Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
SILT: Scale-invariant line transform

Line matching is useful in many computer vision tasks such as object recognition, image registration, and 3D reconstruction. The literature on line matching has advanced in recent years, nevertheless, compared to other features (such as point and region matching approaches) it has made little progress. Especially, very few algorithms address the problem of image scaling. In this paper, we present a new line detection and matching algorithm that is invariant to image scale variation (SILT). The algorithm detects line segments as local extrema in the scale-space. Each detected line segment is represented in a distinctive manner using Haar-like features. PCA is further deployed to improve upon the compactness and robustness of representation. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach to deal with image scale variations.
Type III restriction endonucleases are heterotrimeric: comprising one helicase–nuclease subunit and a dimeric methyltransferase that binds only one specific DNA

Fundamental aspects of the biochemistry of Type III restriction endonucleases remain unresolved despite being characterized by numerous research groups in the past decades. One such feature is the subunit stoichiometry of these hetero-oligomeric enzyme complexes, which has important implications for the reaction mechanism. In this study, we present a series of results obtained by native mass spectrometry and size exclusion chromatography with multi-angle light scattering consistent with a 1:2 ratio of Res to Mod subunits in the EcoP15I, EcoPI and PstII complexes as the main holoenzyme species and a 1:1 stoichiometry of specific DNA (sDNA) binding by EcoP15I and EcoPI. Our data are also consistent with a model where ATP hydrolysis activated by recognition site binding leads to release of the enzyme from the site, dissociation from the substrate via a free DNA end and cleavage of the DNA. These results are discussed critically in the light of the published literature, aiming to resolve controversies and discuss consequences in terms of the reaction mechanism.
DIFERENCIAS DE GÉNERO EN EL RECONOCIMIENTO DE EXPRESIONES FACIALES EMOCIONALES

Gender differences in the recognition of facial expressions of anger, happiness and sadness were researched in students 18-25 years of age. A reaction time procedure was used, and the percentage of correct answers when recognizing was also measured. Though the work hypothesis expected gender differences in facial expression recognition, results suggest that these differences are not significant at a level of 0.05%. Statistical analysis shows a greater easiness (at a non-significant level) for women to recognize happiness expressions, and for men to recognize anger expressions. The implications of these data are discussed, and possible extensions of this investigation in terms of sample size and college major of the participants.
Specific Binding of a Dichloroacetamide Herbicide Safener in Maize at a Site That Also Binds Thiocarbamate and Chloroacetanilide Herbicides

Dichloroacetamide safeners such as N,N-diallyl-2,2-dichloroacetamide and (R,S)-3-dichloroacetyl-2,2,5-trimethyl-1,3-oxazolidine protect maize (Zea mays) against injury from thiocarbamate and chloroacetanilide herbicides. Binding activity of tritium-labeled (R,S)-3-dichloroacetyl-2,2,5-trimethyl-1,3-oxazolidine (15 Ci/ mmol; referred to as [3H]Saf) was characterized in extracts of etiolated maize seedlings. The binding is saturable, involves a single class of binding sites (Kd 0.12 [mu]M; maximal binding in coleoptiles 0.53 nmol/g fresh weight, equivalent to 55 pmol/mg protein), and is sensitive to boiling and protease treatment. Binding in etiolated maize seedlings is highest in the coleoptile and lowest in the leaves. Binding of [3H]Saf also occurs in etiolated sorghum (Sorghum bi-color) shoots but not several other cereals. There is a good correlation between known safener effectiveness and the concentration that inhibits [3H]Saf binding half-maximally among 21 dichloroacetamides and related compounds. N,N-Diallyl-2,2-dichloroacetamide had the lowest inhibitor concentration that reduces specific binding by 50% (IC50), 0.01 [mu]M. [3H]Saf binding is inhibited by 4 chloroacetanilide herbicides with IC50 values of 0.07 to 0.48 [mu]M and by 12 thiocarbamate herbicides and analogs with IC50 values of 0.06 to 2.3 [mu]M. The inhibition of [3H]Saf binding by alachlor and S-ethyl dipropylthiocarbamate is competitive.
Nematic Liquids in Weak Capillary Poiseuille Flow: Structure Scaling Laws and Effective Conductivity Implications

We study the scaling properties of heterogeneities in nematic (liq- uid crystal) polymers that are generated by pressure-driven, capillary Poiseuille flow. These studies complement our earlier drag-driven structure simulations and analyses. We use the mesoscopic Doi-Marrucci-Greco model, which incor- porates excluded-volume interactions of the rod-like particle ensemble, distor- tional elasticity of the dispersion, and hydrodynamic feedback through orien- tation dependent viscoelastic stresses. The geometry likewise introduces an- choring conditions on the nano-rods which touch the solid boundaries. We first derive flow-orientation steady-state structures for three different anchor- ing conditions, by asymptotic analysis in the limit of weak pressure gradient. These closed-form expressions yield scaling laws, which predict how lengthscales of distortions in the flow and orientational distribution vary with strength of the excluded volume potential, molecule geometry, and distortional elasticity constants. Next, the asymptotic structures are verified by direct numerical simulations, which provide a high level benchmark on the numerical code and algorithm. Finally, we calculate the effective (thermal or electrical) conductiv- ity tensor of the composite films, and determine scaling behavior of the effective property enhancements generated by capillary Poiseuille flow.
Methylation of the TWIST1 Promoter, TWIST1 mRNA Levels, and Immunohistochemical Expression of TWIST1 in Breast Cancer

TWIST1, an antiapoptotic and prometastatic transcription factor, is overexpressed in many epithelial cancers including breast. Only little is known regarding the regulation of TWIST1 in these cancers. Recently, an increase in the TWIST1 promoter methylation has been shown in breast cancers. To correlate the percentage of TWIST1 promoter methylation to the protein levels, we analyzed simultaneously the methylation status as well as the mRNA and the percentage of cells expressing TWIST1 in normal breast tissue and 76 invasive breast cancers. We found that TWIST1 promoter methylation is significantly more prevalent in malignant compared with healthy breast tissue. Furthermore, the percentage of cells expressing TWIST1 was greater in breast malignancy compared with matched healthy tissue from the same patients. There was no correlation, however, between TWIST1 promoter methylation and TWIST1 protein or RNA expression. This indicates that although TWIST1 CpG methylation is useful as a biomarker in breast cancer diagnosis, there is no direct correlation with TWIST1 expression. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2008;17(12):3325–30)
Fast Transient Thermal Analysis of Gold Nanoparticles in Tissue-Like Medium

Gold-nanoparticle-based hyperthermia has attracted considerable attention in the recent ten years in cancer treatment. In hyperthermia-based cancer treatment, in order to produce efficient thermal therapy yet without excessive heat damage to human body, besides the steady-state thermal condition, the transient thermal response is of vital importance. As part of theoretical research associated with nanoparticle-mediated hyperthermia therapy for cancer treatment, the transient heat transfer process of laser interacting with gold nanoparticle in tissue-like medium is investigated. Within the framework of dual-phase-lag (DPL) model, this paper focuses on the microscopic heat transfer performance of a gold nanoparticle in a surrounding medium. A semianalytical solution of 1-D nonhomogenous DPL equation in spherical coordinates is presented for a heat transfer process with a constant laser heat source and a short-pulsed laser heating source. Results show that the transient temperature calculated by DPL model greatly exceeds that predicted by the classical diffusion model, with either a constant source or a pulsed source. This phenomenon is mainly attributed by the phase lag of heat flux in the surrounding tissue.
Opportunistic Routing in Low Duty-Cycle Wireless Sensor Networks

Opportunistic routing is widely known to have substantially better performance than unicast routing in wireless networks with lossy links. However, wireless sensor networks are usually duty cycled, that is, they frequently enter sleep states to ensure long network lifetime. This renders existing opportunistic routing schemes impractical, as they assume that nodes are always awake and can overhear other transmissions. In this article we introduce ORW, a practical opportunistic routing scheme for wireless sensor networks. ORW uses a novel opportunistic routing metric, EDC, that reflects the expected number of duty-cycled wakeups that are required to successfully deliver a packet from source to destination. We devise distributed algorithms that find the EDC-optimal forwarding and demonstrate using analytical performance models and simulations that EDC-based opportunistic routing results in significantly reduced delay and improved energy efficiency compared to traditional unicast routing. In addition, we evaluate the performance of ORW in both simulations and testbed-based experiments. Our results show that ORW reduces radio duty cycles on average by 50% (up to 90% on individual nodes) and delays by 30% to 90% when compared to the state-of-the-art.
The nature of intermediate-redshift damped Ly α absorbers ?

We present HST/WFPC2 high-spatial resolution images in the R and B bands of the close environment of the sightlines to seven quasars which spectra show either a damped Lyα absorption line, 21 cm absorption, or a very strong Mg ii/Fe ii absorption system at intermediate redshifts (0.4 ≤ z ≤ 1). Objects down to about 0.3′′, or 2.0 kpc at z = 0.6 (H0 = 50 kms s−1 Mpc−1, q0 = 0), and to a limiting magnitude m702,lim = 25.9 could be detected for seven fields comprising eight absorbers (one at higher redshift z = 1.78 towards MC 1331+170) with high H i column densities of at least 1× 1020 cm−2. In each case, a candidate absorber with absolute magnitude MB ' −19.0 or much brighter has been detected. This small sample of gas-rich galaxies at intermediate redshifts covers a wide range in morphological types. There are three spiral galaxies of various sizes and luminosities (towards 3C 196, Q 1209+107 and MC 1331+170), three compact objects (towards EX 0302−223, PKS 0454+039 and, at high redshift, MC 1331+170), and two amorphous, low surface brightness galaxies (towards PKS 1229−021 and 3C 286). In the fields around 3C 196, PKS 1229−021 and Q 1209+107, there is an excess of galaxies in the PC2 images, suggestive of the presence of a group of galaxies associated with the damped Lyα absorber, or maybe with the quasar itself for the two ze ≤ 1.0 cases. For 3C 196 and 3C 286, the quasar host galaxies have also tentatively been discovered. We do not detect any quasar multiple images, implying no large amount of dark matter around the damped Lyα absorbers. This survey also led to the discovery of the first z ' 1.0 optical counterpart of a quasar radio jet (PKS 1229−021). As will be reported elsewhere (Boissé et al. 1996), spectroscopy with the HST-FOS of the strong Mg ii/Fe ii absorption systems confirms the validity of our selection criterion in predicting the existence of damped Lyα systems. Send offprint requests to: V. Le Brun ? Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555
Multicast-based mobility: a novel architecture for efficient micromobility

Handover performance is very important when evaluating IP mobility protocols. If not performed efficiently, handover delays, jitters, and packet loss directly impact application performance. We propose a new architecture for providing efficient handover, while being able to coexist with other protocols. We propose a paradigm for multicast-based micromobility (M&M), where a visiting mobile is assigned a multicast address to use while moving within a domain. The multicast address is obtained using algorithmic mapping, and handover is achieved using multicast join/prune mechanisms. This paper outlines a framework for the design and evaluation of micromobility protocols. We define a suite of protocols (called candidate access router set) to enable multiple-access routers to receive traffic for the mobile node. By changing the number of such routers, timing, and buffering parameters, the protocol may be fine-tuned for specific technologies (e.g., 802.11) and handover scenarios. Extensive NS-2 simulations are used to compare M&M with other micromobility schemes-cellular Internet protocol (CIP) and handoff-aware wireless access Internet infrastructure (HAWAII). For proactive handover scenarios, our results show that M&M and CIP show lower handover delay and packet reordering than HAWAII. M&M, however, handles multiple border routers in a domain, where CIP fails. Also, for scenarios of reactive handover and coverage gaps M&M clearly outperforms CIP and HAWAII.
Small-angle neutron scattering reveals the assembly mode and oligomeric architecture of TET, a large, dodecameric aminopeptidase

The present work illustrates that small-angle neutron scattering, deuteration and contrast variation, combined with in vitro particle reconstruction, constitutes a very efficient approach to determine subunit architectures in large, symmetric protein complexes. In the case of the 468 kDa heterododecameric TET peptidase machine, it was demonstrated that the assembly of the 12 subunits is a highly controlled process and represents a way to optimize the catalytic efficiency of the enzyme.
Tolerance to the Antinociceptive and Antiexudative Effects of Morphine in a Murine Model of Peripheral Inflammation

Opioids are used in humans in the management of chronic osteoarticular pains, but the development of tolerance to the analgesic effects after continuous administration is still not well understood. Our aim was to characterize morphine tolerance in a murine model of arthritis that mimics the sequence of events occurring in humans. Inflammation was induced by the intraplantar injection of complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) and tolerance by the implantation of a 75-mg morphine pellet. We assessed the antihyperalgesic (plantar and Randall-Selitto tests), antiallodynic (Von Frey test), and antiexudative (Evans blue) effects of morphine, the μ-opioid receptor (MOR) mRNA levels in dorsal root ganglia (DRG), and MOR protein levels in DRG and plantar tissue. Inflammation induced plasma extravasation, and it significantly increased the antihyperalgesic effects of morphine (p < 0.05). Morphine pellet implantation decreased morphine potency in all tests. ED50 values decreased 4.4 and 7.3 times in the absence and presence of inflammation in the plantar test and 2.7 and 5.3 times in the Randall-Selitto test, whereas plasma extravasation decreased 4.2 times. MOR mRNA levels in the DRG were not affected 7 days after inflammation, whereas chronic morphine administration induced a discrete increase (p < 0.05). MOR protein in the DRG or the paw was unchanged. The results show that inflammation enhances the development of tolerance to the antihyperalgesic and antiexudative effects of morphine. At the molecular level, our results suggest that these effects are not mediated by changes in MOR expression but by other changes in receptor activation/internalization.
Query Expansion Approach Based On Ontology and Local Context Analysis

In information query process, query expansion can effectively resolve the problem related to low query efficiency caused by ambiguous short query terms. This study proposes a query expansion approach based on ontology and local context analysis. Ontology-based query expansion enables the addition of standardized descriptive information for search query, while local context analysis, through document library analysis, offers more relevant information for inquiry. We combine advantages of the two methods to expand the keywords semantically. Experimental analysis indicates that our method can effectively improve the search recall and precision.
The Effect of Seeing the Interlocutor on Speech Production in Different Noise Types

Talkers modify their speech production in noisy environments partly as a reflex but also as an intentional communicative strategy to facilitate the transmission of the speech signal to the interlocutor. Previous studies have shown that the characteristics of such modifications vary depending on the type of noise. The current study examined whether speech production (and its interaction with noise type) would be affected by being able to see their interlocutor or not. Participants completed an interactive communication game in various noise conditions with/without being able to see their interlocutor. The results show that speech modifications differed with noise condition and that the speech amplitude was significantly lower when interlocutors could see each other. These results suggest that talkers actively monitor their environment and adopt appropriate speech production for efficient communication.
Selective cyclooxygenase inhibitors increase paclitaxel sensitivity in taxane-resistant ovarian cancer by suppressing P-glycoprotein expression

Objective The purpose of this study was to investigate whether selective cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitors promote paclitaxel-induced apoptosis in taxane-resistant ovarian cancer cells by suppressing MDR1/P-glycoprotein (P-gp) expression. Methods Taxane-resistant ovarian cancer cells were cultured with paclitaxel alone or combined with a selective COX inhibitors. The expression patterns of MDR1/P-gp and the ability of COX inhibitors to inhibit growth of taxane-resistant ovarian cancer cells were measured. The efficacy of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) supplementation was measured to evaluate the mechanisms involved in suppressing MDR1 gene expression. Results P-gp was upregulated in taxane-resistant ovarian cancer cells compared to paired paclitaxel-sensitive ovarian cancer cells. An 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay showed that selective COX inhibitors significantly enhanced the cytotoxic effects of paclitaxel in taxane-resistant ovarian cancer cells via a prostaglandin-independent mechanism. These increased apoptotic effects were further verified by measuring an increased percentage of cells in sub-G1 stage using flow cytometry. Selective COX inhibitors suppressed MDR1 and P-gp expression. Moreover, combined treatment with paclitaxel and selective COX inhibitors increased poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) cleavage in taxane-resistant ovarian cancer cells. Conclusion Selective COX inhibitors significantly promote paclitaxel-induced cell death in taxane-resistant ovarian cancer cells in a prostaglandin-independent manner. COX inhibitors could be potent therapeutic tools to promote paclitaxel sensitization of taxane-resistant ovarian cancers by suppressing MDR1/P-gp, which is responsible for the efflux of chemotherapeutic agents.
Hemodynamic and Pathologic Characterization of the TASK-1−/− Mouse Does Not Demonstrate Pulmonary Hypertension

Introduction Pulmonary hypertension (PH) carries significant associated morbidity and mortality and the underlying molecular mechanisms of PH are not well understood. Loss-of-function mutations in TASK-1 potassium channels are associated with PH in humans. Although TASK-1 has been considered in the development of PH for over a decade, characterization of TASK-1 knockout mice has been limited to in vitro studies or in vivo studies in room air at isolated time points. The purpose of this study was twofold. First, we sought to determine if TASK−/− male and female mice developed PH over the span of one year. Second, we sought to determine the effect of chronic hypoxia, a stimulus for PH, and its recovery on PH in TASK-1−/− mice. Methods We measured right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP) and vascular remodeling in male and female C57BL/6 WT and TASK-1−/− mice at separate time points: 20–24 weeks and 1 year of age. Additionally, we measured RVSP and vascular remodeling in TASK-1−/− and wild-type mice between 13 and 16 weeks of age exposed to 10% hypoxia for 3 weeks followed by recovery to room air conditions for an additional 6 weeks. Results RVSP was similar between WT and TASK−/− mice. Male and female WT and TASK-1−/− mice all demonstrated age-related increases in RVSP, which correlated to age-related vascular remodeling in male mice but not in female mice. Male TASK-1−/− and WT mice exposed to chronic hypoxia demonstrated increased RVSP, which decreased following room air recovery. WT and TASK-1−/− male mice demonstrated vascular remodeling upon exposure to hypoxia that persisted in room air recovery. Conclusion Female and male TASK-1−/− mice do not develop hemodynamic or vascular evidence for PH, but RVSP rises in an age-dependent manner independent of genotype. TASK-1−/− and WT male mice develop hypoxia-induced elevations in RVSP that decrease to baseline after recovery in room air. TASK-1−/− and WT male mice demonstrate vascular remodeling after exposure to hypoxia that persists despite recovery to room air conditions and does not correlate with RVSP normalization.
Polarization-dependent nonlinear refraction and two-photon absorption in GaAs/AlAs superlattice waveguides below the half-bandgap

Values for the two-photon absorption coefficient, α2, and nonlinear refractive index coefficients, n2, are measured for a waveguide core made of 14:14 monolayer GaAs/AlAs superlattice at photon energies below the half-bandgap. Two-photon absorption coefficients show significant anisotropy with the TE mode having α2 values up to four times greater than the TM mode. For nonlinear refraction, we determined values of the nonlinear index for the TE mode that are as much as two times larger than the TM mode. Measurements of cross-phase modulation between the TE and TM modes gave ratios of cross-phase modulation to self-phase modulation that were highly anisotropic.