Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Oral Administration of Sitagliptin Activates CREB and Is Neuroprotective in Murine Model of Brain Trauma

Introduction: Traumatic brain injury is a major cause of mortality and morbidity. We have previously shown that the injectable glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analog, liraglutide, significantly improved the outcome in mice after severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). In this study we are interested in the effects of oral treatment of a different class of GLP-1 based therapy, dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV) inhibition on mice after TBI. DPP-IV inhibitors reduce the degradation of endogenous GLP-1 and extend circulation of this protective peptide in the bloodstream. This class has yet to be investigated as a potential therapy for TBI. Methods: Mice were administrated once-daily 50 mg/kg of sitagliptin in a Nutella® ball or Nutella® alone throughout the study, beginning 2 days before severe trauma was induced with a stereotactic cryo-lesion. At 2 days post trauma, lesion size was determined. Brains were isolated for immunoblotting for assessment of selected biomarkers for pathology and protection. Results: Sitagliptin treatment reduced lesion size at day 2 post-injury by ~28% (p < 0.05). Calpain-driven necrotic tone was reduced ~2-fold in sitagliptin-treated brains (p < 0.001) and activation of the protective cAMP-response element binding protein (CREB) system was significantly more pronounced (~1.5-fold, p < 0.05). The CREB-regulated, mitochondrial antioxidant protein manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) was increased in sitagliptin-treated mice (p < 0.05). Conversely, apoptotic tone (alpha-spectrin fragmentation, Bcl-2 levels) and the neuroinflammatory markers IL-6, and Iba-1 were not affected by treatment. Conclusions: This study shows, for the first time, that DPP-IV inhibition ameliorates both anatomical and biochemical consequences of TBI and activates CREB in the brain. Moreover, this work supports previous studies suggesting that the effect of GLP-1 analogs in models of brain damage relates to GLP-1 receptor stimulation in a dose-dependent manner.
Integration, Regulation, Lobbying by Firms and Workers, and Technological Change

This paper examines an economic union where oligopolistic flrms produce by skilled and unskilled labor and do R&D by skilled labor. The planner of the union accepts new members to the union, deregulates the product market through anti-trust policy and regulates the labor market through a minimum wage for unskilled labor. Firms and workers lobby the planner for prospective policy. It is shown that in the political equilibrium small unions apply product market deregulation, but large unions labor market deregulation. When an economic union grows, it will replace regulation by deregulation in the labor market.
TMSP: Topic Guided Manifold Ranking with Sink Points for Guided Summarization

Guided summarization is an extension of query-focused multidocument summarization. We proposed a novel ranking algorithm, Topic Guided Manifold Ranking with Sink Points (TMSP) for guided summarization tasks of TAC2010. TMSP is a topic extended version of Manifold Ranking with Sink Points (MRSP), which handles the Update Summarization tasks of TAC2009 well. We adopt the TMSP and MRSP methods to guided summarization this year. The evaluation results show that our approaches are both competitive in practice.
Relational Depth: A window into an Interconnected world

My keynote is both an exploration and an invitation to you. It's an exploration into ‘relating’, the process of relating and its qualitative nature. What do I mean by this? The shape and feel of a relationship can be widely different. It can be detached, controlling and competitive or respectful, collaborative and caring. It can feel full of potential or be limiting. With relational depth, its qualities are Rogers' six therapeutic conditions (Rogers, 1957). Usually relational depth refers to ‘moments of intense contact and connection’ and ‘enduring experiences of connectedness’ (Mearns and Cooper, 2005) within the therapeutic relationship. This morning I invite you into a world where relational depth is a possibility at all times. This possibility arises from my foundational assumption that ‘we live in an interconnected universe’.
Towards GEEZMO: hiGh-frEquEncy Zest and Mood-pOlling for proactive software development problem-solving

Development of software is happening on an increasingly distributed fashion. Individuals normally coordinate and interact over any combination of IRC rooms, mailing lists, private email, etc. Conversely, big players like Google Inc. employ yearly Googlegeist polls asking its employees how they feel about the company, its directions and its managers. As a consequence, the amount of time required for managers and management to feel the pulse of their subordinates is removed from actual work. We argue that software development status can be computed by eliciting just a few bits of information that can be anonymously extracted by a single poll - the poll can be completed very quickly and its administration can happen as a simple prompt inside windows that developers would be visiting anyway (e.g., the log-in screen, commit screens, etc.). This paper elaborates this idea and develops a prototype to articulate the idea in practice. Finally, the idea is discussed using a preliminary validation by means of statistical methods and simulations.
Sharing effort in planning human-robot handover tasks

For a versatile human-assisting mobile-manipulating robot such as the PR2, handing over objects to humans in possibly cluttered workspaces is a key capability. In this paper we investigate the motion planning of handovers while accounting for the human mobility. We treat the human motion as part of the planning problem thus enabling to find broader type of handing strategies. We formalize the problem and propose an algorithmic solution taking into account the HRI constraints induced by the human receiver presence. Simulation results with the PR2 robot illustrate the efficacy of the approach.
Fast 3D tracking and quantization of small vascular structures in 3D medical images

This paper introduces an approach for fast tracking, quantization and centreline extraction of small vascular structures in medical imaging, with the problem of coronary segmentation used as an example. The tracking is achieved by propagating an explicit surface. This surface is represented as a triangular adaptive mesh where the element size is adjusted based on the current size of the vessel. Adaptive re-meshing is performed on-the-fly during propagation in an efficient manner. An effective self-intersection prevention method is introduced to address one of the major issues in triangular mesh offsetting.
A Novel Knowledge-Based Twin Support Vector Machine

In this paper we proposed a novel knowledge based twin support vector machine (TWSVM), in which the prior knowledge in the form of multiple polyhedral sets, each belonging to one of two categories, is incorporated into the Linear TWSVM. Different with the existing approaches, we applied the regularized TWSVM model and changed the regularization term to be 1-norm, which resulted in a linear programming that can be solved efficiently, furthermore we amended the constraints corresponding to the knowledge for some special cases. Experiments proved the efficiency and effectiveness of our new model.
Simplicity and Complexity of Microsporidian Genomes

The adaptation to a parasitic lifestyle typically precipitates a number of profound changes to various levels of biological organization, including cell structure, genetics and genomics, metabolism, and biochemistry. These changes can lead to a seemingly paradoxical mixture of characteristics: on one hand, parasites may evolve extremely complex and sophisticated mechanisms to invade their host and evade its defenses, while on the other hand, they may also appear more “simple” by dispensing with characteristics they no longer need as they increasingly depend on host metabolism for nutrients and energy. The reductive element of parasitic evolution has led several parasitic protozoa to be considered ancient or early-branching eukaryotes because they lack characters common to all other eukaryotes, but in reality, these organisms are highly derived. No group represents this phenomenon better than the microsporidia, a group of obligate intracellular parasites that exemplify the contradictory forces of simplification and complex specialization.
A Case Report of Mycobacterium Avium Complex Peritonitis in an AIDS Patient

Peritonitis due to Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) infection is uncommon. The risk for MAC in AIDS patients is greatest in those with severely depressed CD4 count. The organs most commonly involved in disseminated MAC infection include spleen, mesenteric lymph nodes, liver, and intestines. The involvement of peritoneum by MAC infection is rare. This is a case of MAC peritonitis in a 26-year-old female AIDS patient who is noncompliant to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). This patient presented with abdominal pain and distension, anorexia, diarrhea, and cough. She was treated with rifabutin, clarithromycin, and ethambutol along with atovaquone for Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia prophylaxis and so the patient's condition improved. MAC peritonitis should be considered in a patient presenting with nonspecific abdominal symptoms in the setting of AIDS and low CD4 count.
Odorant specificity of three oscillations and the DC signal in the turtle olfactory bulb

The odour‐induced population response in the in vivo turtle (Terepene sp.) olfactory bulb consists of three oscillatory components (rostral, middle and caudal) that ride on top of a DC signal. In an initial step to determine the functional role of these four signals, we compared the signals elicited by different odorants. Most experiments compared isoamyl acetate and cineole, odorants which have very different maps of input to olfactory bulb glomeruli in the turtle and a different perceptual quality for humans. We found substantial differences in the response to the two odours in the rise‐time of the DC signal and in the latency of the middle oscillation. The rate of rise for cineole was twice as fast as that for isoamyl acetate. Similarly, the latency for the middle oscillation was about twice as long for isoamyl acetate as it was for cineole. On the other hand, a number of characteristics of the signals were not substantially different for the two odorants. These included the latency of the rostral and caudal oscillation, the frequency and envelope of all three oscillations and their locations and spatial extents. A smaller number of experiments were carried out with hexanone and hexanal; the oscillations elicited by these odorants did not appear to be different from those elicited by isoamyl acetate and cineole. Qualitative differences between the oscillations in the turtle and those in two invertebrate phyla suggest that different odour processing strategies may be used.
Development and validation of a 3D kinematic-based method for determining gait events during overground walking

A new signal processing algorithm is developed for quantifying heel strike (HS) and toe-off (TO) event times solely from measured heel and toe coordinates during overground walking. It is based on a rough estimation of relevant local 3D position signals. An original piecewise linear fitting method is applied to these local signals to accurately identify HS and TO times without the need of using arbitrary experimental coefficients. We validated the proposed method with nine healthy subjects and a total of 322 trials. The extracted temporal gait events were compared to reference data obtained from a force plate. HS and TO times were identified with a temporal accuracy ± precision of 0.3 ms ± 7.1 ms, and -2.8 ms ± 7.2 ms in comparison with reference data defined with a force threshold of 10 N. This algorithm improves the accuracy of the HS and TO detection. Furthermore, it can be used to perform stride-by-stride analysis during overground walking with only recorded heel and toe coordinates.
Impact of Measurement Scale on Infiltration and Phosphorus Leaching in Ozark Floodplains

Abstract. Increased nutrient loads have resulted in several adverse impacts on surface water quality, including excessive algal growth, fish kills, and drinking water taste and odor issues across the United States and especially in the Ozark ecoregion of northeastern Oklahoma and northwestern Arkansas. The significance of this problem has been highlighted by litigation, with one case even reaching the U.S. Supreme Court (Arkansas et al. v. Oklahoma et al., 503 U.S. 91) which required the upstream state to meet downstream water quality standards. The overarching objective of this line of research was to characterize phosphorus leaching to alluvial aquifers in the coarse gravel floodplains of the Ozark ecoregion, while the specific objective of this paper was to quantify infiltration and hydraulic conductivity across a range of scales (point to 100 m 2 ) to evaluate the effect of the scale of measurement. It is hypothesized that hydrologic heterogeneities (e.g., macropores and gravel outcrops) in the subsurface play an integral role in impacting flow and contaminant transport between the soil surface and alluvial aquifers. Innovative field studies, including plot scale injection experiments, were performed across a range of soil types at each of three floodplain sites in the Ozark ecoregion. Solutes in the injection water included phosphorus, P (highly sorptive), Rhodamine WT (slightly sorptive), and chloride (conservative). Plots maintained a constant head of 2 to 9 cm for up to 52 hours. Effective saturated hydraulic conductivity (K eff ) data, based on plot scale infiltration rates, were high (0.6 to 68 cm hr -1 ) and varied greatly, even within a single floodplain. The K eff was also measured with a double ring infiltrometer and estimated at the point scale using Retention Curve (RETC) along with particle size distribution data. Point scale estimates were significantly lower than plot scale K eff , and also failed to capture the variability of K eff within a field site. The estimated permeability of the limiting layer reported by the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Soil Survey was consistent with point scale estimates of K eff , but was lower than plot scale K eff at most sites. Plot scale infiltration tests are recommended over double ring infiltrometer tests or point scale estimates, although only small plots (1 m by 1 m) are necessary.
Second-language speaker interpretations of intonation- al semantics in English

Research is reported on the way in which Finnish speakers of English interpret the semantic/pragmatic meaning of the fall-rise intonation in spoken English. A set of constructed mini-dialogues were used for listening tests in which the test subjects were to interpret the “meaning” of the fall-rise tone. To obtain baseline data, a group of native speakers of English listened to the same material, with the same interpretative task. The results indicate that the native speakers consistently interpreted the fallrise pattern as conveying reservation (or irony), whereas the non-native speakers perceived a “reserved” meaning only if the lexical context explicitly supported such an interpretation.
Fairness and Utilization in Multipath Network Flow Optimization

Multipath routing is expected to improve the degree of control in network flow managements. Therefore, multi-criteria designs will become indispensable for the next generation of multipath routing algorithms and protocols. This paper shows a theoretical approach to multipath routing problems as a multi- objective optimization of network flows. Two objectives, total link utilization and bandwidth fairness for connections, are introduced into an objective formulation which is solved with a nonlinear programming solver. The numerical analysis shows that drastic fairness improvement can be achieved with small decline of utilization. Compared to standard multipath routing, this approach of bandwidth fair multipath routing can achieve a variance of bit-rate for all connections of 0.0123% with a decline of utilization of 11.4%. In case of single path, a variance of 0.0168% with decline of utilization of 39.7% can be achieved. Finally, the controllability of multipath routing is discussed.
Follicular Helper CD4+ T Cells in Human Neuroautoimmune Diseases and Their Animal Models

Follicular helper CD4+ T (TFH) cells play a fundamental role in humoral immunity deriving from their ability to provide help for germinal center (GC) formation, B cell differentiation into plasma cells and memory cells, and antibody production in secondary lymphoid tissues. TFH cells can be identified by a combination of markers, including the chemokine receptor CXCR5, costimulatory molecules ICOS and PD-1, transcription repressor Bcl-6, and cytokine IL-21. It is difficult and impossible to get access to secondary lymphoid tissues in humans, so studies are usually performed with human peripheral blood samples as circulating counterparts of tissue TFH cells. A balance of TFH cell generation and function is critical for protective antibody response, whereas overactivation of TFH cells or overexpression of TFH-associated molecules may result in autoimmune diseases. Emerging data have shown that TFH cells and TFH-associated molecules may be involved in the pathogenesis of neuroautoimmune diseases including multiple sclerosis (MS), neuromyelitis optica (NMO)/neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD), and myasthenia gravis (MG). This review summarizes the features of TFH cells, including their development, function, and roles as well as TFH-associated molecules in neuroautoimmune diseases and their animal models.
User Modeling for Improving QoS Using Partial User-Supplied Information

For the improvement of QoS, incorporation of usersupplied information in the network design and control process has become mandatory. A problem arises for the handling of new users, when information about existing users is already available. In the work presented in this paper, we were following two approaches to derive information about new users, both based on prototype generation for existing user’s answer pattern to a QoS related questionnaire. In the first approach, it was tried to classify user attributes to a fitting prototype. In the second approach, a mapping from partial answers to a prototype was used. As result, the first approach appeared to be infeasible, while the second one gave good results. In the resulting trade-off between the number of clusters and classification accuracy, this way it is possible, for example, with 8 prototypes for around 1000 users to issue a new user answer patterns by using only 30% of the questions, while reducing accuracy by only 13%.
A Review and Technological Consideration of the Bona Fide Group Perspective

Although group research has explored a variety of new theories, methodologies, and technologies over the past three decades, the bona fide group perspective is still a meaningful framework for understanding how groups interact with context. In this review essay, the bona fide group perspective is introduced and publications since the perspective’s inception 25 years ago are reviewed. Additionally, future research paths are explored, displaying how this perspective is useful for investigating the influence of technological advances on group member participation, specifically in terms of presence.
Effect of packet size on loss rate and delay in wireless links

Transmitting large packets over wireless networks helps to reduce header overhead, but may have an adverse effect on loss rate due to corruptions in a radio link. Packet loss in lower layers, however, is typically hidden from the upper protocol layers by link or MAC layer protocols. For this reason, errors in the physical layer are observed by the application as higher variance in end-to-end delay rather than increased packet loss rate. We study the effect of packet size on loss rate and delay characteristics in a wireless real-time application. We derive an analytical model for the dependency between packet length and delay characteristics. We validate our theoretical analysis through experiments in an ad hoc network using WLAN technologies. We show that careful design of packetization schemes in the application layer may significantly improve radio link resource utilization in delay sensitive media streaming under difficult wireless network conditions.
Dust Transport and Deposition Observed from the Terra-modis Spacecraft over the Atlantic Ocean

Meteorological observations, in situ data and satellite images of dust episodes were used already in the 1970s to estimate that 100 tg of dust are transported from Africa over the Atlantic Ocean every year between June and August and deposited in the Atlantic Ocean and the Americas. Desert dust is a main source of nutrients to oceanic biota and the Amazon forest, but deteriorates air quality as shown for Florida. Dust affects the Earth radiation budget, thus participating in climate change and feedback mechanisms. There is an urgent need for new tools for quantitative evaluation of the dust distribution, transport and deposition. The Terra spacecraft launched at the dawn of the last millennium provides first systematic well calibrated multispectral measurements from the MODIS instrument, for daily global analysis of aerosol. MODIS data are used here to distinguish dust from smoke and maritime aerosols and evaluate the African dust column concentration, transport and deposition. We found that 230±80 tg of dust are transported annually from Africa to the Atlantic Ocean, 30 tg return to Africa and Europe, 70 tg reach the Caribbean, 45 tg fertilize the Amazon Basin, 4 times as previous estimates thus explaining a paradox regarding the source of nutrition to the Amazon forest, and 120±40 tg are deposited in the Atlantic Ocean. The results are compared favorably with dust transport models for particle radius ≤ 12 µm. This study is a first example of quantitative use of MODIS aerosol for a geophysical study.
Context-Aware Generative Learning Objects for Teaching Computer Science*

The paper introduces context-aware Generative Learning Objects (GLOs) to support wide-scale reusability and automaticadaptability in teaching Computer Science (CS) topics. We introduce the theoretical background of the approach to supportadaptation through transformations based on the principles of Design-for-Reuse and Design-with-Reuse, which are well known inSoftware Engineering (SWE), and validate the approach in the robotics-based CS course. We automatically adapt GLOs to thespecific context of teaching using transformation tools (refactoring tool and meta-language processor) to transform a set ofcontext-aware GLOs into usable LOs within the educational Arduino robotics environment.
Phosphorus-31 Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Quantification Methods for the Characterization of Brain Bioenergetics in Bipolar Disorder Subjects

The heterogeneity of metabolite concentrations in the human brain is examined using a phantom replacement method of phosphorus metabolite quantification. High resolution magnetic resonance imaging and Phosphorus-31 magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (P MRSI) data were collected from the whole head of thirty-six subjects. Phosphorus-31 metabolite concentrations from the entire brain were plotted against voxel gray matter fraction; linear regression analyses allowed for concentrations of these metabolites in pure gray and white matter to be estimated. Results indicate differences in the bioenergetics and phospholipid metabolism between gray and white matter tissue. Concentrations of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), inorganic phosphate (Pi), and phosphodiesters (PDE) were found to be negatively correlated with gray matter fraction while phosphocreatine (PCr), phosphomonoesters (PME), and intracellular pH (pHi) were positively correlated. Images of the concentrations of PCr and ATP were constructed, providing a visual demonstration of the brain’s metabolite heterogeneity.