Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Aldose Reductase Is Involved in the Development of Murine Diet-Induced Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis

Hepatic aldose reductase (AR) expression is known to be induced in liver diseases, including hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma. However, the role of AR in the development of these diseases remains unclear. We performed this current study to determine whether and how AR might be involved in the development of diet-induced nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Our results showed that the level of AR protein expression was significantly higher in db/db mice fed the methionine-choline-deficient (MCD) diet than in mice fed the control diet. In parallel with the elevation in AR, steatohepatitis was observed in MCD diet-fed mice, and this diet-induced steatohepatitis was significantly attenuated by lentiviral-mediated knock-down of the AR gene. This suppressive effect of AR knock-down was associated with repressed levels of serum alanine aminotransferase and hepatic lipoperoxides, reduced mRNA and protein expression of hepatic cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1), and decreased mRNA expression of pro-inflammatory tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). Moreover, AR-induced elevations on the level of CYP2E1 expression, reactive oxygen species, mRNA expression of TNF-α and IL-6 were confirmed in AML12 hepatocytes. Further, lentiviral-mediated knock-down of AR ameliorated MCD diet-induced collagen deposition in the livers of db/db mice. With the improvement in liver fibrosis, the mRNA levels of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), two genes involved in hepatic fibrogenesis, were found to be significantly suppressed, while TIMP-2 and MMP-13 were unaffected. Together these data indicate that inhibition of AR alleviates the MCD diet-induced liver inflammation and fibrosis in db/db mice, probably through dampening CYP2E1 mediated-oxidative stress and ameliorating the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines.
Facing diversity and democracy: European neo-nationalism, Canadian multiculturalism and Latin American experiences

The paper tries to demonstrate that the debate about cultural diversity cannot avoid issues concerning the historical nature of the European nation-state, the transformations provoked by the creation of the European Union, and the relationship between the nation state and democracy. The European historical specificities mark the forms multiculturalism can take. The paper tries as well to show how multiculturalism policies vary according to the contexts. In a comparative perspective, the paper considers the development of multiculturalism outside Europe, looking in the first place at the Canadian experience, Canada being a pioneer in making of multiculturalism an official policy; then at the Latin American experiences of multiculturalism and of “multinationalism” (Barabas, 2015). In order to clarify how multiculturalism (and multinationalism) was implemented in Latin America, the paper briefly discusses the historical formation of the Latin American states. It finally considers how a comparative Europe/Latin America perspective can be useful to clarify the European dilemmas.
Efficient Batch Signature Generation Using Tree Structures

We propose an efficient batch signature generation scheme for signing multiple messages simultaneously. The scheme can be based on any signature scheme with appendix and resultant signatures preserve the property of in dependent verification by different recipients. The scheme is shown to be of almost constant complexity for both generation and verification as the number of messages increases while the size of the signature increases only logarithmically with the number of messages in the batch. It is demonstrated that the security of the batch signature is equivale nt to the security of the underlying signature mechanisms.
Functional Neuroimaging in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Background and Aim: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a severe, highly prevalent and chronically disabling psychiatric disorder that usually emerges during childhood or adolescence. This paper aims to review the literature on functional neuroimaging in OCD, analysing the reported dysfunctional connectivity in the corticostriatothalamocortical circuitry. Method: This study included papers published in peer-reviewed journals dealing with functional imaging in OCD. Results: Striatal dysfunction, mainly of the caudate nucleus, leads to inefficient thalamic gating, resulting in hyperactivity within the orbitofrontal cortex (intrusive thoughts) and the anterior cingulate cortex (non-specific anxiety). Compulsions consist of ritualistic behaviours performed to recruit the inefficient striatum and neutralise unwanted thoughts and anxiety. Functional neuroimaging findings are discussed against the background of specific cognitive impairments, mainly regarding visuospatial processing, executive functioning and motor speed. Cognitive deficits are partial and specific, matching imaging data. Conclusions: Several studies have targeted brain regions hypothesised to be involved in the pathogenesis of OCD, showing the existence of dysfunctional connectivity in the corticostriatothalamocortical circuitry. Improvements in spatial resolution of neuroimaging techniques may contribute to a better understanding of the neurocircuitry of OCD and other anxiety disorders.
Comparison of 3D feature registration techniques for indoor mapping

Maps are used extensively to understand the surrounding environment and to navigate through it. This has motivated research in localization and mapping and as a result numerous algorithms have been proposed to construct different types of maps. The mapping problem involves many difficulties such as: the estimation of the sensor position and orientation at each observation, the correct interpretation of data and the error minimization in aligning observations. In this paper a comprehensive overview of the visual SLAM problem is provided along with a comparison of different algorithms used in the construction of 3D maps. The algorithms have been tested on standard 3D datasets of indoor environments.
A Novel Multicell Cooperative Scheduling Scheme

The scheduling problem in downlink of the cooperative multi-cell system is investigated in this paper. Multi-cell cooperative processing (MCP) has the potential to boost spectral efficiency and improve fairness. However, the traditional centralized multi-cell cooperative scheme, where a central processing unit is assumed with the global knowledge of all the required downlink channels and user messages to jointly design the transmitted signals for all BSs, incurs significant overhead and complexity, and will hinder the practical implementation of MCP. We adopt the decentralized cooperative scheme with adaptive linear pre-processing transmission. The objective of the scheduling is to maximize the total system throughput. The performance of proposed scheme in terms of the average throughput per cell and average user date rate. The multiuser diversity gain is also investigate throughput simulation. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme can achieve better tradeoff between system throughput and fairness among users that the traditional non-cooperative scheme.
Size, longevity and cancer: age structure

There is significant recent interest in Peto's paradox and the related problem of the evolution of large, long-lived organisms in terms of cancer robustness. Peto's paradox refers to the expectation that large, long-lived organisms have a higher lifetime cancer risk, which is not the case: a paradox. This paradox, however, is circular: large, long-lived organisms are large and long-lived because they are cancer robust. Lifetime risk, meanwhile, depends on the age distributions of both cancer and competing risks: if cancer strikes before competing risks, then lifetime risk is high; if not, not. Because no set of competing risks is generally prevalent, it is instructive to temporarily dispose of competing risks and investigate the pure age dynamics of cancer under the multistage model of carcinogenesis. In addition to augmenting earlier results, I show that in terms of cancer-free lifespan large organisms reap greater benefits from an increase in cellular cancer robustness than smaller organisms. Conversely, a higher cellular cancer robustness renders cancer-free lifespan more resilient to an increase in size. This interaction may be an important driver of the evolution of large, cancer-robust organisms.
Video tomography: an efficient method for camerawork extraction and motion analysis

This paper proposes a new, efficient and practical way to extract lens zoom, camera pan and camera tilt information using modified motion analysis. The proposed method is called the Video Tomography Method (VTM), in which tomographic techniques are introduced into a motion estimation algorithm. By using the VTM, one is able to visualize motion as a spatiotemporal flow for motion analysis. The VTM is an extremely robust [resistant to noise] method for estimating camera operation due to its tomographic nature. The practicality of this type of motion estimation and analysis is confirmed by the results of our simulations and experiments in testing the prototype platform with a low quality video source. Other possible applications that might use extracted motion data are discussed. This method is targeted towards video handling applications that attribute extracted motion data into a video index. It will enhance the process of editing and browsing structured video, and will allow the visualization of scenes spatiotemporally so that video may be accessed intuitively and spatially in relation to its temporal location. This type of access is a new interface for structured video. Scene reconstruction techniques can be extended to apply to the problem of reconstructing occluded images and resolution enhancement.
Testing for Depéret's Rule (Body Size Increase) in Mammals using Combined Extinct and Extant Data

Whether or not evolutionary lineages in general show a tendency to increase in body size has often been discussed. This tendency has been dubbed “Cope's rule” but because Cope never hypothesized it, we suggest renaming it after Depéret, who formulated it clearly in 1907. Depéret's rule has traditionally been studied using fossil data, but more recently a number of studies have used present-day species. While several paleontological studies of Cenozoic placental mammals have found support for increasing body size, most studies of extant placentals have failed to detect such a trend. Here, we present a method to combine information from present-day species with fossil data in a Bayesian phylogenetic framework. We apply the method to body mass estimates of a large number of extant and extinct mammal species, and find strong support for Depéret's rule. The tendency for size increase appears to be driven not by evolution toward larger size in established species, but by processes related to the emergence of new species. Our analysis shows that complementary data from extant and extinct species can greatly improve inference of macroevolutionary processes.
Sleep in overweight adolescents: shorter sleep, poorer sleep quality, sleepiness, and sleep-disordered breathing.

OBJECTIVE To document the sleep of overweight adolescents and to explore the degree to which weight-related sleep pathology might account for diminished psychosocial outcome. METHODS Sixty children aged 10-16.9 from a weight-management clinic were compared to 22 healthy controls using comprehensive actigraphic, polysomnographic, and parent- and self-report questionnaire assessments. RESULTS Overweight participants averaged more symptoms of sleep-disordered breathing, later sleep onset, shorter sleep time, and more disrupted sleep than controls. Although the groups did not differ in self-reported sleep habits, multiple concerns were reported by parents of overweight participants, including daytime sleepiness, parasomnias, and inadequate sleep. Group differences in academic grades and depressive symptoms were at least partially accounted for by short sleep and daytime sleepiness. CONCLUSIONS Excessive weight is associated with an increased risk of sleep problems. There is a need for further research in this area and for clinicians who work with overweight children to evaluate their sleep.
‘Adults don’t understand’: exploring how teens use dialectical frameworks to navigate webs of tensions in online life

ABSTRACT As communication increasingly takes place online and via mobile technologies, young people are the fastest growing adopters of new online platforms. Consequently, communication scholars have begun to consider young people’s experiences online, comparing online and offline interactions, establishing how developmental stages affect youth’s engagement with online content, and documenting risks for youth’s experience online. We argue that much can be gained from a ‘tension-centered’ approach that highlights the competing demands of young people’s online engagement and problematizes current conceptions of risk. Through focus group interviews with teens, we examine current trends of online activity and re-conceptualize opportunities for conducting research with youth. Teens’ ‘local logics’ for negotiation webs of communicative tensions online reveal articulation of formal rules, which are later eclipsed by lived experiences. We offer strategies for parents, caregivers, and educators to more productively engage with youth about their online experiences, as well as implications for communication researchers.
An hmm-based cepstral-domain speech enhancement system

This paper describes a method of enhancing speech corrupted by additive uncorrelated noise. The approach adopted is to use cepstral-domain hidden Markov models to determine statistics of the clean speech and noise processes. A compensated model of speech corrupted by noise is generated using parallel model combination. MMSE and linear non-homogeneous estimators of the clean speech signal are derived. The enhancement system gives natural sounding speech without the artifacts introduced by systems such as spectral subtraction. HMM recognition tests performed on the enhanced speech using the NOISEX-92 database show a signiicant reduction in error rate.
A REVIEW OF ADHESION MECHANISMS AT THE CRACK SEALANT / ASPHALT CONCRETE INTERFACE

Existing adhesion theories and associated mechanisms are reviewed and applied to bituminous crack sealants and to the crack sealing of asphalt concrete (AC) roadways. As such, the possible contribution of each mechanism to the sealant-interface-AC system is critically assessed. Of six possible adhesion mechanisms, only sealant adsorption and interlock can explain adhesion between sealant and AC. In this regard, intrinsic sealant properties such as viscosity and composition are particularly important. In contrast, sealant failure can be explained best by the presence of defects at the sealant-AC interface such as dust, voids and microcracks. The existence of these defects is more closely related to sealant installation than to the sealant itself. In the end, the review allows for the identification of many factors that must be better understood if sealant adhesion and performance is to be enhanced significantly.
Adaptive Data Replicas Management Based on Active Data-centric Framework in Cloud Environment

Cloud data protection is increasingly attracting researchers' attention. Cryptographic-based schemes, trust third party technologies, policy-driven frameworks, and data-policy binding mechanisms have been proposed to address data security and privacy issues from many aspects of data protection requirement. However, due to the inevitability of bugs, crashes, operator errors, hardware failure, or server misconfiguration, data availability and reliability might be still compromised. To avoid data loss and access failure when the unpredictable incidents occur, data replication technology is essential to guarantee the availability and reliability. This paper introduces the adaptive data replicas management based on the novel data structure created by the active data-centric framework in the cloud scenario. The simulated result shows the effectiveness and flexibility of the proposed adaptive data replicas scheme.
Internal Amplification Control for a Cryptosporidium Diagnostic PCR: Construction and Clinical Evaluation

Various constituents in clinical specimens, particularly feces, can inhibit the PCR assay and lead to false-negative results. To ensure that negative results of a diagnostic PCR assay are true, it should be properly monitored by an inhibition control. In this study, a cloning vector harboring a modified target DNA sequence (≈375 bp) was constructed to be used as a competitive internal amplification control (IAC) for a conventional PCR assay that detects ≈550 bp of the Cryptosporidium oocyst wall protein (COWP) gene sequence in human feces. Modification of the native PCR target was carried out using a new approach comprising inverse PCR and restriction digestion techniques. IAC was included in the assay, with the estimated optimum concentration of 1 fg per reaction, as duplex PCR. When applied on fecal samples spiked with variable oocysts counts, ≈2 oocysts were theoretically enough for detection. When applied on 25 Cryptosporidium-positive fecal samples of various infection intensities, both targets were clearly detected with minimal competition noticed in 2-3 samples. Importantly, both the analytical and the diagnostic sensitivities of the PCR assay were not altered with integration of IAC into the reactions. When tried on 180 randomly collected fecal samples, 159 were Cryptosporidium-negatives. Although the native target DNA was absent, the IAC amplicon was obviously detected on gel of all the Cryptosporidium-negative samples. These results imply that running of the diagnostic PCR, inspired with the previously developed DNA extraction protocol and the constructed IAC, represents a useful tool for Cryptosporidium detection in human feces.
Spatially coupled turbo codes: Principles and finite length performance

In this paper, we give an overview of spatially coupled turbo codes (SC-TCs), the spatial coupling of parallel and serially concatenated convolutional codes, recently introduced by the authors. For presentation purposes, we focus on spatially coupled serially concatenated codes (SC-SCCs). We review the main principles of SC-TCs and discuss their exact density evolution (DE) analysis on the binary erasure channel. We also consider the construction of a family of rate-compatible SC-SCCs with simple 4-state component encoders. For all considered code rates, threshold saturation of the belief propagation (BP) to the maximum a posteriori threshold of the uncoupled ensemble is demonstrated, and it is shown that the BP threshold approaches the Shannon limit as the coupling memory increases. Finally we give some simulation results for finite lengths.
Investigating a conceptual construct for software context

A growing number of empirical software engineering researchers suggest that a complementary focus on theory is required if the discipline is to mature. A first step in theory-building involves the establishment of suitable theoretical constructs. For researchers studying software projects, the lack of a theoretical construct for context is problematic for both experimentation and effort estimation. For experiments, insufficiently understood contextual factors confound results, and for estimation, unstated contextual factors affect estimation reliability. We have earlier proposed a framework that we suggest may be suitable as a construct for context i.e. represents a minimal, spanning set for the space of software contexts. The framework has six dimensions, described as Who, Where, What, When, How and Why. In this paper, we report the outcomes of a pilot study to test its suitability by categorising contextual factors from the software engineering literature into the framework. We found that one of the dimensions, Why, does not represent context, but rather is associated with objectives. We also identified some factors that do not clearly fit into the framework and require further investigation. Our contributions are the pursuing of a theoretical approach to understanding software context, the initial establishment and evaluation of a construct for context and the exposure of a lack of clarity of meaning in many 'contexts' currently applied as factors for estimating project outcomes.
IL-13 and its Signal Pathway: Promising Targets in the Development of a Therapeutic Agent for Bronchial Asthma

The incidence of allergic diseases has dramatically increased in recent decades, especially in urban and indu- strialized areas. It has been reported that, at present, one third of the population in Japan suffers from bronchial asthma, atopic dermatitis, or allergic rhinitis. The medical cost for treating such patients is huge and on the increase. Thus, it is important socially as well as medically to establish more useful strategies to overcome allergic disorders. Bronchial a- sthma is a complex disease characterized by airway inflammation involving a Th2-cytokine, interleukin (IL)-13. A sub- stantial body of evidence has accumulated pointing to the pivotal role of IL-13 in the pathogenesis of bronchial asthma. Therefore, IL-13 and its signal pathway are thought to be promising targets to develop a therapeutic agent for bronchial asthma. In this article, we summarize the biological properties of IL-13 itself and its signal transduction pathway, the pa- thological roles of IL-13 in bronchial asthma, and the agents to inhibit the IL-13 signals that are now under development.
Affect, Social Behavior, and the Brain in Williams Syndrome

Williams syndrome (WS) is a rare genetic disorder characterized by intellectual impairment and a distinctive physical and neuropsychological profile. Relative to their level of intellectual functioning, individuals with WS exhibit strengths in language and face recognition, with deficits in visual-spatial cognition. A heightened appetitive drive toward social interaction is a strong behavioral feature. Relative to other neurodevelopmental disorders, WS has a clearly defined genetic basis, together with a consistent neurocognitive profile of strengths and deficits. Thus, this disorder offers unique opportunities for elucidating gene–brain–behavior relationships. We focus on manifestations of the unusual social profile in WS, by examining data within and across levels of cognition, brain, and molecular genetics.
A Survey on Topology Control in Wireless Sensor Networks

Topology control is one of the fundamental problems in WSNs (wireless sensor networks). It is of great importance for prolong lifetime, reducing radio interference, for prolong lifetime, increasing the efficiency of MCA (media access control)protocols and routing protocols, ensure the quality of connectivity and coverage, increasing the network service and so on. In this survey paper, different network models are presented, and discusses several graph models used in topology control, the representative research works are introduced through analyses power control and sleep scheduling. The present hot spots and the future trends on the research of topology control are summarized also.