Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relationship of genetic variation to population size in wildlife

Genetic diversity is one of three levels of biological diversity requiring conservation. Genetic theory predicts that levels of genetic variation should increase with effective population size. Sould (19 76) compiled the first convincing evidence that levels of genetic variation in wildlife were related to population size, but this issue remains controversial. The hypothesis that genetic variation is related to population size leads to the following predictions: (1) genetic variation within species should be related to population size; (2) genetic variation within species should be related to island size; (3) genetic variation should be related to population size within taxonomic groups; (4) widespread species should have more genetic variation than restricted spe- cies; (5) genetic variation in animals should be negatively correlated with body size; (6) genetic variation should be negatively correlated with rate of chromosome evolution; (7) genetic variation across species should be related to population size; (8) vertebrates should have less genetic variation than invertebrates or plants; (9) island populations should have less genetic variation than mainland populations; and (10) en- dangered species should have less genetic variation than nonendangered species. Empirical observations sup- port all these hypotheses. There can be no doubt that genetic variation is related to population size, as Sould proposed. Small population size reduces the evolutionary potential of wildlife species.
Estimation of Gait Parameters from 3D Pose for Elderly Care

For elderly people, walking, standing up from a chair, turning and leaning are necessary for independent mobility. These mobilities such as gait depends on a complex interplay of major parts of the nervous, musculoskeletal and cardiorespiratory systems. Every individuals gait pattern is influenced by age, personality, mood, sociocultural factors and predominantly the persons health condition. In order to understand the health condition of an elderly person, analysis of gait patterns became an important aspect. Gait parameters such as cadence, step length, step duration etc. analyzed out of gait patterns proved as an important factor in estimation of the healthy daily living. For this purpose, gait data of several elderly individuals is collected many times over a period of time using Kinect sensor. The acquired data consist of RGB image sequences and depth data. From this data, 3D pose of the individual is identified. These 3D poses are used to extract the necessary gait parameters of the individual. The extracted gait parameters will be used in future to assess the health condition of the individual.
A self-organizing fuzzy neural network for identification and control of nonlinear systems

In this paper we designed a self-organizing fuzzy neural network (SOFNN) by structure learning and parameter learning. A hybrid learning algorithm, by combining back propagation and recursive least-squares (RLS) algorithm with forgetting factor, was used to learn the optimal parameters of the SOFNN. Furthermore, the fuzzy system was constructed and evaluated under the Schwarz & Rissanen information criterion (SRIC). Finally, several simulation examples of identification and model-reference tracking control of nonlinear systems were presented and analyzed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, and the effect of the threshold parameter in fuzzy rule learning algorithm was also discussed.
Changing baseline characteristics among patients in the China National Free Antiretroviral Treatment Program, 2002–09

Objective To improve HIV treatment in China by determining changes over time of patient characteristics (geographic, clinical and route of HIV infection) among patients enrolled in the China National Free Antiretroviral Treatment Program. Methods Patients in the national treatment database from 1 June 2002 to 1 June 2009 were eligible. Patients were excluded if <18 years old, not previously treatment-naïve, missing initial treatment date or not initiated on triple drug therapy. Results About 62 919 patients were included, located across 54.8% of counties/districts throughout mainland China; 86.4% were concentrated in 11.1% of counties/districts. Median age was 38 years, 41% female, 45.4% former plasma donors (FPDs), 33.9% sexually infected and 15.5% injection drug users (IDUs). Median baseline CD4 cell count was 129/µl. In 2002, 100% of treated were FPDs with no CD4 cell counts. By 2009, 59% of the treated were sexually infected and 96% had baseline CD4 cell counts. Injection drug users remained a minority of those treated. Conclusions Limited treatment resources can be focused on areas with more patients. Greater emphasis needs to be placed on earlier HIV diagnosis and treatment. New strategies must be identified to bring HIV-infected IDUs into treatment. Routine HIV testing would identify those at risk earlier.
An optimal resource reuse strategy for QoS-awared device-to-device communications

Device-to-device (D2D) communication is a promising technique for improving the spectral efficiency of cellular networks. In this paper, we consider joint optimization of pair assignment and power control for D2D pairs reusing downlink cellular resources, and aim to maximize the aggregate rate of D2D communications while guaranteeing the quality of service (QoS) of the cellular users. By transforming the original difficult problem into an equivalent form, we are able to analytically characterize the optimal power control and pair assignment for the D2D and cellular users. Based on these results, we then propose an efficient algorithm to obtain the jointly optimal power control and pair assignment strategy. The numerical results show the superiority of our proposed method over existing ones.
A network-on-Chip system-level simulation environment supporting asynchronous router

Use of asynchronous packet-switching routers in network on chip (NoC) provides better network performance in terms of low minimum latency, power consumption and high average throughput. Since asynchronous mode of operation cannot be naturally simulated in high level language which is implicitly synchronous, one has to resort to RTL modeling where physical delay can be accounted for. With complexity expected in NoC design, this method will be very time consuming. This paper presents a system-level simulation environment that overcomes this dilemma. The simulation framework introduced some special methods to enable the fast simulation of the asynchronous transfer communication. It can be configured to support most asynchronous NoC networks and also handles various communication resources. In all, it simplifies the design flow of an asynchronous NoC design.
A Deleterious Mutation in DNAJC6 Encoding the Neuronal-Specific Clathrin-Uncoating Co-Chaperone Auxilin, Is Associated with Juvenile Parkinsonism

Parkinson disease is caused by neuronal loss in the substantia nigra which manifests by abnormality of movement, muscle tone, and postural stability. Several genes have been implicated in the pathogenesis of Parkinson disease, but the underlying molecular basis is still unknown for ∼70% of the patients. Using homozygosity mapping and whole exome sequencing we identified a deleterious mutation in DNAJC6 in two patients with juvenile Parkinsonism. The mutation was associated with abnormal transcripts and marked reduced DNAJC6 mRNA level. DNAJC6 encodes the HSP40 Auxilin, a protein which is selectively expressed in neurons and confers specificity to the ATPase activity of its partner Hcs70 in clathrin uncoating. In Auxilin null mice it was previously shown that the abnormally increased retention of assembled clathrin on vesicles and in empty cages leads to impaired synaptic vesicle recycling and perturbed clathrin mediated endocytosis. Endocytosis function, studied by transferring uptake, was normal in fibroblasts from our patients, likely because of the presence of another J-domain containing partner which co-chaperones Hsc70-mediated uncoating activity in non-neuronal cells. The present report underscores the importance of the endocytic/lysosomal pathway in the pathogenesis of Parkinson disease and other forms of Parkinsonism.
Modeling mutual influence of interlocutor emotion states in dyadic spoken interactions

In dyadic human interactions, mutual influence - a person’s influence on the interacting partner’s behaviors - is shown to be important and could be incorporated into the modeling framework in characterizing, and automatically recognizing the participants’ states. We propose a Dynamic Bayesian Network (DBN) to explicitly model the conditional dependency between two interacting partners’ emotion states in a dialog using data from the IEMOCAP corpus of expressive dyadic spoken interactions. Also, we focus on automatically computing the Valence-Activation emotion attributes to obtain a continuous characterization of the participants’ emotion flow. Our proposed DBN models the temporal dynamics of the emotion states as well as the mutual influence between speakers in a dialog. With speech based features, the proposed network improves classification accuracy by 3.67% absolute and 7.12% relative over the Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) baseline on isolated turn-by-turn emotion classification. Index Terms: emotion recognition, mutual influence, Dynamic Bayesian Network, dyadic interaction
Determination of Fracture Energy from Size Effect and Brittleness Number

A series of tests on the size effect due to blunt fracture is reported and analyzed. It is proposed to define the fracture energy as the specific energy required for crack growth in an infinitely large specimen. Theoretically, this definition eliminates the effects of specimen size, shape, and the type of loading on the fracture energy values. The problem is to identify the correct size-effect law to be used for extrapolation to infinite size. It is shown that Bazant's recently proposed simple size-effect law is applicable for this purpose as an approximation. Indeed, very different types of specimens, including three-point bent, edge-notched tension, and eccentric compression specimens, are found to yield approximately the same fracture energy values. Furthermore, the R-curves calculated from the size effect measured for various types of specimens are found to have approximately the same final asymptotic values for very long crack lengths, although they differ very much for short crack lengths. The fracture energy values found from the size effect approximately agree with the values of fracture energy for the crack band model when the rest results are fitted by finite elements. Applicability of Bazant's brittleness number, which indicates how close the behavior of specimen or structure of any geometry is to linear elastic fracture mechanics and to plastic limit analysis, is validated by test results. Comparisons with Mode II shear fracture tests are also reported.
Preliminary explorations of the role of mitochondrial proteins in refractory epilepsy: Some Findings From Comparative Proteomics

Approximately 20–30% of patients with epilepsy continue to have seizures despite carefully monitored treatment with antiepileptic drugs. The mechanisms that underlie why some patients are responsive and others prove resistant to antiepileptic drugs are poorly understood. Increasing evidence supports a role for altered mitochondrial function in the pathogenesis of epilepsy. To gain greater molecular insight in the pathogenesis of intractable epilepsy, we undertook a global analysis of protein expressions in a pharmacoresistant epileptic model selected by phenytoin in electrical amygdala‐kindled rats by using two‐dimensional gel electrophoresis coupled with matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight (MALDI‐TOF‐TOF). We identified five increased proteins and 14 decreased proteins including voltage‐dependent anion channel 1 (VDAC1) with a 2.82‐fold increased level (P < 0.05) and voltage‐dependent anion channel 2 (VDAC2) with a 3.97‐fold decreased level (P < 0.05) in hippocampus of pharmacoresistant rats. The increased VDAC1 and decreased VDAC2 were confirmed by Western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry. Vascular mitochondria and apoptosis neurons were observed through electron microscopy. Energy contents, the adenine nucleotides, were measured by high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The correlation analyses were carried out between VDAC and the energy charge. These findings indicate that the increase of VDAC1 and the decrease of VDAC2 play an important role during the process and provide new molecular evidence in understanding mechanism of refractory epilepsy. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Moderate hypothermia in patients with acute liver failure and uncontrolled intracranial hypertension.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS About 20% of patients with acute liver failure (ALF) die from increased intracranial pressure (ICP) while awaiting transplantation. This study evaluates the clinical effects and pathophysiologic basis of hypothermia in patients with ALF and intracranial hypertension that is unresponsive to standard medical therapy. METHODS Fourteen patients with ALF who were awaiting orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) and had increased ICP that was unresponsive to standard medical therapy were studied. Core temperature was reduced to 32 degrees C-33 degrees C using cooling blankets. RESULTS Thirteen patients were successfully bridged to OLT with a median of 32 hours (range, 10-118 hours) of cooling. They underwent OLT with no significant complications related to cooling either before or after OLT and had complete neurologic recovery. ICP before cooling was 36.5 +/- 2.7 mm Hg and was reduced to 16.3 +/- . 7 mm Hg at 4 hours, which was sustained at 24 hours (16.8 +/- 1.5 mm Hg) ( P < .0001). Mean arterial pressure and cerebral perfusion pressure increased significantly, and the requirement for inotropes was reduced significantly. Hypothermia produced sustained and significant reduction in arterial ammonia concentration and its brain metabolism, cerebral blood flow, brain cytokine production, and markers of oxidative stress. CONCLUSIONS Moderate hypothermia is an effective and safe bridge to OLT in patients with ALF who have increased ICP that is resistant to standard medical therapy. Hypothermia reduces ICP by impacting on multiple pathophysiologic mechanisms that are believed to be important in its pathogenesis. A large multicenter trial of hypothermia in ALF is justified.
Reducing the Burden of Depression

Objective: To consider why the burden of depression persists. Method: The epidemiology and disability associated with depression were reviewed to consider whether depression persists because: the causes are overwhelming, prevention is ineffective, the disease is difficult to detect or diagnose, the condition remits and recurs, treatments do not work, individuals do not seek treatment, or effective care is not provided when they do seek it. Results: The first 5 possibilities were not considered significant reasons for the persistence of the burden. Conclusion: The burden persists because individuals do not seek treatment for their depression when they relapse and effective proactive treatment is not always provided when they do seek it. Objectif: Examiner pourquoi le fardeau de la dépression persiste. Méthode: L'épidémiologie et l'incapacité associées à la dépression ont été examinées pour déterminer si la dépression persiste parce que: les causes sont accablantes, la prévention est inefficace, la maladie est difficile à détecter ou à diagnostiquer, l'affection entre en rémission et revient, les traitements ne fonctionnent pas, les personnes ne veulent pas de traitement, ou des soins efficaces ne sont pas dispensés quand elles en veulent. Résultats: Les 5 premières possibilités n'ont pas été considérées comme étant des raisons significatives de la persistance du fardeau. Conclusion: Le fardeau persiste parce que les personnes ne veulent pas de traitement pour leur dépression quand elles rechutent, et qu'un traitement proactif efficace n'est pas toujours dispensé quand elles en veulent.
Effect of a single session of muscle-biased therapy on pain sensitivity: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Background Muscle-biased therapies (MBT) are commonly used to treat pain, yet several reviews suggest evidence for the clinical effectiveness of these therapies is lacking. Inadequate treatment parameters have been suggested to account for inconsistent effects across studies. Pain sensitivity may serve as an intermediate physiologic endpoint helping to establish optimal MBT treatment parameters. The purpose of this review was to summarize the current literature investigating the short-term effect of a single dose of MBT on pain sensitivity in both healthy and clinical populations, with particular attention to specific MBT parameters of intensity and duration. Methods A systematic search for articles meeting our prespecified criteria was conducted using Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and MEDLINE from the inception of each database until July 2012, in accordance with guidelines from the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis. Relevant characteristics from studies included type, intensity, and duration of MBT and whether short-term changes in pain sensitivity and clinical pain were noted with MBT application. Study results were pooled using a random-effects model to estimate the overall effect size of a single dose of MBT on pain sensitivity as well as the effect of MBT, dependent on comparison group and population type. Results Reports from 24 randomized controlled trials (23 articles) were included, representing 36 MBT treatment arms and 29 comparative groups, where 10 groups received active agents, 11 received sham/inert treatments, and eight received no treatment. MBT demonstrated a favorable and consistent ability to modulate pain sensitivity. Short-term modulation of pain sensitivity was associated with short-term beneficial effects on clinical pain. Intensity of MBT, but not duration, was linked with change in pain sensitivity. A meta-analysis was conducted on 17 studies that assessed the effect of MBT on pressure pain thresholds. The results suggest that MBT had a favorable effect on pressure pain thresholds when compared with no-treatment and sham/inert groups, and effects comparable with those of other active treatments. Conclusion The evidence supports the use of pain sensitivity measures by future research to help elucidate optimal therapeutic parameters for MBT as an intermediate physiologic marker.
Effects of Calcining Temperature on Photocatalytic Activity of Fe‐Doped Sulfated Titania

Using industrial titanyl sulfate as a raw material, Fe‐doped sulfated titania (FST) photocatalysts were prepared by using the one‐step thermal hydrolysis method and characterized using XRD, SEM, TGA–DSC, FTIR, UV–Vis DRS and N2 adsorption–desorption techniques. The effects of calcining temperature on the structure of the titania were investigated. The photocatalytic activity of the FST was evaluated using the photodegradation of methylene blue and photooxidation of phenol in aqueous solutions under UV and visible light irradiation, respectively. The results evinced that Ti4+ is substituted by Fe3+ in titania lattice and forms impurity level within the band gap of titania, which consequently induces the visible light absorption and visible‐light‐driven photocatalytic activity. The synergistic effects of Fe‐doping and sulfation are beneficial to the efficient separation of the photogenerated carriers and also improve the quantum efficiency of photocatalysis. In addition, Brönsted acidity arisen from the strong inductive effect of sulfate is also conducive to enhancing the photocatalytic performance of FST. However, when the calcining temperature is higher than 800°C, sulfur species and surface hydroxyl groups decompose and desorb from FST and the specific surface area decreases sharply. Moreover, severe sintering and rutile phase formation occur simultaneously. All these are detrimental to photocatalytic activity of FST.
Entrepreneurial Alertness: Mental Schema to Entrepreneurship Opportunity Recognition

The author developed a scale for entrepreneurial alertness on the basis of previous literature. Two samples of entrepreneurs (n =104, n=277) were investigated, in comparison with one sample of managers (n=166). After EFA, CFA and MANOVA, the results indicated: 1The conceptual model was comprised of three aspects (prospecting, reframing and sensitive foresight), with acceptable statistical parameters. 2Significant difference existed among those three dimensions between entrepreneurs and managers, and were varied with prior experiences. Keywordsentrepreneurs, entrepreneurial alertnes, Opportunity Recognition, mental schema
Femoral Neck Anteversion : Values , Development , Measurement , Common Problems

The femoral neck anteversion angle is an important factor for hip stability and normal walking. It is multifactoral result of evolution, heredity, fetal development, intrauterine position, and mechanical forces. Abnormal FNA sometimes can be associated with many clinical problems ranging from harmless intoeing gait in the early childhood, to disabling osteoarthritis of the hip and the knee in the adults. In most cases is associated with minor functional problems in children during growth, but cause a concern in parents for children future. The child must be examined carefully and an accurate diagnosis must be established. The most important part of care is observation of the children. If abnormal femoral neck anteversion produces severe functional disability, derotational osteotomy should be done, but delayed until late child-
The RATS radio traffic collection system

The DARPA RATS Program focuses on the development of new technologies for identifying and processing speaker-tospeaker communications over degraded radio channels. In order to build a corpus to address this research question, we developed a system that takes a clean source signal and transmits it over eight different radio channels, where the variation from channel to channel results in a range of degradation modes. Each channel included in the collection system has unique characteristics targeting different modulation types, different carrier channel bandwidths, and different operating bands.
Eukaryotic ribosome biogenesis at a glance

Summary Ribosomes play a pivotal role in the molecular life of every cell. Moreover, synthesis of ribosomes is one of the most energetically demanding of all cellular processes. In eukaryotic cells, ribosome biogenesis requires the coordinated activity of all three RNA polymerases and the orchestrated work of many (>200) transiently associated ribosome assembly factors. The biogenesis of ribosomes is a tightly regulated activity and it is inextricably linked to other fundamental cellular processes, including growth and cell division. Furthermore, recent studies have demonstrated that defects in ribosome biogenesis are associated with several hereditary diseases. In this Cell Science at a Glance article and the accompanying poster, we summarise the current knowledge on eukaryotic ribosome biogenesis, with an emphasis on the yeast model system.