Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Age related vascular endothelial function following lifelong sedentariness: positive impact of cardiovascular conditioning without further improvement following low frequency high intensity interval training

Aging is associated with diffuse impairments in vascular endothelial function and traditional aerobic exercise is known to ameliorate these changes. High intensity interval training (HIIT) is effective at improving vascular function in aging men with existing disease, but its effectiveness remains to be demonstrated in otherwise healthy sedentary aging. However, the frequency of commonly used HIIT protocols may be poorly tolerated in older cohorts. Therefore, the present study investigated the effectiveness of lower frequency HIIT (LfHIIT) on vascular function in a cohort of lifelong sedentary (SED; n = 22, age 62.7 ± 5.2 years) men compared with a positive control group of lifelong exercisers (LEX; n = 17, age 61.1 ± 5.4 years). The study consisted of three assessment phases; enrolment to the study (Phase A), following 6 weeks of conditioning exercise in SED (Phase B) and following 6 weeks of low frequency HIIT in both SED and LEX (LfHIIT; Phase C). Conditioning exercise improved FMD in SED (3.4 ± 1.5% to 4.9 ± 1.1%; P < 0.01) such that the difference between groups on enrolment (3.4 ± 1.5% vs. 5.3 ± 1.4%; P < 0.01) was abrogated. This was maintained but not further improved following LfHIIT in SED whilst FMD remained unaffected by LfHIIT in LEX. In conclusion, LfHIIT is effective at maintaining improvements in vascular function achieved during conditioning exercise in SED. LfHIIT is a well‐tolerated and effective exercise mode for reducing cardiovascular risk and maintaining but does not improve vascular function beyond that achieved by conditioning exercise in aging men, irrespective of fitness level.
Dynamic admission control for real-time networks-on-chips

Networks-on-Chip (NoCs) for real-time systems require solutions for safe and predictable sharing of network resources between transmissions with different quality-of service requirementrs. In this work, we present a mechanism for a global and dynamic admission control in NoCs designed for realtime systems. It introduces an overlay network to synchronize transmissions using arbitration units called Resource Managers (RMs), which allows a global and work-conserving scheduling. We present a formal worst-case timing analysis for the proposed mechanism and demonstrate that this solution not only exposes higher performance in simulation but, even more importantly, consistently reaches smaller formally guaranteed worst-case latencies than TDM for realistic levels of system's utilization. Our mechanism does not require modification of routers and therefore can be used together with any architecture utilizing non-blocking routers.
Controlling Genetic Algorithms With Reinforcement Learning

Here we present a hybrid system that uses a reinforcement learning agent to improve the performance of a genetic algorithm on the travelling salesman problem (TSP). The agent uses Q(λ) learning to estimate state-action utility values, which it uses to implement high-level adaptive control over the genetic algorithm. In this way the agent influences selection of both crossover and mutation operators as well as the selection of individuals for breeding, at every generation.
Determinants of increased exhaled nitric oxide in patients with suspected asthma

Exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) has been proposed as a marker of asthmatic inflammation, but it is unclear whether FENO in clinical use selects patients primarily according to their atopic or asthmatic status. The aim of this study was to investigate the determinants of increased FENO in patients with suspected asthma, by means of multinomial logistic regression analysis. The FENO of 132 patients referred because of symptoms suggestive of asthma were studied, and the explanatory factors tested included atopy according to prick skin tests, clinical asthma according to lung function tests, sputum eosinophilia and bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR). Slightly elevated FENO levels were significantly explained only by sputum eosinophilia (OR: 3.7; 95% CI: 1.1–13.1; P = 0.04), but for high levels of FENO (≥3 SD of predicted), clinical asthma (OR: 16.3; 95% CI: 5.4–49.7; P < 0.0001) and sputum eosinophilia (OR: 12.0; 95% CI: 4.1–35.0; P > 0.0001) were the characteristics with the highest prediction, followed by atopy and BHR. A significant interaction between asthma and atopy was observed relating to the effect on high FENO, but further analyses stratified by atopy showed significant associations between asthma and high FENO both in atopic and nonatopic patients. We conclude that in patients with symptoms suggesting asthma, slightly elevated and high levels of FENO are associated with sputum eosinophilia, whereas asthma is significantly associated only with high levels of FENO, irrespective of atopy. The results suggest that FENO is primarily a marker of airway eosinophilia, and that only high values of FENO may be useful to identify patients with atopic or nonatopic asthma.
Enriching web information scent for blind users

Link annotation with the accessibility level of the target Web page is an adaptive navigation support technique aimed at increasing blind users' orientation in Web sites. In this work, the accessibility level of a page is measured by exploiting data from evaluation reports produced by two automatic assessment tools. These tools support evaluation of accessibility and usability guideline-sets. As a result, links are annotated with a score that indicates the conformance of the target Web page to blind user accessibility and usability guidelines. A user test with 16 users was conducted in order to observe the strategies they followed when links were annotated with these scores. With annotated links, the navigation paradigm changed from sequential to browsing randomly through the subset of those links with high scores. Even if there was not a general agreement on the correspondence between scores and user perception of accessibility, users found annotations helpful when browsing through links related to a given topic.
The Role of a Narrative's Emotional Flow in Promoting Persuasive Outcomes

The study of narrative persuasion has increased dramatically in the past decade. Whereas much of this research focuses on story and character involvement, the role of emotion—and emotional flow specifically—has been understudied. In this article, we explore the multiple ways that the desire for and the experience of emotional shifts may promote the persuasive influence of narratives. First, we propose that the desire for an emotional shift (e.g., mood management) can guide message selection. Then, the emotional flow, or the series of emotional shifts in response to the unfolding story, may promote and sustain continued engagement with the narrative world. As such, influence of the narrative is likely enhanced. We then argue that the heightened state of narrative engagement and its associated emotional states have implications for post-message attitudes, both short-term attitude change as well as over-time change via emotion-driven topic involvement and social sharing. A research agenda for greater integration of emotion into narrative research is proposed.
Exploring the definitions of quality early childhood programmes in a market‐driven context: case studies of two Hong Kong preschools

Set within the market‐driven context in educare for young children in Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, this paper points to the importance of exploring the definitions of quality in early childhood programmes from the multiple perspectives of school stakeholders. This study describes two preschools that were rated highly in the quality assurance inspections. Data collected in semi‐structured, individual and group interviews indicated that the views of the school stakeholders on the quality of early childhood programmes shifted from childrearing to developmental nurturing but still emphasised academic learning and preparedness. This was largely due to the ‘backwash effect’ of primary education creating academic pressure on the local preschools. The two case study schools formulated successful strategies for reconciling conflicts between professional values of learning through play and parental expectations of academic preparation for primary education. In additi.
Characterization and Sequence Analysis of Extended-Spectrum-β-Lactamase-Encoding Genes from Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Proteus mirabilis Isolates Collected during Tigecycline Phase 3 Clinical Trials

ABSTRACT In concert with the development of novel β-lactams and broad-spectrum cephalosporins, bacterially encoded β-lactamases have evolved to accommodate the new agents. This study was designed to identify, at the sequence level, the genes responsible for the extended-spectrum-β-lactamase (ESBL) phenotypes of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Proteus mirabilis isolates collected during the global tigecycline phase 3 clinical trials. PCR assays were developed to identify and clone the blaTEM, blaSHV, blaOXA, and blaCTX genes from clinical strains. Isolates were also screened for AmpC genes of the blaCMY, blaACT, blaFOX, and blaDHA families as well as the blaKPC genes encoding class A carbapenemases. E. coli, K. pneumoniae, and P. mirabilis isolates with ceftazidime MICs of ≥2 μg/ml were designated possible ESBL-producing pathogens and were then subjected to a confirmatory test for ESBLs by use of Etest. Of 272 unique patient isolates, 239 were confirmed by PCR and sequencing to carry the genes for at least one ESBL, with 44% of the positive isolates harboring the genes for multiple ESBLs. In agreement with current trends for ESBL distribution, blaCTX-M-type β-lactamase genes were found in 83% and 71% of the ESBL-positive E. coli and K. pneumoniae isolates, respectively, whereas blaSHV genes were found in 41% and 28% of the ESBL-positive K. pneumoniae and E. coli isolates, respectively. Ninety-seven percent of the E. coli and K. pneumoniae isolates were tigecycline susceptible (MIC90 = 2 μg/ml), warranting further studies to define the therapeutic utility of tigecycline against strains producing ESBLs in a clinical setting.
Induction of interleukin-8 in human retinal pigment epithelial cells after denuding injury

AIM To determine interleukin 8 (IL-8) and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) expression in response to mechanical injury in human retinal pigment epithelial (HRPE) cells. METHODS Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to determine IL-8 and MCP-1 secretion by HRPE cells after mechanical denudation. IL-8 and MCP-1 mRNA expression by HRPE cells was assessed using semiquantitative RT-PCR. The effects of immunosuppressive drugs, dexamethasone (DEX) and cyclosporin A (CSA), as well as immunosuppressive cytokines, interleukin 4 (IL-4), interleukin 10 (IL-10), and interleukin 13 (IL-13), on chemokine expression in HRPE cells after denuding injury were analysed. RESULTS Mechanical injury induced HRPE IL-8 mRNA and IL-8 secretion. Although MCP-1 mRNA was enhanced slightly after denuding injury, MCP-1 secretion was not increased. DEX and CSA inhibited HRPE chemokine expression after injury. IL-4 and IL-13 enhanced IL-8 and MCP-1 production by HRPE cells after injury while IL-10 had no effect. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that IL-8 may be involved in retinal inflammatory responses to injury and that DEX and/or CSA treatment may help control the inflammatory components of retinal diseases such as proliferative vitreoretinopathy.
Neural Correlates of Experience-Induced Deficits in Learned Vocal Communication

Songbirds are one of the few vertebrate groups (including humans) that evolved the ability to learn vocalizations. During song learning, social interactions with adult models are crucial and young songbirds raised without direct contacts with adults typically produce abnormal songs showing phonological and syntactical deficits. This raises the question of what functional representation of their vocalizations such deprived animals develop. Here we show that young starlings that we raised without any direct contact with adults not only failed to differentiate starlings' typical song classes in their vocalizations but also failed to develop differential neural responses to these songs. These deficits appear to be linked to a failure to acquire songs' functions and may provide a model for abnormal development of communicative skills, including speech.
Data placement for scientific applications in distributed environments

Scientific applications often perform complex computational analyses that consume and produce large data sets. We are concerned with data placement policies that distribute data in ways that are advantageous for application execution, for example, by placing data sets so that they may be staged into or out of computations efficiently or by replicating them for improved performance and reliability. In particular, we propose to study the relationship between data placement services and workflow management systems. In this paper, we explore the interactions between two services used in large-scale science today. We evaluate the benefits of prestaging data using the Data Replication Service versus using the native data stage-in mechanisms of the Pegasus workflow management system. We use the astronomy application, Montage, for our experiments and modify it to study the effect of input data size on the benefits of data prestaging. As the size of input data sets increases, prestaging using a data placement service can significantly improve the performance of the overall analysis.
POINT FEATURES EXTRACTION: TOWARDS SLAM FOR AN AUTONOMOUS UNDERWATER VEHICLE

Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM) is a process by which a mobile robot maps the environment and concurrently localises itself within the map. Feature extraction is a technique by which sensor data is processed to obtain well defined entities (features) which are recognisable and can be repeatedly detected. These features are then used to aid navigation. In this paper, Mechanically Scanned Imaging Sonar (MSIS) is used to perform scans of the environment. The information returned is then used to detect point features from data collected in a swimming pool. Artificial landmarks were introduced into the environment to obtain identifiable and stable features. This work is part of our efforts to develop a SLAM system to be utilised in an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV).
PERCEPTION OF MANDARIN TONES BY CHINESE- AND ENGLISH-SPEAKING LISTENERS

This paper reports on two experiments that tested the hypothesis that native phonology may influence speech perception. Both experiments used natural speech tokens of Standard Mandarin tones and Chinese- and American Englishspeaking listeners. The results from both the AX discrimination and the degree of difference rating experiments show language-specific effects: the Chinese-speaking listeners’ tone perception space was warped due to tone sandhi processes that neutralize two otherwise contrastive lexical tones. On the other hand, the English-speaking listeners showed phonetic listening, paying more attention to the similarity in pitch offset and onset between a pair of tones.
Home Environment and Behavioral Development During Early Adolescence: The Mediating and Moderating Roles of Self-Efficacy Beliefs

The role of self-efficacy beliefs as a mediator and moderator of the relation between the home environment and well-being was examined for both European American and African American children ages 10 through 15. There was evidence that self-efficacy beliefs pertaining to school and to family functioned as a mediator between EA-HOME scores and social behavior and also between EA-HOME scores and an overall problems index. The effects occurred in both ethnic groups but more often in European American adolescents. Likewise, self-efficacy beliefs pertaining to peers and to family served to moderate the relation between HOME scores and social behavior, achievement test scores, and the overall problems index. Again, however, the effects were largely restricted to European Americans.
Compétences et dynamiques territoriales : quelles interactions ?

Do abilities of people who belong to a territory contribute to its destiny? This question implies to think about how to choose public policies that decide of formation. These policies usually consider that abilities are not central to development, and that they can be produced by a simple addition of teaching. We analyse the dynamics of evolution of the most important economic activities near Briancon and the way abilities are built and used. From this analysis we deduce that abilities are consequences of complex processes that depend on teaching but also on experience of social networks, and working culture. Abilities of individuals contribute to territorial dynamics, but these dynamics also rely on collective abilities. Collective abilities are the result of the identification of common interests and the gathering of resources that enable to protect common interests. There is a kind of tension linking the ability to cooperate at the local scale and the proximity of needed resources.
Assessment of Phosphorus Recovery from Swine Wastewater in Beijing, China

The nutrient management of phosphorus (P) contained in swine wastewater is an important challenge to enhance P use efficiency. In the present study, assessment of P recovery from swine wastewater in Beijing was performed. P amounts of swine wastewater increased from 11,687 tons in 1980 to 16,237 tons in 2014. Without treatment of swine wastewater, P concentration will reach a maximum 1.20 mg/L. The maximum P recovery was 99.36% under the condition of crystallization coupled BPR (biological phosphorus removal) when the operating conditions were 60.6 mg/L for Cp (initial P concentration (mg/L)), 1.2 for Mg/P (magnesium-to-P molar ratio), 9.7 for pH of crystallization process, and 8.0 for pH, 1.6 h for anaerobic stage time, 15 days for sludge retention time of BPR. The P concentration for water quality was 0.03 mg/L to meet the water regulation standard. Under this situation, if the target P concentration were set as Grade II and III, pig breeding numbers reached 42.07 and 95.90 million heads. Construction investments for the crystallization, BRP, and coupled methods are 411 (104 Yuan, 604,307 USD), 301 (104 Yuan, 442,580 USD), and 551 (104 Yuan, 810,170 USD), respectively. The running costs are 15.205 (104 Yuan/year, 22,360 USD/year), 28.907 (104 Yuan/year, 42,500 USD/year) and 44.112 (104 Yuan/year, 64,860 USD/year). To manage non-point pollution, swine wastewater treatment facilities should be used and pig breeding numbers should be managed within reasonable ranges.
Alternative Splicing in Plant Genes: A Means of Regulating the Environmental Fitness of Plants

Gene expression can be regulated through transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms. Transcription in eukaryotes produces pre-mRNA molecules, which are processed and spliced post-transcriptionally to create translatable mRNAs. More than one mRNA may be produced from a single pre-mRNA by alternative splicing (AS); thus, AS serves to diversify an organism’s transcriptome and proteome. Previous studies of gene expression in plants have focused on the role of transcriptional regulation in response to environmental changes. However, recent data suggest that post-transcriptional regulation, especially AS, is necessary for plants to adapt to a changing environment. In this review, we summarize recent advances in our understanding of AS during plant development in response to environmental changes. We suggest that alternative gene splicing is a novel means of regulating the environmental fitness of plants.
Null Results in Brief No Association between Ovarian Cancer Susceptibility Variants and Breast Cancer Risk among Chinese Women

Background : As breast and ovarian cancers may have similar etiologies, this study aimed to evaluate the hypothesis that breast cancer shares common genetic susceptibility variants with ovarian cancer. Methods : Ten genetic variants in 9 loci were previously identified to be associated with ovarian cancer risk among Caucasian women; an additional 353 variants in high linkage disequilibrium (r 2 ≥ 0.6) among Han Chinese were identified. Data were available from the Affymetrix Genome Wide Array (6.0) or MACH imputation for 25 and 78 common genetic variants (minor allele frequency (MAF) ≥ 0.05), respectively. Associations with breast cancer risk were evaluated by additive logistic regression models among 2,918 breast cancer cases and 2,324 controls. Results : No associations with breast cancer risk were evident for 103 ovarian cancer susceptibility variants in five loci. Four loci were not evaluated, as they included only rare variants (MAF<0.05). Conclusions : Ovarian cancer susceptibility variants identified in Caucasian women were not associated with breast cancer risk among 5,242 Chinese women. Impact : These findings suggest that breast and ovarian cancer may not share common susceptibility variants among Chinese women.
Towards Efficient Reality Mining with Contexts and Semantics: A Case Study of Telecommunication

Recommendation systems need to employ efficient reality mining module to find out whether social relationships extracted from a collected dataset are really meaningful in real world. Also, the recommendation should be generated by taking current contexts (e.g., location and time) account into. In this paper, we want to propose an ontology-based framework to discover real social networks from a large amount of dataset. This framework can provide a semiautomatic approach to build meaningful social networks by repeating interactions with human experts. We assume that given a dataset, we have to discover the hidden social networks which express the contextual dependencies between people. The personal context of a certain person is interrelated with those of other people, and investigated how to take into account his neighborpsilas contexts, which possibly have an important influence on his personal context. Particularly, in this research project, the target dataset in this work is collected from user activities (about over two millions of people) in telecommunication industry. We have applied the proposed system to discover the social networks among the mobile subscribers to provide recommendation to mobile devices.