Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Betacellulin Induces Increased Retinal Vascular Permeability in Mice

Background Diabetic maculopathy, the leading cause of vision loss in patients with type 2 diabetes, is characterized by hyper-permeability of retinal blood vessels with subsequent formation of macular edema and hard exudates. The degree of hyperglycemia and duration of diabetes have been suggested to be good predictors of retinal complications. Intervention studies have determined that while intensive treatment of diabetes reduced the development of proliferative diabetic retinopathy it was associated with a two to three-fold increased risk of severe hypoglycemia. Thus we hypothesized the need to identify downstream glycemic targets, which induce retinal vascular permeability that could be targeted therapeutically without the additional risks associated with intensive treatment of the hyperglycemia. Betacellulin is a 32 kD member of the epidermal growth factor family with mitogenic properties for the retinal pigment epithelial cells. This led us to hypothesize a role for betacellulin in the retinal vascular complications associated with diabetes. Methods and Findings In this study, using a mouse model of diabetes, we demonstrate that diabetic mice have accentuated retinal vascular permeability with a concomitant increased expression of a cleaved soluble form of betacellulin (s-Btc) in the retina. Intravitreal injection of soluble betacellulin induced retinal vascular permeability in normoglycemic and hyperglycemic mice. Western blot analysis of retinas from patients with diabetic retinopathy showed an increase in the active soluble form of betacellulin. In addition, an increase in the levels of A disintegrin and metalloproteinase (ADAM)-10 which plays a role in the cleavage of betacellulin was seen in the retinas of diabetic mice and humans. Conclusions These results suggest that excessive amounts of betacellulin in the retina may contribute to the pathogenesis of diabetic macular edema.
Cache Management for Adaptive Scalable Video Streaming in Vehicular Content-Centric Network

Vehicular Content-Centric Network (VCCN) is a promising solution for real-time applications in Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks (VANETs). Meanwhile, adaptive scalable video streaming over VCCN has better performance than video streaming service with fixed bit rate, due to it enables consumers access multiple bit rate content based on the link quality and allows progressive transmission of scalable video coded video content. Our objective is to improve the quality of experience (QoE) for adaptive scalable video streaming services through an effective cache management. At its core, we first analyze the caching potential for caching a content with a specific bit rate. Then a novel caching strategy, namely layered cooperative cache management (LCC-VCCN), is proposed to select neighbor nodes within broadcast range to cache one or several SVC layer content based on the layer level caching potential value. In this way, the most needed layer chunk content can cooperatively be pushed to the consumers to reduce content retrieval time and prevent stalls of the video playback. Simulation results show that our proposal outperforms the state-of-art caching strategies for video streaming services over VCCN.
Dense Molecular Gas Associated with the Circumnuclear Star-forming Ring in the Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 6951

We present high-resolution (3''-5'') observations of CO (1-0) and HCN (1-0) emission from the circumnuclear star-forming ring in the barred spiral galaxy NGC 6951, a host of a type 2 Seyfert nucleus, using the Nobeyama Millimeter Array and the Nobeyama 45 m telescope. We find that the distribution of the HCN emission is different from that of CO in the circumnuclear region of NGC 6951; it is confirmed that CO emission is dominated by "twin peaks" morphology with two spiral arms, which are connected to the dust lanes, as reported by Kenney et al. On the other hand, although the HCN emission also shows a twin peaks morphology, the HCN peaks are spatially shifted downstream compared with the CO peaks. Most of the HCN emission is associated with the circumnuclear ring, where vigorous star formation occurs. The HCN to CO integrated intensity ratio in the brightness temperature scale, RHCN/CO, is also enhanced in the star-forming ring. The peak value of the RHCN/CO is about 0.16-0.18, which is comparable to the RHCN/CO in the starburst regions of NGC 253 and M82. Consequently, the HCN emission spatially correlates better with the massive star-forming regions than the CO emission in the circumnuclear region of NGC 6951. The formation mechanism of dense molecular gas has been investigated next. No significant enhancement of RHCN/CO is observed at the CO peaks, which are interpreted as x1/x2 orbit-crowding regions. This suggests that the shocks along the orbit crowding do not promote the formation of dense molecular gas effectively but enhance the presence of low-density giant molecular clouds in NGC 6951. Instead, gravitational instability can account for the dense molecular gas formation in the circumnuclear star-forming ring because Toomre's Q value is below unity there. The RHCN/CO toward the type 2 Seyfert nucleus of NGC 6951 is 0.086 averaged over central r<120 pc region. This is a rather normal value compared with nonactive galaxies such as the Milky Way and quite different from other type 2 Seyfert galaxies NGC 1068 and M51 where extremely high RHCN/CO values, ~0.5, have been reported. The variety of RHCN/CO values in these Seyfert nuclei would be attributed to the different physical conditions of the molecular gas around the nuclei.
A parameter estimation method for the bilateral teleoperation framework for an O2 lance manipulator

The O2 lance manipulator is used in the electric arc furnace (EAF) process to supply oxygen in order to remove impurities in molten metal. However, since it is controlled by the human operator who can get only visual information about the EAF, the collision between the lance and the EAF can happen which must be avoided in the process. The bilateral teleoperation can be a solution for this problem, but due to the extreme environment of the EAF environment, the feedback force should be generated based on the virtual environment. Since the parameters of the EAF and O2 lance is time-varying, there exist some errors between VE and real environment which lead to the incorrect force feedback. In this paper the estimation method for parameters of the lance and EAF used in this framework is developed. The proposed method can update the parameters of the EAF and O2 lance manipulator in on-line process, so the bilateral teleoperation can generate more accurate feedback force. The functionality of the proposed method is validated by experiment.
ANT COLONY SYSTEM WITH MEDIAN BASED PARTITIONING FOR IMAGE SEGMENTATION AND CLASSIFICATION

The motivation we address in this paper is to find out a generic method used to segment and classify different types of conceptual images. A novel median based method was proposed as primary stage for image segmentation, in which the image is partitioned into fixed sized quadrants called kernels. The size of kernels in a specific image is determined according to the spectral uniformity measurements. Later, Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) is used to find out the optimal number of classes may exist in the image, and then classify the image in terms of the determined classes. Different types of images with different semantic concepts were used to test the proposed classification method. The results obtained by ACP ensure the success of the proposed method and the effective performance of classification.
Interval velocity estimation using edge-preserving regularization

Interval velocity estimation is a central problem in reflection seismology (Claerbout, 1999). Without an estimate of seismic velocities, we would be unable to transform prestack seismic data into an interpretable image. Advanced velocity estimation techniques (Clapp, 2001; Biondi and Sava, 1999) have been developed to estimate interval velocity in complex geological environments, though the cost of these methods is often considerable.
An integrated methodology for assessment of estuarine trophic status

This paper describes an integrated methodology for the Assessment of Estuarine Trophic Status (ASSETS), which may be applied comparatively to rank the eutrophication status of estuaries and coastal areas, and to address management options. It includes quantitative and semi-quantitative components, and uses field data, models and expert knowledge to provide Pressure-State-Response (PSR) indicators. A substantial part of the concepts underlying the approach were developed as the United States National Estuarine Eutrophication Assessment (NEEA), which was applied to 138 estuaries in the continental United States. The core methodology relies on three diagnostic tools: a heuristic index of pressure ( Overall Human Influence ), a symptoms-based evaluation of state ( Overall Eutrophic Conditions ), and an indicator of management response ( D finition of Future Outlook ). Recently, the methodology has been extended and refined in its application to European estuaries, and a more quantitative approach to some of the metrics has been implemented. In particular, the assessment of pressure is carried out by means of simple modeling techniques, comparing anthropogenic nutrient loading with natural background concentrations, and the quantitative criteria for classification of system state based on different symptoms have been refined to improve comparability. The present approach has been intercalibrated with the original NEEA work, for five widely different U.S. estuaries (Long Island Sound, Neuse River, Savannah River, Florida Bay and West Mississippi Sound) with good results. ASSETS additionally aims to contribute to the EU Water Framework Directive classification system, as regards a subset of water quality and ecological parameters in transitional and coastal waters. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Capital, Trade, and the Political Economies of Reform

Existing approaches to the study of economic reform have focused on the mobilization of special interests that oppose liberalization and have tended to assume that reform dynamics follow a similar logic across distinct policy arenas. Analysis of the dynamics of capital account and trade liberalization in 19 Latin American countries between 1985 and 1999 demonstrates otherwise. Movement toward liberalization is shaped systematically by the timing and salience of each reform's distributional costs and partisan political dynamics. In turn, the timing and magnitude of costs are mediated by the economic context, while salience depends on the informational environment. Our findings thus differ from the conventional wisdom on several scores, particularly by emphasizing the ways in which good rather than bad economic conditions can facilitate reforms, the conditionality of legislative politics of reform enactment on whether reforms are characterized by ex ante conflict or fears of ex post blame, and how the type of reform shapes its political dynamics.
Design Principles for Tailorable Technology : The Design Environment and the IT Artifact

Tailorable technology is technology that is modified by end users in the context of its use and is around us as desktop operating systems, web portals, and mobile telephones. While tailorable technologies provide end users with nearly limitless ways to modify the technology, as designers and researchers we have little understanding of tailorable technologies are initially designed in support of end-user modification. In this paper, I provide a rich description of tailorable technology. This description illustrates that tailorable technology is a unique technology type in the same light as group support systems and emergent knowledge support systems. A year-long field study is then used to identify design principles of Gordon Pask and Greg Gargarian that were used in the initial design of a tailorable technology. I argue that an initial design of a tailorable technology must support both the development of a user controlled artifact and design space, as evidenced through the Pask and Gargarian design theories. Additionally, the two design theories are offered as a theoretical base upon which to continue the examination of the unique technology type of tailorable technology.
Robust network of networks inspired by a model of brain activation

Efficient complex systems have a modular structure, but modularity does not guarantee robustness, for efficiency requires also an ingenious interplay of the interacting modular components. The human brain is the elemental paradigm of an efficient robust modular system interconnected as a Network of Networks (NoN). Understanding the emergence of robustness in such modular architectures from the interconnections of its parts is a long-standing challenge which has concerned many scientists. Current models of dependencies in NoN inspired by the power grid express interactions among modules with very breakable couplings which amplify even small shocks, thus preventing functionality. Therefore, we introduce a model of NoN to shape the pattern of brain activations to form a modular environment which is robust. The model predicts the collective influence map of the brain, through the optimization of the influence of the minimal set of core nodes responsible for broadcasting information to the whole NoN. This result may open the way to discover new intervention protocols to control brain activity by targeting influential core nodes prescribed by network theory.
Association of Smoking, Alcohol, and Obesity with Cardiovascular Death and Ischemic Stroke in Atrial Fibrillation: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study and Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS)

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke and cardiovascular (CV) death. Whether modifiable lifestyle risk factors are associated with these CV outcomes in AF is unknown. Among Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study and Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) participants with incident AF, we estimated the risk of composite endpoint of ischemic stroke or CV death associated with candidate modifiable risk factor (smoking, heavy alcohol consumption, or high body mass index [BMI]), and computed the C-statistic, net reclassification improvement (NRI), and integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) of incorporating each factor into the CHA2DS2-VASc. Among 1222 ARIC (mean age: 63.4) and 756 CHS (mean age: 79.1) participants with incident AF, during mean follow-up of 6.9 years and 5.7 years, there were 332 and 335 composite events respectively. Compared with never smokers, current smokers had a higher incidence of the composite endpoint in ARIC [HR: 1.65 (1.21–2.26)] but not in CHS [HR: 1.05 (0.69–1.61)]. In ARIC, the addition of current smoking did not improve risk prediction over and above the CHA2DS2-VASc. No significant associations were observed with alcohol consumption or BMI with CVD outcomes in AF patients from either cohort. Smoking is associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke or CV death in ARIC, which comprised mostly middle-aged to young-old (65–74 years), but not in CHS, which comprised mostly middle-old or oldest-old (≥75 years) adults with AF. However, addition of smoking to the CHA2DS2-VASc score did not improve risk prediction of these outcomes.
Introduction Randall and Sundrum ’ s recent proposal for an alternative to standard

We present warped metrics which solve Einstein equations with arbitrary cosmological constants in both in upper and lower dimensions. When the lower-dimensional metric is the maximally symmetric one compatible with the chosen value of the cosmological constant, the upper-dimensional metric is also the maximally symmetric one and there is maximal unbroken supersymmetry as well. We then introduce brane sources and find solutions with analogous properties, except for supersymmetry, which is generically broken in the orbifolding procedure (one half is preserved in two special cases), and analyze metric perturbations in these backgrounds
Eligibility and Speech Sound Disorders: Assessment of Social Impact

The purpose of this article is to discuss the social impact of speech sound disorders for children, specifically in the public school system, and to examine different methods of social impact assessment for speech-language therapy services using 3 hypothetical cases. This article presents 3 common cases seen by school-based speech-language pathologists and discusses the types of assessments that may be conducted for each child's needs. One child has errors on many sounds, 1 child has errors on only /r/, and 1 child produces strident sounds with a lateral lisp. As these are hypothetical cases, possibilities are discussed for each case. Similarities and differences exist among the 3 cases in terms of assessing the social impact of their speech sound disorder; however, each child could qualify for services based on social impact assessments. Social impact assessments are an important portion of a speech sound evaluation; however, they are often overlooked. Emphasis is placed on articulation assessments and/or commonly accepted developmental norms. The determination of social impact supplies a more complete picture for making eligibility decisions for children with speech sound disorders and may lead to more meaningful treatment methods for the student.
Optimizing the design parameters of a wireless power transfer system for maximizing power transfer efficiency: A simulation study

In respect to the main goal of our ongoing work for maximizing the efficiency of wireless power transfer (WPT) systems, we focus in this paper on the results obtained from experiments conducted on a simulated WPT system after varying several design parameters. The selected parameters are classified into electrical design parameters related to the electrical circuit of the WPT system and the geometrical design parameters related directly to the coils used to transmit/receive the electric power. The model is simulated using Ansys/Maxwell 3-D software package. The results of this study have shown that the efficiency can be significantly improved by optimizing some simple, yet relevant, geometrical design parameters such as the size of the coils and/or by installing repeater coils between the transmitter and receiver.
The impacts of ASEAN free trade agreement on Vietnam's rice sector : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of AgriCommerce at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

This study employs the standard static GTAP general equilibrium (CGE) model and the GTAP V8 database in order to evaluate the impacts of the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) on regional production, consumption, trade, and prices for agricultural and processed foods. Emphasis is placed on the impacts on rice production and trade among ASEAN members. There are four main findings: Firstly, AFTA leads to a small increase in Vietnam’s rice production and exports when intra-ASEAN rice tariffs are reduced to agreed 2015 levels. However, Vietnam’s rice production and exports would increase much more if ASEAN partners would further reduce their rice tariffs to zero (complete trade liberalization). Secondly, the results of this research support complete trade liberalization from an economic perspective because it enhances economic welfare gains for the newer ASEAN members, especially Vietnam. Vietnamese and Thai rice farmers’ incomes are likely to improve following complete trade liberalization. For the other ASEAN members, especially the Philippines and Malaysia, the major benefits from complete trade liberalization include an increase in rice consumption, with its positive implications for household food security. In addition, complete trade liberalization will result in better resource allocation and increases in production of goods that exhibit comparative advantage in these two countries. Thirdly, this study draws further attention to a trade-off between food security in rice and rice self-sufficiency. Complete trade liberalisation leads to decreased prices of rice and some other foods paid by private households, thus enabling them to increase consumption of these goods. However, the decreased rice price and production leads to decreased rice self-sufficiency in the Philippines and Malaysia. Lastly, the finding of this study supports the trade creation effects of both AFTA, and complete trade liberalization among ASEAN members, which mainly involve trade in rice, other food and agricultural goods. This trade creation outweighs trade diversion in some manufacturing sectors.
Should clozapine continue to be restricted to third-line status for schizophrenia?: a decision-analytic model.

BACKGROUND Clozapine is currently restricted to patients who have failed at least two trials of other antipsychotic medications because of concerns that its use as a first-line agent would lead to greater mortality, mainly through agranulocytosis. AIMS OF THE STUDY We sought to determine the cost-effectiveness of allowing clozapine to be a first-line treatment versus the current policy of restricting clozapine to third-line status. METHODS We performed a cost-effectiveness analysis using published data from randomized controlled trials and epidemiologic studies. The target population was patients with schizophrenia in an acute psychotic episode, with a lifetime time horizon and societal perspective. Outcome measures included life expectancy, quality-adjusted life expectancy, costs, and cost-effectiveness ratios. RESULTS Using clozapine as a first agent would lead to modest gains in life-expectancy as well as quality-adjusted life expectancy, relative to restricting its use to patients who failed 2 conventional antipsychotics. The cost-effectiveness ratio of using clozapine first vs. using clozapine third would be $24,100 per quality-adjusted life year (QALY). In 1-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses, these findings were robust to a variety of assumptions. DISCUSSION Allowing clozapine to be a first-line agent may lead to small gains in life expectancy at moderate but acceptable costs. IMPLICATIONS While these results do not shed light on whether clozapine should be the preferred first-line strategy, they do suggest that clozapine should be added to the armamentarium of possible treatments for treatment-sensitive as well as treatment-resistant schizophrenia.
Complex Basin Structure and Parameter-Mismatch Induced Intermittency in Discrete-Time Coupled Chaotic Rotors

Various synchronizations and related phenomena in discrete-time coupled chaotic rotors are studied by use of numerical simulations. There exist multiple attractors with different long-time averages of the phase difference. Self-similar and complex structures of the basin in the phase space are observed. The relaxation times to attractors of the complete chaos synchronization and the generalized synchronization for the unidirectionally coupled systems are found to depend on the initial conditions in a self-similar way. Similar statistics are obtained for the first passage time of the parameter-mismatch induced intermittency. Large deviation statistics of this intermittency are numerically obtained.
Intractability of Clique-Width Parameterizations

We show that Edge Dominating Set, Hamiltonian Cycle, and Graph Coloring are $W[1]$-hard parameterized by clique-width. It was an open problem, explicitly mentioned in several papers, whether any of these problems is fixed parameter tractable when parameterized by the clique-width, that is, solvable in time $g(k)\cdot n^{O(1)}$ on $n$-vertex graphs of clique-width $k$, where $g$ is some function of $k$ only. Our results imply that the running time $O(n^{f(k)})$ of many clique-width-based algorithms is essentially the best we can hope for (up to a widely believed assumption from parameterized complexity, namely $FPT\neq W[1]$).