Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Observations of OJ 287 from the Geodetic-VLBI Archive of the Washington Correlator

We present 27 geodetic VLBI maps of OJ 287 obtained from the archive of the Washington correlator. The observations presented here were made between 1990 October and 1996 December. During this period a sequence of six superluminal components has been identified. We measured the proper motion of these components to be approximately 0.5 mas yr-1, which is about twice as high as that seen in previous VLBI observations. These results imply a higher component ejection rate than previously observed, in good agreement with the observed occurrences of radio outbursts. We have examined a possible connection between VLBI components and optical flares in the framework of a binary black hole system.
Saliency model based head pose estimation by sparse optical flow

Head pose plays an important role in Human-Computer interaction, and its estimation is a challenge problem compared to face detection and recognition in computer vision. In this paper, a novel and efficient method is proposed to estimate head pose in real-time video sequences. A saliency model based segmentation method is used not only to extract feature points of face, but also to update and rectify the location of feature points when missing happened. This step also gives a benchmark for vector generation in pose estimation. In subsequent frames feature points will be tracked by sparse optical flow method and head pose can be determined from vectors generated by feature points between successive frames. Via a voting scheme, these vectors with angle and length can give a robust estimation of the head pose. Compared with other methods, annotated training data set and training procedure is not essential in our method. Initialization and re-initialization can be done automatically and are robust for profile head pose. Experimental results show an efficient and robust estimation of the head pose.
The frequency of resistant mutant virus before antiviral therapy

Objective:To calculate the expected prevalence of resistant HIV mutants before antiviral therapy. Design:HIV replication generates virus mutants. The prevalence of these mutants is determined by mutation and selection/fitness. Some mutations will confer drug resistance and it is crucial for the success of antiviral drug therapy to determine whether these resistant viruses are present before the initiation of therapy. Methods:A quasispecies equation was used to calculate the expected frequency of drug-resistant virus prior to therapy. Results and conclusions:We show how the pretreatment frequency of resistant virus depends on the number of point mutations between wild-type and mutant virus, the selective disadvantage of the resistant mutant and the intermediate mutants, and the mutation rate.
Lamins A and C appear during retinoic acid-induced differentiation of mouse embryonal carcinoma cells

The lamin complement of nuclear matrix isolated from F9 embryonal carcinoma cells was studied during retinoic acid-induced differentiation in culture. Differentiation of the original cells into parietal endoderm-like cells was accompanied by the gradual appearance of lamins A and C while lamin B was present throughout all stages. Lamins were identified by their molecular masses, isoelectric points, recognition by a monoclonal antibody and a polyclonal antiserum, and by peptide mapping. The increase in the amounts of lamins A and C found in the matrix was due to de novo synthesis as no extranuclear pools of these lamins were detected in the undifferentiated cells. These results provide biochemical evidence that, as in amphibian embryogenesis, there are variations in nuclear lamina composition during mammalian development.
The Role of Adolescent Nutrition and Physical Activity in the Prediction of Verbal Intelligence during Early Adulthood: A Genetically Informed Analysis of Twin Pairs

A large body of research has revealed that nutrition and physical activity influence brain functioning at various stages of the life course. Nevertheless, very few studies have explored whether diet and exercise influence verbal intelligence as youth transition from adolescence into young adulthood. Even fewer studies have explored the link between these health behaviors and verbal intelligence while accounting for genetic and environmental factors that are shared between siblings. Employing data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, the current study uses a sample of same-sex twin pairs to test whether youth who engage in poorer fitness and nutritional practices are significantly more likely to exhibit reduced verbal intelligence during young adulthood. The results suggests that, independent of the effects of genetic and shared environmental factors, a number of nutritional and exercise factors during adolescence influence verbal intelligence during adulthood. Limitations are noted and suggestions for future research are outlined.
Usability Study of a Semantic User Model Visualization for Social Networks

In this paper, we report on a usability study of the IntrospectiveViews interface for visualizing semantic user models in social networks. In the first part of this paper, we describe how the interface can be used in a social network for visualizing and editing ontology-based user interest models. In the second part, we describe the study we conducted to evaluate the usability of this visualization. We describe the results of four evaluation methods: task-based experiment, eye tracking, interviewing, and a questionnaire. The contributions of this paper are three-fold: First, it describes an application of the IntrospectiveViews interface to user model visualization in social networks. Second, it describes and exemplifies a methodology to usability evaluation of interactive visualizations of user models. Third, it reports on the outcomes of such an evaluation: It identifies what visual techniques and interaction patterns users deem to be usable and attractive for working with models of their interests, but it also reports on the crucial usability problems of the interface and describes possible solutions to these problems. We believe that the latter two contributions to be of interest for researchers working on similar interfaces for visualization of user models.
Restenosis Is More Frequent After Carotid Stenting Than After Endarterectomy: The EVA-3S Study

Background and Purpose— Carotid angioplasty and stenting (CAS) may be more often associated with residual or recurrent stenosis than carotid endarterectomy (CEA). We compared the rates of restenosis in patients treated with CAS or CEA in the EVA-3S trial. Methods— Five hundred seven patients (242 treated by CAS and 265 by CEA) had carotid ultrasound follow-up (mean carotid ultrasound follow-up, 2.1 years) according to a predefined protocol. Carotid restenosis of 50% to 69% was diagnosed on planimetry, whereas carotid restenosis of ≥70% or occlusion was diagnosed using either planimetry or velocity criteria. Results— The rate of carotid restenosis of ≥50% or occlusion was significantly higher after CAS (12.5%) than after CEA (5.0%; time ratio, 0.16; 95% CI, 0.03–0.76; P=0.02). The rates of severe restenosis of ≥70% or occlusion were low and did not differ significantly between the 2 groups (3-year rates are 3.3% in the CAS group and 2.8% in the CEA group). Age at baseline was the only vascular risk factor significantly associated with carotid restenosis. Our study could not detect any effect of carotid restenosis on ipsilateral stroke. Conclusions— The short-term rate of carotid restenosis of ≥50% or occlusion is ≈2.5-times more common after CAS than after CEA, a difference accounted for by an excess risk in moderate restenosis. More data with longer follow-up are needed to assess the rates of late severe restenosis and to determine the relation between restenosis and recurrent stroke over time.
On a general class of interior-point algorithms for semidefinite programming with polynomial complexity and superlinear convergence

We propose a unified analysis for a class of infeasible-start predictor-corrector algorithms for semidefinite programming problems, using the Monteiro-Zhang unified direction. The algorithms are direct generalizations of the Mizuno-Todd-Ye predictor-corrector algorithm for linear programming. We show that the algorithms belonging to this class are globally convergent, provided the problem has a solution, and have the best known complexity. We also give simple sufficient conditions for superlinear convergence. Our results generalize the results obtained by Potra and Sheng for the infeasible-interior-point algorithm proposed by Kojima, Shida and Shindoh and Potra and Sheng.
A191 THE NEURAL SIGNAL, CALCITONIN GENE-RELATED PEPTIDE (CGRG) ENHANCES A REGULATORY PHENOTYPE IN THE HUMAN IL-4-TREATED MACROPHAGE

Abstract Background Interlukin-4 activated human macrophages (M(IL4) promote epithelial wound healing and exert an anti-colitic effect in a murine model. Blood monocyte-derived M(IL4)s from healthy donors and individuals with Crohn’s disease had increased mRNA expression of the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor chain, RAMP1, raising the issue of neural modulation of the M(IL4)s reparative function. Aims To determine if CGRP-RAMP1 signalling in human IL-4 treated macrophages enhances the anti-colitic phenotype. Methods Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy volunteers (HD) and individuals with Crohn’s disease were cultured on plastic (2h, 37°C) and non-adherent cells removed. The adherent cells were cultured with recombinant hM-CSF (10 ng/ml) for 7 days. The resultant macrophages (2.5×105) were differentiated with IL-4 (48h 10 ng/mL). In other cells, CGRP (10 nM) was added 24h after IL-4 and phenotype assessed by qPCR. Rag1-/- mice were treated with M(IL4)±CGRP (1x106 i.p.): 48h later, colitis was induced by oxazolone. FITC dextran was used to evaluate epithelial barrier integrity. A wound healing assay was conducted using CaCo2 epithelial cells and conditioned medium (CM,1:2 dilution) from the different treatments. Prostaglandin D2 production was evaluated by ELISA and cyclooxygenase (COX)-1 and -2 activity inhibited using SC560 and indomethacin. Results Compared to non-treated macrophages (M(0)), M(IL4)s from HD had increased RAMP1 and CLR mRNA. M(IL4)s treated with CGRP showed enhanced expression of CD206, CCL26, RAMP1 and CCL18. When delivered systemically to oxazolone-treated rag1-/- mice, M(IL4,CGRP) had an anti-colitic effect superior to M(IL4)s from the same healthy blood donor. Use of the the human colon CaCo2 cell in vitro wounding model revealed that CM from M(IL4,CGRP) had increased amounts of TGFb and increased wound-healing capacity compared to matched M(IL4)-CM. Moreover, M(IL4,CGRP)s displayed increased COX-1 and PGD2. CM from M(IL4,CGRP)s treated with indomethacin or SC-560 to inhibit COX1 activity failed to promote repair of wounded CaCo2 cell monolayers. Conclusions Neuronal input is revealed as an important local modifier capable of boosting the anti-colitic effect of autologous M(IL4) transfer to treat enteric inflammation. Funding Agencies CCCHelmsley Charity
Software maintenance documentation

This work aims at presenting a model for assisting in the development of Information System for software maintenance documentation. It seeks to emphasize the optimization of the functions related to the documentation, by employing automatic processes. In this study the system of documentation is based on a Data Dictionary structure, adequately designed for the organized storage of the information needed for the execution of the maintenance activities. Forms of the information input, updating and retrieval have been analysed with the intention of utilizing the basic software of support, as well as to consider the possibilities of the Dictionary interface with the Operating System file, throughout the modification of the application software.
Diagnosis of Motor Faults Using Sound Signature Analysis

The objective of this paper is to present recent developments in the field of Induction motor fault signature analysis with particular regard to Sound signature analysis of induction motor of fan. The different types of fan faults that can be identified from the sound signature analysis (1) are, for example, rotor faults, bearing faults, unbalances wings etc. Corresponding to the above-mentioned faults, many types of machine fault signature analysis techniques (2) have been proposed for motor faults detection and diagnosis. These techniques include vibration monitoring, motor current signature analysis (MCSA) (3-6), electromagnetic field monitoring (7), chemical analysis, temperature measurability (8, 9), infrared measurement, acoustic noise analysis (10), and partial discharge measurement (11, 12). Among these methods, vibration analysis, current analysis and Sound signature analysis are the most popular due to their easy measurability, high accuracy, and reliability.
Nonsynonymous variants in the SMAD6 gene predispose to congenital cardiovascular malformation

Congenital cardiovascular malformation (CVM) exhibits familial predisposition, but most of the specific genetic factors involved are unknown. Postulating that rare variants in genes in critical cardiac developmental pathways predispose to CVM, we systematically surveyed three genes of the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling pathway for novel variants. Exonic, splice site, and untranslated regions of BMPR1A, BMPR2, and SMAD6 genes were sequenced in 90 unrelated sporadic cases of CVM. One nonsynonymous variant (p.C484F) with predicted functional impact was found in the MAD homology 2 domain of SMAD6, an intracellular inhibitor of BMP signaling. Sequencing this domain in an additional 346 cases of CVM yielded two further nonsynonymous variants (p.P415L and p.A325T). Functional effects of all three SMAD6 mutations were investigated using BMP signaling assays in vitro. Two SMAD6 variants (p.C484F and p.P415L) had significantly (P < 0.05) lower activity than wild‐type SMAD6 in inhibiting BMP signaling in a transcriptional reporter assay. In addition, the p.C484F variant had a significantly (P < 0.05) lower capacity to inhibit an osteogenic response to BMP signaling. We conclude that low‐frequency deleterious variants in SMAD6 predispose to CVM. This is the first report of a human disease phenotype related to genetic variation in SMAD6. Hum Mutat 33:720–727, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Working Paper Series the Adjustments of Hours and Real Wages to Technology Shocks: Assessing the Role of Nominal Rigidities

The views in this paper are solely the responsibility of the authors and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco or the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Abstract Nominal rigidities are generally viewed as important for the transmission of monetary policy. We argue that nominal rigidities are important also for the transmission of technology shocks, especially for explaining their effects on hours and real wages. Evidence suggests that a positive technology shock leads to a short-run decline in labor hours and a gradual rise in real wages. We examine the ability of an RBC model augmented with real frictions, a pure sticky-price model, a pure sticky-wage model, and a model combining sticky prices and sticky wages in accounting for this evidence. We find that, according to this metric, the model with nominal wage and price rigidities is more successful than others. This finding is robust and holds true for a relatively small Frisch elasticity of hours and a relatively high frequency of price reoptimization that are consistent with microeconomic evidence. under the title " Do Nominal Rigidities Matter for the Transmission of Technology Shocks? " The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco or the Federal Reserve System.
A Convergence Proof for the Particle Swarm Optimiser

The Particle Swarm Optimiser (PSO) is a population based stochastic optimisation algorithm, empirically shown to be efficient and robust. This paper provides a proof to show that the original PSO does not have guaranteed convergence to a local optimum. A flaw in the original PSO is identified which causes stagnation of the swarm. Correction of this flaw results in a PSO algorithm with guaranteed convergence to a local minimum. Further extensions with provable global convergence are also described. Experimental results are provided to elucidate the behavior of the modified PSO as well as PSO variations with global convergence.
Dynamic test input generation for database applications

We describe an algorithm for automatic test input generation for database applications. Given a program in an imperative language that interacts with a database through API calls, our algorithm generates both input data for the program as well as suitable database records to systematically explore all paths of the program, including those paths whose execution depend on data returned by database queries. Our algorithm is based on concolic execution, where the program is run with concrete inputs and simultaneously also with symbolic inputs for both program variables as well as the database state. The symbolic constraints generated along a path enable us to derive new input values and new database records that can cause execution to hit uncovered paths. Simultaneously, the concrete execution helps to retain precision in the symbolic computations by allowing dynamic values to be used in the symbolic executor. This allows our algorithm, for example, to identify concrete SQL queries made by the program, even if these queries are built dynamically. The contributions of this paper are the following. We develop an algorithm that can track symbolic constraints across language boundaries and use those constraints in conjunction with a novel constraint solver to generate both program inputs and database state. We propose a constraint solver that can solve symbolic constraints consisting of both linear arithmetic constraints over variables as well as string constraints (string equality, disequality, as well as membership in regular languages). Finally, we provide an evaluation of the algorithm on a Java implementation of MediaWiki, a popular wiki package that interacts with a database back-end.
Suppression-Subtractive Hybridization as a Strategy To Identify Taxon-Specific Sequences within the Mycoplasma mycoides Cluster: Design and Validation of an M. capricolum subsp. capricolum-Specific PCR Assay

ABSTRACT The phylogenetically related Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capricolum and M. mycoides subsp. mycoides biotype Large Colony are two small-ruminant pathogens involved in contagious agalactia. Their respective contributions to clinical outbreaks are not well documented, because they are difficult to differentiate with the current diagnostic techniques. In order to identify DNA sequences specific to one taxon or the other, a suppression-subtractive hybridization approach was developed. DNA fragments resulting from the reciprocal subtraction of the type strains were used as probes on a panel of M. capricolum subsp. capricolum and M. mycoides subsp. mycoides biotype Large Colony strains to assess their intrataxon specificity. Due to a high intrataxon polymorphism and important cross-reactions between taxa, a single DNA fragment was shown to be specific for M. capricolum subsp. capricolum and to be present in all M. capricolum subsp. capricolum field isolates tested in this study. A PCR assay targeting the corresponding gene (simpA51) was designed that resulted in a 560-bp amplification only in M. capricolum subsp. capricolum and in M. capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae (the etiological agent of contagious caprine pleuropneumonia). simpA51 was further improved to generate a multiplex PCR (multA51) that allows the differentiation of M. capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae from M. capricolum subsp. capricolum. Both the simpA51 and multA51 assays accurately identify M. capricolum subsp. capricolum among other mycoplasmas, including all members of the M. mycoides cluster. simpA51 and multA51 PCRs are proposed as sensitive and robust tools for the specific identification of M. capricolum subsp. capricolum and M. capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae.
Curbing or Facilitating Inequality ? Law , Collective Bargaining , and Teacher Assignment Among Schools in California

This study focuses on the legal, policy, and contractual structures in California that are designed to place highly qualified teachers in low-income, high-minority schools as well as those that may constrain efforts to get good teachers into more difficult teaching assignments. Prior studies document that teachers in California schools with high percentages of lowincome, minority, and low-performing students tend to be less experienced and more likely to lack credentials than teachers in other schools. This study explores whether this teacherqualifications gap among California schools exists despite or because of various legal and policy structures. Specifically, it addresses the following questions: 1. Do state laws curb or facilitate the teacher-quality gap in California? 2. Is there a relationship between highly prescriptive transfer rules in bargaining agreements and the average qualifications of a district’s teachers? 3. Do districts with relatively prescriptive transfer and leave provisions have larger teacher-qualification gaps among schools? 4. What do district administrators report about the application of these contractual provisions in their districts?
LION: Layered Overlay Multicast With Network Coding

Recent advances in information theory show that the throughput of a multicast session can be improved using network coding. In overlay networks, the available bandwidth between sender and different receivers are different. In this paper, we propose a solution to improve the throughput of an overlay multicast session with heterogeneous receivers by organizing the receivers into layered data distribution meshes and sending substreams to each mesh using layered coding. Our solutions utilize alternative paths and network coding in each mesh. We first formulate the problem into a mathematical programming, whose optimal solution requires global information. We therefore present a distributed heuristic algorithm. The heuristic progressively organizes the receivers into layered meshes. Each receiver can subscribe to a proper number of meshes to maximize its throughput by fully utilizing its available bandwidth. The benefits of organizing the topology into layered mesh and using network coding are demonstrated through extensive simulations. Numerical results indicate that the average throughput of a multicast session is significantly improved (up to 50% to 60%) with only slightly higher delay and network resource consumption
Schools in Crisis: Making Ends Meet. The Disproportionate Impact of Seniority-Based Layoffs on Poor, Minority Students.

As districts face another year of budget gaps, hundreds of thousands of teachers have been warned that, come the end of the school year, their jobs may be gone.1 In a policy now termed “LIFO” or “last in, first out,” most districts make layoff decisions based on seniority and not on job performance or effectiveness. Those teachers who have been in the school system for the shortest period of time are the ones given pink slips.2 Though proponents of seniority-based layoffs defend it as the fairest way to resolve who gets laid off, others argue that such a policy disregards performance and often sheds effective, enthusiastic teachers. Some have noted that such a system unduly moves teachers around. And recent survey results have shown that teachers themselves actually favor policies that would base layoffs on factors other than seniority.3