheme as the most important driver of change in the crop pattern over the last years.
Clinicopathological Features of Focal Nodular Hyperplasia-Like Nodules in 130 Cirrhotic Explant Livers

OBJECTIVES:Focal nodular hyperplasia-like nodules (FNH-like nodules) are focal lesions occurring in liver cirrhosis and are morphologically very similar to classical FNH in an otherwise normal liver. They are sometimes misdiagnosed as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) on imaging because both types of lesions show arterial-phase enhancement. Although the morphological, immunohistochemical, and imaging features of FNH-like nodules are well-known, their pathogenesis and role in hepatocarcinogenesis have not been studied in detail. Therefore, we performed a detailed pathological evaluation of 130 cirrhotic explant livers and correlated these data with the clinical features of the patients.METHODS:All cirrhotic explant livers were uniformly sliced at 5-mm intervals and all detected focal lesions were microscopically classified according to internationally accepted criteria. The obtained data regarding FNH-like nodules were then correlated with other pathological findings and with clinical data obtained during pretransplant evaluation and recorded in a database.RESULTS:FNH-like nodules were present in 15% of patients and their small size (75% of cases <1 cm) appears to preclude detection by imaging in almost all cases. The presence of esophageal varices and pretransplant treatment with chemoembolization were independently and significantly associated with the presence of FNH-like nodules. There were no associations between FNH-like nodules on the one hand and low-grade dysplastic nodules, high-grade dysplastic nodules, and HCCs on the other hand.CONCLUSIONS:The clinicopathological features of FNH-like nodules support the hypothesis that vascular alterations in liver cirrhosis play an important role in their pathogenesis and that FNH-like nodules do not have an increased risk of malignant transformation.
A 0.4-to-1 V Voltage Scalable $\Delta \Sigma $ ADC With Two-Step Hybrid Integrator for IoT Sensor Applications in 65-nm LP CMOS

This brief presents a two-step hybrid integrator (TSHI) that can operate at a wide supply voltage range, which is demonstrated with a third-order <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\Delta \Sigma }$ </tex-math></inline-formula> analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The proposed TSHI consists of a zero-crossing-detector (ZCD)-based integrator and an inverter-based integrator. In the coarse-integration step, the ZCD-based integrator performs a fast integration without concern for overshoot or detection delay issues. In the fine-integration step, the inverter-based integrator performs the residual integration with high accuracy. Hence, the TSHI provides fast and accurate integration process. In addition, the TSHI supports trade-off between voltage-scalable bandwidth and power consumption for an energy efficient operation of Internet-of-Things sensor nodes, owing to the scalable operation of the ZCD and inverter. The proposed <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\Delta \Sigma }$ </tex-math></inline-formula> ADC is fabricated in a 65-nm LP CMOS process, and the active area is 0.38 mm<sup>2</sup>. The fabricated ADC operates at supply voltages from 0.4 to 1 V. Depending on the supply voltage and sampling frequency, the power consumption and bandwidth of the ADC can be scaled from 12.7 to <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$948~{\mu }{\mathrm{W}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and from 7.5 to 400 kHz, respectively. The ADC maintains an SNDR higher than 60 dB within the operating supply range.
Cross-genre Document Retrieval: Matching between Conversational and Formal Writings

This paper challenges a cross-genre document retrieval task, where the queries are in formal writing and the target documents are in conversational writing. In this task, a query, is a sentence extracted from either a summary or a plot of an episode in a TV show, and the target document consists of transcripts from the corresponding episode. To establish a strong baseline, we employ the current state-of-the-art search engine to perform document retrieval on the dataset collected for this work. We then introduce a structure reranking approach to improve the initial ranking by utilizing syntactic and semantic structures generated by NLP tools. Our evaluation shows an improvement of more than 4% when the structure reranking is applied, which is very promising.
Interactive Urban Context-Aware Visualization via Multiple Disocclusion Operators

In 3D urban environments, features of interest (FOIs) are often occluded by clusters of buildings, which prevent a clear overview of important spatial features. State-of-the-art disocclusion methods for urban environments fall short of preserving cityscape appearance or require time-consuming computation. These methods use only one or two operators for disocclusion and might not strike a good balance between disocclusion and distortion control. We present a novel, automatic method enabling interactive context-aware visualization of urban features of interest, which combines four effective disocclusion operators including viewpoint elevation, road shifting, building scaling, and building displacement to disocclude the features of interest. Our method provides an optimum compromise among the disocclusion operators via an efficient constrained optimization and the post-polishing phrases, which minimizes the distortions while enforcing the visibility of the FOIs. The 3D views generated at interactive frame rates ensure a resemblance in the cityscape appearance to its original ones and provide a good overview of the FOIs. The experiments with real data demonstrate that our method can greatly facilitate tasks such as navigation, wayfinding, and information overlay.
Speaker change detection using excitation source and vocal tract system information

The speaker change information in speech is due to both vocal tract and excitation source information. In this work, the excitation source information is extracted by computing cepstral features from the zero frequency filtered speech (ZFFS) signal. The vocal tract system information is extracted by computing cepstral features from the speech signal. The speaker change evidences obtained from these two feature sets are combined and observed that they contain complementary information for speaker change detection. The popular distance metric based algorithms, Bayesian Information Criteria (BIC) and Kullback Leibler Divergence (KLD) are used to detect the speaker change evidences. The Miss Detection Rate (MDR) of BIC based algorithm using cepstral features obtained from speech is 24.18% and from ZFFS is 25.92%, respectively. When the two sets of evidences are combined, the MDR reduces to 15.89%. Similarly, individual MDR of KLD based algorithm from speech and ZFFS are 32.24% and 45.17%, respectively, where as the combination reduces the MDR to 19.67%. Experiments are also performed with noisy speech signal and similar reduction of MDR is observed. This demonstrates the usefulness of cepstral features from the excitation source signal for reducing MDR.
Omega-3 fatty acids and incident type 2 diabetes: the Singapore Chinese Health Study.

BACKGROUND The role of omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids (FAs) in the development of type 2 diabetes is uncertain, especially with regard to any differential influence of α-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). OBJECTIVE The objective was to examine the association between total omega-3 FAs, marine omega-3 (EPA, DHA), nonmarine omega-3 (ALA), and omega-6 (n-6) FAs and omega-6:omega-3 ratio and risk of type 2 diabetes in a Chinese population in Singapore. DESIGN The analysis included 43,176 Chinese men and women free of chronic disease, aged 45-74 y, in the Singapore Chinese Health Study. Baseline data collection occurred between 1993 and 1998, with follow-up interviews between 1999 and 2004. Cox regression models were used to examine the associations between FA intakes at baseline and risk of developing diabetes. RESULTS Increased intakes of total omega-3 FAs were inversely associated with diabetes incidence [hazard ratio (HR) for the fifth compared with the first quintile: 0.78; 95% CI: 0.65, 0.94; P for trend = 0.02]. Omega-3 FAs from marine sources were not associated with diabetes risk, whereas nonmarine omega-3 FA intake was strongly associated (HR for the fifth compared with the first quintile: 0.79; 95% CI: 0.67, 0.93; P for trend = 0.004). Omega-6 and omega-6:omega-3 ratio were not associated with incidence of type 2 diabetes. CONCLUSION Consumption of nonmarine sources (ALA) of omega-3 FAs is associated with a decreased risk of type 2 diabetes in Chinese Singaporeans.
Mutual antagonism between fluorescent pseudomonads and soil actinomycetes

The inhibition of 23 strains of actinomycetes by 7 strains of fluorescent pseudomonads and vice versa, on 4 different media, was examined. The antagonism of pseudomonads was more frequent and more intense than that of actinomycetes. Inhibition was observed in pseudomonads and actinomycetes of both kinds of strains, antagonistic and non-antagonistic to Fusarium oxysporum. Some media were more favourable to the antagonism of pseudomonads and others to that of actinomycetes, hence in identical environmental conditions mutual antagonism between the two counter-partners occurred only rarely.
Development and Validation of a Questionnaire to Detect Behavior Change in Multiple Advance Care Planning Behaviors

Introduction Advance directives have traditionally been considered the gold standard for advance care planning. However, recent evidence suggests that advance care planning involves a series of multiple discrete behaviors for which people are in varying stages of behavior change. The goal of our study was to develop and validate a survey to measure the full advance care planning process. Methods The Advance Care Planning Engagement Survey assesses “Process Measures” of factors known from Behavior Change Theory to affect behavior (knowledge, contemplation, self-efficacy, and readiness, using 5-point Likert scales) and “Action Measures” (yes/no) of multiple behaviors related to surrogate decision makers, values and quality of life, flexibility for surrogate decision making, and informed decision making. We administered surveys at baseline and 1 week later to 50 diverse, older adults from San Francisco hospitals. Internal consistency reliability of Process Measures was assessed using Cronbach's alpha (only continuous variables) and test-retest reliability of Process and Action Measures was examined using intraclass correlations. For discriminant validity, we compared Process and Action Measure scores between this cohort and 20 healthy college students (mean age 23.2 years, SD 2.7). Results Mean age was 69.3 (SD 10.5) and 42% were non-White. The survey took a mean of 21.4 minutes (±6.2) to administer. The survey had good internal consistency (Process Measures Cronbach's alpha, 0.94) and test-retest reliability (Process Measures intraclass correlation, 0.70; Action Measures, 0.87). Both Process and Action Measure scores were higher in the older than younger group, p<. 001. Conclusion A new Advance Care Planning Engagement Survey that measures behavior change (knowledge, contemplation, self-efficacy, and readiness) and multiple advance care planning actions demonstrates good reliability and validity. Further research is needed to assess whether survey scores improve in response to advance care planning interventions and whether scores are associated with receipt of care consistent with one's wishes.
La opinión de los participantes sobre la reforma de la política de salud: un estudio en los servicios locales

En 2004 inicio en Mexico el Seguro Popular de Salud (SPS), el cual ha sido evaluado con resultadospositivos; sin embargo, se desconoce la opinion de los que participan en su ejecucion. Elobjetivo que se plantea es describir la opinion de algunos sujetos como funcionarios, medicos,personal de enfermeria y usuarios que participan en la implementacion del SPS en una localidaddel territorio mexiquense. Se inicio revisando y sistematizando documentos en salud emitidosa nivel nacional y estatal. Se identificaron variables y se desarrollo una guia de entrevista asemiprofundidad, la cual se aplico en los servicios de primer y segundo nivel de atencion.Resultados: se describieron las opiniones de los entrevistados, las cuales en la mayoria de loscasos fueron contrarias entre los dos niveles de atencion. Conclusion: es necesario incorporarotro tipo de procedimientos y participaciones en el proceso de evaluacion del Seguro Popularpara lograr los objetivos establecidos en la normatividad que le da soporte.
A genetic algorithm-neural network wrapper approach for bundle branch block detection

A Bundle Branch Block (BBB) is a delay or obstruction along electrical impulse pathways in the heart. The automated detection and classification of a BBB is important for prompt, accurate diagnosis and treatment of heart conditions, especially in accurate identification, of left BBB. This work proposes a new wrapper based hybrid approach for the detection of BBB that uses a Genetic Algorithm (GA) in combination with Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) to improve classification accuracy. Nineteen temporal features and three morphological features were extracted and normalized for each heartbeat from standard ECG recordings obtained from the MIT-BIH Arrhythmia database. The GA-ANN Hybrid resulted in improved sensitivity, specificity and accuracy (98%, 98% and 98% respectively) compared to the Principal Components Analysis (PCA)-ANN method (55%, 98% and 77% respectively) in the presence of noise. The GA-ANN Hybrid provides a better, more accurate identification for presence of BBB from ECG recordings leading to more timely diagnosis and treatment outcomes.
Work Organization and Workforce Commitment: A Study of Plants and Employees in the U.S. and Japan

We address the hypothesis that organizational commitment is higher among Japanese than U. S. workers and that this commitment gap may be an outcome of the greater prevalence of "welfare corporatist" structures in Japanese firms. With data from a survey of over 8,000 employees in nearly 100 plants in Japan and the United States, we estimate a multilevel model of the processes shaping individuals' organizational commitment and work satisfaction. Consistent with a theory of "corporatist" control, we find that participatory work structures and employee services ("paternalism") are more typical of Japanese plants yet function in both countries to raise commitment and morale. Other evidence for and against predictions from "corporatist" theory is discussed.
Quantitative Analysis of the Error Propagation Phenomenon in Distributed Information Systems

Error propagation analysis is of fundamental importance to assure safe operation and management of abnormal situations in any distributed information system. In this paper,the quantitative method is proposed to analyze all possible error propagation scenarios based on different topologies,error types and probabilities. The stated thesis was verified based on the experiments conducted on simulation model.From a safety point of view, the results provide some ideas of robustness: the knowledge how to design the most error resistant architectures.