Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Arterial stiffness and hypertension: emerging concepts.

Arterial stiffness is increasingly recognized as an important prognostic index and potential therapeutic target in patients with hypertension. It is closely linked to, but by no means synonymous with, raised blood pressure, and its physiopathology is still not fully understood. Aortic stiffness and arterial pulse wave reflections are key determinants of elevated central systolic pressure and are associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes, independent of blood pressure. Indeed, the 2003 European Society of Hypertension guidelines on the management of hypertension acknowledge the potential role of arterial stiffness measurement in clinical management1 and have prompted the publication of a consensus document on the measurement of central blood pressure and hemodynamics.2 A detailed expert consensus document has also been published on the methodologic and clinical issues around arterial stiffness.3 Broader implementation of these techniques into routine care seems inevitable. In this review, we have examined recent research in this field published in Hypertension , focusing on mechanistic work, methods for measuring stiffness, important clinical associations, and effects of treatment. ### Mechanisms and Causes of Arterial Stiffness Hypertension and arterial stiffness are closely associated with age.4 Degeneration of compliant elastin fibers, and deposition of stiffer collagen, is considered a key cause of age-related arterial stiffening. Moreover, blood pressure plays a significant role in determining vessel wall structure, with remodeling occurring to compensate for changes in wall stress. One potential mechanism is through matrix metalloproteinases, which modulate extracellular matrix proteins. When angiotensin II is given to mice, matrix metalloproteinase 9 activity is induced, resulting in enhanced collagen degradation. This improves the intrinsic distensibility of elastic arteries and, thus, blunts any blood pressure rise.5 Impairment of this compensatory mechanism may, therefore, contribute to increased stiffness. The organization of elastic fibers is also important. Inhibition of the vascular adhesion protein semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase in a rat model results in …
A robust CSS corner detector based on the turning angle curvature of image gradients

In this study, we present a new contour-based corner detection method based on the turning angle curvature computed from the contour gradients of the image. In general, curvature is computed with the pixel locations of the extracted image contours. In most contour extraction methods, the image gradient information is already computed. The proposed algorithm makes use of this available information to compute the curvature function and takes local extremums as potential corner candidates. Afterwards, the candidates are validated by a novel validation algorithm which tries to approximate the local geometric structure of the contour with an iterative least squares estimation algorithm. Thus, we not only eliminate the false detected corners; but also estimate the corner strength precisely in terms of degrees. The experiments show that the detected corners with gradient-based turning angle curvature are more durable to affine transformations according to the ACU and LE criterions.
High throughput FRET analysis of protein–protein interactions by slide‐based imaging laser scanning cytometry

Laser scanning cytometry (LSC) is a slide‐based technique combining advantages of flow and image cytometry: automated, high‐throughput detection of optical signals with subcellular resolution. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) is a spectroscopic method often used for studying molecular interactions and molecular distances. FRET has been measured by various microscopic and flow cytometric techniques. We have developed a protocol for a commercial LSC instrument to measure FRET on a cell‐by‐cell or pixel‐by‐pixel basis on large cell populations, which adds a new modality to the use of LSC. As a reference sample for FRET, we used a fusion protein of a single donor and acceptor (ECFP‐EYFP connected by a seven‐amino acid linker) expressed in HeLa cells. The FRET efficiency of this sample was determined via acceptor photobleaching and used as a reference value for ratiometric FRET measurements. Using this standard allowed the precise determination of an important parameter (the alpha factor, characterizing the relative signal strengths from a single donor and acceptor molecule), which is indispensable for quantitative FRET calculations in real samples expressing donor and acceptor molecules at variable ratios. We worked out a protocol for the identification of adherent, healthy, double‐positive cells based on light‐loss and fluorescence parameters, and applied ratiometric FRET equations to calculate FRET efficiencies in a semi‐automated fashion. To test our protocol, we measured the FRET efficiency between Fos‐ECFP and Jun‐EYFP transcription factors by LSC, as well as by confocal microscopy and flow cytometry, all yielding nearly identical results. Our procedure allows for accurate FRET measurements and can be applied to the fast screening of protein interactions. A pipeline exemplifying the gating and FRET analysis procedure using the CellProfiler software has been made accessible at our web site. © 2013 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry
Developing innovative, sustainable and effective educational and training programs for the Asia Pacific egion: A case study

Formal training in the professions of hydrographic surveying and nautical cartography has long been an issue within the Asia-Pacific region. In the Australasian and S.W. Pacific regions specifically, due partly to geographic considerations and the small sizes of potential student cohorts, training and educational programs have been notoriously difficult to maintain. When combined with a general lack of client support over many years by industry for cartographic programs within the main education sectors, appropriate professional educational and training opportunities in hydrographic surveying and nautical cartography are minimal. There are, no doubt, many possible options. After discussing regional imperatives, we present a case study of how one organisation has developed a model to redress the identified problems. The case study covers a methodology for delivering internationally recognised courses that have been successful in meeting both its own requirements as well as those of its clients within both public and private sectors. It is hoped the lessons learned will provoke thought for those seeking to solve the dilemma of a changing profession and a changing core of students within our particular region.
Bariatric surgery versus medical therapy for diabetes - 3-year follow-up.

results The mean age of the patients at baseline was 48 ± 8 years, 68% were women, the mean level of glycated hemoglobin was 9.3 ± 1.5%, and the mean body mass index (weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters) was 36 ± 3.5. Overall, 91% of the patients completed 36 months of follow-up. After 3 years, the primary endpoint criterion was achieved by 5% of the patients in the group of medical treatment alone, compared to 38% of those in the group associated with bypass (p < 0.001) and 24% of those in the group associated with vertical gastrectomy (p = 0.01). The use of hypoglycemic medication, including insulin, was lower in the surgery group than in the group of clinical treatment alone. Patients in the surgery groups had higher mean weight percentage reductions, totaling 24.5 ± 9.1% in the group of gastric bypass and 21.1 ± 8.9% in the group of vertical gastrectomy, compared to a reduction of 4.2 ± 8.3% in the group of clinical therapy alone (p < 0.001 in both comparisons). Measures on quality of life were significantly better in the two groups of surgery compared to the group treated medically. No major late surgical complications were observed. ConClusions In obese patients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes, 3 years of intensive medical therapy associated with bariatric surgery resulted in glycemic control in significantly more patients than medical therapy alone. Analyses of secondary endpoints, including body weight, use of hypoglycemic medication and quality of life also showed favorable results after 3 years in the groups of surgery compared to the group receiving medical treatment alone.
Five-year followup of a cognitive-behavioral intervention for patients with recently-diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis: effects on health care utilization.

OBJECTIVE To investigate whether cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) administered early in the course of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has long-term effects on health care use. METHODS We reviewed the files of 47 of the original 53 patients with early RA who volunteered for a randomized controlled trial comparing CBT with no psychological intervention. Occasions of service provision associated with RA were documented and health care use was compared between groups. RESULTS The CBT group used fewer health care resources than the control group in the 5 years following intervention. Significant differences were observed for the number of inpatient nights, physiotherapy referrals, injections, and for total health care use. There was a trend that closely approached significance toward fewer episodes of surgery and orthopedic referrals in the CBT group. CONCLUSION These results suggest that CBT administered early in the course of RA can reduce health care use for the first 5 years after treatment. This is a stringent test of the efficacy of a brief psychological intervention, and supports the fact that brief psychological treatments can have long-term effects.
Optimal edge‐coloring with edge rate constraints

We consider the problem of covering the edges of a graph by a sequence of matchings subject to the constraint that each edge e appears in at least a given fraction r(e) of the matchings. Although it can be determined in polynomial time whether such a sequence of matchings exists or not [Grötschel et al., Combinatorica (1981), 169–197], we show that several questions about the length of the sequence are computationally intractable. Therefore, as is commonly done [Golumbic, Algorithmic graph theory and perfect graphs, 2004], we restrict our investigation to a special class of graphs. In recent work [Birand et al., INFOCOM 2010 Proceedings, 2010], two of the authors dealt with so‐called OLoP (Overall Local Pooling) graphs, a class of graphs for which similar matching‐related problems are tractable (namely, in an online distributed wireless network scheduling setting). We therefore focus on these graphs and generalize the results to a larger class of graphs which we call GOLoP graphs. In particular, we show that deciding whether a given GOLoP graph has a matching sequence of length at most k can be done in linear time. In case the answer is affirmative, we show how to construct, in quadratic time, the matching sequence of length at most k. Finally, we prove that, for GOLoP graphs, the length of a shortest sequence does not exceed a constant times the least common denominator of the fractions r(e), leading to a pseudopolynomial‐time algorithm for minimizing the length of the sequence. We show that the constant equals 1 for OLoP graphs and, following Seymour [Seymour, Proc. London Math. Soc. , 1979], conjecture that the constant is as small as 2 for general graphs. We then show that this conjecture holds for all graphs with at most 10 vertices. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. NETWORKS, Vol 62(3), 165–182 2013
DNA Damage-Induced Phosphorylation of TRF2 Is Required for the Fast Pathway of DNA Double-Strand Break Repair

ABSTRACT Protein kinases of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-like kinase family, originally known to act in maintaining genomic integrity via DNA repair pathways, have been shown to also function in telomere maintenance. Here we focus on the functional role of DNA damage-induced phosphorylation of the essential mammalian telomeric DNA binding protein TRF2, which coordinates the assembly of the proteinaceous cap to disguise the chromosome end from being recognized as a double-stand break (DSB). Previous results suggested a link between the transient induction of human TRF2 phosphorylation at threonine 188 (T188) by the ataxia telangiectasia mutated protein kinase (ATM) and the DNA damage response. Here, we report evidence that X-ray-induced phosphorylation of TRF2 at T188 plays a role in the fast pathway of DNA DSB repair. These results connect the highly transient induction of human TRF2 phosphorylation to the DNA damage response machinery. Thus, we find that a protein known to function in telomere maintenance, TRF2, also plays a functional role in DNA DSB repair.
Enhancing robustness of information hiding against interference of communication with turbo code

This paper presents a novel robust information hiding technique which uses channel codes derived from the error-correcting coder. Digital watermarks, encoded by turbo encoder, are embedded in the wavelet transform domain of the original image. Simulation noise, in the AWGN channel and the Rayleigh fading channel of communication, is added into the watermarked images. Experimental results show that the proposed scheme can successfully resist vast noise and extract hidden information, even though the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is much lower. The extracted hidden messages show that the proposed scheme is superior to a non turbo-code scheme.
Methods for Comparing Global Vegetation Maps

Objective statistical methods are presented for comparing global vegetation maps. The methods are illustrated by comparing maps resulting from applying a modified Holdridge plant/climate hypothesis to various global climate projections and to current vegetation (the baseline). Five general circulation model projections (GFDL, GFDL-Qflux, GISS, OSU, UKMO) of expected climate resulting from doubling current CO2 levels were used as input to the modified Holdridge model. The Kappa statistic proved to be a useful and straightforward measure of agreement between maps. Furthermore, individual kappa statistics for comparing a given vegetation zone between two maps clearly indicated differences and similarities between maps. Additional summary statistics compare the change in area, latitude, and longitude between maps for each vegetation zone, as well as the distance and direction that each vegetation zone has shifted.
Fisher information and spin squeezing in the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model

Fisher information, which lies at the heart of parameter estimation theory, was recently found to have a close relation with multipartite entanglement [L. Pezze and A. Smerzi, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 100401 (2009)]. We use Fisher information to distinguish and characterize behaviors of ground state of the Lipkin-Meskhov-Glick model, which displays a second-order quantum phase transition between the broken and symmetric phases. We find that the parameter sensitivity of the system attains the Heisenberg limit in the broken phase, while it is just around the shot-noise limit in the symmetric phase. Based on parameter estimation, Fisher information provides us a useful approach to the quantum phase transition.
PREVILLAGE TAX PAYER, SOSIALISASI PAJAK DAN KEPERCAYAAN PADA OTORITAS PAJAK TERHADAP KEPATUHAN

Abstrak Tujuan penelitian adalah menganalisis pengaruh privilege pajak, sosialisasi pajak dan kepercayaan kepada otoritas pajak terhadap kepatuhan wajib pajak di KPP Pratama kota Cirebon. Berdasarkan data dari KPP Pratama di kota Cirebon, tidak semua wajib pajak orang pribadi menjadi obyek dalam penelitian ini karena jumlahnya sangat besar dan keterbatasan waktu dan biaya. Pengambilan sampel dilakukan dengan metode purposive sampling . Jumlah sampel ditentukan 25 orang. Metode pengumpulan data primer yang dipakai adalah dengan metode angket (kuesioner). Teknik analisis data yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah teknik analisis regresi berganda. Berdasarkan hasil analisis yang dilakukan maka menunjukkan previllage tax payer berpengaruh positif signifikan terhadap kepatuhan wajib pajak sedangkan sosialisasi pajak dan kepercayaan terhadap otoritas pajak tidak didukung. Kata Kunci : Privilege Tax Payer ; Sosialisas pajak; kepercayaan terhadap otoritas; kepatuhan pajak wajib pajak
Speeding up packet I/O in virtual machines

Most of the work on VM network performance has focused so far on bulk TCP traffic, which covers classical applications of virtualization. Completely new “paravirtualized devices” (Xenfront, VIRTIO, vmxnet) have been designed and implemented to improve network throughput. We expect virtualization to become widely used also for different workloads: packet switching devices and middleboxes, Software Defined Networks, etc. These applications involve very high packet rates that are problematic not only for the hypervisor (which emulates network interfaces) but also for the host itself (which switches packets between guests and physical NICs). In this paper we provide three main results. First, we demonstrate how rates of millions of packets per second can be achieved even within VMs, with limited but targeted modifications on device drivers, hypervisors and the host's virtual switch. Secondly, we show that emulation of conventional NICs (e.g., Intel e1000) is perfectly capable of achieving such packet rates, without requiring completely different device models. Finally, we provide sets of modifications suitable for different use cases (acting only on the guest, or only on the host, or on both) which can improve the network throughput of a VM by 20 times or more. These results are important because they enable a new set of applications within virtual machines. In particular, we achieve guest-to-guest UDP speeds of over 1 Mpps with short frames (and 6 Gbit/s with 1500-byte frames) using a conventional e1000 device, and socket-based sender/receivers. This matches the speed of the OS on bare metal. Furthermore, we reach over 5 Mpps when guests use the netmap API. Our work requires only small changes to device drivers (about 100 lines, both for FreeBSD and Linux version of e1000), similarly small modifications to the hypervisor (we have a QEMU prototype available) and the use of the VALE switch as a network backend. Relevant changes are being incorporated and/or distributed as external patches for FreeBSD, QEMU and Linux.
The Cyclic Block Conditional Gradient Method for Convex Optimization Problems

In this paper we study the convex problem of optimizing the sum of a smooth function and a compactly supported nonsmooth term with a specific separable form. We analyze the block version of the generalized conditional gradient method when the blocks are chosen in a cyclic order. A global sublinear rate of convergence is established for two different stepsize strategies commonly used in this class of methods. Numerical comparisons of the proposed method to both the classical conditional gradient algorithm and its random block version demonstrate the effectiveness of the cyclic block update rule.
Request-Aware Scheduling for Busy Internet Services

Internet traffic is bursty and network servers are often overloaded with surprising events or abnormal client request patterns. This paper studies scheduling algorithms for interactive network services that use multiple threads to handle incoming requests continuously and concurrently. Our investigation with applications from Ask Jeeves search shows that during overloaded situations, requests that require excessive computing resource can dramatically affect the overall system throughput and response time. The most effective method is to manage resource usage at a request level instead of a thread or process level. We propose a new size-adaptive request-aware scheduling algorithm called SRQ with dynamic feedbacks to control queue properties and have implemented SRQ in the Linux kernel level. Our experimental results with several application service benchmarks indicate that the proposed scheduler can significantly outperform the standard Linux scheduler.
A decision-theoretic approach to the test allocation problem in partition testing

A partition testing strategy consists of two components: a partitioning scheme which determines the way in which the program's input domain is partitioned into subdomains; and an allocation of test cases which determines the exact number of test cases selected from each subdomain. This paper investigates the problem of determining the test allocation when a particular partitioning scheme has been chosen. We show that this problem can be formulated as a classic problem of decision-making under uncertainty, and analyze several well known criteria to resolve this kind of problem. We present algorithms that solve the test allocation problem based on these criteria, and evaluate these criteria by means of a simulation experiment. We also discuss the applicability and implications of applying these criteria in the context of partition testing.
Recent developments in functional bakery products and the impact of baking on active ingredients

Active ingredients can be supplemented into a bakery product to produce functional food. However, the preservation of the functionality of these active ingredients during baking remains a challenge for food industry. A deeper understanding of the underlying interactions between functionality and baking is highly desired for developing innovative functional bakery products with significant health benefits and high product quality. In this work, recent advances in the development of functional bakery products are reviewed. The interactions between the baking process and the functionality of the supplemented active ingredients are discussed and the perspective of future research is addressed. Keywords: baking; active ingredients; probiotics; inactivation kinetics; functional food
Filterless architecture for coherent undersea networks

Active photonic switching components, such as reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers (ROADMs), cannot be deployed at the branching units (BUs) in submarine networks, which limits the flexibility of the undersea networks. In this regard, the filterless optical network architecture based on passive broadcast-and-select nodes and coherent transceivers at the edge terminals can be considered as a promising solution. In this paper we propose and evaluate a filterless network architecture for a trunk and branch undersea network topology. The performance is compared with a conventional solution in terms of cost and wavelength consumption. And it is shown that the filterless architecture can bring significant cost savings for both the terminals and line equipment while offering the same agility as the conventional network architecture.
An Ontology for Insider Threat Indicators: Development and Application

Abstract : We describe our ongoing development of an insider threat indicator ontology. Our ontology is intended to serve as a standardized expression method for potential indicators of malicious insider activity, as well as a formalization of much of our team's research on insider threat detection, prevention, and mitigation. This ontology bridges the gap between natural language descriptions of malicious insiders, malicious insider activity, and machine-generated data that analysts and investigators use to detect behavioral and technical observables of insider activity. The ontology provides a mechanism for sharing and testing indicators of insider threat across multiple participants without compromising organization-sensitive data, thereby enhancing the data fusion and information sharing capabilities of the insider threat detection domain.