Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Short-term effects of β2-AR blocker ICI 118,551 on sarcoplasmic reticulum SERCA2a and cardiac function of rats with heart failure

The study was conducted to examine the effects of ICI 118,551 on the systolic function of cardiac muscle cells of rats in heart failure and determine the molecular mechanism of selective β2-adrenergic receptor (β2-AR) antagonist on these cells. The chronic heart failure model for rats was prepared through abdominal aortic constriction and separate cardiac muscle cells using the collagenase digestion method. The rats were then divided into Sham, HF and HF+ICI 50 nM goups and cultivated for 48 h. β2-AR, Gi/Gs and sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA2a) protein expression levels in the cardiac muscle cells were evaluated by western blotting and changes in the systolic function of cardiac muscle cells based on the boundary detection system of contraction dynamics for individual cells was measured. The results showed that compared with the Sham group, the survival rate, percentage of basic contraction and maximum contraction amplitude percentage of cardiac muscle cells with heart failure decreased, Gi protein expression increased while Gs and SERCA2a protein expression decreased. Compared with the HF group, the maximum contraction amplitude percentage of cardiac muscle cells in group HF+ICI 50 nM decreased, the Gi protein expression level increased while the SERCA2a protein expression level decreased. Following the stimulation of Ca2+ and ISO, the maximum contraction amplitude percentage of cardiac muscle cells in the HF+ICI 50 nM group was lower than that in group HF. This indicated that ICI 118,551 has negative inotropic effects on cardiac muscle cells with heart failure, which may be related to Gi protein. Systolic function of cardiac muscle cells with heart failure can therefore be reduced by increasing Gi protein expression and lowering SERCA2a protein expression.
Disclosure limitation of sensitive rules

Data products (macrodata or tabular data and micro-data or raw data records), are designed to inform public or business policy, and research or public information. Securing these products against unauthorized accesses has been a long-term goal of the database security research community and the government statistical agencies. Solutions to this problem require combining several techniques and mechanisms. Recent advances in data mining and machine learning algorithms have, however, increased the security risks one may incur when releasing data for mining from outside parties. Issues related to data mining and security have been recognized and investigated only recently. This paper deals with the problem of limiting disclosure of sensitive rules. In particular it is attempted to selectively hide some frequent itemsets from large databases with as little as possible impact on other non-sensitive frequent itemsets. Frequent itemsets are sets of items that appear in the database "frequently enough" and identifying them is usually the first step toward association/correlation rule or sequential pattern mining. Experimental results are presented along with some theoretical issues related to this problem.
Signal dynamics in the production and perception of vowels

In " Approaches to Phonological Complexity ". 1. Abstract Vowels can be produced with static articulatory configurations represented by dots in acoustic space (generally by formant frequencies in the F1-F2 plane). But because vowel characteristics vary with speaker, consonantal environment (co-articulation) and production rate (reduction phenomenon), vowel formant frequencies can also be represented by their mean values and standard deviations, according to different categories (language, age and gender of speaker). The use of 'targets' means that they are generally studied from a static point of view. But, several questions can be raised: How are vowel representations set up if vowel realizations rarely reach their targets? Is representation the same from one person to another? How is a given vowel, produced several time with different acoustic characteristics and in different environments, identified? By using contextual infor-mation? By normalization? These questions lead to studying vowels from a dynamics point of view. Here, we first propose a theoretical deductive approach to vowel-to-vowel dynamics which leads to a specification in terms of vocalic trajectories in the acoustic space characterized by their directions. Then, results on V1V2 transitions produced and perceived by subjects will be presented. In production , measurements of the F1 and F2 transition rates are represented in the F1 rate/F2 rate plane. In perception, direction and rate of synthesized transitions are studied for transitions situated outside the traditional F1/F2 vowel triangle. This situation enables the study of transitions characterized only by their directions and rates without relation to any vowel targets of the vowel triangle. Such experiments show that these transitions can be perceived as V1V2. Several issues can then be revisited in the light of this dynamic representation: vocalic reduction, hyper and hypo speech, norma
Keeping their distance? Odor response patterns along the concentration range

We investigate the interplay of odor identity and concentration coding in the antennal lobe (AL) of the honeybee Apis mellifera. In this primary olfactory center of the honeybee brain, odors are encoded by the spatio-temporal response patterns of olfactory glomeruli. With rising odor concentration, further glomerular responses are recruited into the patterns, which affects distances between the patterns. Based on calcium-imaging recordings, we found that such pattern broadening renders distances between glomerular response patterns closer to chemical distances between the corresponding odor molecules. Our results offer an explanation for the honeybee's improved odor discrimination performance at higher odor concentrations.
Combined supervised and unsupervised learning for system diagnosis using Dempster-Shafer theory

A pattern recognition approach to system diagnosis is presented. This approach is based on supervised and unsupervised procedures both relying on the Dempster-Shafer theory of evidence. These procedures are combined to form an adaptive diagnosis system allowing for pattern rejection and creation of new classes. An application to water quality monitoring is presented.
The K.U.Leuven CHR system: Implementation and application

We present the K.U. Leuven CHR system: what started out as a validation of a new attributed variables implementation, has become a part of three different Prolog systems with an increasing userbase. In this paper we highlight the particular implementation aspects of the K.U. Leuven CHR system, and a few CHR applications that we have built with our system.
Compatibility of Radiosonde and Nimbus 4 SIRS-Derived Data at Stratospheric Constant-Pressure Surfaces

Abstract The usefulness of Nimbus 4 satellite infrared spectrometer (SIRS)-derived temperature and height data for constant-pressure analyses at stratospheric levels is investigated by comparing SIRS data with rawinsonde observations and objective analyses of those data. Results from the various methods of comparison are difficult to interpret since systematic and random errors of observations at stratospheric altitudes do not permit the observed data to be used as an unquestioned standard. In addition, conclusions must be qualified by the fact that the SIRS information derived to date has depended in part on analyses of rawinsonde data. The following conclusions were reached from the various comparison studies: (1) SIRS data are useful for constant-pressure analyses at stratospheric levels, (2) mean differences between analyzed rawinsonde temperatures and SIRS derivations are generally less than 3°C, (3) differences are greater during stratospheric warmings, but SIRS data generally indicate the proper tr.
Exploiting the Relationship between Software Dependencies and Coordination through Visualization

Large software development projects require management of dependencies by managers and developers to ensure the smooth coordination of work. Based on theoretical predictions and empirical observations (ours and from others) that dependencies between software components create dependencies between the developers implementing those components, we created Ariadne, a visualization tool designed as a plug-in for Eclipse. Ariadne aims to explore this socio-technical relationship by translating technical dependencies into dependencies among software developers presented in a social network graph. Here, we describe a revised visualization that preserves the ease of identifying connections found in social network graphs but also facilitates efficient identification of dependency information needed to coordinate developers’ work. We have evaluated the visualization using multiple inspection methods appropriate for visual interfaces. The results of our evaluation indicate significant improvements over the graph-based approach and suggest important avenues for future work.
Neuropsychological Performance of Youth with Secondary Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder 6- and 12-Months after Traumatic Brain Injury

Abstract The present study compared executive dysfunction among children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) after traumatic brain injury (TBI), also called secondary ADHD (S-ADHD), pre-injury ADHD and children with TBI only (i.e., no ADHD). Youth aged 6–16 years admitted for TBI to five trauma centers were enrolled (n=177) and evaluated with a semi-structured psychiatric interview scheduled on three occasions (within 2 weeks of TBI, i.e., baseline assessment for pre-injury status; 6-months and 12-months post-TBI). This permitted the determination of 6- and 12-month post-injury classifications of membership in three mutually exclusive groups (S-ADHD; pre-injury ADHD; TBI-only). Several executive control measures were administered. Unremitted S-ADHD was present in 17/141 (12%) children at the 6-month assessment, and in 14/125 (11%) children at 12-months post-injury. The study found that children with S-ADHD exhibited deficient working memory, attention, and psychomotor speed as compared to children with pre-injury ADHD. Furthermore, the children with S-ADHD and the children with TBI-only were impaired compared to the children with pre-injury ADHD with regard to planning. No group differences related to response inhibition emerged. Age, but not injury severity, gender, or adaptive functioning was related to executive function outcome. Neuropsychological sequelae distinguish among children who develop S-ADHD following TBI and those with TBI only. Moreover, there appears to be a different pattern of executive control performance in those who develop S-ADHD than in children with pre-injury ADHD suggesting that differences exist in the underlying neural mechanisms that define each disorder, underscoring the need to identify targeted treatment interventions. (JINS, 2014, 20, 971–981)
On some quadratic algebras

We study some quadratic algebras which are appeared in the low-dimensional topology and Schubert calculus. We introduce the Jucys-Murphy elements in the braid algebra and in the pure braid group, as well as the Dunkl elements in the extended affine braid group. Relationships between the Dunkl elements, Dunkl operators and Jucys-Murphy elements are described.
Non-Uniform Norm Constraint LMS Algorithm for Sparse System Identification

Sparsity property has long been exploited to improve the performance of least mean square (LMS) based identification of sparse systems, in the form of l0-norm or l1-norm constraint. However, there is a lack of theoretical investigations regarding the optimum norm constraint for specific system with different sparsity. This paper presents an approach by seeking the tradeoff between the sparsity exploitation effect of norm constraint and the estimation bias it produces, from which a novel algorithm is derived to modify the cost function of classic LMS algorithm with a non-uniform norm (p-norm like) penalty. This modification is equivalent to impose a sequence of l0-norm or l1-norm zero attraction elements on the iteration according to the relative value of each filter coefficient among all the entries. The superiorities of the proposed method including improved convergence rate as well as better tolerance upon different sparsity are demonstrated by numerical simulations.
The dopamine hypothesis: an overview of studies with schizophrenic patients.

For the past decade, the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia has been the predominant biochemical theory of schizophrenia. Despite the extensive study of tissue samples obtained from schizophrenics, indirect pharmacological evidence still provides the major support for the hypothesis. Direct support is either uncompelling or has not been widely replicated. The dopamine hypothesis is limited in theoretical scope and in the range of schizophrenic patients to which it applies. No comprehensive biological scheme has yet been proposed to draw together the genetic, environmental, and clinical features of schizophrenia. Recent refinements of the dopamine hypothesis may aid in the delineation of biologically homogeneous subgroups. Positive symptoms (e.g., hallucinations, delusions) and negative symptomatology (e.g., affective flattening, social withdrawal) may result from different pathophysiological processes. Schizophrenia research might benefit from an increased attention to neurophysiological adaptations.
False discovery rate: setting the probability of false claim of detection

When testing multiple hypotheses in a survey—e.g. many different source locations, template waveforms, and so on—the final result consists of a set of confidence intervals, each one at a desired confidence level. But the probability that at least one of these intervals does not cover the true value increases with the number of trials. With a sufficiently large array of confidence intervals, one can be sure that at least one is missing the true value. In particular, the probability of false claim of detection becomes non-negligible. In order to compensate for this, one should increase the confidence level, at the price of reduced detection power. False discovery rate control (Benjamini Y and Hochberg Y 1995 J. R. Stat. Soc. B 57 289–300) is a relatively new statistical procedure that bounds the number of mistakes made when performing multiple hypothesis tests. We shall review this method, discussing exercise applications to the field of gravitational wave surveys.
Co-training algorithm based on on-line boosting for vehicle tracking

The current vehicle tracking algorithms cannot meet the requirements of high robustness in engineering application. A co-training algorithm based on on-line boosting for vehicle tracking is proposed. In this algorithm, first the vehicle region of interest is detected by vehicle-shadow feature and vehicle horizontal edge feature. Then the vehicle region of interest is verified by off-line classifiers which are learned from Haar feature and Adaboost algorithm. Finally, a co-training algorithm based on on-line boosting is used for further vehicle tracking, then the tracking window was reshaped according to the shadow of target vehicle. Experiments show that the proposed algorithm has high robustness and flexibility with good application prospects.
Visualization of the metaphase II meiotic spindle in living human oocytes using the Polscope enables the prediction of embryonic developmental competence after ICSI.

BACKGROUND Meiotic spindles in living human oocytes can be visualized by the Polscope. This study investigated the relationship between the presence/location of the spindle in metaphase II (MII) oocytes and developmental competence of embryos in vitro. METHODS The spindles in 626 MII oocytes were examined by the Polscope and divided into six groups (A-F) based on the presence or absence of the spindles and the angle between the spindle and the first polar body. After ICSI, the fertilization and embryo development were evaluated. RESULTS Meiotic spindles were imaged in 523 oocytes (83.5%), while 103 (16.5%) did not have a visible spindle (group F). The majority of oocytes (68.8%) had the spindle directly beneath or adjacent to the first polar body (groups A and B: 48.2 and 20.6%). Oocytes in group C (11.2%) had the spindle located between 60 and 120 degrees angle away from the first polar body, those in group D (2.4%) had the spindle located between 120 and 180 degrees angle and those in group E (1.1%) had the spindle located at 180 degrees angle to the first polar body. The fertilization and embryonic development were similar in the oocytes with spindles regardless of spindle position. However, the rate of high quality embryos was significantly higher in the oocytes (64.2%) with visible spindles than in the oocytes (35.9%) without spindle and multipronuclear proportion showed a slight tendency to increase in oocytes without spindles. (10.7 versus 5.9%, P = 0.12; NS). CONCLUSIONS the presence of a bi-refringent meiotic spindle in human oocytes by using the Polscope can predict a higher embryonic developmental competence. However, the relative position of the spindle within the oocyte doesn't appear to influence the developmental potential of embryos.
On the inclusion of self regulating branching processes in the working paradigm of evolutionary and population genetics

The principal goal of this methodological paper is to suggest to a general audience in the genetics community that the consideration of recent developments of self regulating branching processes may lead to the possibility of including this class of stochastic processes as part of working paradigm of evolutionary and population genetics. This class of branching processes is self regulating in the sense that an evolving population will grow only to a total population size that can be sustained by the environment. From the mathematical point of view the class processes under consideration belongs to a subfield of probability and statistics sometimes referred to as computational applied probability and stochastic processes. Computer intensive methods based on Monte Carlo simulation procedures have been used to empirically work out the predictions of a formulation by assigning numerical values to some point in the parameter space and computing replications of realizations of the process over thousands of generations of evolution. Statistical methods are then used on such samples of simulated data to produce informative summarizations of the data that provide insights into the evolutionary implications of computer experiments. Briefly, it is also possible to embed deterministic non-linear difference equations in the stochastic process by using a statistical procedure to estimate the sample functions of the process, which has interesting methodological implications as to whether stochastic or deterministic formulations may be applied separately or in combination in the study of evolution. It is recognized that the literature on population genetics contains a substantial number of papers in which Monte Carlo simulation methods have been used. But, this extensive literature is beyond the scope of this paper, which is focused on potential applications of self regulating branching processes in evolutionary and population genetics.
First Insights into the SWIRE Galaxy Populations

We characterize the SWIRE galaxy populations in the SWIRE validation ﬁeld within the Lockman Hole, based on the 3.6-24 µ Spitzer data and deep U, g ′ , r ′ , i ′ optical imaging within an area ∼ 1/3 sq. deg for ∼ 16,000 Spitzer-SWIRE sources. The entire SWIRE survey will discover over 2.3 million galaxies at 3.6 µ m and almost 350,000 at 24 µ m; ∼ 70,000 of these will be 5-band 3.6-24 µ detections. The colors cover a broad range, generally well represented by redshifted spectral energy distributions of known galaxy populations, however signiﬁcant samples of unusually blue objects in the [3.6-4.5] µ m color are found, as well as many objects very red in the 3.6-24 µ m mid-IR. Nine of these are investigated and are interpreted as star-forming systems, starbursts and AGN from z=0.37 to 2.8, with luminosities from L IR =10 10 . 3 to 10 13 . 7 L ⊙ .
Short-term effect of atrial fibrillation on atrial contractile function in humans.

BACKGROUND Conversion of chronic atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with atrial stunning, but the short-term effect of a brief episode of AF on left atrial appendage (LAA) emptying velocity is unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a short episode of AF affects left atrial function and whether verapamil modifies this effect. METHODS AND RESULTS The subjects of this study were 19 patients without structural heart disease undergoing an electrophysiology procedure. In 13 patients, LAA emptying velocity was measured by transesophageal echocardiography in the setting of pharmacological autonomic blockade before, during, and after a short episode of AF. During sinus rhythm, the baseline LAA emptying velocity was measured 5 times and averaged. AF was then induced by rapid right atrial pacing. After either spontaneous or electrical conversion, LAA emptying velocity was measured immediately on resumption of sinus rhythm and every minute thereafter. The mean duration of AF was 15.3+/-3.8 minutes. The mean baseline emptying velocity was 70+/-20 cm/s. The first post-AF emptying velocity was 63+/-20 cm/s (P=0.02 versus baseline emptying velocity). The post-AF emptying velocity returned to the baseline emptying velocity value after 3.0 minutes. The mean percent reduction in post-AF emptying velocity was 9.7+/-21% (range, 15% increase to 56% decrease). A second group of 6 patients were pretreated with verapamil (0.1-mg/kg IV bolus followed by an infusion of 0.005 mg. kg-1. min-1). In these patients, the first post-AF emptying velocity, 58+/-14 cm/s, was not significantly different from the pre-AF emptying velocity, 60+/-13 cm/s (P=0.08). CONCLUSIONS In humans, several minutes of AF may be sufficient to induce atrial contractile dysfunction after cardioversion. When atrial contractile dysfunction occurs, there is recovery of AF within several minutes. AF-induced contractile dysfunction is attenuated by verapamil and may be at least partially mediated by cellular calcium overload.
Time Pressure as Video Game Design Element and Basic Need Satisfaction

In this experimental study, the relationships between time pressure in games and autonomy and competence were observed with two conditions (with and without time limit). Mediating effects of autonomy and competence between time pressure and intrinsic motivation, flow, engagement, performance, and enjoyment were also investigated. No significant difference was revealed except from flow where the participants in the experimental condition experienced more flow than those in the control condition. However, there were significant differences in flow and engagement between a subgroup of the experimental condition who failed to complete the goal in the game within the specified time limit, and other subgroups in both conditions who successfully completed it. The findings suggest that there may be an optimal time limit in which autonomy and competence are maximized, and thus intrinsic motivation, flow, engagement, performance, and enjoyment are promoted.