Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Altered Small-World Efficiency of Brain Functional Networks in Acupuncture at ST36: A Functional MRI Study

Background Acupuncture in humans can produce clinical effects via the central nervous system. However, the neural substrates of acupuncture’s effects remain largely unknown. Results We utilized functional MRI to investigate the topological efficiency of brain functional networks in eighteen healthy young adults who were scanned before and after acupuncture at the ST36 acupoints (ACUP) and its sham point (SHAM). Whole-brain functional networks were constructed by thresholding temporal correlations matrices of ninety brain regions, followed by a graph theory-based analysis. We showed that brain functional networks exhibited small-world attributes (high local and global efficiency) regardless of the order of acupuncture and stimulus points, a finding compatible with previous studies of brain functional networks. Furthermore, the brain networks had increased local efficiency after ACUP stimulation but there were no significant differences after SHAM, indicating a specificity of acupuncture point in coordinating local information flow over the whole brain. Moreover, significant (P<0.05, corrected by false discovery rate approach) effects of only acupuncture point were detected on nodal degree of the left hippocampus (higher nodal degree at ACUP as compared to SHAM). Using an uncorrected P<0.05, point-related effects were also observed in the anterior cingulate cortex, frontal and occipital regions while stimulation-related effects in various brain regions of frontal, parietal and occipital cortex regions. In addition, we found that several limbic and subcortical brain regions exhibited point- and stimulation-related alterations in their regional homogeneity (P<0.05, uncorrected). Conclusions Our results suggest that acupuncture modulates topological organization of whole-brain functional brain networks and the modulation has point specificity. These findings provide new insights into neuronal mechanism of acupuncture from the perspective of functional integration. Further studies would be interesting to apply network analysis approaches to study the effects of acupuncture treatments on brain disorders.
Positioning of proteins in membranes: A computational approach

A new computational approach has been developed to determine the spatial arrangement of proteins in membranes by minimizing their transfer energies from water to the lipid bilayer. The membrane hydrocarbon core was approximated as a planar slab of adjustable thickness with decadiene‐like interior and interfacial polarity profiles derived from published EPR studies. Applicability and accuracy of the method was verified for a set of 24 transmembrane proteins whose orientations in membranes have been studied by spin‐labeling, chemical modification, fluorescence, ATR FTIR, NMR, cryo‐microscopy, and neutron diffraction. Subsequently, the optimal rotational and translational positions were calculated for 109 transmembrane, five integral monotopic and 27 peripheral protein complexes with known 3D structures. This method can reliably distinguish transmembrane and integral monotopic proteins from water‐soluble proteins based on their transfer energies and membrane penetration depths. The accuracies of calculated hydrophobic thicknesses and tilt angles were ∼1 Å and 2°, respectively, judging from their deviations in different crystal forms of the same proteins. The hydrophobic thicknesses of transmembrane proteins ranged from 21.1 to 43.8 Å depending on the type of biological membrane, while their tilt angles with respect to the bilayer normal varied from zero in symmetric complexes to 26° in asymmetric structures. Calculated hydrophobic boundaries of proteins are located ∼5 Å lower than lipid phosphates and correspond to the zero membrane depth parameter of spin‐labeled residues. Coordinates of all studied proteins with their membrane boundaries can be found in the Orientations of Proteins in Membranes (OPM) database:http://opm.phar. umich.edu/.
Role of ACTH and Other Hormones in the Regulation of Aldosterone Production in Primary Aldosteronism

The major physiological regulators of aldosterone production from the adrenal zona glomerulosa are potassium and angiotensin II; other acute regulators include adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and serotonin. Their interactions with G-protein coupled hormone receptors activate cAMP/PKA pathway thereby regulating intracellular calcium flux and CYP11B2 transcription, which is the specific steroidogenic enzyme of aldosterone synthesis. In primary aldosteronism (PA), the increased production of aldosterone and resultant relative hypervolemia inhibits the renin and angiotensin system; aldosterone secretion is mostly independent from the suppressed renin–angiotensin system, but is not autonomous, as it is regulated by a diversity of other ligands of various eutopic or ectopic receptors, in addition to activation of calcium flux resulting from mutations of various ion channels. Among the abnormalities in various hormone receptors, an overexpression of the melanocortin type 2 receptor (MC2R) could be responsible for aldosterone hypersecretion in aldosteronomas. An exaggerated increase in plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC) is found in patients with PA secondary either to unilateral aldosteronomas or bilateral adrenal hyperplasia (BAH) following acute ACTH administration compared to normal individuals. A diurnal increase in PAC in early morning and its suppression by dexamethasone confirms the increased role of endogenous ACTH as an important aldosterone secretagogue in PA. Screening using a combination of dexamethasone and fludrocortisone test reveals a higher prevalence of PA in hypertensive populations compared to the aldosterone to renin ratio. The variable level of MC2R overexpression in each aldosteronomas or in the adjacent zona glomerulosa hyperplasia may explain the inconsistent results of adrenal vein sampling between basal levels and post ACTH administration in the determination of source of aldosterone excess. In the rare cases of glucocorticoid remediable aldosteronism, a chimeric CYP11B2 becomes regulated by ACTH activating its chimeric CYP11B1 promoter of aldosterone synthase in bilateral adrenal fasciculate-like hyperplasia. This review will focus on the role of ACTH on excess aldosterone secretion in PA with particular focus on the aberrant expression of MC2R in comparison with other aberrant ligands and their GPCRs in this frequent pathology.
Australia and New Zealand Health Policy Open Access Analysing Nsw State Policy for Child Obesity Prevention: Strategic Policy versus Practical Action

Background: There is increasing worldwide recognition of the need for government policies to address the recent increases in the incidence and prevalence of childhood obesity. The complexity and inter-relatedness of the determinants of obesity pose a genuine policy challenge, both scientifically and politically. This study examines the characteristics of one of the early policy responses, the NSW Government's Prevention of Obesity in Children and Young People: NSW Government Action Plan 2003–2007 (GAP), as a case study, assessing it in terms of its content and capacity for implementation.
Coronary atherosclerosis with vulnerable plaque and complicated lesions in transplant recipients: new insight into cardiac allograft vasculopathy by optical coherence tomography.

AIMS Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) is a major limitation to long-term survival following cardiac transplantation. Conventional imaging modalities such as angiography and intravascular ultrasound fail to characterize CAV plaque morphology. Our aim was to characterize CAV in vivo using the high spatial resolution of intracoronary optical coherence tomography (OCT). METHODS AND RESULTS We prospectively enrolled 53 cardiac transplant patients to undergo OCT of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) in addition to annual CAV screening by coronary angiography and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS). The proximal 30 mm of the LAD was divided into three segments of 10 mm each (n = 156). Segments with CAV plaque on IVUS were analysed by OCT for specific CAV morphological characteristics within the framework of three groups according to follow-up time after heart transplantation: (i) 0-3 months (n = 18), (ii) 12-36 months (n = 55), and (iii) ≥48 months (n = 83). The prevalence of atherosclerotic characteristics such as eccentric plaques, calcification, and lipid pools increased from 6, 0, and 6% in group 1 to 78, 42, and 61% in group 3, respectively (all P < 0.001). The prevalence of vulnerable plaque features such as thin-cap fibroatheroma, macrophages, and microchannels increased from 0% in group 1 to 12, 29, and 33% in group 3, respectively (P = 0.19, P = 0.006, and P = 0.003). Complicated coronary lesions such as intimal laceration, intraluminal thrombus, and layered complex plaque increased from 0% in group 1 to 18, 19, and 57% in group 3 (P = 0.009, P < 0.001, and P < 0.001). Plaque rupture was identified in 4% of group 3 segments. CONCLUSION The current study gives new insight into CAV that extends far beyond the current concept of concentric and fibrosing vasculopathy, that is, the development of atherosclerosis with vulnerable plaque and complicated coronary lesions.
Communication in a hybrid multi-layer MIMD system for computer vision

Multi-layer MIMD computers are variable solutions for computer vision due to their flexibility and computational power. However, performance of parallel programs executed on these systems is dependent on the efficiency of inter-processor communication. Based on a hybrid multi-layer MIMD computer vision computer and message-passing mechanism, we present a software system developed to handle complex communication operations. Communication model, routing algorithm and switching technique are established and evaluated. Extensive experiments have been conducted to determine the hardware parameters of the communication links of the computer. Furthermore, communication algorithms that are frequently required in parallel vision algorithms are developed and their performance is presented.
Human-robot mutual adaptation in collaborative tasks: Models and experiments

Adaptation is critical for effective team collaboration. This paper introduces a computational formalism for mutual adaptation between a robot and a human in collaborative tasks. We propose the Bounded-Memory Adaptation Model, which is a probabilistic finite-state controller that captures human adaptive behaviors under a bounded-memory assumption. We integrate the Bounded-Memory Adaptation Model into a probabilistic decision process, enabling the robot to guide adaptable participants towards a better way of completing the task. Human subject experiments suggest that the proposed formalism improves the effectiveness of human-robot teams in collaborative tasks, when compared with one-way adaptations of the robot to the human, while maintaining the human’s trust in the robot.
MiRABIT: A New Algorithm for Mining Association Rules

Mining a sales transaction database is a very expensive task in terms of the processing time. Depending on the business branch of the company some characteristics of the database are different. The algorithms currently used for mining association rules optimize this task for databases with supermarket characteristics. The MiRABIT algorithm that is presented in this work optimizes the mining task for databases with clothing store characteristics. Comparative tests demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed algorithm in relation to the standard algorithm Apriori in a clothing store database.
Kualiti hidup penghuni bangunan dalam aspek keselesaan termal dengan menggunakan pendekatan model adaptif

Keselesaan termal merupakan keperluan utama bagi seseorang penghuni sesebuah bangunan untuk melaksanakan kerja hariannya. Kepuasan optimum terhadap keperluannya akan meningkatkan kualiti hidup penghuni berkenaan. Isu yang diutarakan dalam penulisan ini ialah ketidakselesaan termal yang dihadapi oleh penghuni yang bekerja di dalam bangunan telah menimbulkan pelbagai masalah dari segi psikologi dan fisiologi di tempat kerja. Kesan fisiologi dan psikologi yang selalu dihadapi oleh penghuni ialah cepat merasa letih, malas, emosi tidak stabil, kurang tumpuan pada kerja, produktiviti kerja terganggu dan gangguan terhadap kesihatan penghuni. Oleh hal yang demikian, penulisan ini bertujuan untuk membincangkan kerangka teoritikal yang dicadangkan menggunakan pendekatan Model Adaptif. Pendekatan ini merupakan kajian lapangan yang menggunakan tiga penyesuaian iaitu psikologi, fisiologi dan pengubahsuaian individu terhadap persekitaran termal mereka. Penyesuaian psikologi tidak boleh diukur secara langsung tetapi dapat dilihat dari segi prestasi pekerja. Prestasi pekerja berhubung kait dengan persekitaran ruang bekerja. Penyesuaian fisiologi pula hanya melibatkan sistem biologi tubuh. Prinsip adaptif turut memberi kebebasan kepada penghuni melakukan tindak balas untuk mengembalikan keselesaan mereka jika persekitaran ruang bekerja mereka menjadi tidak selesa. Akhirnya penulisan ini menjangkakan tahap keselesaan termal penghuni, zon keselesaan termal dan tindak balas penghuni terhadap persekitaran ruang bekerja dapat dikenalpasti.
A Model for Predicting Utilization of Psychiatric Facilities *

This paper develops a parsimonious model for predicting utilization of a regional system of psychiatric facilities based on census data. The model combines conceptual simplicity with readily-available data sources. In practical terms, the model removes the need to undertake comprehensive and expensive utilization surveys. In theoretical terms, the model indicates that the fundamental relationship between utilization rates and key social indicators is stable through time. Although further testing is necessary, it would seem that these key indicators can provide reasonable estimates of psychiatric morbidity for up to ten years in the future.
Electrochemical Behavior of Hexacyano Iron (III/II) in Frozen Aqueous Electrolytes

Electrochemical studies in phases that have been solidified by freezing were carried out. A 5 mM [Fe(CN)6] -3/-4 [Hexacyano Iron(III/II)] in either aqueous 0.1M KCl or in Agar gel containing 0.1 M KCl Agar were the two phase systems subject to this study. Formation of pristine ice crystals (salt free) in pure aqueous electrolyte explains smaller ΔEp recorded in frozen agar than that in absence of Agar. Furthermore, greater capacitive current was observed in frozen agar compared to that in frozen aqueous electrolyte. The results also indicates that while a liquid-like layer (≈ 4 time the value of √2Dt) is formed in frozen aqueous electrolyte at electrode/ electrolyte interface, opposite observation were recorded in frozen agar electrolyte. This evident from the thin-layer electrochemical outcome generated in frozen electrolyte, and low diffusion coefficient determined under these conditions. Deviations from the liquid state behavior at room temperature were explained on the assumption that freezing created conditions similar to those caused by application of high pressure on liquid electrochemical systems. Some kinetic data related to these systems were determined and recorded.
Bipedal Dynamic Walking in Robotics

It is easier for bipedal robots to exist in a human oriented environment than for other types of robots. Furthermore, dynamic walking is more efficient than static walking. For a biped robot achieve dynamic balance while walking, a dynamic gait must be developed. Two different approaches to gait generation are presented—an intuitive approach using software for gait animation, and a periodic approach that provides a scalable gait with parameters for controlling step length, step height and step period. A biped robot also requires a control system to ensure the stability of the robot while walking. Various simple control techniques were tried—proportional control and proportional integral control systems were implemented to modify trunk motion in order to compensate for lower limb movement. A seven link biped robot with human proportions was designed and constructed, to apply the developed gaits and control systems. Several experiments were conducted to examine the stability of the developed gaits. The ability of the control systems to stabilise and balance the robot while stationary and in motion was trialled. It was found that control using the intuitive approach to gait generation is problematic, due to difficulty scaling the gait. With this gait the robot successfully took three steps. The periodic function approach to gait generation is scalable, but slow to implement directly. Simple control systems allowed the robot to balance sufficiently while standing in an upright stationary position. However, these control systems were insufficient to stabilise the robot while walking. Reasons for success or failure of the gait generation methods and control systems are discussed and analysed. Future research methods are proposed to improve upon the theories developed in this dissertation.
The Surgical Treatment of the Lumbar Disc Prolapse: Nucleotomy With Additional Transpedicular Dynamic Stabilization Versus Nucleotomy Alone

Study Design. Clinical and radiologic study evaluating the outcome after nucleotomy with dynamic stabilization compared with nucleotomy alone. Objectives. To investigate the effect of dynamic stabilization on the progression of segmental degeneration after nucleotomy. Summary of Background Data. Nucleotomy as treatment for lumbar disc prolapse in combination with initial segment degeneration may lead to segmental instability. Dynamic stabilization systems restrict segmental motion and thus prevent further degeneration of the lumbar spine. They are designed to avoid the disadvantages of rigid fixation, such as pseudarthrosis and adjacent segment degeneration. Methods. Eighty-four patients underwent nucleotomy of the lumbar spine for the treatment of symptomatic disc prolapse. Additional dynamic stabilization (DYNESYS) was performed in 35 of those cases. All patients showed signs of initial disc degeneration (MODIC I). They underwent evaluation before surgery, 3 months after surgery, and at follow-up. The mean duration of follow-up was 34 months. Examinations included radiographs, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), physical examination, and subjective patient evaluation using Oswestry score and visual analog scale (VAS). Results. Clinical symptoms, Oswestry score, and VAS improved significantly in both groups after 3 months. At follow-up, a significant increase in the Oswestry score and in the VAS was seen only in the nonstabilized group. In the dynamically stabilized group, no progression of disc degeneration was noted at follow-up, whereas radiologic signs of accelerated segmental degeneration existed in the solely nucleotomized group. There were no implant-associated complications. Conclusions. The applied dynamic stabilization system is useful to prevent progression of initial degenerative disc disease of lumbar spinal segments after nucleotomy.
Molecular Cloning of a Novel Membrane Glycoprotein, Pal, Specifically Expressed in Photoreceptor Cells of the Retina and Containing Leucine-Rich Repeat

We have isolated a novel retina-specific gene in a screen for genes of which expression is not apparent neonatally in rat retina but is abundant postnatally on day 14 (P14). This gene, named Pal, encodes a putative type I transmembrane protein containing five leucine-rich repeats (LRRs), a single C2-type Ig-like domain, and a single fibronectin type III domain and is considered to be a new member of the LRR and Ig superfamily. No expression of Pal was found in rat retina at P1, but it was detected at P7 and markedly increased with subsequent development. These expression patterns of Pal appeared to be correlated with the development of the photoreceptor outer segments, because in the adult rat retina it was specifically localized in these segments. Ultrastructually, Pal immunoreactivity was distributed diffusely on the disk membrane in the lamellar regions. On the basis of its structural features and localization pattern, Pal may act as a receptor for a certain trophic factor or for an adhesion molecule participating in morphogenesis. The human homolog of Pal was mapped to chromosome 10q23.2–23.3 using fluorescence in situhybridization.
Adenosine in the Thymus

Adenosine is an ancient extracellular signaling molecule that regulates various biological functions via activating four G-protein-coupled receptors, A1, A2A, A2B, and A3 adenosine receptors. As such, several studies have highlighted a role for adenosine signaling in affecting the T cell development in the thymus. Recent studies indicate that adenosine is produced in the context of apoptotic thymocyte clearance. This review critically discusses the involvement of adenosine and its receptors in the complex interplay that exists between the developing thymocytes and the thymic macrophages which engulf the apoptotic cells. This crosstalk contributes to the effective and immunologically silent removal of apoptotic thymocytes, as well as affects the TCR-driven T-cell selection processes.
Trellis Precoding for the Multi-User Environment

When transmitting over the multi-user MIMO broadcast channel, the transmitter has both knowledge of, and control over, the interference between users. Methods based on interference cancellation focus only on the transmitter's knowledge of the interference. This paper proposes a method which takes advantage of the transmitter's control over the interference among users. This is done by considering all users simultaneously. First, redundancy is introduced into the transmitted data similarly to the trellis shaping method, then the mean square error (MSE) is minimized by exploiting this redundancy. The proposed method is unique in that it considers all users simultaneously, and that the MSE is minimized rather than the transmit power. This method can achieve a BER of 10-5, only 1 dB above the minimum signal to noise ratio predicted by the capacity of the channel. Depending on the channel parameters, this demonstrates a 1-3 dB improvement over the best reported results. The improvement in the performance is achieved at the price of an increase in the complexity (equivalent to the Viterbi decoding of a trellis with 22N states for N transmit antennas).
Coded caching for delay-sensitive content

Coded caching is a recently proposed technique that achieves significant performance gains for cache networks compared to uncoded caching schemes. However, this substantial coding gain is attained at the cost of large delivery delay, which is not tolerable in delay-sensitive applications such as video streaming. In this paper, we identify and investigate the tradeoff between the performance gain of coded caching and the delivery delay. We propose a computationally efficient caching algorithm that provides the gains of coding and respects delay constraints. The proposed algorithm achieves the optimum performance for large delay, but still offers major gains for small delay. These gains are demonstrated in a practical setting with a video-streaming prototype.