Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of inulin and oligofructose on gastrointestinal peptides

In the present paper, we summarise the data supporting the following hypothesis: dietary inulin-type fructans extracted from chicory root may modulate the production of peptides, such as incretins, by endocrine cells present in the intestinal mucosa, this phenomenon being involved in the regulation of food intake and/or systemic effects. To test this hypothesis, male Wistar rats received for 3 weeks either a standard diet or the same diet supplemented with 10% inulin-type fructans with different degrees of polymerisation. All the effects were most pronounced with the diet containing oligofructose, and consisted of (i) a decrease in mean daily energy intake and in epididymal fat mass; (ii) a higher caecal pool of the anorexigenic glucagon-like peptide-1 (7–36) amide (GLP-1), and peptide YY (PYY), due to caecal tissue proliferation; (iii) an increase in GLP-1 and of its precursor – proglucagon mRNA – concentrations in the proximal colon; (iv) an increase in portal serum level of GLP-1 and PYY; (v) a decrease in serum orexigenic peptide ghrelin. Moreover, oligofructose supplementation improved glucose homeostasis (i.e. decreased glycaemia, increased pancreatic and serum insulin content) in diabetic rats previously treated with streptozotocin, a phenomenon that is partly linked to the reduction in food intake and that correlates with the increase in colic and portal GLP-1 content. Based on these results it appears justified to test, in human subjects, the hypothesis that dietary inulin-type fructans could play a role in the management of obesity and diabetes through their capacity to promote secretion of endogenous gastrointestinal peptides involved in appetite regulation.
Using Personality Neuroscience to Study Personality Disorder

Personality neuroscience integrates techniques from personality psychology and neuroscience to elucidate the neural basis of individual differences in cognition, emotion, motivation, and behavior. This endeavor is pertinent not only to our understanding of healthy personality variation, but also to the aberrant trait manifestations present in personality disorders and severe psychopathology. In the current review, we focus on the advances and limitations of neuroimaging methods with respect to personality neuroscience. We discuss the value of personality theory as a means to link specific neural mechanisms with various traits (e.g., the neural basis of the “Big Five”). Given the overlap between dimensional models of normal personality and psychopathology, we also describe how researchers can reconceptualize psychopathological disorders along key dimensions, and, in turn, formulate specific neural hypotheses, extended from personality theory. Examples from the borderline personality disorder literature are used to illustrate this approach. We provide recommendations for utilizing neuroimaging methods to capture the neural mechanisms that underlie continuous traits across the spectrum from healthy to maladaptive.
Persistence barcodes for shapes

In this paper, we initiate a study of shape description and classification via the application of persistent homology to two tangential constructions on geometric objects. Our techniques combine the differentiating power of geometry with the classifying power of topology. The homology of our first construction, the tangent complex, can distinguish between topologically identical shapes with different "sharp" features, such as corners. To capture "soft" curvature-dependent features, we define a second complex, the filtered tangent complex, obtained by parametrizing a family of increasing subcomplexes of the tangent complex. Applying persistent homology, we obtain a shape descriptor, called a barcode, that is a finite union of intervals. We define a metric over the space of such intervals, arriving at a continuous invariant that reflects the geometric properties of shapes. We illustrate the power of our methods through a number of detailed studies of parametrized families of mathematical shapes.
Review article: strategies for the management of chronic unremitting ulcerative colitis

Chronic active ulcerative colitis (UC) is associated with significant morbidity, loss of productivity, increased colorectal cancer risk and cost. Up to 18% of patients suffer chronic active disease, with 30% requiring colectomy at 10 years. The management remains challenging given the relatively few clinical trials in this area.
Fast replication in content distribution overlays

We present SPIDER-a system for fast replication or distribution of large content from a single source to multiple sites interconnected over Internet or via a private network. In order to exploit spatial diversity of the underlying network, SPIDER uses an overlay structure composed of dedicated transit nodes (TNs). The data transport mechanism in SPIDER leverages this overlay structure to provide a coordinated approach that minimizes the maximum time to replicate to all destination sites (the make span of content replication). In order to achieve this objective, SPIDER employs two orthogonal components: a) creation of multiple dynamic distribution trees using the transit nodes b) end-to-end reliable data transport with flow control on these trees by chaining point-to-point TCPs. We further present simulations based results to quantify benefits of tree construction algorithms in random topologies. We evaluate the real implementation of the SPIDER in Planet Lab and observe a 2-6 times speed up compared to different existing schemes.
The ability of retention, drug release and rheological properties of nanogel bioadhesives based on cellulose derivatives

Abstract The rheological and drug release behavior of biopolymer nanocomposite gels based on the cellulose derivatives, formulated as the bioadhesive drug delivery platforms, were investigated. The bioadhesive gel is composed of the microcrystalline cellulose, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose and phosphate buffered saline (pH = 7.4 at 20 °C) as the dissolution and release medium. The reinforcing nanofillers such as MMT-clay, fumed porous silica and porous starch were used as additives in the nanogel bioadhesive. The constant steady state viscosities of this nanogels upon incorporation of various nanofillers into the systems is the sign of structural stability. Hence, this system is suitable for use in the controlled drug delivery systems in contact with the biological tissues. Based on the rheological measurements, the shear flow properties (i.e. zero shear viscosity and yield stress) were influenced by the concentration of polymers and nanoparticles. The results indicate that the nonlinear rheological data are fitted properly by the Giesekus model. Furthermore, the results showed that the nonlinear viscoelastic parameters (λ and α) are highly affected by the biogel and nanoparticles concentrations. Finally, the drug release was measured, and the results indicated that the biopolymer-clay nanocomposites have appropriate release pattern as the release is better controlled compared to the other nanogel formulations.
Spatio-temporal Pattern Analysis of Wildfires using GIS in Korea: 1991-2014

During past 40 years, there have been over 440 wildfires per year in Korea. Wildfire can cause severe damage to ecology, finance, and society. Especially, during the 1996 Goseong Forest Fire and 2000 East Coast Forest Fire, Korea suffered huge economic damage which took a long time to recover from. In addition, Korea is vulnerable to wildfires due to large mountainous areas and coniferous forests. Moreover, the risk and damage of wildfires are increasing because of climate changes. To reduce wildfire damage, more understanding about forest fires is required. The purpose of this study is to analyze spatio-temporal patterns of wildfires in Korea and examine the factors contributing to wildfires. This study also examines spatial pattern analysis of wildfire damage in Korea. This study analyzed data from 9,554 wildfire occurrences during 1991-2014 using GIS. This study analyzed trends in wildfire occurrences, damage caused, and burnt areas in Korea, and spatial distributions for 230 municipalities. Also, this study analyzed temporal characteristics in terms of season, day of the week, and time of occurrence. In order to examine factors contributing to wildfire damage, this study designed four models with different combination of variables. In total six factors, including 23 variables, were examined using OLS regression analysis. In terms of spatial pattern analysis, this study found spatial autocorrelation of wildfire damage in Korea, and conducted cluster analysis for examine wildfire damage hotspot areas. This study found five results. First, in the 2010s, wildfire occurrences and damage in Korea are increasing, but the burnt area is decreasing. The frequency and damage are happening most frequently in Gangwondo and Gyeongsangbukdo regions. Second, the most common wildfire occurrence in Korea is at daytime, on Sunday, in spring season and caused by negligence. Third, the factors contributing wildfires have changed according to different time periods. Commonly, variables regarding conifer forests, population density, spring season, daytime, and negligence showed significant relation to forest fire damage among study periods. Next, hotspot areas of wildfire damage have moved during different time periods. In 2010s, hotspots are located in south-eastern parts of Korea such as Gyeongsangnam-bukdo and Jeollanamdo area. Lastly, municipalities in hotspots showed some significant relationship with wildfires: humidity, days after last rainfall, trails, population density, summer, and morning time. In conclusion, first, reinforcement of wildfire mitigation education to mountain hikers and incineration activity in the spring season is required. Second, local governments who have more coniferous trees and low populations have to intensify their wildfire surveillance system to reduce wildfire damage. Third, local governments in wildfire hotspots should pay attention to wildfire occurrences and make policies regarding a collaborative wildfire management system, such as having joint training, sharing resources, and making comprehensive plans to reduce wildfire damage.
Evaluation of Morphological Texture Features for Mangrove Forest Mapping and Species Discrimination Using Multispectral IKONOS Imagery

This letter aims to exploit morphological textures in discriminating three mangrove species and surrounding environment with multispectral IKONOS imagery in a study area on the Caribbean coast of Panama. Morphological texture features are utilized to distinguish red (Rhizophora mangle), white (Laguncularia racemosa), and black (Avicennia germinans) mangroves and rainforest regions. Meanwhile, two fusion methods are presented, i.e., vector stacking and support vector machine (SVM) output fusion, for integrating the hybrid spectral-textural features. For comparison purposes, the object-based analysis and the gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) textures are adopted. Results revealed that the morphological feature opening by reconstruction (OBR) followed by closing by reconstruction (CBR) and its dual operator CBR followed by OBR gave very promising accuracies for both mangrove discrimination (89.1% and 91.1%, respectively) and forest mapping (91.4% and 93.7%, respectively), compared with the object-based analysis (80.5% for mangrove discrimination and 82.9% for forest mapping) and the GLCM method (81.9% and 87.2%, respectively). With respect to the spectral-textural information fusion algorithms, experiments showed that the SVM output fusion could obtain an additional 2.0% accuracy improvement than the vector-stacking approach.
The protective activity of immunostimulants against Listeria monocytogenes infection in mice.

The function of peritoneal macrophages induced by intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of attenuated Streptococcus pyogenes (OK-432), Bacillus Calmette Guérin (BCG), protein-bound polysaccharide preparation isolated from Coriolus vesicolor (PSK) or Lactobacillus casei was examined. The PMA-triggered respiratory burst (production of O2- and H2O2) of macrophages induced by OK-432, BCG or Lac. casei was greater than that of resident or thioglycollate-stimulated macrophages and was similar to that of BCG-activated macrophages. PSK failed to enhance the production of O2- or H2O2 by macrophages. Alkaline phosphodiesterase (APD) activity was reduced in macrophages induced by OK-432, BCG or Lac. casei injection and in BCG-activated macrophages. The APD activity of macrophages obtained 7 and 13 days after i.p. injection of PSK was elevated, as with thioglycollate-stimulated macrophages. Listericidal activity in vitro was enhanced in macrophages obtained in 13 and 7 days, but suppressed in macrophages obtained 2 days after OK-432, BCG or Lac. casei injection. Lac. casei administered either 2 or 13 days before infection with Listeria monocytogenes was protective but OK-432, BCG (0.1 mg) and PSK were not, even though they were able to stimulate macrophage function.
Prevalence of Delirium in Opium Users after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery

Background: Postoperative cognitive dysfunction, especially delirium commonly occurs after cardiac surgery. Clinical evidences suggest an increase in delirium in opium abusers after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) surgery. In this study, the prevalence of delirium in addict (opium user) and nonaddict patients after CABG were compared. Methods: In a cross-sectional study after obtaining institutional approval and informed consent, 325 patients candidate for elective CABG were included in the study. All patients with history of opium abuse met the criteria for opioid dependence using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition definitions. Delirium after CABG was assessed in addict (opium user) and nonaddict patients up to a maximum of 5 days after surgery with the Intensive Care Delirium Screening Checklist. Results: A total of 325 patients were evaluated (208 without and 117 with a history of opium abuse). Postoperative delirium occurred within 72 h after surgery in 44.31% of all patients. There was a significant difference in the prevalence of postoperative delirium between the opium users (80.7%) and nonaddict patients (25%) in the intensive care unit (P < 0.001). Opium addiction was a risk factor for postoperative delirium after CABG Surgery. Conclusions: Delirium after CABG surgery is more prevalent in opium users compared with nonaddict patients. Therefore, opium abuse is a possible risk factor for postoperative delirium in cardiac surgical patients.
Enhanced Billboards for Model Simplification

A set of billboards can represent 3D models for extreme simplification in real-time rendering. Unlike conventional polygon method, billboard-based technique has the rendering time of the model proportional to its contribution to the image. Thus, it has an automatically built-in Level of Detail. However, previous techniques still have limited viewing angle and do not accurately represent the model. We present an adaptive rendering method using enhanced billboards. First, each enhanced billboard, representing portion of the model, is defined to have four maps: depth map, normal map, color map and transparency map. The model is then projected onto a number of viewing planes in different viewing directions. Consequently, these enhanced billboards are rendered based on ray-height-field intersection algorithm implemented on GPU. This representation can maintain the geometry and the silhouette of the model with no limit in viewing direction. Moreover, real-time rendering is supported.
Differences in time management of Croatian managers in regard of their sex and hierarchical level

Na temelju anketnog upitnika za samoevaluaciju aktivnosti upravljanja i aktivnosti gubljenja vremena, na uzorku od 151 menadžera, istraživano je upravljanje vremenom hrvatskih menadžera te utjecaj dviju individualnih karakteristika (spola i hijerarhijske razine) na njihovu uspjesnost pri tome. Istraživanje je pokazalo da su: 1. hrvatski menadžeri prosjecno dobri u upravljanju vremenom ; 2. ne postoje znacajne razlike u upravljanju vremenom menadžera s obzirom na njihov spol te 3. da postoje naznake da je uspjesnost u upravljanju vremenom povezana s hijerarhijskom razinom na kojoj se menadžer nalazi. Navedeno ukazuje da hrvatske organizacije trebaju znacajnije ulagati u trening upravljanja vremenom svojih menadžera, posebice menadžera najnižih razina.
Increased maternal nighttime cortisol concentrations in late gestation alter glucose and insulin in the neonatal lamb

Previous studies in our laboratory have shown that a modest chronic increase in maternal cortisol concentrations impairs maternal glucose metabolism and increases the incidence of perinatal stillbirth. The dramatic outcomes prevented our ability to study the effects of maternal hypercortisolemia on neonatal growth, glucose metabolism, and hypothalamo–pituitary–adrenal axis response. Therefore, we developed a model in which pregnant ewes are infused for 12 h/day at 0.5 mg·kg−1·day−1 from day 115 of gestation until delivery (~145), elevating nighttime plasma cortisol concentrations. This pattern of elevation of cortisol mimics that in patients with elevated evening cortisol concentrations, as in Cushing's syndrome or chronic depression. Plasma cortisol, glucose, insulin, and electrolytes were measured during pregnancy and postpartum in control and cortisol‐infused ewes and their postnatal lambs for the first 14 days after delivery. Neonatal growth and plasma ACTH, aldosterone, renin activity, and electrolytes, and organ weights at 14 days of age were also measured. Infusion of cortisol increased maternal plasma cortisol during pregnancy but not postpartum, and did not alter neonatal ACTH or cortisol. Although maternal glucose and insulin concentrations were not changed by the maternal infusion of cortisol, neonatal plasma glucose was increased and plasma insulin was decreased compared to those in the control group. Neonatal ponderal index and kidney weight were reduced, left ventricular wall thickness was increased, and plasma sodium and creatinine were increased after maternal cortisol infusion. These results suggest that excess maternal cortisol concentrations in late gestation alter growth, glucose and insulin regulation, and organ maturation in the neonate.
Complete coverage path planning of mobile robots for humanitarian demining

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a path planning algorithm for a non‐circular shaped mobile robot to autonomously navigate in an unknown area for humanitarian demining. For that purpose the path planning problem comes down to planning a path from some starting location to a final location in an area so that the robot covers all the reachable positions in the area while following the planned path.Design/methodology/approach – The proposed algorithm uses occupancy grid map representation of the area. Every free cell in the grid map represents a node in the graph being searched to find the complete coverage path. The complete coverage path is followed by the dynamic window algorithm, which includes robot's kinematic and dynamic constraints.Findings – The proposed algorithm finds the complete coverage path in the graph accounting for the dimensions of the mobile robot, where non‐circular shaped robots can be easily included. The algorithms are implemented under the ROS (robot operating system.
Fuzzy sentiment analysis on microblogs for movie revenue prediction

With the advent of microblogging in recent years, people voice their views about products, especially movies. Microblogs are rich sources of data that can be analyzed to derive useful knowledge like larger public opinion on a product, which can be utilized to derive sales performance patterns. In this paper we propose a novel fuzzy approach for evaluating sentiments expressed in microblogs, which are incorporated in text mining methodologies to predict weekly movie revenues.
Downie Slide: An integrated remote sensing approach to characterization of a very slow moving landslide

Airborne LiDAR data of the Downie Slide area were analyzed in a GIS environment, and aspect, slope, hillshade, and relative relief maps created. A detailed lineament analysis revealed surface evidence of slope damage. Displacement vectors derived from surface monitoring were superimposed on the GIS maps and a tentative correlation made between slope deformation, and large-scale structural and damage features. Twelve structural domains with distinct zones of compression and extension were defined within the landslide.
User study of the Bayesian update of dialogue state approach to dialogue management

This paper presents the results of a comparative user evaluation of various approaches to dialogue management. The major contribution is a comparison of traditional systems against a system that uses a Bayesian Update of Dialogue State approach. This approach is based on the Partially Observable Markov Decision Process (POMDP), which has previously been shown to give improved robustness in simulation experiments. Results from this paper show that the benefits demonstrated in simulation experiments are also obtained when testing a live system with real users.
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Solution Structure of the Escherichia coli DNA Polymerase III θ Subunit

ABSTRACT The catalytic core of Escherichia coli DNA polymerase III holoenzyme contains three subunits: α, ε, and θ. The α subunit contains the polymerase, and the ε subunit contains the exonucleolytic proofreading function. The small (8-kDa) θ subunit binds only to ε. Its function is not well understood, although it was shown to exert a small stabilizing effect on the ε proofreading function. In order to help elucidate its function, we undertook a determination of its solution structure. In aqueous solution, θ yielded poor-quality nuclear magnetic resonance spectra, presumably due to conformational exchange and/or protein aggregation. Based on our recently determined structure of the θ homolog from bacteriophage P1, named HOT, we constructed a homology model of θ. This model suggested that the unfavorable behavior of θ might arise from exposed hydrophobic residues, particularly toward the end of α-helix 3. In gel filtration studies, θ elutes later than expected, indicating that aggregation is potentially responsible for these problems. To address this issue, we recorded 1H-15N heteronuclear single quantum correlation (HSQC) spectra in water-alcohol mixed solvents and observed substantially improved dispersion and uniformity of peak intensities, facilitating a structural determination under these conditions. The structure of θ in 60/40 (vol/vol) water-methanol is similar to that of HOT but differs significantly from a previously reported θ structure. The new θ structure is expected to provide additional insight into its physiological role and its effect on the ε proofreading subunit.