Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Original Contribution A Prospective Study of Fitness, Fatness, and Depressive Symptoms

Being overweight or obese might be a risk factor for developing depression. It is also possible that low cardiorespiratory fitness, rather thanoverweight orobesity, is thebetter predictorof depressivesymptomonset.Adults in the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study (Dallas, Texas) underwent fitness and fatness assessments between 1979 and 1998 and later completed a questionnaire about depressive symptoms in 1990, 1995, or 1999. Separate logistic regressionmodels were used to test the associations between 3 fatnessmeasures (bodymass index, waist circumference, and percentage of body fat) and the onset of depressive symptoms. Analyses were repeated using fitness as the predictor variable. Additional analyses were performed to study the joint association of fatness and fitness with the onset of depressive symptoms. After controlling for fitness, no measure of fatness was associated with the onset of depressive symptoms. In joint analyses, low fitness was more strongly associated with the onset of elevated depressive symptoms than was fatness, regardless of the measure of fatness used. Overall, results from the present study suggest that low fitness is more strongly associated with the onset of elevated depressive symptoms than is fatness. To reduce the risk of developing depression, individuals should be encouraged to improve their fitness regardless of body fatness.
High Throughput Measurement of Locomotor Sensitization to Volatilized Cocaine in Drosophila melanogaster

Drosophila melanogaster can be used to identify genes with novel functional roles in neuronal plasticity induced by repeated consumption of addictive drugs. Behavioral sensitization is a relatively simple behavioral output of plastic changes that occur in the brain after repeated exposures to drugs of abuse. The development of screening procedures for genes that control behavioral sensitization has stalled due to a lack of high-throughput behavioral tests that can be used in genetically tractable organism, such as Drosophila. We have developed a new behavioral test, FlyBong, which combines delivery of volatilized cocaine (vCOC) to individually housed flies with objective quantification of their locomotor activity. There are two main advantages of FlyBong: it is high-throughput and it allows for comparisons of locomotor activity of individual flies before and after single or multiple exposures. At the population level, exposure to vCOC leads to transient and concentration-dependent increase in locomotor activity, representing sensitivity to an acute dose. A second exposure leads to further increase in locomotion, representing locomotor sensitization. We validate FlyBong by showing that locomotor sensitization at either the population or individual level is absent in the mutants for circadian genes period (per), Clock (Clk), and cycle (cyc). The locomotor sensitization that is present in timeless (tim) and pigment dispersing factor (pdf) mutant flies is in large part not cocaine specific, but derived from increased sensitivity to warm air. Circadian genes are not only integral part of the neural mechanism that is required for development of locomotor sensitization, but in addition, they modulate the intensity of locomotor sensitization as a function of the time of day. Motor-activating effects of cocaine are sexually dimorphic and require a functional dopaminergic transporter. FlyBong is a new and improved method for inducing and measuring locomotor sensitization to cocaine in individual Drosophila. Because of its high-throughput nature, FlyBong can be used in genetic screens or in selection experiments aimed at the unbiased identification of functional genes involved in acute or chronic effects of volatilized psychoactive substances.
Admission control schemes for 802.11-based multi-hop mobile ad hoc networks: a survey

Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) promise unique communication opportunities. The IEEE 802.11 standard has allowed affordable MANETs to be realised. However, providing quality of service (QoS) assurances to MANET applications is difficult due to the unreliable wireless channel, the lack of centralised control, contention for channel access and node mobility. One of the most crucial components of a system for providing QoS assurances is admission control (AC). It is the job of the AC mechanism to estimate the state of the network's resources and thereby to decide which application data sessions can be admitted without promising more resources than are available and thus violating previously made guarantees. Unfortunately, due to the aforementioned difficulties, estimating the network resources and maintaining QoS guarantees are non-trivial tasks. Accordingly, a large body of work has been published on AC protocols for addressing these issues. However, as far as it is possible to tell, no wide-ranging survey of these approaches exists at the time of writing. This paper thus aims to provide a comprehensive survey of the salient unicast AC schemes designed for IEEE 802.11- based multi-hop MANETs, which were published in the peer-reviewed open literature during the period 2000-2007. The relevant considerations for the design of such protocols are discussed and several methods of classifying the schemes found in the literature are proposed. A brief outline of the operation, reaction to route failures, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of each protocol is given. This enables patterns in the design and trends in the development of AC protocols to be identified. Finally, directions for possible future work are provided.
Transparency and Reliability in Financial Statement: Do They Exist? Evidence from Malaysia

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to investigate the existence of reliability and transparency in the financial statement, for the benefit of investors and analysts. The scope of the study is to find the relationship of accounting standards, corporate governance, external controls, internal controls, and ethical practices with the financial statements, based on the auditors and management views in Malaysia. Methodology: 52 out of 60 questionnaires were taken from audit firms and management firms to test the visibility of transparency and reliability in financial statements. The qualitative data were also analyzed to understand the financial statements further. Findings: According to the data, the existence of transparency and reliability in financial statements was related with accounting standards, ethical practices, internal controls, external controls, and corporate governance. This finding was supported by many tests through SPSS statistic software. Research Limitations/Implications: The implication that first occurred was the intention of auditors and management in hiding the truths behind transparency and reliability of financial statements. Commonly, audit fees and audit sizes are the main truths that are hidden by the auditors. Practical Limitations: The implications of this were the value of transparency and reliability of financial statements hidden from the investors and its capabilities in restoring those into the financial statement. Originality/Value: The results were put through a quantitative approach. Also, additional qualitative analysis was gathered to attain extra knowledge in the transparency. While the rest of the paper is original, previous authors were also discussed for their theories and hypotheses.
Probiotic Lactobacillus johnsonii BS15 Improves Blood Parameters Related to Immunity in Broilers Experimentally Infected with Subclinical Necrotic Enteritis

The probiotic strain Lactobacillus johnsonii BS15 could exert beneficial effects on growth performance, lipid metabolism, and intestinal microflora in healthy broilers and those afflicted with subclinical necrotic enteritis (SNE). In particular, BS15 prevents SNE by enhancing intestinal immunity. To further understand the immune regulatory mechanism of BS15, we evaluated its effects on the overall immunity of broilers by determining blood parameters in healthy and SNE broilers. In this study, two experiments were conducted. Experiment 1 involved a 42-day experimental period and used 450 1-day-old male chicks. The chicks were randomly divided into three groups and fed with a basal diet with or without 1 × 105 or 106 colony-forming units (cfu) BS15/g as feed. Experiment 2 involved a 28-day experimental period and used 180 1-day-old male chicks. The chicks were randomly allotted into three groups and given with or without 1 × 106 cfu BS15/g BS15 as feed. SNE infection was treated in all broilers, except in those in the normal diet group. Antioxidant abilities, immunoglobulins, and cytokines in the serum were assessed. T-lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood were also determined. The first experiment demonstrated that BS15 enhanced the antioxidant abilities; the serum levels of immunoglobulins, interleukin-2, and interferon-gamma; and CD3+CD4+ T-lymphocyte percentage in peripheral blood on day 21. However, limited significant changes were observed on day 42. The second experiment revealed that BS15 supplementation positively influenced the antioxidant abilities and increased the serum levels of immunoglobulins and cytokines that were affected by SNE. BS15 also positively affected T-lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood during SNE infection. These findings suggest that BS15 supplementation may prevent SNE in broilers by improving blood parameters related to immunity and enhancing intestinal immunity. Furthermore, BS15 supplementation can improve blood parameters in healthy broilers, especially at the starter phase.
Effects of Composted Sewage Sludge on the Enzyme Activities in the Aeolian Sandy Soil

A field experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of composted sewage sludge’s application on the dynamics change of enzyme activities in aeolian sandy soil. The composted sewage sludge was applied to the soil at 0,2,5,10,15,20 and 25 t·ha-1 respectively. The effects of various sewage sludge dosages on the soil’s enzyme activities were evaluated by measuring urease,sucrase,neutral phosphatase and catalase at different time intervals of 15,50,80,110 and 150 days after the addition of sewage sludge to the soil.The results showed that the urease,sucrase,neutral phosphatase and catalase activities increased to varying degrees as the sewage sludge dosages added to the soil increased. And the four enzyme activities were affected by the sampling time significantly,the urease and sucrase activities reached their maximum values in 50 days,and neutral phosphatase and catalase activities reached their maximum values in 80 days.The results also showed that the application of sewage sludge had positive effects on improving the aeolian sandy soil’s fertility.
Development of a multi-purpose display and a timer for athletics

This paper describes a multi-purpose display and a timer developed for athletics. Traditional displays can be used for only one item of athletics, but this display can be used at long jump, throwing events, and combined events. In addition, these devices have the features of wireless communication, low cost, and easiness for users to handle. These have been already on sale and used at athletic games, then we show how these were used in the game and problems to solve we found there.
Path-planning of a hybrid parallel robot using stiffness and workspace for foot rehabilitation

Stiffness is one of the important parameters for estimating the performance of hybrid parallel robots as it is not constant throughout its workspace. The aim of this study is to provide an optimum path based on maximum stiffness within the workspace of a 9-degree-of-freedom hybrid parallel mechanism configuration, which includes nine linear actuators connecting one stationary and two moving platforms in series. The proposed robot is designed for ankle rehabilitation, where accurate and precise movement of lower extremities is required. The design takes advantage of two important characteristics of parallel robots: stiffness and workspace. The proposed methodology to determine the stiffness of hybrid robot in three single axes is based on calculation of position vector of each actuator in any particular pose, by considering the inverse kinematics of the system, in order to obtain the magnitude and direction of the applied forces. The results obtained from the workspace calculations have been compared with those of two standard parallel mechanisms including a 6-degree-of-freedom hexapod and a tripod with 3 degrees of freedom. The stiffness of the robot has been calculated in simulation and then compared with those of a developed prototype hybrid model in two different case studies.
Community-Based Production of Open Source Software: What Do We Know about the Developers Who Participate?

This paper seeks to close an empirical gap regarding the motivations, personal attributes and behavioral patterns among free/libre and open-source (FLOSS) developers, especially those involved in community-based production, and considers the bearing of its findings on the existing literature and the future directions for research. Respondents to an extensive web-survey's (FLOSS-US 2003) questions about their reasons for beginning to work FLOSS are classified according to their distinct "motivational profiles" by hierarchical cluster analysis. Over half of them also are matched to projects of known membership sizes, revealing that although some members from each of the clusters are present in the small, medium and large ranges of the distribution of project sizes, the mixing fractions for the large and the very small project ranges are statistically different. Among developers who changed projects, there is a discernable flow from the bottom toward the very small towards to large projects, some of which is motivated by individuals seeking to improve their programming skills. It is found that the profile of early motivation, along with other individual attributes, significantly affects individual developers' selections of projects from different regions of the size range.
Potential Toxicity and Underlying Mechanisms Associated with Pulmonary Exposure to Iron Oxide Nanoparticles: Conflicting Literature and Unclear Risk

Fine/micron-sized iron oxide particulates are incidentally released from a number of industrial processes, including iron ore mining, steel processing, welding, and pyrite production. Some research suggests that occupational exposure to these particulates is linked to an increased risk of adverse respiratory outcomes, whereas other studies suggest that iron oxide is biologically benign. Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs), which are less than 100 nm in diameter, have recently surged in use as components of novel drug delivery systems, unique imaging protocols, as environmental catalysts, and for incorporation into thermoplastics. However, the adverse outcomes associated with occupational exposure to IONPs remain relatively unknown. Relevant in vivo studies suggest that pulmonary exposure to IONPs may induce inflammation, pulmonary fibrosis, genotoxicity, and extra-pulmonary effects. This correlates well with in vitro studies that utilize relevant dose, cell type(s), and meaningful end points. A majority of these adverse outcomes are attributed to increased oxidative stress, most likely caused by particle internalization, dissolution, release of free iron ions, and disruption of iron homeostasis. However, because the overall toxicity profile of IONPs is not well understood, it is difficult to set safe exposure limit recommendations that would be adequate for the protection of at-risk workers. This review article will focus on known risks following IONPs exposure supported by human, animal, and cell culture-based studies, the potential challenges intrinsic to IONPs toxicity assessment, and how these may contribute to the poorly characterized IONPs toxicity profile.
Robust available bandwidth estimation against dynamic behavior of packet scheduler in operational LTE networks

We shed new light on the mechanism behind how the dynamic behavior of a packet scheduler at the link layer in mobile networks degrades the accuracy of conventional available bandwidth (i.e., unused capacity of an end-to-end path) estimation methods that use a probing packet train (i.e., a set of multiple probing packets). Most of the conventional methods, which were originally designed for wired networks, estimate available bandwidth at the receiver by detecting changes of the observed queuing delays of probing packets. They utilize a microscopic approach in which they check the difference of the queuing delay of each packet on a packet-by-packet basis in order to detect the queuing delay changes. We found that the dynamic behavior of a packet scheduler at the link layer dramatically disturbs the queuing delays observed at the receiver. The disturbed queuing delays make it tremendously difficult for the conventional microscopic approach to detect changes of the delays, resulting in degraded estimation accuracy.
Flexible metasurfaces and metamaterials: A review of materials and fabrication processes at micro- and nano-scales

The ability to bend, stretch, and roll metamaterial devices on flexible substrates adds a new dimension to aspects of manipulating electromagnetic waves and promises a new wave of device designs and functionalities. This work reviews terahertz and optical metamaterials realized on flexible and elastomeric substrates, along with techniques and approaches to lend tunability to the devices. Substrate electromagnetic and mechanical characteristics suitable for flexible metamaterials are summarized for readers, followed by fabrication and processing techniques, and finally novel approaches used to-date to attain tunability. Future directions and emerging areas of interests are identified with these promising to transform metamaterial design and translate metamaterials into practical devices.
Mechanisms of resistance to anti-EGFR therapy in colorectal cancer

Targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) either alone or in combination with chemotherapy is effective for patients with RAS wild type metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). However, only a small percentage of mCRC patients are sensitive to anti-EGFR therapy and even the best cases finally become refractory to this therapy. It has become apparent that the RAS mutations correlate with resistance to anti-EGFR therapy. However, these resistance mechanisms only account for nearly 35% to 50% of nonresponsive patients, suggesting that there might be additional mechanisms. In fact, several novel pathways leading to escape from anti-EGFR therapy have been reported in recent years. In this review, we provide an overview of known and novel mechanisms that contribute to both primary and acquired anti-EGFR therapy resistance, and enlist possible treatment strategies to overcome or reverse this resistance.
Clinical trials of the CytoRich specimen-preparation device for cervical cytology. Preliminary results.

OBJECTIVE To obtain preliminary data on the Roche CytoRich thin-layer system for the preparation of gynecologic cytology specimens, derived from a preclinical startup evaluation of the instrument and comparing the CytoRich method to conventional smears. STUDY DESIGN At six different clinical sites, 286 pairs of conventional and CytoRich slides derived from the same patient sample were compared for the following: final Bethesda classification diagnosis, specimen adequacy and presence of microorganisms. RESULTS The study showed agreement between the methods for an exact Bethesda diagnosis in 78% and agreement within one Bethesda diagnosis category in 95%. The CytoRich method diagnosed more cases of squamous intraepithelial lesion (SIL) than did the conventional method, and the differences in SIL detection were statistically significant. The CytoRich method identified similar numbers of cases with microorganisms as did the conventional smears, and the CytoRich system improved overall specimen adequacy as compared to the conventional method, with fewer cases of unsatisfactory and less-than-optimal smears. CONCLUSION The CytoRich method may improve the overall sensitivity and specificity of the cervical cytology procedure. Clinical trials to verify these preliminary data are ongoing.
Healthy and sustainable diets for future generations

Abstract Global food systems will face unprecedented challenges in the coming years. They will need to meet the nutritional needs of a growing population and feed an expanding demand for proteins. This is against a backdrop of increasing environmental challenges (water resources, climate change, soil health) and the need to improve farming livelihoods. Collaborative efforts by a variety of stakeholders are needed to ensure that future generations have access to healthy and sustainable diets. Food will play an increasingly important role in the global discourse on health. These topics were explored during Nestlé's second international conference on ‘Planting Seeds for the Future of Food: The Agriculture, Nutrition and Sustainability Nexus’, which took place in July 2017. This article discusses some of the key issues from the perspective of three major stakeholder groups, namely farming/agriculture, the food industry and consumers. © 2018 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.
VR Video Conferencing over Named Data Networks

We propose a VR video conferencing system over named data networks (NDN). The system is designed to support real-time, multi-party streaming and playback of 360 degree video on a web player. A centralized architecture is used, with a signaling server to coordinate multiple participants. To ensure real-time requirement, a protocol featuring prefetching is used for producer-consumer communication. Along with the native support of multicast in NDN, this design is expected to better support large amount of data streaming between multiple users. As a proof of concept, a protoype of the system is implemented with one-way real-time 360 video streaming. Experiments show that seamless streaming and interactive playback of 360 video can be achieved with low latency. Therefore, the proposed system has the potential to provide immersive VR experience for real-time multi-party video conferencing.
Stability and Control of Piecewise-Deterministic Queueing Systems

We consider a piecewise-deterministic queueing (PDQ) model to study traffic queues due to stochastic capacity fluctuations in transportation facilities. The saturation rate (capacity) of the PDQ model switches between a finite set of values (modes) according to a Markov chain. The inflow to the PDQ is controlled by a state-feedback policy. The main results of this article are stability conditions of PDQs, i.e. conditions under which the distribution of the queue length converges to a unique invariant probability measure. On one hand, a necessary condition for stability is that the average inflow does not exceed the average saturation rate. On the other hand, based on the Foster-Lyapunov criteria, we derive a sufficient condition that requires a bilinear matrix inequality to admit positive solutions and the invariant probability measure to be unique. We also study the rate of convergence for stable PDQs. Furthermore, for PDQs with two modes, a necessary and sufficient condition for stability is available. In addition, we present examples for the stability analysis of feedback control policies for single PDQs as well as a network of two PDQ links in parallel.