Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Orthographic Service Modeling

As the size and complexity of services has grown over the years, so has the number of different models and view types used to visualize them. However, in most development environments used today, views are usually organized in a fairly simple way within an arrangement of trees, and are often mixed arbitrarily with the artifacts they contain or visualize. In this position paper we propose a new paradigm for creating, organizing and managing the different views that are required in modern software development projects inspired by the orthographic projection paradigm that has been used for many years in other engineering disciplines. The approach therefore makes software engineering environments more like computer-aided design (CAD) tools for physical products. After explaining the basic idea behind the approach, which we refer to as Orthographic Service Modeling (OSM), we outline its three key ingredients - (1) on- demand view generation, (2) dimension-based navigation (3) and an inherently view-based method.
Increased susceptibility of sepsis associated with CD143 deletion/insertion polymorphism in Caucasians: a meta analysis.

BACKGROUND Several lines of evidence have reported that serum angiotensin-converting enzyme (CD143) levels are genetically regulated by insertion/deletion (ins/del) polymorphism in intron 16 of the CD143 gene. In addition, published data on the association of ins/del polymorphism and sepsis risk yielded contradictory conclusions. Therefore, we determined to perform a meta-analysis to validate the association of much debate. Methods and major findings: Relevant literature was identified through weekly searches in databases and references of systematic reviews and the single studies incorporated in this meta-analysis. We combined ORs and its 95% CIs for several genetic models to evaluate the risk of sepsis associated with ins/del polymorphism. A total of seven studies were considered eligible for this analysis. We found significantly increased risk of sepsis in relation to the homozygote ins/ins (OR: 1.32, 95% CI: 1.04-1.68, P: 0.4201, for ins/ins vs. del/del), heterozygote del/ins (OR: 1.33, 95% CI: 1.11-1.61, P: 0.7937, for del/ins vs. del/del) and the two genotypes combined (OR: 1.33, 95% CI: 1.11-1.59, P: 0.7018, for ins/ins + del/ins vs. del/del). Subgroup analysis by age group showed a significant association in pediatric sepsis, but not in adult sepsis. CONCLUSIONS The statistical data suggest that the CD143 gene ins/del polymorphism may influence the risk of sepsis, especially pediatric sepsis.
PWM inverter regulation using Single Input Fuzzy Logic Controller

This paper presents a PWM inverter regulation using a simple single input fuzzy logic controller (SIFLC). Compared to its conventional Two inputs FLC (TIFLC), the proposed SIFLC requires fewer number of rules and tuning parameters. The design complexity is much reduced but its performance is comparable to TIFLC. To verify the viability of the SIFLC, a single-phase PWM inverter utilizing this scheme is designed and constructed. Typical controller performance results for both SIFLC and TIFLC are compared.
Fault-tolerant Verifiable Keyword Symmetric Searchable Encryption in Hybrid Cloud

As cloud computing is increasingly expanding its application scenario, it is vital for cloud storage customers not to sacriﬁce the conﬁdentiality of sensitive data while making fullest use of operational functionality of cloud secure systems. Although traditional searchable encryption can well solve exact keyword search on encrypted data with retrieving ﬁles by search interest, it does not work when typos or misspelling mistakes occur. Many speciﬁc algorithms have been well proposed to solve this diﬃcult problem. However, most of the schemes mainly focus on the single cloud to achieve fuzzy keyword search, which means that fuzzy-keyword index construction must take possible typos into account and makes existing exact-keyword index useless. In addition, existing searching schemes rarely take interaction between the data user and the cloud to improve system’s usability and user’s retrieval satisfactory degree into consideration. In this paper, we propose an improved scheme named as Distributed Fault-tolerant Keyword Search Supporting Ver-iﬁable Search-ability (DFKSSVS) in hybrid cloud with the emphasis of interaction circumstances. Through improved dictionary-based keyword construction scheme, we generate fuzzy keyword set, and build secure index for eﬃcient fuzzy search. After searching procedures, the scheme can support veriﬁability of returned ﬁles via proof returned by cloud as well, and interaction between data user and private cloud to achieve dynamic ranking of retrieval results statistically. Through rigorous security and thorough analysis, we show that the improved solution can meet veriﬁable fuzzy keyword search on cloud encrypted data with supporting the exact-keyword index already generated. Security analysis and extensive experimental results demonstrate the accuracy and eﬃciency of our proposed scheme.
A mobile crowdsensing system enhanced by cloud-based social networking services

This paper presents TripleS, a novel mobile crowdsensing system enhanced by social networking services, which enables mobile users to participate and perform mobile crowdsensing tasks in an efficient manner. TripleS provides a flexible and universal architecture across mobile devices and cloud computing platforms by integrating the service-oriented architecture with multi-agent frameworks for mobile crowdsensing, with extensive supports to application developers and end users. The customized platform of TripleS enables dynamic deployments and collaborations of services and tasks during run-time of mobile devices. Our practical experiments show that TripleS performs its tasks with a considerable computation efficiency, and low computation and communication overhead on mobile devices. Also, the mobile crowdsensing application developed on TripleS demonstrates the functionalities and practical usage of TripleS.
Bone Morphogenetic Proteins Signal through the Transforming Growth Factor-β Type III Receptor*

The bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) family, the largest subfamily of the structurally conserved transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) superfamily of growth factors, are multifunctional regulators of development, proliferation, and differentiation. The TGF-β type III receptor (TβRIII or betaglycan) is an abundant cell surface proteoglycan that has been well characterized as a TGF-β and inhibin receptor. Here we demonstrate that TβRIII functions as a BMP cell surface receptor. TβRIII directly and specifically binds to multiple members of the BMP subfamily, including BMP-2, BMP-4, BMP-7, and GDF-5, with similar kinetics and ligand binding domains as previously identified for TGF-β. TβRIII also enhances ligand binding to the BMP type I receptors, whereas short hairpin RNA-mediated silencing of endogenous TβRIII attenuates BMP-mediated Smad1 phosphorylation. Using a biologically relevant model for TβRIII function, we demonstrate that BMP-2 specifically stimulates TβRIII-mediated epithelial to mesenchymal cell transformation. The ability of TβRIII to serve as a cell surface receptor and mediate BMP, inhibin, and TGF-β signaling suggests a broader role for TβRIII in orchestrating TGF-β superfamily signaling.
Distinctive properties of metastasis-initiating cells

The tremendous rate of attrition during the process of metastasis implicates the existence of a rare and unique population of metastasis-initiating cells (MICs). In this review, Celià-Terrassa and Kang summarize the main tumor-intrinsic hallmarks of MICs and their dynamic interactions with the extrinsic environment to manifest their metastasis-forming activities and discuss the possible strategy of targeting MICs in cancer therapeutics.
Recent Developments in Alexithymia Theory and Research

Objective: To review recent developments in alexithymia theory and research that are relevant to the field of psychosomatic medicine. Method: Articles were selected from the alexithymia literature published over the past decade that describe advances in the theoretical understanding of alexithymia or report empirical investigations of the relationships of the construct with emotion regulation and with somatic illness and disease. Empirical investigations of the neural correlates of alexithymia were reviewed also, as were studies that explore therapeutic attempts to modify alexithymic characteristics. Results: The salient features of the alexithymia construct are now thought to reflect deficits in the cognitive processing and regulation of emotions. This is supported by studies showing that alexithymia is associated with maladaptive styles of emotion regulation, low emotional intelligence, a bidirectional interhemispheric transfer deficit, and reduced rapid eye movement (REM) density (number of eye movements divided by number of REM periods). Although empirical evidence demonstrates that alexithymia is associated with several somatic disorders, more prospective studies are required to establish the direction of causality. Preliminary data suggest that psychotherapies involving specific techniques to enhance emotional awareness and integrate symbolic and subsymbolic elements of emotion schemas may be effective in reducing alexithymic characteristics. Conclusion: Alexithymia is proving to be a heuristically useful construct for exploring the role of personality and emotions in the pathogenesis of certain somatic illnesses and diseases.
Low grade glioma growth modeling considering chemotherapy and radiotherapy effects from magnetic resonance images

Studying tumor growth using mathematical models from magnetic resonance (MR) images is an important application that is believed to play a major role in cancer treatment by predicting tumor evolution, quantifying the response to therapy, and treatment planning. Reaction diffusion is the most popular model because of its simplicity and consistency with the biological growth process. However, most of the current growth models focus on presurgical images and likely without treatment. In this paper, we propose a new reaction diffusion model to consider the chemotherapy and radiotherapy effects on the tumor growth modelling for patients with low grade glioma. The proposed model does not consider the tensor information from diffusion tensor imaging. Instead it uses a weighted parameter to promote higher diffusivity in white matter. The radiotherapy and chemotherapy effects are considered as a loss terms in the proposed model. The preliminary results of the proposed model on synthetic and 2 real MR images show that, our model can effectively simulate tumor growth with high accuracies when treatments are administrated to low grade glioma patients.
The Association Between Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease and Obesity

Nearly all epidemiologic studies have found an association between increasing body mass index (BMI) and symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Changes in gastroesophageal anatomy and physiology caused by obesity may explain the association. These include an increased prevalence of esophageal motor disorders, diminished lower esophageal sphincter (LES) pressure, the development of a hiatal hernia, and increased intragastric pressure. Central adiposity may be the most important risk for the development of reflux and related complications such as Barrett's esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma. Weight loss, through caloric restriction and behavioral modification, has been studied infrequently as a means of improving reflux. Bariatric surgery and its effects on a number of obesity-related disorders have been studied more extensively. Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) has been consistently associated with improvement in the symptoms and findings of GERD. The mechanism of action through which this surgery is successful at improving GERD may be independent of weight loss and needs further examination. Current evidence suggests that laparoscopic adjusted gastric banding should be avoided in these patients as the impact on gastroesophageal reflux disease appears unfavorable.
Supraglottic mechanics

INTRODUCTION The coordinated interplay between sensation and motor tone within the larynx allows for safe respiration and swallowing. Perturbations in the structure or neurologic control of the supraglottis can therefore lead to airway obstruction and/or dysphagia. This presentation provides an overview of supraglottic anatomy and innervation, with the aim of laying the foundation for understanding laryngeal dysfunction.
Journal of Information Technology Education an Action Research Approach to the Design, Development and Evaluation of an Interactive E- Learning Tutorial in a Cognitive Domain Executive Summary

The teaching and learning of a complex section in Theoretical Computer Science 1 in a distance-education context at the University of South Africa (UNISA) has been enhanced by a supplementary e-learning application called Relations, which interactively teaches mathematical skills in a cognitive domain. It has tutorial and practice functionality in a classic computer-aided instruction (CAI) style and offers considerable learner control. A participative action research approach was used to design, develop, evaluate, and refine the application over a longitudinal period. In this process the application was formatively and summatively evaluated by different methods – questionnaire surveys, interviews, heuristic evaluation and a post-test. This article explains the purpose , structure, and operation of Relations and notes how the various evaluation methods resulted in iterative refinements to its functionality, learning content, and usability. The findings lead to reflection. Conventional computer-aided instruction and learning (CAI/L) has a role to play in the milieu of e-learning. CAI can present efficient instruction, motivate and engage learners, challenge them with meaningful exercises, and can support effective learning. The students requested more such tutorial and practice environments. Relations' greatest strength is its excellent diagnostic feedback , attested to by learners and expert evaluators alike. Courseware authoring systems have powerful facilities that can be used to judge the learner-input and provide appropriate, detailed, tailor-made feedback. This can be done in web-based learning (WBL) too, using specialized web-programming languages, but it is more complex. A further obstacle to the use of WBL at UNISA is that many UNISA students still lack broadband Internet access. The designer and developers of Relations used technology, not for its own sake, but rather to motivate and to illustrate concepts in ways that enhance cognition. Technology should be the medium and not the message. The blue-water recreational theme was well received by the majority of learners and expert evaluators, who acknowledged its role in providing brief interludes of diversion and relaxation in a demanding cognitive domain. The concepts of usability and interaction design from the discipline of human-Material published as part of this publication, either on-line or in print, is copyrighted by the Informing Science Institute. Permission to make digital or paper copy of part or all of these works for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that the copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage AND that copies 1) bear this notice in full and 2) …
Effects of anabolic-androgenic steroid use or gonadal testosterone suppression on serum leptin concentration in men.

OBJECTIVE Serum leptin concentration shows a sexual dimorphism that is not accounted for by gender differences in adiposity. A strong inverse association exists between serum leptin and testosterone concentrations in men, pointing to a likely influence of gonadal sex steroids on serum leptin concentration. The aim of this study was to investigate whether manipulation of sex steroid hormones in men would alter serum leptin concentration independently of changes in fat mass. DESIGN AND METHODS The effects of sex steroid suppression on serum leptin concentration were investigated in nine healthy men in whom testosterone had been reversibly suppressed for 5 weeks after treatment with intramuscular triptorelin. The effects of sex steroid supplementation were investigated in nine male bodybuilders who self-administered anabolic--androgenic steroids (AAS) for a mean period of 6.5 weeks. A control group received no hormonal treatment. RESULTS Testosterone concentration was significantly reduced by triptorelin administration (7.32+/- 1.92ng/ml at baseline compared with 1.15+/-0.57ng/ml at 5 weeks, P=0.002). High-dose AAS use was confirmed by urine analysis. Body fat percentage was unaffected by the AAS or triptorelin intervention (P>0.19). Leptin concentration was significantly reduced after one cycle of AAS use (2.40+/-0. 98ng/ml off cycle compared with 1.63+/-0.37ng/ml on cycle, P=0.012), and was significantly increased by triptorelin administration (2. 96+/-1.50ng/ml at baseline compared with 6.63+/-4.67ng/ml at five weeks, P=0.004). No significant change occurred in the control group. CONCLUSION Androgenic sex hormone supplementation decreases serum leptin concentration, whereas suppression increases serum leptin concentration, independently of changes in body fat mass in healthy men. The sexual dimorphism evident in serum leptin concentration is likely to be due to a suppressive effect of testosterone on serum leptin concentration in males.
Tubular damage in chronic systolic heart failure is associated with reduced survival independent of glomerular filtration rate

Background The prognostic impact of reduced glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in chronic heart failure (CHF) is increasingly recognised, but little is known about tubular damage in these patients. Objective To investigate the prevalence of tubular damage, and its association with GFR, and prognosis in patients with CHF. Methods and results In 90 patients with CHF, GFR and effective renal plasma flow (ERPF) were measured ([125I]iothalamate and [131I]hippuran clearances). The tubular markers neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) and kidney injury molecule 1 (KIM-1) as well as urinary albumin excretion were determined in 24 h urine collections. Mean GFR was 78±26 ml/min/1.73 m2. Urinary NGAL (175 (70–346) μg/g creatinine (gCr)), NAG (12 (6–17) U/gCr) and KIM-1 (277 (188–537) ng/gCr) levels were increased compared with 20 healthy controls (all p<0.001). Urinary NAG, but not NGAL or KIM-1 correlated with GFR (r=−0.34, p=0.001) and ERPF (r=−0.29, p=0.006). Both NAG (r=0.21, p=0.048) and KIM-1 (r=0.23, p=0.033) correlated with plasma N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide levels. Both urinary KIM-1 (HR=1.15 (95% CI 1.02 to 1.30) per 100 ng/gCr increase, p=0.025) and NAG (HR=1.42 (95% CI 1.02 to 1.94) per 5 U/gCr increase, p=0.039), were associated with an increased risk of death or heart failure hospitalisations, independent of GFR. Conclusion Tubular damage, as indicated by increased urinary concentrations of NGAL, NAG and KIM-1 is common in patients with CHF and mildly reduced GFR. Both urinary KIM-1 and NAG showed prognostic information additional to GFR. These findings suggest an important role for tubular damage and tubular markers in cardiorenal interaction in heart failure.
Multiple emergences of genetically diverse amphibian-infecting chytrids include a globalized hypervirulent recombinant lineage

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is a globally ubiquitous fungal infection that has emerged to become a primary driver of amphibian biodiversity loss. Despite widespread effort to understand the emergence of this panzootic, the origins of the infection, its patterns of global spread, and principle mode of evolution remain largely unknown. Using comparative population genomics, we discovered three deeply diverged lineages of Bd associated with amphibians. Two of these lineages were found in multiple continents and are associated with known introductions by the amphibian trade. We found that isolates belonging to one clade, the global panzootic lineage (BdGPL) have emerged across at least five continents during the 20th century and are associated with the onset of epizootics in North America, Central America, the Caribbean, Australia, and Europe. The two newly identified divergent lineages, Cape lineage (BdCAPE) and Swiss lineage (BdCH), were found to differ in morphological traits when compared against one another and BdGPL, and we show that BdGPL is hypervirulent. BdGPL uniquely bears the hallmarks of genomic recombination, manifested as extensive intergenomic phylogenetic conflict and patchily distributed heterozygosity. We postulate that contact between previously genetically isolated allopatric populations of Bd may have allowed recombination to occur, resulting in the generation, spread, and invasion of the hypervirulent BdGPL leading to contemporary disease-driven losses in amphibian biodiversity.
Impact of Myocardial Fibrosis in Patients With Symptomatic Severe Aortic Stenosis

Background— In this prospective follow-up study, the effect of myocardial fibrosis on myocardial performance in symptomatic severe aortic stenosis was investigated, and the impact of fibrosis on clinical outcome after aortic valve replacement (AVR) was estimated. Methods and Results— Fifty-eight consecutive patients with isolated symptomatic severe aortic stenosis underwent extensive baseline characterization before AVR. Standard and tissue Doppler echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (late-enhancement imaging for replacement fibrosis) were performed at baseline and 9 months after AVR. Endomyocardial biopsies were obtained intraoperatively to determine the degree of myocardial fibrosis. Patients were analyzed according to the severity of interstitial fibrosis in cardiac biopsies (severe, n=21; mild, n=15; none, n=22). The extent of histologically determined cardiac fibrosis at baseline correlated closely with New York Heart Association functional class and markers of longitudinal systolic function (all P<0.001) but not global ejection fraction or aortic valve area. Nine months after AVR, the degree of late enhancement remained unchanged, implying that AVR failed to reduce the degree of replacement fibrosis. Patients with no fibrosis experienced a marked improvement in New York Heart Association class from 2.8±0.4 to 1.4±0.5 (P<0.001). Only parameters of longitudinal systolic function predicted this functional improvement. Four patients with severe fibrosis died during follow-up, but no patient from the other groups died. Conclusions— Myocardial fibrosis is an important morphological substrate of postoperative clinical outcome in patients with severe aortic stenosis and was not reversible after AVR over the 9 months of follow-up examined in this study. Because markers of longitudinal systolic function appear to indicate sensitively both the severity of myocardial fibrosis and the clinical outcome, they may prove valuable for preoperative risk assessment in patients with aortic stenosis.
Probability distribution of a stochastically advected scalar field.

A systematic method is outlined for constructing workable approximations to the joint probability distribution {ital P}({psi},{xi}) of amplitude {psi} and spatial gradient {xi} of an active or passive scalar field that is advected by a prescribed isotropically distributed stochastic velocity field and subjected to molecular diffusion. {ital P}({psi},{xi}) is sampled along fluid-element paths, and closure is obtained by taking a multivariate-Gaussian reference field {psi}{sub 0}({bold x}) and distorting it locally in {bold x} space so that it exhibits the current {ital P}({ital pxi},{xi}).