Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
HDAC1 and HDAC2 Restrain the Intestinal Inflammatory Response by Regulating Intestinal Epithelial Cell Differentiation

Acetylation and deacetylation of histones and other proteins depends on histone acetyltransferases and histone deacetylases (HDACs) activities, leading to either positive or negative gene expression. HDAC inhibitors have uncovered a role for HDACs in proliferation, apoptosis and inflammation. However, little is known of the roles of specific HDACs in intestinal epithelial cells (IEC). We investigated the consequences of ablating both HDAC1 and HDAC2 in murine IECs. Floxed Hdac1 and Hdac2 homozygous mice were crossed with villin-Cre mice. Mice deficient in both IEC HDAC1 and HDAC2 weighed less and survived more than a year. Colon and small intestinal sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin, or with Alcian blue and Periodic Acid Schiff for goblet cell identification. Tissue sections from mice injected with BrdU for 2 h, 14 h and 48 h were stained with anti-BrdU. To determine intestinal permeability, 4-kDa FITC-labeled dextran was given by gavage for 3 h. Microarray analysis was performed on total colon RNAs. Inflammatory and IEC-specific gene expression was assessed by Western blot or semi-quantitative RT-PCR and qPCR with respectively total colon protein and total colon RNAs. HDAC1 and HDAC2-deficient mice displayed: 1) increased migration and proliferation, with elevated cyclin D1 expression and phosphorylated S6 ribosomal protein, a downstream mTOR target; 2) tissue architecture defects with cell differentiation alterations, correlating with reduction of secretory Paneth and goblet cells in jejunum and goblet cells in colon, increased expression of enterocytic markers such as sucrase-isomaltase in the colon, increased expression of cleaved Notch1 and augmented intestinal permeability; 3) loss of tissue homeostasis, as evidenced by modifications of claudin 3 expression, caspase-3 cleavage and Stat3 phosphorylation; 4) chronic inflammation, as determined by inflammatory molecular expression signatures and altered inflammatory gene expression. Thus, epithelial HDAC1 and HDAC2 restrain the intestinal inflammatory response, by regulating intestinal epithelial cell proliferation and differentiation.
The Economics of Public Health Care Reform in Advanced and Emerging Economies

Health care reform will be a key fiscal policy challenge in both advanced and emerging economies in coming years. In the advanced economies, the health sector has been one of the main drivers of government expenditure, accounting for about half of the rise in total spending over the past forty years. These spending pressures are expected to intensify over the next two decades, reflecting the aging of the population, income growth, and continued technological innovations in health care. These spending increases will come at a time when countries need to undertake fiscal consolidation to reduce public debt ratios in the wake of the global financial crisis. In the emerging economies, health care reform is also a key issue, given substantial lags in health indicators and limited fiscal resources. For these economies, the challenge will be to expand public coverage without undermining fiscal sustainability. This book provides new insights into these challenges and potential policy responses, with cross-country analysis and case studies.
Development of a Portable Non-Invasive Swallowing and Respiration Assessment Device

Dysphagia is a condition that happens when a person cannot smoothly swallow food from the mouth to the stomach. It causes malnourishment in patients, or can even cause death due to aspiration pneumonia. Recently, more and more researchers have focused their attention on the importance of swallowing and respiration coordination, and the use of non-invasive assessment systems has become a hot research trend. In this study, we aimed to integrate the timing and pattern monitoring of respiration and swallowing by using a portable and non-invasive approach which can be applied at the bedside in hospitals or institutions, or in a home environment. In this approach, we use a force sensing resistor (FSR) to detect the motions of the thyroid cartilage in the pharyngeal phase. We also use the surface electromyography (sEMG) to detect the contraction of the submental muscle in the oral phase, and a nasal cannula to detect nasal airflow for respiration monitoring during the swallowing process. All signals are received and processed for swallowing event recognition. A total of 19 volunteers participated in the testing and over 57 measurements were made. The results show that the proposed approach can effectively distinguish the swallowing function in people of different ages and genders.
Designing auditory spaces: the role ofexpectation

This paper investigates aspects in designing auditory spaces to support novel forms of interaction in virtual spaces. Initial research on human imagined sounds from places has identified ‘expectation’ as an important psychological construct. Instead of designing realistic experience, the paper suggests a user’s sense of presence as a measure of the user’s experience in virtual spaces. The results indicate that using highly expected sounds increases users’ sense of presence. As such, it is to propose that designing auditory spaces using expectations as perceived affordance for presence is perhaps a minimal way to engaging users experience. 1 Users Experience in Virtual Spaces We have a tendency to imitate reality for virtual experience. These virtual environment designs are based on real li fe metaphors that register our senses as important aspects to optimise the virtual experience. However, perceptual realism attained through accurate perspective projection may not always be the best approach for engaging users’ experience. Taking examples from cartography that intentionally distorted to exaggerate features (Monmonier, 1991), the design of virtual experience can be very different from those happening in our everyday world. Moreover, the modern technology affords a novel way of interaction (Gaver, 1991). The concept of ‘presence’ is has becoming well accepted as the key concept to redefine virtual environments. Presence is defined as the perceptual illusion of "being there" in a mediated environment (Lombard & Ditton, 1997). This illusion of non-mediation occurs when user fails to perceive or acknowledge the existence of a medium in the environment and responds as if the medium were not there.
Social desirability Bias in Software Piracy Research

Most behavioural aspects of software piracy research are a subset of ethical research. Measures of ethical behaviour in research may be subject to biases in response to the social desirability of behaviours. Few studies in the area of software piracy have explicitly addressed this issue. Literature on social desirability bias (SDB) reports on three ways to address response bias: approaches to reduce bias, approaches to detect bias, and approaches to correct bias. In the current article, the published methods to reduce, detect, and, correct bias are reviewed. Then, the extent of SDB that may be present in the published software piracy literature is subjectively assessed. A study is proposed in which piracy behaviours involving real money are compared to the intent to pirate in paper-based scenarios, under equivalent conditions. The comparison is argued to be useful in compensating for SDB in future research.
Cognitive Illusions of Authorship Reveal Hierarchical Error Detection in Skilled Typists

Touchy Typing Even the most able typist makes errors, and Logan and Crump (p. 683) have used this real-world task to probe for the existence of two error-detection mechanisms. They inserted errors into words that had been typed correctly by the subjects, and they corrected errors that had been made. By measuring implicit error detection as the slowing of movement just after an error had been committed and by eliciting explicit monitoring of errors by the output shown on the screen, they uncovered a double dissociation. Inserted errors did not lengthen the interval until the next letter was typed, but they were reported by the typist as errors; on the other hand, corrected errors did increase the interval, but were nevertheless claimed by the subjects as having been typed correctly. One error-detection mechanism monitors the correctness of one’s action, whereas a second mechanism monitors the output. The ability to detect errors is an essential component of cognitive control. Studies of error detection in humans typically use simple tasks and propose single-process theories of detection. We examined error detection by skilled typists and found illusions of authorship that provide evidence for two error-detection processes. We corrected errors that typists made and inserted errors in correct responses. When asked to report errors, typists took credit for corrected errors and accepted blame for inserted errors, claiming authorship for the appearance of the screen. However, their typing rate showed no evidence of these illusions, slowing down after corrected errors but not after inserted errors. This dissociation suggests two error-detection processes: one sensitive to the appearance of the screen and the other sensitive to keystrokes.
Old Things New View: Ascorbic Acid Protects the Brain in Neurodegenerative Disorders

Ascorbic acid is a key antioxidant of the Central Nervous System (CNS). Under brain activity, ascorbic acid is released from glial reservoirs to the synaptic cleft, where it is taken up by neurons. In neurons, ascorbic acid scavenges reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated during synaptic activity and neuronal metabolism where it is then oxidized to dehydroascorbic acid and released into the extracellular space, where it can be recycled by astrocytes. Other intrinsic properties of ascorbic acid, beyond acting as an antioxidant, are important in its role as a key molecule of the CNS. Ascorbic acid can switch neuronal metabolism from glucose consumption to uptake and use of lactate as a metabolic substrate to sustain synaptic activity. Multiple evidence links oxidative stress with neurodegeneration, positioning redox imbalance and ROS as a cause of neurodegeneration. In this review, we focus on ascorbic acid homeostasis, its functions, how it is used by neurons and recycled to ensure antioxidant supply during synaptic activity and how this antioxidant is dysregulated in neurodegenerative disorders.
Analog decoding of tail-biting convolutional codes on graphs

A general method to develop Tanner graphs from tail-biting convolutional codes (CC) is proposed. Recursive systematic convolutional (RSC) and non-RSC codes are considered consistently and it is shown that the elimination of redundant states leads to a graph with low complexity. In addition the graphical representation is extended to derive the condition for which the tail-biting termination is valid. This analysis also leads to a unique graph applicable for decoding of both RSC and non-RSC codes. This graph is realized by exploiting the analog decoding scheme and MOS transistors. The circuit-level simulation is performed and the effect of important design parameters such as decoding latency, consumption and input dynamic range are considered.
Case study on bagging stable classifiers for data streams

Ensembles of classifiers are among the strongest classifiers in most data mining applications. Bagging ensembles exploit the instability of base-classifiers by training them on different bootstrap replicates. It has been shown that Bagging instable classifiers, such as decision trees, yield generally good results, whereas bagging stable classifiers, such ask-NN, makes little difference. However, recent work suggests that this cognition applies to the classical batch data mining setting rather than the data stream setting. We present an empirical study that supports this observation.
Moving Object Tracking Method Based on Topology Structure

Moving object tracking is one of key issues in the current artificial intelligence and computer vision fields with broad application prospects. A moving object tracking method is proposed to acquire location and angle information from moving graphic modules designed in this paper to represent musical instrument with topology structure. With the topology information as the object feature, the method proposed is real-time and robust for the target's rotation, translation, scale changes and geometric deformation to some extent.
'Generation Facebook' - A Cognitive Calculus Model of Teenage User Behavior on Social Network Sites

With the growing popularity of Facebook, the number of teenage users has significantly increased. Parents and teachers observe this development critically as they fear that teenagers are prone to over-engage in pleasant activities and neglect the risks connected with information revelation. This paper adopts an explorative approach in order to investigate what motivates and hinders teenagers to use SNS and how using this medium affects their identities. By applying Grounded Theory to analyze data obtained in interviews, we formulate a conceptual model of teenage behavior on Facebook. We find that teenagers behave rationally on SNS, consciously weighing the benefits against the costs and acting in accordance with their preferences. Shared information and the diversified network structure allow teenagers to obtain support in school-related matters, broaden their horizon and intensify relationships with their peers. At the same time, peer and parental pressure play a significant role in this process.
Uric Acid Reduction Rectifies Prehypertension in Obese Adolescents

Epidemiologic studies, animal models, and preliminary clinical trials in children implicate uric acid in the development of essential hypertension. Controversy remains as to whether the observations indicate a general mechanism or a surrogate phenomenon. We sought to determine whether uric acid is a causative mediator of increased blood pressure (BP) and impaired vascular compliance. We report a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial comparing 2 mechanisms of urate reduction with placebo in prehypertensive, obese, adolescents, aged 11 to 17 years. Subjects were randomized to the xanthine oxidase inhibitor, allopurinol, uricosuric, probenecid, or placebo. Subjects treated with urate-lowering therapy experienced a highly significant reduction in BP. In clinic systolic BP fell 10.2 mm Hg and diastolic BP fell 9.0 mm Hg in treated patients compared with a rise of 1.7 mm Hg and 1.6 mm Hg systolic and diastolic BP, respectively in patients on placebo. Urate-lowering therapy also resulted in significant reduction in systemic vascular resistance. These data indicate that, at least in adolescents with prehypertension, uric acid causes increased BP that can be mitigated by urate lowering therapy.
Emotional attribution in high-functioning individuals with autistic spectrum disorder: a functional imaging study.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether expertise in the attribution of emotion from basic facial expressions in high-functioning individuals with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) is supported by the amygdala, fusiform, and prefrontal regions of interest (ROI) and is comparable to that of typically developing individuals. METHOD Functional magnetic resonance imaging scans were acquired from 14 males with ASD and 10 matched adolescent controls while performing emotion match (EM) (perceptual), emotion label (EL) (linguistic), and control tasks. Accuracy, response time, and average activation were measured for each ROI. RESULTS There was no significant difference in accuracy, response time, or ROI activation between groups performing the EL task. The ASD group was as accurate as the control group performing the EM task but had a significantly longer response time and lower average fusiform activation. CONCLUSIONS Expertise in the attribution of emotion from basic facial expressions was task-dependent in the high-functioning ASD group. The hypothesis that the high-functioning ASD group would be less expert and would have reduced fusiform activation was supported in the perceptual task but not the linguistic task. The reduced fusiform activation in the perceptual task was not explained by reduced expertise; it is therefore concluded that reduced fusiform activation is associated with the diagnosis of ASD.
Interleukin-6 Receptor Polymorphisms Contribute to the Neurological Status of Korean Patients with Ischemic Stroke

To investigate the contribution of the interleukin-6 receptor (IL-6R) gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to the neurological status of Korean patients with ischemic stroke (IS), two SNPs of the IL-6R gene (rs4845617, 5 UTR; rs2228144, Ala31Ala) were selected. IS patients were classified into clinical phenotypes according to two well-defined scores: the National Institutes of Health Stroke Survey (NIHSS) and the Modified Barthel Index scores. There were 121 IS patients and 291 control subjects. The SNP rs4845617 significantly contributed to the neurological status of patients with IS (P = 0.011 in codominant model 2, P = 0.006 in recessive model, and P = 0.008 in log-additive model). Allele frequencies of rs4845617 and rs2228144 demonstrated no significant difference in IS patients and controls. The AG and GG haplotypes differed between the NIHSS 1 (NIHSS scores < 6) group and the NIHSS 2 (NIHSS scores ≥ 6) group in patients with IS (P = 0.014, P = 0.0024). These results suggest that rs4845617 of the IL-6R gene is associated with the neurologic status of Korean patients with IS.
PV based speed control of Dc motor using interleaved boost converter with SiC MOSFET and fuzzy logic controller

A prototype model is designed with interleaved dc-dc boost converter for photo voltaic based dc motor speed control. By comparing the carrier signal and the fuzzy logic signals, the motor speed can be modified. Controlling the electrical and mechanical devices is mostly done by fuzzy controller due to the multi input and multi output operation and its performances. Due to the increased switching speed SiC-based applications is more predominant for SiC MOSFETs as compared to Si IGBTs. The proposed system features the dc motor speed control by the varying the duty cycle of the gate signals given to the power devices. Interleaved boost converter is preferred for high voltage gain from the solar panel. Effectiveness of the proposed scheme was checked for various duty cycles with Matlab/Simulink.
Linking Inflammation, Cardiorespiratory Variability, and Neural Control in Acute Inflammation via Computational Modeling

Acute inflammation leads to organ failure by engaging catastrophic feedback loops in which stressed tissue evokes an inflammatory response and, in turn, inflammation damages tissue. Manifestations of this maladaptive inflammatory response include cardio-respiratory dysfunction that may be reflected in reduced heart rate and ventilatory pattern variabilities. We have developed signal-processing algorithms that quantify non-linear deterministic characteristics of variability in biologic signals. Now, coalescing under the aegis of the NIH Computational Biology Program and the Society for Complexity in Acute Illness, two research teams performed iterative experiments and computational modeling on inflammation and cardio-pulmonary dysfunction in sepsis as well as on neural control of respiration and ventilatory pattern variability. These teams, with additional collaborators, have recently formed a multi-institutional, interdisciplinary consortium, whose goal is to delineate the fundamental interrelationship between the inflammatory response and physiologic variability. Multi-scale mathematical modeling and complementary physiological experiments will provide insight into autonomic neural mechanisms that may modulate the inflammatory response to sepsis and simultaneously reduce heart rate and ventilatory pattern variabilities associated with sepsis. This approach integrates computational models of neural control of breathing and cardio-respiratory coupling with models that combine inflammation, cardiovascular function, and heart rate variability. The resulting integrated model will provide mechanistic explanations for the phenomena of respiratory sinus-arrhythmia and cardio-ventilatory coupling observed under normal conditions, and the loss of these properties during sepsis. This approach holds the potential of modeling cross-scale physiological interactions to improve both basic knowledge and clinical management of acute inflammatory diseases such as sepsis and trauma.
USING REMOTELY-SENSED PRECIPITATION AND GLACIAL VELOCITIES AS CLIMATIC INDICATORS IN THE HIMALAYA

The Himalaya and adjacent Tibetan Plateau are the source of several major Asian rivers supporting a large, diverse ecosystem and a population of more than 1 billion people [Ives and Messerli, 1989; Barnett et al., 2005]. Large rivers such as the Indus, Sutlej, Ganges, Arun, and Brahmaputra/Tsangpo draining the southern Tibetan Plateau and the Himalaya are essential for agriculture and energy generation and are the pathways for sediments leaving the orogen. The southern Himalayan front spans the countries of India, Nepal, and Bhutan, and hosts some of the wettest inhabited placed on Earth. Along its entire length it displays a steep, 10-fold rainfall gradient reaching from the Ganges plains in the south to the very arid parts of the Tibetan Plateau in the north [Bookhagen and Burbank, 2006; in press] (Figure 1A). Precipitation in the upstream and high-elevation parts of Himalayan river basins falls as snow, causing a natural delay in the river discharge. The snowfall nourishes snowfields, and some of the world’s largest valley glaciers (Figure 1B). Thus, the hydrologic budget of Himalayan rivers is dominated by monsoonal rainfall as well snow and glacial melt, but their relative contribution is not well established. Current knowledge of rainfall and snow-cover distribution is unreliable because this remote region lacks a dense gauge network. Field observations of glaciers are scarce, and hence satellite and aerial imagery is often used to monitor recent glacier changes [Kääb, 2005; Berthier et al., 2007; Scherler et al., in review], but so far no study has covered large regions from different climatic compartments of the Himalaya to systematically study glacial behavior with respect to their controlling factors. Here, we use calibrated, remote-sensing data for precipitation and snowmelt to constrain the climatic component and combine these with glacial flow-velocity measurements.
Texture Classification Using Dense Micro-Block Difference

This paper is devoted to the problem of texture classification. Motivated by recent advancements in the field of compressive sensing and keypoints descriptors, a set of novel features called dense micro-block difference (DMD) is proposed. These features provide highly descriptive representation of image patches by densely capturing the granularities at multiple scales and orientations. Unlike most of the earlier work on local features, the DMD does not involve any quantization, thus retaining the complete information. We demonstrate that the DMD have dimensionality much lower than Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) and can be computed using integral image much faster than SIFT. The proposed features are encoded using the Fisher vector method to obtain an image descriptor, which considers high-order statistics. The proposed image representation is combined with the linear support vector machine classifier. Extensive experiments are conducted on five texture data sets (KTH-TIPS, UMD, KTH-TIPS-2a, Brodatz, and Curet) using standard protocols. The results demonstrate that our approach outperforms the state-of-the-art in texture classification.