Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fluency recommendation: Designing happiness by promoting fluency of processing in product use

Fluency of processing or the ease of processing is directly associated with mildly positive affect. This affect-fluency association opens the possibility of increasing chronic happiness of the user by incorporating design features that facilitate processing fluency. This proposal is coined fluency recommendation. Evidence from the effect of color fluency on product preference and webpage appeal [1] as well as from that of information complexity on banner ad preference [2] are used to support fluency recommendation.
Raising the Bar: Increased Hydraulic Pressure Allows Unprecedented High Power Densities in Pressure-Retarded Osmosis

Pressure-retarded osmosis (PRO) has the potential to generate sustainable energy from salinity gradients. PRO is typically considered for operation with river water and seawater, but a far greater energy of mixing can be harnessed from hypersaline solutions. This study investigates the power density that can be obtained in PRO from such concentrated solutions. Thin-film composite membranes with an embedded woven mesh were supported by tricot fabric feed spacers in a specially designed crossflow cell to maximize the operating pressure of the system, reaching a stable applied hydraulic pressure of 48 bar (700 psi) for more than 10 h. Operation at this increased hydraulic pressure allowed unprecedented power densities, up to 60 W/m2 with a 3 M (180 g/L) NaCl draw solution. Experimental power densities demonstrate reasonable agreement with power densities modeled using measured membrane properties, indicating high-pressure operation does not drastically alter membrane performance. Our findings exhibit the pro.
Galectin-3 Protein Regulates Mobility of N-cadherin and GM1 Ganglioside at Cell-Cell Junctions of Mammary Carcinoma Cells*

Background: Galectin-3-N-glycan binding forms a lattice that regulates cancer cell adhesion, migration, and signaling. Results: Galectin-3 destabilizes cell-cell junctions and increases junctional mobility of N-cadherin and GM1 ganglioside. Conclusion: Galectin-3 is a novel regulator of N-cadherin dynamics and cell-cell junction stability. Significance: First demonstration of galectin-3 regulation of both glycoprotein and glycolipid mobility defines novel roles for the galectin lattice in junctional stability. Galectin-3 binding to cell surface glycoproteins, including branched N-glycans generated by N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase V (Mgat5) activity, forms a multivalent, heterogeneous, and dynamic lattice. This lattice has been shown to regulate integrin and receptor tyrosine kinase signaling promoting tumor cell migration. N-cadherin is a homotypic cell-cell adhesion receptor commonly overexpressed in tumor cells that contributes to cell motility. Here we show that galectin-3 and N-cadherin interact and colocalize with the lipid raft marker GM1 ganglioside in cell-cell junctions of mammary epithelial cancer cells. Disruption of the lattice by deletion of Mgat5, siRNA depletion of galectin-3, or competitive inhibition with lactose stabilizes cell-cell junctions. It also reduces, in a p120-catenin-dependent manner, the dynamic pool of junctional N-cadherin. Proteomic analysis of detergent-resistant membranes (DRMs) revealed that the galectin lattice opposes entry of many proteins into DRM rafts. N-cadherin and catenins are present in DRMs; however, their DRM distribution is not significantly affected by lattice disruption. Galectin lattice integrity increases the mobile fraction of the raft marker, GM1 ganglioside binding cholera toxin B subunit Ctb, at cell-cell contacts in a p120-catenin-independent manner, but does not affect the mobility of either Ctb-labeled GM1 or GFP-coupled N-cadherin in nonjunctional regions. Our results suggest that the galectin lattice independently enhances lateral molecular diffusion by direct interaction with specific glycoconjugates within the adherens junction. By promoting exchange between raft and non-raft microdomains as well as molecular dynamics within junction-specific raft microdomains, the lattice may enhance turnover of N-cadherin and other glycoconjugates that determine junctional stability and rates of cell migration.
The In‐vitro Effects of Insulin and the Effects of Acute Fasting on Cardiac β‐Adrenoceptor Responses in the Short‐term Streptozotocin‐diabetic Rat

Abstract— This study demonstrates that in‐vitro incubation with insulin results in a reduction of the sensitivity of cardiac tissues from streptozotocin‐diabetic rats to isoprenaline. Following incubation with insulin, the sensitivity of left atria and papillary muscles from diabetic animals was not significantly different from those of control animals. Insulin incubation had no effect on the sensitivity of diabetic tissues to forskolin or on ventricular β‐adrenoceptor number. Reduction of blood glucose in the absence of insulin by fasting, did not affect the sensitivity of tissues from diabetic animals to isoprenaline. These results suggest that insulin itself can directly reduce β‐adrenoceptor sensitivity without altering receptor number.
Species identity and depth predict bleaching severity in reef-building corals: shall the deep inherit the reef?

Mass bleaching associated with unusually high sea temperatures represents one of the greatest threats to corals and coral reef ecosystems. Deeper reef areas are hypothesized as potential refugia, but the susceptibility of Scleractinian species over depth has not been quantified. During the most severe bleaching event on record, we found up to 83% of coral cover severely affected on Maldivian reefs at a depth of 3–5 m, but significantly reduced effects at 24–30 m. Analysis of 153 species' responses showed depth, shading and species identity had strong, significant effects on susceptibility. Overall, 73.3% of the shallow-reef assemblage had individuals at a depth of 24–30 m with reduced effects, potentially mitigating local extinction and providing a source of recruits for population recovery. Although susceptibility was phylogenetically constrained, species-level effects caused most lineages to contain some partially resistant species. Many genera showed wide variation between species, including Acropora, previously considered highly susceptible. Extinction risk estimates showed species and lineages of concern and those likely to dominate following repeated events. Our results show that deeper reef areas provide refuge for a large proportion of Scleractinian species during severe bleaching events and that the deepest occurring individuals of each population have the greatest potential to survive and drive reef recovery.
Blind Identification of Noncausal ARNMA-Hammestein System

A novel nonlinear model is proposed for nonlinear system blind identification with infinite memory. This model is a generalization and combination of both ARMA model and Volterra-Hammestein(NMA-Hammestein) model. In the process of blind identification, two steps are involved. First, we focused on the left part(AR) of model form,which could be identified by using the generalized BBR formula and MYW(modified Yule-Walker) normal equation. Then, the problem changes into the blind identification of Volterra-Hammestein model, thus several methods could be employed. The simulation results showed its good estimation performance for nonlinear system.
A Classification-based Approach to Economic Event Detection in Dutch News Text

Breaking news on economic events such as stock splits or mergers and acquisitions has been shown to have a substantial impact on the financial markets. As it is important to be able to automatically identify events in news items accurately and in a timely manner, we present in this paper proof-of-concept experiments for a supervised machine learning approach to economic event detection in newswire text. For this purpose, we created a corpus of Dutch financial news articles in which 10 types of company-specific economic events were annotated. We trained classifiers using various lexical, syntactic and semantic features. We obtain good results based on a basic set of shallow features, thus showing that this method is a viable approach for economic event detection in news text.
Polyacetal-diethylstilboestrol: A Polymeric Drug Designed for pH-triggered Activation

Those polymer anticancer-drug conjugates currently undergoing clinical evaluation have a tripartite structure; a water-soluble polymer, an anticancer agent and a pendant linker. To simplify the construct it would be attractive to develop anticancer polymer therapeutics that contain the bioactive agent as an integral part of the polymer backbone. The aim of this study was to utilise the reaction between a divinyl ethers and diols, to synthesise polyacetals incorporating a drug with bis-hydroxyl functionality into the polymer backbone. Degradation of the polymer backbone in the acidic environment of the lysosome or the extracellular fluid of some tumours would then trigger drug release eliminating the need for a biodegradable linker. A tert-polymerisation approach was used to incorporate non-steroidal oestrogen diethylstilboestrol (DES) into the mainchain of water-soluble polyacetals synthesised using as co-monomer PEG of Mw 2900 or 3400 g/mol. When PEG2900 was used the resultant polymer had a Mw of 18,900 g/mol, a Mw/Mn of 1.9 and a DES loading 4.3 wt. %. With PEG3400 the polymer Mw was 43,000 g/mol, Mw/Mn=1.8 and it had a DES loading 4.7 wt. %. 1H-NMR confirmed the presence of two distinct sets of acetal peaks, which correspond to the two possible mainchain acetals; from PEG at 1.25–1.3(d) and 4.7–4.8(q) ppm and from DES at 1.55–1.6(d) and 5.4–5.5(q) ppm. These were consistent with the acetal signals observed for the non-water-soluble co-polymer DES: tri(ethylene glycol) divinyl ether (TEGDVE) (1:2, Mw=6859 g/mol, Mw/Mn=1.3). When evaluated in vitro, the DES-polyacetal displayed greater cytotoxicity than DES against human and murine tumour cell lines (IC50=48 and 420 μg/ml against MCF-7 human breast cancer cells and IC50=97 and 560 μg/ml against B16F10 murine melanoma cells, respectively). These polymers showed no significant haemolysis at concentrations up to 20 mg/ml confirming suitability for further in vivo evaluation. An enhanced rate of hydrolytic degradation of the polymer backbone was seen at pH 5.5, (65% trans-DES released in 96 h), compared to pH 7.4 (4% trans-DES released in 96 h). These bioresponsive DES-polyacetals tert-polymers are the first water-soluble anticancer polymeric drugs designed for acidic pH-triggered release of a drug incorporated into the polymer mainchain. Their in vitro characteristics suggest further in vivo evaluation is warranted.
Operation Everest II: preservation of cardiac function at extreme altitude.

Hypoxia at high altitude could depress cardiac function and decrease exercise capacity. If so, impaired cardiac function should occur with the extreme, chronic hypoxemia of the 40-day simulated climb of Mt. Everest (8,840 m, barometric pressure of 240 Torr, inspiratory O2 pressure of 43 Torr). In the five of eight subjects having resting and exercise measurements at the barometric pressures of 760 Torr (sea level), 347 Torr (6,100 m), 282 Torr (7,620 m), and 240 Torr, heart rate for a given O2 uptake was higher with more severe hypoxia. Slight (6 beats/min) slowing of the heart rate occurred only during exercise at the lowest barometric pressure when arterial blood O2 saturations were less than 50%. O2 breathing reversed hypoxemia but never increased heart rate, suggesting that hypoxic depression of rate, if present, was slight. For a given O2 uptake, cardiac output was maintained. The decrease in stroke volume appeared to reflect decreased ventricular filling (i.e., decreased right atrial and wedge pressures). O2 breathing did not increase stroke volume for a given filling pressure. We concluded that extreme, chronic hypoxemia caused little or no impairment of cardiac rate and pump functions.
Effects of depth, habitat, and water motion on the abundance and distribution of ciguatera dinoflagellates at Johnston Atoll, Pacific Ocean

A major impediment to understanding the seemingly random occurrence of ciguatera toxicity is uncertainty regarding the field ecology of benthic dinoflagellates that introduce toxins into the coral reef food web. Although broad generalizations have been made, past studies have often yielded contradictory results, particularly between ecological patterns documented in the Pacific ver- sus the Caribbean. This study employed standardized methodology to investigate the distribution and abundance of toxigenic benthic dinoflagellates from the genera Gambierdiscus, Prorocentrum, Ostreopsis, and Amphidinium at Johnston Atoll, Pacific Ocean, to determine how water motion, depth and habitat type influence patterns of biodiversity. Sampling stations located in lagoon and channel habitats in the atoll supported the highest total dinoflagellate abundance, while dinoflagel- late numbers were lower at sampling stations in back reef and reef crest habitats. Total dinoflagellate abundance was primarily determined by the degree of water motion; however, this effect varied among genera. Of the 4 genera surveyed, 3 (Gambierdiscus, Prorocentrum, Amphidinium) were neg- atively correlated with water motion; conversely, Ostreopsis had a positive correlation. Habitat sepa- ration was observed between Ostreopsis and Prorocentrum spp. , which were negatively correlated. Gambierdiscus was present at all sampling stations and at all habitats, even though it was rarely the dominant genus. This study provides a characterization of the ciguatera dinoflagellate community across a variety of coral reef habitats, contributing to an accurate and coherent characterization of the population dynamics of this important dinoflagellate community.
Manuscript : Trust in Mediated Interactions Oxford Handbook of Internet Psychology

With an increasing number of technologies supporting interaction at a distance, trust in mediated interactions has become a key interest in the field of human computer interaction (HCI). Research covers the role of trust in mediated interactions with other individuals (e.g. in virtual teams) and organisations (e.g. via e-commerce web sites). This chapter synthesises current research into a framework that introduces the key factors that affect trust and trustworthy behaviour. These are contextual properties (motivation based on temporal, social, and institutional embeddedness), and the actor’s intrinsic properties (ability, and motivation based on internalized norms and benevolence). Knowledge of these underlying factors can help designers in structuring the design space and researchers in planning and generalising from studies on trust in mediated interactions.
Solving Directly-Stated Arithmetic Word Problems in Chinese

This paper addresses the problem of solving arithmetic word problems that are directly stated in Chinese without any implicit quantity relations. This problem relates with the multiple challenging problems in artificial intelligent area. This paper proposes multiple new methods to overcome the challenges of the problem and forms a four-step algorithm. The first step is to parse the input math problem into phrases with property annotation. The second one is to use a pool of the semantic models to convert a math problem into a set of high-order equations. The third one is a procedure to solve the set of equations. The last step is to convert the machine solution into a humanoid solution. The experimental results on 140 arithmetic word problems from the text books show that the proposed method has a very good potential.
Importance of Interactions between Food Quality, Quantity, and Gut Transit Time on Consumer Feeding, Growth, and Trophic Dynamics

Ingestion kinetics of animals are controlled by both external food availability and feedback from the quantity of material already within the gut. The latter varies with gut transit time (GTT) and digestion of the food. Ingestion, assimilation efficiency, and thus, growth dynamics are not related in a simple fashion. For the first time, the important linkage between these processes and GTT is demonstrated; this is achieved using a biomass‐based, mechanistic multinutrient model fitted to experimental data for zooplankton growth dynamics when presented with food items of varying quality (stoichiometric composition) or quantity. The results show that trophic transfer dynamics will vary greatly between the extremes of feeding on low‐quantity/high‐quality versus high‐quantity/low‐quality food; these conditions are likely to occur in nature. Descriptions of consumer behavior that assume a constant relationship between the kinetics of grazing and growth irrespective of food quality and/or quantity, with little or no recognition of the combined importance of these factors on consumer behavior, may seriously misrepresent consumer activity in dynamic situations.
Effects of Blocking of Endogenous RHO Family GTP-Binding Proteins on Morphology, Adhesion and Locomotion of Amoeba Proteus.

Rho family GTP-binding proteins are known to control cellular processess associated with actin-based cytoskeleton such as cell migration, cytokinesis, endocytosis and exocytosis or muscle contraction [1]. While there is a number of data on the role of these proteins in higher Eukaryota, the studies on protozoans are practically limited to Dictyostelium that does not contain Rho-like and Cdc42-like proteins and Acanthamoeba which myosin I and actin have been found to be regulated by Rac1 and Cdc42 [2, 3]. By blocking of endogenous Rho family proteins of highly motile Amoeba proteus by the specific RhoA inhibitor, C3 transferase, and antibodies against human RhoA and Rac1 we tried to assess the in vivo effect of Rho-like proteins on amoeba morphology, locomotion and adhesion. Rhoand Rac-like proteins co-localize with Factin, and are rather evenly distributed through the cytoplasm with more pronounced accumulation in the uroid part and in the middle-anterior body region corresponding to the adhesion zone of migrating cells. Blocking of Rac-like protein(s) resulted in significant inhibition of cell migration. Microinjected amoebae flattened, strongly adhered to the glass surface and developed few wide pseudopods that seemed to be more dense than of control cells. Microinjecting with anti-RhoA antibodies led to cells rounding up and producing numerous small hyaline protrusions that were not able to attach to the surface and were relatively quickly retracting. Surprisingly the adhesion of the entire cell body was even stronger than of the control cells. Amoebae exhibited a kind of atypical, apparent imperceptible locomotion that was statistically inhibited by about 60% in comparison with control cells. After treatment with C3 transferase cells rapidly contracted and almost completely rounded up, became refractile with the granules centrally beat into a dense mass. Within several minutes amoebae detached from the surface and died. These results indicate that Rho family-based regulation of A. proteus actin cytoskeleton plays the crucial role in this protozoan functions such as cell migration, adhesion to the substratum and pseudopod formation.
A binary block matching architecture with reduced power consumption and silicon area requirement

Motion estimation is essential for reducing bit rate by exploiting the temporal redundancy existent in image sequences. MPEG, one of the current standards for video coding, specifies the use of block matching (BM) for motion estimation. Conventional block matching is based on the mean-absolute difference (MAD) distortion metric, which requires a large number of 8-bit arithmetic computations and thereby limits wider usage. This paper examines the possibility of using a binary distortion metric based on contour data to reduce the silicon area and power consumption of the block matching chip by a factor of 5 or more. Our simulation results indicate that the performance of the proposed binary system for a restricted class of sequences, such as "head-and-shoulder" images, is very close to that of conventional gray level methods. Detailed design of the binary block matching (BBM) chip is currently underway. Potential applications include low power, portable video devices and machine vision applications such as stereo matching and template matching.
Class notes: don't be a WIMP: (http://www.not-for-wimps.org)

Virtual and augmented reality have been around for a long time, but for most people they are movie fantasies. Very few people outside a few research labs have worked with or experienced these systems for themselves. On the other hand, interactive 3D graphics applications are ubiquitous, mostly in the form of games. More and more people are working in animation and games, creating models and programs for interactive 3D applications on standard monitors. The goal of this class is to demonstrate that the leap to actual immersive or augmented environments is not as big as you might think. It explains how high-powered 3D graphics cards, mainstream applications of stereoscopic displays in 3D TV and movies, and webcams that achieve TV-quality images have significantly lowered the barriers to entry. And how, in combination with those hardware advances, freely available software based on open standards like X3D provides all the tools you need to access the elusive world of virtual and augmented reality applications. Following a summary of the basic principles of stereo displays, tracking systems and post-WIMP interaction metaphors, the main part of the course is a practical introduction to creating and running your own interactive and immersive applications.
Sex-Dependent Effects of G Protein–Coupled Estrogen Receptor Activity on Outcome After Ischemic Stroke

Background and Purpose— Experimental studies indicate that estrogen typically, but not universally, has a neuroprotective effect in stroke. Ischemic stroke increases membrane-bound G protein–coupled estrogen receptor (GPER) distribution and expression in the brain of male but not female mice. We hypothesized that GPER activation may have a greater neuroprotective effect in males than in females after stroke. Methods— Vehicle (dimethyl sulfoxide), a GPER agonist (G-1, 30 &mgr;g/kg), or a GPER antagonist (G-15, 300 &mgr;g/kg) were administered alone or in combination to young or aged male mice, or young intact or ovariectomized female mice, 1 hour before or 3 hours after cerebral ischemia-reperfusion. Some mice were treated with a combination of G-1 and the pan-caspase inhibitor, quinoline-Val-Asp(Ome)-CH2-O-phenoxy (Q-VD-OPh), 1 hour before stroke. We evaluated functional and histological end points of stroke outcome up to 72 hours after ischemia-reperfusion. In addition, apoptosis was examined using cleaved caspase-3 immunohistochemistry. Results— Surprisingly, G-1 worsened functional outcomes and increased infarct volume in males poststroke, in association with an increased expression of cleaved caspase-3 in peri-infarct neurons. These effects were blocked by G-15 or Q-VD-OPh. Conversely, G-15 improved functional outcomes and reduced infarct volume after stroke in males, whether given before or after stroke. In contrast to findings in males, G-1 reduced neurological deficit, apoptosis, and infarct volume in ovariectomized females, but had no significant effect in intact females. Conclusions— Future therapies for acute stroke could exploit the modulation of GPER activity in a sex-specific manner.