Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Olmesartan Attenuates Tacrolimus-Induced Biochemical and Ultrastructural Changes in Rat Kidney Tissue

Tacrolimus, a calcineurin inhibitor, is clinically used as an immunosuppressive agent in organ transplantation, but its use is limited due to its marked nephrotoxicity. The present study investigated the effect of olmesartan (angiotensin receptor blocker) on tacrolimus-induced nephrotoxicity in rats. A total of 24 rats were divided into four groups, which included control, tacrolimus, tacrolimus + olmesartan, and olmesartan groups. Tacrolimus-induced nephrotoxicity was assessed biochemically and histopathologically. Tacrolimus significantly increased BUN and creatinine level. Treatment with olmesartan reversed tacrolimus-induced changes in the biochemical markers (BUN and creatinine) of nephrotoxicity. Tacrolimus significantly decreased GSH level and catalase activity while increasing MDA level. Olmesartan also attenuated the effects of tacrolimus on MDA, GSH, and catalase. In tacrolimus group histological examination showed marked changes in renal tubule, mitochondria, and podocyte processes. Histopathological and ultrastructural studies showed that treatment with olmesartan prevented tacrolimus-induced renal damage. These results suggest that olmesartan has protective effects on tacrolimus-induced nephrotoxicity, implying that RAS might be playing role in tacrolimus-induced nephrotoxicity.
Framework for Link-Level Energy Efficiency Optimization with Informed Transmitter

The dramatic increase of network infrastructure comes at the cost of rapidly increasing energy consumption, which makes optimization of energy efficiency (EE) an important topic. Since EE is often modeled as the ratio of rate to power, we present a mathematical framework called fractional programming that provides insight into this class of optimization problems, as well as algorithms for computing the solution. The main idea is that the objective function is transformed to a weighted sum of rate and power. A generic problem formulation for systems dissipating transmit-independent circuit power in addition to transmit-dependent power is presented. We show that a broad class of EE maximization problems can be solved efficiently, provided the rate is a concave function of the transmit power. We elaborate examples of various system models including time-varying parallel channels. Rate functions with an arbitrary discrete modulation scheme are also treated. The examples considered lead to water-filling solutions, but these are different from the dual problems of power minimization under rate constraints and rate maximization under power constraints, respectively, because the constraints need not be active. We also demonstrate that if the solution to a rate maximization problem is known, it can be utilized to reduce the EE problem into a one-dimensional convex problem.
Is the class A macrophage scavenger receptor (SR-A) multifunctional? - The mouse's tale.

The class A macrophage scavenger receptor (SR-A) is the prototypic member of an expanding family of membrane receptors collectively termed scavenger receptors (SRs) (1–3). Receptors of this group recognize a number of ligands, including chemically modified or altered molecules and, in particular, the modified lipoproteins that are pertinent to the development of vascular disease. As shown in Table ​Table1,1, all characterized SR-A ligands are polyanionic, although many polyanions fail to bind SR-A. Here, we wish to summarize and comment upon the evidence for SR-A being both a multiligand and multifunctional receptor, considering both the available in vitro data and the results of several studies of SR-A–deficient mice. Two other SRs, namely SR-B1 (Krieger, ref. 4) and LRP (Herz and Strickland, ref. 5), are the subject of separate reviews in this Perspective series. Table 1 SR-A ligands. Receptor recognition or nonrecognition has been shown for these molecules, either through direct binding studies or the inhibition of modified lipoprotein endocytosis. Two themes that can be drawn from studies of SRs as a whole are particularly relevant to this discussion. First, because these receptors display broad and seemingly overlapping ligand-binding properties, biological specificity is likely to be determined not only by ligand structure and the signal transduced following ligand binding, but also by other considerations. These include the distribution and availability of the various SRs, their ability to interact with other receptors, and their relative affinities for the various ligands. Second, the apparent redundancy of ligand binding is achieved despite the absence of conserved protein sequences among the distinct classes of SRs. A mechanistic understanding of individual SRs’ broad yet specific ligand recognition and of the features shared by these unrelated molecules will require the resolution of tertiary structures of multiple SRs.
A new algorithm for non-rigid point matching using geodesic graph model

Point matching is a problem of finding the optimum matching between two sets of key points which are extracted from the surfaces of objects. A popular approach represents the features of a set of points with a graph model. Traditionally, the measurement applied in the graph model is the Euclidian distance, which is not suitable for objects with non-rigid deformations. In this paper, we propose a novel graph model called the geodesic graph model (GGM) which uses a geodesic-like distance as its measurement. GGM can better tackle non-rigid deformations because the geodesic-like distance is a kind of invariant structural feature during non-rigid deformations. The building process of the GGM is justified under the assumption that all the key points are spanning on a manifold. To further handle the deviations of key point locations, we come up with a feature weighting process to increase our algorithm's robustness. We conduct several experiments on different kinds of deformations over several widely used datasets. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our algorithm.
Visual analogy as a cognitive strategy in the design process. Expert versus novice performance

This study investigated the use of visual analogy in architectural design. Its purpose was to provide some understanding of the way experts and novices apply visual analogical thinking to generate satisfactory solutions during the design process. Although there are several anecdotal examples in the design literature that have reported the use of analogy, few studies have empirically explored the relationship between analogy and expertise in design problem solving. In order to provide empirical evidence, a series of controlled experiments were conducted to examine how this cognitive strategy contributed to the enhancement of design problem solving in each group of subjects. Students and architects were asked to solve a set of non-routine design problems stimulated by exposure to between-domain and within-domain visual displays, and were given explicit instructions to use analogy. Results showed that both novices and experts were able to reason by visual analogy and use deep analogs. It was found that experts identified and retrieved analogs from between-domain displays. Novices, however, identified a large number of between-domain displays, but retrieved analogs from between-domain and within-domain displays in the same measure. Novices, in contrast to experts, did not add constraints to the design problem, but produced a large number of solutions. These findings have important implications on design education. It is proposed that training novice students in the use of visual analogy can play a significant role to develop design skills in the architectural design studio. What are the differences between expert and novice performance in the domain of design? How can we help designers solve non-routine design problems while using familiar knowledge structures? The production of an unlimited number of unexpected solutions that are significantly different from earlier designs is a characteristic of non-routine design. Design problems are described as major examples of non-routine problems (Gero and Maher 1993). In design, visual analogy is a powerful problem solving strategy that can help explain new and non-routine problems in terms of familiar ones. Although there is some evidence that problem solvers have difficulty in making spontaneous use of this strategy, references concerning the use of analogy are mostly anecdotal. Moreover, differences in expertise as regards the use of visual analogy in design have rarely been reported. The main goal of this study is to provide empirical evidence regarding differences and similarities in the performance of expert and novice designers whose reasoning process involves visual analogy. Qualitative and quantitative results in the use of visual analogy during the design process are presented following a brief literature review.
Principles for the Prediction of Video Decoding Times Applied to MPEG-1/2 and MPEG-4 Part 2 Video

In this paper, we present a method to predict per-frame decoding times of modern video decoder algorithms. By examining especially the MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4 pt. 2 algorithms, we developed a generic model for these decoders, which also applies to a wide range of other decoders. From this model, we derived a method to predict decoding times with an up-to-now unmatched accuracy while keeping the overhead low. We show the effectiveness of this method with an example implementation and compare the resulting predictions with the actual decoding times using video material from commercial DVDs
Investigation of the regularities of temperature regime of fire in cable tunnels depending on its parameters

Simulation, as a method of scientific research, makes it possible, without performing costly and labor-intensive field experiments on models, to carry out all necessary experiments to determine the temperature modes of fire in cable tunnels. The purpose of the research of this work was to determine the temperature regime of fire in a cable tunnel depending on its shape, size and fire load. Mathematical models of cable tunnels were created in one of the CFD software systems. Cable products are constantly evolving and improving. For tests on the fire resistance of building structures of cable tunnels, a standard temperature mode of fire is used which may not correspond to fire mode in a real cable tunnel. The computational experiments were carried out and the temperature regimes of fires in tunnels with different parameters were determined. The obtained results showed the parameters of cable tunnels, which influence the temperature regime of fire in tunnels most. In this paper the use of computational experiments for the study of heat and mass transfer processes in fires in cable tunnels was examined further. CFD Fire Dynamics Simulator 6.2 was used.
The cleavage plane will bend when one aster of the mitotic apparatus stops growing in compressed sea urchin eggs

Astral microtubules are elongated greatly during anaphase and telophase in sea urchin eggs. The surface density of microtubules reaching the cell surface can be defined at each surface point. Gradients of the surface-density function were assumed to drive membrane proteins whose accumulation causes the formation of contractile-ring microfilaments. An equation was constructed to calculate the movements of the membrane proteins on a curved surface. The equation was applied to eggs compressed between a coverslip and a glass slide by regarding the egg shape as an oblate spheroid. The simulations explained the observations that contractile-ring microfilaments locally appeared and then developed into a complete ring in compressed eggs. When one aster in the mitotic apparatus stopped growing during anaphase, the equation predicted that the zone of contractile-ring microfilaments is displaced toward the inactivated aster, curves in the view from above and tapers off toward the cell edge. The curve gets sharper as eggs are compressed more greatly and as microtubules from the growing aster penetrate more deeply into the opposite hemisphere. The predictions were compared with the observations by Ishii and Shimizu in 1995 and by Hamaguchi in 1998 regarding the furrow formation by the asymmetric mitotic apparatus.
PET imaging analysis using a parcelation approach and multiple kernel classification

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a noninvasive medical imaging modality that provides information about physiological processes. Due to its ability to measure the brain metabolism, it is widely used to assist the diagnosis of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) of Parkinsonism. In order to avoid the subjectivity inherent to the visual exploration of the images, several computer systems to analyze PET data were developed during the last years. However, dealing with the huge amount of information provided by PET imaging is still a challenge. In this work we present a novel methodology to analyze PET data that improves the automatic differentiation between controls and AD patients. First the images are divided into small regions or parcels, defined either anatomically, geometrically or randomly. Secondly, the accuray of each single region is estimated using a Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier and a cross-validation approach. Finally, all the regions are assessed together using multiple kernel SVM with a kernel per region. The classifier is built so that the most discriminative regions have more weight in the final decision. This method was evaluated using a PET dataset that contained images from healthy controls and AD patients. The classification results obtained with the proposed approach outperformed two recently reported computer systems based on Principal Component Analysis and Independent Component Analysis.
A visual object-oriented programming environment

This paper explores both the design and classroom usage of a visual and interactive programming environment. This environment, named JavaTown, provides a visual representation of the inner workings of object-oriented programs, in which on-screen characters are literally depicted as carrying messages to each other and remembering values. JavaTown was created to aid in the introduction of some of the most elusive concepts in the CS1/CS2 curriculum: object references, parameter passing, variable scope, recursion, and linked lists.
Cross-Layer Survivability in WDM-Based Networks

In layered networks, a single failure at a lower layer may cause multiple failures in the upper layers. As a result, traditional schemes that protect against single failures may not be effective in multilayer networks. In this paper, we introduce the problem of maximizing the connectivity of layered networks. We show that connectivity metrics in layered networks have significantly different meaning than their single-layer counterparts. Results that are fundamental to survivable single-layer network design, such as the Max-Flow Min-Cut Theorem, are no longer applicable to the layered setting. We propose new metrics to measure connectivity in layered networks and analyze their properties. We use one of the metrics, Min Cross Layer Cut, as the objective for the survivable lightpath routing problem and develop several algorithms to produce lightpath routings with high survivability. This allows the resulting cross-layer architecture to be resilient to failures between layers.
Elastic model low- to intermediate-wavenumber inversion using reflection traveltime and waveform of multicomponent seismic data

Low-, intermediate-, and high-wavenumber components of P- and S-wave velocities jointly influence the elastic wave propagation and scattering in an isotropic medium. By taking advantage of all information in the data, elastic full-waveform inversion (E-FWI) has the potential to recover these model components. However, if the transmitted wave data are insufficient to illuminate the deeper part of the subsurface, we should rely on the solutions using reflection data. To reduce the nonlinearity of waveform inversion, we choose to decouple the effects of the model background and perturbation on the reflected waves within a linearized inversion framework. This resorts to three stages aiming to gradually fit the traveltimes and waveforms of the reflected PP and PS waves based on data or gradient preconditioning through P/S mode decomposition. For the first two stages, once the multicomponent seismograms have been separated into PP and PS reflection recordings, reflection traveltime inversion using an acoustic wave propagator (A-RTI) can successively recover the low-wavenumber components of P- and S-wave velocities. In the last stage, starting from the models having reliable low-wavenumber components, elastic reflection waveform inversion (E-RWI) can easily get out of the local minima and continue to retrieve the increasing wavenumber features sensitive to the waveform and amplitude variations. This is supported by gradient preconditioning through P/S mode decomposition of the extrapolated normal and adjoint wavefields, and alternately updating model background and high-wavenumber components in terms of linearized least-squares inversion. Numerical examples have demonstrated the performance of our E-RWI approach and the validity of the three-stage inversion workflow.
Prevalence of Physical Activity and Sitting Time Among South Korean Adolescents

This study aimed to describe physical activity (PA) and sitting time, and to examine associations between sociodemographic factors, weight status, PA, and sitting time among South Korean adolescents (12-18 years). Findings are based on self-report data from 638 participants in the 2013 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Only 4.9% of adolescents accumulated 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous PA daily. Adolescents spent 532.4 ± 9.3 mins/d sitting. After controlling for age and sex, individuals in higher income groups compared with the lowest income group, living in nonmetro Seoul compared with metro Seoul, and who were overweight compared with nonoverweight were more likely to meet PA guidelines. Participants in the highest income group compared with lowest income group, and residing in nonmetro Seoul compared with metro Seoul were more likely to be in the high sitting time group (>720 min/d) (P < .05). Increasing PA and reducing sitting should be a public health priority in South Korea.
Screening cancer patients' families with the distress thermometer (DT): a validation study

Although family members of cancer patients are at great risk of experiencing psychological distress, clinical tools to assist with recognizing and intervening with appropriate psychosocial care are sparse. This study reports on the first validation of the distress thermometer (DT) as a screening instrument for symptoms of depression and anxiety in family members of cancer patients. The DT was administered with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) in a sample of 321 family members. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) demonstrated that the DT has good diagnostic utility relative to the HADS (area under the curve= 0.88 relative to the HADS anxiety scale; 0.84 relative to the HADS depression scale, respectively). The ROC curves indicate that using a cut‐off of 4/5 maximizes sensitivity (86.2% HADS anxiety scale; 88.2% HADS depression scale) and specificity (71.2% HADS anxiety scale; 67.6% HADS depression scale); however, the alternative lower cut‐off of 3/4 increases sensitivity (94.1% for both scales) and hence reduces the risk of missing distressed family members (specificity is 62.9% for HADS anxiety scale; 59.1% for HADS depression scale). The results offer validation of the DT for screening family members of cancer patients and support its use for clinical assessment. Distress screening with DT for family members of cancer patients is a promising and efficient approach to integrating family members in the program of care and provides the first step toward meeting their unmet needs with referral for supportive services. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Chaotic Map Based Random Image Steganography Using LSB Technique

Steganography play an important role to transfer secret data over insecure network. Moreover digital images are taken as a cover to communicate the sensitive data. One of the simplest approach of embedding the secret data into cover image is Least Signiﬁcant Bit (LSB) method. This paper aims to propose a new symmetric key based image hiding technique. Pseudo random keys are generated by using 1D logistic map and those keys are used for choosing the pixel position of cover image randomly for hiding the secret image. The main security part of the projected method is the selection of pixel position in the cover image. Peak Signal Noise Ratio (PSNR) and Mean Square Error (MSE) measures are used for comparison and the result analysis shows that the proposed scheme provide eﬃcient level of security.
FLUID DYNAMICS AS A FACTOR IN THE LOCALIZATION OF ATHEROGENESIS a

The possible role of fluid dynamics in the localization of atherosclerotic lesions has provided a primary motivation for the resurgence of interest in the study of blood flow through the major mammalian arteries which has taken place over the past 15 years. Such flows are pulsatile and pass through vessels that are complex both in geometry and in their elastic nature. It is the former which is of particular interest with regard to atherosclerosis. It now appears that it is this geometric complexity, as represented by vessel branching and the general tortuosity of the vasculature, which may be all important, not only in determining the detailed characteristics of arterial flows, but also the spatial nature of any fluid dynamic involvement in the disease process. Of course, severe atherosclerosis produces changes in the geometry of the arteries involved, and in so doing alters and interferes with blood flow. This is particularly important for the heart and the brain, with the result being myocardial or cerebral ischemia or even a myocardial infarction or stroke. However, even in the early stages of the disease process, that is during atherogenesis, it is believed that there is an important relationship between the disease and the characteristics of the blood flowing through the arteries. In these early stages of the disease, the vascular geometry is unaltered from its normal state, although this normal geometry may vary considerably from individual to individual. If there is a role of arterial dynamics in this early development of atherosclerosis, it thus is the fluid dynamics of the normal cardiovascular system which is of interest. Furthermore, considering the characteristic time of this disease, the role of fluid dynamics is quite possibly an extremely subtle one. This suggests that it is the rather detailed flow characteristics which may be important, and in this discussion, the relationship of these detailed local flow characteristics to endothelial changes and to the pattern of early lesions is examined. Although knowledge is too limited-perhaps the interactions are just too complicated-to do this in a general way, it is possible to do this at least in a tentative way, for the aorta and some of its major branch vessels.