Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fructus xanthii improves lipid homeostasis in the epididymal adipose tissue of rats fed a high-fat diet

High fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity triggers common features of human metabolic syndrome in rats. Our previous study showed that Fructus xanthii (FX) attenuates HFD-induced hepatic steatosis. The present study was designed to investigate the effects of FX on lipid metabolism in epididymal fat (EF), and examine its underlying mechanisms. Aqueous extraction fractions of FX or vehicle were orally administered by gavage for 6 weeks to rats fed either a HFD or a normal chow diet (NCD). The levels of circulating free fatty acid (FFA) were determined in plasma, and the expression levels of lipid metabolism- and inflammation-associated genes in the EF were measured using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis. The general morphology, size and number of adipocytes in the EF, and the levels of macrophage infiltration were evaluated using hematoxylin and eosin staining or immunohistochemical staining. FX decreased circulating levels of FFA, increased the expression levels of sterol-regulatory-element-binding protein-1c, FAS, acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase, diacylglycerol acyltransferase and lipoprotein lipase lipogenic genes in the EF. FX increased the numbers of adipocytes in the EF, and featured a shift towards smaller adipocyte size. Compared with the vehicle-treated rats, positive staining of F4/80 was more dispersed in the FX-treated rats, and the percentage of F4/80 positive cells was significantly decreased. FX attenuated HFD-induced lipid dyshomeostasis in the epididymal adipose tissue.
Feature-level fusion based on wavelet transform and artificial neural network for fault diagnosis of planetary gearbox using acoustic and vibration signals

in recent years, cause of requiring further reliability and accessibility of the machines, condition monitoring using multi information resources and fusion data resulted rather using one resource has become widely used. In this article, an intelligent system is proposed for fault diagnosis and classification of planetary gearboxes based on fusion the acoustic and vibration data at feature level and using artificial neural network (ANN) classifier. First, acoustic and vibration data of the planetary gearbox was simultaneously collected in four conditions: 1. healthy, 2. Worn, 3. Cracked, and 4. Broken. Gained signals were transmitted from time domain to time-frequency domain by wavelet transform. Then, 30 statistic features were extracted from each one to be used as the classifier input. Artificial neural network was applied as the classifier. The first classification of the faults was based on the extracted features from each sensor where classification accuracy for each acoustic and vibration data was respectively about %88.4 and %86.9. The classification accuracy using fused features was gained as %98.6 indicating the efficiency of proposed method for fault diagnosis the planetary gearbox. Also, %10 accuracy increase gained through using data fusion method clearly put it that using the method can significantly enhance the quality and accuracy of fault diagnosis and as a result condition monitoring of the machineries.
Bio-Nanorobotics: State of the Art and Future Challenges

Nanotechnology can best be defined as a description of activities at the level of atoms and molecules that have applications in the real world. A nanometer is a billionth of a meter, that is, about 1/80,000 of the diameter of a human hair, or 10 times the diameter of a hydrogen atom. The size-related challenge is the ability to measure, manipulate, and assemble matter with features on the scale of 1 to 100 nm. In order to achieve cost-effectiveness in nanotechnology it will be necessary to automate molecular manufacturing. The engineering of molecular products needs to be carried out by robotic devices, which have been termed as nanorobots. A nanorobot is essentially a controllable machine at the nanometer or molecular scale that is composed of nanoscale components. The field of nanorobotics studies the design, manufacturing, programming, and control of the nanoscale robots. This review chapter focuses on the state of the art in the emerging field of nanorobotics, its applications and discusses in brief some of the essential properties and dynamical laws which make this field more challenging and unique than its macroscale counterpart. This chapter is only reviewing nanoscale robotic devices and does not include studies related to nanoprecision tasks with macrorobotic devices that are usually included in the field of nanorobotics. Nanorobots would constitute any passive or active structure capable of actuation, sensing, signal-ing, information processing, intelligence, swarm behavior at the nano scale. These functionalities could
A new multi-criteria fusion model for color textured image segmentation

Fusion of image segmentations using consensus clustering and based on the optimization of a single criterion (commonly called the median partition based approach) may bias and limit the performance of an image segmentation model. To address this issue, we propose, in this paper, a new fusion model of image segmentation based on multi-objective optimization which aims to avoid the bias caused by a single criterion and to achieve a final improved segmentation. The proposed fusion model combines two conflicting and complementary segmentation criteria, namely; the region-based variation of information (VoI) criterion and the contour-based F-Measure (precision-recall) criterion with an entropy-based confidence weighting factor. To optimize our energy-based model we use an optimization procedure derived from the iterative conditional modes (ICM) algorithm. The experimental results on the Berkeley database with manual ground truth segmentations clearly show the effectiveness and the robustness of our multi-objective median partition based approach.
A narrative inquiry : an exploration of teacher learning through clustering.

New curriculum reforms and changes post 1994 has created a need for teachers to reprofessionalise and reskill themselves so that they can implement reforms in their schools and classrooms. This has added pressure on teachers, novice teachers, as well as experienced teachers who have been teaching for over fifteen years, to learn an enormous amount of knowledge in order for them to teach effectively in the classroom. Knowledge on professional development of teachers is expanding to new and useful ways of teacher learning to embrace these changes. Recent literature suggest that teacher learning in communities of practice (Wenger, 1991) or learning communities (Lieberman and Pointer Mace, 2008) actually translates into enduring and sustained learning that leads to transformation in teaching and improving the quality of education. In addition to this clustering has been introduced as a useful way of teacher learning. The purpose of this study is to explore teacher learning in learning area clusters. These clusters are considered to be learning communities, because teachers are provided with opportunities to engage in professional dialogue and collaborative problem solving in issues related to teaching and learning. The conceptual framework used in data analysis is the knowledge – practice theory proposed by Cochran Smith and Lytle (1999) as well as Day and Sachs (2004). The four domains of knowledge are knowledge for practice, knowledge in practice, knowledge of practice and knowledge of self. This framework together with Shulman’s (1987) identification of content knowledge (CK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) was used in data analysis. The study was located within the qualitative mode of inquiry specifically in the interpretivist paradigm as it is concerned with interpretation and understanding of teacher learning experiences in clusters. In order to answer the research questions I used the method of Narrative Inquiry as this allowed me to understand how teacher knowledge is narratively composed, embodied in a person and expressed in practice. 6 I selected five participants who belong to learning area clusters who were purposively identified. Data was collected through semi structured interviews. The findings revealed that clustering is built on qualities of commitment, leads to teachers’ reflections of practices, increases confidence of teachers, promotes self-initiated learning and leads to organic learning in clusters. Clustering is one useful way of understanding teacher learning. This study contributes towards our understanding of how clusters can be used effectively to enhance teacher learning.
A spatially restricted increase in receptor mobility is involved in directional sensing during Dictyostelium discoideum chemotaxis

The directed cell migration towards a chemotactic source, chemotaxis, involves three complex and interrelated processes: directional sensing, cell polarization and motility. Directional sensing allows migrating eukaryotic cells to chemotax in extremely shallow gradients (<2% across the cell body) of the chemoattractant. Although directional sensing has been observed as spatially restricted responses along the plasma membrane, our understanding of the `compass' of the cell that controls the gradient-induced translocation of proteins during chemotactic movements is still largely lacking. Until now, the dynamical behaviour and mobility of the chemoattractant-receptor molecule has been neglected in models describing the directional sensing mechanisms. Here, we show by single-molecule microscopy an agonist-induced increase in the mobile fraction of cAMP-receptor at the leading edge of chemotacting Dictyostelium discoideum cells. The onset of receptor mobility was correlated to the uncoupling and activation of the Gα2-protein. A finite-element simulation showed that the increase in mobile fraction of the activated receptor enabled the amplified generation of activated Gβγ-dimers at the leading edge of the cell, faithfully representing a primary linear amplification step in directional sensing. We propose here that modulation of the receptor mobility is directly involved in directional sensing and provides a new mechanistic basis for the primary amplification step in current theoretical models that describe directional sensing.
3d Face Recognition from Range Data

3D facial data has a great potential in overcoming the problems of illumination and pose variation in face recognition. In this paper, we investigate face recognition from range data by facial profiles and surface. An efficient symmetry plane detection method for facial range data is presented to help extract facial profile. A global profile matching method is then exploited to align and compare the two profiles without detecting fiducial points that is often unreliable. The central profile and two kinds of horizontal profiles — nose-crossing profile and forehead-crossing profile — are employed in recognition. For each individual, a statistical model is built to represent the distinct discriminative capability of the different regions on the facial surface. It is then incorporated into a weighted distance function to measure for the similarity of surfaces. The comparable experimental results are achieved on a facial range data database with 120 individuals.
Genome-Wide Identification, Evolutionary Analysis and Expression Profiles of LATERAL ORGAN BOUNDARIES DOMAIN Gene Family in Lotus japonicus and Medicago truncatula

The LATERAL ORGAN BOUNDARIES DOMAIN (LBD) gene family has been well-studied in Arabidopsis and play crucial roles in the diverse growth and development processes including establishment and maintenance of boundary of developmental lateral organs. In this study we identified and characterized 38 LBD genes in Lotus japonicus (LjLBD) and 57 LBD genes in Medicago truncatula (MtLBD), both of which are model legume plants that have some specific development features absent in Arabidopsis. The phylogenetic relationships, their locations in the genome, genes structure and conserved motifs were examined. The results revealed that all LjLBD and MtLBD genes could be distinctly divided into two classes: Class I and II. The evolutionary analysis showed that Type I functional divergence with some significantly site-specific shifts may be the main force for the divergence between Class I and Class II. In addition, the expression patterns of LjLBD genes uncovered the diverse functions in plant development. Interestingly, we found that two LjLBD proteins that were highly expressed during compound leaf and pulvinus development, can interact via yeast two-hybrid assays. Taken together, our findings provide an evolutionary and genetic foundation in further understanding the molecular basis of LBD gene family in general, specifically in L. japonicus and M. truncatula.
Comparison of the effects of sevoflurane and propofol on cooling and rewarming during deliberate mild hypothermia for neurosurgery.

BACKGROUND Because the time available for cooling and rewarming during deliberate mild hypothermia is limited, studies of the rate of the cooling and rewarming are useful. The decrease in core hypothermia caused by heat redistribution depends on the anaesthetic agent used. We therefore investigated possible differences between sevoflurane and propofol on the decrease and recovery of core temperature during deliberate mild hypothermia for neurosurgery. METHODS After institutional approval and informed consent, 26 patients were assigned randomly to maintenance of anaesthesia with propofol or sevoflurane. Patients in the propofol group (n=13) received propofol induction followed by a continuous infusion of propofol 3-5 mg kg(-1) h(-1). Patients in the sevoflurane group (n=13) received propofol induction followed by sevoflurane 1-2%. Nitrous oxide and fentanyl were also used for anaesthetic maintenance. After induction of anaesthesia, patients were cooled and tympanic membrane temperature was maintained at 34.5 degrees C. After surgery, patients were actively rewarmed. RESULTS There was no difference in the rate of decrease and recovery of core temperature between the groups. There was also no difference in skin surface temperature gradient (forearm to fingertip), heart rate and mean arterial blood pressure between the groups. CONCLUSIONS Sevoflurane-based anaesthesia did not affect cooling and rewarming for deliberate mild hypothermia compared with propofol-based anaesthesia.
Weighted Admissibility and Wellposedness of Linear Systems in Banach Spaces

We study linear control systems in infinite-dimensional Banach spaces governed by analytic semigroups. For $p\in[1,\infty]$ and $\alpha\in\mathbb{R}$ we introduce the notion of $L^p$-admissibility of type $\alpha$ for unbounded observation and control operators. Generalizing earlier work by Le Merdy [J. London Math. Soc. (2), 67 (2003), pp. 715-738] and Haak and Le Merdy [Houston J. Math., 31 (2005), pp. 1153-1167], we give conditions under which $L^p$-admissibility of type $\alpha$ is characterized by boundedness conditions which are similar to those in the well-known Weiss conjecture. We also study $L^p$-wellposedness of type $\alpha$ for the full system. Here we use recent ideas due to Pruss and Simonett [Arch. Math. (Basel), 82 (2004), pp. 415-431]. Our results are illustrated by a controlled heat equation with boundary control and boundary observation where we take Lebesgue and Besov spaces as state space. This extends the considerations in [C. I. Byrnes e, J. Dynam. Control Systems, 8 (2002), pp. 341-370] to non-Hilbertian settings and to $p\neq2$.
An Approach of Locating Korean Vehicle License Plate Based on Mathematical Morphology and Geometrical Features

In a vehicle license plate identification system, plate region detection is the crucial step before the ultimate recognition. In most of the traffic-related applications such as searching of stolen vehicles, road traffic monitoring, airport gate monitoring, speed checking and parking access control. This paper is focused on license plate detection, license plate detection in this paper is based on mathematical morphology and considers features like license plate width, height, ratio, and angle. The advantage of the proposed system is that it works for all types of license plates which differ in size and shapes. The proposed system archived promising results.
A comparison of inconsistency management approaches using a mechatronic manufacturing system design case study

Designing and developing complex mechatronic systems requires the consolidation of models from a variety of domains. These models are created by different stakeholders using a variety of formalisms for the purpose of addressing specific concerns, and are used for representing different views on the same system. While it is considered good practice to separate concerns as much as possible, a complete separation is impossible. The resulting model overlap opens the possibility of inconsistencies being introduced - that is, disagreements between views. Numerous approaches to identify and resolve such inconsistencies have been introduced in the software and systems engineering literature. However, in mechatronic design practice, these have gained little acceptance. The goal of this paper is two-fold: to investigate why their wide spread use is not common, and to assess which of the approaches is the most promising for multi-disciplinary systems design. To aid in the investigation, a change scenario is analyzed using the models of a mechatronic manufacturing system as a case study.
Factors Implicated in Radiation Therapy Failure and Radiosensitization of Prostate Cancer

Tissue markers may be helpful in enhancing prediction of radiation therapy (RT) failure of prostate cancer (PCa). Among the various biomarkers tested in Phase III randomized trials conducted by the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group, p16, Ki-67, MDM2, COX-2, and PKA yielded the most robust data in predicting RT failure. Other pathways involved in RT failure are also implicated in the development of castration-resistant PCa, including the hypersensitive androgen receptor, EGFR, VEGF-R, and PI3K/Akt. Most of them are detectable in PCa tissue even at the time of initial diagnosis. Emerging evidence suggests that RT failure of PCa results from a multifactorial and heterogeneous disease process. A number of tissue markers are available to identify patients at high risk to fail RT. Some of these markers have the promise to be targeted by drugs currently available to enhance the efficacy of RT and delay disease progression.
The ARIA Algorithm and Its Use with the Secure Real-Time Transport Protocol (SRTP)

This document defines the use of the ARIA block cipher algorithm within the Secure Real-time Transport Protocol (SRTP). It details two modes of operation (CTR and GCM) and the SRTP key derivation functions for ARIA. Additionally, this document defines DTLS-SRTP protection profiles and Multimedia Internet KEYing (MIKEY) parameter sets for use with ARIA.
A proposal for a tool that helps handling variability and remains compliant with falsiﬁability

On one hand, control theory is based on proofs before the experiment in order to validate an a priori (partially) known deterministic interaction between the robot and its environment; the gain of this methodology is the expected reliability of the real system based on his model. On another hand, statistical methods are used when the environment is supposed unknown; in return, the robot may own adaptation capabilities but its behavior is not predictable before the experiment and is not necessary reliable. We believe that the core issue for the ﬁrst approach (that we call deterministic approach ) relies on the fact it cannot handle the variety of all the possible situations in an unconstrain environment (we call this the variability issue). Oppositely, we think that the statistical approach is essentially missing a validating stage before the experiment in order to possibly falsify a given model. The aim of this article is to suggest a methodology that combines both a validating stage before the experiment and the settlement of models that handle unknown environments. To do this, we build models that own a validation statement and internal parameters that ﬁx a compromise between falsiﬁability and robustness. For simple cases, we show that it is possible to ﬁx internal parameters in order to meet the two antagonist constraints. As a consequence, we stress that the precision of the model has a lower bound and we determine a Heisenberg-like uncertainty principle.
Pacing strategy of the finishers of the world marathon majors series

The purpose of the study was to describe pacing patterns of the finishers of the World Marathon Majors series and the effect of sex and age on the pacing pattern. The finishers of the World Marathon Majors series, a total of 69 814 male runners and 46 856 female runners with finishing time ≤ 6 hours were included in the analysis. Difference in pacing (dev%) was calculated as a difference between the first and second half of the marathon and expressed as a percentage of time. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to evaluate the differences within and between the marathon time groups. The differences between the first and second half of the marathon by sex and age group were analysed using linear regression. The average difference between the first and second half of the marathon was 3.44±2.67% for male and 2.81±2.10% for female runners. Male runners with finishing times of 3:00 (h:min) and females with 4:00 (h:min) or slower had the significantly faster first half of the marathon compared to the evenly paced marathon (p=.038 and p=.001, respectively). Regression analysis revealed that female runners had 0.26% smaller difference between the first and second half of the race compared to male runners (R2=0.256; p<.001) when controlled for age and time group. Also, veterans (40 years and older) paced more evenly compared to non-veterans (R2=0.256; p<.001). In conclusion, irrespective of sex and age, faster finishers maintain a more constant velocity than the slower ones. In addition, women and veterans present more even pacing strategy compared to men and non-veterans, respectively.
Minimum thermal conductivity in superlattices: A first-principles formalism

Citation Garg, Jivtesh, and Gang Chen. "Minimum thermal conductivity in superlattices: A first-principles formalism. Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. The MIT Faculty has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters.
Sociocultural Factors and Referral Outcome: An Exploratory Investigation

ABSTRACT One response to increased service needs at university counseling centers has been community provider referrals. However, certain demographic groups may be more successful in these referrals than others. We hypothesized that students who identify as White, female, sexual minority, and older, would be more likely to be successfully referred. Self-reported demographic information was collected from clients at a Mid-Atlantic counseling center. A logistic regression analysis was conducted to test differences in referral status. Age alone emerged as significant, with older students being more likely than younger students to have a successful referral outcome. Implications of these findings are discussed.